Yahooism beyond youths: We need a change in our way of thinking — Rev. Samuel Akpan-Isong
Reverend Samuel Akpan-Isong is the pastor of Champions For Christ Chapel, Asaba. He is a poet, a philosopher, a political scientist and an educationist. In this interview with Dave Okpogadie in Asaba, the man of God bares his mind on the rising cases of ritual killings, fraud and other vices prevalent among the youths and the role of the church. According to him, a change in orientation is the key to address the desperation in seeking wealth, which he observed is beyond young people alone. Excerpts:
There is rise in killing and fraud popularly referred to as ‘yahoo’. You will agree with me that many of these youths involved attend churches and some of them even play major roles in their churches. What is the role of the Church in all these?
Honestly, I want to say that I am totally dumbfounded but we cannot totally blame the entire situation of misconduct of the youth on the Church because the Church stands for the truth and preaches the truth. What is happening is a big problem to the society because the youths doing these things know what they are doing is wrong. But they have chosen to continue.
‘Yahooism’ and ritual killings are on the increase and funny enough, everybody is a churchman or churchwoman. Everybody is carrying the Bible, everybody is an evangelist and preaching. Jesus spoke rightly when he said “By their fruits you will know them.” It is very clear, whether these youths are in the Church or not, whatever they exibit is the type of fruit they are bearing. So when the Church is preaching the truth, the Church is repreminding them of their evil acts.
It is true that the economy is not in the best of shape at present. But there is no time in history that you don’t have struggling masses. What is the difference this time around that has made the youths aggressive to acquire wealth at all cost even if it means taking lives?
You can see the society is dynamic. In the 1970s, the emphasis was not on money but today it is very sad to see that even a child of 12 years is so emphatic on money and his focus is on how to make money. Recently, I was discussing with my wife on marriage utility. There are some women that go into marriage not because they love their spouses but because of love of utility – what they want to gain. So, you can see that the society ís on the receiving end. We need a new orientation, a new way of thinking. Like I said earlier, in the 60s and 70s, the thinking of the people was not like this. Nobody cares if you had money and if you had wealth, thank God you have it and if you don’t have, nobody would blame you for not having. Today, the emphasis on money is affecting the conduct of the society and it is a great problem.
What do you think the Church can do to help in this regard?
I must be very sincere with you like I said earlier, the entire solution is not in the hands of the Church. The government has to come in. The National Orientation Agency has to be rejigged for optimum performance to give proper orientation and sensitisation.
The NOA used to tell people what they should do, what they shouldn’t do etc. They should be made to step up their activities. Also, the youths are watching the leaders – how they are looting the treasury and at the same time showcasing their ill-gotten wealth. The youths that are involved in violent crimes were also empowered by the politicians. Some of these youths veered into kidnapping ritual killing and fraud.
Recently, a young boy of 12 years met me. He came with an Android phone and I asked him how he came about the phone. I found out his mother bought the phone for him. What was the purpose of buying Android phone for the little boy? The mother should have bought a smaller phone for the boy. It is obvious the mother is exposing the little boy to certain things beyond his level and this is how they get involved in ‘yahooism.’ The Church, like you said, has a lot to do but the society, family and government have roles to play. The role of the Church is to evangelise and preach the truth and any pastor that does not preach the truth is not called to do the work of God. As a preacher, I always try to make them understand and be able to differentiate between the good and the bad. I believe we also need a new orientation. By orientation, I mean a new way of thinking, association and relationship.
Some people often express displeasure over the manner some churches preach wealth and prosperity. Do you not think this is also contributing to the problems of ritual killing and fraud?
I will not want to debunk that claim that some churches have placed so much emphasis on wealth creation. I believe those that are doing it are doing it for personal benefit to gain church members and increase the size of their pockets. Look at the teachings of Jesus Christ in the book of Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and every other thing shall be added unto you.” I believe the gospel of salvation produces wealth. Wealth cannot produce salvation but the gospel of salvation produces wealth. The gospel of our Lord Jesus says there are riches in glory. These riches include financial, physical, intellectual and health etc. If you preach salvation, riches would come. Those who place much emphasis on prosperity in their preachings are erring. Jesus Christ had nothing and he only taught about the kingdom of God. The Bible says “Love not the world and the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him” – I John 2:15. Any pastor that places emphasis on wealth creation in his preaching has missed it and his members would be tempted to go into all forms of crime, including prostitution, ritual killing, fraud etc. You would be surprised that some people that are jumping and clapping in the church are still into prostitution; some are into ritual killing, fraud, kidnapping etc. All these people committing these atrocities are members of churches. They claim to be members of the body of Christ. Some of them are even title holders in the Church.
It is not as if they don’t know what they are doing is wrong but we must keep on preaching because the more they do evil, the more the judgement is on them. I condemn ‘yahooism,’ I condemn ritual killing, prostitution and other crimes and vices. The word of God says “Thou shall not steal.” ‘Yahooism’ is nothing but stealing. Stealing by deception. Anyone involved has incurred the wrath of God and he shall gnash his teeth later. There is a curse that enters the house of anyone who defraud others. What this means is that they will die young. They will die before their parents and they will lose everything at the end. Anyone that glorifies wealth doesn’t know what he is doing.
‘Yahooism’ is no longer about using the internet to defraud foreigners. It has gone into ritual killing. People kill babies, pregnant women, girls and remove their body parts for money making rituals. One young man from Enugu recently took his father to where the father’s eyes were removed for money ritual. Any pastor or man of God that refuses to condemn this, let him be forsaken. Let him be termed satanic and agent of darkness. Money is good but it doesn’t bring salvation. I know many people who were great in this Asaba but today they beg before they can eat because the foundation of their wealth was fraudulent. We must also realise that ‘yahooism’ is not limited to the youths. A pastor that doesn’t preach the truth but dishes out false prophecy is a Yahoo pastor; the politician who is looting the treasury contrary to the oath of office is also into ‘yahooism.’ The house wife who defrauds the husband either through her body or otherwise is also into yahoo. To correct all these anomalies, we need good and responsible leadership. To get that, the process begins from electioneering time. We also need continuous orientation. Whatever you hear often affects you, so there must be continuous orientation to sensitise the people to depart from the current mad quest for wealth. Emphasis should be more on education and technological growth and this can also help to mop up most of the youths from the labour market. An enabling law should be put in place to jail anybody involved in Yahoo, ritual killing and kidnapping for life.
