By Emeka Alex Duru
(08054103327, nwaukpala@yahoo.com)
It is not unusual, at some point, for one to pause, reflect on the journey of life and admit the presence of a superior being over the affairs of men. A lingering sickness that has defied medical solutions can be a reason for this. Marital crisis, challenges of childlessness, stunted business, uncertainties in workplace, extreme economic hardship and emotional disturbances, can also be factors. For some, there may be no immediate physical or financial obstacles but just a resolve for turnaround, realizing the vanity of life, especially over unbridled material cravings.
At that point, human wisdom, academic attainments and chains of businesses, do not count. What matters is solution to the problems, peace of mind and assurance of divine presence. That captures the admonition in the Holy Bible in Matthew 11: 28; “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”. For those that believe, that window of salvation and solution to challenges, is always open and effective.
It is that understanding that can, perhaps, explain why as you read this piece, millions of Nigerian worshippers and their foreign counterparts are heading for or may have even reached Ngor-Okpala, Imo State, for a three-day World Conference of the Zion Prayer Movement Outreach led by Evangelist Chukwuebuka Anozie Obi. The Conference is scheduled to last from today (Friday), August 23, to Sunday 25.
It will be the first time the annual Conference will be held outside Lagos. The three-day event will mark the end of the 100 Days Fast and Prayer programme of the ministry, which began worldwide on Saturday, May 18, 2024.
Already, Ngor Okpala and neighbouring communities have been full of activities with massive constructions at Zion permanent site, commercial outlets and accommodation facilities springing up in expectation of the large crowd that will attend from across the globe.
Evangelist Ebuka had earlier explained that, going by the experiences of the 2023 edition of the programme, Zion ground in Lagos would not be able to accommodate the huge crowd expected to attend this year’s Conference, hence the need to move to Ngor Okpala where the ministry had acquired a larger space.
The crusade is expected to record thousands of people surrendering their lives to Christ, awesome miracles, instant healings, deliverance from bondage, salvation of souls and verifiable testimonies. A member of the Ministry’s media committee, Patrick Iheonu, stressed these points in a recent briefing where he added that the programme is tailored at achieving a radical change in the value orientation of the participants. He added that the exercise is also intended at drawing the people closer to God, stressing that doing so will make the country whole. The World Conference, according to Iheonu, is also aimed at uniting the country and enhancing national development. He remarked that the solution to Nigeria’s challenges is returning to God and seeking His face, while calling on Nigerians to be their brothers’ keepers especially at this period of economic difficulties.
The charge on Nigerians to be their brothers’ keepers strikes very deep. I have only been to Zion Prayer Movement Outreach once and purely in the line of duty. I am not a member of the Ministry. I have also not had any encounter with Evangelist Ebuka, except occasionally watching his programmes on television. Members and those familiar with the activities of the Outreach, are however agreed that he is real and alive to his preaching. There have been testimonies of healings and breakthroughs from participants. Troubled marriages have been restored, financial challenges have been fixed and many souls retrieved from fetish and demonic holds.
Apart from seeking spiritual growth for members, Zion Ministry is also involved in philanthropic and humanitarian gestures aimed at helping the poor and indigent. It has Seraphic Home Foundation through which it takes care of the poor, the widows and facilitates payment of school fees for indigent students.
In an interview with a Lagos medium, THISDAY, the Evangelist admitted that under the foundation, there is no school term that he does not pay about N40million on school fees for people he does not know, in Lagos, Anambra, Imo, and other parts of the country. Reports even had it that the Foundation, at that time, was building a psychiatric hospital in Anambra State and would do so in five or six other states. No matter your disposition to the Catholic church to which Evangelist Ebuka insists he belongs, such are gestures that draw the downtrodden Nigerians and foreigners, irrespective of their faith, to the Zion Ministry.
It is good that the Movement has chosen Imo for the 2024 edition of its Conference and subsequent activities. In the words of Iheonu; “We have secured 21,000 plots of land in Ngor-Okpala in Imo State, where we would build a Zion City, not only an auditorium. We would have a university, secondary school, hospital, and old people’s home to cater to our members and indeed the people of Imo State and worldwide”.
This a good story for Imo and its people, perhaps, one that will open the vistas for a return to the 1979-1983 glorious Governor Sam Mbakwe era in which the state held the ace in all parameters of development. The 2024 three-day Zion Ministry’s World Conference in Ngor-Okpala, should mark a turning point in the activities of the leadership and followership in Imo. It should be a period for everyone in the state – old and young, to take a break, reflect on the extent the state has sauntered and stumbled in the last couple of years and declare; “thus far, no further”.
Imo is one that ordinarily, epitomizes self-help in development. At the level of individual and communal initiatives, the people have very good account of themselves. Imo, for instance ranks tops among the states with the highest number of Professors of different backgrounds in the country. It counts among states with highest number of candidates sitting for competitive examinations, annually. In the last 10 years or more, the state has consistently featured among the first 10 states in WAEC and JAMB examinations.
These strides are however being rubbished by the seeming culture of insecurity that has held grips on the state and its people, lately. Let the World Conference of the Zion Ministry in the state herald a new beginning for Imo. Incidentally, Evangelist Ebuka, the Spiritual Director of the Ministry, is from the state, precisely, Ubulu Ihejiofor in Oru West Local Government Area. For him therefore, the Conference is homecoming of sort.
*DURU is the Editor, TheNiche Newspapers, Lagos