here are just two men so far, in the religious scene of Nigeria, who must be commended laudably because of their unrestrained efforts in crying out over the ill manners of ruling our entity. Pastor Tunde Bakare of Latter Rain Assembly is one. Archbishop Peter Akinola, head of Anglican Communion, is two.

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Right from the unset of the third republic, Pastor Bakare had foreseen what would be descending on the homeland and prepared himself spiritually to speak up against these few individuals in the helm of affairs whose minds are so clouded by the voracity and competition toward amassing the wealth of Nigeria that their public service acumen has kept drying out.

In contrast to someone's argument on a Nigerian online magazine, which he/she tittled, 'Should A Pastor (Tunde Bakare) Join To Carry Placards?' I applauded pastor Bakare for leading the January 2010 protest demanding dead former President Yar'adua's handover to his vice. That single gesture was an act of his dedicated services to God and to mankind. And I will state that this is one of the reasons why Nigeria has pushed on to the stage it is right now.

Archbishop Peter Akinola created a hopeful impression on me as I watched and listened to him speak in a sermon during the Television relay of a church service held on the 2nd of January 2010, to commemorate the 80th birthday anniversary of the Oni of Ife. I admired the manners in which the archbishop spiritually lashed out at the politicians and public servants who pilfer Nigerian's resources while the entire populace suffers. If the occasion hadn't attracted the current and former men that rule Nigeria, one would have thought the man of God was speaking crap because he noticed that the politicians weren't anywhere around. But no, they were there present inside the church; including former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

Now, let's relate the lives and actions of these two men of God with the lives led by some of the prophets of God mentioned in the bible - the yardstick of performance in the Christendom.

The book of second Samuel, chapter 12, reading from 1 to 17, tells us about the action of King David, which led to his rebuke by Nathan. The important point I want to make here is that Nathan was a prophet of God and David was the overall head of Israel. Again, in the book of first Kings, chapter 18, from verse 1, we read the bible's documentation of Elijah's encounter with Ahab, a king who this book of religion emphasised that he did evil in the sight of God. In the new testament of our bible, Mark chapter 6, from verse 17, makes it clear that Prophet John the Baptist challenged King Herod, telling him how unlawful it was to take possession of his brother's wife. The continuation of the same reading makes us to know that Herod - a king himself - feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man.

A clear studying of these cited instances, we will notice that all these encounters had something in common; they were all open confrontations - face to face. These men of God did not sit back in their synagogues and oppose the kings. They came out, bold, for their words to create impacts on the rulers. What I am driving at is that, in the Christendom, and I believe it is the same in the Islamic religion, there is always the time when ordained men of God have to go into the field and voice out against the ill manners of the rulers of a society.

'Go, shew thyself;' 'Go and say to;' The Lord sent…. The bible uses words of this nature as proofs that the Lord was with these prophets all the time, and that God Himself sent these men into the field.

Unfortunately, today, the bad kind of leadership which manifested in the days of Elijah, Nathan and John the Baptist, are being demonstrated in Nigeria, tenfold. But what are the numerous General Overseers (GOs) we have in this entity doing? They are sitting tight in their dens, doing nothing about the leadership of Nigeria - dodging from going into the field. It is quite laughable that the GOs are preaching for salvation whereas their followers die en mass every day, not of natural causes but of manmade-governmental reasons.

As an additional instance, let's take a look at the qualities of a real religious head. In 2Kings 5:15, the scripture tells us that after his healing, Naaman, a captain of the host of the King of Syria, presented showers of gift to Prophet Elisha. But the man of God, before the Lord who liveth, refused to accept any of the reward offered to him. In contrasts, our GOs, these days are in desperate want of being invited to Aso Rock and state government houses only to pray for and not admonish our rulers of their bad doings to the people of Nigeria, a society endowed with enormous natural resources. And in return, they are showered with monetary gifts, recognitions, vast land pieces for crusades and other church activities, and in some cases, private jets.

The issue of the race for acquisition of $28 million or more worth private jets by our GOs now is another bafflement that needs to be visited. And my question remains, why would the GO of a church in Nigeria, which has not even clocked up to fifty years, want a private jet? What will he want to do with it? When asked, he and unfortunately, the gullible members of his church, would defend himself by making comparisons with his contemporaries in the United States, forgetting the fact that many of the GOs in America have been operating for quite a score of decades, more so, in a very organized, rich and advanced country.

We will assume, for example, that the General Overseer of Living Faith Church Worldwide, a.k.a. Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, or the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God operated by Pastor Adeboye, are richer than the Catholic Church, an old religious body, whose Pontiff still uses non-private airlines as his official jet till date. We can also agree that Bishop David Oyedepo's and Pastor Adeboye's organisations have a more important religious and charitable job to do than the worldwide known Catholic body which doesn't own an official plane for the pope's worldwide assignments.

It is quite devastating that the Nigerian problem is so enrooted in every sector that we don't even know when, how or where to begin in placing things how they are supposed to be. Dios mi!

Well, in as much as we are in a free world where everyone has the right to make comments, produce his/her own write-ups and ask questions, I believe that that someone who wrote the article I mentioned above did so out of a certain level of ignorance. Good a thing, some of the responses he/she received on the article reminded that the history of mankind has taught us that the struggle for emancipation of the people had mostly been led by men of God, giving instances with church leaders such as Rev. Martin Luther king and Rev. Jesse Jackson of even the USA our own men of God try to copy, then remembering a man like Archbishop Desmond Tutu - of African soil.

Aside the above-mentioned men of religion, let me tell a brief story of a man of God who, not so many years ago, saw how important it was to go into the field and challenge the dictatorial ruling of one of the most evil men history has recorded on the pure black African soil.

In 1974 Janani Luwum became the Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire - three years after Colonel Idi Amin overthrew the Government of Uganda and turned the government into a military dictatorship. The man of God wouldn't see himself sitting down and watching Uganda turned upside down by this ready-to-suck-blood General. Hence, determined in spirit, he voiced out on the deteriorating state of the country to the hearing of the ruler and to the world.

On 5 February 1977 Amin's soldiers raided the Archbishop's house with allegations of arms smuggling. Janani Luwum was taken away, to be assassinated the next morning. But before he left, he turned to his brothers in Christ and said: "Do not be afraid. I see God's hand in this."

The important point I want to emphasize with this story is that Archbishop Luwum knew he was going to see the face of death. Yet, he took the courage to stand up against General Amin and his Government. That is the meaning of a true child of God and head of a religious body.

Let us consider a situation whereby the heads of both Christian and Islamic religions come into a unanimous agreement and speak up about the horrible governing system in Nigeria in their churches and mosques respectively, on every worship day, stretching it out for the next six months. One could imagine the kind of impact this would create on these shyster and ill-wealthy men and women.

To men like Pastor Tunde Bakare of Latter Rain Assembly and Archbishop Peter Akinola of the Anglican Communion, I encourage you to continue in your efforts in fighting to redirect the rulers of Nigeria. The majority of the people of Nigeria see God's hand in what you are doing. At the end, the Almighty would judge the men he ordained who did the work He brought them here to do, and those who chose to expend their energies in acquiring private jets.