The Chaplain

The Chaplain 

Many of those who were in that University 
between 2005-2007 will remember this 
true-life story 
It is the story of a man of God I respect and 
honour greatly, I am writing it without his 
permission therefore I won't mention his 
name 
I will refer to him as The Chaplain
The University, like many other Christian 
institutions founded in a secular society, 
had a lot of issues in its first year. 
In their bid to secure the cooperation 
of the indigenes and be friendly, they 
signed a lot of dangerous pacts. 
The pact led to the infiltration of the
school by some students who believed 
they came in as indigenes of the 
community and therefore can do anything 
they wanted since they had the backing 
of the traditional ruler of the community 
About 50 students from the community 
wouldn't attend chapel, pray with the 
other students or obey the rules and 
regulations of the school 
They had their own Banana republic and 
they were fully backed by the Nigerian 
Constitution 
They prayed openly and daringly in the 
way of another religion and had their 
own religious leader and system of 
leadership 
It was a problem
A problem the vice-chancellor who made 
the pact with the community couldn't control 
The school was not turning out as the 
founders envisioned, they desired to have 
a citadel of Excellence and Godliness 
enshrined in Christian values but the vision 
had been hijacked by outsiders!
The Vice-chancellor retired 
A younger vice-chancellor was brought in 
with a team of chaplains to redirect the 
course of the school 
The gangsters were expelled and so were
a lot of students found to have committed 
offenses ranging from sexual immorality 
to smoking marijuana were all expelled 
By the third set, the 2004 set, admission 
into the school had become a very stringent 
exercise 
I remember all the questions i had to 
answer at the panel before i was admitted 
because I was 24 years old and intelligent 
The panelists felt i had been rusticated from
another university and wanted to sneak 
into the school to spread bad influence. 
I had to explain to them that my Father was 
the one that Insisted I had to study 
Mass Communication or Law in a private 
University before he will file for me to 
move to the USA. 
My father also sent an official letter from 
David-Wright Institute of African Studies 
to that effect before i was admitted 
The new regime was very Gestapo like 
in disposition, students got expelled 
practically every week 
If you're late for chapel, got back to the 
hostel late, caught kissing or fighting
you're gone! 
It was not strange to sleep in the same 
room with people you regard as friends 
and wake up to see their lockers packed 
out and security people escorting them 
away from the campus. 
The draconian rule didn't stop students 
from being students, they protested the 
lack of freedom in very creative ways 
I remember three guys who came to the 
chapel wearing T-shirts with the inscriptions 
"So-So Penitentiary", 
"So-So Correctional facility" "So-So Assylum" 
It was a daring move and i cheered them 
on in secret. 
It was right in the middle of this that the
school was rocked by a scandal 
A female student from the north who 
usually spent her short holidays with 
one of the chaplains suddenly accused 
said chaplain of either sleeping with 
her or making sexual advances towards 
her (Till tomorrow i don't know the 
exact details) 
The story started making rounds in the 
female hostel and like wild fire in tore 
into the male hostel 
The students didn't care if it was true 
or false
Within a week the narrative had turned 
to how many abortions the lady had for
the chaplain and several other students
who must have been sleeping with the
chaplain who didn't have the guts to
speak up
Imaginations ran wild and many of the 
students maliciously championed the
story despite the fact that there was no
evidence whatsoever to support the
claim
The lady who claimed to have been the
victim of the chaplain's actions was still
on campus with us and she never came
forward with any evidence whatsoever
The chaplain or the school authority
didn't punish her in any way or tried to
debunk or discredit her story
The issue was not raised officially through 
any quarters 
What they did was shocking 
They waited until the chaplain mounted 
the pulpit to preach and then they started 
laughing, jeering, cursing, screaming, and 
making snide remarks at the chaplain 
It was extremely embarrassing 
The school authority thought it would fade 
away after a week or two but it didn't 
Every time the chaplain mounted the pulpit, 
it would start!
After several weeks, the school authority 
advised the chaplain to invite other 
preachers to minister at the Wednesday 
and Sunday meetings 
When the invited ministers mount the pulpit, 
the students will quieten down and listen 
but they wanted nothing to do with the 
accused chaplain
He was the scapegoat 
The one through whom they vented their 
frustrations against the school 
The semester ended, everyone thought 
the storm had blown over but things 
only intensified when we resumed for 
the second semester 
It seems he had lost the respect of 
the students and will have to resign or 
leave the school 
Of what purpose is a chaplain who cannot 
minister the gospel? 
This man of God is anointed and godly 
The lady that accused him could have been 
telling the truth or lying 
Only God knows what really happened but 
I learned a very huge lesson from the 
chaplain's travail 
People will always find a way to hit back 
at oppression, the human spirit hates 
being choked and suffocated 
The oppressor is like someone riding 
a tiger, he must hold on for dear life 
because if he lets go, the tiger will 
maul him 
The chaplain eventually took a leave 
of absence from the school to go and 
further his education abroad 
The school arranged it in such a manner 
that all those who knew about the 
scandal graduated before he returned 
That way, he was given a fresh slate 
As I look at the events of the past 
few weeks, I want to beg the Nigerian 
Government to quickly address a lot 
of ills in our country 
Oppression led to the protest and unrest 
Oppression led to the carnage on our streets 
A government shouldn't be known by its 
ability to muzzle the people but by its 
ability to do the will of the people
Nobody should assume for a minute 
that this is over 
The people have taken a sip from the
 cup of power, they now know they can 
stand up and demand for their rights 
It is best not to let things degenerate 
to that level 
The protesters also made certain errors 
that I believe they have seen and learned 
from 
You cannot have a protest without certain 
demands in mind 
You cannot have a protest without a leader 
or leaders 
The purpose of a protest is to advance a 
cause of action, this means you must 
have a well-articulated demand and 
representatives to push such through
Also remember that everyone wont 
agree with you 
We have inalienable rights as citizens to 
participate or watch events unfold 
I personally didn't like people in my DM 
telling me to join the protest or else 
they will "drag" me 
As if that wasn't enough, many started 
tagging my posts with hashtags that i 
do not identify with 
It was wrong 
You do not force your desire down 
people's throat 
That is called rape! 
If you present your case clearly and I
 feel it is good enough to lend my voice to 
Why not? But i must be allowed to make 
my own choice otherwise you will
not be so different from the oppressors 
you're fighting
Also remember that transporters, artisans 
and market people are citizens of Nigeria
too
They have a right to work and earn a living
While I am very positive some politicians 
somewhere coordinated the attack on 
specific locations in Lagos to make a 
statement
We all know the hoodlums ran rampage
because the protest lingered on for too
long and this affected their means of 
livelihood
I have been praying for Nigeria 
I have been waiting for the change 
It will come I pray the government will 
effect it peacefully so that the people 
will not have to die to see the Nigeria 
of their dreams! 
God bless Nigeria

PS: @Aunty_Ope, Miss Owoseni
wrote the following on Twitter after
reading the thread
This story has been passed from one set 
to another. The chaplain gained back 
my respect the day he delivered a lady 
I know of Familiar spirit and I had to 
pray for forgiveness.