Yesterday State Organising Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State, James Ornguga made a post on his Facebook wall announcing gleefully how the disputed Governorship Candidate of his party, Hon. Hyacinth Alia, had at his Makurdi residence personally served food ( plates of akpu) to guests, staying on his feet till all were fed.
To the APC organiser, this was some feat worth celebrating as it reflected the ‘servant leader’ qualities of Hon. Alia, yet to some, there are just be a few observations from the whole scenario.
For starters, for anyone to rightly be hailed as possessing a particular character trait, he or she must have been known to possess it as a lifestyle; Has Hon. Alia been known to be a humble man before his chosen day of “akpu service”?
If his track record as a priest, which so far remains the only basis upon which we may assess him, is anything to go by, Hon. Hyacinth Alia was only yesterday beginning to take steps towards learning humility, being he previously not a humble man.
As a priest he was not particularly known for loyalty and obedience to constituted authority over him, and without searching far the verdict of his superior Bishop suspending him from the pulpit suffices as evidence here, wherefore he was labelled as “contumacious” and “rebellious”, despite several reprimands to him over series of conduct scandalous and unacceptable for a priest.
And following that suspension, Hon. Alia’s dismissive and disdainful reaction to it which even came with a dose of deceit as he claimed publicly that the Lord Bishop had only released him to venture into politics, thus reflecting a lack of the spirit of repentance which is a key ingredient in a humble character.
Also the haughty manner of speech of the sacked priest at public functions since his foray into politics fancying and proclaiming himself a messiah, and his readiness to encourage his supporters to engage in campaigns of calumny, even participate in same personally, depicts him in very clear light as lacking in humility, since a humble person would have been conducting himself differently under the circumstance.
But the more profound observation to the celebratory post of James Ornguga, is the question as to when and how Hon. Alia did acquire such a palatial edifice referred to in the post as the sacked priest’s private residence.
It is pertinent to raise this question considering the glaring and widely known fact that he did not at any of his duty stations as a priest undertake any development project, not in the form of a Church building, school, or health clinic.
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How was Hon. Alia able to build for himself such a palatial home yet could not build even a small chapel for God whom he swore on oath to serve; where did he acquire the funds to build his home considering that as a priest he was permitted no other source of income save that which came from the pulpit and which rightly belonged to God through his flock, the lay faithful of the church?
Bemgba Iortyom observes/ asks as a concerned Benue man.
24/10/2022.
