Pentecostal Republic by Ebenezer Obadare

Author:Ebenezer Obadare [Obadare, Ebenezer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology of Religion, Political Science, Political Ideologies, Democracy, International Relations, General, Religion, Islam, Christianity, Pentecostal & Charismatic, Anthropology, Cultural & Social, Developing & Emerging Countries, Education, Higher, History, Africa, West, Modern
ISBN: 9781786992406
Google: Ab2rDwAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 39105965
Publisher: Zed Books
Published: 2018-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Performing piety

In order to remain in the good books of the leading Pentecostal pastors while at the same time reaching out to their large congregations, President Jonathan sought to bolster the popular narrative that saw him as an especially lucky man whose good fortune was made possible by ‘divine favour’. Of a piece with this, and with the same objective, was his self-presentation as a humble and pious man. In his typically ostentatious performances of piety, Jonathan routinely exceeded Obasanjo, whose relative restraint was most probably due to the staid conventions of his Baptist upbringing. For Jonathan, being seen to be pious and humble was integral to his overall identity as president, and his presidency was punctuated by several telling moments.

Preparing to take charge of his first FEC meeting as the country’s substantive president after Yar’Adua’s passing, Jonathan, no doubt conscious of the symbolism of the moment and the intense gaze of the press cameras, removed his trademark fedora hat, clasped his hands, and closed his eyes in prayer. This was a calculated performance of piety and humility, an overture to the Pentecostal constituency signalling that he, as ‘one of them’, was ‘in charge’ (behind him, strategically positioned, was the crest of the Federal Republic of Nigeria). At the same time, it was a gesture of ostentatious humility choreographed for the consumption of Nigerians more widely.

Jonathan would often repeat this pose of gratuitous modesty and pornographic piety. For example, as president, Jonathan visited several times with the General Overseer of the RCCG and the symbolic godfather of the theocratic elite, Pastor Enoch Adeboye. On at least two of these occasions, in December 2012 and February 2015 (the latter, as we shall see, was part of a desperate appeal for votes in the approaching presidential election of March 2015), he knelt down before Adeboye, who then prayed for him, his family, and the country. Jonathan’s words to Adeboye were: ‘I am your sitting president, pray for me so that I will not deviate from the fear of God.’21

Another demonstration of Jonathan’s desire to be seen as humble and pious took place in October 2013 when he became the first Nigerian head of state to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.22 At the Wailing Wall, Jonathan knelt down for prayers before Pastor Oritsejafor and other members of the presidential entourage. The special moment was captured by his press corps for distribution to journalists around the country.

The power of moments like these as well-timed demonstrations of Jonathan’s humility, piety and, no less importantly, willingness to submit cannot be overemphasised. As previously argued, such performances were directly correlated to his political ambition. Nevertheless, there is a larger logic that must be grasped: integral to Jonathan’s performances is a kind of calculated self-abjection, whereby a political actor confesses to his ‘ignorance’ in matters of governance and humbly asks for God’s ‘wisdom’. This wilful repudiation of the very basis of his authority (an admission of incapacity, in fact) can be a project of avoidance, the staging

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