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Evang. ... Prof. ... And the craze for titles
Written by Tessy Umunakwe Wednesday, 30 June 2010
SOME years back, Nigerians placed little or no premium on the prefix to their names.They were contented with being addressed simply as “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, “Miss”, “Ms” as the case may be, leaving the titles to the academics and professionals like medical doctors, lawyers, soldiers, etc.This was at a time when the country was in the firm grip of military governance.
The situation however, changed with the coming of civil rule. The politicians especially public office holders who had unlimited access to public funds became stupendously rich.
Hence, they began to seek ways to advance their new status and ego. They were no longer contented with the appellation of Mr or Mrs which were also cheaply available to every Nigerian Tom, Dick and Harry.
Thus, they began to approach traditional institutions for all kinds of titles prominent among which were the chieftaincy titles.
Though these titles are reserved for individuals who have distinguished themselves in a given community, the money power of the politicians changed the norm. As a result, these chieftaincy titles were bestowed on the “highest bidder” while the scope was expanded to accommodate as many as would be able to “pay” for them.
The honorary academic titles awarded by the universities which used to be value driven and given in recognition of rare achievements in the society have also been debased.The universities, especially those that have been bitten by the bug of avarice and who give scanty regard to high standards, now bestow such honorary awards on murderers, certified thiefs, drug barons and even morons thereby negating the whole essence of the honours which should, normally, be conferred on those who had played prominent and positve roles in the affairs of the society.
The craze for titles was made worse by our musicians especially those of the fuji genre who ascribe academic titles to themselves as a way of proving their superiority or invincibility in the face of competitive wranglings.
The supposed originator of fuji music who had been engaged in a war of words with another who was laying claim to the same title, downplayed his original title of “Alhaji” and took the title of a “Dr” probably to drive home the fact that his claims were true.
But in his reaction to the claims of the fuji originator, his arch rival, in his album released shortly after, dubbed himself a “professor” and while the altercations between the duo persisted, he went ahead to add “master” to his professor appellation after which he was known and addressed as “professor master”.
Now, it appears most Nigerians have been infected with the craze for titles especially the academic ones. Even those who we think have no business being “wordly” have not been spared.
Many men of God, particularly those of the pentencostal christian faith flaunt strings of titles which are incomplete without academic titles.Examples are: “ Prophet Evangelist (Dr),” “Bishop (Dr),” “Most Superior Leader Evangelist (Dr)”, etc.
While some of these people actually wrote dissertations leading to the award of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in divinity, theology and in some secular fields, many others who had not been to the four walls of a university decided to include such of their own freewill.
Hence, it didn’t come as a surprise when recently, a popular preacher in Ibadan, who had since been addressing himself as a “Dr” among other titles apparently got tired of it and dropped it for the appellation of a “professor”.
Against this backdrop, the Nigerian Tribune interviewed a cross section of Nigerians.The question was, why the craze for academic titles among these men of honour?
According to Afen Ogah, a civil servant, it is a means of profile building or image enhancement. He observed further that it could also be as a result of envy and transfer in which case these half-educated ministers of the Word wished they were intellectuals, adding however, that, “these preachers do not really preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ which is the gospel of the blood, since many of Christ’s disciples were martyred. They preach the modern gospel and the craze for titles is part of it.”
Pastor Lawrence Obisesan, a minister of the Christ Apostolic Church, averred that while people appreciate academics and wish to be like them, most of the title-bearing men of God do so for self-aggrandisement.He maintained that even if they actually earned these titles, they needed not flaunt them since they were meaningless before God and were not a passport to heaven.
Said he: “Apostle Paul had three PhDs but he dropped them for the title of Apostle in obedience to the holy scriptures as recorded in Ephesians 4:11-12 “And he Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.For the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
The CAC pastor said that anything outside this does not glorify God, stressing that the greatest title is to become truly born again after which one must begin to live his/her life in line with the dictates of Exodus 20:1-17 which spells out the 10 commandments.
Mr Oladele Osunbote, an author, publisher, social critic and philosopher believes the church is finding it hard to separate itself from the hullabaloo that has engulfed the society hence the craze for titles which he opined, is an aberration because the church, according to him, should be contented.
Sharing the views of the first speaker, Otunba Jadesola Ogunbanjo, an educationist and public commentator, observed that it has a means of boosting their prestige and ego in their practice of the work of God which many of them consider as “business interests.”
Pastor David Lasisi Suleiman of the Alpha and Omega World Evangelism Church argued that the trend is a reflection of the fact that the church now follows the ways of the world - where money determines everything. By these titles, he reasoned, these priests make themselves attractive to the people adding that the “bigger the congregation the more the money.”
Pastor Suleiman rationalised that this much could be expected in a situation where the preachers lack the anointing and have lost grip of the great commandment; where they groom themselves to be motivational speakers rather than preaching the Word that is backed by the power of God.
Raphael Ojebiyi, a don at the Communication and Language Arts Department of the University of Ibadan, spoke in a similar vein with the first and fourth respondents.
Hear him, “Wisdom and knowledge mark people out. And since it is believed that the place of secular wisdom is the university, these pastors believe that if people see them as having been to the university, they would consider them as embodiment of wisdom and knowledge and, therefore, accord them respect which would ultimately boost their ego.”
He gave another perspective to the trend when he observed that “the belief in the academic world that if you don’t have a PhD, you have not started could have been transferred to the church.”
The views of a public relations practitioner, were almost in tandem with that of the don. He observed that these priests have ego problem and are, therefore, trying to create a false sense of importance for themselve by bearing the titles. While admitting that it is natural to want to boost one’s ego, he however, disagreed with the manner these pastors go about it.” They don’t need to create that kind of status which they cannot justify. If you lay claim to a title, you should be able to justify it.”
He lamented this attitude which he said could only happen in country like ours “where everybody is looking for a way of cutting corners which has extended to the church.” He said further, “rather than apply itself to spirituality, the church is becoming more and more entrepreneurship.”
He, however, counselled that the society should be wary of the situation because sooner or later all this would crumble.
In the words of a media executive, Odeh Ebri, “the situation could be a case of trying to emulate the trend in the mother church (the Catholic Church) whose priests adequately qualify to have these strings of titles having been well trained and grounded to acquire such titles either in Catholic universities or the regular ones”.
This predisposition to emulate the orthodox traits of the mother church, Ebri explained, could be the reason for the wearing of skull caps by some of the pentecostal priests, a practice which he said they had hitherto condemned.
Giving a historical interpretation to the issue, Pius Omole, another don of the University of Ibadan, said that in the 70s pilots were very much loved by the then ladies. “The dream of every woman was to be married to a pilot. But 10 years later, the situation changed and the ladies no longer craved for pilots, it was another group of professionals. This trend continued until the present-day when pastors have become the toast of every woman.” Omole reasoned that it is probably this awareness that has given rise to some title-crazy pastors who do so in order not to fall short of the expectation of their admirers.
The fact is, a titled honour is noble when it is merited.This deserving honour adds some positiveness to the person concerned and the society at large. But when it is the reverse, it is less honourable.
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