Pastoral Power, Clerical State

Ebenezer Obadare

Description

Ebenezer Obadare examines the overriding impact of Nigerian Pentecostal pastors on their churches, and how they have shaped the dynamics of state-society relations during the Fourth Republic.

Pentecostal pastors enjoy an unprecedented authority in contemporary Nigerian society, exerting significant influence on politics, public policy, popular culture, and the moral imagination. In Pastoral Power, Clerical State, Ebenezer Obadare investigates the social origins of clerical authority in modern-day Nigeria with an eye to parallel developments and patterns within the broader African society.

Obadare focuses on the figure of the pastor as a bearer of political power, thaumaturgical expertise, and sexual attractiveness who wields significant influence on his church members. This study makes an important contribution to the literature on global Pentecostalism. Obadare situates the figure of the pastor within the wider context of national politics and culture and as a beneficiary of the dislocations of the postcolonial society in Africa’s most populous country. Obadare calls our attention to the creative ways in which Nigeria’s Pentecostal pastors utilize religious doctrines, beckon spiritual forces, and manipulate their alliances with national powerbrokers to consolidate their influence and authority.

In contrast to rapidly eroding pastoral authority in the West, pastoral authority is increasing in Nigeria. This engaging book will appeal to those who want to understand the far-reaching political and social implications of religious movements—especially Christian charismatic and evangelical movements—in contemporary African societies. It will be of interest to scholars and students of sociology, religion, political science, and African studies.

I am often asked why anyone would want to pursue pastoring as a career. I think the answer is simple. In a social milieu in which the opportunity for upward social mobility is drastically limited, pastoring, as Karen Lauterbach’s study on Ghana confirms, and as I shall demonstrate, offers the young African agent perhaps the best opportunity of becoming ‘somebody.’ The more interesting question, in my opinion, and as I go on to show, is: Why wouldn’t anyone want to become a pastor, considering, inter alia, the relative ease of becoming one (barriers to entry ranging from low to nonexistent), the social prestige that accrues to the contemporary pastor, and the ethical indulgence granted to him based on the perception of his ‘anointing’? Pastoral Power, Clerical State argues that, given an environment in which anonymity is the equivalent of social death, pastoring is the ultimate repudiation of social invisibility. It is the ultimate prize in that unique social struggle that Adeleke Adeeko describes as the “pursuit of eminence,” the eminent not only receiving attention and certain social advantages but, most important, the ability to bypass the law to the point of practically becoming an exception to it.

That is why, even for many ordinarily successful professionals, it is no longer enough to secure excellence or renown in one’s chosen field. For example: In a growing number of cases, the university professor, and perhaps in his own case tacitly admitting a real degradation in status, still aspires to be a pastor, not just because of the awe that, he rightly calculates, spiritual authority commands, but precisely because of the tremendous social capital that redounds to the pastor. He rightly recognizes the social logic according to which doors otherwise close to other experts, including members of the intelligentsia, are flung open for the pastor, how the pastor, contra other kinds of ‘experts,’ tends to be given the benefit of the doubt, and how, in general, his person is crowned with a kind of spiritual and secular halo. In a status-conscious Nigerian society, being a pastor, it would seem, is the ultimate status- a place, ostensibly, beyond scrutiny or censure. Novelist Elnathan John has it right: “Being a pastor is one of the most rewarding things you can do as a Nigerian.” “Reward” here, as I go on to show, is not just financial, but includes a variety of social allowances and indulgences that technically place the pastor in a state of ecclesiastical exception.

Partly due to the aforementioned social regard accruing to the person of the pastor, and partly due to the opportunities for self-fashioning, not to mention accumulation, that the position licenses, the number of people claiming to be pastors has increased exponentially, leading to interesting public conversations on how to separate ‘genuine’ from ‘fake’ pastors. Other than to place this controversy in the broader Nigerian moral economy in which the ersatz permanently exists in tension—and contention—with the real, I have no interest in whether a pastor is genuine or fake. What interests me is the category—its appeal, its enchantments, and, staying with the theme of enchantment, why it casts such a powerful spell on the popular imagination.

Introduction: Apprehending a Ubiquitous Subject

1. The Social Origins of Clerical Power in Nigeria

2. The Pastor as Political Entrepreneur

3. Erotic Pentecostalism: the Pastor as Sexual Object

4. When Women Rebel

5. Conclusion: Rule by Prodigy

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• African Studies
• Ethnic Studies
• Pentecostal Charismatic
• HISTORY
• Philosophie et théologie
• Religión
• África
• Gender
• Sexuality
• Christianity
• Anthropology
• West
• Democracy
• Africa
• Nigeria

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 15 septembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268203122
• Langue: English

Extrait

PASTORAL POWER, CLERICAL STATE
CONTENDING MODERNITIES
Series editors: Ebrahim Moosa, Atalia Omer, and Scott Appleby
As a collaboration between the Contending Modernities initiative and the University of Notre Dame Press, the Contending Modernities series seeks, through publications engaging multiple disciplines, to generate new knowledge and greater understanding of the ways in which religious traditions and secular actors encounter and engage each other in the modern world. Books in this series may include monographs, co-authored volumes, and tightly themed edited collections.
The series will include works that frame such encounters through the lens of “modernity.” The range of themes treated in the series might include war, peace, human rights, nationalism, refugees and migrants, development practice, pluralism, religious literacy, political theology, ethics, multi- and intercultural dynamics, sexual politics, gender justice, and postcolonial and decolonial studies.
Pastoral Power, Clerical State

PENTECOSTALISM, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY IN NIGERIA
Ebenezer Obadare
FOREWORD BY JACOB K. OLUPONA
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana
Copyright © 2022 by the University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
undpress.nd.edu
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States of America
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022935741
ISBN: 978-0-268-20313-9 (Hardback)
ISBN: 978-0-268-20314-6 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-0-268-20315-3 (WebPDF)
ISBN: 978-0-268-20312-2 (Epub)
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at [e-mail]
To Kunle Ajibade, the unelected Guardian of Culture, for random acts of generosity too numerous to total, too prohibitive to reimburse
To Jimmy Lai and all the journalists at Apple Daily and to the Uyghurs, for various reasons—and for the same reason
In sweet memory of Pius Adesanmi, who exited too soon. Rest in peace, iwọ boy jáku jàku yii !
In societies in which religious beliefs are strong and ministers of the faith form a special class a priestly aristocracy almost always arises and gains possession of a more or less important share of the wealth and the political power.
—Gaetano Mosca, The Ruling Class
The frequent, and often wonderful, success of the most ignorant quacks and impostors, both civil and religious, sufficiently demonstrate how easily the multitude are imposed upon by the most extravagant and groundless pretensions. But when those pretensions are supported by a very high degree of real and solid merit, when they are displayed with all the splendour which ostentation can bestow upon them, when they are supported by high rank and great power, when they have often been successfully exerted, and are upon that account attended by the loud acclamations of the multitude, even the man of sober judgment often abandons himself to the general admiration. The very noise of those foolish acclamations often contributes to confound his understanding; and while he sees those great men only at a certain distance, he is often disposed to worship them with a sincere admiration, superior even to that with which they appear to worship themselves.
—Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
I cannot imagine what life would have been in Nigeria without our men of God, the pastors like Apostle Suleman, who leads millions like you to continuously pray for this country. . . . I am very, very supportive of the work of the churches, because, when governments fail, the church carries the burden of the state.
—Godwin Obaseki, Edo State Governor
CONTENTS
Foreword, by Jacob K. Olupona
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Apprehending a Ubiquitous Subject
ONE The Social Origins of Clerical Power in Nigeria
TWO The Pastor as Political Entrepreneur
THREE Erotic Pentecostalism: The Pastor as Sexual Object
FOUR When Women Rebel
Conclusion: Rule by Prodigy
Notes
Bibliography
Index
FOREWORD
Intense scholarly and popular discussions on the critical place of Pentecostal churches in African societies, particularly Nigeria, have grown significantly, especially since the erosion of state institutions in the 1980s. Professor Ebenezer Obadare’s acclaimed book Pentecostal Republic: Religion and the Struggle for State Power in Nigeria has established a rigorous analytical framework for interrogating these enigmatic church movements in Nigerian politics and society. Following on the heels of Pentecostal Republic , Obadare’s new book, Pastoral Power, Clerical State: Pentecostalism, Gender, and Sexuality in Nigeria , engages in depth the critical subjects of gender and sexuality in Nigeria’s powerful Pentecostal churches.
Pastoral Power, Clerical State is a compelling, timely, and intellectually stimulating book. In this book Obadare enlightens us on the phenomenon of Pentecostal pastors serving as prominent national figures and celebrities in Nigerian society. Given the growing central role of charismatic Pentecostal pastors in the public sphere, Obadare is interested in answering these pertinent questions for his readers: What is responsible for the rise of Pentecostal pastors to national prominence in Nigerian society? And why are talented and charismatic young Nigerians embarking on the vocation of pastoring?
Unlike in the early period of Nigerian Christianity, when pastoring and ministerial professions were intimately connected to the struggle of the masses of the people, pastoring in many Pentecostal churches, especially those in major cities such as Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, and Port Harcourt, is a manifestation of affluence and influence. Obadare’s book deeply reflects changes in the fortunes of churchgoers against the mirror of the Pentecostal clergy. He backs his claims up with rigorous and insightful theories, ideas, and ethnographic narratives to paint a candid picture of Nigeria’s society.
A critical social theorist, Obadare suggests that the popularity of these Pentecostal pastors is connected to the decline of the social status of the Nigerian intellectual class—itself an offshoot of the rapid erosion of Nigerian state institutions. Indeed, many well-educated Nigerians see the Pentecostal pastor as a miracle worker whose power transcends the rational and temporal spaces of human existence. Through the use of anecdotes, Obadare illustrates the degree to which the Pentecostal pastor exhibits this supernatural power as healer and diviner. To illustrate his argument, Obadare recounts the stories of two of his now-deceased friends. Upon their deaths, the wives of both gentlemen insisted that their dead bodies be laid out before their pastors so that they might miraculously be brought back from the dead. Here the probing sociological interpretation Obadare raises with his questions sets out squarely the rationale for his interpreting these anecdotes the way he does in order to draw from them some explanation as to why the Pentecostal pastor is given the final word as regards matters of mortality, especially when medical professionals have established the finality of such matters.
Obadare’s approach establishes the norm and criteria for a sociological instead of a theological, even phenomenological, inquiry. Nevertheless, the wives of his two friends believed that the “miracles” for which the Pentecostal pastors are famed could make their dead husbands rise and walk, just as Jesus of Nazareth himself did for many during his ministry.
Obadare further answers his probing questions and addresses his bewilderment over how Nigerian intellectuals took a back seat in the nation’s developmental project. He then chronicles the height of social dominance of Nigeria’s intellectual elite and its eventual demise at the hands of a dictatorial government. He rightly posits that this tyrannical military government demystified the intellectual class, thereby accelerating its eventual unraveling in the eyes of the broader society. Numerous Nigerian academics in the days of military rule compromised on the side of the politics of relevance that many naïvely embraced. During this period, several announced in the hearing of their colleagues with fanfare that they had been invited to visit Dodan Barracks and Aso Rock, the seats of government, for consultation, indications that they were close to the seats of power in the country.

A master of Nigerian storytelling, Obadare utilizes major national events to elaborate on his subject. In telling about one interesting case, he recalls the consequences of the execution of Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, the soldier-poet—a prolific writer in his own right, who had published many works of verse and served as a patron of the Association of Nigerian Authors. The latter position cemented Vatsa’s identity as a friend to members of the intellectual class, crystallizing his position as more than just an ordinary army man. The secrecy surrounding his execution and the drama accompanying the violent death he suffered traumatized many Nigerians, including the literati who had hoped to save his life through their intervention. Nigerians who witnessed the era of military dictatorship in their lifetimes will never forget the brutality of Nigerian military leaders like Ibrahim Babangida, for example. Babangida ordered the execution of his childhood friend Mamman Vatsa after his conviction by a kangaroo military court on March 5, 1986. While literary giants were still meeting on how best to intervene and save Vatsa’s life, it was announced on national television that Vatsa had been executed by firing squad for plotting an alleged coup.
Beaming his scholarly searchlight on fascinating case studies like the one above, Obadare investigates the reasons for the intelligentsia’s forfeiture of social space, which has been all but offered up to the Pentecostal pastors to occupy and dominate. He highligh