Powerful Nigerians who turned religious after prison experience

Many of those who saw the video and photos of Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), when he was being led into the Federal High Court premises in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Tuesday, clutching a copy of the Bible, have continued to ask, “is Emefiele also among the prophets?”

Before his travail, the banking Czar was not known for brandishing a copy of the Bible wherever he went, the reason his appearance last Tuesday, adorning a caftan with a red copy of the holy book, left many Nigerians tongue-tied.

The Emefiele that people saw was a frail-looking man being led by an unidentified lady. He was devoid of the panache that was his hallmark.

Emefiele is not alone in this open exhibition of religiosity in times of adversity. Since 1998, Nigeria has seen political figures who momentarily became ultra-religious following prison experience.

Some of them, in their sober moments after they embraced the rope of freedom sang praises to the Almighty God, recommitted their lives to him, and vowed to be of good behaviour going forward.

The question to ask is if indeed, they are truly living out the new experience.

Powerful Nigerians who turned religious

In the country’s recent history, people like Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president; Orji Uzor Kalu, a former governor of Abia State and serving senator, and Olisa Metuh, a former National Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), had all tasted the life in prison and came out with a contrite spirit.

Obasanjo’s journey to prison began in 1995 when Sani Abacha, the late head of state, sentenced him to 30 years in prison for coup charges, but the former president was released in 1998. He subsequently contested the 1999 presidential election and won on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

When he was released from prison, Obasanjo said he had become “born again” and shared his experience how through him, a criminal he met in the prison got converted.

In an account he shared at a church programme at the Shepherdhill Baptist Church, Obanikoro, Lagos, Obasanjo said he converted one Baba Ali, his fellow inmate at Yola Prison, to a pastor.

Obasanjo narrated his prison experience in Yola and Kirikiri prisons.

“They made sure we did not receive anybody from outside to come and preach to us or fellowship with us. So, I took over as the prison pastor,” Obasanjo said.

“And there was a boy whom they had introduced to me, his nickname was Baba Ali. Baba Ali was the head of the armed robbers in the north.

“And if you were an armed robber and you came to the prison, you must first of all go and pay homage to Baba Ali. If you were going out, you must go to Baba Ali and ask him for instruction on what you had to do next.

“So, I called Baba Ali one day and said, ‘You are not coming to fellowship; I want you to be coming to the fellowship.’

“He said, ‘Baba, don’t worry me, don’t worry me at all because God can never forgive me. I have killed so many people in my life, I have drunk the blood of so many people, I have eaten the flesh of so many people and God will never forgive me, so, don’t waste your time about me.’

“I left Baba Ali on that occasion, and I waited for some time before I went back and said, ‘Baba Ali, you know all you said that you are a murderer, whether you killed only one person or a thousand people, you are a murderer, but have you forgotten that Moses was a murderer but God used him to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt?’ David was a murderer but God called him a man after my heart.

“By the time I was leaving the prison, I told Baba Ali that if he was able to make it and he would like to go to bible school, I would send him to bible school.

“Baba Ali came out of prison two years after me. By the time he came out, I had become the president of Nigeria. It took him two years to get through to me.