Cast

Pastor Alagba

Pastor Dele

Tomiwa

Mr Adegboyega

Act one

The scene opens in the opulent residence of the Adegboyegas. Three middle-aged men and a man in his twenties are sitting in the living room. The three men are Christian pastors from the Church of the latter-day believers. They have gathered to discuss the fate of the young Tomiwa Adegboyega, who has been accused of engaging in politics. Tomiwa’s father, also a pastor, is seated in an armchair at the center of his fellow pastors, who are also seated in similar armchairs in a section of the living room. The entire scene takes place in the living room with Tomiwa seated in a dining room chair directly in front of the pastors.

Pastor Alagba: My dear friends gathered here today, shall we begin this holy intervention as is customarily demanded by the laws of our church. Brother Dele, please start the proceedings with a short prayer. Kindly keep in mind that this intervention shouldn’t last more than an hour, so let us keep the prayer as short as we can.

Pastor Dele: I heard you the first time brother Alagba, no need to repeat yourself. Now, Let’s join our father lord in heaven.

The prayer lasts for fifteen minutes,

Pastor Alagba: Thank you brother Dele for that short prayer. You have been very judicious with timing. As I said earlier, we have gathered today because of our young brother. As shepherds of the congregation, we have been tasked with guiding the lost sheep among us who has gone astray or are about to be swallowed up by the lions of this wicked world. My dear child, Tomiwa, I do not consider you merely a Christian brother but my own child.

We have all gathered here to ensure you are still committed to our God and our way of life, because without our Christian community we have nothing. There is no need to mince words. We have heard rumours about the part you played in the election of the new governor of our state. However, as a well-respected body, we do not base our holy decisions on rumours, which is why we have convened this meeting — to verify some of our concerns and hear what you have to say regarding the accusations brought before us, namely that you have chosen to engage in politics.

Therefore, I want you to answer the following questions with the holy conscience with which you have been trained. Also know that if you give a false report, you will be lying against the Holy trinity with serious —some might even say life-shattering consequences. Now, what is the relationship between you and the newly elected governor of our state?

Tomiwa: Thank you for your question brother Alagba, I consider the newly elected governor to be a friend.

Pastor Alagba: A friend? What do you mean? The man is old enough to be your father. What is the nature of this friendship?

Tomiwa: Just like most friendships, I engage in regular conversations with the governor.

Pastor Alagba:  About?

Tomiwa: I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to disclose private conversations with you, sir.

Pastor Alagba: You are not just disclosing it to me; you are also revealing it to our Lord Jesus Christ, who presides over this meeting.

Tomiwa: In that case, I think I’d prefer to reveal it our lord in private prayer.

Pastor Alagba: ah, Tomiwa are you playing with my intelligence?

 Tomiwa: No sir, I just don’t think it is proper to reveal the private conversations I have had with the governor without his consent.

Pastor Alagba: Okay, fair enough. Are you an employee of the governor? Or are you planning to be an employee?

Tomiwa: No, just a friend.

Pastor Alagba: This your strange friendship. Anyway, have you, in any of your activities, contributed to the political cause of the governor?

Tomiwa: On some occasions, the governor has called me up to ask for advice on certain subjects.

Pastor Alagba: What kind of subjects?

Tomiwa: It depends. But mostly subjects like economic policy and finance.

Pastor Alagba: And how were you able to meet the governor?

Tomiwa: He read some of my articles in the national newspaper and had his aides contact me.

Pastor Alagba: Okay, and you have provided him with advice on these subjects so that he can defeat his political opponents and win the election.

Tomiwa: I have provided him with advice on how he can manage the economic policy of the state by learning from recent economic history.

Pastor Alagba: But he’s not yet the governor. How can you advise him about managing something that he has not yet had any control over.

Tomiwa: Well, I have only done what the governor has asked of me.

Mr Adegboyega: Son, we need you to answer our questions truthfully. The men gathered here are not just your pastors, they are also your fathers. No one is trying to push you away. We are only trying to correct your steps and lead you back to the way of our lord.

Pastor Alagba: Thank you, brother Adegboyega for your help, even though it was unnecessary.

Pastor Dele: Haba brother Alagba, the man is only trying to help. Afterall, he is Tomiwa’s father; his words can pour cold water on Tomiwa’s stubborn heart.

Pastor Alagba: I’m just trying not to keep everyone here all day. Anyway, Tomiwa, so you have confirmed to be an official adviser to the governor.

Tomiwa: I’m not an official adviser, Although I provide advice to the governor from time to time when he demands it.

Pastor Alagba: Okay, and you feel it is right to provide the governor with unofficial advice about political affairs? You don’t think that involves you with politics which goes against our values and God’s holy word, the bible?

Tomiwa: I don’t think I’m involved in politics brother Alagba, I also don’t think the Bible forbids us from engaging in politics.

Pastor Alagba: But you’re a supporter of the governor, you must be if you’re that close to him and providing him with advice. And what is it you mean by the Bible does not forbid us from doing politics?

Tomiwa: Well, I think the Old Testament reveals God to be very political.

Pastor Ijapa: Sacrilege! Do not speak about God that way brother Tomiwa, lest the Holy trinity curses your tongue! Our God is a very holy God, how can he engage in something as dirty and violent as politics?

Tomiwa: I’m only interpreting what has been recorded in the bible, Brother Ijapa. Did God not personally direct the political affairs of ancient Israel? Removing kings, installing new kings, Guiding the military, and shaping the foreign policy of the ancient Israelites?

Pastor Alagba: And the devil who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night, for ever and ever and ever. Revelations 20 verse 10. I hope my dear boy, you have not forgotten what happens to those who choose to give a listening ear to false prophets and agents of the great dragon who speak fires of lies and deceit.

Tomiwa: I don’t think it is a lie to assert that our God can be very political.

Mr Adegboyega: Tomiwa, please stop saying these things. Humble your heart!  I did not send you to Cambridge to learn how to talk down to your holy fathers. My God, why have you allowed this boy to be a source of shame?

Brother Dele: Now we have come to the root of the matter. It is this boy’s university education that has led him astray to the philosophies of the world. This is why our church always warns against higher education. They corrupt the mind with falsehoods!

Mr Adegboyega: I sent him to read Medicine at Cambridge. As a doctor, I know that Medicine is a vocational subject, with no philosophical jargon. But he said he wanted to switch to History in his second year, and God is my witness, I advised against it. However, he threatened not to return home and to drop out from school, so I had to oblige.

Pastor Alagba: And I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. Phillipians 3:8. This is from our dear apostle Paul who acquired a lot of worldly knowledge but declared them as dung because he has won the favour of our lord Jesus Christ. Tell me dear boy, do you think you are smarter than Apostle Paul?

Tomiwa: I don’t think the Apostle Paul was that well-read.

Tomiwa’s father hurls his left shoe at him, but he dodges the projectile and stands up looking shocked,

Mr Adegboyega: You dare insult one of Jesus’s holy apostles? You swine!

Tomiwa: Well, at least I didn’t deny him three times!

Pastor Alagba: Let’s all calm down! Tomiwa, please sit down. Mr Adegboyega, please relax, we cannot beat the demons out of this boy. We can only perform a spiritual exorcism that will bring him back to his senses by using the power that is present in God’s word, the Bible. Tell me, Tomiwa, do you still believe in the bible?

Tomiwa: I enjoy reading the bible.

Pastor Dele: Do you believe it is the word of God?

Tomiwa:  I think it depends on the God.

Pastor Alagba: Ehn?

Tomiwa: What I mean is that you seem to be treating the bible as a singular text when it is actually made up of two distinct parts that are regarded differently by two very different religions. For example, Jews only believe in the Old Testament and do not recognise the New Testament while Christianity recognises both. So essentially, to a Jew—who’s an actual descendant of ancient Israel and does not believe in the messianic role of Jesus Christ, the entire bible cannot be the word of their God. But to us Christians, it is, because we count both the new and Old Testament as the word of a singular God who may or may not be understood as part of a holy trinity. So, my answer to your question, Brother Dele, is that the bible, as you refer to it, is a book about the Christian God.

Pastor Dele: So, you don’t believe that the Bible is a special book from God that can heal and change broken lives?

Tomiwa: I believe it can. But this is what books tend to do. I believe the Old Testament for example reveals the worldview of ancient Isreal and other communities in the ancient near East, and the way they understood the birth of the world. Afterall, we Yorubas also have a worldview that explains the origins of the world. Many people think it is absurd to believe that Oduduwa actually descended to the world from heaven on a chain, yet they readily accept the literal story of a talking snake deceiving the first woman and leading humanity down the path of destruction.  Brother Dele, I guess, the bible to me seems like The iliad. In some ways, it could easily be referred to as the ‘bible’ of the ancient Greeks, if we are to judge by how it inspired centuries of Greeks and shaped the values of the Greek world.

Pastor Alagba: What is this Iliad? Is it also a religious book?

Tomiwa: It is a book of poems.

Mr Adegboyega: You compare the word of God to a book of poems? Have you lost your mind?

Tomiwa: Well, Psalms and the songs of Solomon are poetries.

Pastor Alagba: Okay, enough of this. It seems you no longer believe in the Christian values that bind our church together. With this your heretic views, it seems you no longer even believe in God. If you don’t believe in God, how can you believe in his promise to create a new world on top of the debris of this present one? Tell me, Tomiwa, do you really think Politics can top that? Do you even think you can create any lasting change while working with a bunch of corrupt, immoral, devilish men?

Tomiwa: I think you are right, sir, about the practice of politics in this locality. But I don’t believe the God of the Old Testament will necessary be against it. I think God has shown that he is willing to use both political and military means to accomplish his will as evident in ancient Israel. And if we are to argue that the governments of this world remain in place at his behest, why has God allowed the politics of some societies to lead to their prosperity while ours languish in poverty and degradation?

 You all remember when Nehemiah was worried that there were no city walls to protect the reconstruction of the temple in Jerusalem, he prayed, and God softened the heart of Artaxerxes the Great Persian king. The king then allowed Nehemiah to go to Jerusalem and successfully rebuild the temple walls in 52 days, which could not have happened without the help of the Persian king —and God’s political intervention.

My elders, the story of most civilizations has always showed that God—or the gods—are always intricately tied to the affairs of men. What is the real difference between Zeus intervening in the battlefields of Troy and the God of the Old Testament directing the affairs of the kings he had chosen to lead his armies and fight his battles? It is all political. Human Politics cannot function without the explicit consent of our divine directors.

Pastor Alagba: I can see that you are completely lost. You mind has been corrupted, and you have let Satan drive away the good knowledge with which you were raised. Sadly, I don’t think there’s anything more that can be done for your son, Mr Adegboyega. We cannot let him remain among us and spread these lies. We must protect the church. I’m afraid there’s nothing left to do but to expel him.

Brother Dele: I agree with you Brother Alagba. It is a tragedy.

Mr Adegboyega: So be it. This boy has brought untold shame towards me and my entire lineage. You are a disgrace, Tomiwa—a disgrace! The person speaking right now is not the son I carefully nurtured with the words of Christ. I must protect the rest of his siblings from him!

Pastor Alagba: Tomiwa, have you any words to redeem yourself?

A pause

Tomiwa: No.

Pastor Alagba: Very well. We shall announce your expulsion from the church in our next gathering. Thank you everyone for coming. Let’s end this meeting with a short prayer. Mr Adegboyega, please lead us in prayer.

The end.