In recent days ENS has run two stories that bring unwelcome attention for the Province of Nigeria and may reflect a new willingness by ENS to engage controversial topics. One, run under the headline “NIGERIA: Province criticizes article implicating Akinola in 2004 massacre”. The article in question – written by Eliza Griswold, daughter of the former presiding bishop – appeared in this month’s Atlantic Monthly and has been highlighted at The Lead and elsewhere.
The other ENS report is on the Islamic response in Nigeria to the Archbishop Bishop of Canterbury’s recent remarks about Sharia law. It opens,
Mauled by the media for suggesting aspects of Sharia Law should be incorporated into the British legal system, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has become something of a hero — even a Christian legend — in Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria.
At the time of his remarks in early February, Williams was “mauled” not just by the media. Nigeria’s Archbishop Akinola issued this statement:
We have received news of what the Archbishop of Canterbury allegedly said. If it is true that this statement about the inevitability of the introduction of Sharia law into the UK credited to Rowan Williams was actually said by him, it is most disturbing and most unfortunate. With what Christians are going through in Muslim lands around the world, it is unbelievable that any Christian leader – not to talk of an Archbishop – would make such a statement under whatever guise. This matter will be discussed at the next meeting of our House of Bishops.
Some context for Akinola’s reaction to Williams can be found in the first of the ENS reports listed above:
Griswold quotes Akinola as saying. “No Christian would pray for violence, but it would be utterly naive to sweep this issue of Islam under the carpet.”
She quotes him as continuing: “I’m not out to combat anybody. I’m only doing what the Holy Spirit tells me to do. I’m living my faith, practicing and preaching that Jesus Christ is the one and only way to God, and they respect me for it. They know where we stand. I’ve said before: let no Muslim think they have the monopoly on violence.”
Akinola is a key organizer of GAFCON which will be held in Jerusalem in June prior to Lambeth. The Bishop of Jerusalem has said the conference could have “serious consequences for our ongoing ministry of reconciliation in this divided land. Indeed, it could further inflame tensions here.”