‘BSc in Law’ and takeaways

Spiritual leaders, famously called ‘men/women of God,’ tend to carry an air of superiority around them. They are ‘fathers/mothers’ to followers who dote on their whims  and hang on their utterances as communication from a higher realm to which they are presumed to have privileged access. On his own pulpit, the man of God is law – a prerogative he deploys as he feels led by natural and supra-natural promptings. Because he is human like everybody else, he is fallible like everybody else; but the doting credulity of followers often pose a strong allure into feeling infallible that many men of God find difficult to resist. It would take a brutal encounter with contrary facts to bring him round to acknowledging an error and demonstrating genuine remorse in line with that acknowledgement.

Dr. Paul Enenche, senior pastor of Abuja-based Dunamis International Gospel Centre, had such teachable moments in the last week over his misjudgment of a testifier, Veronica Anyim, as a liar. Anyim had during the worship service at Glory Dome on 14th April mounted the altar to share a testimony on her graduation the day before from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), thereby becoming the first in her family to earn a university degree. In her testimony, Anyim recounted how she battled obstacles, including health challenges, on her path to graduation, testifying that God helped her to overcome all under spiritual oversight by Enenche and his wife. She spoke in wonky English, which apparently put off the pastor and set him on collision course with the testifier. 

“I want to appreciate God for my life and family and thank God for using mummy and daddy (the Eneches) for our sake,” Anyim began. “It all happened when I was trying to attend the National Open University of Nigeria. Before I came to Dunamis, many things were happening in my life and my family: from my father’s side and my mother’s side, nobody was a graduate, they only ended up in primary or secondary school,” she narrated. “But when God remembered me, I got a job, and I was working, and I decided to further my education. I started school, and I wanted to do a Law programme. I started in 2014, and I never lacked the money to pay my school fees; I kept going to the extent that I got to my 500 level and challenges everywhere – problems, sickness. They afflict me with leg pain, and I was not able to finish. My mates had finished, the Law programme is six years, but since I was unable to meet up, I keep on like that. But yesterday, I graduated,”  she submitted. 

Anyim’s testimony took a sour turn when Enenche butted in to question the credibility of her narrative by grilling her on the details of her degree. The grilling was sufficiently harsh to unsettle an articulate testifier; it was worse that Anyim was by no means articulate. The pastor asked her what specific degree she graduated with, and she responded that it was “BSc in Law.” Upon that claim, the pastor ordered her off the altar and dismissed her testimony as a lie. “Is that how lawyers speak English? When she started that testimony, I knew there was something wrong,” he said as he warned other church members that they come forward to give false testimonies to their own damnation.

The video clip of that encounter became viral online, but so also pieces of evidence showing that Anyim indeed graduated from NOUN on 13th April with the conventional bachelor degree in Law. Netizens dug up her picture in graduation gown and the university convocation list showing she was number 2262 graduand and was awarded an LL.B. Anyim herself, being active on social media, had on her Facebook page penned an appreciation to God for seeing her through her education. “And it came to pass yesterday 13th April being Saturday, 2024 at National Open University Abuja. Father, I am saying thank you for making me to graduate from my Law programme. Congratulations to me once again,” she wrote inter alia. 

Following the testimony fiasco, Anyim was again on social media to bemoan being disgraced and labelled a liar by her spiritual leader because she couldn’t speak good English and mistakenly said BSc instead of LL.B. “It’s disheartened because I couldn’t speak English like lawyers. I was labelled a liar for mistakenly saying BSc instead of LL.B. Actually, I graduated with a Third Class at NOUN. The rejected stone can become the cornerstone. We’re reminded not to look down on anyone. You can’t imagine what I endured throughout the service. How shattered I must have felt to be disgraced by my spiritual leader in such a manner? I am no. 2262 on the list. I, Vera, deserve better now,” she wrote on Facebook. “The Devil came to steal my testimony but Jesus said NO!,” she stated in a separate post.

“Sensitivity to our humanity must not be lost in the presumption of superior morality”

Nigerians were furious at the presumptive defamation of the testifier as a liar and demanded public apology to her from Pastor Enenche. His apparent response was through a statement by the church explaining that the embarrassment of Anyim was not intended and all that happened was “under the spur of the moment.” The church stated that concerns arose during Anyim’s testimony regarding her language proficiency and the clarity of her academic attainment because her diction suggested a level of English proficiency below what was expected of a university graduate, much less one with a Law degree. That was besides perceived discrepancy in the nature and duration of her academic pursuit, which raised doubts about the legitimacy of her qualification. “The action of the senior pastor was rather based on his and the church’s aversion to seeming mediocrity and any appearance of untruth,” the statement by Enenche’s personal assistant/secretary, Sylvester Edoh, said, adding: “While we remain resolute in our passion for excellence, intolerance of mediocrity and falsehood, we wish to reiterate the fact that no harm or hurt was ever intended by the senior pastor against Ms. Anyim Veronica. The senior pastor feels deeply concerned and has already reached out to her.”

Now, would you call that an apology from the pastor or apologia for the pastor? But you indeed waste time to debate whether it suffices because the pastor and the testifier swiftly worked their issues out as a ‘family affair.’ In a post on her Facebook page, Monday, after meeting with the Dunamis pastoral couple, Anyim said she had put the matter behind her and would want everyone else to align. Sharing photos from the meeting, she wrote: “I want to inform the whole world that I just had a warm meeting with my spiritual father and mother, Dr. Paul Enenche, and Dr. Becky Enenche. I don’t have any grudge against the church or them. I remain committed to serving God as a member of Dunamis Church. I am thankful for the concern of the public. I have put the situation at my back, and I have moved forward, and I want everybody to do the same. Peace.”

So, it’s case closed for Vera Anyim, and it would be only a sympathiser who weeps louder than the mourner that would insist on further redress for her. But that purported closure does not obliterate public interest takeaways to be highlighted. One is the age-long creed that you do not judge a book by its cover, meaning we all must always remember not to presumptuously  rule out anyone on the basis of an unimpressive appearance. Another lesson to learn is that sensitivity to our humanity must not be lost in the presumption of superior morality. Just think on it: even if Anyim were lying by her testimony, would it have helped her life to be thrown off the altar after declaring her a liar? Wouldn’t it be more helpful to humour her all through her false testimony – if it were false – and privately invite her thereafter for moral counselling? Righteous indignation should not be a licence to destroy a life.

One more takeaway is that leadership responsibility should dictate commitment beyond self-interested damage control. In the particular case of Anyim, Pastor Enenche may have caged the tide of public opprobrium his action ignited; but he should consider sponsoring the lady to law school when the need arises, or support her to take career development courses that will improve her communication skills and enrich her grasp of legal terminologies. That is the kind of investment needed to upgrade her as a person. In general application, this should be a model of responsibility leaders need to adopt to redress injury to others.