++Akinola's Shakara

[Louie Crew <lcrew@andromeda.rutgers.edu>]

Regarding "A Word to Nigerian Anglicans in North America." 
(http://www.anglican-nig.org/prlttr_northamerica.htm)

If a member of the Yoruba tribe says, "I am going to kill you," he is 
most likely bluffing, but if an Ibo says, "I am going to kill you," 
you'd better watch out, because he will do it if he possibly can.

Archbishop Peter Akinola is a Yoruban.

Yorubans are famous for their shakara, a Yoruban term for bluffing. 
['shah' rhymes with 'ah', as do the other two syllables; the accent is 
on the first and third]

Most of the Nigerians in The Episcopal Church (TEC) are Ibo. Yorubans 
don't have lots of standing with the Ibo. While Ibo in TEC as 
Nigerians would be reluctant to stand up to the Archbishop, they won't 
likely commit the resources required to fund the convocation ++Akinola 
promotes.

++Akinola has timed his shakara to detonate as Executive Council goes 
into special session on Wednesday to address the primates' request 
that our ACC representatives "voluntarily" withdraw for a spell.  The 
shakara costs him little, and is intended to send chill bumps up 
Council's spine.

Do not be afraid.

Most Nigerians in TEC are helping to fund their parishes back home; 
they are also funding their families back home.  Given these 
commitments, plus tribal constraints, even though there are thousands 
of Nigerian Anglicans in the US, they would not be able to make a 
segregated convocation financially viable, and ++Akinola knows that. 
That's why you rarely see crowds of Nigerians when he speaks in TEC. 
++Akinola is most popular in congregations packed with Southern white 
conservatives.

The Ibo typically ignore shakara.

The Yorubans dominate the west of Nigeria, the Ibo the East, and the 
Hausa/Fulani the North.  There are 200+ other tribes in Nigeria, but 
these 3-4 make up a huge majority of the population.

The Hausa and Fulani also know the Yoruban shakara well, and often 
find that it is best just to ignore it.

When someone sends hateful email, often it will stop right there if we 
don't reply, but if we do reply, we keep the rounds going.  Sometimes 
we are most effective when, like the Ibo, the Hausa, and the Fulani, 
we bide our time in silence.  ++Akinola won't be able to deliver what 
he threatens.

Instead, we need to be about our Father's business.

Louie Crew, Ph.D., D.D., D.D., D.H.L.
Member of Executive Council
377 S. Harrison St., 12D, East Orange, NJ 07018-1222. 973-395-1068 
http://newark.rutgers.edu/~lcrew/rel.html  Anglican Pages

    The laity is the senior and largest order of ministry  -- Chris Ambidge