AJAP - AMAMIHE Journal of Applied Philosophy
Vol. 20 No. 2, 2022
LEADERSHIP OMNIPOTENCE AND THE ABUSE OF POWER AMONG MEN OF GOD IN NIGERIA: A PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS
Hyginus Chibuike Ezebuilo, PhD

ABSTRACT

One of the advantages which religion seems to confer on its leaders is the freedom to stand out as stalwarts of oppression and the privilege of doing so unchallenged. This is more so in Nigeria given the general state of socio-economic imbalance which has left a great majority of the masses in the power of these ‘merchants of religion.’ The greater number of the religious leaders in Nigeria take advantage of this situation, accumulating as much power and wealth as they can; even to the level of 'omnipotence.' This, of course, is done in the name of 'God,' and it succeeds most of the time. This paper attempts to analyze this trend and the implications of this continual existence on the image of religious leadership in the country. It observes that many of the Nigerian Christian leaders are guilty of flagrant display of leadership omnipotence, and that the faithful are almost always at the receiving end of this phenomenon. It further probes into the immediate and remote causes of this phenomenon. The economic, psychological, political, social, religious and ethical dimensions of the problem received attention. The consequences of this phenomenon for the society were analyzed. This paper sees the problem as a time-bomb which will explode sooner or later. Thus, it attempts to proffer practical solutions to the problem.

Keywords: Leadership omnipotence, Power, Authority, Abuse of power, Demagoguery
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