The Knight That Never Was A Christian

By Dr jarlat Uche opara

The claim that the late Senator Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah was not recognised during the dedication of the Nnewi Cathedral he reportedly initiated deserves careful reflection, not emotional outbursts or theatrical declarations of faith abandonment.

First, I find it difficult to accept, without verifiable evidence, that Senator Ifeanyi Ubah received no form of acknowledgement whatsoever during the cathedral’s dedication.

The Church, by its nature and tradition, rarely erases benefactors from its historical memory, especially one whose contribution was as significant as claimed.

However, assuming without conceding that his name was not mentioned—does that omission justify a public renunciation of Christianity? Does it warrant declaring a “last day as a Christian,” as though faith were a transactional contract dependent on public applause?

While it is human and commendable to desire recognition for acts of generosity, the highest recognition for charity done in the name of God is not earthly applause but divine approval.

If Senator Ifeanyi Ubah undertook the project for God’s glory—as Christian charity demands—then the ultimate question should not be whether men mentioned his name, but where his soul now stands. Public recognition neither adds to nor subtracts from a man’s eternal destination.

What should therefore be uppermost in our minds is not the politics of dedication ceremonies, but the final destination of the departed, a destination that is entirely unaffected by minutes of silence or ceremonial mentions.
Furthermore, boundaries matter.

Public grandstanding in the name of the dead often says more about the living than about the deceased.

The individual who issued this dramatic protest is neither the guardian angel of Ifeanyi Ubah nor his spiritual proxy. He does not require the approval of the late senator to stage moral outrage on his behalf.

Such actions risk reducing genuine grief and legitimate concerns into performative populism, designed more to play to the gallery than to pursue justice or truth.

Faith is not sustained by recognition, and Christianity is not abandoned because of perceived slights by men.
In the end, charity given to God returns to God. Men may forget—but God does not. And that, ultimately, should settle the matter.

That show of shame, seeking for cheap popularity by that so called Knight did not only exposed the porous background of his Catholic faith, it equally indicted the very commandary of the Knight that recruited him.

It further exposed the fragility of an infiltration prone dynamics of the Knighthood. Such display cannot be expected from an average Catholic much more from a Knight of the Catholic Church. This leaves me with these questions: Is Knight in the Catholic Church a social gathering of those with deep means of livelihood? or those whose moral depth, faith capacity etc can be vouched for dispassionately?” Ifeanyi Uba Ndo! Akacham”( Ifeanyi Uba what a pity! I am done with Christianity) This was what he kept saying repeatedly, walking away from the church premises barefooted, with his pairs of shoes in his hand and his Knight Chapeau in other of his hand. Ezenwanyi, okeite etc are calling…

May the soul of late Ifeanyi Ubah and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen

Jarlathuche@gmail.com