Title: In the Name of Our Father
Author: Olukorede S. Yishau
Publisher: Parresia
Pages: 228
Reviewer: Nathaniel Bivan
These days it isn’t unusual to flip through the pages of a newspaper or surf through the internet and be hit by the story of a fake pastor or clergy man. An August 3 2018 publication of Vanguard Newspapers reported the case of a man charged with the rape of a woman. He had claimed to have powers to deliver her from satanic oppression. The accused told the woman to buy seven bottles of olive oil for cleansing and invited her to his house. On getting there, he then raped her. Fortunately, the woman was bold enough to report the incident to the police. This is just one case. There are many others, of fake pastors committing a variety of grievous acts.
In an August 2, 2015 Daily Trust report, a ‘pastor’ was arrested while performing a ritual with a girl at a cemetery. The suspect claimed he was performing the ‘healing’ to enable her attain academic prowess.
Also, in another Daily Trust report of June 10, 2017, a ‘pastor’ was arrested for allegedly beheading a seven-year-old boy and burying his head at the church’s altar. On investigation, one of the suspects confessed to the crime. He led a team of policemen to where the boy’s body was hidden inside a canal.
In Olukorede S. Yishau’s debut novel, ‘men of God’ carry out rituals in order to gain control over their congregation and their customers. But ‘In the Name of the Father’ is more than just a tale of corrupt men using the name of God for their own gain. It digs deeper and casts a wider net. They are not alone. They are patronised by the rich and powerful. After all, who keeps them in business? Who gifts them the cars and wealth they flaunt?
When Alani, a married man, gets the news that his girlfriend is pregnant, at a point where it seems life is at its financial worst for him, he’s shaken. When she dies in the hands of a quack doctor, he flees to his village where his wife and son live with his mother. There, another tragic news awaits him. His son is dead. Again, Alani flees, abandoning his wife and mother.
It happens fast. Too fast. One moment, Alani is downcast, hopeless, the next he is Prophet T.C Jeremiah, owner of a church, three cars, a house of his own, a new wife, staff and bodyguards. But this comes after he has been initiated into a cult of fake pastors, where he’s required to provide the blood of an eight-year-old baby once a year.
Fiction is a great tool for addressing social issues and pointing a finger to criminality in any society, and this book is a testimony to that. In an interview with Bookshelf, Yishau pointed out that he has “no problem shaking the table and letting people know that we should stop subletting our lives to ‘men of God’. God gave us brains to use, but many are not using theirs. Every important decision in their lives is taken by ‘men of God’, real and fake. If this book helps to re-order the way we think, I will be the happiest person on earth.”
Yishau’s novel is timely and explores the abuse of religion by a few for their own benefit. But again, it doesn’t exclude the fact that there are others who are there to actually serve God and render service to humanity. Pastor Hezekiah who works with Prophet Jeremiah is a typical example. When he discovers that the church run by Jeremiah is built on lies and deception, he decides to leave. But things get nasty.
The criminal syndicate, called the Brotherhood, is actually bigger than Jeremiah envisaged. Aside pastors, it’s made up of heads of powerful government offices and security agencies. It also includes imams. So, when a member gets into trouble, they all come to the rescue. This time, they gather for a meeting when Jeremiah is accused of kidnapping Hezekiah by the latter’s wife. They own the judiciary and security agencies, so Jeremiah has nothing to fear.
Amidst all these, Jeremiah becomes a consultant for the man holding the highest office in the land, the Head of State. So, while business appears to boom, there’s still one major problem, and this time, it’s at the home front. Jeremiah’s wife keeps having miscarriages and they hatch a plan to deceive the world to cover up their shame. What will it look like if the ‘almighty’ prophet is unable to have a child of his own?
Like many works of art, Yishau’s has its flaws. Sometimes the novel’s Point of View (POV) isn’t very clear. For example, in page 53 the POV shifts from Prophet T.C. Jeremiah to Rebecca in the same paragraph:
There was something about the girl that Prophet T.C. Jeremiah could not just place his hand on. No doubt, she was pleasurable to sleep with. They both thoroughly enjoyed the act. Never, never had Rebecca felt so at home with a client. As Jeremiah was thinking, so too was Rebecca. This man, who she did not even ask for his name since he too did not ask for hers, made her feel like a woman. Not even her boyfriend way back at the Ogun State College of Education, Osi-Ele, Abeokuta, whom she had a soft spot for then had ever made her feel this way.
Right from the beginning, it’s clear that Prophet Jeremiah’s story is a story within a story. From the first couple of pages, a writer gets an anonymous threat concerning a manuscript he’s working on. That manuscript ends up forming the bulk of the entire novel. While some readers may criticise this arrangement, the author successfully handles the transition. From a diabolic ‘man of God’ who manipulates his congregation for personal gain to a dictator’s deadly hunger for power, ‘In the Name of Our Father’ takes a reader to places he or she may only have wondered really existed.
