Nigerian Archbishop talks about genocide, GAFCON and the way forward for the Anglican Communion
by David W Virtue, Virtueonline:
An exclusive interview with Nigerian Archbishop Ben Kwashi.
The Rt. Rev. Ben Kwashi is the Archbishop of Jos, Nigeria. He also holds the title of General Secretary of GAFCON — the Global Anglican Future Conference — a title and office he took over in 2019 when he succeeded Archbishop Peter Jensen, former Archbishop of Sydney. He is a world traveler. He is married to Gloria and they have six children. He works closely with the chairman of GAFCON, the Most. Rev. Foley Beach.
VOL: Archbishop, Nigeria is Africa’s largest nation, it is an important economic hub, but it is a nation under extreme danger from within with violence and terror intensifying almost daily. What is your take on this?
KWASHI: The war on terror seems to me to have multi-dimensional international interests. Firstly: the sophisticated chain supply of weapons available to the terrorists should concern the world community. Secondly: the number of troops recruited by the terrorists for them to be able to resist the nations of Chad, Cameroon, Mali and Nigeria, and to hold their grounds for up to ten years, cannot by any stretch of the imagination be a small venture of a band of terrorists. Thirdly: that this “band of terrorists”, especially Boko Haram, has a single objective of Islamicizing Nigeria and has kept to that objective for ten years, should be a cause of concern not only to the Nigerian government, but also to the international community.
If Boko Haram terror were the only issue facing Nigeria it would be manageable, but another criminal band has emerged which is killing in a near unstoppable manner rural communities in the central regions and specifically Christian areas under the cover of Herdsmen. Unfortunately, both Nigeria and the international communities have adopted the narrative of farmer-herdsmen clashes, which in my opinion is most unhelpful in describing the true events as they are happening on ground.
As if that is not bad enough, a group of merciless bandits is killing recklessly in the north-west, destroying farmlands and villages and raiding communities. To cap all this is a new wave of the unscrupulous business of kidnapping in towns and cities in the country. Dealing with all these groups at the same time is no small task for nation building.
See also: Renowned Anglican Theologian & Historian Weighs the future of Orthodox Anglicanism, by David W Virtue, Virtueonline {Review of new book by Gerald McDermott]
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