It is a well-established maxim in classical logic that when the substance of an argument cannot be defeated, the defender will invariably seek a proxy to dilute the conflict. Madam Beatrice Akpala’s inability to personally withstand the theological and intellectual weight of my previous rejoinder has compelled her to outsource her conscience to a surrogate, Amawu Cletus Albert Amawu.
To Mr. Amawu, who has kindly volunteered as an intellectual shield on EpiSTLENEWS, and to Madam Beatrice, who stands silently behind him: let us engage in a rigorous, dispassionate analysis of your joint defense.
Part I: The Proxy Strategy — A Study in Moral Cowardice
In political philosophy, the use of a proxy or a “ghostwriter” to fight intellectual battles points to a fundamental vulnerability. When a public figure cannot directly defend her own public declarations, she abdicates her moral agency. Madam Beatrice boasted of being “too polished for primitive politics” and speaking with her “full chest,” yet at the first sign of rigorous, intellectual friction, she retreats into the shadows and deploys a mercenary pen.
If your convictions, Madam, were anchored on immutable truths, you would not need Mr. Amawu to translate your intentions. By outsourcing your defense, you have validated my initial thesis: your political posture is one of convenience, lacking the internal fortitude to face direct public accountability.
Part II: Deconstructing the Limitations of Amawu’s Rejoinder
Mr. Amawu’s publication is a masterclass in sophistry—the use of clever but false arguments. Let us systematically expose the structural, philosophical, and theological limitations of his text.
1. The Fallacy of “Institutional Diffused Responsibility”
Mr. Amawu writes that personalizing unfulfilled promises is “simplistic and unfair” because governance is a “collective responsibility involving numerous institutions.”
■ The Philosophical Flaw: This is a classic fallacy of division and a cheap attempt at bureaucratic evasion. In political philosophy, specifically within the framework of Social Contract Theory (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau), accountability cannot be evaporated into thin air by blaming “institutions.” When politicians stand on campaign podiums in Ukelle, they do not ask our people to vote for abstract “circumstances”—they ask us to trust their faces, their words, and their alignments.
■ To argue that no individual is responsible for unfulfilled promises is to reduce governance to a crime without a culprit. If you took the credit for being in government, you must also carry the cross of that government’s failures. You cannot privatize the prestige of public office while socializing its structural neglect.
2. The Misunderstanding of “Objectivity” vs. “Prophetic Passion”
The rejoinder accuses my intervention of being “laden with emotion, assumptions, and selective interpretation rather than balanced analysis.”
■ The Theological Flaw: Mr. Amawu confuses the holy indignation of a shepherd with mere secular sentimentality. In Christian theology, justice is not a cold, detached academic exercise. When the prophet Amos declared, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24), he was not offering a “neutral, balanced analysis.” He was delivering a searing, emotional, and direct indictment of systemic failure.
■ To look at the broken promises, the lack of infrastructure, and the historical marginalization of the Ukelle Nation and demand that a priest speak with clinical indifference is an insult to the prophetic vocation. My “emotion” is not a lack of logic; it is the spiritual resonance of the suffering of my people.
3. The Attempted Secularization of Scripture
The rejoinder claims that “quoting Scripture to support political arguments does not automatically validate personal opinions” and calls for public commentary to “illuminate issues rather than inflame passions.”
■ The Theological Rebuttal: I do not use Scripture to validate my personal opinion; I use Scripture to judge your public conduct. The Word of God is a divine yardstick for justice. When the rejoinder states that biblical principles of accountability apply equally to critics, I wholeheartedly agree. That is precisely why I am speaking!
■ The clergy does not exist to provide spiritual anesthesia to political actors so they can sleep comfortably while their constituencies mourn. To “illuminate” an issue means to shine a light into dark places. If that light exposes unfulfilled vows and inflames the passions of a people demanding better, then the light has done its job.
4. The Perversion of “Loyalty” and “Consistency”
Mr. Amawu writes: “Loyalty is not a weakness; it is a virtue. Consistency is not a liability; it is a reflection of character.”
■ The Ethical Flaw: In virtue ethics (Aristotle), a value only becomes a virtue when it is directed toward the Good. Loyalty to a individual or a political faction that systematically fails to deliver development to your own community is not loyalty—it is sycophancy. Consistency in defending structural neglect is not strength of character; it is obstinacy in error.
True loyalty for a public servant belongs first to the citizens and the community, not to political godfathers. When political relationships founded on “mutual respect” result in the underdevelopment of the Ukelle Nation, those relationships cease to be sacred; they become conspiratorial.
Part III: The Verdict of History
Mr. Amawu concludes by stating that history will judge every public servant by the substance of their service. On this point, we find common ground.
History will indeed remember. It will remember those who stood on the soil of Ukelle, made solemn declarations to a trusting populace, and later hid behind public relations proxies when called to account for those words. It will remember those who found the red carpets of political alignment more comfortable than the dust of unpaved rural roads.
Let it be known to Madam Beatrice and her newly recruited scribe, Mr. Amawu: I will not be deterred. You may attach my pictures to your articles, you may deploy your most sophisticated sophistry, and you may seek to redefine submission as “issue-based politics.” But as long as I remain a priest of the Most High God and a bonafide son of Cross River North, my voice will remain a trumpet for the common good.
Democracy is indeed strengthened when facts prevail. And the fact remains: the Ukelle Nation is still waiting for the fulfillment of the promises you guaranteed. No proxy writer can change that reality.
Rev. Fr. Clement Agama
Prophetic Voice for the Common Good
Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Clement Agama and does not represent Theluminenews, its agent or the organisation the author works for/with