CHRISTIAN KNIGHTHOOD IN THE DIOCESE ON THE NIGER ANGLICAN COMMUNION, ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA
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Background to the Study
The emergence of knighthood in the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion was seen as weird and unchristian institution. It started like a seedling on the soil of the Church of Nigeria sown by the bishops of the Anglican Communion. During investiture into the Order, the members are meant to make a vow to uphold and defend the church. In her early beginnings in the Diocese on the Niger, the order received ill-treatments because of its physical appearance in the Diocese which includes their regalia, putting on of caps inside the church even when prayers will be going on and attaching of their sword around their waists during the church service. The inauguration of knighthood in the Diocese on the Niger took place when some high church ranking members both the clergy and laity were suspects of some secret cults. Erinne (2000) has shed a glimpse of light in the situation of the church during the period that the knighthood was resuscitated and was on the high move in the Eastern Dioceses in Nigeria as follow: ―Some key members of the church as well as some clergymen ranging from the bishops to the priests were also members of secret societies such as the Rosicrucian Order (AMORC), the Reformed Ogboni Fraternity, the Freemasonry‖. (p. 204). Ihemtuge (2017) has lent support to Erinne‘s view; According to history, knighthood began in the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) due to great desire of the lay church members for secular titles. The desire for secular titles such as ‘Ozo’ ‘Nze’ ‘Chief’ etc by Christians (church members) had irked the leaders of the church in both Diocese on the Niger and Diocese of Owerri for some time. When these men who were the suspects of some secret cults were knighted in the church, it raised a lot of questions. It was not a welcome development then in the Diocese on the Niger. (p.13). From the time knighthood was inaugurated in the Diocese on the Niger, it has remained a controversial organization with a lot of accusations, speculations and suspicious approaches from people who are not members of knighthood. According to Erinne (2000), among the born agains, or the evangelicals knighthood has untold stories for the church and society at large. These untold stories of knighthood include, some members of the knighthood are accused of belonging to some secret cult groups, some are not born again and some knights by their involvements in the society have not measured up to the true life of Christianity. This apparent confusion has led to people giving knighthood various descriptions and names, most of the times derogatory ones. Some have even gone to the extent of describing the organization as a cult group. Among the derogatory names are ‘Ndi Ochichiri’ (the people in the dark or the nights) and not the knights, perhaps because ‗knight‘ and ‗night‘ are homonyms. Again, their uniform is another issue that really surrounds them with a lot of accusations and allegations coupled with their conduct in the service. They came to service with their red uniforms, their swords and their caps on their heads; even when prayers are going on in the church services, some would refuse to remove their caps. Their meeting places are most times secluded from the general church members. They do not blend their activities with that of other organizations in the diocese. Their secretive place of meetings also made people to raise questions about the relationship knighthood had with the church. Before the reintroduction of knighthood in the church, looking into the earlier contact of knighthood with the church, their mission was clearly spelt, contrary to what some members of knighthood exhibit today in the church. One interesting thing about knighthood is that the honorific title has become so popular and prestigious that most young men and women are so desirous of becoming knights to the point of committing simony. However, it is very important to note here, that since the inception of knighthood into the Anglican Communion, Church of Nigeria, there are lots of challenges facing knighthood. Some may be attributed to wrong perception of the public of what knighthood is all about. However, there are few major factors which have been major challenges since its inception. Granted that knighthood is an evangelical branch of the church, a call to serve, enough and adequate time should be spent when screening prospective knights. The speed and hurried manner with which people are made knights as a matter of fact is amazing. There are some Diocese that perform their investiture in such a hurry that one begins to wonder if there was any preparation at all. This kind of investiture makes a mockery of the whole concept of knighthood. There are occasions where an individual is appointed into a higher position of authority and tomorrow such individual is made a knight or when an individual makes a laudable financial donation in a church meeting and tomorrow quick investiture into knighthood will be organized for him. When such a thing happens, the public has no other option than to believe that only the well-placed individuals are good for the honorific title; also the public will be made to believe that knighthood is not meant for the poor or low class. And it implies that within a short time, greater percentage of the church members will become knights.
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