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Last week, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Reverend Justin Welby, resigned because he failed to ensure the prosecution of a child molester, John Smyth, who was alleged to have sexually abused about 130 boys in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 80s, and later in Zimbabwe and, probably, South Africa. Smyth eventually died in 2018 without ever being prosecuted despite all the allegations against him. Welby was accused vicariously of covering up for Smyth.
Smyth, who worked for a Christian charity, was accused of molesting private schoolboys who attended evangelical Christian holiday camps in the late 1970s and early 80s. He was a Canadian-born British barrister who was actively involved in Christian ministry for children as chairman of the Iwerne Trust, which raised funds for the influential conservative evangelical Iwerne camps. For over five decades and across two continents, he was alleged to have subjected as many as 130 boys and young men, under his care, to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks, which permanently left a scar on their lives.
When the abuse was unearthed, rather than the Church taking action, it did nothing except allow Smyth to move to Zimbabwe and later to South Africa, where he continued in his ways. Eventually, in 2018, aged 77 years, he died in Cape Town at a time an investigation by Hampshire constabulary was on against him, without facing any prosecution or conviction.
A review committee was set up and funded by the Archbishops’ Council to investigate the allegations against him, with members comprising individuals who are independent from the Church of England and the Archbishops’ Council. This review team was led by Keith Makin.
Earlier this month, the group released its findings, which gave a damning report against the Church of England. The report said inter alia: “The abuse at the hands of John Smyth was prolific and abhorrent. Words cannot adequately describe the horror of what transpired.
“Many of the victims who took the brave decision to speak to us about what they experienced have carried this abuse silently for more than 40 years.
“Despite the efforts of some individuals to bring the abuse to the attention of authorities, the responses by the Church of England and others were wholly ineffective and amounted to a coverup.
“The Church and its associated organisations must learn from this review and implement robust safeguarding procedures across their organisations that are governed independently.
“This has been a long process but a necessary one to uncover the extent of John Smyth’s despicable behaviour and how the Church reacted to it.”
Following the release of the report, pressure mounted on Welby to resign. Although he immediately issued an apology on behalf of the Church of England, he eventually resigned last week. In his resignation letter, Welby noted that he did not live up to expectations as a leader and that he didn’t take enough steps to protect many children from being molested by an influential religious leader whose duty was to nurture and protect the boys entrusted to his care.
Welby said: “Having sought the gracious permission of his majesty the King, I have decided to resign as archbishop of Canterbury.
“The Makin review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth. When I was informed in 2013 and told that the police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.
“It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and re-traumatising period between 2013 and 2024…. I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our profound commitment to creating a safer church. As I step down I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse.
“The last few days have renewed my long-felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England. For nearly 12 years I have struggled to introduce improvements. It is for others to judge what has been done. In the meantime, I will follow through on my commitment to meet victims. I will delegate all my other current responsibilities for safeguarding until the necessary risk assessment process is complete.”
However, Andrew Graystone, who authored the book ‘Bleeding for Jesus’, which focuses on Smyth’s abuse, noted that the issue went beyond the Archbishop of Canterbury. According to him, “At least 11 bishops knew about John Smyth’s abuse but failed to stop him. In addition, there were scores of rank-and-file church leaders and members who stood by, feeling it was someone else’s job to act. This is not about the incompetence of one man. It is a deep-seated cultural issue about the privilege in the church.”
He, therefore, believed that the church needed “a wholesale change of culture at the top of the organisation.” This, in his opinion, would involve other clergy taking responsibility for failing to do something about this issue despite knowing about it.
By resigning, Welby tried to see if he could add some modicum of honour to his name. He realised that he had failed the people who got molested by not taking the appropriate action to prosecute their abuser, but he didn’t want to make a bad situation worse. He also wanted to give the victims of the abuse and their family a sense of justice; that someone was taking responsibility for what happened to them.
This is one aspect of leadership in the Western world that Nigerians have found hard to emulate. While leadership is seen as service in the Western world, leadership is seen as rulership in Nigeria. The Nigerian leader sees leadership as a long-awaited opportunity to lord things over the followers. The Nigerian leader is worshipped and is not expected to be accountable to the people. For a religious leader like the archbishop, he is seen as God’s representative on earth and should never be questioned, since whatever he says or does is ordered by God. He is not expected to ever apologise for anything, but if he does, he is celebrated as the embodiment of humility for apologising.
Resigning from a political position is also not common among Nigerian leaders. Resigning because of the actions of another person is virtually non-existent.
There is a worrisome attachment to political positions that Nigerians are afflicted by. Those who are in, do everything possible to cling to such positions, while those outside do everything possible to get into political positions. No matter what political office holders are accused of doing or what happens under their supervision, they don’t see it as a reason to resign. Only a few people have ever resigned from their positions.
The reason for this is that political leadership is seen as an opportunity to make money and acquire money and influence. The moment people get elected or appointed to political positions, they become people of influence in whatever community they belong to. People mill around them for favours. They are treated like royalty wherever they go. Most people don’t ever want to relinquish these peculiar perks of office.
Nigerians should start seeing leadership of all forms as service. That is the foundation of national progress. The spirit of service enhances transparency and accountability. That is what makes countries move from “developing” to “developed”.
X: @BrandAzuka
