As Nigeria celebrated its 62nd independence recently with so much hope and optimism, an evangelist and author of 50 books, Senior Pastor, Born Free International Ministry, Badore Ajah, Lagos, Pastor Phillip Osung, spoke on the state of the nation and God’s mind about the current administration and Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election. Adeola Ogunlade was there.
igeria is 62? how elated are you and what does the future portend for Nigeria
Nigeria at 62 calls for celebration because God has taken us through a process and product will soon emerge. All that Nigeria has been going through in the last 16 years is actually a process and not the final product. I see a new Nigeria emerging soon. I will boldly say Nigeria is about to encounter a transformation. It is under this same government that is being criticized as the worse government that this new Nigeria will emerge, and it is just around the corner
America did not get to where they are today after 200 years, is the process still on for a new Nigeria
For me, a new Nigeria is around the corner. A new Nigeria where we will experience debt-free, and the pricing of goods and services will be reduced drastically. A new Nigeria that our forefathers dreamed of. This is what we have been praying for, the dreams we have been seeing, but we are right here by the new Nigeria. The process is not gradually coming to an end, the process has come to an end in just a few minutes, and months from now, we should be singing the new Nigeria song. A new Nigeria will see, weeping and killing will be gone.
What is the role of the church in governance?
The church should stop praying but start voting. We don’t pray leaders into power but by voting. Your physical voting will put them there. The church has always been backward when it comes to politics, thinking politics is a dirty game. We leave the dirty game for dirty people who put into power dirty leaders who in turn do dirty things that affect the church. In the end, the church suffers. I want to tell you that a greater number of poor people are in church. Nigerians run to the church to seek refuge. I am a pastor; I pay rents for so many people. My weekly expenses are high. I have several people on my weekly allowance. I spent so much for church members and family members and sometimes it runs to #1 million or more. This is my personal assistant to people. When Nigeria had COVID-19 in 2020, l personally emptied my account for millions of people. I had made a payment to buy a car, but I asked for a return to help several millions of Nigerians. 500 to 1, 000 families were helped by me. the church should step into politics. Politics is there in heaven. God in heaven is a politician.
How best should the church get involved in politics?
Fear not, it is written in the scriptures that when the righteous are in power, the people rejoice. This means that God in his love wants the righteous in power, but the righteous are scared of death, they believe that when they step into politics, they will be killed. The bible says whosoever loves his life shall lose it and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. The church should stop being intimidated by thugs on the street. I have been shot at severally times since 2016. I have gone through several assassination attempts, and God spared my life. I have no police security anymore. The church should stop being scared of the people outside the church.
PFN had set up Directorate of Politics to galvanize Christian’s participation in governance, is that the way to go for the church?
To the best of my knowledge, it is a good idea, but our problem is how many of these people are serious to do what God has sent them to do. A lot of people get there, get a share of their cake, and walk away. ln 2019, I turn my back on #100 million by a politicians even when the money was presented to me, I was broke, but I rejected it. If we can stand on the integrity of the gospel, we have achieved a lot. Setting up Directorate of Politics by PFN is not the solution but having like-minded people who believe in the integrity of the bible and refuses to compromise them is the way forward.
Beyond 2023, Christians should start joining parties at the ward level.
From the beginning, politics was never a thing of the world, politics was something of the church, and God is the father of politics. The Almighty President is God, if he can still be honest, we can take a cue from him as we go into politics. The church needs to be there. It is written in the Bible that in the last days, the mountain of the lord shall be exalted above every other mountain and the whole world shall run into it. The church is the only saving arm for the whole world these days but is it the entire church generally, no, just a few-minded Christians who are ready to stand on the integrity of the gospel? Like the Bible says in the book of Isaiah, I sought for a man who will stand in the gap, and I found nor.
How achievable is this new Nigeria under the Buhari administration that is being criticized as the worst and with less than a year of its tenure in power?
I will confidently say under this same government, Nigeria will experience a positive turnaround before the government hands over power to the next government in 2023. It is not this current government perse that will transform Nigeria. It is the work of the Almighty God. Nigeria is presently in a very tight corner but very close to the ultimate deliverance God has programmed for her. Nigeria’s deliverance is around the corner. I challenge Nigerians to take me at my word. Nigeria’s deliverance is not coming in 2023. It will happen before this current administration runs out.
At 62 Nigeria is struggling under severe hardship. Where did the nation get it wrong?
When a nation forsakes God, hardship is inevitable in that nation. When a nation leaves God. God too will leave that nation. Nigeria has left God who gave her independence and brought her this far 62 years as a nation. Nigeria got it wrong when the nation adopted cultures and practices that are taboo to her as a nation. Nigeria adopted a western lifestyle and allowed immoral practices like homosexuality, lesbianism, and incest among other sexual perversions that are taboo to us Africans. When strange gods are brought into a nation, the real God will keep silent and watch the strange gods destroying the nation. The strange gods sponsor errors and poor decisions in governance, instigate violence, terrorism, and insecurity in the polity and promote iniquities in the nation. That is why the Bible says, “There is an evil, which I have seen under the sun,” and it is this error that proceeds from the rulers the people elected to power. And the same people are the ones trekking while those they elected to power are riding on horses. That is a spirit of error and the reason the people are incapacitated. Empty people are in power while those who are loaded are never allowed in power. But God is coming to correct this error.