Category: Sunday magazine

Rev Ladi Thompson is the founder of Macedonian Initiative, an agency committed to the plights of persecuted Christians. He spoke with Sunday Oguntola on how the church can tackle corruption and why there should be an amnesty programme for corrupt government officials. Excerpts:

Calls for amnesty for members of Islamic sect, Boko Haram, are getting louder. What is your reaction to them?

Those who are calling for the amnesty are in two camps. First, there are those sincerely afraid having seen what lies ahead. They are so afraid that they think because amnesty worked for the Niger Delta, it is the way to go for Boko Haram. This is where they are wrong. In areas where amnesty has been granted in Nigeria, the issues were never based on ideology. They were based on disenfranchisement and human rights issues. The second camp involves sympathisers of Boko Haram. They are in government, in high places and business places. The sect is growing in popularity because of wrong diagnoses. In the ideology of Boko Haram, negotiation is allowed. This has been prepackaged. But if you approve amnesty, it means there will be more monies placed in the hands of terrorists and they will of course wreck more havoc. The government has woken up to these realities and that is why the insurgence keeps getting worse.

So, what is the way to go?

We have to first acknowledge that we are at war. I have said that Jonathan is a war-time president. If we are not careful, he may be the last President of Nigeria. So, we must declare a state of emergency, which he is still going to do. But, as usual, it will be too late. We should also strengthen ties with France. That is the only country that is genuinely interested in fighting terrorism. America is only interested in our oil. Once it is gone or they find alternatives, they will move on. Britain will never commit troops should the situation escalate. They will only offer technical assistance while also supplying arms to the fighting sides. France seems like the only way to go. So, we should encourage study of French and strengthen ties. Then we must tackle corruption. The biggest force strengthening terrorism in Nigeria is corruption.

What is the connection between terrorism and corruption?

Corruption is what is facilitating the breakdown of Nigeria. It is the catalyst for the insurgence. The spill off of corruption is disloyalty to the Nigerian dream. For corruption to be bought to its knees, I don’t think the federal government can spearhead it. Everyone believes this government is not committed to fighting it. Out there, in the international community, our President has a terrible image. He has been cast as a weak, inept, corrupt leader. There are consultants painting this picture of him every day. We have not prosecuted successfully any corrupt official instead we are granting state pardon.

So, how do we fight corruption then?

Truth is the federal government is no longer a credible institution to fight corruption. The only institution left is the religious sector. The Church has to lead the way. Islam is under pressure from terrorism. The challenge with the Nigerian Church also is that the endemic corruption in the nation has crept into it. There are Church leaders and institutions benefitting from corruption. We need to find the ministers benefitting from corruption the most and persuade them to have a rethink.

How?

We must privately and quietly approach them that while they are benefitting personally from corruption, they are digging the graves of Christianity and the unborn generations in Nigeria. So, using persuasion, we must make them desist. Then, we can mount a serious anti-corruption crusade that the devaluation of human lives is unacceptable. The earliest missionaries succeeded in convincing Britain to give up slave trade. That was a most terrible form of corruption. If we mount a vigorous anti-corruption campaign, we will put terrorism under pressure. The civil societies should also join us and, of course, the government should support it.

What shape should the campaign take?

I believe a strong anti-corruption campaign must involve amnesty for repentant beneficiaries. We need amnesty for corruption, not Boko Haram. In modern Nigeria, the government structure encourages corruption. The civil service operations support it. The moral thermometer of the entire nation fuels corruption. Years ago, we said in Church that those involved in drugs and frauds should not bring tithes. There was a massive dip in attendance and incomes. Of course, we carried on but some of my colleagues said it was a stupid thing to do because these people were the ones funding Church projects. So, you see everyone, by commission or omission, is involved in corruption. There is massive poverty to the point corruption is promoted everywhere. I tell pastors preaching motivation that it is good only when the moral thermostat of the nation is right. The more you preach motivation, the more you breed greed and destroy contentment among people in a society like Nigeria. There is why you can’t find an honest carpenter or artisan anywhere again. The failure of the Church to preach morals has bought us here. Unless we preach morals, all motivation is an encouragement to crime. If the Church mounts a strong anti-corruption campaign, we will cripple corruption in just 21 days in Nigeria.

So, we need amnesty for corrupt officials?

Certainly most of the corrupt people had no other choice. The moral voice of the nation encourages and promotes it. All of us are guilty of where we are in terms of corruption. Either we did not talk loud enough or we were involved one way or the other. I have heard pastors preaching bribery is right. If we give a policeman something so as not to be late for an appointment or we gave government officials something to get documents out faster, we are guilty. Without corruption, you cannot live a standard life. You cannot get anything out. Things have become that terrible. So there must be amnesty for officials willing to repatriate their loots. If they are willing to give up their loots, we should forgive them and declare a structured amnesty. There must be a structured development programme into which the repatriated funds should be committed. This is not an under-the-table kind of amnesty programme we have now. But a programme of light punishment where people can free their consciences. We can then have a commission where people can go to and lay their loots. So, there is a roadmap for the Church to cripple corruption across the breadth of the nation in just 21 days.

Popular blind preacher, Prophet Timothy Obadare, who died last week at 85 has many lessons current church leaders can learn from, writes Sunday Oguntola

It remains the biggest crusade by an indigenous preacher. The year was 1981. Venue was Tafawa Balewa Square Lagos (TBS). The time was 12noon. Millions made their way to the venue from all parts of Lagos. Many came from Akure, Ibadan, Abeokuta and other neigbouring cities.

Though the crusade was slated to commence by 6pm, the venue was already jam-packed as early as noon. An attendee recalled: “It was unprecedented. Nigeria had never seen a gathering by an indigenous preacher like that before. Remember we are talking of when Nigeria was still buoyant and people hardly go to church. The crowd was something else. They all came because of the preacher, who was an acknowledged man of God”. The surging crowd became a big worry to members of the National Assembly whose sittings held then at the TBS. They were either holed up in their offices or simply joined the crusade since there was no way to get out.

One week after the explosive crusade, the Federal Government became concerned. President Shehu Shagari approved the use of the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos for the remaining days of the crusade. It was the first time any religious programme will hold at the massive facility.

The preacher, Evangelist Timothy Obadare, who died last Thursday at 85 in an undisclosed private hospital in Akure, the capital of Ondo State, thus became the first to use the facility. Needless to say the crusade witnessed the mighty miracles and healing that characterised the meetings of the leading Nigerian evangelist.

Obadare remained true to evangelism. His commitment to the salvation of sinners was never in doubt. He believed only a saved man has hope of eternity. He was not a motivational preacher or a compromiser bending the rules to drive membership.

The blind preacher had an unusual access into the world of the spirit. He was a terror to witches and wizards wherever he preached. Stories abound of witches openly confessing and repenting at his crusades. He demonstrated the supremacy of Christ, not just using sugar-coated words to persuade men.

The deceased was also a man of prayers. His prayers bought many of them to their kneels. Associates spoke of how he would pray for hours for the manifestation of the grace and power of God. Little wonder, his ministrations were characterised by wondrous acts.

The Bible was his life. Though he could not read it physically, his knowledge of the Holy Book was amazing. He quoted it copiously faster than even those reading it.

Despite his massive followership, Obadare, founder of the World Soul Winning Evangelical Ministry (WOSEM), lived a simple life. He was never known to be acquisitive or materialistic. He never rode in any ostentatious vehicle or even contemplated state-of-the art automobiles. Whatever funds he raised went strictly into crusades and evangelistic works.

Obadare was also never controversial. He did not claim to be an expert theologian with the best knowledge of the Bible. He knew salvation is a simple but powerful theme that resonates with all men. He stuck to simply preaching and confronting the works of darkness. He denounced corruption and bad governance, urging men to follow God wholeheartedly. He avoided government officials and their Greek gifts, only sending them words of repentance.

Daring despite his physical disability, Obadare chose to go to places even many angels will fear to tread. His evangelistic outreaches took him to many cities and towns. He traversed the nooks and crannies of the country, fishing for souls. There was no town or village too remote for him to go. He was as much in the villages as he was in the cities.

The media aide to Obadare, Pastor Michael Awe, said he will be sorely missed. “Baba was a colossus, a man used by God to work signs and wonders. The church will miss his boldness and powerful messages.”

One of the children of the late prophet, Mr. Joseph Obadare, said his father lived a fulfilled life. As the body of Christ celebrates a man full of grace and power, there is so much to learn from his eventful life and ministry.