Category: Worship

The senior pastor/founder of Royal House of Grace International Church, Port Harcourt, Apostle Zilly Aggrey, is a rare preacher with intense passion for national transformation. He spoke with Sunday Oguntola on how to fix the nation and how the church can fill the missing link

Why do you hardly grant media interviews?

Well, I am not one of the media freaks around. I am just there as a Nigerian. I love my country passionately, praying in my own little way that God will work through the minds and the hearts of all Nigerians.

Do you mean all Nigerians, not just the leaders?

No, not at all. The mistake we always make in Nigeria is that we always put the blame on leaders and leadership. That is where we make a big mistake. We define leadership wrongly and until there is a new orientation of what I call the people’s power, we won’t make much progress. The people believe that it is leadership that has the power and so we must blame the leadership for everything. Until the people know that the power lies with them and not the leadership, we won’t move forward. Everyone in leadership is supposed to serve you and be answerable to you. But we don’t seem to believe and think like that.

Isn’t that because Nigerians have been pauperised and battered to the point that they no longer believe anymore in themselves?

It is not about that. It is about our orientation that should change. We have to change what we tell people in the churches, schools and religious organisations, particularly the universities. The moment there is a new orientation and people begin to think differently, then they will act differently. But once what we are telling them is wrong, they will do the wrong thing. I will give you an example. Many years ago, the Ayatollah community was exiled and sent to France while the Seer of Iran was in Iran ruling. Ayatollah stayed in Paris, talked into tapes and sent them to Iran until the people were indoctrinated and they removed the Seer. So, it is a question of indoctrination. On December 1983, General Buhari and Idiagbon overthrew the government of Shehu Shagari and do you know in 20 months, Nigerians were indoctrinated on War Against Indiscipline (WAI)? They stopped throwing things on the roads. So, I do believe that the moment the academics and religious leaders develop what I call the transformation theology, then it can be taught in marketplaces, religious houses and government circles, we can change this country. The lecturer on campus wields tremendous influence. The people believe so much in the man behind the pulpit. So, when they combine, change will come. But the challenge is what are pastors telling people?

Okay, how do you assess messages coming from the pulpits lately?

Look, I believe in the Bible. I believe there is an Old Testament. Some parts of that are very relevant to the New Testament. I believe completely in the New Testament. But I am a little bit worried when we begin to teach more on miracles and prosperity. There must be something wrong with the kind of prosperity being preached today where only very few men, especially those of us at the pulpit, are prosperous. I believe in a prosperous nation and not a prosperous individual. If I am the only prosperous man around, I am a poor man really. I do believe in miracles and prosperity but there is a teaching on prosperity that is misleading people. If we are not careful, the religious sector will preach miracles to the point that we would only look to heaven for everything. I can tell you this: The people in Japan do not pray or hold all-night meeting, yet Toyota brands are everywhere. The economy there is incredible. The people in Dubai do not hold anointing and miracle services like we do, yet in 25 years a desert has become the attraction of the whole world. So, the question I ask myself is it that the God of heaven and earth is so deaf with all the volumes of prayers we offer in this country? I am not saying it is wrong. I live my life praying. Or are there something we are supposed to do that we are not doing? Are there things we should do that we are asking God to do for us? Let me tell you, God will not sweep the streets of Lagos for us. He will not build skyscrapers or world-class airports for us. We have got to do those things for ourselves. Another thing we do is we criticise leadership without providing alternative. Criticise with alternative propositions.

So, prayer alone cannot save Nigeria?

No, it will not. It has not fixed any nation. Prayers won’t fix the bad roads. It won’t give us airlines. This is the 13th year of the new millennium but we are still using generators and polluting the environment. We are the highest importer of generators in the whole world. We are still importing petroleum products when our refinery in Kaduna is the largest in Africa. We produce 2.7 million barrel of oil every 24 hours. If you multiply it, we are getting over N37 billion every 24 hours. Why do we import what we have? So, if it is only prayers, believe me we have prayed enough. There is something else we have not done. We have to go back to the primary and secondary schools up to the university and start teaching patriotism, time management, positive values, hard work, excellence and others. Another rising generation will begin to think differently. The role models we have are those with questionable wealth and we make them chairmen of occasions and offer them chieftaincy titles. So, the average man growing up believes if he gets money anyhow, he will be celebrated. So, while we are praying, we need to change what we are teaching people in our churches.

At what point did the church miss it?

In the 70s, there was massive teaching on holiness and righteousness without prosperity. When the message of prosperity came, it overtook all the relevant doctrines of the church. There are some pastors today who never underwent discipleship. They can get born again in January and do 90-day crash Bible teaching. They start pastoring in the next 6 months. Do you think any medical school will graduate a student in 6 months or even years? Today, we produce pastors in 90 days. Someone who has this background will do a shoddy job. Until we realise this, we are doomed. We must disciple people irrespective of how powerful and rich they are. If a governor joins a church, he should undergo discipleship. If someone works in a brewery and is ordained a pastor, what will he preach? You can’t preach salvation to people on Sundays and from Mondays to Fridays you are busy brewing beer for people to drink. So, we must return to discipleship. We are teaching the good life but we must preach Christ.

It’s amazing you hold these views. What was your salvation background like?

I got saved on September 11 1985 when I was on my way to commit suicide. My legs and hands were rotten. I woke up that morning ready to kill myself but I went to the family’s library and saw a book written by Evangelist T.L Osborne titled The healing of Christ. I read it and surrendered to Christ. I woke up later and found my legs and hands were healed. I joined the Church of God Mission where I joined the believer’s class. My teachers were sound but I never knew God was going to call me. I never knew through pastoring, someone was going to buy me a car or build me a house. My foundation was never what I will get out of ministry. I was only preaching and God started blessing me. I have always known that holiness is a must. I am not a perfect man but I am still growing unto perfection. I want to see a transformed Nigeria that people will line up to get visa to come here. I have never seen a nation so blessed like Nigeria, apart from Israel and America. We call ourselves the giant of Africa but we don’t have a national carrier. So, we must not blame leadership but ourselves. I don’t belong to those who will derogatorily abuse leaders or gather youths to abuse them. I will rather gather ideas and send them to leaders.

Apostle Wale Owodunni, President of Hope of Glory Missions Network, is arguably the Saint Paul of our days. He has been reaching out to nations and cultures with the gospel in the last 25 years. He spoke with Sunday Oguntola on some of his trials, triumphs and difficulties on the mission field

How did you start mission works?

It started sometimes in 1987. I visited a mission field in the North and was touched. I realised what we were doing back here in the south is just church while many people are dying. My heart went out to them and I made up my mind I was going into mission. I had a friend then, now in the US. We met and prayed and started something. Indeed, we started but after sometimes, we hit the brick wall. We had no proper training and funding. We were stranded. He left me and relocated to the US. Then, I started again and kept struggling until 1990 when I began to see light again.

By 1992-1993, I went through training with Christian Missionary Foundation (CMF) and became a career missionary. I was already ordained a Reverend before then but needed mission training.

Were you ever into secular work?

Yes, I am an engineer by training. I worked in several companies and financial institutions.

Where are some of the mission fields where you have worked?

By the grace of God, we have worked in several nations in Africa and outside. We worked in Congo Brazzaville, Republic of Benin, Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Togo, Ghana, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Central Africa Republic (CAR), Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. We have done crusades in Cameroon, Sam Tome and others.

How do you get funding for all of these?

When I believe God wants me to do something, I put all my heart into it. Many times, I have sold personal effects and property. I have sold cars, houses and stuffs. Then, some friends that believe in us support us. There are three people that have been really helpful. Pastors Taiwo Odukoya, Sam Adeyemi and Rev Kunle Adesina in Abeokuta. They have been very strong and courageous supporters.

Would you share some of your field experiences working with people from different cultures?

Every country we get to, our focus is to learn the local dialects for easier communication. I have learnt some of these dialects because we stay for about three, four years with them. In Gambia, they speak walof. In East Africa, everyone is heavy on Swahili. You got to learn all of them or else, you cannot communicate with these people at all.

Where have you enjoyed working most?

I have enjoyed working most in Sierra Leone because the Lord gave me an opening I have never enjoyed elsewhere. When I was leaving Nigeria, I had only $200 despite the fact that I had no contact. I came in but the friend that was supposed to receive me disappointed me. I waited in the airport for more than eight hours but at the end of the day, a woman picked me up to a prayer summit for West Africa. Fortunately, when I got there I met a friend coordinating the session, Rev. Austin Ukachi. He saw me and things began to happen. Doors were opening for me. By the time I spent two weeks, I had enough money to do the work. God was working through me to the extent that I was connected to the presidency. God used me to bless many government officials.

And your most difficult field?

I can say it is Gambia and Mali. These countries are basically Islamic so I get reported to the police and arrested many times. I was taken to the stations and quizzed. They wanted to know why I was disturbing the people. Mali was really a tough ground for me, I must be honest. In Congo Brazzaville, it was also tough. When I got there, I did not have money. My permit was only for three months. Policemen were coming to check my papers every day. It was so challenging I didn’t know what to do. The plan was to arrest me after three months that I was living illegally in the country. But then I met a general whose daughter was sick without solution. I prayed a simple prayer and God healed the lady. From there, God began to perform miracles. By the time the police came for me after the three months, the general had helped to formalise my papers. So, they could not arrest me. They came but were surprised. I will never forget that nation. The first day I got there, my money was stolen at the airport by police officers.

What has kept you going?

God has been my strength. He has been so faithful. There were times I felt like quitting but He kept encouraging me. But when I look around me, I see men that keep disappointing me. Many churches have failed us but God has been good.

Which salvation stories on the field touched you most?

There is a woman in Gambia who is very powerful and rich. Somehow, we got connected and I started preaching to her. She would only laugh because her interest was to marry me. She told me to forget about Jesus. One day, she invited me to her room, opened her wardrobe and I saw a lot of things. She showed me one soap and said if she wanted to see President Yahiya Jammie, she would just bath with it. She wondered why she needed Jesus despite her powers. I left there, praying to God to do something that will make her come to Him. One day, she had a headache but it refused to go. She was in the hospital and used several drugs without effect. I led her to Christ and the headache disappeared.

A couple came to one of my meetings in Kenya. I led them to Christ and they said they had a challenge. Their son had been in prison for three years and was not even charged to court. We prayed and the son was released miraculously. The testimony bought a lot of people to Christ. So, God has been helping us and visiting people. In Nigeria here, we met a lady who was 47 years but had backslidden. She rededicated her life but was wondering who will marry her at that age. I prophesied she would be married in the next one year. As God would have it, when she celebrated her 48th birthday, she got married.

Is this what you are doing to do for the rest of your life?

Yes, this is all I will be doing. I mean there is no greater call or commitment after 25 years of doing this. The only thing we want to do now is to start a mission-based church in Nigeria where we can mobilise prayers and support. I am not going to pastor it because I will remain a missionary for the rest of my life.

Do you really need a church, having suffered for 25 years without one?

I believe we need one because I am getting older. The strength is not much again. Two, the attitude of many pastors towards mission is appalling. They only encourage members to support their activities and not mission. We need prayers too because we are involved in real warfare.

How committed are churches in Nigeria to missions and missionaries?

A lot of them are not committed at all. They are only committed to themselves. When they tell you they are doing mission, they are only planting churches in places where they are not needed. A lot of them prefer to go to Canada, US, UK and other western nations. They neglect where missions are really needed. We have so much works to do in Africa. In Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, you find many mission works. People are really yearning for the gospel yet we revel in mega churches and structures over here.