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Tag: Nigeria

  • Independence presidential broadcast on Monday

    Independence presidential broadcast on Monday

    As part of the activities marking Nigeria’s 52nd Independence Anniversary, President Goodluck Jonathan is to address the nation on Monday.

    A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati stated that the broadcast would be aired at 7.00 am.

    Abati urged all television stations to hook on to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) for clean feed, while radio stations should hook on to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).

    He said the president would also watch a ceremonial Change of Guards by the Nigerian Army’s Brigade of Guards, at the State House, Abuja.

    Abati said the ceremony would be witnessed by Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, Senate President, Sen. David Mark, Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar.

    He said former heads of state, members of the diplomatic corps, top political leaders and government officials would also witness the ceremony.

    Abati said the event would be transmitted live, from 9.30 am on the NTA and FRCN networks.(NAN)

  • Forging a national identity

    Forging a national identity

    Tomorrow, Nigeria will be 52. It will be time to ask who she is and what she stands for. Except those who rule the country, who think that by simply declaring that she has an identity and cannot therefore fragment, most of us know she is afflicted by midlife crisis. British colonialists superintended the marriage between Northern and Southern Nigeria. But they were unable to give her an identity before she became independent in 1960. For reasons we will not go into here today, it is not surprising that France was more successful than Britain in imbuing her former colonies with a more tangible sense of national identity. If Nigeria appears to be undone today, wracked by religious, ethnic and social conflicts, the problem is more likely located in the absence of an identity than simply because it experiences economic difficulties, hypocritical attachment to religion, selfish and unintelligent leadership, and uninspiring and short-sighted constitution.

    I was fortunate to grow up under a father whose mind was often made up, and made up in the right direction. He never really sat me down to teach me in the fashion Alexander the Great was tutored by Aristotle, but both through his writings – he was an editor and columnist – and his progressive worldview, I learnt the virtues of altruism, patriotism and strength of character. He had a strong moral sense that was not attenuated by worldly pleasures. He was not averse to philandering, and had even tried more than once to inculcate in me a healthy suspicion of the opposite sex bordering on the misogynistic, which pearl he said he polished in his years of turbulent relationship with women. He also drank, perhaps a little more than could be described as the social drinker, but he was seldom so far gone as not to recall what he did or said. He ruefully did away with the bottle only when his creaking pancreas, which never stopped working, protested vigorously.

    But this piece today is neither about my dad nor about me. I only offer myself as a practical example to illustrate how and why it is crucial for a nation to acquire an identity necessary to abjure the hedonism that weakens national resolve. I distilled my worldview eclectically from my dad’s lifestyle and unsystematic philosophy, and honed this worldview after introducing myself to the lives of great statesmen. It enabled me to discover myself when I was barely out of my teens. That self-discovery has not only helped me to keep my head in the Kiplingian sense, it also helped me to endure life’s vicissitudes, shape my reluctance to be beholden to unprincipled interests while sometimes being a supporter of enlightened absolutism, and give me a strength of character that makes me ready to sacrifice anything, anybody, including my life, for the principles and values that I have dedicated my life to.

    A few weeks ago, I tried to communicate to my readers the herculean task I took upon myself to inculcate in my children the noble principles I thought anyone able to call his soul his own should embrace. I could not initiate that effort if I did not believe in something or if my principles were so fluid they could be bought or influenced by degrading considerations. I think the same thing goes for a nation. Nigeria could never hope to make something of its children if it does not believe in or stand for anything. Nigeria is passing through middle age and transiting to old age without the redeeming benefit of standing up for anything truly noble. Worse, it is making that transition without having had a leader who could personify that noble longing for greatness.

    Forgive my pessimism, but I often look at Nigeria and wonder whether it will ever amount to anything. What does it stand for? What great thing does it hope to bequeath the world? Without a national ambition which comes out of knowing who we are, what great things could we hope to accomplish? It took approximately 10 years for Alexander the Great to forge a great name for Greece and for himself, names that have endured and still stupefy the world both for the accomplishment of the young Alexander himself and the inability of the rump empire to live up to the glories of its incandescent past. We are familiar with the popular British patriotic song “Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves,” and its stirring refrain “Britons never shall be slaves.” No historian would underestimate the inspiration and fillip which this patriotic song gave to Britain’s naval strength, its colonial adventures, and its prosecution of World War I and II. Who could also belittle the nationalistic passion Frederick the Great and Otto von Bismarck imbued Germany (Prussia) in the 18th and 19th centuries? Who could ignore the sense of national pride brought to France by both St Joan of Arc, through her independence wars, and Napoleon Bonaparte, through his ground-breaking war tactics and the Napoleonic Code? And who could imagine the Roman Empire, its character, justice system and administrative legacy, without the two Caesars, Julius and Augustus?

    Nigerian rulers may denounce the pessimism of their countrymen and even live in denial of the looming apocalypse. They may continue to affirm the indissolubility of the country and whoop that the country’s unity is non-negotiable. They may even hold out plenty of hope in institutions as ramparts upon which to build a “strong and virile” nation, whatever that means. And they may believe that by and by, the constitution, if tinkered with, may deliver the utopia we crave, in spite of the indiscipline we are noted for. The fact, however, is that the fabric that holds the country together is straining badly, and will sooner or later give way, for it cannot be held together by words but by action, action which we have refused to summon.

    What actions are required to weld the country together and make it flourish? Two options present themselves: either the people join hands together to lift the country; or a leader emerges to lead the charge. Most people have given up on the possibility of a visionary leader emerging, and have therefore reposed faith in the ability of followers to do the job. I entertain no such nonsense. Followers are never capable of creating and sustaining a vision for national identity and greatness. They could never summon the consensus that would bring it about. In the late 1930s, for instance, Britain was amenable to appeasing Hitler’s irredentism. It took Winston Churchill’s bitter challenge to galvanise his country in the opposite direction. France was, after defeat in that same war, resigned to fate; it took the single-mindedness of Charles de Gaulle to convince them otherwise.

    Anywhere, anytime, change is delivered only by the few for the many. Most analysts and south-westerners, for instance, cannot see why it is necessary to fight and defeat Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State in the October governorship polls. They cannot understand why the region must place premium on leadership character and principles; they cannot understand the urgency of forging a regional identity as a tool for social, political and economic mobilisation in a country lacking a sense of purpose; and they cannot understand the highly intricate and elevated visioning necessary to engender a mini utopia in a national sea of mediocrity. It is given to only a few to understand these issues; they must not fail to try fight the electoral battle because they fear to fail.

    I do not know a great nation with a discernible national identity which did not have visionary leaders at one point or the other in its history. Imagine if the United States had had Chief Olusegun Obasanjo or Robert Mugabe instead of George Washington to lead the war of independence. Could it sustain the tradition of two terms? Would the two African leaders not act as if the country owed them its very life? Imagine also Turkey without Mustafa Kemal Ataturk at the end of World War I. Could the secularism that has underpinned its stability and projected its influence in world and Eurasian/Southeastern European politics have been devised, let alone nurtured for so long? How could the Soviet Union and China have played significantly in the 20th century without Lenin/Stalin and Mao Zedong respectively? What would 20th Century Egypt be without Gamal Abdel Nasser, Israel without David, son of Jesse, and Ghana without Kwame Nkrumah?

    For 52 years, and after about 12 heads of state/presidents, we still don’t know who we are, what we want, and where we should be. The leaders themselves never had a sense of mission or a sense of history. But we won’t know who we are, no matter the hundreds of brilliant individuals we produce annually, until a leader comes along, a deus ex machina to help us forge a common identity either by force of his character, force of arms, or force of ideas. Western Nigeria continues to embrace the progressivism fostered by Chief Obafemi Awolowo; Northern Nigeria still makes the conservatism moulded by Sir Ahmadu Bello its reference point; and Eastern Nigeria oscillates between the liberalism of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and the radicalism of Dim Emeka Ojukwu. If no one builds a foundation for Nigeria, the country will not have an identity because it cannot stand on nothing.

     

     

  • Major Triumphant

    Major Triumphant

    (“I am not dead yet”)— Colonel Victor Anuoluwapo Banjo

    The above were the defiant last words of Colonel Victor Banjo after each round of furious bullets failed to silence him. It was an unequal struggle between man and man-made metal. The great colonel eventually succumbed to the fierce velocity, thus ending the life of one of the most brilliant and mysterious officers thrown up by the Nigerian military during the years of the locusts, 1966 to 1999.

    The neat and cruel symmetry of dates only reinforces the metaphysical mysteries that often accompany the birth of national tragedies. For Columbia and Latin America in general—according to the incomparable Gabriel Garcia Marquez—it was one hundred years of solitude. For Nigeria, it has been ninety eight years of the syndrome we now name as elite solipsism and still counting.

    There is an exacting and intriguing connection between war and literature. Some of the greatest writers the world has produced have been arms bearers in their prime. Count Leo Tolstoy, arguably the greatest novelist of all time, Leon Trotsky, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Andre Malraux, a.k.a Colonel Berger, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Eric Blair, a.k.a George Orwell, Wilfred Owen and the great war poets of England and a host of others. These were writers of the greatest pedigree. Two of them were Nobel laureates in literature. Perhaps an immediate but superficial explanation is that apart from love, it is war and literature that evoke the deepest passion in humanity.

    Readers of Victor Banjo’s memorable memoirs, particularly his hugely touching and affecting letters to his beloved wife from prison, must wonder what a great writer lost to Nigerian literature. This is the stuff of the greatest penmanship anywhere in the world. Banjo writes with passion and poetic brilliance; his observations are laced with penetrating acuity. The letters are wrought from the furnaces of epic sonnet at its summit.

    Like all supremely gifted people who are conscious of their god-given endowments and the possibility of deploying these for restorative and redemptive actions, Banjo could be difficult, impossible to fathom and perpetually obsessed by a single solution. Yet there can be no denying that he was a great Nigerian patriot and nationalist. Even his obsession with a single solution which could be a vice only led to the virtue of granite clarity and phenomenal will. Eventually, there is probably only a thin line between genius and monomania.

    It will be recalled that Colonel Victor Banjo was arrested shortly after the major’s mutiny of 1966 for physically threatening the new Head of state, General Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi. It was rumoured that he was close to the radical majors and was tacitly in support of their action although he was not a direct participant. A less brave and self-assured man would have lain low, but not the testy Colonel who probably viewed Ironsi with barely concealed contempt and condescension.

    It was in prison, or what may be termed in retrospect as true preventive custody, that the greater events of 1966 and the killings of Nigerians of Igbo origins found Banjo. Incarceration in the east probably saved his life. Imprisonment saw Banjo resuming his friendship with his old buddy, the then Colonel Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. Although very sympathetic to the gory plight of the Igbo, he was not persuaded that this should lead to the break-up of Nigeria.

    In prison, Banjo had renewed contacts with other committed Nigerian patriots and nationalists who were not sold on secession but who also felt that General Yakubu Gowon was an interloper who had no business presiding over the affairs of the nation. Thus crystallised the idea of a Third Force which was to rid the nation of the ethnic revanchists who had installed Gowon and the secessionist bugaboo in the east.

    It turned out to be a bridge too far for the great colonel, or perhaps it was the old Majidun bridge that was too far. Given command of a Biafran army that was to rid the mid-West of Nigerian forces and then head for Lagos to topple the Gowon administration, the colonel began to nurse other ideas.

    It was reported that an advance unit of Banjo forces actually got as far as Ikorodu. It was a fraught and dire moment for the federal government and there were rumours of hurried evacuation plans to spring the beleaguered Gowon from Dodan Barracks. But back in Benin, the colonel appeared to stall and stonewall probably due to immense logistic difficulties. There was even a farcical short-lived Republic headed by a military doctor. It would seem that after Banjo serially disobeyed his orders, Ojukwu tricked him back to Biafra where he was executed after a celebrated trial of saboteurs.

    For a nation already serially traumatised, the best way to avoid further ethnic kerfuffles is to place the Banjo tragedy in a severely dispassionate sociological perspective. War is hell. Secondly, once an army loses its way in the political jungle, it will eventually turn on itself in an orgy of fratricidal bloodletting. This is the lesson the Nigerian military ought to have learnt from its years of misadventure. Apart from the nation, the greatest casualty of military rule is the military itself.

    The logic of a strife-torn army unravelling at its ethnic and regional seams is strange and compelling. There is no paddy for jungle. Once Colonel Banjo accepted a military rank and the command of an army from the Biafran army, he had accepted Ojukwu as his commander-in-chief. He was bound by military ethos to accept and obey his orders to the letter.

    Treason cannot cancel out treason except by superior force. Within the context of the mass hysteria of a faltering and tottering Biafra and the enduring trauma of the Igbo people at that point, it would have been impossible for Ojukwu to save his old friend from certain death. Not even friendships forged in radical comradeship often survive a poisoned polity. When Majors Adewale Ademoyega and Emmanuel Ifeajuna caught up with each other in prison, the argument about who was remiss in his role during the uprising led to memorable fisticuff which shook the entire prison.

    Perhaps in an unviable federal prison, there is always a stiff price for an ethnic nationality to pay for political sophistication and a cultural incapacity to stomach tyranny and misrule. But by his radical daring, his contempt for personal suffering and his noble self-sacrifice, Colonel Victor Banjo has joined the pantheon of Yoruba avatars who have sacrificed themselves in the pursuit of a greater and better Nigeria. If political martyrdom were to be added to this list, then it becomes an endless cortege indeed.

    Last Friday, the Yoruba race in Nigeria added another illustrious son to the pantheon of its military sons who have chosen self-sacrifice as a noble profession. There have been weeping and wailing ever since. But one thing should be clear. Major Akinloye Akinyemi, a.k.a Sergeant Carter, might have died physically, but his cult of heroic example will survive for many generations to come. It was the mortal remains of the late major that were interred last Friday, leaving him with the robe of immortality.

    In the end, nothing could be better and more uplifting than the moving tribute and homage paid to him by three of his classmates at Government College, Ibadan, and the lengthy obituary by his military colleague and former comrade in arms, Colonel Tony Nyiam. First published in an abridged form in a national newspaper, the full devastating disclosures came later in the online Sahara Reporters.

    Scion of the notable Akinyemi family, the late major was a model officer in every material particular. He was in a class and league of his own always finishing far ahead of others in terms and times of physical and mental exertion. Top honours and rave commendations at the elite Sandhurst Military Academy were followed by a First Class degree in Electrical Engineering from a prestigious British university.

    There is a lot about Akinyemi that recalled the martyred Colonel Banjo. Both were extremely brilliant officers, mercurial in disposition and also first class military engineers. Even as he was pushing his lithe body to the limits of physical endurance, he was also pushing his mind to the zenith of pneumonic capacity. This mental agility and the conquest of physical pains would serve him well during subsequent ordeals.

    It was not surprising that this gifted officer chose the elite paratrooper unit as his natural turf. Given his antecedents and glittering records, Akinyemi ought to have finished at least as a four-star general who could hold his own in the rarefied echelons of global military titans. But in an army imploding from its internal contradictions, the unhappy consciousness is a sure recipe for tragedy.

    The unhappy and troubled major began asking unhappy and troubling questions about an army courting disaster and death by misadventure. Instead of heading for the stars, he was directed to the military dungeon where his tragic predecessors had ended up. He only escaped the firing squad by whiskers. Twice the major was arrested and detained and twice was he arraigned before military investigating boards, first during General Babangida’s tenure and later during General Abacha’s reign of terror. He lost his commission in the process.

    It was perhaps Major Akinyemi’s encounter with Abacha’s murderous goons that left their indelible scars. Mentally abused and grotesquely tortured, he was also rumoured to have been injected with a poisonous substance which eventuates in fatality by slowly targeting the vital organs. If this were to be so, the major must have been an extremely tough cookie indeed.

    It is just as well that “Sergeant Carter” finally found peace and solace in god as a Christian soldier and officiating pastor of The Redeemed Christian Church of God. The major is at ease, but the nation is still ill at ease. Perhaps it is only the dead who are probably lucky. We say this because there are several walking dead and living casualties out there crying for mercy.

    As we bid a final goodbye to this illustrious son of an illustrious father, it is useful to remind ourselves of the heroic sacrifices of those who made the current dispensation possible. As the nation celebrates its fifty second anniversary, many of the demons of yore are still very much with us. Only full disclosure will lead to full closure for an unhappy nation. May the fallen major rest in perfect bliss.

  • Nigeria @ 52: The changing faces of Christianity

    Nigeria @ 52: The changing faces of Christianity

    Christianity began in 1842 with missionary churches in Nigeria. But independent, indigenous churches have become the cornerstone, bringing fresh innovations and spreading the faith in remarkable, amazing ways, writes Sunday Oguntola 

    Henry Townsend must be smiling down on indigenous churches in Nigeria from his grave. When he established the first mission base in Badagry in 1842, Townsend certainly had no idea Christianity was going to take strong roots in the nation. 170 years after, Nigeria now boasts of the highest Christian community in Africa. Townsend’s pioneering efforts have become phenomenal, thanks to the irrepressible impacts of indigenous churches.

    If missionaries like Townsend did so much to bring Christianity, indigenous churches have done much more to sustain and deepen the faith. They are redefining the scope and face of Christianity, bringing to bear raw fervour and spiritual aggression. They broke strongholds difficult for missionary churches to penetrate and gave Christianity an African identity. Many locals disenchanted with western values promoted by missionary churches felt welcome by indigenous churches.

    The beginning of indigenous churches

    It all started in 1918 in Ijebu-Ode when the first Aladura movement was founded. A school teacher, Sophia Odunlami, and a goldsmith, Joseph Sadare, were behind it.  The duo, members of St. Saviour’s Anglican Church, rejected infant baptism and all forms of western and traditional medicine.

    They initiated the “Prayer Band” popularly called Egbe Aladura.  Sadare was compelled to give up his post in the Synod and others were forced to resign their jobs and withdraw their children from the Anglican School. The Aladura began as a renewal movement in search of true spirituality.

    When the influenza epidemic broke out the same year, the group saved many affected with prayers. This consolidated the formation of the prayer group, which was named Precious Stone and later the “Diamond Society”. By 1920, the Diamond Society had grown tremendously with branches around the Western Region of Nigeria. It emphasised divine healing, holiness and complete dependence on God.

    The Oke Ooye, Ilesha revival sparked off Pentecostalism in Nigeria. The late Apostle Ayo Babalola performed several miracles that culminated in the formation of the Christ Apostolic Church.

    Meanwhile, many mainline churches such as Anglican Communion, Methodist Church, Baptist Convention and others were witnessing similar internal dissensions. Many Africans were denied Holy Communion and disallowed from church workforce on allegations of being polygamous. Pushed to the wall, many of them pulled out and formed their own churches.

    Other indigenous churches sprang up such as the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) founded by the late Prophet Samuel Oschoffa and the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement led by the late Prophet Moses Orimolade. Both spiritual churches, however, witnessed different schisms that led to different factions based on personal and doctrinal crises.

    In 1931, a certain Josiah Akindayomi joined the Cherubim and Seraphim Church. By 1947, he started to become concerned that the church was departing from the true word of God in some of its practices. By 1952, he felt totally persuaded to leave the church. He started a house fellowship at Willoughby Street, Ebute-Metta, christened the Glory of God Fellowship.

    Initially there were nine members, but before long the fellowship rapidly grew as the news of the miracles that occurred in their midst spread. In a vision, he saw The Redeemed Christian Church of God written on a blackboard. Thus began the RCCG, the world’s largest growing Pentecostal church in 1952.

    Somewhere in Benin City, a sickly child was born and christened Benson Idahosa. He was converted to Christianity and began conducting outreaches from village to village. Renowned for his vibrant faith and power ministration, Idahosa rose to become the first Pentecostal Archbishop in Africa.

    He broke new grounds, aggressively converting many from animism. The founder of the Church of God Mission International is acknowledged as the father of Pentecostalism in Africa, raising such prominent preachers like Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Bishop David Oyedepo, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and Bishop Fred Addo, among several others.

    Through him, charismatic Pentecostalism became a force to reckon with in Nigeria. Today, there are thousands of independent charismatic churches across the length and breadth of the nation.

    Strengths and impacts

    According to the President of International Church Growth Ministries, Dr Francis Akin-John, indigenous churches have aggressive evangelical zeal going for them. “They are fearless and fiercely committed to taking the gospel to hitherto unreached parts of the world. That is why you find out Nigerian churches are spearheading missionary efforts everywhere in the world,’’ he explained.

    He said this evangelical zeal is why it is so easy for indigenous churches to start branches anywhere in the world, regardless of the most stringent conditions. “They bear this never-say-die Nigerian spirit to mission and that is something really amazing,” he added. The RCCG, at the last count, has over 4,000 branches in different parts of the world.

    Indigenous churches also helped break the stronghold of traditional religion across the nation. Several former traditionalists accepted Christ and burnt their charms, a development that repelled spiritual darkness. The fire brand Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) is reputed for deliverance and breakthrough sessions. This has delivered millions from spiritual strongholds and generational curses.

    Until their rise to prominence, Christianity remained largely a despised, conservative religion, attracting only the dregs and outcasts of the society. Through the influence of charismatic Pentecostal churches founded in Nigeria, Christianity now has a new face, attracting upwardly mobile executives and business owners like never before.

    “The people never wanted to have anything to do with the Lord. They felt they had wealth and comfort and wondered what else can Christ offer them. But Pentecostals have proven that they need much more than that. We have shown how they can bring the faith to bear in business decisions and policies. Market place evangelism and Christianity have become the fad,” Vice Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, South West Region, Bishop Wale Oke, said.

    Much as people have issues with crass materialism in the independent churches, the fact is the church owes it current buoyant financial status to them. Gone are the days church rats were sarcastically said to be poor. These days, rats are competing to gain access to churches. They want a taste of the many crumbs in churches.

    The founder of Inri Evangelical Spiritual Church, Lagos, Primate Elijah Babatunde, said indigenous churches also contribute to poverty alleviation in no small way. He noted his church has been supporting over 300 indigent students and 200 widows over the years. “That is the least we can do to help the disadvantaged. That is what God called us to do and we are relentlessly passionate about this,” he stated.

    Beyond poverty alleviation, many of them have also started business ventures that are empowering members financially. They run churches, printing presses, banks, crèches and several business outfits that are providing employment and sources of livelihood for members. These ventures also provide alternative incomes for members and the churches.

    Indeed, Townsend, if it were possible, would be grinning in his grave, giving a well-deserved commendation for how much better indigenous churches have redefined his work that started like a child’s play.

  • Is Nigeria a toilet of a country?

    Is Nigeria a toilet of a country?

    Lord Apsley and I were colleagues at Harrow School in England approximately 36 years ago. I have never forgotten his uncharitable remarks about Nigeria which led to a heated arguement between us. At that time I found it ironic, and I still do, that this quintessential member of the English upper class not only had the nerve to say such things to me about my country but that he could say it with such confidence. My response to him was that if Nigeria was indeed a ‘’toilet where evil reigns’’ then it was a toilet that was created by his British forefathers who not only dumped the evil there by defecating in it but who also refused to wash their hands, to flush and to leave the toilet after they had finished. My point was simple and it was that Nigeria was as much their mess as it was ours. For a young man who had been born into wealth and power and who had been brought up to believe that ‘’Brittania’’ had civilised the world and had brought nothing but immense benefits to the natives of her colonies, he found my response most disconcerting. I have never forgotten what he said about my beloved country on that occassion. It was painful and regrettable.

    Yet I look at what has happened to us in the last 52 years of our existence as an independent nation and what we have suffered in the last 98 years since the 1914 amalglamation of the northern and southern protectorates and I really do wonder. If the truth must be told, things have not gone too well for us. I was born in the same year as we gained our independence and as I ponder and reflect on the last 52 years all I see is violence, bloodshed, dashed hopes, lost opportunities and shattered dreams. I see a brutal civil war in which two million people died. I see a string of violent military coups and repressive military dictatorships and I see suspicion and division between the peoples of the north and the south. I see dangerous tensions between the numerous ethnic nationalities, continous strife and sectarian violence. I see church bombings, the slaughter of the innocents, islamic fundamentalist rebellions, battle-ready ethnic militias and bloodthirsty local war lords. I see economic degradation, decaying infrastructures, environmental disasters and untold suffering and hardship. And finally I see poverty and unemployment, poor quality leadership and a dysfunctional semi-failed state which is still struggling to find it’s true identity. If this sounds like a scene from Dante’s hell please forgive me but this is what I see.

    On October 1st every year we make nostalgic and inspirational speeches about the ‘’labours of our heroes past’’, pop the champagne, pat each other on the back, go to churches and mosques to give thanks to God, dance at owambe parties and congratulate one another on our independence. Yet we refuse to sit back in deep reflection, take stock of what has really been going on in our country and carry out an honest and candid appraisal of our situation. We are not ‘’a toilet of a country where evil reigns’’ but we must admit that we are in a mess. A really terrible mess. And the question is why are we in such a mess, how did we get there, why have we not been able to get out of it in 52 years and what role did our former colonial masters play, and are still playing, in creating and sustaining that mess.That is the subject of this essay.

    If we want to answer these questions we must go back to the beginning. The problem is that the British established a faulty foundation for Nigeria right from the start which they knew could not produce anything wholesome. The Nigeria that they handed over to us in 1960 was nothing but an unworkable artificial state and a “poisoned chalice”. It was destined to fail right from the outset. Worse still they handed us that poisoned chalice with a malicious and mischevous intent and without any recourse to our people in terms of any form of a national referendum. The British did the same thing in varying degrees when they left virtually each and every one of their other ‘’third world’’ colonies. The most obvious cases however were Nigeria, the Sudan, India and the nation that was formerly known as Malaya. Every single one of these four countries had monuemental problems with sustaining their unity after independence and all of them, with the exception of Nigeria, were compelled to break up into smaller entities before they could bring out the best in themselves as a people and fully exercise their human potentials. Consequently India broke up into three and became India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the Sudan broke into two and became Southern Sudan and the Sudan and Malaya broke into two and became Malaysia and Singapore. Nigeria is yet to find the courage and fortitude to go that far and whether we will eventually break up or not remains to be seen.

    Yet the truth is that when you force two incompatibles with completely different world views together into an unhappy marriage, lock the gates of the house, throw away the keys and bestow leadership upon a “poor husband” to rule over a ‘’rich wife’’ in perpetuity, you are looking for trouble. The bible says “if the foundation be faulty what can the righteous do?” Our foundation as a nation is faulty and the consequence of that is that everything that is built on that faulty foundation is unproductive, unsustainable and unpleasant. And until that foundation is fixed the biblical ‘’righteous’’, no matter how well intentioned, can do nothing about it. It will always be a case of one step forward and ten steps back. Some have made the point that what exists in the Nigerian space today was once a collection of confederations and that our level of integration centuries before the British came to our shores was far greater than many care to admit. This may be true but upon their arrival the British, rather than build on that and allow us to forge a united nation ourselves based on dialogue, trust and consensus, instead played up our differences, drove us further apart, set us against each other all the more and compelled us to remain in the same cage hoping that we would eventually kill each other in the process.

    The result of the amalgamation was therefore predictable. It was either that the “poor husband” (the north) would fully subjugate and eventually kill the “rich wife”(the south) or the “rich wife” would fully subjugate and eventually kill the “poor husband”. And we are right in the middle of that struggle for mutual subjugation till today. In 1960 the British ensured that power was handed over to the most pliable region at the Federal level by establishing an alliance with the northern traditional institutions and political ruling elite and fixing the census figures in their favour. Consequently by 1960 we had a situation where the well-educated, enlightened, progressive and predominantly christian south was played out through intrigue, deceit and fixed census figures and instead power was given to a fatalistic and ultra-conservative muslim north who were prepared to do anything the British wanted them to do, who had already overwhelmed and supressed their own ethnic and christian minority groups and whose major preoccupation was to dominate and control the entire federation, to keep the south out of power at the centre and to “dip the koran in the Atlantic ocean”. It did not stop there.

    Even after the British left in 1960 they continued to meddle in our affairs and they encouraged, sponsored and supported a string of repressive military regimes, all of which derived their power from a northern-controlled army officers corps whose retired generals, up until today, are the ones that determine who will be what in our country. That is our story. Some have argued that despite the ignoble intentions of the British we ought to have been able to sort out our own problems 52 years after they left us. This is a good point. It does however betray a tinge of naivety and a lack of appreciation of just how chronic those problems were right from the start and just how malevolent a hand the British dealt us. I say this because the bitter truth is that the system in Nigeria cannot be changed simply because the forces that have controlled our country since 1960 are deeply conservative and the foundation and the structure upon which she has been established has been designed in such a way that makes radical and fundamental change impossible. Some have compared Nigeria to a badly wounded, gangerous and dieased leg which can only be cured through restructuring or which needs to be cut off in order to save the rest of the body. The consequence of doing neither is death for the whole body. It follows that the only way real change can come is if the country is broken up into two or more independent nations or, if we insist on remaining as one, through the auspices of a peoples revolution (our very own ‘’Nigerian Spring’’,

     

    similar to the ‘’Arab spring’’ that we witnessed in Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain and Egypt last year and that we are witnessing in Syria today) which will sweep away the old order, convene a Sovereign National Conference, restructure the country drastically and devolve power from the centre. If you are looking for fundamental change in Nigeria these are the only two courses of action that can produce it.

    The line up in our country is therefore clear-on the one hand you have the ordinary people, who have nothing and little hope for a brighter future, and on the other you have the ruling elite, who have everything. Those that are waiting for such a change to evolve under the present system and structure will wait forever. This is because under the present system there is no hope for a peaceful, purposeful and meaningful change because justice, equity and fairness has no place. Worse still the most courageous people with the best minds, that are prepared to speak the truth no matter how bitter that truth is and that have an element of vision are always destroyed, discredited or set aside. If anyone doubts this they should consider the fate of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief Moshood Abiola. Those that have a clear vision about the way that Nigeria needs to go have no say and those that have a say have no vision. Our country is in the hands and grip of mediocres that just don’t care.

    Unfortunately the Nigerian people do not seem to have the resilience or strength to effect either of the two options for true change anytime soon. They seem to have been so traumatised, demoralised and subjugated in the last 50 years that they have lost their will to resist inequity, tyranny and injustice, to insist on determining their own fate and to fight for their own future. And who can blame them because the state itself is extreemly violent and ruthless in the way and manner in which it fights and resists change and those that advocate it. Very few good leaders can emerge at the federal level in such a system because it was not designed to produce truly progressive leaders. There are a few exceptions to the rule but generally speaking the type of leaders that the Nigerian system is designed to throw up are leaders that are not minded to bring any benefit or hope to the ordinary people but rather that are there to protect the archaic system and to maintain the nebulous and dysfunctional status quo. The relevance of the British today is that they are not only the architects of this monuemental monstrosity but they are also the ones that have continued to encourage and support the ruling elite that runs and sustains it.

    If they were being fair to us they would have been amongst those that have been encouraging the idea of restructuring our country, devolving power from the centre and effecting a fundamental and radical change in our attitudes and affairs. That is precisely what they are doing in the United Kingdom itself today where power is being systematically and gradually devolved from the centre at Westminster in England to the hitherto supressed and occupied regions of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. This is good enough for them yet our erstwhile colonial masters have never supported a similar course of action for us. Instead they have done all they can to support those that believe that power should continue to be centralised and concentrated in Abuja, to maintain the “ancien regime” and to preserve the chronically conservative system and the status quo. The idea of a properly-led, prosperous, peaceful and truly united Nigeria has never been something that the British ever sought to establish. It is for this reason that we can blame Lord Apsley’s forefathers almost as much as we can blame ourselves for the mess that our country is in up until today. May God deliver Nigeria.

     

    •Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Aviation.

     

  • The trouble with Nigeria

    The trouble with Nigeria

    Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is a clergyman noted for telling it like it is. In this no holds-barred interview with FESTUS ERIYE in Port Harcourt, he discusses the trouble with Nigeria, why negotiations with Boko Haram don’t make sense, and his amazement over the United States’ reluctance to declare the sect an FTO, among other issues.

    Every year at this time, there is a ritual when people start talking about how Nigeria has not measured up to the expectations of its founding fathers. This year, in your own assessment, should we be lamenting or rejoicing?

    I think you put it correctly when you said it’s like a ritual. Having the anniversary celebration every year is like a ritual as far as I am concerned. The truth is, when you look at Nigeria the way it is, in my opinion, the only reason why we can, at least, say ‘thank God’ is that we still exist as a nation. Otherwise, I don’t see physically anything to celebrate. The celebration would be that we still exist as a nation. Thank God for that, because I believe that Nigeria is still a nation to be hopeful about. I look more to the future and believe that the situation will not remain like this.

    If you look at some nations of about the same age as us, you’ll find that many have become like medium powers. Some of them that used to depend on Nigeria for expertise in areas of agriculture like Malaysia are already substantially industrialised. What would you say is the trouble with Nigeria?

    I think that basically we are a nation of hypocrites; we pretend a lot. We know what our problems are but we never like to confront them. And anybody who would like to confront them, in a sense, becomes the enemy. I think that is part of our problem. But then if you really want to give a name to the problem of Nigeria, the major problem of Nigeria is corruption. Corruption has eaten from top down, from down up. There is no segment of the society today where you don’t find corruption. Corruption is like a worm that eats slowly. And it has eaten so much that there is nothing that holds anything together that has not been affected by his cankerworm called corruption. So, when you have a society where honesty is thrown to the dogs, where integrity has no place; when you have a society where people don’t live on principles but on immediate gratification, then definitely that society cannot move. It’s not as if here is no corruption in elsewhere of the world, but it is in a sense ‘controlled corruption’. It is not this bad. It is not this type of corruption where a group of people come out to say ‘we want to probe corruption in this place.’ Then, you find out that the people probing these people need to be probed too. Then you ask yourself, ‘where is this thing going to end? So nothing sees the light of day. Nothing that can create progress would see the light of day because just all about money… In that condition what happens? Now, Boko Haram has complicated it and has taken the problem now to another level. So when you have corruption and you have corruption on one hand, insecurity on the other hand, my brother, you need divine intervention. And I think that is where Nigeria is right now.

    People have been quick to blame ‘leadership’- by which they mean political official holders. But everyone knows the difference between good and bad – so we should blame the church, leaders of faith, the followership: who should we blame?

    We are all to blame. Nobody is exempted from the blame. Naturally, the major blame would be on the political leaders because as a faith leader I don’t have legislative power; I don’t have executive power; I don’t have any kind of powers except the powers given to me by God to stand behind the pulpit and preach. And that I have done by the grace of God faithfully for 40 years. And anybody who knows me knows that I am one of those who will tell you the truth. If you love it, God bless you; if you don’t it’s your business. But you must first begin by blaming the political leaders because when you look back, the situation where we find ourselves did not begin today. It has been a gradual process – something that developed from level to another level. And because it was not dealt with at the very initial stage… Most of these problems started developing in the late 70s; that’s when it started building gradually. If it had been dealt with then probably we would not be where we are. The greatest problem, I think, was the intervention of the military into the political life of this nation. They ruined Nigeria. Wherever we find ourselves today, they must take at least 60% of the blame. So, you cannot run away from putting the blame squarely at their doorstep. But as a faith leader I must take part of the blame too. Can I really say I have done all what I ought to have done all these years? Well, to a large extent, I think I have. Still, a lot of the people who are doing the things causing corruption in Nigeria go to church. So, who do you blame for that? Probably, I am not saying what I should be saying the way I should be saying it. But at the same time a lot of them only want to hear what they want to hear. This thing has developed to an extent that a lot of people are hardened. They are so hardened that they don’t even hear well anymore. They don’t care about whatever you’re trying to say. You can say all you want but what they want to do is already in their mind. That still does not mean I should not take part of the blame. So the blame goes around. If we can admit that we all have blame, we should all now ask God for forgiveness, and ask the average Nigerian for forgiveness. We should all repent of what we have done to ourselves. Look at the nation! Do we really like where we are? Is this where Nigeria should be? I don’t think so. Nigeria can be better. That is why we have declared a three-day fasting in the church from September 27th, 28th and 29th and on the 30th, we will have the service at the National Ecumenical Centre. The Muslims are doing the same thing. Whatever prayer from that service would go on beyond that: we have a plan for prayers for the next one year – a systematic prayer that would take place in all our churches for the next one year. So, we must ask forgiveness and decide we can’t continue this way. Look, we’ve almost consumed the goodwill of our children. Sometimes, it is so discouraging when you see that many of the politicians who are doing what they are doing now are young. If young people are doing what they are doing now, what hope do we have? It’s so bad.

    Leaders of faith like yourself have uncommon access to the political leaders. What people would like to know is what goes on when you get together with these leaders? Do you convey the frustrations of the average man who does not have that kind of access to our leaders? What really happens at these encounters?

    Whenever I have the opportunity to talk to them, I do tell them. You see, like we said, something is basically wrong. A lot of our politicians are heavy on promises but very low on delivery. It is not that we are short of words to say. I don’t want to mention names, but I have been in situations when I would say I won’t pray. What am I praying about? If you didn’t listen to me why must I pray for you at this point? There have been situations like that – not necessarily with those in leadership now but down through the years. The romance with darkness and wrong has been so strong with a lot of these people… it’s like I said, it doesn’t matter what you tell them now, but the moment they leave you it is a different thing. People they will be speaking with is a different thing; the kind of deals they will go into is a different thing. Some of them are so desperate for political power they can even sell their soul just to get that power. At the end of the day, Nigeria suffers for it. So what do you do? The Bible instructs us ‘pray for your leaders.’ So we cannot stop praying for them. We have to continue praying for them – even with all the mess.

    So what should committed Christians do? Do they sit on their high horses pointing the finger at godless politicians or jump in there, get their hands dirty and see if they can make a difference?

    I don’t know where we got this thing wrong that we have so separated state and church as the Americans would call it. The separation has become so wide that there’s a total disconnect. It’s so wide to the point where the average human being who’s a Christian goes to church on Sunday, listens to a sermon, and walks out of church and believes he left God in that building. He goes and he lives two different lives. I believe committed Christians must get involved in politics. They must because, in a sense, if we wait for every politician to get it right, they may never get it right. I think it is important for committed Christians to take their commitment, their passion for God, their depth of faith and integrity into the political arena and begin to show that there are people who can still take a good stand for God. There a few of them out there now, but they are still very, very few – a lot more need to get into politics. This is what we are pushing; this is what we are saying to our people. Go out there, join the political party, begin to vie for positions, and prayerfully God can be able to position some of these people who are decent and proper and they will be able to find their way up in the right places where they can make the right decisions.

    But somebody like Pastor Tunde Bakare did exactly that and many in Christendom criticised him saying he left his pastoral duties and went into politics. How do you respond to that?

    I’m doing my best not to directly talk about Bakare. But, you see, I think what we need to understand is what some people are saying is that there’s nothing wrong with being a politician. But if you want to be a politician, be a politician. There’s nothing wrong with that. But if you want to be a pastor, then be a pastor. What they are saying is that you may not be able to, at the same time, pastor a church and hold a high profile political position. Pastor Bakare is someone I know and I don’t want to talk much about him. But I think he needs to connect more. There are so many things that I want to say that I don’t think it is proper for me to saying it in public. I’d rather say them to him one on one.

    This year’s Independence anniversary is being celebrated against the backdrop of the unprecedented Boko Haram insurgency. In a recent interview you were quoted as saying it was political…

    I have never said it was political. You journalists, sometimes, you think up a caption that will attract attention.

    You never said it was political?

    No, that was not what I said. I will tell you exactly what I said. Now, listen to me. I am going to say into your tape so that you will get it. In fact, I am going to be repeating what I am saying now at on Sunday in Abuja – at a public forum at the National Christian Center. Boko Haram is being fuelled not by poverty. Let me explain that a little bit further. Bin Laden did not come from a poor family. He was from an extremely rich family in Saudi Arabia. He wasn’t into what he was doing because he was poor. That young man, Muttallab (Farouk Abdulmuttalab) that wanted to blow up a plane on Christmas Day over Detroit in the US, did not attempt to do what he did because he was poor. He comes from a very wealthy family. Now, when you listen to Boko Haram themselves, they have never said once, ‘our problem is poverty’. They have never said once, ‘our problem is marginalisation’. They have never said, our problem is that we don’t have enough education. In fact they don’t want education. They have always said they want one thing: Sharia as the constitution of Nigeria – period. So, Boko Haram is not fuelled by poverty; Boko Haram is fuelled by a religious fundamentalist ideology. It is an Islamist ideology. Not all Muslims are Islamists. Some are, but not all. And Boko Haram is built on this ideology. It is a terrible satanic ideology that says it is either what we want, the way we want it, or nothing else. Boko Haram is funded from within by those who want to use Boko Haram to create political space for themselves. Boko Haram is not political but there are people who have political inclinations who think they can use Boko Haram. So they give them a little here, a little there to help them. So Boko Haram is funded from within by such persons. Boko Haram is also funded from without by those who want to see Nigeria divided along religious or ethnic lines. These are the things that I said. I also said Boko Haram is sustained by media apologists who deliberately and internationally feed the public with politically correct half-truths. They have a strong media connection. They constantly confuse the public and make people think one way, when actually they are going this way. But they have never hidden their intention. They have never minced words about what they want. So, these were the things I said on Monday. I never said that Boko Haram is political. I believe there are good Muslims who believe in their religion and follow it properly, but these are fundamentalist Jihadist Islamists. Their ideology is one that they use to dominate the nation and take it over if possible.

    From what you have said there is an international dimension to the funding of Boko Haram…

    Oh, you better believe it!

    Do you feel frustrated that your efforts to get the Americans to designate the group a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) have not worked so far?

    To be honest with you, I’m not sure if I would say I feel frustrated: I am amused and amazed. It’s not because they don’t know the truth. They know the truth. They are probably learning how to be hypocritical themselves now. I don’t know if you’re aware that my stance of saying the American should designate Boko Haram as an FTO, is the stance of the FBI, CIA, the Justice Department Homeland Security. The only people who are against this stand are the State Department. All the actual security agencies are saying designate them as FTO. Why is the State Department doing this? You are journalists investigate! Look at Johnnie Carson (US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs) – who are his friends in Nigeria? Go and find out: don’t hear it from me. What kind of connections do they have with Nigeria; who are those that they are connected to? These are the people that advise the State Department and create policies that Obama has to follow. Obama doesn’t know all the details: they are the ones that advise him, and I have a feeling that they are protecting the interests of certain persons. The moment Boko Haram is declared an FTO that gives a legal framework for all the security agencies to go after the money that Boko Haram receives. They will investigate and bring out the truth: all the financial connections would be exposed because they are not like us. They will bring out the truth about where Boko Haram is getting money from, and it will be told to the whole world. There are also those who are also afraid of this drone thing because it can target certain persons. So, I see a lot of protecting of interests. I’m just amazed to see high level hypocrisy. Everyone knows that Boko Haram is connected with every single terrorist organisation in the world. So, it is not designating them that is now going to make them popular. They are already connected with all these organisations. Where do they get their training from? Some of them go to Sudan, some to Somalia, some Tunisia, some from Morroco. Is that not international? When a German man was kidnapped and kept somewhere in Kano, are you aware that the Al-qaeda group in North Africa said to the German government, ‘if you release so and so of our people in your jail in Germany, we would release your man in Kano, Nigeria’. Is that not international enough for us? What are we talking about? I can go on and on. They attacked United Nations building. What are they trying to tell you? They are telling you that this organisation is international. They are connected everywhere. How do they get their funding like we were just saying now? We know Gaddafi’s connection with some of these things before he passed away. And we know where a lot of these arms have come from into Nigeria. So, they’re already connected. Then, some of our government officials who are making a ridicule of themselves or whatever way you want to look at it, telling us that if they designate Boko Haram as a terrorist group, it will affect Nigerians when they are travelling. Is it that that is affecting Nigeria? We’ve had problems for a long time because we have been targeted for drugs, we have been targeted for money laundering. So, what are you telling me? The moment they see your green passport today, without Boko Haram, they will still take you aside. So, what else are they going to do that is new? There are other countries where they have designated some group as terrorists, but did that now mean that that everybody from that country was a terrorist? No! And they know. It is not as if they don’t know. But, all this is a cover-up. There are all kinds of things going on, that are happening within our own Nigeria and other places. But, there is a conspiracy and God would expose it at the due time.

    How do you respond to those who will criticise you for making this FTO thing into a magic bullet that would the crisis miraculously?

    In fact, if you had followed my speech at the Congress in America, you would have seen that I said categorically that I know designating Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation is not going to just end Boko Haram. It is not going to just end all of our problems in Nigeria, but it is a right step in the right direction. It is an indication that there is some seriousness. It sends a message to our own government, it sends a message to the international community, it sends a message to Boko Haram themselves. That’s the point. There are some things that are symbolic but very powerful. So, it’s important.

    Some people don’t understand why you are not enthusiastic about the decision of the Federal Government to negotiate with Boko Haram. What is wrong with negotiation when the authorities have not been able to resolve the problem militarily?

    Well, I wonder why they would say they don’t understand. Again, that is another part of our hypocrisy in Nigeria. Even when they understand, they pretend as if they don’t understand. Now, how do you negotiate with a terrorist group? We all know that Boko Haram is a terrorist group. How do we negotiate with a terrorist group? Especially when you know that this terrorist group is based on a religious ideology, and they know have never hidden their intention. You and I know that at a point, they can out to say, ‘Jonathan, either you resign or you convert to Islam’. Then, they said if Christians want peace in Nigeria they should all convert to Islam. It is the same agenda, the same old agenda. It is nothing different. It is nothing new. Now, when you have that, what is the basis for this negotiation? These are the questions we are asking. How do you go into a negotiation without knowing what you want to negotiate? What are we going to be negotiating about when a people have told you what they want? They have told you that they want to Islamise the nation. So, you want to speak with them and say, ‘please don’t Islamise the nation?’ Or you want to tell them, ‘all right, can we do it 40-60? Can you take 40% of the nation?’ What exactly do you want to negotiate? At least, you should tell us as Nigerians so we know exactly what you are negotiating on our behalf. There is no basis for the negotiation. The militants in the Niger-Delta… when Yar’Adua wanted to bring the amnesty, what he said to them was, ‘drop your arms first.’ And that was the first step. He gave them a deadline. He said, ‘from this time to this time, you must drop your arms. If you don’t, we see you all as criminals’ and we will do whatever we want to do. But, if you drop your arms, we would sit with you and discuss.’ Now, why was it possible to discuss with those boys? There was no iota of religion involved. It was purely economical. It was about marginalisation. It was about pollution. It was about deprivation. It was about the situation there in the Niger Delta. When they said drop your arms, most of them said there is a way out and they dropped their arms. Please, help me convey this to Nigerians just in case there is still anybody who doesn’t really know what we are saying and why we are saying government should not negotiate with them.

    Last week, there was an attack in Bauchi in which two or three people were killed…

    No, four people were killed. One was the suicide bomber. Over 50 were hospitalised, and some in critical condition and we’re praying. We don’t know how many of them will survive.

    In the face of these attacks Christian leaders at some point, are quoted as telling their followers to ‘defend’ themselves. Now, you find yourself in a dilemma because you have to contend the Scripture that says turn the other cheek. How do you handle the frustrations of your followers?

    I am so glad you’re bringing up this issue because the frustrations of my followers make me also frustrated – because I feel for them. When you say, contend with Scripture that says turn the other cheek, the same Bible also says if you don’t have a sword, sell you coat and buy a sword. I just want to make you understand that all these are the same New Testament. But that is not the issue. The issue is that the government must legitimately permit people – if that must ever happen… it has to be a legal, legitimate, proper thing for anybody to carry arms. I will never support anybody to legally acquire arms and start running around the place – no! That is wrong. But I will always say defend yourself; protect yourself. It’s in the Koran, it’s in the Bible, it’s in the constitution of Nigeria – self preservation is part of the human instinct. It is the first thing that comes even to animals. When you attack somebody the first thing is he wants to protect himself. He would do something and try to defend himself. That is what we’re saying. Whatever means you have to protect yourself, protect yourself. It is madness for anybody to get angry with me for telling my people that are innocently being killed, and we say to them protect yourself! Whatever you have use it and do whatever you have to do to protect yourself. We’re not saying go and retaliate. We’re not saying attack anybody, but protect yourself. For God’s sake, what is wrong with telling people to protect themselves? Now, having said that, I also still believe in divine intervention. I believe that where we are in Nigeria today we need God’s divine intervention. That would mean that certain things will happen that would overturn, and turn this whole situation in such a way that those who are killing people today can come and say ‘Look, we regret what we have done.’ The Spirit of God can enter into them. The Spirit of God can also expose them in such a way that they are captured. It can happen in so many ways. I think it is important for us never to lose sight of that; to continue to go that way, and to pray and trust God. That is why we are doing the fasting we’re doing – beginning tomorrow (last Thursday, September 27) and through the weekend, and one-year prayer that we’re going to be doing. My prayer everyday is for quick divine intervention that will also probably enable our security agencies to quickly also find ways to end this thing – because no country can survive a religious war. It is so dangerous and deadly. What is happening to Christians, that is going on everyday… how long can I stop those people? If you know how many of them call me on the phone; some send delegations to me to say ‘Allow us,’ and I plead and say ‘No, you can’t do that. We’re Christians.’ We were not taught that way: what we were taught is to love our enemies. We preach all that and some walk out on me angry. But I pray and trust God that it will never get to the point where some of them – on their own – will just go and get whatever and start doing something. The problem is the moment it starts, you can’t stop it. I pray to God that we’ll never get to that point.

    You recently marked 40 years in ministry. What would you consider the high and low points?

    The very first high point I will mention is the day I gave my life to Christ, because that made all the difference. It was like a bright light came upon me. I used to be someone who had moods: I could be a little bit happy now and extremely sad the next minute. But the day I gave my life to Christ my life changed. I would mention one very low point in my 40 years in ministry. It’s not something I mention with joy: it was when my first wife died. This is the woman I married, lived with and slept on the same bed with for 20 years. She died in my arms. Actually she collapsed. I prayed and revived her. We both thought everything was okay, and I said ‘What happened?’ She just laughed. We thought everything was fine. She was in the shower and I walked into the bedroom; when I turned around again and she had collapsed. That was a very low point in my ministry. I don’t pray for anyone to have that experience; it was very, very painful. Thank God that almost two years later, God gave me a wife that I would say He used to wipe away my tears, to restore and complete me again. Mama Helen Oritsejafor is an incredible woman that God brought into my life to lift up my spirit. She has become another very high point in my life. Another very high point was when God blessed us with triplets. I didn’t have children all these years, and now we have two boys and a girl.

    The triplets are your only children?

    Yes.

    All these years…

    That’s it.

    That’s a fantastic testimony.

    Incredible! They are bundles of joy for us.

    How old are they now?

    They were six this month – third of September. That was another high point right there. Two other high points was when I became president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN). I didn’t solicit for it; I was in a meeting…I had always been a member of the National Advisory Council of PFN all these years. I went to a meeting and that was how I was made president of PFN. That was another high point, and when I became president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) – the first Pentecostal to get to that position. Another was when we complete our building which can seat over 35,000 people in Warri – to His glory. So there are many high points; I don’t have too many low points. But I give God the glory that everything in my life God has been good to me.

    One major criticism of church leadership in Nigeria is that they are veering off into ostentation. The critics point the rising number of high profile pastors who own jets. Do you accept this as valid criticism and what is the rationale for owning these aircraft?

    Unfortunately, when you become a top church leader you become a public figure. You become bread and meat for people to eat. I don’t think that is a correct assessment of the situation. What people don’t realise is that for some of the men of God who own jets, owning a jet is not a luxury but a necessity. If I tell you my own schedule it will shock you.

    But the critics point to someone like the Pope who sometimes travels by commercial flight…

    Thank you for using that word ‘sometimes’ – not every time. Much of the time he has his own plane. But I don’t want to talk about the Pope. I want to talk of some of the men of God that you are probably thinking of right now. Like I said, it depends on the schedule. Are you trying to tell me that these men of God don’t go by commercial transport at all? They do. But many times they can’t help it because of the kind of schedule they have. For example, about a week and a half ago I went to Indonesia. It took me two days to get there. That includes the layovers at the airports. I flew with the Emirates and had to stop in Dubai for hours. I stayed at the airport and then flew to Jakarta. It was not in Jakarta that I was actually going to be preaching – it was somewhere else, so I had to stay at the airport again for another five hours before I finally got a plane to take me to where I was going. I got there and was so fagged out; I was supposed to go church – I couldn’t go. I had to plead to be allowed to go and rest. The day after that I preached and afterwards started coming back home. It took me another two days to get here. I arrived here on Saturday and had to wait again at the local airport to get a flight to Warri – which I couldn’t get – and had to wait for four, five hours again to fly to Benin and then to fly to Warri. And then I had to preach two services on Sunday morning, and then by Monday morning I left to go to Italy. I just came from Italy this last Saturday, preached on Sunday and five A.M. this last Monday I had to drive from Warri to Calabar – which was another seven hours. Yesterday, I drove here. I had some meetings this morning. When I finish with you now I am going into another meeting. Tomorrow, I have meetings all day. On Friday, I head for Abuja. My schedule goes on and on: I won’t see my family for about two weeks. My whole life is in a suitcase going from place to place. I may go from there and continue to Malawi. What I am trying to tell you is that many times it is the schedule, the workload. It is not a luxury. For some of these men owning a jet is like owning a car.

     

  • Road map to Nigeria’s greatness and glory days

    Road map to Nigeria’s greatness and glory days

    For well over two decades, there has been a growing concern about the deplorable social and economic state of the Nigerian nation. Successive governments in Nigeria have been condemned and variously described as corrupt, inept, incompetent, negligent, reckless, inefficient and unresponsive to the yearnings and welfare of the people. Because these governments appear ill-founded and the major actors seemingly bereft of ideas, they were unable to steer the ship of the Nigerian state out of murky waters of retrogression and move it forward. A lot of Nigerians lost faith or are rapidly losing faith in their country. A host of them migrate daily to other lands and contribute meaningfully to their host countries what they should have given to Nigeria on a platter.

    Good governance cannot be taken for granted or undermined in the life of any nation. It is a major determinant of a country’s progress and most especially a determinant of a country’s success rating in the comity of nations. It therefore behoves any serious- minded government, authority and people to take it seriously. Everyone we have asked how Nigeria’s problem can be solved has promptly replied that we need focused people in leadership positions. Interestingly, Nigeria is blessed with achievers, persons who are patriotic and love Nigeria dearly. Persons who will work tirelessly for her without asking for any reward or recompense; Persons of integrity not of doubtful character, civil, conscientious and trustworthy. Unfortunately, most of them are often frustrated and obstructed from participating in government. Government College products easily and definitely fall into this category of people because of their enduring legacies of solid educational foundation, sound moral values and quality service delivery. In addition to possessing most of these virtues, they have been well-groomed through their top quality training to assume positions of responsibility in a credible society. They have been found to be reliable, dependable, altruistic, focused, hardworking, result-oriented and are most unlikely to yield to influences for evil or bad practices.

    A few questions are germane here: Is the existence of this category of people known? Are they an endangered species? Can they be easily and readily identified? Are their tribes being properly utilised? Are they themselves readily available and accessible? Are they proactive, publicise or market themselves properly and sufficiently? Are they being well- branded and packaged to attract positive response? Questions, questions, questions.

    It has also been observed that the pre-1980 Government College Ibadan Old Boys as indeed like-minded Old Students from other Government Secondary Schools of that era up and down the country have a lot to show for the education they received and they are eager to do so. Many of their qualities have remained untapped by the Nigerian society. However the authorities and the society have repeatedly and consistently exploited their good nature, dedication to work, modesty and candour without commensurable reward. Values other than edifying, deification of money, corruption, fraud and moral decadence rule the Nigerian waves. The Nigerian space is dangerously polluted in every facet and this unfortunately is in the public domain. Rumours of disruption, corruption and looting of the commonwealth, destruction of our psyche and humanness, ethnic jingoism and political jobbery and brigandage are rife and the authorities seem powerless to handle or halt their escalation.

    Beyond 1980, after the cataclysmic disruption and overturn of the status quo, Government College Ibadan entrants have been drawn from a small geographical area (called catchment area) and it has had serious and telling effect on the standard of the school. It has also progressively eroded and limited the percentage of talents available at each year of entry. The boarding system, which was the adamantine bedrock of the great school tradition, mores and high values, has been virulently attacked, stiffed strangulated and finally scrapped. The real magic that once moulded and formed the boys’ character has disappeared. In its wake, a near death affliction on the College. The aftermath, confusion rudderlessness, ill-conceived and inconsistent policies from one administration to the other.

    Today, many challenges knaw and strike repeatedly at the conscience of the college, its old boys and the education sector, namely: how to redeem the battered image of the school; rapidly halt and reverse falling standards in education and scholarship; overcome the glorification of mediocre leadership and enshrine meritocracy in all spheres of our endeavour. The race is starting with the Ideas Group.

    As these challenges multiply and grow, our thinking and attitude must radically change to confront them. We have to react positively and meaningfully. Even in this hostile Nigerian environment which hardly recognises merits and rewards industry, hardwork and productivity, some GCI Old Boys have managed to excel and distinguish themselves attaining the pinnacle of their career wherever they have found themselves by dint of self determination and effort against daunting odds. Getting to the top would certainly have cost less if they operated from a well organized group equipped to support, encourage, succor, advise and mentor them. Such a group whatever name it carries is long overdue – a group that would constantly give a solid backing, pressure and IDEAS for nation building. Churches speak out, so do the mosques as indeed professional bodies, Labour Unions, Student Unions, Lecturers, Market Women, Artisans. The list is endless. They all speak out vociferously on matters that impinge on their welfare, lives, livelihood and national affairs. Should products of Government College and other responsible institutions remain docile for God knows how long? The time is now for them to wake up and speak out and chart a course for our nation. Speaking out requires a re-orientation dynamics and re-jiggling of a modus operandi in order to attain clearer objectives.

    Public relations and regular commentaries will form the thrust. It is expected that this will gain recognition within the Nigerian society – its political and economic space. Its scope will cover and forge ahead with re-engineering, reconnection, networking and breaking the jinx of individualism and parochialism.

    We have the new information order and the unhalting progress in the IT world to thank for rapid communication and networking. We hope to relaunch a bid for societal relevance.

    To achieve this, the IDEAS GROUP will interact with like minds and other progressive bodies in the country at different levels. Additionally, men and women of integrity and high moral values will be wooed and encouraged for a good working relationship – to think along the same lines and achieve the same goals for the good of all our citizenry. The ultimate aim is to channel these activities to dovetail into creating an enduring legacy for all.

    We strongly believe that our country Nigeria can and should be salvaged. Capable men and women abound – men of integrity, honesty and sincerity. When a level playing ground is created, this indomitable breed of Nigerians will emerge to extricate Nigeria from its quagmire and move it forward leveraging on purposeful leadership and informed and discerning followership

     

    Oni, a Medical practitioner wrote from Ibadan

     

  • Qatar Air aircraft in emergency landing at MMIA

    Qatar Air aircraft in emergency landing at MMIA

    A burst tyre forced a Qatar Air aircraft with 248 passengers on board to resort to emergency landing on Saturday at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

    The aircraft was guided to land on the runway close to the cargo shed, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    Mr Ibraheem Farinloye, the South-West Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the National Emergency Management Authority , (NEMA), confirmed the emergency landing to journalists.

    The airbus 332 was said to have flew into Lagos from Doha.

    Farinloye said that NEMA received an alert from FAAN between 12. 55 p.m. and 1.00 p.m. that the aircraft with registration number A7AEE had landing challenges.

    “We are happy to inform you now that it had landed safely with the assistance of the various security and other agencies, such as the FAAN fire fighters, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the police , Julius Berger officials and men of the Lagos State Fire Service.

    A source said that the pilot had suspected the problem and informed the control tower at MMIA to prepare emergency landing facilities for the jet liner.

    NAN observed that the aircraft was towed to the international air-side of the airport where the passengers on board disembarked.

    Eyewitnesses around the airport cargo shed said that the airbus plane roved in the air for about an hour before it finally landed. (NAN)

  • We will transform Nigeria – Jonathan

    We will transform Nigeria – Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday in Abuja described the church as a formidable partner in nation building and pledged the commitment of his administration to transform the country.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Jonathan made the remark as the special guest at the Methodist Church of Nigeria’s 170th anniversary banquet.

    Represented by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe, the president commended the church for its plan to establish a world class medical centre in the FCT.

    Jonathan said when set up, the centre would help to address some of the challenges in the health sector.

    He called for generous donation to the project and urged other denominations to emulate the Methodist Church.

    Earlier, the Prelate of the church, Dr. Ola Makinde, said the centre was one of the ways the church could contribute to the medical needs of the society.

    Makinde called on the government to summon the courage to tackle the numerous challenges facing the nation.

    He said government had all the machinery to ensure the security of lives and property as well as fight corruption and other social vices.

     

     

  • Nigeria at 52: Kumuyi urges solution to Nigeria’s problems

    Nigeria at 52: Kumuyi urges solution to Nigeria’s problems

    The General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor Williams Kumuyi, has urged the leadership of the country to remain focused and find solution to the nation’s problems.

    Kumuyi gave the advice while briefing journalists in Abuja on the commencement of a four-day programme by the church with the theme: “Divine Connection for Full Freedom.”

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the programme is scheduled to hold at the headquarters of the church in Abuja from September28 to October 1, as part of activities to mark the nation’s independence anniversary.

    Kumuyi sympathised with families of the victims of the recent flood disasters across the country

    He said that only a focused leader would take the country to the Promised Land in the light of all the challenges facing it.

    He, therefore, advised the leaders to take heart and look at the future believing that the problems would be solved since it was God who put them in the position of authority.

    Kumuyi urged the leaders to make good use of the resources God gave to the country.

    “My message for our leaders is to take heart and to look at the future with a mind set of believing.

    “Sometimes, when problems overwhelm us and we are not able to settle down to look with focus and determination, we might be so shaken and wondering if there is a future.

    “We know that there is God in heaven; we know that God has appointed us, whoever we are as leaders to be in this particular place at this point in time,’’ he said.