Nigeria what can you say about the state of the nation? The state of the nation is that we have a bleeding nation. We have a disor...
Nigeria what can you
say about the state of the nation?
The state of the nation is that we have a bleeding
nation. We have a disoriented and
corrupt nation. The summary is that Nigeria has lost her glory and that is the
state of the nation, and Nigerians are responsible for that.
What do you mean?
If you look at it
from the divine point of view, geographically, Nigeria has been blessed with
abundant natural resources more than most nations of the world and we have
annual rainfall beyond human imagination. We till and plant in our land with
rainfall. We reap our harvest under
rainfall. Quite a lot of countries around the world are not experiencing this,
even countries that are exporting food and other agricultural products do not
depend on rainfall for their survival.
Corruption has eaten
into the fabric of the nation; from the spiritual sector down to the economic
sector and to the political sector, corruption is leading the country. Forget
about the story we have at the government corridor. No regime will like to say it has failed. All regimes are saying they are doing their
best.
There are killings in
Southern Kaduna, banditry in the North-West, terrorism in the North-East and so
many other places. What do you think is the problem?
It is politics, a game of power. If there is anything, the
second one is economic, but the leading game for all the insecurity is power.
Who has ever been prosecuted as a sponsor of Boko Haram? Anybody who knows
warfare will know that if you are killing an enemy, you don’t just go running
after his foot soldiers. You consider his supply route and cut off his supply
chain, and then, you starve him of ammunition.
Our customs men have seized containers of weapons and
displayed them. Who has come out to tell us those behind all these things?
We have a reckless nation where somebody will wake up with
billions of naira, go and purchase weapons outside the country and bring them
into Nigeria.
Do you think service
chiefs should go?
Personally, I feel that since they can’t perform, they
should go.Why are they still there if they cannot offer solutions to the
security challenges facing the country?
The President in his independence speech said that it was
senseless that Nigeria should be selling fuel lower than Saudi Arabia. What is your reaction to that statement?
Mr President has the right to compare Nigeria to other
countries, but there’s a saying that goes that the easiest way to destroy your
joy is to start comparing yourself with others. Saudi Arabia is governed by
purely Arabs. How many nationals; how many ethnic groups does Saudi Arabia
have? The predominant ethnic group in Saudi Arabia are the Arabs. The President
ought not, in any way, have compared Nigeria to Saudi Arabia.
Do you believe those
who say that corruption is on the increase now than ever before?
Corruption had been institutionalised. When you have
somebody, who cannot produce N10,000 in a month collecting over N50m a month,
what has he done to earn that? We have
institutionalised corruption under the guise of allowances for National
Assembly members. The issue of individuals owning oil wells is corruption. Our inability to refine our crude oil but
instead take it outside the country to refine and give the contract to somebody
to bring it back to Nigeria and we are paying fuel subsidy is corruption.
Our lawmakers, under
normal circumstances, are supposed to be on a part- time basis. How many bills
have they sponsored? And these bills, how many of them are relevant to the
individual Nigerian? Or is it just sponsoring a bill? The bills must be
relevant to the daily progress of every Nigerian.
With all of these
problems, will you say Nigeria is stinking?
When you go out and people know that you are a Nigerian, they
call you Boko Haram. They screen your
passport in an extraordinary way. They
put their eyes on you from departure from the airport up to your hotel
accommodation. It shows that you are not
normal and the simple reason is because you are a Nigerian. Nigeria is stinking
around the world and that is why Nigerians are running and leaving the shores
of this country.
There has been an increase
sexual and gender-based violence, as minors are being raped in Bauchi
State Are you worried about this development?
If you have cancer on your leg and it bursts open and flies
begin to hover around, do you blame the flies? In a decayed society, a lawless
society, where ethics and virtues have eroded, this is a symptom of a decayed
society. Some of these rape cases you see are carried out for ritual purposes.
Politics is around. Killings will follow
rape and people will begin to disappear.
These are symptoms of our decayed system. Inasmuch as I am worried about
it, we need to revive our ethical standards and our law enforcement agencies
should be up and doing. Unfortunately, even kidnapping, they will tell you that
some law enforcement agents have a hand in it, so it is not only rape, but also
ritual killings, suicide bombing and kidnapping. They are all signs of a corrupt society. If
the government is serious, if we even have a government in place, these are the
issues they will put their eyes on.
Some people have been predicting the breakup of Nigeria and
the unity of the country is being threatened. What do you think about this?
Nigeria, based on reality and whether we like it or not,
will one day break. Where is Yugoslavia
today? Why won’t Nigeria break up? Who
is the prophet who would tell you that he met with God and God told him that
Nigeria must remain one? His god must be Lord Luggard.
Do you see any hope
for Nigeria?
Truly speaking, I have not seen any hope. We have lost the whole system. We hate
speaking the truth to one another and love telling ourselves lies. If you speak
the truth, you are arrested and so, if you are dealing with your subjects, they
have to tell you lies. Once a country is run on lies, there will be an end to
that country.
What is the way
forward for Nigeria?
We should come back to reality. Some people are clamouring for true
federalism. There are certain systems
that are corrupt. If I must give you an example, oil wells must be owned by the
government and not individuals. I am not envious of the people who own oil
wells. I don’t even know them. In fact, I don’t care because it will not in a
way help me. I have never benefited from
any of them.
Secondly, if we are running a federal system, let us go for
true federalism and let use the states as federating units. Bauchi should be
able to maintain all the resources in Bauchi. The gold in Toro should be
controlled by the signature of the Senator Bala Mohammed and not someone in the
Ministry of Solid Minerals Resources, Abuja, who can give a licence to the Chinese
to enter Bauchi at will. Bauchi State should control her resources. Kaduna has
abundant resources. She should control her resources. Almost every state in
Nigeria has deposits of these natural resources. I’ve not seen one single state that is empty.
God has designed the Nigerian state in a way that each state
can survive on her own, but we rejected it.
Why did God put these mineral resources there? We cannot tap them. We
prefer to call someone from outside to come and give us incentives and carry
the riches out. Going by true federalism, we can maintain them.
Despite the abundant
natural resources, the government has not stopped borrowing locally and
internationally. Are you not concerned that the future of Nigeria is being
mortgaged?
I pity those places Nigeria is borrowing from. You are
lending money to somebody, who is about to die; somebody who has cancer. I am talking of Nigeria as a nation, a
country that is exhibiting all signs of breakup and you are giving her
money. The highest China will begin to
do is to maybe begin to seize some of the things it can lay its hands on.
So, those lending money to Nigeria, I say sorry for them,
because you are lending to someone whose days are numbered. Things cannot
continue going this way.
As a pastor, shouldn’t you give hope?
I am not the one to give hope to Nigeria. It is we Nigerians
that will team up and beg God for hope. We cannot be corrupt, moving in sin, in
recklessness and in total rebellion to God and expect me to give hope. I will
be a prophet of doom, if I refuse to tell the country the truth, seeing
disaster and refusing to tell her, but instead tell her that all is well.
Nigerians must change their thinking, attituded and behaviour, and in that
case, all will be well. All these killings in Southern Kaduna, you think I will
like to be in a country where I will see blood being shed at will? I want to be
in a country where people will valuelives; where if one person dies, the whole
land will stop and mourn.
A first-class chief will be abducted, killed and dumped, and
the state still continues with its behaviour.
You want me to have hope in that land? It doesn’t make sense. I have feelings. I am a human being and I have
conscience and I am created in the image of God. I am supposed to have a sense of justice.
These things are missing in Nigeria, so what is our hope? To live today and to
be killed tomorrow, whether by a political opponent, abductors kidnapping for
ransom, a religious extremist or tribal bigot? This is a country where we have
all of these things and we are institutionalising them; so where is the hope?
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