* Lists His Achievements
* Says Religious Intolerance Very High In Nigeria
* Describes Bishop Kukah As A Patriot
* Calls For Creation of State Police
* States PFN Stand On CAMA Laws
* Many More
Rev. Dr. Felix Omobude is the National President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN). He recently granted a press interview to selected media men in Benin City where he bared his mind on some current issues happenings in Nigeria. He is also the President of Gospel Light International Ministries – New Covenant Gospel Church with headquarters in Benin City, Edo State.
Dr. Omobude spoke extensively on the problems bedeviling the country and governance, noting that God has endowed Nigeria with abundant resources but added that there was need for Nigerians to work hard and do things that will make the country to become great.
Nonetheless, the PFN National President whose tenure expires February this year, having spent the maximum two terms of eight years, identified corruption as one of the major problems bedeviling the country, saying that the war against corruption can only be won when most Nigerians team up to combat the menace, instead of seeing it as a one-man show.
Sir Ralph Okhiria, who was there for The RELIANCE brings you full details of the interview.
Happy reading:
Sir what is your general overview and assessment of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration?
It’s easy for Nigerians to assess whether the government performed credibly well or not. When this government came into power the naira was about N180 to a dollar. It is now almost N500 to a dollar. When this administration came into power, Nigerians bought a litre of petrol at about N87 but now it is over N160.
Is Nigeria more secured today than it was when this government came in? In my mind I will commend the efforts of our security forces fighting Boko Haram. However, Nigeria is more unsecured than it was. Our people can no longer go to the farms, you can’t make journeys without fear of being attacked, people no longer sleep with their two eyes closed. And this government, one of it’s campaign promises was security. I leave all my readers, all Nigerians to assess. Nigerians know that they are less unsecured today. Whether in the north or in the south, east or the west, the fear of insecurity is there and it happens everyday and at times by the hour.
So we can go on and on, do we have electricity more now than as it was in 2015? The answer is no. Do people have access to clean drinking water now than it was in 2015? The answer is no. So rating the government is sincerely, very easy.
What are your views about the appointments made by the president because there have been several complaints from different quarters that a section of the country is being favoured in the appointments and that the others have been marginalized?
The truth is we can make analysis. The heads of each Federal government department, where do they come from? Honestly PFN wants merit to be the yardstick of appointments but also not to forget the diversities that we have. Brave soldiers, honest and incorruptible are not found only in one section of the country, they are all over just as corruption is all over the place. So, this issue has always been there and I think government needs to demonstrate to the people that they are equitable, that Nigeria is for all Nigerians and so people will trust government if they see that all they do are clear and are not shielded.
In Nigeria today, the rate of religious intolerance is so high and unprecedented. People are no longer their brother’s keeper, they don’t tolerate one another, violence here and there. What do your take?
The American government rated Nigeria as an intolerance nation recently and it was in the media and the minister of information tried to deny it. There is no religious tolerance in the country. I wish the minister was honest enough and owned up to some basic facts. Now, down here in the south, people can put their mats in front of the church and pray, we don’t fight them. Can you do that in some of the states in the country? Now, some of our people have been killed. A lady was killed just for going out for evangelism early in the morning. She was hacked to death and up till today, to my record, those who killed her have not been brought to book. You don’t call that intolerance? Now a state, Kano State to be precise, recently destroyed all those shops and the bottles of beer. All their investments, the government wasted them. I am the president of the pentecostal churches in Nigeria, we don’t encourage our people to drink alcohol. No, we don’t drink but, intolerance made them to move from shop to shop, destroying them. Lai Mohammed should be able to look at some of these things and say what is real. Now what has been done to Leah Sharibu? Now others were released because they accepted the Islamic faith and because Leah Sharibu held unto her faith, she was held back and up till today, she is still in captivity. Government has always made promises upon promises and nothing has come out it. The poor girl, if she is still alive, is held against her will.
So there is no way we can progress without showing understanding and tolerance. I know churches, especially some in the northern states, that have been there for years and the government will not give them certificate of occupancy because they are churches but here in the south, we give our farms to all Nigerians irrespective of where they came from. We give our everything, we don’t care. So the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari, should accept the fact that these issues are there and that he should deal with them.
The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Dr. Matthew Kukah has been on the radar recently because he said if it were to be a non Muslim Nigerian that has been in power, he would have long been overthrown. And because of that, people are now calling for his head. He came out to say he never called for coup but that he only spoke the truth to the government of the day. What is your response to that?
Well I appreciate Bishop Kukah. I don’t think we have interacted on one-on-one but if you follow him, you will know that he is down to earth when it has to do with telling the truth.
Bishop Kukah is an advocate of democracy so he could not have been calling for a military overthrow of the government.The issues that he raised are very glaring.
Now, it is only in this country that you can’t talk against government and go free. What is the dust for? I know that the minister of information is paid for his job but he should be honest enough to face certain truth.
People call Mr. Trump all kinds of names and never has anybody been sued for insulting him but people have been sued in Nigeria for insulting the president.
So, Bishop Kukah spoke the minds of genuine Nigerians. And any attempt by anybody to impose a section of the nation upon the other is bound to cause chaos.
Bishop Kukah should be seen as a patriot and not a sacrificial lamb.
He is not a hater of government but he is a lover of truth. I stand wholeheartedly with him on his views.
There has been a call recently for a change of the service chiefs by the President and he has so far refused. What is your take on this?
Well, the changing of the country’s service chiefs is the exclusive preserve of the president and now, those who called for their change have looked at it and said, it is like they have run out of ideas and this is their position. And if you are doing something and the result you expect is not coming, use wisdom to look at it. While I will not join in pressuring the president to remove any government official who is not performing satisfactorily, Nigerians want a secured nation, we are all in a hurry to see it. This promise was made in 2015, remade in 2019, and it is getting worse by the day.
The Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Abubakar, cried out recently that the insecurity in the northern parts of the country is unbearable and that is the truth.
Just last week, the state chairman of PFN in Kaduna State was abducted from his own residence.
So we need to find out where are we going? How can a government sleep with all these happenings and the people have to tell you to change your security chiefs before you change any. It’s unimaginable.
Sir, as leader of the PFN, what do you think can be done to improve on the security situation in the country?
The PFN overtime, advocated a decentralization, restructuring of our security architecture, especially the Nigeria Police force. Now, if you go to a nation like the United States, there is the federal police, the FBI, then, each states has their police departments. In fact, each city, has city police department. That makes policing the country less cumbersome.
So, this one that everything has to come from Abuja, is not helping us. Why post someone from Sokoto to be Commissioner of Police in Edo State? he doesn’t know the terrain, he doesn’t know the people, he does not know their culture. So what do you want him to do? So we advocate that each state should have a state police.
Now the federal government is denying it but the people are clamouring for it. Western States have started the Amotekun, which is right. Each state should have something. In Kano and other northern States, they have their own local security outfits.
I think the right thing to do is for the government to provide adequate security for the people or allow the people to arm themselves. Why should some people go and stay in our forests and come out to harass us and we are defenseless? Government has asked everyone with licensed and illegally acquired guns to return them. So people have turned in their guns but guns are in the hands of criminals. You want to depend on the police, the police are overstretched. They are not well paid, well funded, they lack equipment of modern day policing and so what do you expect?
So, what can the church do in this regard?
We must continue to partner with the government when they take positive steps and decisions. The church becomes the hope of the people in that they can be easily reached. The church provides within her resources, succour to those that are very much down the ladder. The church encourages people to live right. We have had people who have turned from cultism, we have had people who have turned from various heinous crimes and surrender due to the preaching and advocacy of the church. The church is still reaching out in partnership with the government, getting our people engaged meaningfully to find their daily bread.
So apart from prayers, we are not going to take up arms against authorities of the government but the church will continue to socially engage and spiritually uphold the country.
A more deadly coronavirus has resurfaced in countries of the world, including Nigeria and the government is warning people to take personal responsibility by observing all the NCDC protocols in order to be safe; What is your advice to Nigerians?
First and foremost, Nigerians should be grateful to God because He has compassion on us. What the world expected when Coronavirus broke out did not happen. Nigeria is a faith community, whether Christian faith, Islamic faith or traditional faith worshippers . Nigerians believe in God and somehow, God has shown mercy on us. Now the second wave is on. The PFN enjoins all its members and all Nigerians to take responsibility for their safety.
Now there are things, protocols, non pharmaceutical protocols that government has put in place. It doesn’t reduce our holiness to follow those protocols. Wash your hands, always sanitize your hands when necessary, wear your facemask, even in church. You come to church and you don’t wear your facemask, you can’t enter this (my) church or any of our branch churches without washing your hands, temperature test, facemask, the chairs have been spaced, in obedience to government’s rules. That is what we stand for.
Now you talk about the crossover service. And in the states that the state governments have said there should not be crossover services, the Christians there should obey what the state governments said but there are states that also said you can but these rules must be kept, we must obey it. We work with the state government. So Nigeria is a federation and we should not think we can use a military fiat. So, what is happening, the situation in Lagos, the situation in Edo, the situation in Cross Rivers, the situation in Kano, they are not the same but all the same, these are unusual times. Nigerians generally should act responsibly. Those rules, should be obeyed, Nigerians should know that COVID- 19 is real and that it is not a government disease.
So, they should take responsibility to protect themselves.
The year 2020 being the COVID- 19 year had badly affected the economy the world over including the church. How was the church able to weather through?
The church like other aspects of the economy, suffered very painfully. I know apart from the fact that there were no services going on, many of the members that have no food, came in here (church) and we gave them food. We could do that because some of our members supported the efforts but there were others who really went through terrible times. There are some pastors that we had to support their families. We survived by the grace of God but in spite of that, we have to continue our activities to the less privileged.
What is your assessment of Nigeria’s economy which seems to be failing apart?
The economy has had a hit, terribly especially with the advent of the COVID- 19 and the #EndSARS protest. So remarkably this is an unusual year and so, things are very hard. An average Nigerian is going through a very difficult moment. Even countries that are well to do, their economy is also shaking. I was hearing yesterday that the American government is approving two thousand dollars per a person as palliatives. I am just thinking, the day Nigerians will get N20,000 from federal government, saying this is from federal government, we are aware of the problem you have, every person in Nigeria should have N20,000, Nigerians will celebrate it.
We have crisis on our hands. I appreciate the genuine efforts of the government to solve it but the truth is that a critical situation demands a very critical solution and we are not seeing that.
So a bag of rice, you know rice is a common food especially at this time, is inaccessible. He closed the borders, he does not want importation, he wants our people to grow rice which is laudable but if you don’t have, you don’t have. We should not starve. You told Nigerians to tighten their belt and the belt is almost cutting our stomachs into two.
So, I think that government should rethink on their decision. When this government came up, fighting corruption is one of its issues and PFN applauds it because corruption in all honesty, has dealt the greatest blow on Nigeria and on Nigerians. With all the efforts of the president, it looks like a one man’s show and people are still doing what they used to do.
I think it is such a fight that we all must join hands to fight because it is all over the place, it moves round. If you bought banana from my village to Benin, at every stop, there are things you must do. If you pass through airport, immigration, these things are all there and so, we just need a change of attitude, a change of heart. Nigerians must be determined to make the Nigerian project work by sincerely serving this nation.
Do you agree with those who say Nigeria is now heading towards a failed state if nothing is done urgently at this stage to salvage it and that it may spell doom for the country?
Well, there are indices that show that the state has failed. But that apart, we should not with our own mouths, proclaim what is wrong. I mean Nigeria is still far from being a failed state. The government has failed in several areas but there are still some laws and order in this country. Nigeria is not the worst country to live in. I have traveled quite a bit and I can tell you that there are some things we can celebrate as a nation. We are not where we ought to be but I don’t think that all hope is lost.
The clamour for which zone to produce the next president in 2023 has started and various people are talking touch; so, what is your take on this?
As we draw close to 2023, the political temperature will rise undoubtedly. PFN is not particular about where the next president come from. PFN is particular about equity. PFN is particular about a candidate that is resourceful, a candidate that can bring development and the desired change to Nigerians. PFN will not stop politicians from doing their politics, PFN advocates that politics should be played in a decent and civilized manner. The politics of thuggery, the politics of sending assassins against your perceived opponents should be a thing of the past.
So, we are looking at the politics of issues that are well defined. The way we are as PFN, we believe that the greatest benefit that the Buhari’s administration should bequeath to Nigerians is a free, fair and acceptable electoral system where everybody will be free to participate and where election will count without vote buying and injustice.
What are your achievements as the PFN national president?
I can’t thank God enough for the opportunity and I also want to thank the pentecostal leaders in this country. Many of them have greater followership than myself, some are bishops, archbishops but they all have had respect for me, they cooperated, worked with us.
I think if there is anything, I will leave the PFN community to judge but we have enjoyed relative stability but by February 2021, a new leadership will emerge.
PFN today, has more respectibility among the community of churches, PFN has spread all over this country and there is hardly any community in this country that you can’t find the pentecostal, probably only in the Sambisa forest. We are all over the place and by the grace of God, the PFN is a group with a lot of diversities but we have been able to harmonize our positions on several issues.
I want to be remembered as a leader who served the body of Christ to the best of his ability. Nobody, politicians, governors, that can come out to say I bargained. PFN stood on a credible pathway. I just give God glory for that. There are many other achievements that we can talk about, we refined our constitution in my time, the structure of PFN are all over up to the ward level, across the country. These are just little of it but God has helped us.
What is your take on the recent CAMA laws?
Well the CAMA law has brought in unnecessary controversies. The details we can’t go into here but the PFN is working with CAN. We have made our observations known to the federal government and I think they appreciate our position. We are not asking them to abrogate the law entirely but we have approached the national assembly for a review of some of the aspects.
Government for example, appoints who rules the church. They copied those laws from Europe, from the United Kingdom but what they forget is that the UK have some support that they give to churches for charity. The Charity Commission in Europe and America, support church work. If you pay your tithe to church and you give evidence that you pay tithe to church in America, it is tax deductable.
You will not be taxed for it. If you support the poor and you show evidence, the Commission gives you money. So they have right to control things like that but such doesn’t exist here. So however, we have talked with both the executive and the legislature and I think work is in progress to resolve the issues.
What is your New Year message to Nigerians?
When a year ends like this and a new one comes, prophecies are coming from left, right and centre. At times, people don’t face reality. Between 2020 and 2021, is just a thin line. We must decide to do what is right. We must decide to put our faith in God to work that people will see. We have prayed and we are praying that the situation where we can no longer shake hands, where we can’t fellowship, a situation of fear of death and panic, we are praying that it will not be so in 2021 but Nigerians should roll up their sleeves.
There are so many resources that God has blessed us with in this country that we can harness and change the narrative.
We can’t blame the government for everything. There are those things that we must do and I call on Nigerians to lift their heads high. Nigerians are very resilient. Nigerians survive even where others failed. So, it’s my prayer that 2021 will be for us a peaceful and prosperous one.
But our government should wake up and take their responsibilities seriously.
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