Continued from Part 2
oday, we are continuing the assessment of 5 years campaign of Jesus for the World Revival Mission, also known as 'The Peoples Church' on air. The mission is campaigning for the sanitization of Nigeria through spiritual means. The Mission very much desire that Nigeria becomes a glorious nation, different from the bad name, which nations, all over the world, meanwhile know us to be, a corrupt nation. Pastor Aweda desires that Nigeria becomes like any of those nations, which we all want to live. He very much desires that all Nigerians be partakers of the wealth, which God has blessed Nigeria with, so that poverty can be eradicated as much as possible, so that our journey to heaven can be made easier because poverty can make one to backslide and lose heaven
My name, the moderator of this assignment is Elder Olatubosun Adejumobi
But before we proceed, I am going to request Dr. Deacon Kayode Samuel to commit this hour into the hands of the Lord.
Q.6. In continuation of our assessment of the mission's 5 years on the radio, Can you tell us some of the challenges you have faced?
These days, we tend to lump so many terminologies into one. Yes, I have faced challenges as well as difficulties, discouragements and frustrations. I have equally been encouraged a lot. But in all, the Lord's name be glorified.
The 1st difficulty I faced was from one of my very sons, who felt that the campaign I proposed to launch was risky and he might end up losing me.
My first plan was to hold a Press Conference. I paid for the full fee. Unknown to me, my son had visited many immediate extended family members to prevail against the Press conference.
Initially I thought it was a joke. The Press men had gathered promptly but the convener was not to be found. I had been locked up.
My car key was taken and the gate was locked, manned and secured by some militant family members.
The loss was painful to me but alas, today, all, involved in that conspiracy and every other members of the family contribute money for the campaign including the widow in the family.
Many of the frustrations that came initially eventually turned out to help the cause of the campaign as they allowed me to plot what new approach I should adapt.
Again, many of the frustrations, which were discouraging helped me to realize the enormity of the plague I am confronting in terms of how depraved Nigerians have become.
Remember we are talking of about 20 years when I was last regularly present in Nigeria and since that time, whenever I visited, the length of time I stayed was 4-5 weeks maximum.
The citizens I met were different from those I knew before I left home. These of today are greedy, indifferent to the plight of the other fellow, selfish and wicked. They cared for themselves alone at one's expense. Many duped me while I was trying to be good to them.
It started with one who called himself a horticulturalist who I contracted to level the Mission land, put Bahama grass on it and plant a type of weed called West Indies round the edges in lieu of fence.
He did almost nothing and bolted away with the money-N300,000.00. This kind of scenario happened many times. Then one wonders if the effort to solve their poverty is worth it.
The first Church Gardener and Driver almost ruined me. The more I tried to help their pitiful situation, the more they think they should milk me dry.
Many approached me with all kinds of stories requiring financial assistance when in reality they had only come to dupe.
There was one who suggested to me to sell my vehicle or the Church vehicle to meet his needs. The Church is at the outskirt of the town and he is suggesting that I sell the only means of transportation for the members for his own personal needs. Is that to prove that I am concerned about the poverty that pervades the land or what?
One can see how selfish and self centered some Nigerians can be. What is the meaning of his suggestion? Shut down the Church to meet his needs.
I learnt it some years ago in agony how our people suffer when they seek short term solution in preference to the long term.
Watching the traumatic experience of Africans in effort to enter the countries with strong economy, with many dying in the desert and in the high seas in the process, with many others running into the hands of dupes, losing large sum of money; and many who are able to reach their destination, running into several immigration problems, with a regret of taking such an adventure, I decided I was going to run a seminar titled "Living Abroad"
I announced it during some of my broadcasts. Within a short time, over a thousand people texted to register. I was pleased and I had concluded that if the seminar was to be effective, we would not have a class larger than 30 people at a session, so the seminar was to run for days.
Later, a thought ran into my mind that "May be these people think I have visas for those countries they love to enter" knowing that I was based abroad. So I went back to the radio and I announced that no one should think I had visa to issue to them but I would explain to them the available road maps to enter those countries legally, without hurting themselves and also counsel them as to what life is, in those countries. I was to let them look at the option of letting us fight together the problems confronting our nation in order to make our own nation also look like those nations they love to live and we can earn our living in our own country.
The moment I announced that on the radio, no one registered again. Even those who had earlier registered did not turn up on the day of the seminar. Less than twenty people turned up.
This case is the typical behavior of Citizens of Nigeria. We are like Esau, who sold his birthright because of a single meal.
Politicians will give us a few Naira to share as bait to silent us while they stash a lot for themselves to buy mansions all over the world.
I do not know if there is anyone who is yet to hear how the past Government shared the commonwealth among themselves. I hope we are satisfied, now that there is no money again to pay salaries.
Had we not behaved like Esau, how could they have had the audacity to do all those?
I only pity the present government and I pray that the Lord assist her to succeed.
Few months later, a young man joined our Church. His story was pathetic. He was a 300 level student. Someone told him that he was going to help him obtain a visa to a Western country at a fee.
Excited about it, he gave the fellow all the money his father gave him for two semesters' school fees and the fellow vanished into the thin air. In arrears of School fees, he was rusticated.
This is an example of the anguish people bring unto themselves when they seek for a short term solution the same way Nigerians take doles from Politicians rather than prefer to having their proper share of the common wealth.
There are thousands of similar stories.
My experience with our Church is another good example of how people look for short term solution. With my massive campaign for citizens to let us come together and fight the plague working against our progress, one will expect that by now we should be having millions in our Church attendance. But it is not the case. People prefer to go to places where they are offered short term solution, where all kinds of anointing oil are prescribed and even asked to do things that are ridiculous.
I believe that poverty is the root cause of most problems for which our people sleep day and night on hills and mountains.
Remove poverty and many of the problems blamed on witches and wizards will disappear. And this is why I am working for poverty to be eradicated in the land.
At the beginning, I used to be frustrated with our leaders who all have been abroad, times without number; all of them studied abroad and I used to wonder why they have not shown any urgency to catch up with those countries, where they studied, rather, they siphon recklessly the nation's commonwealth to themselves, accumulating properties and palaces for themselves both at home and abroad, with the money, which ought to have been used to develop and improve the country. I wonder whether these leaders are ashamed at all.
I am more frustrated today considering the number of the ordinary citizens who travel out day in day out and they still remain indifferent with the outlook of their own country.
All they are good at, is just talking and talking without lifting a finger in any positive direction for a change. All that make them happy is that they have joined the group of been tos and they consider themselves superior to others who are yet to travel to the White man's land.
Imagine the number of Nigerians who travel everyday to China, Dubai etc to buy items for sale.
Consider the number of Nigerians who perform Hajj and Humra every year.
Consider the number of Nigerians who perform pilgrimage to Jerusalem every year.
Can these people not be challenged to come together and form a formidable force for a change?
Can they not ask themselves the question that supposing the roads of the countries, where they had gone to perform the holy pilgrimages were like Nigerian roads, will anyone have gone? Or re-worded this way "Should Nigeria be the Holy land, who would have loved to risk his life in a bid to perform pilgrimage?
And when you ask them if they are concerned with the outlook of their own nation, they charged back "But what can we do?"
Consider the number of Religious leaders in both Islam and Christianity who have been to the Holy lands. And when they are asked if they are concerned with the outlook of their own nation, they also charged back "But what can we do?"
Everyone fold their hands asking "But what can we do?" But those who know what to do continue to strip us naked, buying mansions all over the world while we live less than humans.
If Religious leaders are really concerned with the backwardness of the nation and are spiritual, walking with God, there are a thousand and one things they can do.
These people meet hundreds and thousands of worshippers every blessed Fridays and Sundays respectively, the type of crowd, which no Politician can ever gather how ever much money they distribute. Can they not influence the worshippers to taking positive actions, which can better our lives and country?
People in all walks of life are in the Church and in the Mosques; Police men, Men of Customs, Immigration, Lawyers who shield the thieves, Lawyers who shield the Pen robbers and corrupt Politicians who decimate us, Corrupt Civil Servants and people who swindle others, who dupe others and who do 419.
If those who mount the Pulpits on Sundays and Fridays will do their job, without fear, but tell whoever, the truth without the fear that flow of money might cease, in no time Nigeria will become heaven on earth and we can build on the foundation, which the Colonial masters had laid, which we have destroyed and we should even improve on it.
Religious leaders can do a lot. They can plead with their different congregations to stop pestering Politicians for money. Congregations will obey if careful explanations are made to them that it is poison to them and their children on the long run.
A former Governor of Benue state, some few years back, cried out at a public lecture he gave in Lagos, that the requests, which they (Politicians) receive from citizens tempt them to steal from the commonwealth.
Such requests to Government Officials are nothing but lack of consideration for others, when a single individual wants to take more than his own share of the common wealth.
Religious leaders can carefully explain to their congregations the danger in taking money from politicians.
Taking money from Politicians is what I refer to as 'Gifts that ends in unending poverty' Because once you take money from Politicians, you have given them a blank cheque to our treasury and you have no further right to question them how they spend the common wealth?
Those money, which Politicians share to Party men, electorates, artisans and worship houses either at campaign or afterwards are nothing but baits.
And after you have swallowed the bait, it becomes poison in your body as all infrastructures are left in dilapidation. We are left with killer roads, we are left in darkness, while they have Sound Proof Generators running in their homes 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We are left to be searching for brook water to drink. With no electricity, no water, we return to primitive age life style.
I hear someone say, whether or not you take the money from them, they will steal. I beg to disagree with that line of thought. Let us just stop accepting money from them first and let us see them not accountable to our sovereign wealth. Remember that at the beginning, the first crops of our Politicians were faithful to our treasury. Those of today too will, if we refuse to sell our birthrights for a single meal.
As I announced last week, God willing, I will be calling for Inter-Religious Solemn Assembly in the month of February.
It will be held in Osogbo God willing Wed. February 24, Thursday 25 and Friday 25
We must do all it takes for our poverty and misery to end.
This agony of poverty has not excluded the Christian or the Moslem. So, this Solemn Assembly is for people of all faith and by the grace of God the organizers will keep it inter-religious as much as possible.
My worry is that poverty has been making people to dip their hands into sin; Christians and Moslems and hell is the final destination.
Though Christians believe that it is faith that will take us to heaven but the Bible itself says that faith without work is dead. So poverty alleviation is not something that we can treat lightly.
This Inter-Religious Solemn Assembly is most relevant, now that we have a President who is interested in our well being. We must now resolve to do our own part.
The government is already playing her own role by booking all the treasury thieves but my role as a Pastor is to tune the hearts of the citizens to the right, encouraging us to depart the destructive part before the long arm of justice catches anyone.
If we want our poverty to end, if we want our shame as a nation to end, if we want Nigeria to look like the other nations, which we want to live, then this Inter-Religious Solemn Assembly is a must for everyone, irrespective of religion; Moslems, Christians, whichever, young and old, Students Apprentices etc.
The coming generation will not forgive this generation if we do not clean the mess on the stable, which we have caused.
The only person who this Solemn Assembly excludes is someone who is happy with the poverty that has plagued this country.
By the grace of God, this Inter-Religious Solemn Assembly will take place as I said in Osogbo in February, on Wed. 24, Thur. 25 and Friday25.
In due course, I will announce the venue of the Assembly.
So start to announce it to everyone at work, School Market place, Church, Mosque and everywhere.
Continued from Part 2
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