By Moses Akaigwe
Rev. Isaac Chibuike Ugboaja is the founder/General Overseer of the Christian Life Gospel Assembly, a Pentecostal church in the Oke-Afa area of Isolo, Lagos, who had at different times spoken prophetically on the performance of former President Goodluck Jonathan at the polls, and the victories of President Muhammadu Buhari in his first and second terms.
In this interview with Sunday Sun, looked at the Christmas message of the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese of the Catholic Church, Rt. Rev. Hassan Matthew Kukah, the clamour for a president of Igbo extraction succeeding Buhari, and ‘wise men’ from the East who have the requisite qualities to occupy the Aso Rock in 2023.
Is there a spiritual reason a whole lot of negative things befell the country in 2020, including economic hardship, COVID-19, insecurity, kidnappings, community-on-community attacks, EndSARS violence, etc?
Year 2020 was a year of knowledge, lessons and year of wisdom. It was a year that people were meant to learn a lesson. Hosiah, one of the prophets who always prophesied the truth, once said ‘My people are destroyed due to lack of knowledge.’ If the year 2020 was so bad, by now, God wouldn’t have been in heaven. It was a good year, not as bad as people saw it. It was a year people needed to learn from God and man. What happened last year was not from God, but God allowed it. The previous year, I shouted and I told my members that 2020 would be a year of greater mercy. The mercy of God would bring greater mercy. What they are calling Coronavirus is not a virus, but a spiritual bomb attack that is still in the air. And God kept it for man to repent. Rather, our sins increased. Instead of us to allow God dictate to us, you see men doing otherwise. You cannot teach God how to handle spiritual matters. The coming of Coronavirus last year was a spiritual matter, and our spiritual fathers in the Lord were not able to highlight this to the folks who are children of nowadays. Coronavirus is not a government affair. It is a spiritual affair. When you lock up the church of God because of one illness or the other, it can cause a generational calamity. Churches should be opened for people to run to and get their healing. God is still angry with us. From the president to the least political leaders, no one owns this country. We did not even learn lessons during the heat of the Coronavirus which is an imported sickness brought from overseas.
What are your messages to Nigerians on what to expect in the year 2021?
The scenario of problems witnessed in 2020 is still very much around. People have developed internal hatred which will cost a lot of problems. Our people believe in propaganda and our politics is not pure politics. They are playing it with propaganda and hatred and God is against it. There are still people who are planning to destroy this nation. But nobody can do that, because the people who founded the country, like Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa, and Awolowo, did not destroy it. So, the present leaders cannot destroy it. There will be peace at last and 2021 is going to be a year of good and bad. It is going to have both negative, and positive developments. Remember it was only Noah that found favour in the eye of God. The politics of hatred is going to cause plunder that will make people begin to fight each other. That is the bad spirit that the enemy wants to use this year to distabilise the country. I hope we pray that, there will be election. That is the only prayer that we should make because, if government does not tackle internal hatred, the country will be in disorder. What government should fight this year is internal hatred, hate speech and propaganda. During Abiola and Babangida era, Nigeria was always witnessing launching and celebrations. There is no time you did not find people celebrating. But today, the wounds people have inflicted on each other are deep, and they are afraid. By the grace of God, this is the year of divine grace. We came out from divine mercy, and what we are facing now is divine grace. By his grace, Nigeria will not scatter. I believe that so much and there will be no civil war. Things will be okay in 2021.
As was the case last year, insecurity has already become a big problem so early in January 2021. What is the solution?
You cannot know the truth and hide it. In the first place, who brought the people you are calling bandits and insurgents? If you bring in some workers and refuse to settle them after they have executed the assignment for which you mobilised them, they will definitely turn to be your enemies. Nigerians neither brought Boko Haram, nor insurgency. It is the people they gathered to support and helped to achieve their ambition. You cannot abandon them after using them, but they can be settled. It is only dialogue that will solve the problem and that was the approach former President Olusegun Obasanjo used. He knew them and he dialogued with them. But, this time, you disappointed them and made them to be angry, and now they have become warlords. That case is in the hands of the people in government. Let them go and settle the people they brought and used to achieve their targets. I will not go into details. However, at the end of the day, this year will be better regarding the insecurity problem in the country.
Apart from dealing with insecurity, what do you think the government should do to improve the economy and boost the sagging morale of the people?
If there is peace, the economy will be healed, no matter where you are. The government can do better if the leaders that the people entrusted with their votes will do the right things and govern with sincerity and fear of God. For instance, if not for the #EndSARS protests, nobody would have believed that there were huge stocks of relief materials and other palliatives collected from different quarters for the masses, but were hijacked and hoarded in secret warehouses till some of them expired. In fact, it pains me sometimes when I hear people accusing government wrongly, especially for things they are innocent of. If all of us are sincere, the economy will be better. Part of the solution is to ensure that the right professionals are appointed to the right positions, which means do away with tribalism, sectionalism favouritism and religious sentiment.
If you meet President Buhari today, what advice will you give to him regarding the state of the nation, like economic hardship in the land, insecurity, low morale among the citizenry?
People do criticize President Muhammadu Buhari, but sometimes, he is not exactly the way people talk about him. The impression people have about Buhari, the one we know now, is not real. However, it is that Buhari that we used to know those days when he was the military Head of State that Nigeria needs today. Buhari brought fear of God and man to this nation then. But, since he became an elderly democratic President, the people around him do not allow him to make use of genuine advice. Buhari listens, but these people do not allow him to make use of the advice given to him. This country will not be difficult for Buhari if people are allowed to tell him the right things.
How would you react to the Christmas message by the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese of the Catholic Church, Rt. Rev. Hassan Matthew Kukah, in which he criticised President Buhari?
Rev. Kukah is a very wonderful and disciplined Catholic priest. I have prayed for the man. There is a spirit that entered him. Kukah is a very careful man and he always gives wise counsel. This is the first time he is going this far, and let nobody crucify him. Somebody higher than him, even the Pope, could have made the same mistake. If we begin to analyse Kukah’s message, it may bring religious chaos. Kukah is not above mistake. Nobody is above mistake. Preachers make mistakes on the altar. Kukah is a man of God. Nobody should trouble him and he should be forgiven. God told me that devil is at work and we as men of God should fight against it.
The intense reactions to Bishop Kukah’s message has, once again, brought to the fore the issue of whether religions leaders like you should have a voice in politics. Do you think men of God should steer completely clear of politics and governance?
Men of God should refrain from being sycophants and errand boys to governors and other people in power. It brings insults and removes their anointing. Men of God are supposed to be the defenders of the government, but should tell them the truth all the time. Remember what Elisha said when Nehemiah came to Israel. Nehemiah told the king, bring him to me, let me interpret the letter and he found out that the man was a leper. And the king said, ‘see how he is bringing trouble to me. Am I God to cure your leprosy?’ There are people whose duty it is to handle spiritual matters. This applies to pastors and religious leaders who are supposed to be handling spiritual matters. Sadly, they have turned themselves as religious contractors to the governors. They even collect honorarium from those in government to keep their mouths shut. It irritates me when people go to the alter and criticise the government. The truth is that we should always pray for them, but should not fail to tell them when they derail, and are no longer acting in the interest of the people.
Ndigbo are clamouring for the next President of Nigeria to come from among them after the tenure of President Buhari. Do you see that happening in 2023?
Togetherness can win a battle. Togetherness will heal many wounds. Our problem is that whenever we want to unite, somebody will instigate a problem that will cause anger. So, we need to come together. It is a healing balm. Igbo youths should come together and seek for their right in a reasonable and peaceful way; not by confrontation. Obviously, Nigerians owe Ndigbo a duty to give them their right. When the time comes, they will release it. But, when the youths resort to agitation with provocation, it may be difficult. Let our agitators calm down, negotiate and tell the nation what they want. The government is ready to listen to them. They should not abuse or insult anybody. I see the actualisation of goal of having an Igbo President hanging up there, and I am seeing the crown. It will come down one day soon, and the Igbo will rejoice. But, that will come when we are united and peaceful. It is not by violent gitation.
Don’t you think Ohanaeze Ndigbo has been working in that direction?
What I am saying is that the leadership of Ndigbo should go about the quest for the Presidency with an extended arm of brotherhood to leaders in other parts of the country, without being provocative in their utterances. Igbo elders should not provoke even the people in government, including the president. Those who have been abusive are simply delaying the era of Igbo providing leadership at the centre.
But, listen to me: If Ndigbo provide the leadership of this great nation for only four years, the people of Nigeria will go to the streets thanking God. This is because God has blessed the people from the East so much that they can transform the nation if they lead. An Igbo man will prefer to suffer so as to do well, than fail to deliver good results and tarnish his reputation. However, provocation and insulting words will make elders and leaders from other parts reluctant to give their support. But this year is the year of divine grace. I see divine grace. I see that God can give them {Ndigbo} grace if their elders will go by themselves and reach out to Yoruba, Hausa, Kanuri, Efik, and Urhobo, elders, and other leaders in parts of the country. Igbo leaders have a lot of work to do.
As in the Bible, when the time comes to ask ’who do we send, and who will go for us’ are there names you think Ndigbo will rely on to clinch the presidency?
The Igbo nation has a long list of great, capable and wonderful people to present for the number one position in the country. Some are silent achievers, some are well known. But, it will be a big insult for anybody to suggest that the people of the Southeast do not have the so-called presidential materials. The recent general election of Ohanaeze Ndigbo brought back to the limelight one of the most respected names in international affairs across the world, Prof. George Obiozor. There are many more like him in various fields. South-easterners have excelled at the global stage – making the country proud at the World Bank and the Commonwealth, and so on. Igbo people who were once number two citizens of the country, Senate President and governors, are still around, and can be called upon to ‘go for us. ‘And in the present Senate, there are prominent Igbo people making useful contributions, like the Chief Whip, Dr Orji Uzor-Kalu. But, to answer your question directly, the immediate past President of Ohanaeze, Dr John Nwodo, is a born leader who is well respected, not only in the east, but across the country. Former Abia governor and serving Senator, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, is another great son of the Igbo nation who will make a good president. Forget the attacks and persecution by those who feel uncomfortable with his popularity, political clout and courage, Senator Orji Kalu is a good leader who is at home in many parts of the country and can mobilise the youths easily. He is also a very successful businessman and politician, who can bring this experience to the presidency.