President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), who doubles as the President, Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), Reverend (Dr) Samson ‘Supo Ayokunle, speaks with RITA OKONOBOH, on his experiences after one year as CAN president, the state of the nation, his admonition to Christians in the face of national challenges, among others. Excerpts:
HOW has it been in the last one year as CAN President?
My emergence was the act of God. Though God used all Christians to vote me into the position, I wouldn’t have been a contestant, if God didn’t want it so. When you are in the centre of God’s will, what seems like a big burden becomes light. That is the story so far. I met a lot of problems; politics came into it, but with prayers, commitment to vision and obedience to God, Who made the choice, we put one step after the other and I made reconciliation the first step. This took me to different parts of the country. The office of the CAN president is a voluntary position. There are no salaries, allowances or incentives, attached to it. You are responsible for funding the work you carry out, yet, we must work. With the maximised support of my denomination, the NBC, God made the work easy. My wife has also been very supportive. Anyone who wants to hold this position must go to the school of humility. You would note that almost all the heads of churches represented in CAN, where I serve, have ‘caps that are taller than mine.’ In stature, I cannot be compared to them. So, I would need great humility to serve them. No one holds a position forever; it will eventually become history and, as such, we should be humble. We took the message of peace to many regions telling them the need for us to work together. Thank God the case in court has been finally settled and we came together and we had terms of settlement and that was adopted as judgment in the court and we saw the end of that case. The Catholic Church was invited and we looked into their grievances. We saw that what they stood for was not different from what we stood for; it was just the way it was communicated that was different. So, with that, the Catholic community wrote that they would come back. By the grace of God, we will continue to build on the success we have achieved.
Another thing we have achieved in the past one year is reaching out to victims of herdsmen’s attacks all over the federation. We have been to the affected communities in Southern Kaduna, where we distributed relief materials worth several millions of Naira. We also reached out to more than ten communities in Benue State, where we met with people who had been maimed, and some had even lost loved ones and property in the attacks. Recently, we went to remote villages in Enugu State, where we also distributed relief materials. We have organised a retreat for the leadership of CAN so that we can be focused. We will meet in a couple of weeks to review the constitution of CAN so that what happened at the last election would not happen again, and also dissuade external influence on presenting candidates for election, particularly, on the rotation of presidency from bloc to bloc.
Very recently, the Igbo residents in the North were given a notice to leave the region. What is your message to Nigerians at this time?
Those youths are misguided and ethnocentric people, filled with excessive passion for their own group. Those are the kind of youths Nigeria does not need. The call they have made is unconstitutional and they are a threat to the peaceful coexistence of Nigerians and they should be brought to book. The threat should not be underestimated because I believe there may be some adults behind them. The issue should be adequately addressed before it does damage.
How about the threats of secession by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)?
The people behind IPOB also have a problem. The problem is that they don’t know that cutting off the head is not the cure for a headache. If any region wants to be on its own, it has to be constitutional. Where we have a constitution and a government in place, how can you be crying for secession without being charged for treason? The most negatively-affected people in terms of economic distribution are those from the South-South, not even from the South-East. These are the people who one would think should be at the vanguard of crying for secession, but they are not. Secession is not the answer. Rather, what they should have canvassed for is that the South-East should not be left out in the scheme of things in the Nigerian nation. One region must not dominate the production of president. In fact, what I think would be better for us, as a result of our multi-ethnicity, to help our coexistence, is that the presidency should rotate among the three regions. It’s like what we are saying about CAN; where you have diversity, there is need to defuse the tension. Democracy is not a spiritual law; it’s a human method that should be employed in a way that will help our present situation. Contextualise democracy to make it adaptable to the situation on ground. If every region knows they will be represented at some point in time, I don’t think the cries for secession will be rife. Why is it that after Nnamdi Azikiwe, no Easterner has been made president of the nation? The South-South just had their turn; maybe that’s what doused the tension. When will it be the turn of the South-East? This also underscores the issue of restructuring; we must make sure that in the constitution, when choosing our leaders, we must factor in our diversity to defuse the tension and stop heating up the polity. However, we cannot say the right thing in the wrong way.
Is CAN satisfied with this administration’s efforts in the fight against corruption?
When the government goes to arrest people in a way that is against the normal procedure, they have technical issues to battle in court that will not allow what they want to achieve to see the light of day. So, the EFCC, DSS should not corruptly arrest people. When you arrest people in an unconstitutional manner, it’s also a form of corruption; it is not right. Justifying or rationalising it is defence mechanism. You will notice that the focus has largely been on technical issues, not even the main issue. The fight against corruption should be circumspect so that they might make headway.
There is also the issue of corruption fighting back. Some of those accused have more than enough resources to get the best lawyers to handle their cases and explore all aspects of the law. What is wrong that we know is wrong, is not wrong until you are able to fulfil all aspects of the law to make it wrong. Also, the moment you tell the public about arresting a person for corruption, when the case has not been proven, to me, you have almost lost that case, because you have sent signals to many other people to be prepared. So, before you come, they are more than ready. I would advise more discretion, and it is the success they make out of it that they should announce to the public. That is my opinion.
There have been various accusations and counter-accusations on how Christians have benefited from or deprived in the past two years by the present administration. How would you assess the situation?
What we have said several times, and which I will still say, is that appointments have been lopsided, in an embarrassing way, more than any other administration and this government needs to know that it is their weakness and they should do something about it. In terms of ethnicity and religion, this government has been biased in terms of appointments. It is so obvious in this administration and they need to change.
Nigeria has faced challenges with the economy, security and other issues, in recent times. How would you advise Christians to go about their businesses at a time like this?
One thing that makes Christianity different from other religions is the message of hope. Hope does not disappoint, according to the Bible in Romans 5:5. Christians should know that the issue of economic adversity is not limited to this nation or this generation. Even in the time of Isaac, as early as the book of Genesis, there was famine. So, it should not be seen as something strange. Like it is said, ‘tough times never last but tough people do.’ We should look up to God, Who is the author and finisher of our faith. Whatever happens to Nigeria, can’t your case be different? Your case can be different because you are a peculiar treasure in the hands of God. Whatever the case may be, I believe my case shall be different, and because I am a Nigerian, I believe that the case of Nigeria shall be changed for the better. Weeping may endure till night, but joy comes in the morning. That is what the Bible says and that is what we form our attitude as Christians. Fretting about it will not change anything. The Bible states: ‘to them that believe, all things are possible.’ Your faith is the game-changer.
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