Christians don’t need arms but we need a deliverer —Alamu

Church planter of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Agbala Itusile, Abule Egba Lagos, Pastor David Tunji Alamu, in this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, speaks on the state of the nation and the effect of the insecurity of the nation on the church.

 

THE church has been under siege lately following several attacks, kidnapping and killings of Christians and clerics. What do you think could be responsible for the repeated occurrence?

The situation we have found ourselves in the country, even at the moment, is so pathetic. It is so unfortunate that we have found it difficult to tackle security issues as a nation. Our leaders have failed in putting a lasting solution to the country’s security challenges and it is so obvious they don’t have solutions to it. So, it is left for leaders and Christians to rise up to the occasion to change the narrative. We should urgently pray, and it is time church leaders encouraged their members to go into politics, and be fully involved in the political structure right from the ward, local and state levelsto the federal level and even take over the affairs of Nigeria from evil people. We can make it happen again like we prayed in the past during the(General Sani) Abacha regime. God can still answer our cry and prayers; so we must not relent in any form.

We must not also forget that the end is very near. So, these incidents will surely happen because God has already said they will occur. That is why I said we should not relent in our prayers.

 

There are unconfirmed reports that there would be a siege to Christians and churches; why is this happening to churches at this time?

Not only Christians; they will lay siege to Muslims too, even everybody by Fulani terrorists. This is why we need to be genuinely united and embrace peace to fight and conquer the beast that is against the progress of the peace of Nigeria.

 

Mixed reactions have trailed the news of the arrest of the suspects behind the Owo massacre; what is your take on this?

The incident is a pathetic one and the people behind the devilish act should not go unpunished. This incident depicts the level of insecurity in the country. But we must be careful about the issue. The police has not confirmed the report; until the thorough investigation is done on the suspects arrested and the security agents can confirm through their concrete report, we cannot make comments on an unconfirmed arrest.

 

Do you support the idea that churches should defend themselves with arms against attacks from insurgents?

Capital No. The Holy Bible says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal; we have to pray that God should send a deliverer to us. Anytime the Israelites had a problem, God sent help to them. We need a government that will take care of them. President Muhammadu Buhari is a Fulani man; he should be able to talk to his kinsmen like Governor Samuel Ortom said. We don’t need arms, but we need deliverer.

 

You recently revealed that God told you that a famous politician will rule Nigeria in 2023 and few weeks after he emerged the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is this a confirmation to your revelation?

I have nothing to hide about what God revealed to me, so I had to make it public. Though a lot of people were against it, but God has spoken and the confirmation is the outcome of what played out at the primary election of the APC primary. Interestingly, people thought I was bribed or influenced by Tinubu to have publicly revealed that prophesy in the national dailies, but that is not true. I only acted based on the revelation. I have never met Tinubu in person. Following the revelation, my associate ministers and I determined to support this man of great vision with our prayers for the success of his political ambition.

 

As a cleric, what would you suggest to be the main focus of any presidential aspirant for the 2023 election?

Nigeria is really facing a whole lot and as I said earlier, we need a deliverer to save us from our many problems. The future of our youths needs to be secured and the steps to achieve this goal must be discussed. Nigerian youths need a sincere government and this should be the core focus of any president that will take over from the current administration.

The next president needs to address the issue of unemployment holistically. Previous governments have failed the youths in this area as they could not provide adequate or required jobs for majority of the youths. But I think the government can actually do better. Jobs should be provided to the youths mostly through agriculture. This sector in Nigeria is pale. Though it is perceived as a means of survival only for the poor or rural dwellers, agriculture should be modernised. Facilities should be made available for those who are already into the business or ready for it. The state and Federal Government should also own farmsettlements where vibrant youths, even graduates, can work with modernised facilities.

Israel is anarid land surrounded by the sea and mountains, but grew its economy on agriculture. I have visited different countries of the world – in Africa, Europe, UK and USA – and I see no land as fertile as that of Nigeria. If those countries situated between the ocean, sea and desert can succeed on agriculture, Nigerian can succeed more. Electricity is also an important factor of every developed country and its effects on development cannot be underestimated. Adequate power supply is also a source of employment for the masses. If a country like Ghana can have uninterrupted power supply, why can’t we? Businesses are shutting down because of inadequate supplies and huge electricity bills thereby making the poor poorer. If more hands are needed in the sectors to make it right, we should not hesitate to employ dedicated youths or graduates that are ready to work.

It is also sad to see our education system failing. We need to prevent the standard of our education from failing by the day. Graduates are no longer able to express themselves in good English, let alone constructing a comprehensive sentence. It is a shame that results in the system are now commercialised. You get good results when you are rich. It is now almost impossible to differentiate between the average and academically poor students. This is really absurd and questionable. Students now engage themselves on all sorts of social media platforms abandoning their primary assignmentsinstead of focusing on studying hard.

Also, I will want to advise whoever that will take the mantle as the leader of the nation in the coming election should focus on housing schemes and consider the poor as well. These days, housing estates built by both state and federal governments are strictly for the rich as they are completely unaffordable for the poor. This is highly unacceptable. If you are with us, then the poor masses which are the majority should be considered. Transportation should not be left out. Every mode of transportation such as air, water and land which includes rail should be improved.

Finally security in Nigeria is at zero level. No one is safe, even kids and parents are unsure of their safety. All these careless and deliberate security threats must stop at the communities, state and federal levels.

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