Prophet Bayode Oluwole Olubo is the founder of House Favour Church, Egbeda, Lagos State. In this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, he speaks on the preparation for the 2023 general election and what the church must do to overcome the security challenges of the country.
The race for 2023 is becoming more obvious as interested politicians are beginning to make their interest known for the seat of power. What is your take on this development and the personalities that have shown interest so far?
Is anything interesting in Nigeria? Nothing is interesting about Nigeria with all these greedy, self-centered, selfish, callous, and unrepentant leaders we have. I have seen a lot in this country; I will be 56 years soon and I don’t have anything to fear about speaking the truth to power. The people jostling for political office so far, especially for the presidency are not worth it. The only person that I may subscribe to is the vice-president, because of his antecedents, but the godfatherism in Tinubu will not allow Osinbajo. He is likely to be in danger because of the situation around.
Though I am not Senator Tinubu’s fan, the good thing about him is that he is a visioner, who developed Lagos with a working blueprint. The truth is that if Tinubu didn’t allow Osinbajo to run the South-West will lose outright.
I don’t think anybody above 60 years should be involved in the next election because we need fresh breeds. It is a shame on our leaders to have allowed Nigeria deteriorate to this extent. They should give the younger ones the chance to take the centre stage.
What is your assessment of the Buhari-led government so far?
Any nation that doesn’t show interest in its security has failed and never achieved anything at all. No matter the degree of your performance; the moment that the security system is porous, you have achieved nothing. There has never been this kind of insecurity in our nation. The underage are getting involved in cybercrimes. The rate at which kidnapping and other criminal activities are happening is unimaginable. Religious bodies are not left out too; there is all kind of atrocities going on in the religious bodies. We don’t have security. How do you want to evaluate a nation that has all the instruments of progressive qualities but with insecurity in the land?
I once said that President Muhammadu Buhari has nothing special to offer; he is weak and was voted out of sympathy. As a leader, you must be actively involved in the affairs of the nation, especially on security matters. The safety of lives and properties must be your priority. Instead we have become a borrowing nation; Nigeria has borrowed about N43trillion. It has never happened in our history. What are they doing with the money? Nothing has been done to the insurgency in the north; the situation is escalating. Our borders are now porous. I believe this government has its agenda. Our security system is the worse in the history of Africa and the world. No one is safe or can sleep with two eyes closed.
Are you saying the government has failed abysmally in the area security?
The security system is a major concern. If the security system is intact, our economy will improve. The security system has affected the progress of other sectors in the country. Take electricity, for instance, it is nothing to write home about. I am spending about N150,000 on diesel and electricity monthly for the house and the church. What kind of nation are we living in? Suppose we have constant electricity, that revenue would be going to the government. It is so unfortunate that we are experiencing this hardship. Diesel, gas, and fuel prices have gone up so high.
There are lots of loopholes in the government of the day; you cannot tell me that the government has achieved anything when the majority of people are suffering; 250 million Nigerians and just a fraction of the nation’s population are the ones enjoying the wealth. These are people that have sent their children out of the country. Even in the religious circles, most top church leaders have dual citizenship and subjected their members to fasting and prayer. I have travelled about 16 times, but I don’t see the reason to leave my fatherland; God has not sent me to sit in America. Greed and wickedness have taken over our nation.
The church is also greatly affected by the insecurity affecting the nation. How do you think this can be avoided?
The church must reinforce itself and upgrade its security system. The church is seen as a threat and we all need to wake up. There is too much waste of innocent blood and how long will this be going on? We can only win this battle if we have a unified system. All church leaders need to come together as a voice; this is when we can be taken seriously. I want to suggest that the church should come up with its security outfit, otherwise, the terrorists will waste us all. The Church is facing a great tribulation and persecution in our land, but Christian bodies are not doing anything tangible about it. It is about time we took it up as a responsibility. The day our church leaders come together to make a declaration about the movement, the narrative will change. Also, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), should have a political party and a sustainable structure.
Do you think the church is not doing enough in imbuing the fear of God in the lives of young adults against crime and immorality in society?
It is pathetic that our young ones no longer believe in hard work. The future of the youths in Nigeria is bleak.
Meanwhile, the church has played a major role in damaging and giving the wrong mindset about the body of Christ in the quest of acquiring wealth, preaching prosperity, and flaunting it at the expense of members. Anybody can come up to attack me on this, I am not bothered.
There is moral decadence in the church. Most pastors focus on people that can fetch them money. Some of them organise programmes to raise money. They invest billions in projects when there are lots of people that would have benefited from scholarships with such funds. As for me, God did not send me to do this. Apart from my ministry, I have been feeding and empowering widows for about 18 years now.
The point is that the public too also contributes to it. Church members create more problems. They compare church leaders. The public also hate it when you tell them the truth. Churches rarely teach truth again. I am not exempted from this. But for me, maybe my background has helped me. My father was the first person who preached contentment and networking to me, while my mother taught me the importance of tithing and giving. These are areas most parents have failed.
Are you saying parents have also failed in their responsibilities?
That is the nucleus part of society. Parents rarely have time for their children. Some parents even push their children to amass wealth through any means. Parents, Christian, and Islamic bodies should all come to a roundtable to find a way out, because there is nothing the political structure can do for us.
You are passionate about the widows, why?
As I said earlier, this is a mandate from God and I don’t want to ignore God’s ordinance to put a smile on the faces of the underprivileged, especially the widows. I always host them every December and the of last year was massive because we got some sponsors. We catered for over 1000 widows. I felt like the happiest man. Coming to Lagos with two trousers, two shirts, one sandal, and one shoe, I was able to impact lives and have the privilege to put smiles on people’s faces.
God told me that my ministry will be known through welfare from the beginning, not through evangelism or revival. He said I have called you to restore the dignity of man through the word of hope. So, putting smiles on widows’ faces through feeding and empowerment is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. We are currently planning for a more impacting giveback initiative this year and I trust God will help us because I am planning to empower them massively and also give the children of the widow’s scholarships this year.
Hunger and poverty have continued to increase in the land. What can the church do to ensure a sane society?
Hunger has increased so much in the land. Beggars, even corporate ones are all over the place. Someone who claims to be a pastor recently worked up to me for assistance to feed her wife who just put to bed. People are facing a lot of challenges in the society. The pathetic thing is that we have a government that turns a deaf ear to all these burning issues. I don’t pray for revolution in this country.
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