If Christians vote during elections, our situation will be different —Aboyeji

Reverend Sam Aboyeji is the General Overseer of Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria. In this interview with Oluwaremilekun David, he talks about the church’s ongoing international conference for pastors and church leaders, the need for Christians to be politically sensitive and why they must vote during elections to choose good leaders.

How has it been since you became the General Overseer of Foursquare gospel church? 

Well, it’s been interesting; it’s been challenging but God has been faithful in all. He told me was that as far as this job is concerned ‘whatever you need, just take the liberty to ask me, but don’t discriminate among my people because they are all my people; once you don’t discriminate against my people, I will give you their hearts; whatever else you need, I will back you up’. He has continued to do that.

Are your expectations before your assumption of office being met?

The biggest room in the world is the room for improvements. So, visions are set, expectations are set, and another thing is for you to have something to pursue. But we keep running after them but one big thing that has happened which has slowed us down is Covid-19. Out of the two and half years we have spent, Covid-19, took the better part of them, but God helped us that throughout the Covid-19 period, we were still able to tag along. But in terms of pursuing your goals and objectives, it’s not easy to do that when you’re contending with a big environmental challenge.  I can say that we haven’t done badly but maybe we would have done better if there was no Covid-19.

What has been the most surprising thing that happened to you since you assumed office?

Well, I put it as men being men. You know there are people you never expected would be of help to you but they have turned out to be the ones who have provided the greatest source of help and there are people you hope that once there is a problem, you can run to them but they turn out to be a big disappointment. That’s why I said it’s just men being men and God being God. That’s why the Bible says woe unto him that puts his trust in men because he will not see good when it is coming. So, that should be the only element of surprise that some men have acted like men, and, as I said, you shouldn’t be surprised that they acted like men.

What is the focus of this ICML program?

By the grace of God, these are our training programs. From the name, it is international in nature because we have guests from all over the world. We would be expecting some of our district overseers from different places to be part of this program. We would be expecting a national leader from Europe — that’s Foursquare France. We are also expecting some of our African leaders. We are expecting nothing less than 26 foreign delegates. So, it is international in nature. By the name also, it is a conference meeting meant for ministers and leaders. So, it’s a kind of meeting that is not for everybody; it’s strictly for ministers and leaders. So, that’s the nature of the program and our expectation is that the focus this time is on building capacity because we have come to realize that the only job in which people don’t take training seriously is pastoral job.

Even if you want to be a driver, they will send you to FRSC to get a driver’s license. You see so many people on our street; they have churches but don’t have any form of training. They just feel they are called. They carry their Bible and before you know it they have opened one place. Though it’s part of God’s end-time program to preach the gospel but then the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 10:10 that if the iron be wedged then you need to apply more strength because wisdom is profitable to direct.

Knowledge is power. Even in Hosea: chapter 4:6, the Bible says my people perish for lack of knowledge because they don’t know they are destroyed and God cannot do anything about it because they need to go for knowledge. That is the essence of the ICML and this time around, we are talking about building capacity for relevance. The world is changing very fast so the way the Gospel was handled some years back is not the same way we will handle it now. There is the introduction of technology, there is the introduction of social media. So, many things have been introduced and our pastors and leaders need to be current. They need to be inspired so that they will not be expired. They need to be current and be up to time. So, that is the essence of this year’s conference.

We are going to have Reverend Sam Osaghae from Benin. He is going to handle building spiritual capacity. We want the capacities of our leaders and ministers to be built. It’s going to be a week-long conference of enlightening people, teaching our ministers communication skills, and people management skills, because we need more than just Bible now. We need financial management skills, you need project management skills as a pastor. You cannot supervise somebody you don’t have an idea of what he is doing. That’s actually what the whole week is all about.

How do you see the program affecting participants?

People have said again and again that one of the problems our country face is the problem of leadership. I also believe that we have a problem with followership because it is followers that eventually become leaders. So, this kind of program is meant to build the capacity of church leaders and it is certainly going to impact their lives. For those of them who have been acting in ignorance, I expect the program to impact their lives in the areas where they have not been doing well. Those who are leaders who have not been really a good example, I expect this program to be an eye-opener to them that today’s people, if you must lead them, you must lead them by example. We will draw their attention to the fact that when people don’t do well, it will affect not just themselves but generations unborn. It will affect society, it will affect the entity, and it will affect the organization. So, I believe that at the end of the day, by God’s grace, the program will make a spiritual impact on the lives of some of them who are ministers.

Many Nigerian Christians are beginning to lose their faith in God as a result of the challenges they face in the country. Is that expected? 

The truth is that the Bible has already prophesied about what we are going through now. Jesus himself said it; He said iniquities shall abound and the love of many shall wax cold. But it is not normal because the reason why he prophesied it is for us to be aware that iniquities are going to abound and our love should not wax cold. So, I believe it’s not normal. Having said that, it is also good to know that not all believers are losing faith because in Daniel 11:32b the Bible says ‘but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploit’.

So, in the midst of these challenges, there are Christians who actually are shinning and even though things are not the way they should be, everybody is exposed to adversity including the rich, the poor, the young, the old, men, women everybody is exposed to what is going on in the country.

Adversity comes to everybody. Just like building houses, what adversity does is to separate the men from the boys. It’s only those who know their God that shall be strong. So, if you fail in the days of adversity, it’s your strength that is small. So, the problem of failure in adversity, of giving up in challenging times, is the problem of strength. Those who go back have the problem of strength.

Nigeria is preparing for elections. What should be the role of the church?

As a church, we have 22 tenets of faith and one of them is what we call civil government. We believe in civil government. The Bible says every power is given by God. Nobody can get to power without the knowledge of God. So, having that understanding will tell us that, we, as God’s people, need to work to ensure that righteous people get to power. What should we do? Our passivity is too much. We are too passive because of the idea that politics is a sin. INEC does not count prayers, it counts votes.

Thank God for spirituality in Nigeria. We pray a lot but after we have prayed there is still much to do. The Bible says that Faith without work is dead. So, I think the time has come. Not all of us can be politicians, but all of us can be politically sensitive. Being politically sensitive doesn’t mean that you are a politician; it simply means that you are alive to your responsibility. For instance, the election is coming but some people don’t even have voter’s cards. They have concluded that whether you vote or not, they will put the people they want there. That kind of mindset is not going to help us. You cannot just conclude because they said evil thrives when good men do nothing. So, if good men continue to keep quiet and don’t do anything, then evil will continue to thrive and, God forbid that evil continues to thrive in our land.

We have seen a lot. It is time to put a stop to it. So, in specific terms, what Christians should do is to look for how we will be relevant. There are things that are expected of any citizen to carry out. Every Christians should try and carry out their civic responsibilities. To pay tax is your civic responsibility. How I wish it is possible to force people to go and collect voter’s cards and force them to go and vote. I’m sure our situation will be different.

I thank God for what PFN is already trying to do by creating a department for politics and good governance so that we can increase political education, educate our people and sensitize them. My appeal to Christians now is everybody should get their PVC and be ready. That’s your power. We will pray, we will trust God but there are some steps we need to take.

There is this argument about the participation of Christians in politics because of the perception that politics is dirty and the participating Christians will be negatively influenced. What is your view?

I think it’s a lie of the devil that politics is a dirty game and participating Christians will be negatively influenced. I’ve been in this country for a while and I’ve not seen politics and politicians being dirtier than any other profession. It is just because they are leaders that’s why they are focused on. Are we not having sex for grade in schools? So, why are you saying it’s only politics that is dirty? Is that not dirtiness?

Are you now saying that Christians who are lecturers should say because others are sleeping with young ladies they too will be influenced? It’s a function of the fact that enough Christians have not been encouraged to go into politics; that’s the way I see it. The more we stay away from the place, the more evil takes over but I haven’t seen more dirtiness in politics than we are having in education. If you are a Christian, politics could influence you badly. The problem is not the problem of adversity, it is the problem of strength.