The International Coordinator of Voice of Divine Truth International Outreach and Chief Executive Officer of Bethelmendels International, Apostle Gregory Azomobor is a passionate crusader who has organized philanthropic activities towards providing for the needy and widows. In this interview with BOLA BADMUS, the cleric examinesreligious and socio-political challenges that Nigeria face, among other issues. Excerpts
When did the realisation come to you that you would be a messenger for God?
It was in secondary school. Many of my classmates can attest to this. I never even realised that I was in it. All I knew was that I was very active. I was always standing up for what is right. I remember that when I was in boarding school, my mother, who single-handedly raised me, used to give me grocery items that I eagerly shared with my schoolmates. I have always had that kind of attitude and disposition for helping and giving things to people. I think it was Mike Murdock who stated that what you have passion for is a pointer or indicator of what you were created to do by God. So, all of us have this instinct, this tendency towards doing a particular thing. What you are passionate about or what infuriates you is a pointer to what you are created to do. I discovered that I like to help people. When I came to Lagos, I set up a company where I was making money but I discovered that I was angered and saddened by the level of poverty across board. I became very vocal about what the government ought to do that they were not doing. That was what led me to set up Advocacy for New Nigeriain 2006.
Was it politically motivated?
No! All that I do is not politically motivated. I don’t have any interest in partisan politics.
Why?
You see, as an Apostle of God, I have noticed that a lot of things have gone wrong with the world today simply because humanity is not in alignment with godly principles. We have created human laws and these laws are antithetical to God’s laws. That is why we have the problems that we have in the world today. Most of these problems are a result of man’s disobedience to the natural laws that God has put in place to create order and peace in the world. One of the human ideologies that is creating problems in the world today is politics. I cannot fit into the political system of the world to correct the imperfections. When Jesus Christ came, he didn’t come to establish a religion. He came to introduce the kingdom of God or what I see as the government of God in the world.
Can you further explain what you mean?
If you look at the ideology that drives the governmental structure that was created by man, you will ask how we have not been able to create a system that is perfect in the world.If you look around, you will discover that there is no political system that is perfect in the world. For instance,in our democracy, does it make any sense that governments would spend billions of naira organising and conducting elections while millions of Nigerians are wallowing in poverty going to bed hungry? No democracy in the world is perfect because it is created by human beings using their own laws. Even the much-advertised American democratic credentials were called into question during their last presidential election. You see how (former President Donald) Trump almost messed up the credentials that the Americans parade before the world. We human beings form political systems that are not in tandem with godly principles.
How worried are you considering the poverty level in the country?
In Nigeria today, we have a situation whereby those who are hungry are not sleeping and they have decided that those who are well-fed would no longer sleep. How do you expect to sleep in a country where over a hundred million people go to bed hungry? We are not addressing the root cause of insecurity in this country. I am concerned because of what I saw during the #EndSARS agitation. We all saw the army of angry unemployed youths who blocked everywhere. During the lockdown, you saw what happened. If the restrictions had not been relaxed, the youth would have stormed residences of those who are well-to-do because they want to eat. The level of insecurity has increased in the country. My biggest worry is that the government does not even understand the root of this problem. The problem is not even helped by the advice being given to the government by the so-called security experts who are of the view that the government should devise more capacity to contain insecurity rather than look at the root cause.
How do you think we can do that?
It’s going to be an uphill task. Maybe we have to go back and look at the family system as a unit. This unit has failed completely. Leadership at home has crumbled. It is at the family unit that you can inculcate the right moral values in the people. Unfortunately, in this time and age, the family unit has completely collapsed. How do we produce godly men? Godly men do not need to profess any religion. I think we should be more concerned with spirituality, not even religiosity. Look at the school system,the question we should ask ourselves is that why is morality not being taught at schools? It is a deliberate design to make people amoral, to make people lack the consciousness of morality. Did you know that charity is taught at schoolsin advanced countries? They teach pupils to do things selflessly for the sake of the society. We have an uphill task of moulding the next generation of godly Nigerians.
What kind of system are you advocating then?
What I am advocating is the kingdom of God or the government of God. In that system, God is the supreme ruler. God did not intend that we rule over ourselves as humans. The worldly system creates demi-gods; they are inventions of men. Jesus came to introduce the culture of the government of God to us here. That was his mandate to the early apostles. The early apostles were busy trying to disrupt the economic system of the world. They were trying to redesign the economic system of the world. For instance, they began to redefine wealth not on the basis of what you are able to accumulate but by the quantum of what you give.
Your suggestion seems close to a Marxist or communist ideology?
No!
What are the points of divergence then?
The concept that I am proposing, which God himself put in place, is the concept of being your brother’s keeper. Now, the state is not being able to effectively redistribute wealth to everyone that is in need but if individuals have the heart of love, they can easily distribute wealth to people that are hungry. In other words, the concept of fruitfulness is that when a tree bears fruits, animals and humans around will go to the tree and eat the fruits. Somebody from a place like Zamfara cannot come here and eat the fruit that is here. So, there is continuity. That was why Jesus Christ said be your neighbour’s keeper. In this arrangement, there is a culture of ‘neighbourliness’. If I have so much, there are people that have needs and I have to reach out to them. What I am saying is that you make contributions to a central government that would now use that pool of resources to redistribute to those in need.
Is this an indictment of the capitalist system?
I travelled to the United States of America sometime ago and I was surprised to see beggars around the hotel that I lodged in. This is a country that has an effective mechanism for paying stipends to unemployed people. What does that tell you? It means that the capitalist system of redistribution of wealth has failed. When you look at the current federalism that we practise in this country, you will agree with me that the government at the centre in Abuja does not know the needs of the people here in Lagos because it is very much afar. It is only those who are around who would know the needs of the people around.
What about communism?
It is the same thing. They have both failed because a central government cannot be expected to effectively meet the needs of all the people at the same time. In the federalism that we practise, people in Abuja don’t know that we are suffering here.
What is the role of religion in all these?
Religion has failed woefully. When I started with philanthropic activities, I thought we were going to get a lot of support in terms of individual and corporate partnership but I was wrong. We even struggled to get volunteers. It was difficult getting many of them but some have come on board to partner with us. A few of my friends who have seen my consistency have also come on board to assist.
Was there any time that you considered quitting philanthropy?
No, I discovered that I needed to have a source of income by the side. So, what I did was spend much of my time building my business. My business has been my major backbone.
What is your view on the position of some people that Christian leaders should go into politics?
I think we should be looking for men that are godly to go into politics and not just men of God. I mean godly men who are not religious. In Nigeria, we have religious ungodly men. These so-called religious leaders are the most ungodly. We should be looking at how to get people that are godly interested in politics and government.
Can you put a figure on the amount of money you have spent on your philanthropic activities in the last 15 years?
We have spent over 30million naira organising many events in the last 15 years. The ones we are doing now, which is the widows’ empowerment project, will see us empower over 500 widows. We started about five years ago. Each of them is given a free capital grant of N20,000 to boost their businesses. It is designed for those who want to go into small-scale businesses. It is absolutely free and non-refundable. Before we give, we usually do background checks on those who apply to ascertain if indeed they need the grant. We interview to know what they want to use the money to do before we disburse.
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