How has your time as NCPC Executive Secretary been?
So far so good, it’s been wonderful and I give immortal praise to God who is our sustaining grace and has given us the opportunity to be alive and also giving us to occupy the position by grace. I must be grateful to the president, his Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR and the first lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, CON who trust and believe in us to make a change in the circle we are in at the moment.
The churches who were opposed to my declaration and support for the President realize today that I was right and they were wrong. From the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, everybody said you saw what we did not see and it is good for us to have someone in there as a representative. To the best of my knowledge, I have been able to meet challenges and have coped with things that have happened because when I assumed office, the morale was very low as the commission was owing about N3.8 billion of which my predecessor was unable to account for.
That has not deterred us as we are more determined and resilient and are optimistic that everything will be okay. Today, with the support of the President, we are not owing a dime anymore and we had our first operation where we airlifted over 6,000 pilgrims at a subsidised rate.
Immediately I assumed office, we had a retreat during the Lenten season where we waited for forty days. I started the Lenten season at the commission which is held every Wednesday and a serious transformation and reformation of NCPC is ongoing. Our slogan now is Service and Satisfaction.
Our pilgrimage this year was tagged Pilgrimage of Total Restoration and of you can recall that the president christened this year’s budget as The Budget of Restoration. Two days ago, we celebrated the second year of his administration at the villa where we sang hymns of praise. So far so good, it has been God all the way.
With the debt which you said can’t be accounted for, how are you going about it?
The EFCC is on the matter as we speak because you can’t go Scott free when you do something like that and my predecessor is yet to hand it over up till now.
How then have you been running the office since he has not officially handed over?
I am running the office because I have knowledge about the office and was a member of the last board. So, I have the understanding of the office as I am in familiar terrain.
How can you critically assess the two years of President Bola Tinubu?
If anyone says that the president has not delivered is not being sincere. When he took over, he had to take some hard decisions like the removal of fuel subsidy on the day of his inauguration which sparked a wild resistance. We can talk of what he did as governor of Lagos and today it is a Mega City in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The economy is getting better by the day. Today we have cleared our debts with the IMF, he has floated the naira and now petrol is competitive now as the era of cabals is now in the past because if he has not taken such steps we will be living the lives of our children yet unborn and not be able to survive. Our inflation rate is gradually coming down, and the market is now competitive.
What we have done for the Christian Association of Nigeria, no government has done it for it as every festive season, we show them it’s the season of celebration as we ensure that it comes down and the palliative given by the President gets to the grassroots. Yes, we know it can’t get to everyone but it’s a way of identifying with the people and the president is supporting Pilgrimage both in the Christian and the Muslim community. His intervention has reduced the stress of those going to the holy land to pray. People have asked, are prayers not being answered in Nigeria? Yes, prayers have been answered but God himself decided that people must come to worship him in Jerusalem. People go from all over the world and the government supports such moves. When the president was campaigning, he went to umrah three times to pray because he believes in prayer.
Those that opposed me that time are now enjoying the dividends of democracy as all the C A.N chairman in the 36 states of the federation including the FCT have all gone on pilgrimage under the leadership of the president. The Ecumenical Centre in Abuja was renovated before inauguration at the cost of N1.8 billion, and that was why I said we should focus on the person that can deliver the Muslim-Muslim ticket that was being peddled around. So, religion is a sentiment and how will you know a true Christian. Is it by name? It behooves us to put the right people that can do the job into office. The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road is of high quality and this has opened the doors to businesses and he knows what to do to better the lot of the country.
There have been calls to cut down the cost of governance. Don’t you think the government sponsoring trips to the holy could be seen as wasteful spending?
Everyone has had their say even the Roman Catholic bishops and I say no because I said to them that is their own belief. This government believes in God and the only thing sustaining Nigeria today is prayer. Many countries would have disintegrated with what Nigeria is passing through but Nigeria is still surviving because we are religious people and religion is a sensitive thing in Nigeria because when you support religion, people will pray and the prayer of the righteous availed much and the expectation of the righteous will not be cut short. So sponsoring people to go to Mecca or Jerusalem is not a waste. We have five blocs in C.A.N and if the Roman Catholic bishops say no have you sampled the opinion of the remaining four blocs and their leaders? I have and from the four of them they said capital no but I don’t believe in that submission and I am entitled to my opinion not because I am the executive secretary and even if I was not the secretary, I will still say it. I call a spade a spade and not as an instrument for tilling the soil.
What is your view about the deportation of Sheik Gumi from Saudi Arabia.
Only the Saudi Arabian authority can tell us the reason he was deported.
Could it be a reason for him interfacing between the terrorists and the government?
I would not say that because Sheik Gumi knows what he is doing and the Saudi government as an independent country has the right to refuse entry for any individual.
How is C.A.N and your office trying to alleviate the pains of those engulfed in the crisis between Fulani herdsmen and farmers especially in Plateau and Benue states.
We have been living since time immemorial and this crisis is as a result of climate change. There is war in some parts of Africa like Liberia, Libya, Central African Republic, Sudan and more recently, Ivory Coast and this has resulted in a lot of people coming down to this side and the reason for the influx of terrorists and the arms used in these war-torn countries have found their ways into the wrong hands and the reason for these insurgents. If you could recall that before now, we have been living in peace with Fulani herdsmen, we meet them on our way to the farm and they don’t terrorise. We bought wara, agunmu and we only got scared because of the hairdos. So, when did they become killers brandishing Ak47?
So, what we need to do is to appeal to Fulanis. I have visited ten states in the north to give palliatives to support and to show that we care for them. Whether Christian or Muslim, it’s a responsibility as a religious leader and I am happy doing it to the glory of God.
What is your take on religious leaders predicting the outcome of an election?
There are prophets and there are prophets. The characteristics of a prophet is when you prophesy and then it comes to pass and if it does not come to pass, it means you’re a false prophet. There are prophets that read newspapers, magazines, go on the internet and gather stories and tell you they are prophesying. They sometimes say that the person that will win is neither tall nor short.
As a prophet, you will say that Asiwaju will win, Atiku will lose, Peter Obi will not win and by the time elections are over, you will know who a true prophet is. Sometimes, they change the story when they see the prophecy is not going to be the way they spoke it because when they see the mergers, coalition they change their story. How can a prophet be so petty by predicting the outcome of Manchester United vs Chelsea and you call yourself a Christian prophet. Such prophets should not be listened to and don’t read their prophecies.
