Rev Jerry Nwachukwu is the Senior Pastor of the Bible Base Miracle Assembly, No. 19 Ezendu Street, off Mesedez Avenue, Nkpor-Agu, Idemili North LGA, Anambra State, Nigeria. In this interview with Okechukwu Onuegbu, he speaks political developments in Nigeria, insecurity, among other things.


Considering the level of insecurity in Nigeria under this present government, coupled with lopsided appointments and ethnicity, do you think that church leaders that supported this administration into power did well?
I believe that those that facilitated the coming of the present administration by pulling down the previous government and prayed for the emergence of the present government did so out of selfishness. Selfishness and ethnicity can blind the eyes of a prophet to give prophesies that are not from God, but from the flesh. I believe their intentions were to go to Aso Rock whenever they want. We are not interested in those of them that benefit from the present government. Our worries are the thousands of innocent souls that perish everyday under the insecurity in this administration. If the church leaders, who supposed to be the shepherds of the sheep, are the ones that open the gate for devourers to get access to the sheep, then, we must approach God in repentance and seek for forgiveness. Our country must go back to God in prayers, and in repentance. We must ask God for forgiveness. When there was clamour from every quarter that this government should come into being, there were yet other little voices, which were not well known in the platform of the church, but had continued to say that Nigeria was getting it wrong; but they were not heard. There were many pastors and men of God, who met the man in power one on one, and they prayed for him. There are many of them still praying for him today. Are they praying for him to succeed or to govern well? Are they praying for him to change? If they’re praying for him to change and do things better, what stops them from open rebuke, just as Fr. Mbaka did? He actually prayed for and supported the present government, but when he realized the present government was deviating, he withdrew his support and told the executive to govern well or be impeached by the legislature. As it stands, we can only get out of the wood if we knelt down and seek the face of God.

What is your reaction on the present travail of Fr. Ejike Mbaka?
I don’t know what transpired between Mbaka and the presidency behind the scene. If the allegation that Mbaka come to see Mr. President with some contractors were true, he missed it; but if he never demanded for anything, and they are laying allegations against him, that is their business.

Mbaka said he only introduced the security contractors to the presidency, but had no personal interest in whatever contract they were looking for. What is your view?
Is Mbaka a contractor? Is he a security consultant? For me, if I were not any of the above, I did not have any right to introduce such people to anybody who I prayed into office. For instance, when Uma Ukpai prayed for Orji Uzor Kalu, and prophesied that he would be Abia governor, Uzor Kalu said he had no money to contest governorship election in the first place. But he prayed for Kalu, and he was able to do oil business that boosted his finance, and he was able to finance his guber election. When he won the election, he drove to Uma Ukpai’s house and asked him what contract he would like to execute for the state government. Ukpai said he did not want any contract. Ukpai only told him that if he would execute contract, if his government would be probed, they would also come after him (Ukpai). He rather told Kalu to tar a road from Umuahia to the last point of his (Ukpai’s) local government, which Kalu did. It is wrong for a prophet to pray for the success of a politician, because wants to demand favour whenever he wants.

What is your advice to Rev. Fr. Mbaka and the Federal Government on their present loggerhead?
First, I will advise Fr. Mbaka that he should subject himself to the Catholic doctrine. The Catholic Church, which he serves under as a priest, has its own way of doing things. So, Mbaka should obey the rules and regulations of the Catholic Church, and stop where they tell him to stop. To the federal government, I will ask them to make amends based on the realities Fr. Mbaka presented. Mr. President has short time to stay in office; let him use the time at his disposal to offer quality governance that will promote the welfare of the generality of Nigerians, instead of going after Fr. Mbaka for telling the bitter truth. The reaction of the federal government towards Fr. Mbaka is not answer to the problem. If they killed Fr. Mbaka today for telling them the reality on ground, another Mbaka will rise up to still speak the truth.

For you, what is the way forward for Nigeria?
The way forward is for those in government to stop divide and rule. Nigeria must stop nepotism, favouritism, and ethnicity. Then, we must also look at what we call federal character principle in Nigeria; which is a very terrible thing. The Federal Character Principle makes people to be in office which, ordinarily, they ought not to be. When somebody with the capacity of a clerk is made manager of a company, because of what they call federal character, the capacity he will apply in running the company is the capacity of a clerk, and certainly, the company will collapse. The managers of different departments and components of this country called Nigeria are misfits. Until we put the right people at the right positions, this country cannot move forward.

Based on the security situation of Nigeria presently, do you see the country disintegrating soon?
Nigeria is already disintegrated. That we answer one name does not make us one people. Honestly, we have different ideologies, different focus. We have different motivations, and our strategies are not the same. Our strengths and weaknesses are not the same. There is no ethnic group in Nigeria that is not under one form of agitation or the other; yet, treatment meted on agitators from different ethnic groups are not the same. If Niger Delta militants and the murderous Fulani cattle husbandmen were not proscribed based on their activities, why IPOB? Without mincing words, the idea of proscribing IPOB came from the South East governors, and they should be ready to face the music; because, after being governors for eight years, the immunity will no longer be there; unless they would decide to fly to other countries. What matters before do not matter anymore, because, nothing lasts forever. Internet fraudsters did move with convoy before now, but such thing does not happen anymore in Nigeria. So, I’m calling on the church to be on their knees and beg for God’s forgiveness; so that He will tamper justice with mercy. Our condition as a country calls for prayers.

How would you score the Buhari administration, and in which areas would you want the government to improve?
As it stands presently, Nigeria is at cross-roads. I can only score Buhari’s government any point if they amended the Electoral Act. If they failed to amend the Electoral Act, to me, the government has not achieved anything in its lifetime; because, good changes and good government will come if the Electoral Act is amended. If the Electoral Act is not amended, it means that when you vote in a particular polling unit, the result of your vote will move from the booth to the collation center, down to the local government, then, to the state level. They may even carry the result to Abuja before declaring it. At that point, there will be duplication of result sheets, so that the result sheet the polling agent is holding becomes useless. On the area of Electoral Act amendment, I will score Buhari’s government zero. They should amend it so that our votes will count. I was in Israel during one of their parliamentary elections. People were going about their businesses. Everyone would vote and go back to his business. If you were a visitor to the country, you go about your business, while they go to the polls. During election, you won’t even see any security personnel holding stick, let alone guns. There is nothing like restriction of movement. So, something should be done about Electoral Act amendment in Nigeria. I want government of the day to amend the Electoral Act and introduce the electronic voting system, where somebody can even vote at the comfort of his office. This system can hardly be manipulated. Electronic voting will reduce electoral fraud to a large extent. With this, all the people voting ten times will find it difficult doing so; thumb printing will end; cow voting, under-age voting, animal voting, using palm cannel to vote, all of them will end. They will no longer work. Electronic voting will also help cut down the cost of any election. Manual voting has been the bane of our democracy. In the area of health, I will also score this administration zero. In the area of judiciary, I will also score them zero. I will also criticize this government when it comes to cost of governance. Because, the money they use in servicing themselves is more than what they use in servicing infrastructure in the entire country. Roads belonging to the federal government are depleted. For the past 22 years, from the administration of Obasanjo to the present day government of Buhari, we are still talking about constructing the Enugu-Onitsha expressway, and other major roads in the country. Is there any pass mark there?

What is your take on the calls in some quarters for the country to be restructured?
The present administration has already restructured the country? We have six geo-political zones in Nigeria. But vital government positions in this present government are controlled by Northern elements. What the North is telling us is that they are the owners of government of Nigeria; then, other regions are foreigners. That is how they have restructured the country. Meanwhile, in the actual sense of it, resource control is needed. True restructuring is needed in Nigeria. Those states that cannot survive on their own could be collapsed into some other states. When this is done, whatever you generate as a state will determine your pace of development. This is where respect comes in. This is when we know who is helping who. The way we operate today as a country is not good. This is a situation where a state governor will fly into Abuja at the end of every month and come back with money, share it and wait for another month end. Once a governor is elected in Nigeria, in few months, he will develop pot belly; because, he is not thinking anything. What he knows is that at the end of every month, money will come to him. Then, he will meet some powerful members of the House of Assembly to help him amend the laws to increase his security votes, or to enable him receive lifetime pension. If a governor in Nigeria is thinking of how to manage say, six corporations that are giving his state money, he won’t have time to drink Champaign, and will hardly sleep at night. In the olden days, during the time of administrators like Mbonu Ejike, Jim Nwobodo, Akpabi Asika, Michael Okpala, and others, did they attend funeral ceremonies? Did they have such time? Today, our governors go for night vigil, and drink from 10pm to 4am; then, they will drive home, get prepared for 10am service for the burial proper.

What is your view on the Ebubeagu security outfit proposed by the Southeast governors?
What I understand about Ebubeagu is that governors will go back to their states to recruit their followers into the outfit. Most of these people are jobless men that they want to give guns! Ebubeagu will create more insecurity in the region; because, politicians in power will recruit those that will help them during their elections. After the election, members of the outfit will phase out with the government that recruits them, and incoming government will recruit their own people. Then, how do you retrieve such guns from the men who have been using such guns as means to an end? Ebubeagu is primarily a political security outfit. Any law made now to form them will be quashed by any incoming government, because, they will recruit those that helped them win their own election. They will not allow those who fought on the side of their opponent to still hold the gun in the name of state security. For instance, if new governor comes into office, it will be difficult for him to retain the ADC of former governor. So, Ebubeagu is already dead on arrival; because, their life span may not go beyond the governments that recruit them. Again, who told you that Ebubeagu can confront faceless gunmen disturbing the peace of this region presently? Ebubeagu will be wearing their uniforms, exposing their identities, when the people they are fighting are faceless people; how can they perform?

In your own view, what is the way out of insecurity in the country?
Those in government should find where the whole thing went wrong, then, seek for dialogue. If they put eyes on the ground, they would know how the insecurity started. They may know those behind the insecurity, then, seek dialogue and amicable settlement. Nigeria cannot afford to go into another war. Let it be paper war, ideological war, not war with gun and bullet.

Do you think that president of southeast extraction come 2023 will solve the present state of insecurity in the sin the region?
People who are not good in opposition cannot produce a leader. The southeast is not good in opposition. If Igbo people cannot adopt one political party and develop it, stay in it, and build it to a level that if you’re not in the platform, you cannot be governor within the region, we will remain were we are. People should stop talking about Igbo presidency in 2023; to me, it is not coming; unless Igbo will get it in a Platter of gold.