President and founder of The Sword of the Spirit Ministries, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, spoke to select journalists on the state of the nation. TEMITOPE OJO was there.
What are your thoughts on the recent presidential election in Nigeria?
The election that just held was a watershed in the history of this nation. A lot of things happened. It’s the first time an opposition (candidate) will win a credible election over an entrenched, established party. It is the first time a loser in the presidential election of Nigeria would swiftly call the opponent who won to congratulate him. Those two things are very significant. I want to congratulate Nigeria. Nigeria has won. It’s victory for every one of us – east, west, north, south.
Before the election, we were praying and our prayer point, among other things, was for there to be no violence before, during and after the elections. It was a strong point of prayer. And we give glory to God that He answered our prayers. There was nothing really major and God answered our prayers. We give Him all the praise and glory. God had told us how the elections would go very clearly and we communicated it to the leadership of the church in Nigeria, and exactly what God said was what happened and we return all glory to Him. We once again congratulate Nigerians that we have won. There was no post-election violence and the nation has moved on.
I want to celebrate Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. The man has won. What the man won was more than another term. The man has written his name in gold in the annals of Nigeria. The man has done what no other president or head of state had done. The singular act of congratulating the opponent has saved thousands of lives that would have been lost by now, for some people were ready for violence; to unleash mayhem on this nation. But the fact that he called, conceded to the opponent and congratulated Buhari killed the fire. In that regard, Jonathan is a winner for all time and we celebrate him and thank God for his life.
My prayer is for the Lord to give him long life, so he can reap the fruit of that singular act. All over the world now, Nigeria is being celebrated as coming of age in democracy, for that singular act of Dr. Jonathan. The whole world was apprehensive, expecting mayhem, breakdown of law and order; but nothing like that happened because of that singular act. I celebrate him.
I want to also congratulate General Muhammadu Buhari, who, as a dogged fighter, refused to give up. He tried thrice and still refused to give up because he has a passion for Nigeria. Your Excellency, I congratulate you and we pray that the Lord will give you long life to rule, to lead Nigeria to a new dispensation. I want to advice every Nigerian to follow in the example that Jonathan has set. Let’s rally round Buhari and his administration to build one united nation. The time of politicking is over. The time of unity has come. We have chosen our person.
What is your advice for those who still feel strongly about the outcome of the polls?
As for the gubernatorial candidates that feel aggrieved over the election, I advise them to follow the example of Jonathan. The man has become a reference point. He has demonstrated to us that politics is not a do-or-die affair. He has demonstrated to us that the unity and peace of Nigeria are paramount and more important than the ambition of one person. Let’s play the game according to the rules. They don’t need to set the state ablaze. For the winners, I urge them not to have an attitude of winner-takes-all. Reach out to your fellow contestants in fellowship. We don’t want any breakdown of law and order. We don’t want any burning of houses, killing of people. Your ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. Please let the nation be very peaceful and we know that God will really help us.
A word for the president-elect.
To General Buhari (rtd.) who has won, he should realise that he got there by the mercy of God and not by his power. Bring everybody together from east, west, north, south and father the nation. Reach out more than you reached out during the electioneering, so that we will bring the whole nation together to be one indivisible nation. Your Excellency, you are not elected the president of the south, west, north or east, I don’t need to remind you of that; you are elected the president of Nigeria.
We also want to counsel that he should deal decisively with the Boko Haram insurgents and get them out of that place and secure Nigeria. Let us deal decisively with corruption. Righteousness exalts a nation, sin is a reproach to any people. It shouldn’t be business-as-usual. Let’s deal decisively in the matters of the economy, particularly the fall of the naira. Let us deal with infrastructure, particularly the provision of power. We will be praying, the church of Christ will be praying.
General Buhari should never think that the church in Nigeria is against him. The church is not against you. There are people in the church who were told that General Buhari was going to Islamise Nigeria and they believed it, and they have reasons to be afraid because of Boko Haram insurgency. But we assured them that that is not going to be the case, and we know he will not. The church is standing by you. Politicking is over. Let us build our nation that has a glorious tomorrow. God bless Dr. Goodluck Jonathan our beloved president. God bless General Muhammadu Buhari, our president-elect. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Prior to the presidential election, a lot of people believed that the body of Christ was compromised during the campaigns. Did you also feel same?
The matter is this; politics naturally is a divisive game. It divides families. There could be two brothers of the same mother and they are bitterly against each other, that is politics for you. All of that happened, not just with the church but every sector of the nation. What we are now saying is that the time has come for us to heal the wounds together and forge ahead. It is not for me to be complaining on the pages of newspaper about what happened with the church. By the grace of God, I am one of the key leaders in the church and I have a voice among my brethren. So we know how we talk to ourselves when we talk to ourselves. We are coming together. We learn from our mistake and we move forward together as one body of Christ in Nigeria.
Vice president-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, is a pastor. How do we draw a line between the church and politics?
In electioneering, people will say things. There is nothing that stops a child of God from going into politics. He is not going to be the first pastor to go into politics. There is another prominent pastor in Lagos who is into politics. Everyman to his own calling. He believes God has called him to play that role and God has proved it by giving him the opportunity to become the vice president-elect. So let everyman operate according to the call of God in his life. For me, the office of the president of the federation is not appealing to me. The offices of the vice president, minister, senator, among others do not appeal to me because God didn’t call me to it. But I would be wrong to point fingers to somebody else who believes God called him to it. So let everyman abide by his calling.
If we say politics is a dirty game, it will continue to be dirty. We need Christians that are upright, that can withstand temptation of money to be in politics. And we will be praying for Osinbajo for God’s sustenance to make a real difference when he gets to power.