Prophet Samuel Kayode Abiara, General Evangelist, Worldwide of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), speaks on the general state of insecurity, urging the Federal Government to embrace state/community policing as solution. The founder of the CAC, Agbala Itura, Lagos and Ibadan, also dispels the rumor of a division in the Body of Christ after reports that they haven’t sent a condolence message to the late Prophet Temitope Joshua’s family. Excerpts:
By Tunde Oso
As one of our spiritual leaders, proffer solutions to the general state of insecurity like kidnapping, banditry and killings all over the country?
About five years ago, I advised government that they should allow state police. I don’t know what to call it: whether Constitution amendment or restructuring or whatever; if each state recruits 10,000 youths into state or community police, insecurity will reduce because youths that are generally frustrated and angry because don’t have jobs will be enlisted and the dual purpose of fighting insecurity and employment would be served.
God has blessed this country so much that there will be money: enough resources to pay them. So, I want to advise the government to immediately begin a process of instituting state police.
You were once reported in a national newspaper that open grazing is old- fashioned. Can you explain that?
You can never see cows or cattle on the streets of London, New York or in South Africa. And fortunately our leaders are widely travelled. The world is modernizing agriculture and an important sector of agriculture is livestock, so, why should we still continue in the century-old and archaic practice of cow or cattle wandering about.
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Government should embrace modernity, learn from advanced countries to find solution to this. It is not ok because our country. I want them to consider this.
There seems to be division in the Christian community over the late Prophet T.B Joshua who recently died especially in the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria. It is because there have been no reports of sending condolence messages to the family and to the church. What is your stand?
There is too much fake news nowadays. I want to tell you that the leaders of the church and the Body of Christ are one, and, as far as I’m concerned, we did not have hatred for the late Pastor T.B. Joshua. He was a man of God and God used him mightily.
He had the gift of signs and wonders and the spirit of giving and he helped people. Nigeria did not hate the ministry of that man; he boosted the economy of the country. Many people were coming from all over the world to worship and fellowship with him.
He was a great man of God. It is not too late at all to offer condolences to his family and the church. You may not know that they have sent letters of condolences to the family and church, so don’t judge anyone yet.
The Federal Government recently shut down Twitter. Can we have your view?
The Holy Bible says; give unto Caesar what is Caesars, which I interpret as “obey the authority.” So, if it has happened, what can we do than obey the government?
There are separatist tendencies in Nigeria of today, with calls for Oduduwa nation or Biafra, do you support this?
The Holy Bible says; ‘let us come and reason together’. The authority should institute a mechanism for dialogue to resolve all our differences and reduce tension in the land. The bloodshed is becoming too much. So can we come together and do that?
Those that are planning war must sit down and think deeply because a war is not a good and acceptable solution to the present situation. So, I want to advise our leaders and youths that anything that can make a war happen should be avoided.
And also I want to advise all our pastors in this country to comfort our people using what is in the Holy Bible in preaching, advice and in our prophecies and not inflame what is already a worst situation.
There is a general decline in moral values in Nigeria. What can the youths especially learn from your humble beginning?
Nowadays schools – teachers or lecturers – should teach their students the way of the Lord. The education sector that has the onerous task of transmitting the values that are germane to the society is now seriously enmeshed in serious moral value depreciation. Examination malpractices by the youths have become a regular decimal.
Some people blame the high crime rate among the youths in Nigeria on poverty and unemployment. What suggestion will you give the youth on one side and the government on the other?
Well, the rising crime rate is not a Nigeria phenomenon alone, it is global. When we look at the Holy Bible critically, we know that we are at the end of the age and Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24 that when
He is coming again, different problems will arise but what we can do is come to the Lord and change our attitude.
On the side of the government, I want to plead with them: at Federal and state levels to find work for youths; empower them economically because God has blessed Nigeria with huge natural resources in land, great vegetation and minerals.
