*Politicians must change their ways
* Nigeria will be great again, revolution has started
*Why Nigerians should give South-East presidency in 2023
By Festus Ahon
Today the country is facing a lot of economic challenges, what do you think is the way out?
If you could remember, I told Nigerians in the 70s, late 70s, 80s, and early 90s that if corruption was not checked, a time would come that whoever wants to address it may be killed. But the issue here is, why am I not afraid? I am not afraid because Nigeria is worth dying for. If God wants me to die for her, so be it. I also warned this country against voting for President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, I want to tell all Nigerians that there is hope for tomorrow, particularly the young ones. There is hope. Nigeria is too blessed for us not to have hope. Is there any state in Nigeria that does not have natural resources? They are all there! Why are they not being harnessed?
Secondly, Nigeria is too big, Nigerians are too intelligent. Nigeria has many big brains for one man to drag us to hell. Already, Nigeria is already going through what I may call underground revolution. Revolution is on, this time it is not revolution of the young ones who are protesting, it’s a revolution of turnaround.
God has spoken to me that Nigeria is too large for one man to destroy. I will say something now that many are going to laugh at. Nigeria is bigger than America in terms of resources, the only nation you can compare Nigeria to is America.
America is going through a lot of troubles because what makes a nation is the character of the people, the discipline of the people, America right now is one of the most undisciplined countries. And Nigeria, thank God our youths are becoming disciplined, they are getting to know what their own is because when you know what is your own, you will not allow anybody to take it from you. Nobody will take Nigeria from us.
Today, Nigerians find it difficult to move from one part of the country to the other due to the high rate of insecurity, what is your reaction to this?
This insecurity, many will say it didn’t start from Buhari, yes theoretically, but practically, it was Buhari that exploded it. That is the truth. There is no knowledgeable person in this country who doesn’t know that.
Is there any country in this world where doctors are not paid? Doctors are people that handle lives, doctors and nurses. In all countries, even if you have no money to pay other professions, you give attention to doctors and nurses because if they want to kill everybody, they can kill everybody overnight.
Look at what our doctors are suffering from? Most of our young doctors are travelling out of the country. Buhari himself when he goes to the UK who are the doctors that handle his case? Are they not mostly Nigerians?
One of my friends, Dr Jeremaiah who came in from America, and now working at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara, does not want to go back home. The old man even told me that I should prepare a place that he will stay, that when he dies that I should not take him home, that I should bury him here in Nigeria.
These are people who are seeing what we Nigerians are not seeing. Are you aware now that the white men are coming in? Why? Because they are seeing what we Nigerians are not seeing. So Nigeria has hope and if it doesn’t happen within the next 10 years, call me a false prophet.
On threat to Christianity and Christians in Nigeria
Well for the Christians, it pains my heart that we are being attacked and threatened. The threat today is gradually being over. Someone will ask me, Bishop, what of the one in Kaduna? The Kaduna governor knows what he is doing but he also knows that his days are already numbered.
The Christians have moved, all we need this time around is to be faithful, let’s be faithful to God and to the commission God has given us. The present generation of Christians are different from the Christians that Jesus left, the Christians of today are Christians that if their eyes are opened they will rule their countries. What they want is what God is going to ensure happens.
The change that APC promised us and they failed, that real change is coming and there is nothing that will stop it. So, Christians have more hope now than ever. We have more hope today, tomorrow than yesterday.
The Federal Government has concluded plans to remove fuel subsidy by next year, what is your reaction to this as a Nigerian?
To me, next year is too far, even though I know it is still weeks until the year comes to an end. Subsidy should be removed now and today because without removing subsidy, fuel prices will not be stable.
Fuel price will go up when the subsidy is removed but it is going to be like when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo brought GSM, it was high. I bought, Nigerians complained, Nigerians abused Obasanjo, but today how is it? It is cheap.
This is the thing that some time ago we were all crying that Obasanjo has pushed all of us into trouble. To me, there are two persons that are my political heroes, one of them is Obasanjo, the other is Dr Goodluck Jonathan. So, they should remove fuel subsidies as quickly as possible. If they say coming year, fine but let it be January or February.
Nigerians should know that they are going to pay for it because prices will go up but after a while it will gradually come down because many people will start building refineries. They should give refinery licenses to whoever wants it.
Everybody is aware that petrol here is cheaper than Ghana, it is cheaper here than in Congo. Nigeria fuel price is the cheapest in the whole of Africa. Let our borders be monitored properly and if all these are put in place most of our Nigerian young men, the Igbo and even some few Hausa, Fulani, Urhobo, Itsekiri, Isoko, Yoruba, are ready to come back and as they are coming back, they are coming back not with empty pockets, they are coming back with Dollars, Euros, and experience. Look at the electricity that Goodluck Jonathan gave to private people, Goodluck Jonathan made some mistakes but the decision he made was a right decision. If this government can sit down properly, it will not take more than one year because what Nigerian boys and girls are waiting for is power.
Some Nigerians have made small ships and other things. All they need is power to create things that will make this country great. Nigerians are very intelligent; we are blessed with the power of the brain. So why is it that the intellectuals cannot see? They cannot see because of corruption.
Where in the world are banks declaring billions as profits while companies are closing down? Why is it so? It is the politicians. Let them prove me wrong; they own most of the banks and that is why the banks declare billions as profits and yet pay their staff peanuts.
In other places, what banks give you as interest is two percent, at most five percent but the money is stable, anytime you go to the bank you get your money. Some of us don’t do mobile transfers because if you are not careful they will hack into your account.
Finally, looking at the situation in the country, what will be your advice to our political leaders?
Our political leaders should pull back from their old ways. Our political leaders are like sinners who need to be saved. If our political leaders are willing to be saved then it will be better for this country.
If politicians are not willing to be saved, I have bad news for them. What they saw during the ENDSARS protest is nothing. If politicians say they will not get things changed, their own children will disgrace them because where the youths have got to now they are ready for anything.
The ENDSARS demonstration is an example; not the one that the Governor of Lagos is saying that he will be in the front of the protest, let him be in the front of putting foods on the table of those in his state.
It is good for us to look back, we forgot that before Goodluck Jonathan took over, there were car queues in petrol stations and people buy fuel and hoarded them.
They have forgotten, Jonathan set a good example. Two, if Jonathan had not declared that he failed, Muhammadu Buhari would have burned this whole country, he was ready. You know he tried three times and he failed, he cried, he promised Nigerians that he won’t stand in for election again, then the enemies of this country came and pushed him.
Thank God, he made a man who is a SAN, a man who was the immediate assistant to Pastor Adeboye, my friend, to be his vice. There are many things I won’t say here because they are too sensitive. I told him, that the boat you have entered, a time will come it will sink but before it sinks, what do you do? Jump out because what is in your heart is right.
We need people like you that will respect the youths, and give the youths attention. I have never seen a President who will travel abroad and tell people abroad that the youths in his country are lazy. It happened with our President.
On 2023 presidency
Let’s give the East a chance this time. We should stop treating them as people who were conquered.
General Yakubu Gowon is still alive. Gowon did not tell us the Eastern states were conquered people. They were not conquered because any land where there is oppression things don’t work well. If we give the Eastern states, South-East a chance, some of us will campaign for them. When people like me and some other few of my friends who have the eye I have, start campaigning for a certain man from the East, there is no way he will not win because the Hausa man understands East, South-South understands East, South-West also understands East.
You just marked your birthday, how do you feel @ 70?
At 70 there are two things I may say, number one, that I am extremely grateful to the Almighty God because I didn’t even know that I will clock 70 years because there was a time that God put me on hold.
So, I am just overwhelmed that I am alive today. God has given me the greatest shocker of my life by keeping me till today.
