Bishop Ada Gordon Osagiede is the presiding Bishop of the Spirit and Life Bible Church, one of the fastest growing missions at the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja. He is known for his impactful teaching on leadership and youth empowerment. In this interview, he speaks on how Nigerians can build the country of their desire.YOU stay abroad but occasionally visit home. As such you don't just read about the happenings in Nigeria, but also experience them first hand at times. How would you assess the recent events in the country'The way I would summarise everything is that I believe that Nigeria is entering a new dawn of her existence. I believe that what is going to happen in Nigeria is something that has never happened before. Nigerians are beginning to see for themselves that we can have a say on what is going on in the nation, we can have our own opinions on how we want our nation to go. I believe strongly that the young democracy that we are running is just the beginning of what is to come and that is why I believe that the situation and the state of our country right now is a growing stage of democracy, awareness and enlightenment. So, I'm very encouraged by what God is doing.Yes, Nigerians have a say in the scheme of things in the country but the level of effectiveness and influence their views have on the leadership is another issue entirely.(Cuts in) If I look at everything that is going on, I think that we are still growing, specifically our democracy. So, I believe that Nigeria is still learning how to get the attention of our leaders. We have been very passive in the way we do things before. The average Nigerian person would just let things go but I see that we are gradually beginning to rise up and do things that we have not done before. I just believe this is the beginning of things to come.We are in the age of information with television, the Internet and satellite; so people are more enlightened, more aware of things going on and that is putting a lot of pressure on our leaders to begin to act on something that ordinarily they wouldn't have acted. I believe it is here to stay and I trust God for that.The Bible says that righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach. Given the current precarious situation of the country, what should be the response of the local churches'I believe the first response of the local church should be prayer. God has instructed us as believers to pray for our leaders because the bible tells us that the prayer of the righteous avails much. So, I believe that Christians are to first pray.One thing that happens much in the local church is that many believers conduct prayers based on their affiliations. You can have a church which is supposed to be praying for the well being of the leaders, for God to give the leaders wisdom but certain believers are praying for the downfall of their leaders, praying for things not to work out, praying for their own person and that is not what the scripture teaches. The scripture teaches that we should pray for the leaders of the nation.Now if a leader is blatantly going against the law, committing atrocities against his people and killing his people that is totally injustice. We cannot pray for the well being of such a leader instead we pray that God should remove him from power. But there has to be unity in the local church such that when we pray we are together.After praying comes the time to take actions. Who are those believers that God has been stirring their hearts to go into politics and be in the helm of affairs' Until those people begin to rise up we cannot be in the system. So, the only way righteousness would exalt a nation is for righteous people who have been made righteous by God through Jesus Christ to be in the system. That cannot happen over night but that is what we must do and when we are there God begins to give wisdom and work in the affairs of the system because you are in the system as a righteous person.Given the fact that leaders are either appointed or elected to carter for the needs of the electorate, are our leaders meeting the expectations of Nigerians' If not what is your advice to them, what are they supposed to start doing now'What I desire our leaders to do is to have the trust of the people because it is possible that we have leaders in government who mean well for Nigeria. They want to do well and put up programs but the system has been so corrupt, the system has been so against the progress of the people that even though a person is there to do well, his good intentions are over shadowed by the bad elements in the system.So, leaders have to earn the people's trust because until the people can trust you then the people cannot rely on the things you do, they cannot give you credit for the things you do. So, I encourage our leaders to be transparent to the Nigerian people. We are supposed to be in a democracy and we voted you in so you are answerable to the people. That is how it is supposed to work, but you know in our system things are very different.However, I trust God that it is the beginning of new things. The way things are going on in Nigeria right now is a clear departure from the past. Some level of transparency is beginning to come up. Do we want some more of it' Yes! It is beginning to happen gradually because Christians are praying.What is you fear and hope for the future of Nigeria'I believe that the future of Nigeria is great. I say that with all sincerity in my heart because when I look at all the things that Nigeria has been through over the years, especially in the last 10 years, I always say that, that is enough for us to be in war today'the religious violence in the north, the illness and death of former president Yar'Adua and the assumption of office by the incumbent president. All these things were enough to create tension and spark a war that we would have been still fighting.If you look at nations like Congo, Somalia, Rwanda, Liberia, and Sudan, the things they are fighting about are similar with what has been happening in this country but Nigeria is at relative peace. Yes we have little miscreants here and there but people are still able to go about their daily businesses and have freedom of worship. So, our future is very bright. We are 50 years old. There are other nations, which have been in far worse situations than Nigeria, but have come out of it. I am one of those that believe Nigeria is going to be the praise of the earth someday.Christian leaders seem to take the back stage in the scheme of things. What is your message to them in line with your view that it is only when you are in the system that you can positively influence or bring hope to the system'For us at Spirit and Life Bible Church and the Godhead Prayer Ministry, God has told us to fast and intercede for the nation, to bring men who are part of the vision to the point of awareness. In regards to other leaders, we have to be in unity to do that, we have to be in unity to stand up together, we have to stay together, we don't have to be in politics as men of God for the sake of politics but involved in politics for a specific reason for God to institute change. So, everyman of God who has a degree of influence, who speaks to a congregation of people, has the opportunity to influence the congregation towards a positive change for the society. I have always said this and I believe it so strongly that 95 per cent of Nigerians are in either churches or the mosques while the rest just dabbles here and there. Therefore, the Christian leader has a big influence. So, I appeal to our church leaders to be more involved and preach unity to be able to move this nation forward.You are one of the 21st century ministers that are very passionate about the youths of this country. Your programme, 'For the Youth of Excellence' has really impacted and is still impacting on a lot of lives. Through the feedback you are getting, are you encouraged to carry on with this programme'Oh yes, very well. I am very encouraged that we can see the fruit of our labour. We are beginning to see that many youths want to get involved in the system; youths are very passionate about this country.You see many youths because of what they have been through over time have become very discouraged by the nation. Many of our youths don't like what is going on in the nation but God has been able to use the vision of 'The Youths of Excellence' to adjust their mindset that Nigeria is the only nation we have.There is nothing wrong in you wanting to go abroad to school but at the end of the day realise that whatever nation you live outside your country, you are a second-class citizen of that nation. That's one thing my father always told me. You cannot be fully accepted as a first-class citizen or a son of the soil there but in your own nation no matter how bad, it is the nation of your birth. So, we try to instill that principle on young people. It is paying off and we will continue to do that.We have young people who are passionate about the country, standing against corruption, indecency and wanting to move this nation forward in every sphere that they are in. So, we are very grateful to God and we would continue to do the work. God wants to raise a generation of young people of excellence who practice righteousness, free from the mindset of corruption, deceit, greed, militancy and other evils.What are your wishes to Nigerians as we begin the year 2012'Let us continue to draw closer to God because he is the author and director of everything. Let us continue to pray because God wants to be involved in the things that we are in; so let us put him in the picture, practice what we preach, pray for one another and our leaders because a man can still change even if he is wicked. Our future is bright and outstanding and in due season we would all smile.
Click here to read full news..
