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BEING BORN AGAIN does not preclude you from enjoying life Archbishop Idahosas son

Published by The Nation on Sat, 18 Nov 2017


Bishop Faith Emmanuel Idahosa is the only son of the late champion of Pentecostal movement in Nigeria and President of Benson Idahosa University, Benin City Edo State, Archbishop Benson Idahosa. In this interview with ADENIYI ADEWOYIN and DAVID LAWAL, he speaks on the benefits of born again Christians delving into politics, how denying him visa to study abroad before his fathers death turned into blessing, his relationship with the students of Benson Idahosa University and other pressing issues. Excerpts:A movie about your late father was premiered recently. Would you say the movie actually captured the life and times of the late Archbishop'I need you to see the movie because it is a very good one. What the movie does is portray a part of his life from the perspective of an outsider who was coming to see the impact his life has in Nigeria. So it is not just the story of his life. It is very fresh, it is new and it is different. Next year will make it 20 years after he passed away, so we are planning to do several events that will call a part of his legacy year to say these are some of the things he did in his life time, and one of them is this movie.And there will be another movie that will also come out next year. Hopefully, by Gods grace, that will tell more about his life. This one talks more about the impact of his life and some of the things he did in Benin City. So I encourage everyone to go and see the movie, talk about it and ask questions, get to know who this man was because someone who was five years old when he passed away in 1998 would not have known much about him, and that person will be 25 next year. So this is the kind of time they should know about the history.Did you by any chance read the script before the movie was produced'Yes, the director is a personal friend and he is also someone who has been in the ministry of CGM since he was a young man. So he is someone who has been working, who knows the ministry in and out. So, like I said, he wasnt telling the story. It is not a biography; it is a story about his life impacts, and with the way this generation is today, you want to tell stories from different angles and different perspectives that will help people see the total picture of life.Talking about the impact of his life; some people are still in doubts that God used your late dad to raise the dead; did you witness any of these miracles'I witnessed several miracles, I know two people that he raised from the dead, ones name is Joy Akporero. I wasnt there when it happened but I do know her personally and shes a friend of mine. She fell down from a high veranda and she hit her head on the pavement and passed away and her mother brought her to the Archbishop and she came back to life, she tells the testimony all the time. As a matter of fact, that scene is portrayed in the movie as well.Another woman that came back to life was the one my mother saw, which is also in the movie as well. My father was a young man; he was told by his pastor that you can raise the dead because the bible says so and he asked, is it true' Can you do that' Pastor said yes, its possible. My dad asked, have you done it' The man said, no, I havent but it is possible. So my dad went around Benin City that day on his bicycle looking for any house where someone had died (this is recorded in several of his books.) He got to the house of my mother who was a young girl at that time, but that morning, a young girl just passed away. So he stopped, went into the house, and started praying for the young lady, he prayed several times but nothing happened. After a while, he began to look for a window where he could escape from (laughs). He prayed and prayed and nothing happened; so he opened his bible and he saw a verse that says, Talitha cumi; rise little girl; and he thought the girls name in the bible was Talitha cumi. So he went to ask of the girls name which they told him. He went back inside and called the girls name and said arise and she came back to life. Now, this is a story that weve been told and my mother was there to witness.So the director of the movie, Stanlee Oihkhure said, can I find this woman because I want to know if this is a true story' We found her and she is still alive today. They interviewed her. Theres a documentary coming out that actually shows her in the interview. These are people who are living witnesses of what God can do.What are your fond memories of your late dad'There are memories I still have of him. I remember him playing with us. I remember him coming back from trips and bringing back toys. You know as a young boy, all you want are toys to play with. I remember him being a strict disciplinarian. I remember so many things about him that keep his memory alive in my mind.The things I mostly remember about him were the last two years before he passed away. I got to spend nine months with him. We travelled across the country. We travelled around Africa. I got to spend time knowing the ministry and knowing him. At the time it happened, I didnt know it was going to happen. I was trying to travel back to the US to continue my medical education but I was denied visa to go back to the US. We were very upset. We tried so many things to get a visa but everyone said no. So, I said I would wait and try again in six months. In those six months, I was in Nigeria travelling around the country and Africa with my father. When I look back now, I realize that was the gift that God gave to me. Because after six months, I got my visa and travelled back to the UK. It was just two years later that my father passed away.As the child of the Archbishop, how was growing up like' Was it all religion'I dont know if you balance those things as a child. You grow up and you just live thinking the whole world is sweet and rosy. I enjoyed my childhood. I grew up in Benin. I think part of it was being under the system where your father was a well-known person. Everyones eyes were always on me to know what I was doing. When I was in JSS1, I went to boarding school in Jos. So, I had the chance to grow up outside the family world around me, and I enjoyed growing up in Nigeria.After that, I went to school in the US at the age of 15. I finished my secondary school there, then I went to the university, did my masters degree and came back to Nigeria. It was in between my masters degree and my medical school that I spent that time with my father. So, I cherish my childhood. I cherish what God allowed me to see and grow up from in my time as a young man.Did you at any time get out of your Christian life as a teenager, especially when you were in school'I think people that say it is boring to be born again are people who have a mindset as to how they want to act, but because they are Christians, they cant. I remember when I was a young man, I was thinking okay, let me just enjoy my life. Like I said, I grew up in a Christian world. So, at some point, being a young man, you think okay, let me just enjoy life and when I turn 30 or 40, I will get serious with God, then I will become a strong Christian. But I remember the summer I was 13 years old, and I had an experience that made me to think that life is not a joke.I remember that at the age of 13, I made a rededication of my life to say God, I am going to be serious with you now; I am not going to wait till I am 40. Having done that does not mean that you cant have a good time to enjoy yourself, you can still have fun as a young man. I played sports, I had friends and a life that I enjoyed. So, I dont think being a Christian separates you from that. When people say it is boring, it is because they have a mindset of what they want to do, and they think that being a Christian will restrict that.I agree that there are a certain things you should not do as a young man or woman, and some of those things are things that you should avoid whether you are a Christian or not. It is people who want to pursue some of these things that say if I am a Christian, I cant do these things. But if you are a Christian, you are supposed to live a normal life and enjoy.Whats your take on Christians going into partisan politics'Christians should be in politics. There are two problems I see with the way we do things right now. The first one is that as Christians, we say politics is bad, it is corrupt. So we want to stay away from it. And because we stay away from it, bad people, who are there to get more, take over. So you say it is for Agberos and you as a born again Christian who is smart, who is intelligent doesnt go into politics. So, more Agberos go in, and before you know it, in a few years, the people that you are insulting are the ones who are leading you, and it is because you say it is not for people like you.I look at that and say look, who is better to lead Gods people than the people who hear from God all the time' Why should I say I dont want to be led by bad leaders and then I have people around me who are good leaders and they are not going into politics' We should look for people around us who are good leaders, and encourage them to go into politics. Politics itself is not the problem; its the people who are there. So, if I am going to complain about the people who are there, the best way to change the system is by being in the system not by being outside the system and insulting it.The second thing I see is that we tend to send one lone ranger at a time whereas we should create a system of several people who are strong, who can support each other. Lets say for example there are 10 or 15 of us who are strong, spirit filled, born again in the House of Assembly, House of Reps, in our states or at the national level, if theres a problem with one person there its very easy for one person to be overrun. However, 10 of us who are there, we can meet once a week and say see, this is what is going on; we dont think this is right, lets take a stand against it.Having said that, what part is Benson Idahosa University playing in building the next generation of leaders'We train students in several areas. We held an event last year in which we interviewed governorship candidates for Edo State. We always try to get our students to be as exposed as they can to what is going on in the country. We want them to know that this is a country they are going to live in and grow up in; they must learn to have a say in whats happening in the country.We are training our students to become stronger diplomats, stronger politicians, so we have a programme we are working on right now, over the course of four years, to say you are going to come out as a diplomat. You will have certain experiences, including travelling to the UN, National Assembly, meeting with the embassies, and so on. We are taking them to these people deliberately, not just theory. We will travel with them so that they can have the records straight. When they meet these people, it triggers them to say see, I can also be in this position, and I will. Our next goal is to meet the President and Vice President.Nigeria produces thousands of graduates yearly but with a high level of unemployment in the country. In what ways do you think the problem can be solved'One of the biggest ways to solve the nations problem with employment is to create entrepreneurs, and weve been pushing this system for the last 15 to 20 years. We have been teaching entrepreneurship at this university when it wasnt a requirement in Nigerian universities. Now, it is, and I am happy for that. We want to teach our students to become entrepreneurs and create employment. So, we tell them instead of going out there looking for a job, go out there and look to create jobs. We have at least 50 of our graduates who are CEOs and owners of their own companies now, and they are doing well. We try to keep track of them to know how they are doing, because when you start your own company, you create employment even if you are only hiring two people.As the president of the university, do you have a personal relationship with the students'I think I am close to the students. If you look at my Instagram page, you will see lots of pictures of me and students. We know them personally. We talk with them. We encourage them to do things. They were in Abuja sometime last year for a programme, and I went there with them not at the schools expense but at my own expense, because we want these students to know that we are part of their lives. We are not just here to collect school fees and say see you later. Thats the reason why I meet the alumni of the university anywhere around Nigeria, and they stop me. One of our alumni is currently and executive director of a bank. I met her on an aeroplane.The post BEING BORN AGAIN does not preclude you from enjoying life Archbishop Idahosas son appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.]]>
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