Prophet Kayode Abiara is the General Evangelist
Worldwide of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC). He has been in the
Lord’s vineyard for half a century. He spoke with Gbenga Aderanti of The
Nation on the rancour in the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and
the private jets controversy. Excerpts:
Nigeria is not short of men of God and people so passionate about evangelism, yet faces a lot of challenges. Why is this so?
If it were not for prayers, Nigeria would have collapsed before now. So, we thank God Almighty for people praying for Nigeria. People often tell me that prayers are too much that even the prayers in the CAC and Mountain of Fire ought to have destroyed the devil. But the Bible does not put us in darkness over this. The Bible says in the last days, there will be critical times because there will be rumour of war, challenges and so on and so forth. Until Jesus comes, all these problems will not stop. But when we pray, God will sustain us and those who cause problems, the power of prayer will suppress them and destroy their acts. That is why Nigeria is still sustained up till now. That is why I said in my message to this nation that Nigeria must not panic at all because of the killings and kidnapping. After all, there are many challenges in Europe, Middle East and America. Yet they overcame their challenges. There is no one without his or her own challenges. There is no country without its challenges. If you are in this world, you will face challenges.
There are those who are of the opinion that these problems are man-made. Do you share this viewpoint?
It is because it is the spirit of Satan that corrupts. Now, those who are corrupt don’t want to know that people are suffering. There is money in this country. But it is those who are up there that are making things difficult. I don’t know what I can call them. People are corrupt and it is only prayers that can deliver us. Some people prefer to keep their money abroad, instead of investing it in Nigeria and generate employment. For me, that is wicked and callous. How can you accumulate so much money and your people are suffering? That is why you have many unemployed graduates. Government cannot provide work. That is why I said in my message to the nation that graduates should also do vocational studies because degrees are not enough.
Considering the number of men of God who have access to political leaders, one would have thought that things would be a bit different. Why has our situation remained the same?
Leaders are not alone. There are people surrounding them. There are good and bad people and sometimes bad people are more than good people. Leaders get diverse advice from their aides and it will be very difficult for them not to listen to their advisers, lest they are branded autocrats. If they ignore their advisers, they will abandon them and in extreme cases, work against them. We must not blame them. Instead, we should continue to pray for them. If men of God give these leaders advice, they will table it at their meetings and when they table this at their meetings, not everybody will agree with such a view. Sometimes the advisers or aides are responsible for the bad decisions leaders take. What I do is to pray. I don’t go to the President’s house. I don’t seek to see the President. The authorities of the Christ Apostolic pray for the nation and government in power. Either good or bad, we continue to pray for them. But it is very important to pray for government in power.
Before the election, it appeared you had an unspoken support for President Jonathan. Would you say you still have the same feeling?
Nobody can please the world. When Yar’Adua was there, he was tagged ‘go slow’. People were not pleased. Even before Yar’Adua, it was still the same complaint about former President Olusegun Obasanjo. They said he was not doing well. Jonathan came but he is still regarded as being slow. Even God, people are not pleased with Him because whenever it rains, they complain that the rain is too much. When it is sunny, people complain of too much heat. So what do you want God to do? I’m neither holding brief for President Jonathan nor backing him. He is really trying but the job is massive. Many people are criticising him. We want to thank God for his life because he is a man of peace. I’m not a politician, but we are telling the whole world the truth. Nigeria must be patient. Nigerians want magic from any government that is in power but it should not always be like that.
Some people say the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has become an arm of government. What do you have to say to this?
Many people say that but it is not so. It is good to be close to government because it is an opportunity for men of God to tell them the feelings of Nigerians. I don’t want Nigerians to see CAN as an arm of government. But sincerely it is very good to move very close to any government so as to advise it. Look at the way the President of CAN has handled the issue of Boko Haram, Islamic banking and other issues concerning Nigeria and Christians in particular. There is no way the leadership of CAN can be antagonising the President. We are men of peace; our father Jesus Christ is a man of peace and we must pursue peace.
What are the implications of the Catholic Secretariat pulling out of CAN?
If there are misunderstandings, let them come to the table and settle them amicably. The Bible says: ‘Let us come together and reason together’. If the Catholic Church is not happy about something, it should come to the round table to discuss. There are many good people in the Catholic Church. I think the disagreement is being blown out of proportion.
Some people have argued that the rancour has a lot to do with the next election in CAN, do you agree with this?
We will continue to pray. We cannot behave like politicians because all Christians believe in Christ Jesus. We cannot fight against ourselves; it is not possible. It is the media that blew this out of proportion. I don’t think they are fighting themselves and I don’t think there is politics in all of this. When it is time for election, they will come together, irrespective of who wins, irrespective of the denomination. The winner will be supported by all.
Last year, you said Boko Haram was going to be a thing of the past but today they are still killing people. What is the problem?
It is not too late. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would come. He didn’t come until after 800 years. So, it is not too late. But it is an opportunity for us to pray very well. Nigeria will overcome her problems. Nigerians should not worry and not panic; God owns Nigeria. Killings and kidnappings in Nigeria will stop. By the grace of God, my message to Nigerians is that they should put their minds at rest.
Clerics have been accused of living ostentatious life style. How do you explain this?
I know you are referring to planes being owned by men of God. Abroad, young men like you have planes and jets to travel for their businesses. It is a glory to Christendom that the President of CAN has a plane and they bought it for him. I want to celebrate my 50th anniversary in the ministry. If somebody comes and offers me a helicopter, should I say I don’t want it? I can’t say I don’t need it or I’m not in a position to fly in it. The Bible says give and those who give are obeying what Jesus Christ instructed. They have and they gave. The President of CAN was given an aircraft and some people are angry. I don’t know what is wrong with them. I want to appeal to all Nigerians that if there are Christians God has blessed, they should not be criticised; it is not good. Pastors use private jets not because of ostentatious life style but as a matter of necessity.
Nigeria is not short of men of God and people so passionate about evangelism, yet faces a lot of challenges. Why is this so?
If it were not for prayers, Nigeria would have collapsed before now. So, we thank God Almighty for people praying for Nigeria. People often tell me that prayers are too much that even the prayers in the CAC and Mountain of Fire ought to have destroyed the devil. But the Bible does not put us in darkness over this. The Bible says in the last days, there will be critical times because there will be rumour of war, challenges and so on and so forth. Until Jesus comes, all these problems will not stop. But when we pray, God will sustain us and those who cause problems, the power of prayer will suppress them and destroy their acts. That is why Nigeria is still sustained up till now. That is why I said in my message to this nation that Nigeria must not panic at all because of the killings and kidnapping. After all, there are many challenges in Europe, Middle East and America. Yet they overcame their challenges. There is no one without his or her own challenges. There is no country without its challenges. If you are in this world, you will face challenges.
There are those who are of the opinion that these problems are man-made. Do you share this viewpoint?
It is because it is the spirit of Satan that corrupts. Now, those who are corrupt don’t want to know that people are suffering. There is money in this country. But it is those who are up there that are making things difficult. I don’t know what I can call them. People are corrupt and it is only prayers that can deliver us. Some people prefer to keep their money abroad, instead of investing it in Nigeria and generate employment. For me, that is wicked and callous. How can you accumulate so much money and your people are suffering? That is why you have many unemployed graduates. Government cannot provide work. That is why I said in my message to the nation that graduates should also do vocational studies because degrees are not enough.
Considering the number of men of God who have access to political leaders, one would have thought that things would be a bit different. Why has our situation remained the same?
Leaders are not alone. There are people surrounding them. There are good and bad people and sometimes bad people are more than good people. Leaders get diverse advice from their aides and it will be very difficult for them not to listen to their advisers, lest they are branded autocrats. If they ignore their advisers, they will abandon them and in extreme cases, work against them. We must not blame them. Instead, we should continue to pray for them. If men of God give these leaders advice, they will table it at their meetings and when they table this at their meetings, not everybody will agree with such a view. Sometimes the advisers or aides are responsible for the bad decisions leaders take. What I do is to pray. I don’t go to the President’s house. I don’t seek to see the President. The authorities of the Christ Apostolic pray for the nation and government in power. Either good or bad, we continue to pray for them. But it is very important to pray for government in power.
Before the election, it appeared you had an unspoken support for President Jonathan. Would you say you still have the same feeling?
Nobody can please the world. When Yar’Adua was there, he was tagged ‘go slow’. People were not pleased. Even before Yar’Adua, it was still the same complaint about former President Olusegun Obasanjo. They said he was not doing well. Jonathan came but he is still regarded as being slow. Even God, people are not pleased with Him because whenever it rains, they complain that the rain is too much. When it is sunny, people complain of too much heat. So what do you want God to do? I’m neither holding brief for President Jonathan nor backing him. He is really trying but the job is massive. Many people are criticising him. We want to thank God for his life because he is a man of peace. I’m not a politician, but we are telling the whole world the truth. Nigeria must be patient. Nigerians want magic from any government that is in power but it should not always be like that.
Some people say the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has become an arm of government. What do you have to say to this?
Many people say that but it is not so. It is good to be close to government because it is an opportunity for men of God to tell them the feelings of Nigerians. I don’t want Nigerians to see CAN as an arm of government. But sincerely it is very good to move very close to any government so as to advise it. Look at the way the President of CAN has handled the issue of Boko Haram, Islamic banking and other issues concerning Nigeria and Christians in particular. There is no way the leadership of CAN can be antagonising the President. We are men of peace; our father Jesus Christ is a man of peace and we must pursue peace.
What are the implications of the Catholic Secretariat pulling out of CAN?
If there are misunderstandings, let them come to the table and settle them amicably. The Bible says: ‘Let us come together and reason together’. If the Catholic Church is not happy about something, it should come to the round table to discuss. There are many good people in the Catholic Church. I think the disagreement is being blown out of proportion.
Some people have argued that the rancour has a lot to do with the next election in CAN, do you agree with this?
We will continue to pray. We cannot behave like politicians because all Christians believe in Christ Jesus. We cannot fight against ourselves; it is not possible. It is the media that blew this out of proportion. I don’t think they are fighting themselves and I don’t think there is politics in all of this. When it is time for election, they will come together, irrespective of who wins, irrespective of the denomination. The winner will be supported by all.
Last year, you said Boko Haram was going to be a thing of the past but today they are still killing people. What is the problem?
It is not too late. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would come. He didn’t come until after 800 years. So, it is not too late. But it is an opportunity for us to pray very well. Nigeria will overcome her problems. Nigerians should not worry and not panic; God owns Nigeria. Killings and kidnappings in Nigeria will stop. By the grace of God, my message to Nigerians is that they should put their minds at rest.
Clerics have been accused of living ostentatious life style. How do you explain this?
I know you are referring to planes being owned by men of God. Abroad, young men like you have planes and jets to travel for their businesses. It is a glory to Christendom that the President of CAN has a plane and they bought it for him. I want to celebrate my 50th anniversary in the ministry. If somebody comes and offers me a helicopter, should I say I don’t want it? I can’t say I don’t need it or I’m not in a position to fly in it. The Bible says give and those who give are obeying what Jesus Christ instructed. They have and they gave. The President of CAN was given an aircraft and some people are angry. I don’t know what is wrong with them. I want to appeal to all Nigerians that if there are Christians God has blessed, they should not be criticised; it is not good. Pastors use private jets not because of ostentatious life style but as a matter of necessity.
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