BISHOP Nuel Ikeakanam is a well-known cleric in Asaba, in the entire Delta State and beyond, while the Faith Liberation Church Cathedral in Asaba is an edifying tower that does not escape attention on Nnebisi Road, around the popular Inter-Bau Junction. In this interview with Christy Aboghe, the former Editor and Presiding Bishop of the church spoke on the state of the nation and the role of the church, among sundry issues. Excerpts
In the spirit of the Yuletide, what is your message to the public?
Jesus Christ is the reason for the season. I don’t think you can celebrate someone you don’t know. Hence, it is an opportunity to come close to our Saviour and to know him better. People should first seek the Lord and His righteousness and the Lord will take complete charge of their lives.
That’s the only time Christmas makes sense. They say every day is not Christmas but we believe that for those who are born again, those who are true Christians, every day is surely Christmas because Christ is alive in us, that is why we are celebrating.
Do you encourage Nigerians to celebrate?
Times are hard for many, so it is an opportunity for giving and showing love. In our church, we had a programme called “Christmas Cantata” and one of the major aspects was giving out gifts, such as rice, tomatoes and other items to widows. We also had a raffle draw for other church members. That should be the spirit of Christmas, especially with the tough economy. We encourage those in privileged positions to share the love of the season. They should locate the less-privileged, so that they too can be part of the celebration. We believe that this should be the pursuit of the church.
It is true that everything falls on the leadership and if you have the right leadership, they will surely know what to do about the nation’s problems. We would have been able to build a better country, but this is yet to happen. I remember that in those days, the US dollar was at par with the Naira. I rejected a job offer abroad because our economy was doing well. But before we knew it, we came into this quagmire that is now difficult to come out from.
What can the church do to right the wrongs of the past?
The church alone cannot produce the right leaders, so we will continue to pray for the nation, specifically for good governance, while we encourage people to vote. This is key to good governance but some think that because they are poor, their votes are insignificant. We encourage our members to be active participants in the democratic process. Christians should always go out and vote.
Generally, do you think the church is doing enough to ensure the right leadership?
It’s not as easy as it seems but I think the church is doing so much. I was reading an article recently written by Archbishop Matthew Hassan Kuka of the Sokoto Catholic Archdiocese, and he was trying to blame the church for only praying. I said “you cannot put the blame on the church.” It was not because we were only praying that the Malaysians came to Nigeria and took our palm fruits and they are now exporting palm oil all over the globe. We pray so that God would give us better leaders. Our people should be more politically active. They should be involved more in the political process. As far as I’m concerned, after God, it is the government. With the church praying continually, good leaders will emerge. I believe that God will answer us through prayer because the Bible says “watch and pray.” Stop giving licenses to those who want to build hotels, but to those who want to build industries that will benefit the people, employ young graduates and make the economy stronger. So that is my advice to the government and I know they are listening and the Lord will help them. We are praying for our State Governor all the time, that God will help him to make a difference in the state and I know it will happen.
How do you react to insecurity and President Trump’s response?
I wrote on my Facebook page that Trump will do this and now everybody is running around. To think that we have a government for almost two years or more, but they were no ambassadors. It was quite strange.
Until Trump came, everybody was running around and they were picking all kinds of people to represent us. So, they didn’t give serious response to this before now. On the problem of insecurity, I believe that it’s a hydra headed problem that requires more than a single approach. I believe in the creation of state police as the president has promised.
Every state should have their own police force. In other countries, this is so
We can have our own police trained and equipped by the states. Because they are indigenous, they will easily smoke out criminals. The politicians we see today do not have the political will to deal with the problem. They don’t have it because it’s like the problem has overwhelmed them and that is one of the things that we pray about. I know that Delta State has enjoyed relative peace under Governor Sheriff Oborevwori. But it can be better if we have state police.
Some people are afraid that they may use state police to fight the opposition, but they should know that we used to have local police. I believe that we have grown beyond that now, we should have state police to save the situation.
We should have police that are specialized in certain areas of policing. That will go a long way to eliminate the security challenges.
What is your final message?
We have this determined association of Christian leaders. I want to say to my fellow clerics, that the responsibility is upon us, including elders and deacons in the church. Although people condemn us that we pray too much, I don’t think we should relent in our prayers.
We are not the problem. The problem lies with those who are leading the country. We are pastors and church ministers and cannot make policies. The policymakers should be the target. We should pray that God should give us men who want to see this country grow from grace to grace.
We pray that God should give us wise men, people who are really wise, people who are strategic, technocrats and people that can rebuild the nation.
I believe that there is so much resources at our disposal, but pastors have a role to play and that is encouraging their members to vote rightly. God will help us in Jesus’ name.
Lastly, what are your expectations for the New Year?
I was sharing with the pastors during prayer that every New Year requires a new dierction.
If something does not change in your life and it was just the same old ways, it might be the same story by the end of 2026. So my expectation is that people should sit down, take inventory of their lives, see what works, what is working and what may never work. Take a second look at your relationships, businesses and make useful resolutions.
