Nigerians should vote credible people, says His Eminence Udofia …Set to celebrate 60th birthday

His Eminence, the Most Reverend Emmanuel Udofia, the Primate of the African Church Worldwide will be 60 years on January 26, 2019. As part of preparation towards the birthday celebration, the respected man of God spoke to SUCCESS DAMIAN, on his life’s experiences, the church and national issues, especially the forthcoming 2019 General Elections. Excerpt:

Sir 60 years, first, I must say congratulations. 60 years is not a joke, so looking back, how has the journey been this past 60 years?

Thank you very much. Whatever I am going to say, I would base it on the scriptures because John 15 verse 5 Jesus said if you abide in me and I in you, you should bear much fruit for without me you can do nothing. So this 60 years of my existence, by the grace of God has been with more and more of thankfulness unto the lord, because I have seen his faithfulness in every area of my life. And again the bible has also told us that our delight should be in the lord and he will grant us the desires of our hearts, so because my desire is in Him, from time to time, day in day out, year in year out, the lord has been granting my heart desires, and again the bible said we should commit all our desires in Him, and trust in Him. All these 60 years, because by His grace I have been committing my ways unto Him, it has been the lord who is always faithful and who is always with us in helping us, sustaining us through this sixty years so everything has been the lord. I thank God for his faithfulness.

My lord, what can you say is your greatest source of joy over the years? There must have been an encounter that has exceedingly made you happy even from childhood.

My greatest joy in this world is my experience in the lord Jesus Christ. The bible has given us the word of God that the joy of the lord is our salvation, and that our joy comes from knowing the lord. So my salvation is an experience which only God made it to happen in my life; a gift which my parents, a gift which no human being on earth could give to me. The lord out of his benevolence gave me the grace to have a share in his salvation, in the redemptive work of our Saviour Jesus Christ, so that is the greatest source of my joy in this world, every other thing that gives me joy in this world is secondary.

Sir I know in life it is not all rosy, there is no rose without thorns, so there must have been one or two challenges along the way, tell us what they are sir.

I wouldn’t say there are no challenges, but challenges are part of our human existence, the bible says we should cast all our anxieties, all our challenges, all our cares in Him for He cares for us. So whatever has been the challenges, spiritually, physically, and otherwise, all these things have already been committed on to hm. He is the one who gives us the grace to overcome every challenge. You cannot roll away challenges because it is not every challenge is for destruction. There are some challenges that help to lift you up, to build you, some challenges make you say yes, there is nothing God cannot do. There are challenges which make you to call God more, move you closer to God. With that kind of situation you experience God the more, you experience the power of God and his glory. In fact coming out of such an experience would strengthen you the more. Some challenges make you to discover and recover what you might have lost over the years. You can come out of the storm of life without being spoiled, without being destroyed. Challenges help us rise higher and higher. So all my challenges have been so helpful to me, even the temptation that come to every believer is not to destroy us, it is to make us rise higher and higher as an eagle.

Now let us bring in the church in our discussion. Sir, how long have you been in the service of God and what inspired you to embrace God?  

By the grace of God, I am not talking about when I was a Sunday school teacher or organizing other programmes in the church, but from the time I was ordained. I was ordained in 1983, and since then I have been in the ministry of our lord Jesus Christ. So from 1983 till now, by the grace of God, this is 36 years in the ministry. So what inspired me to embrace God? As I said, it is never something that came by my own ability, or by the thing I said I could do by myself. No. I am just enjoying the grace and mercy of the lord drawing me close to himself. So how it happened, I didn’t know because He was the one. I won’t say, this is what attracted me to God, rather I would say it was God who attracted me to himself because I never merited all the lord has been doing for me. I want to believe that the day I was born so many other people were also born and again I want to say this that all that I have passed through in this life if not because of the mercy of God I would not be alive by now.

How are you able to combine church activities and still stay close to your family?

I thank God for what the lord has been doing, the lord has been so faithful, the family was instituted by God and the ministry was also instituted by God, so the two institutions were initiated by God, so if somebody is now is in God, through Christ Jesus, because with God, God’s mercy, God’s power, God’s grace and compassion, all things are possible. So combining the ministry and the family is nothing one could say is difficult. Again, family by the grace of God, myself, my lovely wife and children, since all of us are in the lord Jesus Christ also makes it possible for the ministry now to flourish, because the bible says where two or three are gathered in my name I am there in the midst of them, so you can now see the ministry did start with my family because we are more than three. From smaller ministry to the bigger ministry. So it has been so wonderful by the grace of God. By the grace of God my wife being a school teacher, my children, sometimes they will miss me for weeks, months, but having known why they have missed me, they are not regretting because by the grace of God everybody has an assignment and responsibility. We understand our responsibilities and areas of calling. God has been so faithful.

Sir, let us go a little further, what is your take on the current political happenings in Nigeria, are you satisfied and why?

As a servant of God I feel so sad because of the political tension in the political atmosphere in the country, because I listen to all the political campaigns, most of them are nothing to write home about, this is not the kind of campaigns we should be doing in the 21^st century. These campaigns are full of hate speeches, full of insults, they are full of abuses; they are full of character assassinations, full of all kinds of things, this is not what we had expected at a time like this, but it is unfortunate. I am not happy at all, going by what I have been reading on the pages of the dailies, television and radio. I believe, this is the time Nigeria should sit back, I know we should have political parties but we should know that political parties will come and go but Nigeria will still remain.

And again political parties no matter the party someone belongs, everybody should work towards building a great Nigeria which everybody should be proud of, but unfortunately with what is happening now, we are more divided than before. Without God’s intervention I don’t know where we are heading to, because of this political hatred.

This is certainly not the kind of Country we are praying for, but I know with the prayers of the saints, we love Nigeria, God will intervene and show mercy on this nation and take us out of the hand of those who do not mean well for this nation, in Jesus name, amen.

The 2019 General Election is around the corner and the nation wants to hear words of advice, encouragement and hope from respected men of God like you, your advice sir.

I want to advise Nigerians that whatever we are looking forward to doing especially in this kind of election, we should do it with the fear of God, when anything is done with the fear of God, number one it will mean giving God the glory, that will make us first to receive God’s blessings, and so on and so forth. We must also avoid this is my time syndrome, the security agents would say this is my opportunity, this is also time to enrich myself; some would now go and connive with the electoral officials, political parties. Electorates should not say this is my own time to get whatever I want, we should do what is right.

I want to advise INEC and those in position of authority we should avoid manipulation of electoral process to favour one candidate or the other, because we have seen now that at times, the electoral processes, they don’t do it right, all Nigerians should be treated the same, all political parties should be treated the same, INEC should be neutral in all ramifications. Everybody should know that whatever we do we shall give God account. Everybody should know that if you want to play a game, you will never play a game with God. The evil that men do live after them, it may not be today, God’s judgement may not be today, but it will surely come. They should not manipulate any electoral processes in favour of anybody.

I want to advise Nigerians against violence, violence does not pay anybody, it does not add anything to Nigeria rather it subtracts, you can imagine when this Boko Haram started many thought it is not what the country should worry about. Look at the herdsmen, when it started the government did not pay attention, then the two forces now grew and became what they are today, if you want to quantify the number of casualty or people that have died through Boko Haram and through herdsmen you will see that people will be discouraged in this nation and if not because of God you will hate anybody in Nigeria.

If Nigeria wants to quantify all the casualties, all the government institutions destroyed, churches destroyed, all the mosques destroyed, all the houses destroyed, you would see that trillions of Naira can never be enough to buy all these things, and that is why Nigerians are always behaving like beggars, Nigeria that should be supporting other nations, is always asking for help from every nation. Nigeria that God has so endowed, even those nations supporting Nigeria do not have what Nigeria has, but unfortunately, because of violence, corruption, Nigeria behaves as if nothing good is coming from Nigeria.

I also want to plead with Nigerians, Nigerians, this is our country, we should vote for credible, God fearing people, because, if Nigerians vote people that are not credible or people that are corrupt, that means Nigerian treasury cannot be safe.

My lord, I am sure with your success in the ministry, I am sure you have the capacity to have as many children as possible…

I have only six children by the grace of God.

I have seen your church, schools and others, do you have any form of empowerment for your congregation and community where you operate?

When I was in one of the dioceses in the south-south, I had a sewing institute, where young boys and girls were trained even some adults, at the end of every training each person that completed his or her training, during their freedom, by the grace of God, I would make sure I bought all machines, everything to equip them; they were trained free of charge and given machines free of charge.

So since I am not there, that does not mean I have not been playing my part in empowering so many financially and otherwise. Only God knows the number of appeals, letters, messages, asking for one help or the other. And again, there are some appeals of course you cannot turn down. If I tell you what God has used me to do in this place, if you want to quantify it you will be surprised, but you cannot blow your trumpet. According to the scriptures, whatever your left hand does, your right hand should not know about it and vice versa. If not because you ask me, I don’t tell anybody this is what I have done. I don’t want human praises, I am only an instrument in the hand of God because God could have used another person.

Sir can you tell us the programmes lined up for your 60 years birthday celebration?

I planned to do it in a big way by the grace, but due to some circumstances I decided to mellow it down, I think the planning committee is doing a lot, part of the plans include visit to orphanage homes, Bible quiz for the younger ones, other things are within me which I don’t want to unravel now.

Sir your name sound Igbo, you are operating here in Lagos but a lot of things you have here, some other people would say, let me go and do it in my town, what is the driving force?

Yes, if you are a servant of God and decides to do whatever you want to do only in your home town alone, then that person is selfish, and such a person can never be said to be doing the lord’s will, because anywhere you are is your neighbor. According to bible interpretation, everybody is your neighbour, every woman is your mother, very girl is your sister, every man is your father, every young man I your brother.

It therefore means we have them everywhere, so if the person determines and say as I come from Akwa-Ibom now, I must do it in Akwa ibom, Niger Delta or South-south, that person can never do God’s will, and God cannot entrust more in his hand, because he who is faithful in little is faithful in much.

Succession, are you thinking along that line?

By the grace of God we are praying towards that, anything that concerns the church is not something that can be handled physically alone or constitution alone, it should be handled spiritually, biblically. God is the head, the next person there is only representing God.