I Don’t Foresee Bad Things For Nigeria At All Because God Owns Nigeria
Prophet (Dr.) Samuel Kayode Abiara is the General Evangelist, Christ Apostolic Church, CAC, Worldwide. In this interview with CHRIS IREKAMBA and IJEOMA OPARA, the Prophet bares his mind on why 2016 is a tough year for criminals/terrorists and why Nigerians must be patient with the present administration among others.

Traditionally, you hold church programmes yearly. What should Nigerians expect this year?
AT CAC, when we see anything coming, we pray about it and by the grace of God, He has used us to help this nation. So, on January 27 to 31 here at CAC, Agbala Itura, Lagos Zone, Agege, we shall be having a programme with the theme: “Escape for your life,” taken from Genesis 19:17. Also, once in a year, precisely February 24 to 26, the whole CAC Worldwide will be gathering at Odo Owa in Kwara State, the birth place of Prophet Joseph Babalola for special prayer, themed: “All Nations’ Pilgrimage.” And we shall be praying for the whole nation so that we can have peace. On the last three days of every month, we also have special prayer for the nation and every CAC churches worldwide.

We thank God Almighty for the year 2016. God owns Nigeria and we hope there will be peace; that many people will enjoy breakthroughs, blessings, victory, comfort and monumental achievements this New Year. It is going to be a year of grace and glory for Nigerians on the condition that they draw nearer to God, give their lives to Christ and obey Him, take instructions from Him, as it is said in Job 22:22, ‘make yourself closer to God, by this you will see Grace and blessing’ in the year 2016.

For the wicked, such as armed robbers, terrorists, kidnappers and sinners, this year will be terrible for them, if they don’t repent of their sins. It will be a year of disaster for them, if they don’t turn a new leaf. The Bible in Acts 17:30, says, ‘the time of ignorance has passed away, now God commands everyone to repent from sin and He will pardon them and there will be peace for all.’

Are you saying the challenges of 2015 such as Boko Haram and economic downturn among others are over?
You know, 2 Timothy 3:1 says, ‘mark this, in the end time there will be a terrible time.’ So, I never said that challenges would ever end; it will be so until Christ Jesus takes over. But if Nigerians move closer to God, He will deliver them, but there will always be challenges in the world, because He has said it in Mathew 24 that when the end time comes, there will be wars, conflicts and so on. However, there are challenges everywhere, it is not peculiar to Nigeria alone.

The general view is that Nigerians will experience more hardship this year, following the depreciation of the nation’s major source of income, which is oil and coupled with the current dollar rate against the Naira. What is your take?

In my message this year, I remember telling my congregation and by extension Nigerians not to panic or listen to people, who only come with prophecy of doom. Isaiah 40:1 says ‘comfort my people.’ Even if a man of God received revelation that fire would come upon the earth, he is in a position to comfort the people and bring hope.

For me, I don’t foresee bad things for Nigeria at all because God owns Nigeria. John 14:1 says, ‘do not let your heart be troubled, believe in God and trust in Him.’ So those in government, including the president and his vice must not let their hearts be troubled because God owns Nigeria.

Before we discovered oil as a nation, God has already made Nigeria great and without the oil, God is always there to provide for us. He is the same God, Who brought manna from heaven, when there was no food for the Israelites, Who also brought water to them in the wilderness. So, if oil dries up, God is there to make a way where there is none. When God brought Israelites out of bondage, they rejoiced, but suddenly they met the Red Sea and what did they do? God divided the Red Sea. It is the same God Nigeria is serving.

God backs Nigeria because His men are busy praying and fasting for the country and I believe that God is in control of everything. However, we have so many resources and minerals that are yet to be tapped. At some point, we depended on cocoa, before oil came. We should look inwards and develop other resources we have in abundance to revive the economy.

Agriculture is the way to go. People should go back to farming and stop depending on oil, that is the reason for the fall of the Naira.

Crime is on the increase even as the number of churches keeps increasing. What is responsible for this?
Even if all houses of the world were to be houses of prayer to God Almighty, crime will never cease. And this is because only Christ Jesus can make crime stop, when He comes. This world is corrupt, violent and dubious; people must know God now for them to experience tranquility. The churches are there to remind evil people of God’s word and make them change, but then it won’t stop the crime.

What is your advice for President Buhari-led government, especially on his anti-corruption drive?
People are saying that his government is slow, and so I want to plead with Nigerians to be patient with him. His government is barely a year; and we have seen significant difference in trms of security. We must appreciate our soldiers and I pray that God will continue to be with them.

However, Nigerians are fed up with seeing the EFCC all over the pages of newspapers. This is good, but then I advise that government should get all the money looted and ensure they utilise it properly, to improve the lives of the youths and create jobs. They should release those that have been arrested and pardon them; people should not die of victimisation. Nigerians are eager to see the change this government promised them.

President Buhari promised that by December 2015, he would bring an end to Boko Haram insurgency. Do you think he has achieved this?
We must thank God for his life, as fighting terrorists to a standstill cannot be achieved in one day. But we hope that it will be a thing of the past one day. I still urge the Nigerian army to be vigilant. Security is for all, so Nigerians must join in the fight to end terrorism by ensuring that they give useful information to the authorities concerned.

As clerics, our role is to pray and call on people to repent of their sins. I don’t really understand what they stand to gain by beheading and killing innocent people. God is not asking anyone to fight on His behalf, and even the Qur’an says, ‘thou shall not kill.’ Almighty Allah never called on anyone to behead and fight for Him. Also our God is a God of peace and so any religion that kills and causes violence is working contrary to God’s injunction. Christians and Muslims serve a God of peace and that is what we preach.

What is your message to those in authority?
They must be united to move the country forward. You might think that four years is such a long time, but if they don’t sit down and reason together to move the nation forward, as well as keep their promises as stated in their manifestoes, Nigerians will vote them out. They must forgive those who offended them and face the reality of governance.