Venerable Oluwaseun Bolatito Dokunmu is the Vicar of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Ishaga-Tedo, Isolo, Lagos. He is also the Archdeacon/Administrator of Isolo Archdeaconry. In this interview with CHRIS IREKAMBA, he spoke on the importance of his church crusade, why Nigerians should trust God for restoration, the reason the church is doing local governments’ job and why the Federal Government should punish offenders who violate laws of the land, among others.
How important is this year’s crusade?
Our crusade is titled: “Lazarus Come Forth.” It is taken from John 11:43 and will run from Wednesday, April 6 to 8 at the open field of the primary school beside our church. The three-day event holds at 5pm every day. This crusade is going to set people free from sin, sicknesses, diseases, among others. We also believe every good thing that is dead in the life of those that will attend will come alive.
The primary assignment of the church is to evangelise to all the nations. The Bible says ‘go into all the world and preach the gospel and baptise the people in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ So, the church must evangelise and preach the good tidings to both believers and unbelievers. The gospel liberates and until the word is preached, it will not liberate. So, when the gospel is preached, sinners accept it and are set free; this includes the captives. Apart from drawing people to God or asking people to return to God, we also discover that during revival people receive a lot of blessings.
When I came in as Vicar of this church in 2017, I met same tradition and ever since we have been following the tradition. We hold it at the beginning of the year, but we want to go beyond that this year. If Christ tarries, we are looking at having it every three months within a year. The Lord never asked the church to sit inside, but to spread the word across the globe. The Bible says, “go” and since this is an instruction, we do not want to be a ‘sitting church;’ we want to be a ‘going church,’ that is proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people.
How important is this crusade to the church, members and Nigerians as a whole?
It is important to the church because we have to add to our number. Souls will be won by God’s grace and lives will be touched or impacted. I don’t want to place the word above the blessing, because when the word is received and you believe and act upon it, blessing will follow. So, church members are also eager to receive fresh word because whether we like it or not, there is always a word for a man, and a woman. There will also be a word for every individual and members trusting God. God will send His words, which will help them run the race for the year.
The church is supposed to be the light of the world. God puts us in Ishaga-Tedo to reflect His light and glory, so, the community is eager as well to receive God’s blessings — fresh power and fresh glory through His words. So, the crusade is important to the church, members and the community.
When you look at what the nation is currently passing through, you will realise that we all need the word of God. We all need God’s help because we are currently helpless as a nation. The Bible says, ‘where cometh my help, my help comes from the Lord, the owner of heaven and earth.’ So, as a nation, we are trusting God for the restoration of our lost glory and blessings. We are trusting God to restore us as a nation and forgive us our sins because what is currently happening in the country is not ordinary. We have disobeyed God. The Bible says, ‘if you are willing and obedient, you will eat the fruit of the land.’ The question is: why are Nigerians not eating the fruit of the land? We are not eating fruits of the land because of our sins. It is not because God is wicked, but because of our sins and bad leadership. Nigerians are suffering because of their sins, bad governance and leadership.
1Chronicles 29:11, says: “Yours O Lord is the greatness, the power and the glory. The victory and majesty for all that is in heaven and in earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom O Lord and you are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honour come from you and you reign over all. In your hand is power and might; in your hand it is to make great and give strength to all.”
Our God is a God of abundance and limitless in resources. If your father owns an abattoir you must eat the best part of cow. Why are we not having the best of God? We are not because of our sins. We are amid plenty and we are suffering. A good example of this, is the fuel crisis that we are facing now. Some people imported bad fuel into the country and up till now, nothing has been done to them; no action has been taken against the perpetrators of the crime. At different filling stations fuel is sold as from N200 to N300 and nobody is checking these people. We are suffering as a result of corruption, sin and immorality; we have idolised things, we are not supposed to idolise in our hearts.
Were we in a sane country, the offenders would have been brought to book. Whether we like it or not; the effect of this, is already taking its tolls on Nigerians, and businesses. It is unfortunate that we are not punishing criminals, that is, why nothing is working. Nigeria will begin to work by the time we begin to obey our laws. There should be no sacred cows in the system and whoever works against the system should be punished. But when we continue to disobey our laws, the country will continue to degenerate. We are too sentimental and until we begin to treat the poor and the rich equally, when they commit the same offence things will never work well for all.
What has been the impact of this on your members?
It has impacted the congregation and the community greatly. There is decorum in the country because of the church of God and ministries. Each time people hear God’s word, they receive it with joy, but the blessing is not in receiving alone, but in doing the word. So, we still have people with the fear of God in this country and this is because of the efforts churches and ministries are putting in to impact on the people.
In fact, the church is now doing what the local government councils ought to be doing. Today, you see people come to the church for their house rents, healing or to get money for their hospital bills. When they cannot pay their children’s school fees, they come to the church too, and we pay on their behalf. A lot of people are jobless and when they come to the church, we give them N250, 000 to N500, 000 to start business. It is the responsibility of the government to provide jobs for Nigerians and not the church. But because of corruption, things are not working the way they should, which is the reason churches are now filling the gap, providing employment through empowerment programmes and other impacting initiative to make members self-employed. And many of our members have benefitted from this.
Some people believe Nigerians are too religious and also, religious organisations, especially the churches and the mosques, have contributed to make the people lazy?
We are not too religious as people say. The reality is that some people are not doing things right. Government too is not encouraging the people to do what is right. Government seems to have failed in its responsibilities to provide for the people and many Nigerians are angry and hungry. The church has its roles and government has its roles too. For example, in a family, the husband has his role to play and the wife has hers. If the wife is not playing her part that marriage will not stand. This is the true nature of what is happening in the country. Nigerians are not lazy, rather they have not been given the enabling environment to use their talents and skills optimally.
For people who say we are religious, I would not totally say yes or no to this, but would rather say if you put the right nut at the right place, the people will perform. I will also add that being spiritual is not laziness because our Master Jesus Christ is a very hard working person, I won’t use the word was because He is alive. In the book of Mark, the Bible tells us that He is always moving from one activity to the other. So, the Master Himself is not a lazy person. The Bible asks us to obey those in authority and if you are a Christian and you are working in a parastatal people must know you are a child of God by your attitude to work. What sets you apart is productivity and fruitfulness. You are not a genuine child of God if you are not productive and fruitful. In this race, you must continue to be fruitful. If any Christian in any organisation is lazy that person is not representing the Kingdom well. He/she is not representing the Master very well.
