By Chukwudi Nweje
L-R: Olu Chris-Kuye, Protocol Department, KICC, London; Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, convener, CCRW and Senior Pastor, KICC; Rev Steve Mensah, from Ghana and Rev Stanley Mensah at the Crusade.
From November 6 to 11, 2023, Igbogbo Stadium in Ikorodu was agog as the Christ Compassion Crusade 2023 powered by Christ Compassion for Rural World (CCRW) spent over N708 billion in surgeries, drugs, food, and other relief materials to provide succour to the needy.
President of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, the convener of CCRW, however, said that the multi-billion crusade was not about sharing palliative but a way of blessing and showing compassion to the less privileged.
He said: “The CCRW Crusade was exhilarating, exciting, expected and yet unexpected. When we were coming, we knew we would be overwhelmed by the size of the response but it was beyond our imagination. My friends in Ghana who I observed before I came here, I told them that whatever we do in Nigeria is 10 times what they did in Ghana and they did not believe it but when they came and saw, they said what we are doing is 20 times what they did. It was exciting.
“On the opening night, the rain fell and the people stayed there in the rain. The second day Tuesday night, 65,000 clothing materials and 100,000 packets of noddles were given out. On Wednesday, we gave out rice, oil, buckets and other items. On Thursday, we shared rice, beans, oil and many more items. It seemed as if what we have was multiplying. On Friday, the stadium was full again. If there was adequacy in the land, there wouldn’t have been the need for these people to troop out here.
“It cost me and my friends, who donated gifts, N708billion. I know some governors who spend this amount on two cars. So, just two cars of a governor can do this. “There is poverty in the land and somebody is not getting it. If there were adequacy in the land, there wouldn’t have been any need for these people to come out here. The government must begin to do something.
“The crusade was not about sharing palliative. Palliative is not the answer; I think palliative is short term. We don’t call out own palliative. The dictionary definition of palliative is something you give a man that is sick as temporary reprieve. “Ours is not that, ours is to bless. We are here to touch people and show them compassion, we are not government.”
Ashimolowo also used the opportunity to advise the Federal Government to create short, medium and long term measures to address the chronic poverty in Nigeria.
He further said: “In the short term, government should create short, medium and long term goals. The government should apply ‘Keynesian economics”, which argues that government should encourage industries to overproduce and then buy the excess that way there will be production when government buys off the excesses and gives to the poor.
“In the medium term, the government should take away the power of over-empowering few very rich men that we keep celebrating as multi billionaires. Meanwhile they cannot employ more than 100,000 people. Government should rather encourage small and medium enterprises. Nigerians are very entrepreneurial by nature, there is no house that does not have a shop in front of it. Government calls them a setback but it is not a setback, those small shops should be empowered.
“In the long term, the government must take measures that encourage industries to spring up.”
He disagreed that Nigeria has a favourable cost of doing business, and noted that Nigerian business owners are harassed by federal and state revenue collection agencies.
He added: “They say it is easy to do business in Nigeria, it is a lie. I have businesses in Nigeria, it is not easy to do business. If you are doing business in Nigeria, the moment you set up a business, you are harassed by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the local inland revenue service.”
Speaking, Rev. Steve Mensah, from Ghana whose concept Ashimolowo localised in Nigeria, said the turnout at the Christ Compassion Crusade Ikorodu 2023 was proof that Nigeria is the largest country in Africa by population. He, however, lamented that the crowd is an indication that Nigeria has a large population of poor people.
He advised churches to form the habit of giving to help the needy in the society.
On his part, Akeem Oguniran, director of the crusade and member of board CCRW, said CCRW was incorporated about three years ago, while the planning for the crusade started in March 2023.
He said: ” Pastor Ashimolowo invited me about three years ago to be one of the trustees of CCRW. This planning for this particular crusade started in March this year. We set up the local organising committee and came to Ikorodu and partnered with over 200 churches that helped us raise the over 2000 volunteers we needed and we trained them.
Pastor Yemisi Ashimolowo, wife of the CCRW convener, Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, described the crusade as a success.
“It was so wonderful and more than we expected. A lot of prayers went into it but God exceeded our expectation. So many people gave their lives to Christ, that was the most important thing, that was what was upper most in the mind of Pastor Matthew to get people into the kingdom. Apart from the sharing of food, to the glory of God, a lot of people gave their lives to Christ,” she said.
She advised the rich in the society to extend hands of help to the needy in the society.
“I believe that we should do what we can to help people. The scripture says that we need to help the needy and the poor. Can you imagine if there were many of the likes of Pastor Matthew doing this? There would be a lot of relief in the nation.”