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• Urges FG to release Kanu, IPOB leader
From Magnus Eze, Enugu
Rev. Jerry Nwachukwu is the Senior Pastor of the Bible Base Miracle Assembly, Nkpor-Agu, Anambra State. In this interview, he speaks about the continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, the state of the nation, his ministry, among other issues.
The Federal Government advised Nigerians to convert their vehicles to use the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). What’s your opinion on this?
I heard that the Federal Government under President Tinubu introduced the CNG, and urged Nigerians to convert their vehicles to use it in lieu of petrol. In developed countries, one does not convert fuel vehicles to enable it use gas, or what they call compressed natural gas. Instead, government can assist citizens to access vehicles that are built to use CNG. I heard that it takes several days or even weeks for tanker vehicles to get gas from the CNG facility in Abuja. I am not aware of any facility where one can get this CNG in the Southeast, South-south or Southwest, etc. Personally, I can say that the issue of CNG is being used to play politics. I do not also see the idea of converting to CNG vehicles as something that is safe. The presidency, governors, National Assembly members, others should lead by example by converting their fleet of vehicles before other citizens will follow. Nigerians would like to know how CNG is serving the elite before others will follow. No citizen’s life is worth being used for political experiment.
Some citizens are calling on the presidency to reverse the subsidy removal policy, saying that Nigeria is still too undeveloped for fuel subsidy removal. Do you also buy that idea?
I am totally against removal of fuel subsidy. Nigerians have experienced the hardship associated with fuel subsidy removal for several months now; but the concern of many Nigerians is to know what the money realized from the policy is being used for. The Federal Government should tell the citizens the cost of importing one litre of fuel to Nigeria. Let them reveal the total amount realised since the introduction of the subsidy removal policy, and how the money is put into use. The FG should be open and sincere to Nigerians, and should stop manipulating the citizens. The truth is that the result of the fuel subsidy removal is very harsh on the citizens, and the FG must put measures in plate to reduce this suffering.
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has been in DSS custody since June, 2021, despite orders from the various courts directing that he be released. What is your take on this?
As far as I am concerned, Nnamdi Kanu did not commit any crime or offence that demands his continued detention despite orders from various courts of competent jurisdiction. Nnamdi Kanu is a political prisoner in the hands of the Nigerian government. I strongly believe that his captors will surely release him, and one day, he will take captive of those who have captured him today – according to Isaiah 14:2. Many judgments have been given in favour of Nnamdi Kanu. So, the FG should, as a matter of urgency, act in accordance with the order of the courts on Nnamdi Kanu, and should stop beating about the bush.
Many prominent Nigerians are of the view that the appointment of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu’s widow, Bianca, as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs would facilitate the release of Nnamdi Kanu. Do you agree to that?
I do not agree to that. I will rather agree with the opinion of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, when he said that President Tinubu did not give the Southeast renewed hope, but renewed ‘shege.’ Mrs Ojukwu’s appointment by President Tinubu is politically motivated. Again, how could Mr. President take senior Minister from the Southeast and give them minister of state in return? The president deserves no applause at all. Tinubu should kindly give the Southeast juicy positions, as he gives to his own people. By appointing Ojukwu’s wife, Tinubu and APC are simply making efforts to make inroads into Anambra State, ahead of 2025 governorship election. I will also advise the governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, not to applaud Tinubu over the appointment; but should start preparing for war, which the president has ensnared against his second term bid. Bianca’s choice by Tinubu is not a friendly appointment, but a death-trap for Soludo and APGA.
Going by the sham called elections as conducted by state electoral commissions across the country, would you suggest that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) take over conduct of local government polls in the country?
Not at all! INEC is worse than the state independent electoral commissions. Governors with the help of state electoral commissions, put people they know that can manage the affairs of local governments. It is not so for INEC. The worst thing that happens to Nigeria’s electoral system is the appointment of INEC chairman by the executive arm of government. The country can never get it right! INEC should be allowed to select or appoint its head or chairman under the civil service rule. Maybe, the most senior in rank of the commission will be made the chairman; so that if any such person engaged in electoral malpractices, he will be doing it on his own wish. Not that he lacks the power to do the right thing.
What’s your assessment of President Tinubu’s tenure so far?
Tinubu is already campaigning for 2027 presidential election. He is not working. He has not done anything. Under his watch, Nigerians are hungry. He has not effected any change. Education has not improved. Infrastructure and security have not also improved. Tinubu has not done anything. We are waiting for him, and praying for him to do something.
Soludo is already three years in office, and will face another election soon. How would you assess him?
Soludo has executed remarkable projects in many Anambra communities. He has also given free education in government schools. Again, civil servants are not complaining that they are owed salaries or entitlements. There is not also any evidence that he has borrowed money to execute projects. The only area that he is expected to do more is the area of security of lives and property. There are some other projects yearning for his attention; but there is no way he can do everything in the 21 local government areas within three years in office. I also respect Governor Soludo in the area of enforcing policies. In Soludo’s administration, there is free flow of traffic in roads. His government reduced the menace of touts in parks and markets. Today, nobody is seen fighting commercial vehicle, tricycle or Okada operators in the state. Once a commercial driver pays his levies properly, he will only be checked by constituted authorities, and will be allowed to go. It wasn’t like that before.
A certain Yoruba lawyer recently advised Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar and others to use their monies for betting instead of contesting against Tinubu and INEC in 2027. What does that suggest to you?
Though he might have been paid to say what he said yet, he is stating the obvious. The lawyer has just amplified the fact that the country’s electoral umpire is weak – that people can seat at the comfort of their rooms, write election results and announce – and it will stand.
There are reports that the Bible Base Miracle Assembly is built on a certain foundation that makes worshippers witness certain signs and wonders every now and then. What could be this foundation responsible for these signs?
No pastor solves problems. Miracles, signs and wonders are functions of the Holy Spirit. For example, sometime ago, we distributed stickers to our members. The caption on the sticker is ‘With God, all things are possible.’ A certain man whose marriage was in the verge of collapse got the sticker. This man and his wife had no child after many years of marriage. When he got this sticker, his wife placed it on her tummy in the night till the following morning, believing that God would help her. Actually, her faith saw her through. She slept with her husband and got pregnant that same month. After nine months, she was delivered of eleven babies. This happened during Governor Willy Obiano’s administration. The governor and his wife, Ebele, assisted the family to quickly migrate to the USA, where they were taken care of. Also, we organized communion service in our church. We called that very communion service ‘anti-cancer.’ A certain man, whose brother-in-law, a medical doctor, was suffering from blood cancer for a very long time, took the communion. When he got home, he declared that his blood was anti-cancer, and that if he would donate blood to his brother-in-law, he would be free from cancer. So, with faith, the blood donation was made, and when again the medical doctor was diagnosed, it was found that the blood cancer was gone. This is doubtful, but verifiable! This is an act of God, and it is not explainable. Another person took the Holy Communion and he urinated kidney stone. These are just some of the many testimonies in our church. In Acts 10:38, the Bible says, ‘How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with Holy Ghost and power, who goes about doing good – delivering all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.’ In 1 Corinthians 15:10, the Bible says, ‘I am who I am by His Grace. I laboured more than them all, not by my power, but by the grace of God bestowed upon me.’ Pastors are like spoons that people use to eat, and pens that people use in writing. They are like vehicles that take people to their destinations. So, God is the doer, not pastors; but He uses them to do all these. In Mathew 19:26, it is written, ‘with men, it is impossible; but not with God: for with God, all things are possible. So, signs, wonders and miracles are acts of God alone.
A controversial Pentecostal pastor, Abel Damina, has come out to say that priests collecting tithes are thieves. How do you see the idea of tithing in the light of the scripture?
Personally, I do what I believe, and I do what I see in the Holy Bible. Abel Damina is preaching what he believes. But he cannot dictate for Rev. Jerry Nwachukwu on whether I will pay tithe or not. I do not have time to argue with anybody on that subject. I pay tithe, and I also collect tithe. Abel Damina’s message cannot stop me from preaching the importance of paying tithe in the life of a Christian.
