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By Vivian Onyebukwa
Doctor Chris Amuchie is the Geneal Cordinator of the Igbo Intercessory Prayer Ministry. He believes that the only way the Igbo can be liberated from all their challenges in the country is for them to stop all the vices prevalent in Igbo land and turn to God. Amuchie, who is a pastor and lives in the United States of America, agrees that the Igbo are marginalised in the country, but advised them to wage a spiritual warfare rather than physical warfare to be able to achieve their aim in the country.
What is Igbo Intercessory Prayer Ministry all about?
It is a ministry that is dedicated to praying for Ndi-Igbo in every area of life. We have seen a lot of things happening in Igbo land; things are not moving the way it should be. The Igbo are not competing favourably with other tribes and other ethnic extractions. We saw this not only in Nigeria but even all over the world. Those in the Diaspora are having a lot of difficulties. Then there is the issue of not co-operating with one another. The Igbo have this kind of tendency to be on their own. So, we see that these things don’t work well for the growth of Igbo land for its development. Even in the religious, economic and political circles, the Igbo are so divisive with themselves; that is why we see all these things and believe that these things have a spiritual undertone. That’s why God gave us this ministry to pray for the Igbo, to intercede on behalf of the Igbo. We need to pray for them so that God will have a favourable outlook over the Igbo nation; that is the main issue concerning this ministry.
The Igbo are crying of maginalisation. Do you also think it is part of the spiritual problem or is it because of their nature?
Both of them are involved because anything that happens in the physical first takes place in the spiritual before it manifests. In the first place, our foundation as Igbo is part of the problem we have. Like I told you some of the problems that are inherent in Igbo land are the problem are inherent in the Igbo man and those things work against them. Secondly, since after the war, like I’ve ministered in a couple of times and we find out that the Igbo have actually been maginalised politically, economically and socially. That is the truth that nobody can deny it all over the country, even all over the world, we see that the Igbo are not given their real dues in the country. They are achieving what they are expected to achieve. Some people suspect them in Nigeria in the real sense of it, may be because of their rebellious or secessionist tendency of the 60’s and the war. So, I think they were looking at it as the aftermath of being defeated in that war. So, that’s why a lot of the Igbosare marginalised. They can’t get to the top position in government and in many companies. They can’t even aspire to the highest position of presidency of the land. So, whatever they do, they are being maginalised.
Spiritually, when the Igbo begin to do things according to the will of God, we believe seriously that God will fight for them. The bible says in 2nd Chronicles 7:14 that, “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and turn their faces towards me, I would hear in heaven and I will forgive them and I would heal their land”. So, you see, the problem of Igbo land can be handled spiritually even though some people are trying to do it the carnal way, which did not yield the exact result. But I believe that if you follow it up from the spiritual point of view then the physical will manifest and whatever we are looking for, God is able to make them happen for the Igbo. Spiritually, if you get the spiritual issue handled then the physical will be taken care of. The bible says, “We wrestle not with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers, with spiritual wickedness in high places, with rulers of wickedness over the place”. So, if you find out that it’s not a physical problem only we are not just battling with one another, there are physical manifestations but the spiritual problem is still there.
So, when we handle it and destablise these spiritual forces, the Igbo would be let loose to achieve their God-given talents and destiny. That is why we are praying and asking so many Igbo people as much as being led by God to join in this ministrial force. This is a spiritual warfare, not physical. During the time of Biafra they used physical method, carnal method and it did not get us so much to that place. There was a real geniue reason for the Igbo to rebel but because we pursued it from the wrong angle of a political and physical method, it did not work out, but this time if people will come from different denominations, all of us that call on the name of God, He is able to make anything happen. That’s why we have to trust him with Igbo land.
There was a story about Ireland in the 40’s. Two women decided to fast and pray for Ireland; the people did not recognise them but they were doing that all the day. They were fasting and praying until revival took place in Ireland. Things started changing, the economy got a boost, but those women died.
There is also a ministry that two women were praying for as intercessors like we are doing. They were praying and miracles were happening in that ministry. Even the pastor did not know that it was not from him. After all those, they died. After they died, it appeared that the whole thing went down again and people were wondering what was going on, whether the pastor was losing it. They didn’t know that the power was not coming from the pastor; it’s because some people somewhere were praying for that ministry. That is what we are doing for Igbo land. We are not asking people to give us anything; it is something we are doing for our own nation. We don’t want people to recognise us or give us any big names to do this or that. We just want people, who are committed, who love Igbo as a country and as a nation, who are proud of who they are as Igbo to join forces with us and pray and ask God for forgiveness of Ndi Igbo.
We know that our fathers sinned. We all have also sinned and the bible says that sin is a reproach to many people for righteousness exalts a nation. So, if the Igbo will turn away from their sins, ritual murders, kidnapping and all the negatives that are prevalent in Igbo land and turn to God, He will hear us, have mercy on us, forgive us and heal Igbo land and when Igbo land is healed, the Igbo will begin to rise and attain the destiny that God has apportioned for them because the Igbo man is created with a lot of attributes from God. They are very powerful people, they are highly gifted spiritually and physically. They are very intellectual and business-like. Whenever you see an Igbo man, he is very aggressive, but the thing is that we try to do it from our own personal effort without connecting to the God of heaven that gave us all these attributes. We are not recognising Him; we are not giving him the honour that is due for Him. That is why all these things are happening. By the time we begin to recognise Him as our creator, because He created us in His own image and likeness and there is a purpose for that, things will begin to change for the Igbo. That is why the Igbo should come together and pray irrespective of your denomination.
The ministry is a non-denominational outfit, an intercessory ministry that stands in the gap between God and the people. People say there are so many ministers, churches, evangelists, television evangelists but what are they doing for Igbo? They are not interested in expanding their churches, they are only interested in expanding the population of their churches, building edifices, cathedrals and acquiring lands. I am not saying those things are bad, but those things do not reflect on the masses. People are not being prepared for heaven, nor to pray. The bible says we should pray without ceasing.
How long do you think the Igbo can pray to be free?
I am not God to give you a particular date frame but you know that there is nothing impossible for God to do. God can change Igbo land anytime. God is wonderful and can do anything at any time.
How long have you done this?
I started about six years ago in the US. God gave me that vision and I called young Igbo guys, members of my church, and friends and each one of them said they felt the same way. I tried to open chapters in Europe, Germany and Central America because we have Igbo there. We also have over 45 chapters in Nigeria and we are trying to control the proliferation of chapters so that we can organise properly. The last outreach we held, we had over 210 pastors. This time we are trying to encourage people to come because when they come to these outreaches, they hear what we are saying, they understand the concept of this ministry and they are part of it. That’s exactly the message. We want all the ministers, non ministers, Christians that are Igbo to join this ministry force and pray for the land. Evils must change.
Everyday we are complaining about bad government, the only way we can bring down government is by praying; it is not calling them names. God does not authorise us to call our governors and presidents bad names. Bible says we should pray for them. So, when we pray and ask God to give us God-fearing leaders, that’s the beginning or end of our problem. When God institutes or instals both governors and presidents in place, you will see that they will rule with the fear of God. That’s why the spiritual aspect of it is more important. It’s pre-eminent over the physical and I believe that as we do it within the next five to ten years, Igbo land will be a miracle.
In Igbo land, Boko Haram now disguises as herdsmen and perpetrate evil. Is that also part of your prayer?
Every vice that is present in Igbo land is going to be part of the area we are going to attack in prayer. God cannot answer all the prayers at the same time. God has a systematic way of doing things. God cannot clear all the problems in Igbo land at the same time. God demands absolute obedience, but our problem is that we commit sins and when things happen, God would turn his back. We stand as intermediator for people in prayer; God has given us power to do that. God is looking for people who would stand for the land in prayer. The mountain of problem did not start in one day, they have been there for years, from our foundation. So, as time goes on, gradually it will be coming off and as it comes up some of the problems will disappear. I believe that God will turn Igbo land around. I believe that the Igbo are going to be the one people in this nation if the country continues to be one.
We don’t want the blood of the Igbos to be shed again. We know that God can command its authority over the nation and give the Igbo their desired freedom without shooting a gun. Nigeria got independence from Britain without shooting a gun. Ghana did the same thing. So, it is possible for other nations to come out of Nigeria without shooting a gun. We can use spiritual violence instead of physical violence and that’s what we want to do. When we join hands together we form what is called corporate anointing that would liberate the Igbo.
Are you saying that Nnamdi Kalu should stop his agitation and join you in prayer?
No. What he is doing is his own area of calling. He is doing a good but if he joins us and we look at it from the spiritual angle, it will make his work easier. What he needs now is a solid spiritual army that will back his ideology up and he would achieve his aim without letting blood drop. These are the people we need to fight for the Igbo; people who are fearless and dedicated to liberating the Igbo.
