Chidi Anthony, presiding bishop, Kings in Christ Power Ministries, Lagos and national president of the Pentecostal Ministers’ Forum (PMF), spoke with John Salau, on the first anniversary of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration and the annual programme of the Church tagged, River of Bethsaida. Excerpts:
How would you rate the first year of Tinubu’s administration?
The truth is that his best wasn’t good enough. You know the last time we spoke I said thank God the dollar is coming down. But, if you can check as of yesterday; the dollar is N1,450; so it started increasing again. So, I don’t know what is happening – corruption here and there when we think things are about getting better. I said it last time that our president; President Ahmed Bola Tinubu will sanitise the people around him. But, look at what is happening – are we talking about Kogi State or what is happening in Abia State or is it the minister that took how many billions? Which ones are we talking about? Things are not working well; the money that is supposed to benefit the poor masses is being hijacked by few individuals. Electricity tariff up, to get fuel and the little amenities that will help the poor masses – things are not working, people are dying. Let’s just call a spade a spade; he might be doing his best, but his best is not good enough. I know that our president has good intentions towards Nigerians but the problem is the sycophants around him – people who don’t tell him the truth. People that are after their own selfish interest; that is the problem this administration is having. A lot of sycophants in the present administration – see what is happening in Rivers State, one man just wants to hijack everything. He wanted to rule for a third term. The legislators have lost their seats according to people that know the law – and some people are saying that the former governor has the back-up of the seat of power. But, I thank God for the president who came out openly the last time saying that the presidency does not support anybody. So, all those things are things creating more problems and if only our president will tackle it – he will do better. But things are not working out at all – his first 100 days in office saw a lot of problems; is it a labour problem? To me, I didn’t rate his first one year in office very well; let him add more efforts; he is doing his best, but his best wasn’t enough.
Are you saying the administration has not done enough, and is there any concern from PMF about this government?
The new administration cannot affect PMF either positive or negative; PMF is a movement, and our source and strength comes from divinity because it is a vision by God to bring Christian body together. So, based on what is happening in the country now; you also know that things are not working well and let us not deceive ourselves. I was listening to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation recently on Channels Television where he said the one year anniversary of President Tinubu will be low-key, which means they are not even confident of their own achievements. So, for the government to come out and say it will be celebrated low-key means they know the masses are not happy.
River of Bethsaida is an annual programme that worshipers look forward to; what is the expectation for this year?
This year’s River of Bethsaida is going to be very great because the expectations are very high, more like last year. Last year will experience a very huge turnout, and a whole lot of people were liberated. People went home smiling, many accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, and the hopeless went home hopeful. This year we are expecting more harvest than last year. That is why we are preparing seriously after the programme was shifted from March to August so that we can have enough time to prepare. When we talk about River of Bethsaida – it is a programme that we start preparation for in January because of the wide acceptance among the people. But because of something that we are doing in the church and how we are planning to arrange the programme, we moved it to September to allow us have enough time for planning. This year, we are starting on Thursday 12 September from 8am to 6pm and we are also bringing Rev. Dr. Chidi Okoroafor, the general overseer of Asemblies of God and Dr. Anene Nwachukwu, the general overseer of Rhema. Also Apostle N.C. Michael, a well known preacher and evangelist Chinazo Emmanuel from Onitsha in Anambra State. The expectation is very high and I know our God never fails, He is always there for us and I know we are going to record lots of miracles, and souls will surrender to Jesus Christ, and a lot of people are going to testify to His goodness.
You spoke about divine visitation; how should worshipers prepare for that spiritual visitation?
Divine visitation is when humanity has an encounter with divinity; that is what we call divine visitation. But the problem today is that a lot of people will troop into the church in order to receive without knowing who they are receiving from. And, when we talk about divine visitation most of them believe it’s only when you win a contract. But, when God enters your life, your life will change for the better in terms of salvation, when you accept Jesus as your lord and personal saviour. That is the greatest divine encounter and visitation that any man can experience. But today, people are expecting without preparing. The Bible says seek you first the kingdom of God. Seeking the kingdom of God means you are preparing – if you can prepare and get the kingdom of God, other things will follow. In salvation you get healing, in salvation you get every other thing you want. Salvation is the key that unlocks the padlock. In the book of Revelations, the Bible says I know your works and your deeds; I have set before you an open door and no man can shut. When it says thy works and thy deeds – it’s when you prepare to have that great encounter divinely. So, when you have that encounter, other things will automatically follow. For a child of God to prepare for divine visitation, you need to look into your life first. It is most unfortunate that sometimes you see someone as a chorister on Sunday and a stripper in a nightclub on Friday. Mid-week service you cannot see him, only on Sunday and such a person will be expecting something divinely. It doesn’t work that way to me – even if you want to go to work, you have to prepare. There are people who live on the Mainland and work on the Island – wake up around 3:30am every day to prepare for work. They are preparing because they are expecting to receive a salary at the end of the month. So, they need to do everything to make sure they fit in there. Anything without preparation cannot work, and like they say – if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. So, any child of God, the kingdom of God expecting divine visitation from God must prepare himself.
As the president of PMF, how are your fellow ministers coping with the economic situation in the country?
As the president of the Pentecostal Ministers’ Forum (PMF), I want to tell you the gospel truth; no minister as long as Nigeria is concerned – is finding it easy though the Bible says when others are crying, we are smiling. When others are saying there is a casting down, we are saying there is a lifting up. Automatically, the economy in the nation is affecting everybody; it’s affecting the Church of God, and it’s affecting the body of Christ. Today, for you to understand what I am saying – when the members are crying; as the pastor, you are crying more because when God bless them – they will be the ones to also bless you. But, when the Church dismisses; you will see a lot of people crowding around the Church and you will think they are waiting back for counseling. But, the fact is that many of the people you see there don’t even have anything to eat. Some come to collect money for food for their family, some for transport fare. Before, churches used to have tangible amounts in their offering bags at the end of each service; but today it’s no longer like that. Before you go home you will have to dip your hands into your personal account to help people – is it house rent, some for medication. Not everything is spiritual and it is not when somebody is sick that you know the person needed doctor’s intervention – but you start to pray and speak in tongues; it doesn’t work that way. That is what killed a lot of people today, and you find that because of the fact that things are too hard in Nigeria today – you find out that things that need medication, many people will come to church and start to pray. Most of them do it out of ignorance and for some it is because they don’t have. Their last hope is in the Church; their last hope is God. He’s not supposed to be our last hope, but then we need to do what we are supposed to do. So, when they don’t have this money, it even affects the Church and the pastors. They will come to you and you find out that what they need is something that needs medication – you don’t need to pray. What you need to do is to see how you can give the person money to go and treat him or herself. So, automatically it is affecting the church, but we will surely overcome it. No matter how the jungle gets, the lion cannot eat the grass – no matter how filled a vehicle is; the driver’s seat is always vacant. So, no matter how things get hot, the children of God, and the pastors will survive because our paymaster never fails; He pays at the due time.
