IPOB Proscription: Southeast Governors in Ugly Music Dance …Cleric*Scores FG Zero on Health, Court Processes, Cost of Running Govt.*

A Cleric, Reverend Jeremiah Nwachukwu, the senior Pastor of the Bible Base Assembly with it’s headquarters at Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State in an interview with selected Journalists including Hanny Eduno and Nweke Nweke, the duos that represented this Platform few days ago, among other important national issues he raised, blamed the Southeast Governors for being the masterminds of the insecurity the region is facing today, having linked the proscription of the Indegenious People of Biafra, IPOB as the major reason behind the attacks on federal and state governments infrastructure cum killing of security operatives in the region.

His Excerpts:

Is our pleasure meeting you, man of God, can you please introduce yourself?I am Reverend Jeremiah Nwachukwu, the senior pastor of the Bible Base Miracle Assembly based in Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, a follower of Christ, not just because of being a pastor but purely follower of Jesus Christ man.

Our nation, Nigeria seems to be on the keg of gunpowder, what’s your take on this Sir?

Yes, I’ve looked at our nation and compared it with the Bible’s documentary evidence of the nation of Israel. In 2 Chronicle, Chapter 15, 1-6. And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: 2:and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD  is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.3:Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.4:But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.5:And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. 6:And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity,(KJV).So in the history of Israel, God was their King, they later began to demand, to have a king like other countries and Samuel, the prophet then began to pray, he cried, cried and prayed that God should be their King but they refused and God said to Samuel; “allow them to choose their King” They ended up chosen Saul, Saul was taller than any other person, his shoulder was higher than any other shoulder, he was fair. Everything in his outlook, qualified him to the king. When he was announced, they said, long live, the king. But before then, Samuel warned them that their King will take their land, he will take this and that and they echoed in one voice, let him take all of them! And those things later happened. God later gave Saul an assignment to go to Amalekites  and kill everything that has blood, that has breath, he returned with Agag the King and the best of the sheep, of the oxen and of the fatlings, and the lamb and all  that was  good, and would not utterly destroy them but everything that was vile and refused, that they destroyed utterly everything, the people of Israel got annoyed, this made God to confront Samuel and said; have you seen what your Saul did? He has forsaken me. I want you people (journalists) to believe and come to the knowledge that partial obedient is total disobedient. That was how the problem of the Israel started. Then in the Nigeria context, present day administration, who are the architect(s)? Who brought them to power? Who introduced them to Nigerians? Is it the politicians or the Church? Because when we are talking about the Church, we are not talking about the bougie-bougies, we are talking about the over eighty percent majority of the ministers of the gospel that has voice, that has influence, that has many followers in this country. How did the present administration come to be?Now, what we saw as visions from some of the ministers of the gospel, their prophesies, did it work, is it true or are they false prophets?Then, these are questions that are yearning for an answer. Then if they believe what happened after David was anointed, he went to  Jesse’s  house(Samuel) the God anointed servant is here he said no, I have refused him, I look not on the outward appearance,but inward heart and that all your children here worth more than a man in the bush and that was David and David called one of the young men, and said, anonite him. So the anointed one of the our present day administration, who anointed them, the politicians or the Church? What role(s) did the Church played before the coming of the present administration in Nigeria? If out of our selfishness with desired people who are leading us today as the leaders of the Church, then there is need, number one, to repent of our sins of those who are involved. Number two, to go back and confess our sins and ask God to temper justice with mercy. Am not talking about who and who the administration is favouring, but with tears in my eyes, cry in my heart and pain in my marrow is the innocent blood that are being shed on daily basis in this country. If we, the Church leaders that ought to be the shepherd that goes after the Lion when it took our sheep and brought it out of his mouth and fight with the Lion, to protect and to preserve are the ones that opened the gate of the sheep hold for devourers to come in, posterity will not forgive us, unless we repent and every hours, there is judgement, why? Ecclesiastes 7 says; “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Verse 8 also says; “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting”. So to me, whosoever is bad of the solid behind of the present leadership of this country, dose that purely of the flesh.

Man of the Most High, are you now blaming the Church?

Am not blaming the Church but it is like the Church has drifted because of selfishness. Because I want to go to Aso Rock when I want, I want to go to Government House when I want, I want to call Senate President on phone when I want, I want if I’m doing my birthday, let who is who politicallywillgather. But do you know that selfishness and ethnicity can blind a prophet to give prophecies that is not of the Lord but according to what his heart tells you. So, I’m not blaming the church but the church, I can say played very partial (let me not say negative) role during the coming of this present administration, because there are many of them the person there met one-on- one they prayed for him and many of them are still praying for him. Are they praying for him to succeed well, are they playing for him to do well, are they praying for him to change? Then, if they are praying for him to do well, to change, to do things better, what stops them from open rebuke, like what our brother is doing. Wheather he is right or wrong, I like it. I said he is the one before, now I says he is no more the one,(laughs) I can now see repentance. And when people were attacking …,  Saul was introduced by Samuel, the same Samuel said God has rejected you (Saul) so, before I said he was God sent, today, God has rejected him. If he cannot resign, let the legislatures impeach him.But going by the prophesies favouring the present administration before now by some men of God, do we say that God contradicted Himself through prophesies?See, God is not author of confusion but our hearts desire is what determines the move of God. Like there was a time, it was in the heart of David to number Israel, thousands of their soliders died. But it was on record that God moved David to number Israel and he was warned not to. Before this present day, there were little vex from nobodies, who are not let known in the platform of the Church that were saying, Nigeria is not getting it right, and they were not heard, and here we are today.By your submissions, is like you are saying that Church was partial in enthroning the present administration? Am saying that Church should go to God, knee down and ask for forgiveness, we cannot get it right always.Sir, what is your reaction to the current travel with Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, the presidency and the Catholic Church?On Fr. Mbaka’s case, I don’t know what transpired behind the scene. He that go to equity, goes with clean hands. If the allegation for him having gone to the President with contractors is true, he missed it. But if in his hands, never demanded for anything, any assistance, any project, any    contract, they are just laying it on him, is not wrong. (Two) human – being can change. You know God gave us a way, God may ask you to do this and someone will tell you, this is what God want you to do, as you get in there, you can change and begin to do any other thing and that is where God comes in for judgement. (Cut in) Even Fr. Mbaka admitted that he went to the President with three contactors but he don’t even know them as they never did business before now.)In short, he did wrong. Is he a politician, is he a contractor, has he ever been on a security outfit before, did he studied criminology? No, to me, I don’t have any right to introduce anybody, particully somebody I prayed into office for a contract. For an instance, Dr. Uma Ukpai prayed for Orji Uzo Kalu to be the President of the country, Orji Uzo said I don’t have money and the man of God prayed for him, he did an oil business that boasted his pocket that made him to contest for governorship, when he won, he drove to Daddy Umah Ukpia’s house and asked him what he want and Daddy Ukpia said; “I don’t want contract, that if you give me contract, when they will probe your government, they will run after me”. Daddy Umah Ukpia went on and said; “a nation where father and son are in prison, such a nation is under curse”. Evangelist Umah Ukpia went on and stated that the only contract he wanted was for Orji Uzo Kalu to tar the road from Umuahia to the last point of his local government. 

Is like the Reverend Father is speaking the truth and the presidency is excolding him, what is your advice to the presidency?

My first advice is goes to Fr. Mbaka, he should know that he is a man under authority. The religion he is under , have a way of doing things. He should not only obey but he must be submissive to the rules and regulations of the Catholic Church and stop where they ask him to stop. But if he decides today, he has that right, he has that will that he is no more a Catholic priest, he should take orders from the Church’s authorities. Now to the presidency, truth is bitter, am asking them to make an amend on the reality Fr. Mabak presented. The administration still have some years and months to go. Let Mr. President kindly finish his tenure  but he should give us good breeze to inhaul before he leaves office that posterity will remember him for good but running after Fr. Ejike Mbaka is not the answer to the problem we are facing in Nigeria as a nation because Fr. ÀMbaka has produced many Mbakas, if you silence him, another Mbakas will rise up to speak the same truth.

Nigeria is facing serious security challenges, economic crisis and lots more and these may result to the nation’s collapse (but God forbid), as servant of the Most High, have you heard from God as to proofer solution to these problems? 

The only solution to the insecurity and economic crisis in Nigeria today is to stop divide and rule, that is nepotism, favouritism and ethnicity. Then we also look at what they calls federal character principal. It is a very terrible thing, that because of a federal character principal thing, I didn’t go to school, but because of the quota of my local government, I will be there, this makes people to be in the office they know nothing about. And when somebody with the capacity of a clerk is made a manager of a company, the clerk will use his clerk capacity to run the company and this will lead to the collapsing of the company. So the managers of various departments of this nation are in the wrong hands and until we put competent hands in their rightful positions, the country can’t move forward.

Do you see Nigeria disintegrating both spiritual and fiscal?

Already, we have disintegrated, the cry now is for God to have mercy on us and rejoin us. You know for us answering one name does not made us person, one entity, we are running different ideology, we have different focus, different motivation, our strategies are not the same, our strength are not the same, our weakness are not the same, so we are not one person. Presently, wheather it is paper work or social media activities, the Oduduwa, the Middle Belt, our own started even before I was born, it’s still much alive and it is yet not dead and that is the issue. Here, the five states, we are the people that beings our personalities out, naked them and ask people to stone them. There is no ethnic group in Nigeria that does not have pressure group. If Niger Delta militants were not proscribed, why should IPOB?

(Cut in; do you see any reason of blaming the Southeast Governors on the proscription of IPOB?) 

Our governors told them that the group is disturbing them they asked them, what do they want, the governors said proscribed them. So the proscription came from our governors and they will certainly dance the music because of being the governor for eight years, the immunity wouldn’t be there, unless they will run to Ghana but for them to finish their tenure and go to the village, am afraid. Like now, what matters before is phasing out because nothing last forever. You know, before now, well-known internet fraudster were going with large convoys but today, it’s phasing out. So, in the nearest future, it will be clear on everybody’s eyes for those who will still be alive. So my cry for welcoming you people(Journalists) here today is for me to use your medium as a channel of calling on the Churches to go to their knees and ask God to temper justice with mercy so that lives will be spared.

What do you think the situation requires now?

The situation requires prayers, prayers with sincere hearts. The prayer is not to ask God that let someone from my village in Ebonyi State, someone from my village in Anambra State should be the next governor. The prayer is let God show us His mercy.There is no way one have to condemn the entire efforts of the federal government towards restoring peace in Southeast region, visa-vie the nation by extension. 

If you are ask to secore the federal government on performance so far, how would you score them and which area would you like them to improve?

E-mmm, well, you know, in every administration, you cannot rule out benefit, some people must benefit but the way it is now, Nigeria is like square peg in a square hole. For me to secore them any point, that should be when they might have amended the electoral act because that is the only way changes will come. If I voted here at Nkpor number 19 as my polling unit or center, the result will get to the server here not from here to collation center, from ascollation center to Local Government, from Local Government to State, they may not announce it in the State, they may proceed to Abuja, they will end up messing it up, then, there will be duplication of result sheets. So the result sheets in the hands of the political unit agents are no sense. Coming to your question on my score, I am scoring them zero on the Electoral Act, they should amend it that our votes should count. If guns are not taking care during elections, there is no need shootings at every conner after an election. I once had an opportunity of staying in Israel during one of their parliament elections, people were going their normal businesses, you won’t even notice that an election was ongoing you vote and go to your shop, you vote and go to your office, you vote and go back to your house, you vote and go back to what you were doing, if you are a foreigner like us, you have to face what you are doing, the election doesn’t concern you, you won’t even see anybody with stick, not to talk of gun. But here, no movement, there in Israel, there is no restriction of movement. So on the Electoral Act Amendment, I am scoring them zero, they should do something about that. Then on the issue of health, zero, Court processes, zero, cost of running the government, zero because the amount they are using to service themselves is more than the amount they use in servicing infrastructures in the country. What we hear is this allowance, the other allowance, name them, therefore, leaving our roads on dilapidated condition on daily basis.For topical example, right from Obasanjo’s administration till the present day administration, we are still talking about Enugu-Onitsha expressway to Ebonyi State. They have not finished one side of the road within Onitsha – Awka. They are still working on one side of Umunya, getting to 32 years. Is there any pass mark there? So where they have pass mark is on the musical track of one Nigeria is better, I quite agree with them. Wheather the musical track is propaganda or reality, we agree with them.

Several ethnic groups in Nigeria are clamoring for restructuring where region or State will be in better position to manage their resources, what is your take on this?

Haven’t the Federal Government restructured the country? Let me expanciate; now, we have six geo – polictical zones, all vital positions, who occupies them, kindly help me to answer that question, it is not all about criticizing government, they calls it lopsided appointment, is that correct? So indirectly, they have told us that the Northern Region are the original owner of the country, which means other regions or ethnic groups are foreigners. With the forgoing, they have restructured the country on their own way. In the actual sense, resource control is needed, where those who cannot continue as a State have to be collapsed to another State. Then as a resource control State, what you generate have to determine your infrastructural development, from there, respect comes, from there, we know who is helping who. But now, at the end of every month, we go to Abuja, carry money and come back to the State, share same, wait for another month, let me sound it more clear, hunger is yet to come. Today, if you elect a governor, within three months in office, he will grow budget to is stomach (laughs),   yes, he have to grow budget to is stomach because he is not thinking of anything. All he knows, at the month end, he will go to Abuja, collect money, come back, meet vital and powerful members of the State House of Assembly, they will amend the law, increase his security vote higher than what the governors are collecting now. You see, some of the governors has went as far as making laws on live pension for a governor who served for eight years in office. But with resource control, if a governor is thinking on who to manage six, seven corporations that will yielding money to his State, he wouldn’t dream of drinking Champagne nor sleep at night. In the olden days, in the time of Jim Nwobo and co, do they attend burial, naming ceremony. Today, some of our governors even attend wake – keep and drink between 10pm to 4am and return back by 11am for the burial proper.Follow up on the electoral act amendment

Sir, are you advocating for electronic voting system in Nigeria?

Yes!! Electronic voting system is going to go a long way in addressing the case(s) of our electoral malpractice. If it introduced, here in my office, I can comfortably vote online. I believe it will not be manipulated to an extent because not only one person will be managing it, different people will have access to the server. For example, Anambra State will have their own, when they are voting from the polling unit in the wards, they are sending it to the local government, then the local government will be sending same to the state and the state to the federal. At the state level, they will know that Idemili North has this voting power and the records of the eligible voters will be there, these are the identities and the number the people that voted will be there, so the manipulation will come from where? If you go to offices, assuming  you’re pushing an admission in any tiusary institutions, you have mercy for the people of the South East, you won’t even see your file, they will ask you of your file hard copy and the disc and after some years, go there and ask for it, you see where they heaped it and set them ableze. But it were documented in electronics, no one would have access of setting documents ablaze. To me, there’s no way the electronic voting will not reduce electoral fraud in Nigeria to large extent and all these people who would preferred voting 10 times will find it difficult. Double thumb printing, underage votings will end, goat voting cannot work, animal votings will not work, using Carmel to vote will not work.cost of election expenses will be reduced, there will no more adhoc workers.

But did you consider the fact that the nation’s election empire is yet to come up with the citizens’ voters data base?

Will it take human-beings to install it? How much do each Senator and each House of Representatives member takes home at the end of every month, and how much will it cost the nation to install Electoral Data Base? How much do they budget every election year, and it will go under few people’s drawer. Until our election seize to be the party in power wins next election, our country can’t change for better. Until other political parties who have better candidates begin to win local government chairmen, House of Assembly positions, Councillorship positions, our country is fast going on daily basis.Like what we have today, if party A is in this State, all the political seats are occupied by members of party A, if party B is in power in the other State, all the political seats are occupied by members of party B. With this system, there will be no challenge. In my life, I like to be in opposition, I am a republican by nature, am not a democrat.

In their efforts to tackle the insecurity that has bedeviled Southeast region for months now, the South East Governors recently came up with regional security outfit, codenamed ‘EBUBEAGU’ with this, do you see the outfit overcoming the security challenges?

Thank God, it is political pronoucenment. They’ve announced it, every Governor will be go to his State to recruit people, whom are they going to recruit? If they recruit their followers to make up the EBUBEAGU, these are jobless people and now you are giving them gun to go and combat and die, EBUBEAGU will create more insecurity to the region because after the upcoming election, the parties that will lose the election, will go with  EBUBEAGU, then the ones that will win will come in to recruit new persons, then the ones that have bein using the guns to eat, how are you going to retrieve it from him?To me, am seeing EBUBEAGU primarily as polictical security outfit. They were not founded under the law and any law you make now to back them, the incoming government will definitely quash that law because the youths that will work for their election victory, would they allow them to stay at home after winning the election and allow you who was their enemy before to bear arms to protect him and their people. Like a new governor is coming in,it is difficult to retain the ADC of the former governor, have they done that? So EBUBEAGU is already dead at arrival as their life span will not be more than 2023. They are not funded by entity, they are individually funded like Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State has formed his own given them vehicles, Hope Uzodinma of Imo State has formed his own too, given the vehicles, Anambra, Enugu, Abia will all formed theirs any to be supervised by the military and the police. How can it work and who even told you that EBUBEAGU will confront the faceless unknown gunmen or herdsmen? So how would they and EBUBEAGU will be wearing their uniform. As sorry how they are going to die. You don’t expose your people to destruction.

Then what do you think that can be done to remedy the insecurity situation in Southeast?

Those on the authority knew where it all went wrong, they should seek for dialogue, if the Northern leaders can dialogue with the Bandits, our leaders here who are on top, I believe they sees far, let them put their eyes on the ground, they may know how the whole thing started, they may likely know who and whom are behind it, they should  talk with them. They have to assemble and engage them in round table discussion and ask them what they need for us to resolve this issue. The matter is no longer a polictical party issue, not matter about ourselves. We can’t afford to go into a full blown war, let it be paper work, let it be ideological war, not war with guns and bullets. Let us reason together, if your idea is better than my own, let’s apply it. Like what is happening now, on the 31st January night, God told me that the people from the North are running down to East, people from the East are running down to the North, is it not happening? Some people are now relocating, relocating are going on gradually. Our people from the North are coming down here, buying property. If you look at infrastructural developments in the Southeast now, it is more than before. Why? Our brothers outside the region are now investing in this side. Most of the latest  infrastructural developments you see here are not built by the people who resides here, they are built by the people who based outside the region because they are not sure of what they invested over there.

Lastly Sir, don’t you think that the nation’s president of Igbo extraction, come 2023 will douse the tension in the country?

This is what touches my heart, people who are not good in opposition cannot produce a leader. If Ndigbo cannot choose one single political party,  develop it, stay on it and built it to a level that if you are not from that party, you can’t be a governor in any of the States in the region, we will keep on suffering divide and rule. So we should stop talking about Nigeria’s president of Igbo extraction of 2023, it is not coming. Look at it this way, we have five States, in the last national election, we produced two million, five hundred votes, with this, how can we become the president, how can it work? Do you know that the voting strength of Rivers State alone can challenge the voting power of the Southeast? Kano alone will swallow the Southeast. So Igbo extraction has not matured to produce the President of Nigeria, we can only survive to produce Vice President. Am not even putting in prayer because is a waste of time unless you want to draw people’s sympathy, you want people to read your article, something like that. (laughs).