Kumuyi tackles Obasanjo, Danjuma
The General Superintendent of Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor Williams Kumuyi has urged former President Olusegun Obasanjo and General Theophilus Danjuma to proffer solutions to the issues of Fulanisation and Islamisation of Nigeria rather than raise the alarm about it.
Kumuyi made the call during a one-hour interview on a Dove Media programme tagged, The Fathers, on Monday June 24.
Dove Media is the official television of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. The Programme, which comes up every Monday is anchored by the General Manager of the station, Mr. Dele Oke.
Responding to a question by Oke on whether he believes there are moves to Fulanise and Islamise Nigeria as insinuated by Obasanjo and Danjuma, the Deeper Life leader said he has not done his own private findings to ascertain their position adding however that there are strategic ways to deal with issues that bother on security of lives.
He asked if it would be right to make a public declaration of who your enemy is, or better to meet strategically and find a lasting solution to the onslaught from the camp of the enemy.
Commenting on Obasanjo and Danjuma’s positions on the Fulanisation of Nigeria, Kumuyi said, “I think we should ask the ex-president: What can we do. I believe he has links with the Christian community. It would be great if he meets the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and shares his concern and also proffers solution. We should also appreciate that he has fought for the unity of Nigeria before. The question is what can we do? He speaks about the carrot and the stick. He should tell us what he meant by this and how that could bring a lasting unity to the country”
While pleading that leaders should be wary of statements that could heat up the polity, Kumuyi observed that what the nation needs now are solutions to its myriads of problems. He decried the attitude of Christians who seem to have given up on the nation and are asking that Jesus should just come and “take us home”.
WIlliams Kumuyi
“Christians should not have a defeatist attitude. We should not act from a victim perspective but from a conqueror perspective and position ourselves for the purpose of finding lasting solutions to the problems that plague us. We should act like Abraham who interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah rather than give up on the country.”
On whether the church is to blame for the ills in the country, Kumuyi said, “the failure and the rot in Nigeria is definitely the failure of all stakeholders including the church. But the difference with us as leaders and believers is that rather than distance ourselves from the problem we should own the problem so we can intercede sincerely for the nation.”
He said further, “Despite the fact that Daniel was a righteous man, he did not distance himself from the sins of the Israelites. Rather he said to God that the whole Israel had sinned. This is not the time to trade blames and find faults. The Bible encourages us in 2 Chronicles 7v14 to humble ourselves repent and pray that God will answer. We must note that God is talking about His people in that scripture. We are expected to shine the light to the dark world around us. We are supposed to lead by example.”
Kumuyi who recently came under heavy attack on his admonition to Nigerians not to criticize government observed that the selfish attitude of the average Christian has made it practically impossible to form a synergy in the church for the common good.
“It’s very easy for us to begin to have dreams and aspirations and show great concerns about what is going on in the country. But then, some people will ask, if I sacrifice my time and money for the common good what will be my gain? So many people are thinking of self. They are not serving the purpose of Christ. Until we get to a point that nobody cares about the gain but we all think of the common good we may not make any reasonable progress”
He explained further that the apparent lack of unity among the fathers of faith is not an indication that they are not one. According to him, “The RCCG for instance has a vision to plant a church in five minutes of driving distance between one RCCG and another. In Deeper Life I have my vision too as given to me by God. Our concern should be how to fulfil our purpose while not playing down what concerns the body of Christ. We know we would give account of our stewardship
The cleric whose Thursday miracle service and Monday Bible class in the 80s attracted thousands of people to Gbagada, Lagos with attendant miracles; disagreed that denominationalism is satanic. He said, “In simple terms denominations are just for the ease of administration and calling. So I will not subscribe to that position. It’s is like saying society is evil”
Giving the examples of denominations in the Bible, Kumuyi said, “The apostles were largely into two denominations. Some of them preached to the Jews while some preached to the Gentile. But their major points of emphasis was Jesus. The Jewish believers still practiced some of the Judaism ritual like observing days and avoiding certain food items. But the Gentile believers were not so. Paul was sent to the Gentiles. The Gentiles did not observe days and rituals. But then the two groups served the purpose of God. So I will not agree that denominations are satanic.”
On allegation by the CAN president, Dr. Supo Ayokunle, that many church leaders are making contradictory statements on the state of the nation, Kumuyi said, “The CAN president was voted into the office that he is occupying now by the various blocks in CAN. The way to go about it is for the CAN president to first engender a discussion among church leaders and debate the issues before making public statements about them. That way everybody will be carried along and everybody will have a sense of belonging. That is when church leaders would cooperate on the essentials.”
