Dr. Sunday Adelaja.
Pa Sydney Granville Elton was a towering apostolic and prophetic vessel in the hand of God specifically for Nigeria. This man lived in Nigeria for 50 years from 1937 to 1987, you can say he gave his life for Nigeria. Before he died he made this profound prophetic declaration about Nigeria.
Pa Elton was no stranger to the prophetic. When he was a young man growing up in England God specifically spoke to him to move over to Nigeria and locate a town by the name of Ilesha. He searched and low and behold, he found such a town in Nigeria, it’ll be home for the next 50 years of his life.
When he got to Ilesha, he became a part of an ongoing revival there led by Apostle Ayo Babalola. He ended up becoming a mentor to Apostle Babalola, and many other known Christian leaders in Nigeria. He was the spiritual father of Archbishop Benson Idahosa.
Benson Idahosa testified of how God specifically gave him the name Ilesha and told him to go look for a white man there who will mentor him. There are other great names that came out of Pa Elton’s prophetic revelation to raise up future Christian leaders from Nigerian universities.
The list of names that came out of that obedience is impressive; Pastor E.A Adeboye, W.F Kumuyi, Emeka Nwakpa, Gbile Akanni, Francis Wale Oke etc. His only daughter Ms Ruth, just like her father gave her life for the service of humanity in Nigeria. She got a Nigerian passport and refused to marry or move back to England.
Listen to his prophecy about Nigeria and Nigerians: “Nigeria and Nigerians will be known all over the world for corruption. Your name Nigeria will stink for corruption but after a while, a new phase will come a phase of righteousness. People from the nations of the earth will hold to a Nigerian and say, We want to follow you to your nation to go and learn righteousness.”
I believe that just as this man saw it in the spirit years back, Nigeria is presently going through that phase of shame and humiliation. I hope we will not give up on ourselves thereby spoiling the purpose of God for us as a nation. The name Nigeria is not only stinking to those afar but as we see today that it’s now having a bad odour to Nigerians themselves, such that many are now clamouring for any other state other than Nigeria.
If we however can only persevere through these hard and difficult times, I’m certain there’ll be light at the end of the tunnel. Every dark night no matter how dark will eventually end up in a new dawn. I believe better days are still ahead for Nigeria, I pray we shall live to see and partake in those days in Jesus name.
Dear Nigerians, our population is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to us. Our population is our trump card. If we had not had the population we have, things would have been gloomy for us. It is a pity that Nigerians talk more about tribalism and other things dividing us instead of celebrating the beauty and the majesty we possess, thanks to the fact that we are together. It is a pity that some parts of Nigeria now talk of breaking away. It is a shame that some Nigerians now see fellow Nigerians as enemies.
It is unacceptable that there is now fights for separation in Biafra, Oduduwa nations all over the land. This is unacceptable, for it is aimed at bringing down one of the countries that have the capacity of becoming one of the greatest in the world, just by diversity of size and population alone. In the case of Africa it will be detrimental because this is the only country that has the real potential to fly the flag of the black race to greatness.
Just for comparison, let’s assume that the United States of America did not have the population it has, let’s say it had only 30 million people, there is no way they would have become the super power of the world that they are today, neither economically nor militarily.
Small nations don’t become super powers, not economically or militarily. That is why when America was smaller and consisted of only 13 states, they embarked on a mission of buying and taking over more lands and territories for the purpose of becoming a super power in the future. That is what led to the addition of other territories like Texas, California, Florida, Colorado, Porto Rico, to the entity of the United States of America, making them a super nation on the earth.
In the history of the world at large, almost all nations went to war only for this purpose to expand their territory and population. It was obvious to them then just as it is to us today that only countries with bigger populations and bigger territories will be respected and honoured in the world.
Can you imagine Russia being a super power without its population? When Russia was a super power, there were about 300 million people as well. After losing half of that population, Russia is not the same anymore even though they are still a large nation of almost 150 million people. As the case may be, if Russia had 10 million or 20 million people, their production capacity would not have been able to pull them through to become a super power.
Only large populations create large economies. I know there are Nigerians who will say they don’t need a big country neither do they need a superpower nation, that they only need to eat and drink now. What if the Chinese have said the same thing at their trying hour, what if Americans have been satisfied with only 13 states, none of them would have become the beacon of hope they presently are to the world.
Egocentrism and selfishness are what have brought Nigeria to the state she is in now, and it’s that same selfishness that makes people say just give me what to eat I care less for a great nation. This mentality of instant gratification is what is killing Nigeria, no matter how many smaller nations we are divided into we will take this demon with us. Great nations we run to for economic refuge were not built by people who thought about themselves and what to eat or drink only.
Hence JFK the former President of America says not to ask for what your country could do for you but rather ask what you could do for your country. This is the mentality we need to build a great Nigeria. We need to begin to see the big picture in regards to the future of Nigerian, we need to know that we must sacrifice today to get a greater tomorrow.
By the way, what we call hardship in Nigeria today is nothing compared to the hard price paid by those who built the nations we admire today, be it in Europe, America or Asia. Government doesn’t build great nations, only citizens do. Nigerians must stop their mindset of waiting for the government to do everything for them and begin to take charge of their nation’s themselves, just as they do in developed countries.
There are many factors that make great nations great. The most important of those factors is the population. Are you not glad that Nigeria has that in abundance, why should we break that away into smaller, insignificant segments whatever it’s called; Oduduwa republic, Biafra or Arewa republics? Apart from the production power of a huge population like China, there is also the vantage position of their purchasing power.
Still taking China, for example, people used to say China has the largest number of poor people in the world, but that was only a matter of time. In fact, right now, the events of the last few decades and the rapid development of the Chinese economy has left no one in doubt that China indeed is the future of our world.
It is on its way to overcoming the USA to become the strongest and largest economy in the world. The same thing with India. Even though there is a large number of poor people in India today, it also has one of the largest number of millionaires, the same as China. The same will be the story with Nigeria, the Nigerian economy will recover and become like China or India sooner or later.
If China or India had given up on their nations while they were the capitals of poverty in the world then they won’t have the results they have today. The tide shall turn for Nigeria too, nothing remains the same forever, change is the only constant in life, we won’t be the poverty capital of the world forever. By 2050 Nigeria will become one of the largest economies in the world this is the projection of the World Bank.
Today India, not minding the fact that it is a developing country, now ranks as the 4th largest economy in the world. This is all thanks to their population. Nigeria and Nigerians therefore should be rejoicing and bragging about their good fortune to have managed to live together with so many diverse nations under one umbrella.
Have you ever heard of The European Union coming together? Why do you think they did so? Do you think they had no reason in doing that? No, my friends, it is because they know the power and the strength of numbers. They know the place of the population in human development. Small, small nations even if they are 50, scattered all over Europe, are weak and defeatable without the strength of a combined population. They are vulnerable economically and militarily.
We don’t need to begin to go through that process of bringing tribes and ethnic groups together all over again in Nigeria. It is already done for us either by chance or default. Whatever the case might be, Nigerians should be some of the most hopeful people on the planet, especially if we get our act together politically and economically.
It is my firm belief that our nation Nigeria is just on the verge of announcing her arrival on the world stage as the Rising Sun of the new age. This is not the time for us to begin to use tribalism to pull ourselves down. It is not the time for us to begin to lay emphasis on our old and outdated stereotypes, blaming one tribe or the other for all the woes of our nation.
Lastly, some people tell me, “But you are in Ukraine and Ukraine broke away from Russia, why do you not want Nigeria to do the same? Yes. Countries that broke away from Russia were fifteen. But do you know by name any of them right now? They broke away into insignificance, troubles, and instabilities.
Hope you know what is happening in Ukraine right now? Have you heard about the civil war in Ukraine after they broke away from Russia? As Ukraine broke away from Russia, some parts of Ukraine are now fighting to also break away from Ukraine. It has already happened in Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia was a respected country until the voice of secession began to raise its ugly head.
Today, you can hardly remember the names of the new nations, their plight has only worsened the direct opposite of what they aimed to get. There is no end to secession, as seen in the example of Yugoslavia once a country disintegrates, it continues to disintegrate.
It was Kosovo that started the call for independence, but that one secession didn’t stop there, it led to Croatia clamouring for their independence too, once they are gone Slovenia became the next one. Now we have Republic of Serbia, Montenegro, Republic of North Macedonia. Bosnia and Hercegovina, they all have one thing in common, once glorious now unnoticed, unknown, unsung and inglorious
It is true, countries indeed broke away from Russia, but they all broke away into insignificance, some into oblivion. Russia, still remains great until now. When they were part of something big, their strength was unmatched and they could not be conquered.
I have made a strong argument in this article against the disintegration of Nigeria. I am convinced that secession is not nearly the end of Nigeria’s problems, it would rather be the beginning.
If God forbid Biafra or Oduduwa manage to break away from Nigeria, that might only be the beginning of sorrow, because they too might end up breaking down into smaller segments, it’ll be good if they do without bitter civil wars among themselves. It’ll be a tale of woes and gory.
Throughout these 20 articles, (check my facebook wall for previous) I have tried to make a case for why Nigeria is better together. I have tried my best to present arguments why Yorubas are better off in Nigeria.There is no doubt that we can create a great nation, a world superpower together. If all the 371 tribes in Nigeria bring together their strengths we can make the case for the black race. We can overcome all our challenges. We can stick together to create a better and greater Nigeria.
Many countries have stuck together to resolve their problems. East and West Germany were two troubled states, but they chose to heal from the bitterness and hatred that was passed down their throats. They chose to heal from the wounds of a bitter war.
As a result of that choice, Germany is a world Superpower today. Nigeria too can do the same. Nigeria can heal from the wounds of our present divides. Nigeria can move from the pains of our economic failure, overcome the bandits and the kidnappings. Nigeria can choose to be a nation in brotherhood,
if we do this, Nigeria will one day sit on the same table as America, England, China, France, India and other great nations as equals. It is our place to carry the flag for the black race and become the pride of Africa and all Africans everywhere.
Dr Sunday Adelaja is the Nigerian born founder and senior pastor of the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations, an evangelical–charismatic megachurch and a Christian denomination in Kyiv, Ukraine.
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