Prophet T.B. Joshua granted a rare interview to Nigeria’s
New Telegraph newspaper in March 2014 in which he made
several revealing statements concerning the February 2015
elections. With the date of elections steadily drawing closer
and tensions arising around the nation, the clerics words
appear even more pertinent now than they did nine months
ago.
TB Joshua warns politicians not to derail the nation’s
democracy. He spoke with TAI ANYANWU. Here is the
transcript of the interview:
There are so many troubles in Nigeria today - problems of
insecurity, threats to national unity, political manoeuvrings
by rival political parties. What are your comments
concerning these troubled times in the country?
It is a normal thing for a country that has a bright future,
God’s promise. A bright future always attracts persecution,
condemnation and enemies who realise that the future is
bright - you see a lot of pressure and threats. The country
is on the path to greatness; it will compete with any
Western nation in the future and the Western nations know
that Nigeria is going to be a giant. That is why there
support in these trying times is needed. There is no country
that has not passed through this.
All the countries that have become great today all passed
through turbulence that nearly consumed them. How we
manage the situation matters. If we don’t manage it well,
we will not witness the greatness. It is not that the
greatness would not come but that would not be for our
generation. The greatness will still come but for the coming
generation.
With the turbulence being experienced in some states of
the federation and the election around the corner next
year, how do you think this will play out?
Elections will not happen in some states because of the
frequent attacks. This could affect between three to four
states. The states would be a no-go area due to violence
and elections would not take place in those states unless
we move closer to God. We must intensify our prayers.
This is what God has showed me and you can imagine
what would happen if elections don’t hold in those states. It
would have a great implication for our democracy.
How should we manage it?
We should not allow the politicians to politicise all the areas
of our lives. For example if you want to enjoy anything, you
have to be part of their party. For example, unless you are
part of their party, you cannot benefit from things that
should be available to you as a citizen. Look at electricity,
health etc - they have politicised everything. Religion has
been politicised. Even Christianity has been politicised.
They go to church; the pulpit is where they campaign now.
Now they go to churches and mosques to bomb them.
These are people in church who had gone to pray for
themselves. Must everybody become a politician? How we
handle the situation at hand now matters. If the situation is
not well managed, we will find ourselves postponing the
great Nigeria. In other words, we would not witness it but it
would be witnessed by our children.
Don’t let us politicise every area of our lives. Let us
carefully play our politics with keen decency because 2015
matters in the history of Nigeria. It is either we cross the
bridge successfully or it collapses. A good Nigerian that
wants this greatness should be able to pay whatever proper
price that is needed to be paid to make this dream of a
great Nigeria possible. If your being in politics will make
this greatness come, then join. From now to 2015 is a very
important period in the history of Nigeria and if we don’t
manage the situation well, our democracy would be
rubbished.
What do you mean by 'our democracy would be rubbished'?
A situation where there would be lawlessness in the sense
that the law would not be capable of guiding us because of
the pros (for) and cons (against) as contained in the law.
That would now take so much time which would lead
Nigeria to a discussion table. Where would you and I be at
that time?
What can you say about APC and PDP?
In body we can call it APC and PDP but in spirit, they are
one and the same thing. I am yet to see the difference. I
am looking forward to seeing the difference.
With the situation in the country today and the agitation on
2015, what advice do you have for politicians not to create
more tension in the polity and what is the way out?
The advice - many of us need to leave politics while many
others need to join in order to inject fresh blood. The
people that need to leave politics are not the common
people. This is in order to avert the disaster that could
rubbish our democracy.
SOURCE: New Telegraph CLICK HERE TO READ FULL AND TOUCHING NIGERIAN CELEBRITIES BIOGRAPHY AND SCANDALS
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