•Pastor MATTHEW ASHIMOLOWO Opens Up
How do you see the political situation of Nigeria now?
I will say I am very worried. This is very sad. And electioneering will start by the end of September. And we have not had anyone roll out a strong Vision. So, Nigerian politics is not vision-driven but tribe and religion-driven. That is so dangerous for several reasons, because the nation has been fractioned on those particular frontiers. The diversity of the tribes should have worked for the nation but it is now working against it. Many don’t even realize, particularly the generation under 50, they don’t realize that Nigeria cannot handle another civil war. I was 15 the day Biafra war broke out and my father died in that war exactly this month of September makes it 55 years that I lost my father. So, the people under 55 do not know the enormity and challenge of a civil war and so some of them who have had an attempt in politics do not make an attempt at harmony or unity but individual dreams and vision and people who will eat up the nation with an attitude that if it breaks up, I have another passport and can run out. They do not realize that for all the nations that can get a refugee status, Nigeria is not one of them. Do you know why? We are the only nation surrounded by 4 nations on every side, except from the south where you have the sea. All the nations we are surrounded by are small nations; Togo, to the left is Benin Republic whose population I don’t know. Their population could be about 8 million, Niger Republic cannot exceed 10 million, Chad cannot exceed another 3-5 million and Cameroun cannot exceed another 20-35 million. If Nigeria were to have an intense war and a refugee status, where do want to run to? You will overwhelm Benin to the west, Cameroon and Chad to the east and Niger to the North so that is Nigeria’s status in a refugee situation. That is the reason why I am so worried, firstly by the very people who are the big players. You do not give an attitude of hope, but an attitude of ‘I must win, if I don’t win, blood will flow’. Anybody who makes any statement like blood should flow should not have gotten anybody’s vote.
What would you advise people, especially Christians to do in a situation like this?
I am 70 and I have the right to speak my mind even if somebody doesn’t like what I have to say. I know what is going on out there and there is a lot of argument going on about the Muslim-Muslim tickets and Muslim-Christian ticket. But no matter what you say, someone will have a strong feeling towards it, so let me share my view. In my view, there are people who ask why Christians are uptight about Muslim-Muslim tickets. Abiola and Kingibe were Muslims in 1993, that was 29 years ago, 29 years ago there was no Boko Haram, 29 years ago, 43 Christians were not killed by Boko Haram, 29 years ago, there was no carrying away of Christian girls from Chibok and other places, who were raped, impregnated, and forced to change religion, 29 years ago, men who rape get 14 years in prison. Those who committed treason by raising the flag of a caliphate were not in existence, but we now have a government that gives them blanket of forgiveness and then, there is no method to see if he truly repented, so 29 years ago, the atmosphere was different. That time was different, but let’s look at it from another side. The Christians who are offended by Muslim-Muslim ticket shouldn’t have started their campaign and voicing their opinion the week they were choosing who will be the running mate. They should have started after that last election when they saw the carrying away of the Chibok girls and the devastation of Southern Zaria, because I am a Zaria boy, so every time they are defeated by bandits and Boko Haram, it’s worrying. They only target Southern Zaria and kill Christians, so you should have at that time called 20 major Christian leaders in Nigeria to a retreat and at that retreat, the 20 should have signed that we do not support PDP, APC, Labour or any party with conditions to which these parties can encourage Christians to vote for them. Part of those conditions could be that any party they want to vote, even if it is 2 Muslims, as long as it is very clear in their voice that it is not a religious operation. Only a fool and a deaf will say there is no leaning to one side in Nigeria for the past 10-15 years. Which religion will you say has had more people killed or girls kidnapped or people thrown out of their villages? Even their king in Southern Zaria was removed and another group of people raised their flag in the place! The Christian leaders calling and saying we don’t support Muslim-Muslim ticket close to the election, it is too late. They should have started a Christian pressure group that will say it is not for one party but to say, we want a Nigeria where no one is oppressed, people are appointed to office on the basis of merit, a president that is not a tribal chief, because such people put only people of their own tribe in all positions. Christians should have written that and put it out there and we have those 10-20 voices backing it and saying they are not choosing any party for any church because it is not right. I am President of KICC and if I stand on any KICC platform, I will never announce a political party because it is not fair, because someone in the seat may be gunning for another party. So, Christians should have started a pressure group 4 years ago. This is my opinion and like I said, I am 70 and I have a right to speak my mind. Christians, we are responding too late, that is why I love the Yoruba language, it is limited to its interpretation when it comes to English and one will say ‘’ a tokere oloju jinjin tin mu ekeun sun’’ meaning ‘’a man who doesn’t know how to cry is based on his story’’ in every language they have an animal they tie to every story and in Yoruba land, it is the Tortoise. The tortoise doesn’t know how to cry and he is going to his parent’s in-law’s house where they were bereaved, so he started practicing crying from a long way. The Christians should have started their cry immediately after the last election, not few weeks to the picking of candidates. The Yorubas also say ‘’Igi Gogoro ma gun mi loju okere latin wo’’, it is too late. Honestly, hypothetically, suppose the Muslim-Muslim wins as President, you have not shown good hands to all parties. You should have shown good hand and said we are not against you but we are against anything that will be against these principles. What those Christian leaders should have put together is not religion but should include employment, education, good university structure, good economy, and a country where children go to school and children not from a particular geographical location are well preferred. When you put it together and you have Matthew Kukah, Baba Adeboye, Bishop Oyedepo, head of the Anglican Commission, head of the Methodist Church, head of the Presbyterian, and the head of Mountain of Fire and many others, and imagine those voices coming together to put together what Christians want to see in the country. But fighting at the last minute? ‘’Aso o ba omoye mo, omoye ti rin wowo wo ja’’, you know a lady who is walking into the market naked and you are running behind her with a wrapper when she has gotten to the market, it is lost.
Do you look forward to the 2023 elections?
I have prayed and prayed about 2023, and all I saw was confusion and trouble. Then, I saw settlement later. But my only worry about Nigeria is not 2023 but the next 15 years. I have a right to speak my mind. I repeat again I am 70 years old. It will take a miracle for Nigeria to survive as a nation, because all the indices of a break up is beginning to manifest by the economy, transport, one-sided educational system, no aspiration for people to look forward to, corruption, and others. All the indices of a break up are already here and listen, most of the people that are playing the politics have obtained a 2nd passport. When they cause the problem, they plan to run away and a good number of them have already prepared to ship their family out first, then they can dress like women and cross Benin Republic, so I see two things. Number one, confusion, I see confusion concerning the coming election but eventually a settlement. It is not next year’s election that is my biggest worry, because after the election, there was a settlement. It is if Nigeria survives 15 years. Let me a put a warning down, I am an Arewa boy from the North, more or less. My parents and I are from the South but I was born in the north. I would like to warn politicians from the North by saying, if you create a situation where Nigeria is ungovernable and it fractures to the point of it breaking up, the north will have more problems. I will tell you why, the Yoruba state is only language, they will finally create one nation, likewise the Igbo state. The South-South, there might be a couple of languages there, they can sort themselves because many people in the south do not realize that there are 280 languages in the North and by the deliberate imposition of an oligarchy on the rest, 279 are in pain and they are ready to do anything, so we need to heal our nation and everyone needs to put hands down to see that everything works out.
When you were born, did you ever think Nigeria will be where we are today and what is the way out?
I think the first answer will be no, because nobody thought it will be like this and the second answer will be yes, maybe the colonial masters did not leave us in a situation where would will be able to govern ourselves properly. They left an atmosphere where one tribe was imposed and that creates problems. When people understand each other, there will be a way forward. There is a challenge with people who do not understand; national pride, harmonious view, personal view. America has the American dream, likewise England, they have a degree of one-ness even though they have their own challenges but the problem of Nigeria is that the tribal differencess are more pronounced in our political activities. In order to move forward, I think it is better to see a nation that is working, irrespective of where you come from. I never thought Nigeria will be in this place, the very military we thought were corrupt ruled Nigeria better and if you ask me why, I will tell you, number 1, by the time you are a Lieutenant in the army, you will be trained on how to be a leader, when you become a Captain, you will be sent again to train in leading 100 people and by the time you are a Major, you will be given a thousand as a battalion. When you are a Colonel, you will be given more than a battalion, when you are a Brigadier, you will be given 5000 and 90% of those who manage our country have never managed a business and then, they are given a state to manage. So, we really need to sit down to rewrite the conditions on who runs our state and nation. There is nobody who was a military governor who has not led a thousand people. There is none of those who became head of state, even though you do not like their system, who have not led even 1 brigade or a whole division. That is why most of the landmarks were built by the military. Third Mainland Bridge was conceived by them, the National Airport, National Theater, Federal Secretariat, and a lot of places, even Abuja was a conception of the military. So, I think the way out is that those screaming about the government should go and get their PVC, join political parties and begin to fight corruption and let your generation salvage Nigeria because this nation must not fail. Some Nigerians don’t know that doors can be shut against them, we have been having little experiences in places like Dubai. A whole group of Nigerians were turned back just after Covid, I must not mention some of the preachers who were on that flight. That is deportation and we are yet to experience the level of challenge politics can bring and they are already packaging you for deportation, let the young people do what they can. Don’t attack anybody who belongs to another party because people have a right to voice their opinion. Vote your conscience, during the last election, I came to Nigeria to stay for election, I don’t live here. It came to the point to vote for the house of assembly and the other person I did not want to win in my local government, so I voted Banky W. I mentioned him because I felt he was a young man who has done very well, he is focused and all, even though I knew my vote was wasted that year, I did not care. That is my conscience, get your PVC, join a political party and begin to work your way into the system, don’t say the system has been taken over by some set of people, get into it and take over the system by yourself. If we think that a system like EndSars will bring a change in Nigeria, no, you have weapons. We want you to speak your mind by joining political parties.
If you have the chance to speak with Mr. President on the things happening in the country, what will be the things you will talk about?
I think he only has 8 months so I will address the incoming president. In my opinion, Nigeria should focus on these 5 Es. They are Economy, Environment as in Agriculture, Engineering to mean electronic system because we need to move to that world where we see things developing and the E for education. Today, Nigerian students association has taken over Muritala National Airport and they blocked the whole of Ikeja, there is mayhem. It is all because of the corruption in Nigeria, whatever money that is supposed to reach the educational sector is not reaching it so we need to redefine everything. I will say they need to look at the economy and what determines it is all the indices like oil and others. I think Nigeria focuses on the Big Boy businesses.
In America, they focus on the tiny businesses in the nation. No matter how big a business is, it hires up to hundreds of people, so we need to create a system in the economy that takes care of these micro businesses. Secondly, is the Environment, as in Farming. 56% lands for farming is not in use and 60% of farmable land on earth is in Africa. You can drive from here to Abuja and not find a land that is a thousand hectares of land for pineapples or cassava. The biggest fight with Ukraine is that Ukraine is the feeder of Nigeria and other nations. I don’t know if you know that 40% of our wheat for bread comes from Ukraine. Nigeria is listed among the 10 nations that benefit from Ukraine, can’t wheat grow in Nigeria and some people are lying to the presidency? I started 3 farms in Nigeria and got frustrated. I planted cassava on 500 hectares of land in the days of Obasanjo, when they said cassava will be used in bread. Truly, companies were coming to get the feraners from us. My farm extracted feraner but the next government killed it so we were left with 500 hectares of cassava with no one to buy it. Then, I went into rice, my rice farm was the largest ofada rice farm in Ofada village. I went to the Nigerian Seed Council and they said ofada was not on their list of approved rice seeds because we wanted to buy the seed for other farmers to farm so that the thing will explode. We ended up with 150 hectares of ofada rice seeds and it took a long time to sell. My third farm is the only one working with a thousand palm trees. Imagine if many like me plant 3-2 thousand trees, we will come down to compete with Malaysia that took the seed from us and now they have 1 million farms that is just palm 3. Number three is the Engineering/electricity and we are still fighting cow farmers. You want to have a cow farm? Put it in a ranch, nobody does moving around anymore! I have never seen a cow in Paris or New York. Let’s be an advanced nation with electronics so that our young can also be people-inclined with artificial intelligence not fighting over cow herders taking over a place. Then number 3, there is not one university that is controlled by government, so in the educational area, there are 3 winners and three losers. Students are getting education for cheap, 30,000 naira but they are still losing because the equipment they are being taught with have become obsolete. Lecturers are running a university where it seems everything is being run for them and they get their salary but they lose because we have some of the best lecturers in these schools. If I am a lecturer in leadership and I write a reviewed book on Leadership and my school puts it online, if 10,000 use that material, 80% of what they pay goes to the university and 20% to me. I was doing an MBA and a material had 3-4 pages and they say you should go and read that material by that lecturer and you pay $18 and there were 10,000 of us to read that material. 80% of us went to that material and 20% of us went to meet the man, this means the person is continually making money without his salary. Let the university run themselves and be competitive. The government will take this money and build bursaries. The government should pump in more money into education. That is why the UK is running into Nigeria to look for students because they will pack up and it is a business. If ASUU ends the strike now, it will rise again in 5 years because the new government won’t want to increase salaries again. Lecturers work so hard to get their degree so let’s make university a business, this will help the situation.
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