–Pastor FEMI FASERU
Presently, without a shred of doubt, the face of KICC Nigeria is Pastor Femi Faseru. He is the Resident Pastor of KICC Nigeria and everyone agrees that the founder and Senior Pastor, KICC International, Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, made the right choice some 23 years ago when he picked Pastor Faseru as Resident Pastor. This tall, dark eloquence on the pulpit captivates listeners, has done a fantastic job as the Pastor-In-Charge of KICC Nigeria. The ministry has grown in leaps and bounds, sprouting up with branches in different parts of the country. And Pastor Faseru is not resting on his oars yet. He wants to take KICC to every continent of the world.
Last week, this enigmatic Pastor was at the annual City People End Of The Year Thanksgiving Service to offer prayers to God on behalf of the organisation.
Before he left, he was gracious enough to grant a brief interview revealing a bit about how he has been running KICC Nigeria in the last 2 decades and still counting. Enjoy it.
What is the most challenging thing about running the church?
Well, people may find this very difficult to believe, but it’s the honest truth. And I give you an analogy to explain it. I’m about to tell you that I don’t have any challenge.
And I will tell you, I don’t know whether the majority of you here are Lagos people, but some of us have come from the uptowns and you probably have seen a big tree that has under it little trees before. When you have a big tree and you have other little trees under it, they find protection from the big tree. That is one of the advantages of being a junior pastor. I have a covering. Any challenge that comes, if it’s something that I cannot solve, don’t forget Pastor Matthew has over 50 years of experience in ministry. So what am I doing that he has not done before? So once there is any challenge, I have the big tree. So with the big tree, when the rain falls, what takes the beating of the rain? The big tree. It’s only just going to be the droppings that comes on the small one and that’s what it needs to be able to grow. When the sun is scorching, what takes it? It’s the big tree. And the small tree has enough to grow. It’s the same thing. As long as I put myself under the covering, there is no challenge. What you will have seen as a challenge in counselling, there are certain things that will come and you’ll say, what’s the answer to this? All I need to say to those women in counselling is, let me work on this. I will get back to you. And then I put a call to my pastor. I have this situation. And then pastor will tell me this is what you should do. And he will cite examples of his own experience.
Looking at the present state of Nigeria, what’s your advice on how Nigeria can fulfill its core vision and dream?
Nigeria is a complex situation, as you all know. And to be honest, I don’t think one man has the solution. For Nigeria to work, we need everybody to work it. If you’re looking at driving, number one. What’s our dream? So we’re all here. And if I ask you or we go to a secondary school, I say, what’s the dream of Nigeria? If you go to China, China will tell you. You can see them without going to China. What’s the dream of China? China wants to conquer the world with technology. The dream of Russia is clear. It wants to bully the world. The dream of America is clear. It wants to rule the world. What’s the dream of Nigeria? You have to put the dream on the table for us to desire it.
The North, the South, the West, the East. What’s on the table? You have the Northern agenda on the table? You have the Southwest agenda on the table? You have the Eastern agenda on the table? Some parts of the East is still crying out for being marginalized. No dream on the table. So if you’re asking me, how far are we? I think we’re still far away. But it doesn’t mean that we’re far away in time.
I also spoke about Ezekiel 37. You know, God brought in Ezekiel into that valley and asked him, can this person live? Anytime I read Ezekiel 37, I see Nigeria. The bones are dry. They do not have structure. People are scared to even invest because you are not sure of what the policy will be in another four years. Lagos state is coming up with something that will now address the issue of landlord and tenants. That is if it’s not already out already, you know, and all of that. So the man who invested in property 10 years ago, now there is a new policy that will tell you whether his dreams for his property will still be able to manifest or not. No stable structure. That’s what we saw in the valley, that which I call Valley of Ezekiel. Those bones, they were scattered. They were shattered. Look at my home state, for example, Osun state. Election is supposed to be in 2026. All the parties seem to be scattered and shattered. Some people that have been in the party for so long were just suddenly disqualified. A whole lot of them that cannot fight to become governor. So we are still watching that film right now. We don’t know how it’s going to end. The incumbent governor with his own party, they have chosen the person that will contest for that party and it’s not him. And he still has the desire to go back. So we are still watching, the movie too on that side has started. But then can we say that this is the doing of the devil? No. It’s us. Selfishness, self-centeredness, having a dream that is not of God is why we are where we are. So if they are driving anything, we won’t go far because it’s not of God.
Looking at the spread of KICC across Nigeria, is there any reason for not having a branch in the East? What is Pastor Matthew’s intention about setting up a few branches there?
Pastor Matthew has given me responsibilities over KICC in Nigeria. So I won’t pass it to pastor’s table. So it stays on my table, the responsibilities of planting churches. Of course, with his permission. But if I didn’t recommend it, there is no way we’ll have approved it until I’ve recommended it. And I think it’s all down to me. I think I was naive of the historical background of things around that area, which I’ve caught up now in recent times anyway. So I can tell you a lot of things around that now. But initially I wasn’t. I was taking Asaba because of the closeness of Asaba to Onistha. I was taking it to be the same. Yes, so until a Southeastern parliament person was asking me one day, how come you don’t have a branch in the East? And I’m like, oh, but we have one close to you. We have one in Asaba. He says, no, that is not in the East. I said, but Onitsha is just on the other side, just a bridge across and I’m in Onitsha from where we are. He said, no. So basically we’re working on it and we don’t have any particular reason. Like I said, it’s just the work. Maybe it’s a lot easier for me to be able to grow our churches in the places that are close to me personally. So we rely on our churches that are around that area to expand. For example, our church in Asaba is for me to work with the person over there and basically be able to go across the bridge and start a church maybe in Onitsha. So from there we can then spread. We still have time provided Jesus taries. We’re still working and in no time we will get there. There is no particular bias against certain regions. No particular bias. It’s just like the work started from, for example, in Lagos, we have so many works in Lagos, you know, because it’s a lot easier for work to start where close to the headquarters. You understand, you know, it’s easier to maintain, to sustain and all of that. But we will work and we will try to be there in the east.
A lot has changed since the COVID era. The numbers of people who attend churches has reduced since post COVID, how are you dealing with that?
COVID or no COVID, we are doing the same thing we are called to do. We were called to preach the gospel and that’s what we’re doing. Yes, your observation is right. Since post COVID, a lot of people have not stopped fellowshipping, but a lot of people have not been coming to church like they used to because COVID had given another alternative to them to be able to join church services. So, in fact, there are many more people that worship with us on Sunday, if we look beyond the physical attendance. In fact, COVID has made it so much that we have people that now are able to worship with us in other nations. Following us week in, week out. I was announcing in church this Sunday, yesterday, about a leadership programme that I want to run. And in the afternoon, a woman, a member in our church, came to tell us that her son, who lives outside of the country, has shown interest in being part of that leadership programme. So, somebody was out there in the Netherlands following the service. So, when we are looking at it in the physical terms, yes, your observation is right, but there are other factors, other indices that tell us that more people are connecting to our service than before.
I know a lot of people would probably have told you this, you sound a lot like pastor Ashimolowo. You speak like him, you are as calm as pastor. You are eloquent like pastor. What part of your background would you say prepared you for this enormous responsibility?
Talking about me sharing some attributes with Pastor Matthew, I think, apart from the fact that I came from a Christian home, Anglican background, and unknown to many people, by the way, I am a Canon in the Anglican Communion, only that I don’t wear the collar. I am a member of the College of Canons in the Ijesha North Diocese of the Anglican Communion. So, apart from the fact that I was born in a Christian home, Anglican Church, gave my life to Christ in Christ Embassy, but shortly after then I went to England to live. So, I can say that the only pastor that I have had all my life is Pastor Matthew. So, if I sound like him in any way, if I project the work of God like him in any way, it’s because that is the one ministry that I follow. I have never pointed to any other pastor as my spiritual father all my life. He’s the only one. So, the son is bound to walk like his father, bound to talk like his father, and behave like his father. So, and then don’t forget that he laid his hands on me to bless me for this work of the ministry. So, there is a transference of grace. Like I said to you, I’m like the small tree that is under that big tree. So, that would be a reflection of his ministry and his grace of all my life and of all my ministry.
I would like you to share with us a few things Christians, Nigerians in general, can do to cope with this very tumultuous times that Nigerians are faced with at this very moment?
We have to be determined to ensure that no matter what God has called us to individually, we do not allow circumstances and situations to dictate to us what we do with the assignment God has called us to do or the dream or vision that God has given us. It is very important because like I told you, just looking at the political situation in my state where the election is going to come before the general election in 2027, we already see what is going on and we can already tell that if the political playground is like this then how much will you expect from politicians when they even come into governance? So we have to be responsible for the call of God upon our lives and be sure that we are not ready to give any excuses. Let us stay focused, let us continue to find, innovate, create, within the circumstance that we have, means to which we can achieve our dreams and visions. Legally of course, and as long as we are close to God, we hear God, we serve Him, He’s going to make a way for us. We can’t depend on the government, or politicians, or anyone, we should depend on God. That will be the winning key for us next year. That will be the winning key. We have to be determined, we have to know where we are going individually, corporations must know where they are going and we have to be determined.
And like I said earlier on, I will repeat, Nigerian’s space could be hostile to dreams and visions but you the custodian of the dream and the vision, be willing to fight for it, be willing to drive it, be willing to be determined that you will achieve and you need the consistency, that is where discipline comes in.
No matter what you do, no matter what, you have to understand that you’re competing globally. It’s now a global space now so you cannot compromise. You have to put your own differences there. You must put your own signature there and you must also make sure that you dot the I’s and you cross the T’s. Quality is important because you are not now serving a local space because the world has turned global right before our eyes.
What’s your take on the controversies surrounding Christian Genocide claims in Nigeria?
I believe that it’s something that has been going on for a long time, i’m sure some of us have heard Pastor Matthew share his thoughts and he has given historical backgrounds to even his thoughts, his support of his thoughts and his conclusions. Even though he did not publicly conclude, he was basically and hypothetically asking people to conclude for themselves after he has given all his findings based on his research and experience as a 73 years old man who had lived in this space. So I believe that it is a topic that nobody has been willing to talk about. I salute pastor Matthew’s courage for coming openly to be able to say that this is what it is for Nigerians to be able to put it in perspective and do something about it. And I think that it is unacceptable for us to have this level of insecurity in the country while we have a lot of decorated military men, and military women and we have all these different kinds of institutions that we have. The senate, the House of Reps., and the government itself and we also have the judiciary. It is unacceptable that we have all these kinds of structures and yet Nigeria in terms of insecurity is getting worse and worse by the day. It’s because some of these our institutions are inactive, whether intentionally or otherwise. But I believe that if we begin to read the news that a kidnapper, somebody who went to invade a community, to invade a church had been caught and they have been served the due punishment, it will become a deterrent. But nobody gets caught, nobody gets punished and we say it doesn’t exist. But yet, news is breaking every day that some people are running over churches, and killing people in churches. I think that we are running away from the truth and I believe that it might be intentional.
So the earlier we deal with it, the better for the nation.
