Bishop (Dr.) Tom Samson
Talks about his 19th edition of ‘IT IS WAR’
There’s no gainsaying that Nigeria is blessed with some of the most remarkable pastors on the face of the earth. There’s a whole lot of them. It is not unusual to find thousands of pastors and men of God of different shades and colour scattered in every part of the country. They are everywhere. Everywhere you turn to, you will find churches and fire branding, eloquent men of God running those churches. Many of them stand out for various reasons, each with his own uniqueness. But one of the men of God whose incredible exploits stood him out from the very start of his ministerial career is the irrepressible and charismatic man of God, Bishop (Dr.) Tom Samson. He is the presiding Bishop and General Overseer of CHRIST ROYAL FAMILY INTERNATIONAL Church. Many will remember him as that spirit filled and energetic man of God that shook Lagos and its environs with his annual explosive pragramme, “IT IS WAR!”
For about twenty years running, the hugely respected and popular man of God has been declaring war against all manner of satanic assaults, foundation problems, captivity, poverty, oppression, etc. with “IT IS WAR!” And he has recorded outstanding testimonies, for himself, the church and participants of the programme. The success of “IT IS WAR!” has been phenomenal. It shot not just the name of Bishop (Dr) Tom Samson into the consciousness of Nigerians, it also projected his church, CHRIST ROYAL FAMILY INTERNATIONAL CHURCH, to Nigerians, Africans and the world at large. Few days ago, City People Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) visited him at his Ikeja branch of the church last week. He was in the middle of a ministration. The church was filled to capacity and the congregation was clearly enthralled in the Bishop’s sermon. Dressed in a simple polo shirt on a black pair of trousers, and looking as handsome as he’s always been all these years, Bishop Tom Samson’s commanding presence on the pulpit is, without a shred of doubt, incontestable. Even if you were seeing him for the first time, you will definitely want to listen to him. And to put the icing on the cake, he’s an extremely good preacher. He knows how to get the attention of his congregation and hold them spellbound. His honesty, truthfulness and openness to his church are perhaps some of his greatest strengths. He is always truthful with them. He tells them everything about his past without holding anything back. This is why they enjoy every minute of his preaching.
In this interview, the charismatic man of God spoke about why this year’s edition of It Is War will be different from others. He also spoke extensively about the university he founded, the Monarch University, situated at Iyesi-Ota, Ogun state. As for thr forthcoming It Is War programme, it is scheduled to begin on August 3rd at Lagos Airport Hotel, Awolowo Way, Ikeja, and will begin on Monday by 3pm and run through to Friday. Here are excerpts of interview
Congratulations, sir, on this current edition. This is the 19th edition, tell us, sir, what is the theme of this year’s edition? What makes it different from the others that you’ve done in the past?
Thank you. For this edition, it is war itself is the concept and this time around, like we’ve done in the past, victory is assured. Meaning, the challenges we are going through, we just have to overcome. And the emphasis is going to be on the mind. Because in second Corinthians chapter 10, it said, though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, the weapons of our warfare are not canal, but they are mighty though God to the pulling down of strongholds. Now, that stronghold is bringing every imagination to the obedience. You see, the warfare, it is words and ideology. Our mindset, the way we think, it affects the result we get. Now, ‘it is war’ means, I’m down, things are not working, I can overcome. David was in a setting where Goliath overrode all. But he came up with the idea, I can overcome. There were daughters of Selophat, women were not allowed to own property of their parents. Never happened, but they said, we can take it up. If our life must change, our mindset must change. Many of us have become victims or captives of our minds.
So, when we talk about overcoming demonic stronghold, our mindset must change. And we change our mindset through the word of God, I would say by the renewal of your mind. Everybody feels Nigeria is bad. Nigeria’s poverty is extremely severe, but I think otherwise. That’s how we could do what we’re doing around here. I believed that I could make a way out, I believed that God can send me help. Thirty something years ago, I came to this Lagos. No money, no food to eat. Nowhere to stay. But I had a mind that told me I can overcome. I can conquer. That’s what brought me here. So, in this particular edition, we’re dealing with demonic stronghold taking over people’s mind. Everybody feels there’s no job in Nigeria, nothing good can come out of Nigeria. It’s a mindset. That’s bondage. That is captivity. But I overcame all that. I’m bringing up messages. Open the scriptures, who were those in the Bible that were under and they overcame their tribulations? The Bible said, whatsoever is born of God must overcome. You and I must overcome. As a journalist, it doesn’t matter the challenges in journalism, you must find a way to overcome. You must find a way to say I can change the narrative.
Look at religious circle, times are hard. Economies are bad. That means I can’t go ahead or have a different mindset. But I have a mindset that tells me that if God has given me something to do, he will send me help and that’s the help I’m getting that enabled me open a university even in the midst of a terrible economy. So, our problem is our mindset. Everybody believes it’s not working. Everybody believes it cannot work. That is what held us captives, our mind. So, even when we talk about spiritual stronghold, the Bible said, bringing every thought into captivity, overcoming every imagination. Even God said concerning tower of Babel, He said, these people are one. This they have imagined to do, nobody can stop them. So, if we can change our mindset about our country, things will change for the better. As a matter of fact, forget about country, start with yourself, because without yourself, there is no country. People say, God should deliver Nigeria, that’s a wrong notion. God should deliver me, God should deliver us, first. Now, because I made a little success with the opening of the university, see all these great people you see here. About a thousand will be employed. I am bringing education to more students because I changed my thinking. If you were to change your thinking, another person too changes his or her thinking, and it goes on like that, you can imagine how many people we can bring out of hardship.
So, it starts with us. If my mindset can change, the people around my sphere, I can influence them. No matter how little, Monarch University will give jobs to some people. Some students will be able to afford to go to school, some will be employed, that little war, I’ve impacted it. Because I felt it inside me and I was sure it can be done. Somebody once told me, several years ago, forget your dream of investing in a university…how can you do it? What do you have? And I said I will prove him wrong. Today, I’m there. You can go beyond the level you are today. If you can make up your mind, God can send you destiny helpers. Somebody can tell you, go ahead, we’ll see what we can do. But nobody will say we’ll see what we can do if you have not started or decided to go ahead. The same thing with the nation. So, the problem is not the nation as a whole, it’s the individual, it’s the family. That’s why, we say at Monarch University, give us a child, with our expertise, we’ll give you back a leader.
So, this edition, we’re centering on mindset. Some people’s minds are already possessed. Some people are already afraid before they start. When I was leaving Benin 34 years ago, my mother was crying. My mother said, how can you survive without food? How can you survive without money? And she closed the gate so that I would not go out.She was genuinely scared. But I have a different mindset. I didn’t have money to rent a church. I didn’t have money to rent a building or get where to sleep. But, you see, when I came to Lagos, I started meeting my colleagues in university who their parents settled here. They took me home and they gave me assistance. So, until you make a move, you don’t make a mark. So, in this setting, we’re addressing the mindset. We’re living in a time where graduates are doing menial jobs, where Master degree holders are doing security jobs, it’s the mindset. That’s why we’re talking about entrepreneurship spirit at Monarch University. So, this edition is dealing with demonic strongholds in our minds. These are powers that make you fail before you start. Powers that say you cannot amount to anything. You know what happened in the bible, King Saul told David, you cannot face Goliath. Goliath is a killer. You cannot do it. And he told him, watch me, God will give this Goliath to me and I’ll pull down his head. That’s what Nigeria needs.
Everybody feels there’s a demonic giant over Nigeria and so, nobody can rise. But God is raising David’s generation who say I’m not scared with the size of Goliath, with God on my side, I will overcome. That’s how I got here. With ten secondary schools, College of Education, University, hospitals, Entrepreneurship center and many more, all from nothing. Never borrowed, never owed. My mindset. And the confidence that help is coming. So, that’s what we’re making people to know. You can rise. You can make it. He was in a sheep’s coat, yet he ruled the world, that was David.
Amazing, sir. No doubt, It Is War has been a phenomenal success, if you look back, what would you say has been that defining moment that brought about the concept of It Is War many years ago?
You see, why it is war? It was this terrible thing about the nation. A lot of believers were getting tired. Some prayed endlessly, and even when we prayed for some people, there were no results. The Lord told me, there are demonic strongholds in people’s lives, so is their foundation and they’re not looking at it. I was a victim of foundation. I come from a family where we didn’t get married. We didn’t finish education. We all stopped at secondary school. We never got results. When we build a house, we would never finish it. I was a victim. God said there are many people out there who are victims of satanic strongholds. He said, go out there, launch war against that power and set them free. He said, some are operating under environmental demonic powers. Some opened a shop in an environment that is cursed. In the Bible, there were elders of Jericho who invited Elisha and said, this country is good, this country is pleasant but the land is barren. Do you know you can live in a compound that is possessed and everything you brought in there, you will sell it. You can open a shop in an environment that is demonic and after two years, you pay your rent, you can’t continue. God said, go out there, deal with this power.
From university, he used me for deliverance. That’s how I now sat back and thought about it. God said, launch war. So all I heard is war. So, I thought to myself, how can I appeal to people’s mind? If I wear a suit and I say war, nobody will believe me. I need to appeal to their senses and their mind that war has come. So that’s why I chose military camouflage back then. I was the first to use it in Lagos. It caused commotion everywhere. And I was so dramatic. You know, I would climb the wall, then jumped down. I put fire together, I jumped over it. Even my wife was scared. She said, this man, don’t break your leg o. You know, it was so dramatic. Everybody in Lagos was talking about, It Is War, It is war! Everybody was surprised. I caused commotion all over Lagos, Airport Hotel where it was held was filled up. Some military officers came, some SSS officials too. They wondered, is this man overthrowing government? Why war? When they now came, they saw that it’s a spiritual warfare and it drew a massive crowd. It really worked. And those who did the jingle for me, I thank God for their lives. They put together some explosives using good effects and as it explodes, I come out of fire. Children everywhere were shouting, It is war. It became a slogan. Journalists wrote about it everyday. That was it.
Now the people came. The anointing was enormous. Out of those who came in those days, some are now GM in banks. Some have excelled in military. That’s why I can be a successful man today. Those that God is raising up through It Is War in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, etc, are the ones supporting God’s work now. Those in Port Harcourt, they are into oil and gas. Some people financed my trip to Paris. I took It Is War to London. I have my church in London. I took it to Atlanta. I took it to another state in America. Took it to Canada, took it to many places. And I’ve been doing that for over 19 years. That’s why I could build a city, Royal City. I’ve set up a College of Education, built a hospital, built over 10 schools…Because people were getting results. And what is it really doing? It’s just changing their mindset, telling them you don’t have to remain poor.
Do you know that during Covid, in this Anifowose, we gave food to every community? We did it in Ikorodu, Egbeda, etc. I have a hospital where we gave free medical service to everybody here. We empower women. Do you know we have an entrepreneurship center in Egbeda for youth? We have carpentry, we have different vocational trainings and it is all free. And do you know that all of this is an offshoot of It Is War? Before it is war, I didn’t have these resources. I have not made such impact in people’s lives. That’s why I have never borrowed and I have never owed. All these projects you see, I have over 1,000 staff, you can see all the professors, plenty of professors…We never owe because I impacted people. I received help. And I’m giving back, health wise, entrepreneurship wise, education wise with over 1,000 staff. Never owed asny bank and giving scholarships.
So, you can see transformation. I met a man in London who lives in Ikeja. He was asking me, where have you been holding your service and doing these programmes? I said I’m in Ikeja, I’ve been making noise in Ikeja. He said he has never heard of it. Do you know we can be doing great things here and somebody next to us here may not know? That’s why I laugh when they say Churches are everywhere, is it not those that listen to the churches that you can actually say heard? Some young boys will not follow their parents to church. Then, look at clubs everywhere. I don’t know how much they are paying to government. Clubs are everywhere now. They are now competing with the church. There is no light in many homes, so all the youths now go to clubs and football centers. They are everywhere now. How will you now blame the church for a youth who doesn’t want to attend church service? Even their parents can’t force them. So, all we need to do is to pray more. And that’s why we are doing youth friendly programs at Monarch University. That’s why we are bringing in football. There are also entrepreneurship programmes that can help them. If you go to Monarch University, you will see the beautiful sports center. You will see the indoor section, things that can really attract them. We have equipments, things that can attract them so that we don’t give up on them.
You see, we need to deal with ourselves, with our children, before we talk about the nation. We are the ones that make up a nation. When I was in the university in 1991, my colleagues who were notorious, some of them are politics now. So, tell me, what do you expect them to do in politics? Would they do any better than others? As I’m making an impact in my own way, they too are making negative impact. Those are people who are now politicians, carrying thugs up and down. So that’s why we can’t give up on this youth. I believe all hands should be on deck, if not, we will not have a nation. Our youth can burn down the country with their influence tomorrow. So people should not talk down on the church. And all of us cannot be impactful. Some are there for their food. And those of us that are making impact are visible. And some wish to make impact but do not have the resources to make impact. In their only little way, they are making it. By the time all of us are doing what we should do, at the top, at the center, we will be able to make an impact.
Talking about the nation, a lot of people often say Nigeria needs prayers. Nigeria’s problem is spiritual. What is your stand on this? Are there things we need to do to change the sort of situation that we have on our hands right now?
Okay, let me tell you this, and it’s not just the present government, all the other past governments, who are the people that put them there? Are we not the ones? But this is what I want to say. We need to change our mindset. Poverty is worrying us. When the election is coming, you and I receive N50,000 and we forget the pain we suffered. Nigeria needs prayer, okay, but prayer in what area? Prayer for our mindset to change. It’s our mindset. Things cannot continue like this. And education is power. We need to change our mindset.
Now, look at this youth, wealth is all they think of. That’s the plague affecting our youth. Let us change our mindset. Democracy is good but it’s not run the way we are running it. Do the people have any power? Our representatives are not representing us. When they collect money over there, they change their mind. When they vote there at the Senate, House of Representatives, House of Assembly, are they voting according to the wishes of the people? Until we begin to go to the houses of our representatives and demand what we want, things will never change.
