Delivering a captured nation (2), By Ayo Akerele

There is no quick fix for a nation on its knees. It starts from resetting the foundation of justice, accountability, fairness, and equity. Interestingly, these were the core values that formed the foundation for the new Germany that emerged after the era of the Nazis. Nigeria will not rise, much less becoming great, without the same core values ​of justice, accountability, fairness, and equity, all built on righteousness.

One of the books in my library that has become my go-to reference material for many of my national transformation work is titled, When A Nation Forgets God. Written by Dr Erwin Luther, this books parallels the evil philosophies of the German leaders in the events that spiralled into the Second World War, with the leadership styles of many of today’s leaders. Interestingly, a whole chapter was devoted to the church in Germany, and how Hitler covertly and cleverly captured it and sucked out the life and power of the church in the most daring manner. The lessons in the book point to one thing: any church can be captured, given the right strategy.

In my personal estimate, many of the current day political leaders in Nigeria are clearly similar in styles and worldviews to the Nazis. The Nazis’ was just an extreme version of ours, given the totalitarian nature of the political atmosphere of that era.

There is actually a sort of resemblance between the Nazis and many of our present day leaders, though the Nazis were scums, the worst breed in human history. ​Let’s stretch this further into the following case examples.

The German government under the Nazis was antisemitic, committing crimes against humanity in the annihilation of the Jewish population in the most brutal and inhuman way. Similarly, the Nigerian government has historically designated some ethnic groups in Nigeria as enemies of the state, systematically blocking them from becoming major voices in the political power play of the nation; much less becoming president. Many of these ethnic groups have been wasted, silenced, shut down, and treated with utmost disdain since Nigeria’s independence.

Worst of the Nazis’ crime against the nation of Germany was the corruption of the church of God. The Nazis infiltrated the church, made new laws that nationalised churches and transferred the payroll systems of many clergies under the control of the government. They employed divide-and-rule tactics to render the church apart, arresting and imprisoning pastors who dared to question their audacity. In fact, the Nazis penetrated the church of God in Germany and requested that pastors replace the cross of Jesus with the image of Hitler and the Swastika — a logo of the Nazis, to which many pastors complied. And at the end of the day, most powerful voices of reason in the German church were shut down, paving the way for the total capture of the nation of Germany and the complete collapse of every moral compass.

The truth here is this: There are still remnants of righteous men and women in Nigeria, but for the most part, the Nigerian church has backslidden, and the earlier we recognise this, the better for the nation. Remnants don’t always save a nation from divine judgement. There were remnants in the time of Lot. Yet, Sodom was destroyed. There were remnants in the days of Noah. Yet, the world was destroyed.

Interestingly, the leaders of our land have infiltrated the church in Nigeria with compromises. Many strong voices of the past have been captured by the evil forces of mammon. Contracts have been awarded to some key leaders in the church, which effectively shut down their voices. Many upcoming pastors have in their churches, political stalwarts who donate handsomely to their projects. It is well known to some of us that some key leaders in the church have covertly received huge financial donations from very corrupt individuals in government, effectively shutting up their voices of opposition and morality in a nation completely taken over by mammon — the love of money. In fact, the leader of the pentecostal movement in Nigeria made this statement in a public conference, “a political party has actually bribed some of our leaders. They offered me money too but I turned it down.”

The truth here is this: There are still remnants of righteous men and women in Nigeria, but for the most part, the Nigerian church has backslidden, and the earlier we recognise this, the better for the nation. Remnants don’t always save a nation from divine judgement. There were remnants in the time of Lot. Yet, Sodom was destroyed. There were remnants in the days of Noah. Yet, the world was destroyed. There were righteous people in Rwanda and in Liberia. There were righteous people in Ukraine. God can judge a nation with or without the remnants. God treats the sins of a few leaders as a national offence, which explains why we must elect the right leaders to escape the scenario of judgement by association.

We many not have reached the level of the Nazis in terms of the scale and scope of destruction to lives and properties that they brought to play in the most brutal way, but our leaders have actually destroyed lives in their millions through the weaponisation of poverty and ignorance among the people. They have captured the present and the future inheritance of the people through the systematic funnelling of state resources into their private pockets. They have engendered an environment of acute hunger and value system collapse all across the country. They have made sexual immorality so appealing to our youths. They have institutionalised bribery and corruption in its most brutal way. They may not have used guns like the Nazis to kill the people or gas chambers to annihilate the masses. But they have done much worse, for when you take hope away from people, knowing fully well that the last thing that dies in men is hope, you have killed them on all fronts.

When the gospel is preached in spirit and in truth, not for pecuniary gains or as a poverty eradication system, prayers will be answered, light will shine, and true leaders will emerge. There is a spiritual dimension to national transformation. The evil forces of the capitalist West can not be conquered by superior economic policies, but by superior supernatural forces.

But as the Germans became free at a time the world thought that the Nazis had finally decimated all hopes that they once had, Nigeria can still resurrect if the church can be resurrected. The only hope for a dying nation is life. The only hope for a nation filled with darkness is light. Both life and life are outside the purview of the present political class — whom I’ve often referred to as “dealers.” The hope for a new nation rests with the carriers of life and the bearers of light – the church of God. When the cream of leaders in the church return to God in all truth and righteousness, seeing the people as more important than buildings, seeing the people as more important than fame, and seeing the transformation of the nation as a major part of God’s kingdom, change would come.

When the gospel is preached in spirit and in truth, not for pecuniary gains or as a poverty eradication system, prayers will be answered, light will shine, and true leaders will emerge. There is a spiritual dimension to national transformation. The evil forces of the capitalist West can not be conquered by superior economic policies, but by superior supernatural forces.

The foundation for a great Nigeria is not economics but righteousness. It by building on righteousness that every economic policy will work, not the other way round. There is no quick fix for a nation on its knees. It starts from resetting the foundation of justice, accountability, fairness, and equity. Interestingly, these were the core values that formed the foundation for the new Germany that emerged after the era of the Nazis. Nigeria will not rise, much less becoming great, without the same core values ​of justice, accountability, fairness, and equity, all built on righteousness. God bless Nigeria.

Ayo Akerele is the senior pastor of Rhema Assembly and the founder of the Voice of the Watchmen in Ontario, Canada. He can be reached through ayoakerele@gmail.com.