Date Published: 01/18/10

"Nigeria needs a Revolution!" ...Pastor Paul Adefarasin

“Nigeria is overdue for a revolution, both spiritual and political!” This position was vociferously canvassed by Pastor Paul Adefarasin, the charismatic Senior Pastor of the House On The Rock ministry, who called on all Nigerian Christians, regardless of denominational differences, to stop behaving like cowardly losers; to be more united; and to be more actively involved in the governance politics of their nation.

In an emotion-filled New Year Message, Adefarasin, who is a worldwide icon in 21 st Century Christendom, urged Nigerian Christians to consecrate themselves to the virtues of prayer so that the powers holding down the nation can be broken from 2010 and beyond; emphasising that as heirs to the Abrahamic blessings they should stand up for truth, justice and democracy more actively.

Preaching to a Cross-over congregation of over ten thousand worshippers, Pastor Paul called on the Church to effectively challenge the hegemonic rulers of the country through prayer and affirmative action, so that the unbroken promises of God can become a reality in the lives of all Nigerians. He noted that Nigeria was “at a nadir that would appal the founding fathers of this nation-space, if they could see the state of the nation!”

Titling his message, “Talk is Cheap”, taking his text from the Bible book of Exodus, and drawing a parallel between Christian Nigeria and the Old Testament Hebrews, Adefarasin declared that “there is no way Nigerian Christians could be said to be a minority in this putative nation-space of about 150million citizens who have been oppressed and repressed by a feudalistic cabal of leaders, whether military or civilians. Christians are probably about 62 per cent of the Nigerian populace, as we have increased and multiplied abundantly over the years, and we must insist on having a credible and accurate census in Nigeria soon.”

“I prophesy to your 2010, and to the years that are yet to come,” said the Pastor who leads tens of thousands of believers in the many House On The Rock parishes worldwide “that regardless of what they try to do against you, you will be very fruitful and increase on every side. Everything that your hands find to do, God almighty will find numerous ways to prosper. I declare to you that you shall be mighty in the land; that you will proliferate to the left and to the right; and that you are unstoppable because the blessing that God covenanted to put on the head of our father Abraham is on your life.”

Condemning what has become the annual ritual of pogroms and massacres against Christians in Nigeria, Pastor Paul exhorted Christians to fight for their rights and lives by being more aggressively involved occupying the country’s economic and political space. He declared that just as God chose one day to deliver Israel from under the cruel bondage of Pharaoh-dominated Egypt, where they had been slaves for over four hundred years, He has chosen this year, 2010, as the Year of Jubilee for Nigeria’s Christians.

Noting that certain cabals were negatively bringing religion to bear on the market-place, he cited the example of the banking industry, which would add over 15,000 to the Nigerian unemployment market, as some are seeking to Islamise the industry; and bemoaned the fact that this is coming at a time when education has been bastardised and energy turned into a scarce commodity; resulting in a calculated murder of the middle-class needed to grow any economy.

Informing his listeners that Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria, is right now the scientific epicentre of the Christian world, where, as he put it, the Lagos axis plays host to “the largest ever gospel music event [The Experience, hosted by House-On-The-Rock], and the largest ever church building on the face of the earth,” Adefarasin dared Nigerian Christians to “fill up the land, not only geographically, but strategically, in presidential offices, gubernatorial offices, the civil service and the judiciary.”

The man-of-God ended his exhortation by declaring that his message was the beginning of a non-violent revolution to protest against injustice in the land, disclosing to his parishioners that “every major and sustained global revolution, which led to a national and worldwide reformation, has started within the walls of a Christian church. We must pray and activate this revolution to bring about the emergence of a new Nigeria where justice, openness and freedom would reign supreme. A Nigeria where institutions like the civil service would be rebuilt to serve as a veritable platform to rebuild the nation into a land where, for example, the Niger Delta, which produces the resources that build the country, will be developed and accorded justice.”