CHARISMATIC preacher, Reverend Chris Okotie may not have won the last presidential elections in 2003 but his informed, intelligent arguments during the presidential debates won him millions of admirers across the country, especially the youths, who see him as a role model. This was evident when he flagged off his campaign for the 2007 presidential elections recently, most youth organisations in the country were ably represented at the Lagos Sheraton launch. If that was indicative of his popularity, then, this chief campaigner for generational shift in governance is a man to beat. Noting the upbeat mood around his campaign organisation, we asked him about his chances, he said he was sure because professional election riggers would be disgraced, stressing that he would not be intimidated by the entry of IBB, Buba Marwa, Atiku Abubakar. "They are ordinary men like you and I," he intoned.
Excerpts...
During the just concluded PFN biennial conference, you tended to accuse the Church of not doing sufficiently enough to make this country attain nationhood. What informed that?
Well, we have discovered that a lot of Christians are not very well informed as to God's mind concerning nationhood. They do not understand their involvement in the political process, their responsibility towards God and to the nation and that is why it was necessary for me to speak on that topic. Particularly the fact that it was an assembly of ministers so that they would in turn take it to their congregations and then the world will spread and we will be better prepared in 2007.
Was that because of your experience in 2003? It appears that the major problem you had then was the Church. Many church leaders were questioning your claim to be called by God...
It was just the fact that they did not understand that a minister could become a politician. When we met at the highest level of the PFN, it was a split decision, because there were some people, the older pastors, who felt that we should give the president another opportunity to right the wrongs, and maybe, accomplish some of the projects that he had begun. And there were others who had a contrary view. So, at the end of the day, we didn't have a consensus. The younger pastors, mainly were with me and the others were sentimental about it, and I understood. But it wasn't a question on the fact that they didn't want me to do it. It was the fact that some of them didn't understand if it was possible, if it was biblically acceptable that a pastor would take that position of responsibility.
But we've gone far beyond that because they now know clearly that David was a minister, yet, he was king. Solomon was a minister, yet he was king and Jesus will always be the high priest of God and when He comes, He is going to be a politician. He's going to be a world leader. He's not going to be preaching any gospel. We've gone beyond that now and for the first time, our house is together.
How are you going to contend with people like Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and Prophet T.B. Joshua?
I can assure you that if you were to take somebody to those names and ask them if Rev. Chris Okotie can lead this country, their answer will be in the affirmative. Because they know me and they know that I was not antagonising them for personal reasons. And I am very persuaded that they will tell their congregations to vote for me.
What have you learnt from the experience of 2003?
Number one, that most of the leaders in this country are not really leaders. They are just men who have found political visibility like co-incidence of activities and they do not care about this country. What you have is a family political dynasty; I become governor, I arrange for my son to become governor, my son arranges for his son to become governor and it becomes a political tree. Not because you're qualified, not because you love Nigerians, not because Nigerians desire you. So, I discovered that it was just a game and that most of the people that we talk about and hear about are the ones poisoning the water from which the flock will drink. And that experience further strengthens my resolve to deliver the Nigerian people because now, I know from experience that that's the way it is. Not just reading about it, but I've met these men one-on-one and I realised that they have nothing to offer this country. It's just a game of intrigue, how much money you have, what is at stake for you financially, what you are there to gain. The Nigerian people do not appear in the list of priorities.
Having that in mind, how are you going to tackle these problems to ensure that you winn the 2007 presidential election?
I have a Godfather, my Father is God and He is the only true Godfather and He works with me in this matter because He loves the Nigerian people. But the thing about it is that every system of oppression has been dismantled by the Almighty God. He made man a free moral agent and as long as you tamper with his free will, you antagonise the divine will. In 2007, things are going to be different because the Nigerian people will be ready. They say you can fool the people most of the time, not all the time. So, Nigerians know what it is now and they've been looking for a leader that will lead them to that place of emancipation because there has been no trusted leader. I mean, think about all the names that have been touted. Who amongst them has any credible political credential to lead Nigeria? There's none, and I do not mean to disrespect them. But the truth of the matter is that when Chris Okotie emerged in 2003, people went to vote, they did. That's why the election was rigged.
The poor people knew in 2003 that there was nobody else but myself because they had sampled opinion around the nation and they knew that the nation was ready for a change and the only viable candidate that they could trust was myself. So they panicked and that's why they did what they did. This time around, we are prepared for them and I say it responsibly. If any one tampers with the electoral process, it will be equivalent to saying you do not want Nigeria to exist any more because we are not going to sit back and say, for the sake of our democracy, for the sake of this and that.
You believe in democracy. Do you believe in the democratic instruments on ground today?
I believe in those instruments, but they are not properly located and the configuration is not right. As instruments themselves, they are necessary and viable in a political process but it's just the way they are being handled. For instance, in the last election, we had ballot boxes that were so mobile. So, in 2007, we are going to have the kind of boxes that are going to be stationary.
We are going to change the format to ensure that we don't have a repeat of the vandalism that we saw in 2003. There are some things that need to be changed, turned around. The composition of INEC, for instance, and the source of revenue and things like that. Those things have to be changed because somebody has to be established to monitor the election. So, it's just the composition of INEC. In Sociology, it is called a quango. A quango is a body set up by the government to administrate, oversee and hear out public service and it gets its finance from government. It is appointed by government. Once you have a quango overseeing a political process, it's not going to work.
What nature of changes are you envisaging?
Number one, the organisation will represent the Nigerian people. It will not be appointed by government. As long as they are appointed by government, they will do the bidding of the government. That is natural and normal. So, we are going to make sure that the composition of INEC/the people who are in INEC, are independent people, selected or elected by the people. This time, it has to be appointed in such a way that they are not appointed at state level as we have this confab. Not anything in the sort. Different interests in the country will be represented by those interests electing their own representatives. Number two, INEC will be positioned in a place where they do not need governmental authorisation to do whatever they want to do.
That is very important, because a lot of times, they say they are handicapped because money has not been released for this and for that. So that before the process begins, that money is already deposited in an account with signatories that will come out of this group that we are talking about. And so, we'll have the kind of oversight from international communities at fixed places where you have fixed ballot boxes so that when elections are done, they are counted right there in the presence of the people. You are not going to take it to another place because you can't move it.
There are people who are already calling for parliamentary system of government because they believe that the presidential system is too expensive and because of that, some peple are deliberately cut out of the process. Do you subscribe to that?
I do not subscribe to that view. I believe in the presidential system, because it was patterned after the scripture and the Bible says so in the book of Isaiah, that the Lord is our judge, which speaks of our judiciary; the Lord is our lawgiver, which speaks of the legislature; the Lord is our King which speaks of the executive. Then He says He will save us. So, it's the tripartite dispensation of the Almighty God, as judge, lawgiver and executive that will determine the salvation of the people who serve Him. And I think that's what we have here. What is going on is that we do not have people who understand political modality. So, many times, what you are supposed to benefit from a system is overshadowed by personal agenda so that you are not actually running a government, you are running a private estate with members of your own family. Because if you were running a government, everything is budgeted.
I do not think that presidential system is too expensive, it's just the way it's run now. Those who are running the system now are the ones who are profiting. And I'm saying that when I become president, it will be tailored to the needs of our people. Every government must be tailored to the needs of the people. It does not stand in isolation. There's a connectivity between government and the people because it is government that is supposed to execute policies that will save the people. So, I am saying that when you have all of these appointments that are unnecessary duplication of appointments, you will have a government that is wasteful.
And the amount of money that is needed to run a government is just unrealistic when you look at it in the Nigerian context. I received a report the other day and I was seeing the way that Nigeria is going. Even with oil revenue by the year 2007, oil revenue will not be enough to fund recurrent expenditure. There are many countries that run the presidential system and they are not as prodigal as ours. I understand from the report that the same contract that is awarded in Ghana, when awarded here, we pay over 150 per cent increase by inflation. So it's not that the presidential system does not work, it works for America. It can work here and I think it will best represent what we are, unity in diversity.
But some people still harbour some doubts about your person...
The thing about it is approach. Before I became a recording artiste in 1980, they said it was impossible to sell music in Lagos. They told me it was impossible to beat Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey in the city of Lagos because the city was for juju musicians and all that. And I said that's not true and I did it. People categorise Nigerians without any data. Conventions are things that we allow, given certain circumstances. What you need to do if you want to change people is change the environment. Before God brought Adam and Eve, He created an environment. Once you change that environment, those people can no longer function. You are not going to take those people and throw them out of the city, you just change what is around them. And once the environment that feeds on that depravity is changed, they can no longer function.
It's like taking an unrighteous man and putting him in heaven. He can't function. So, I am telling you that this same Nigeria that they say is not possible, we will turn it round. In Economics, there's a concept that is called finicsism, when a company is totally bankrupt and a receivership has been made on it, it's now given to another board of directors. The same board of directors probably just brings another chief executive. He uses the same company, the same tools that his predecessors have and revives that same company. It is called Economic finicsism because it's a reference to that bird who burnt itself and rises from its own ashes. I believe in political finicsism, that you can take the same people. Like this same world, when Jesus came, He didn't change the world, He just changed the environment by creating righteousness.
You are specifically targeting the youths, what about the womenfolk? People believe it's the women who will decide the next leader of the country...
Once you target the young people, you target the women because they are their mothers and they want to see their children prosper. No woman carries a child for nine months and sees that child becomes a vagabond or is shot by an insensitive government or ends up in jail. The cry of every mother is to see her child become something and that's what Rev. Okotie is going to do for their children. And so when they see that our desire is to better the lot of their children, they will stand with us. Because these men whose names are being touted have made promises to the women before and failed on several occasions, the women in this country are not foolish, they know the right person to follow. I am very sure that when that time comes, Rev. Chris Okotie is the one that they will follow.
Do we really have need for a generational change in this country?
The reason why we say so is that when you look at their career, they started in their 30's, they are now in their mid-60's towards 70's and they it is to lead a country like Nigeria. We must move away from that generation to a generation that is not jaundiced, is not contaminated, is not connected to them in any way. We give Nigeria a fresh start, that's why our organisation F.R.E.S.H. is relevant at this time.
Are you the messiah we are looking for?
If you are looking for a messiah, then you have found one. I speak respectfully because I realised that some of these men that we speak about are older than I am and they have been in positions of authority. So, I respect them to that extent. But you know and every Nigerian who will read this article know that these men represent the past. They have nothing beyond the past. They are incapacitated. Every period of history is determined by Almighty God and He puts that timing between the genes of the people that's why you have the word generation. It comes from genes. Within our genes are the chromosomes, the necessary divine generation that will make Nigeria what it is going to be. These men don't have it. They are expired in their thinking. It will take somebody like Rev. Chris Okotie because I have the compassion. I'm a servant of God, therefore, the servant of the people. They can trust me. They can rely on me, they can depend on me. So if that makes me a messiah, so be it.
You are not intimidated by names like IBB, Atiku, Marwa and so on?
Not at all. They are ordinary men like us. I respect them because of where they were but they are ordinary men. It is God who brings deliverance to the people. It is God who effects the emancipation of the people and I'm working for Him. These men have done what they can do, they have nothing else to offer this nation and I say that respectfully. They know it themselves, their followers know it. Nigerian people know it. They are only hoping that they will be able to rig elections and I'm telling them that that will be their biggest nightmare, because if they try it, they are going to face challenges that they have never faced before. Recently, the South-South political zone resolved to present a presidential candidate come 2007. Are you going to represent the South-South?
I come from the South-South. I identify with the aspirations of the people. Their agitations are legitimate, they are authentic.
To wherever I go, I'm an ambassador of the South-South but I'm not asking for the presidency just because I'm a South-South indigene. I have a pan-Nigerian philosophy. I'm a Nigerian. I love Nigeria and I'm loved all over this country whether it's in the North, South, West or East. People know me. But I believe that the time has come for the presidency to come out of the South-South because that's the only geo-political zone that has not produced a president since independence. So, that is to my advantage. Now, if the South-South Assembly endorses my candidacy, praise God for that. But I'm going to do it whether anybody endorses it or not.
How rich is Rev. Chris Okotie?
Rich enough to vie for the office of president. But you see, the thing about all of these men you are talking about, they might have money as individuals but we have the people. By the time 10, 15, 20 people put their money together, we can handle them. But we are not even going to play that game of money politics because that's not what we want to do. We are just going to show them that they are ordinary Nigerians like us. They are not going to get away with it this time.
Is the true that plans are afoot for you to reconcile with your wife?
Oh yes. We have never really been antagonistic towards each other. We have just been trying to tell her to come back home. And she has stated her position that she doesn't want to return to this country for so many reasons. But she is not as rigid as she used to be because time has a way of changing your perception. So, there's hope. I mean, I'd love to have her back. She is still my best friend and we'll still take care of each other. But her problem has always been location. So it's possible. There's hope.
What is your opinion about the political reforms conference that is going on?
My views are pessimistic when it comes to government because of the infidelity in government. They are not promise keepers. They say one thing, they do another. I do not believe that anything can come out of it, except a miracle and this government haven't had any lately. But that's my view and it's because of the experience we have had within them. As for the PRONACO, this is a democracy. They should be allowed to assemble wherever they want to and to discuss. I think it's a good thing that a group of individuals want to come together and talk about our nation. And so if government has nothing to fear, why are they so worried about it. They should respect them, it's their constitutional right.
You are aware that your former party, NDP has adopted IBB as their candidate...
They have always wanted IBB. That's the problem in the party and that was why I lost the ticket of that party in the first place. Nobody, takes any recognition of whatever they say because they have always been hooked on to the apron strings of IBB. It does show that we are still dealing with people who do not understand the reality of the present Nigerian state. But they are at liberty to assemble with whoever they want to. I told NDP at that time that if you don't walk away from recycled leadership, this party will lose. But you know how they are, they are sentimental.
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