How has retirement been for you in the last three years?
AT first, I did not have a clear understanding of what the word retirement meant until I began to found out, that I started doing the kind of things I did not do before. I no longer do certain things and it did not come suddenly, as it is a gradual process.
But the good news for me is that I had a seamless transition from when I was active to when I retired, because I had prepared myself psychologically and the Lord gave me the idea of the Peter Akinola Foundation, whose flagship is Youth Training Programme. This has kept me busy. Relatively speaking, when people talked about retirement, I told them I have not retired, I was only reassigned, that is, reassigned from primatial duty to the kind of things we are doing now, by helping the youth. In a nutshell, there has not been any dull moment for me and I have been very active, as the foundation work has kept me very busy and I thank God for it.
You were in the public domain for decades and now you’re out; how does it feel being a private citizen?
You cannot be there forever, as life is a stage and you just have to realise that there is time for everything. When I was called to the national platform, I did what God called me to do and when my time was up, I withdrew honourably. That I am no longer in the forefront of doing the kind of things I was doing before is normal and I am not looking for anything personal for myself, because I had a successor and it is now left for him to do the kind of things we have been doing or something else, depending on what he believes God has called him to do.
Also, I don’t have any sense of loss that I am missing a particular thing and like I said, this work of the foundation I am doing takes much of my energy and time, but then we are not completely out of the public domain, as there are some of the initiatives of Peter Akinola Foundation that keep us in touch with the public life and not only within the country but outside the country.
One of them is what we called Wake Up Call Series, which is an the idea designed to give Nigeria and the international community a wake call to get up from our slumber and to finish realistically the challenges of our time. We have done some publications in that regard. We are currently working on how to fight corruption and the solutions in our own opinion are very practical and realistic if Nigerians are prepared to fight it. Until they themselves are prepared to fight corruption to a standstill, until then, there will be no way forward. You cannot leave it to the government officials alone. It is Nigerians themselves and their vocation, as well as their calling in life that must make up their mind that enough is enough. So we are working on that to give out the preliminary write-ups on volume one and two, while volume three will be out in a couple of weeks by the grace of God.
The other one is what we called Standing In The Gap, which is a programme in which we try to reach out to those we feel are lukewarm in the society, especially Anglican Christians. We try to encourage them to engage in interpersonal relationships without putting any pressure on them. We involve them in personal conversation and gradually getting them to realise that there is no room for being lukewarm in the things of God. It is either you are there or you are not there. So that is another initiative we are working on.
The other initiative is the concern we have for the African continent within the Anglican context. As you may well have known that the leadership of the Church in this continent and Nigeria inclusive has been waiting for the White Man to call and whenever the White Man calls, yes they answer. When it comes to money, our leaders in this continent have been living their lives on what I called “Handouts.” These handouts don’t even help, but they are demeaning and this has been the pattern for years.
So, this our initiative aims at getting them to realise that all we need, not only to survive, but to also do the work God has called us to do is available right here in our continent, rather than depending on foreign aids. These aids, like I said are demeaning and they don’t really help to achieve what you want to achieve. They (White men) made the whole world know that they are the ones helping you and whereas these so-called help is far from the goals you ought to accomplish. Those are the things we are trying to do and it is on this basis that I traveled to African countries like Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, while the next port of call are Burundi and Rwanda.
What inspired the idea of the Peter Akinola Foundation?
That is a very interesting question. Few years ago, I came to Abeokuta and I attended a church service at St. Pauls in Igbore, for an early morning service in mufti. And at the end of the service as we were coming back to the house, we saw dozens of young people playing football on a Sunday morning. I had to park to inquire what was going on and I was told that had been the usual thing. So, I started thinking more and more about the youth from that incident. By the time we had our Synod Committee Meeting in Nigeria at Ile-Ife in 2008, I chose the theme: The Youth of our Church and in my charge to the committee, I proposed that we should work with the youth with a view to giving them a space and a voice within the church.
Since then, I have been thinking more about the youth, not only within the Church, but also in the country at large. From that moment on anytime I travel to any part of the country, I take time to look out through the window and I found out that it is the same story everywhere; that most youths walk about aimlessly at motor garage and intersections. I started nursing the idea that, what are we going to do with this people and that was what informed the idea of finding a way not just talking, but doing something practical for the people. Actually, it is the youth programme that led me to the setting up of the foundation.
How do you select students for the youth centre owned by the foundation?
I have worked with the Church for over forty years, so the Church is my platform and area of jurisdiction. I know much of what goes on in that regard. So, we are quite clear in our mind that anybody coming to the centre must be somebody you can trace his roots. If you throw it open to everybody, then you may end up having more problems that you cannot cope with. So, we informed the Bishops about the programme and that they should look at their communities and recommend those that are eligible for the vocational training.
We did that in the first year, we had 29 students. For this current session, we have 53 and we have not decided to move out of the Church confines and open it up to the traditional rulers, at least, those we know will have passion and concern for the young people. We have written to Alake of Egbaland, and Osile of Oke-Ona within the catchment area and we are going to extend it to Awujale of Ijebu-Ode and Olubadan of Ibadan. Within this area, we intend to work with traditional rulers to advise and recommend people to us for training. We have laid that out for next year and if it works out well, we will try that out, maybe, in the next three years, thereafter we will open up to local councils. But because of corruption, we want to be very careful on how we go in that direction, because we know that there is so much money from the federal government accruing to local government areas to do this kind of thing, but nothing is done. So, if we take that kind of step, it may amount to subsiding corruption. So we want to be very careful, but we will do our investigation to see if it is advisable and good, we will then decide to do and involve the local government authority in the recruitment of our trainees. But we want to be very careful because we know that government has so much money for youth empowerment and yet the youth are not being empowered. We don’t want to do their work for them. We only want to take those who have no access to federal government funding.
The training is free for the students, but in order for the people who had recommended them to have a sense of responsibility, we encourage them to support their candidates with feeding allowance, and we will take care of other things. In the first set that we had, only about 12 percent made contribution at all. For the current set only about 45 percent have responded in supporting their candidates, others have not. Our desire is to get these people off the streets, give opportunity for them to learn a skill and go back to become self-employed, to be able to support themselves, their family and keep away from crimes.
How do you get fund to run the foundation?
When we were talking about the foundation, I did not know what it meant to have a foundation, neither did I do any study. If I had done that, we would not have ventured into it at all because I later realised that those who set up foundations are those who had plenty of leftovers, especially something to spare. I don’t have anything to spare as a retired archbishop. But I have gone into it before I began to realise my fallings. But God in His mercy has been ahead of me in this. When the idea of the foundation came up, I spoke to two of my close friends. One of them is the Registrar of our church, Barrister Issah, who did all the legal work free of charge as his contribution and he is in the board of trustees. Another person is Mr. Fisher, a younger person who supported me and with the help of two staff, the foundation took off.
Now, the resources to support the work of the foundation became a major issue. On January 27, 2010, I had my 66th birthday, which was celebrated in a big way and it was Mr. Fisher, who packaged it and invited people all over the country. That was my last year in office. Much of what was received as gift on my birthday went into the foundation. Between January and March 2010, much of what I received as send forth gift from individuals and churches all went into the foundation and that was how we started. I never knew that people could give me that kind of money because somebody said to me; “When you were in office, you never came to us to ask for anything, so as you are leaving, it is necessary to give you some money as a retiree. They thought I would be living on the money as a retiree. But I did not do that but divert it to the foundation. So we used that to renovate the old centre, which we are using now.
Another friend of ours, I visited him and I shared the idea of the foundation with him and he felt it was a good idea. He then gave us handsome money. So all these helped us to take off. That was what we have been using for our new site and when you put all these together, there is no way I could have spent that kind of money.
How do you intend to generate more money to sustain the foundation?
In May this year, we had finished all the money and I called the architect that we had no money to continue, but this project will continue. Somehow, God raised help to continue and I still believe in my God that what I am doing here is not for myself, or my children, but for the good of Nigerian youths. So, it is entirely God’s own and he has been providing for us.
To be precise, how do we sustain or complete the project? We are preparing a brochure, which we intend to send to a lot of key people in the country. In the brochure, they will see what we are doing, what we have done and the vision of where we are going. On their own, they will identify where they want to log-on to in this project or not. Again, there will be no pressure on them. It is going to be on their own volition. We hope some will be willing to support this kind of project. We are not looking for cash support but to support specific projects, like building a three-bedroom quarter for staff or a chapel or training certain number of youths. We are believing that God will raise people that will support.
When we commence full operation at the centre, we will be spending over N15 million annually and we are asking and appealing to Nigerians to identify with the project. Each member of the board of trustees is also expected to source for N1 million annually to support the centre. We are about eight on the board.
We are also hoping that the centre will be self-sufficient after full operation. Aside from the vocational training, we will also be teaching use of English as well. We have courses in six areas, which are being offered at the centre. Also, we want to attend to the needs of industries around the centre to generate funds to run as well.
The foundation was originally an extension of our Primate ministry as an Archbishop, but now we have to move, as youths are scattered in every strata of the country and the centre will move on gradually.
Why the passion for Nigerian youths at a time when most adult careless about them?
I told you earlier what inspired me because I felt so much anger seeing youths roaming about. But that anger disappeared to a much positive thinking. Maybe it is not the fault of the youths. What are their parents doing? What is the government doing about the youths? It is from there that I realised that these are people that are at the crossroads of life. They are ditched because they don’t know what to do or where to go. As we bring them to the centre, we talk to them and we realised that my perception was correct, that what else do they do because nobody seem to care. That is what led me to develop greater passion for the young people.
By the grace of God, I had six children who are now grown up and established in their own rights. It also reminds me of my own beginning, because I was not born with a silver spoon. I am one of those who grew up through the rock. My father died in 1948 and I did not grow up to know him. My mother was not educated and I grew up through hardship. The only formal education I had on my youthful years was primary six at Anglican Primary School in Igbore, Abeokuta. Every other thing was through self-efforts and today I am a chancellor of a university. So that is what you are when you are self-made under God’s grace.
When I remember my upbringing and the hardship I had to go through, it reminds me that there are several people going through similar experience and what can we do to help them? So in our own little way as somebody said, we are putting back into society. But I said no, because society did not give me anything. Society did not contribute to my upbringing, by say, I had a scholarship or somebody paid my school fees. I did not have any of such and society did not give me anything. It was only pain and hardship I got, because when I got admission to secondary school, nobody was ready to pay my school fees. Society, as far as I am concerned did not contribute to my upbringing in this context.
But I felt obliged under God that whatever we can do to help these young people to minimise their pains, we will do.
In this present dispensation, what does the future hold for the youths?
It is tough and gloomy because I cannot see anything in the horizon suggesting anything different. If you read our series, you will found out that corruption has been part of our journey from the very beginning, in the days of Awolowo, Azikwe, Ahmadu Bello, they were all confronting corruption. But even though there was corruption at that time, they still managed to provide basic and essential infrastructure, like education among others. There was good and adequate health care delivery. But through the military regime to the present political dispensation, corruption has gone out of hands. The same people, who package your budget, got approval for it and fund it, are the same people who should make provision for these amenities. But when they have headache, they prefer to go to Germany or England and they cannot come to the aid of the people. Same thing happens in education, they prefer to send their children overseas.
There is so much money in this country and we have no business being among the league of developing nations in the world, because God has so much endowed us to be a great nation. But corruption never allowed us to have access to our endowment and it has denied us access to all the blessings that should be accruing from our natural endowment.
The only solution is if Nigerians are ready to fight corruption to a standstill, until then, there is no hope.
Look at your legislators, what is the minimum qualification for teachers? It is NCE and what is the minimum qualification for the legislators? When you pack together a bunch of semi-illiterates and all they know is grab. Which laws have they made in the last ten years for the good of this country and yet they are among the highest paid lawmakers in the world? All they know is money and their worldview is determined by naira and kobo. They are not concerned about the welfare of the youths. When they steal money, like most of the celebrated thieves, the people celebrate them. With this kind of thing, where is the future for the youths? It is not that there is no money, there is so much money in this country and yet we are suffering in the midst of plenty. They are ruthless and mindless people in the executives and legislators. They cannot be bothered because they know next to nothing.
What worries me most is that we have a president who is highly educated among these wolves and he cannot make much different. For the first time in the history of the country, we have a PhD holder as president, which would have been a big plus for us, but how far can one man go in the midst of all these people?
The future of Nigerian youths is bleak and dangerous because as at now, we have about 42 million unemployed youths, which is the population of five to six countries in Africa and there is nothing in the plan of this country that the future of this youths is secured. When they make budget of billions of naira for youths, hardly will N1 million get to the subjects (youths).
If Nigerians are prepared to hold their leaders and rulers accountable with whatever it will take, and put an end to corruption, then there will be plenty that will be more than enough for everybody. There will be money to fund all sectors. But as long as a few cabal members sit on our resources and nobody is asking questions or challenging them, then because they don’t give account to anybody because they are lawless, they will do whatever they like. But if the youths do like what they did in Egypt and Libya, can stand up and say enough is enough, until then I don’t see us moving forward.
What is your view on the controversial same sex marriage?
When the controversy about homosexuality was booming, I said at that time that it was a satanic attack on the Church and I still stand on that. It is not as if it is those that are homosexual that were fighting for their rights at that time. It was the Church leaders, Anglican bishops in America and Canada that were championing their cause; and that was why I said at that time and I am still saying it, it is a satanic attack on the Church. The bishops who should have been willing and available to counsel are the ones making God a lie. What God said cannot be done; you are saying it can be done; that was the platform upon which I lost out at that time.
In 2004, we had a conference in Lagos, where I invited all Anglican Bishops in Africa for the first time for a weeklong conference and President Olusegun Obasanjo was invited to declare the conference open. In Obasanjo’s speech, he said; “Same sex marriage, homosexuality is unbiblical, unnatural and unafrican and bishops went wild to applaud him. After the conference, I visited him and said some countries in the Western world are already legalizing same sex marriage and we cannot be in isolation because before you know it, it will be imported into Nigeria. I told him it was time to make the law that this is not right for us in Africa. So it was during Obasanjo’s tenure that the Attorney General did the draft anti-gay bill and sent it to the National Assembly.
In 2009, there was public hearing and I sent the present Primate to represent me, which he did very well. The matter has been there. So, when the Western world started threatening that if we don’t follow it, they will withdraw their aids, I was glad when Senate President, David Mark told them to go to hell with their aid. Look around, what has the British or American aid done for Nigeria? Nothing that I can see. I applauded and hailed the National Assembly for taking the bull by the horns, by passing the law. I want to use everything to plead with President Jonathan to sign it to law as quickly as possible.
We have enough problems on our head already as a nation and to now encourage same sex marriage is to throw the country into an abyss of immorality, from which we will never come out. So it is better to nail it by the head and say no to it. I am glad the National Assembly has enacted the law, let the executive endorse it and it becomes a standing law.
I don’t have all the details about the child marriage controversy, but at what age does a child get married? From moral point of view, what does an18 year-old know?
What is your advice ahead the 2015 elections?
It is very simple from my own point of view, I think we have talked enough about corruption in this country and I have seen a lot of lip service to the war against corruption. We are proposing that the issue of corruption should be at the centre stage. It should be in the front burner of the electioneering come 2015. Nigerians should come out enmasse to demand as a matter of right that any politician asking for their votes must sign an undertaken or covenant with them, that they are going into government house to fight corruption and the battle must be won.
Until we do that, there will be no future for this country. There is enough money for us to work with, but we continue to allow these evil men, cabal and recycled politicians who have been there for 30 years, 40 years and they keep coming back again and there is nothing new they want to offer this country. All they know is stealing and that is their attitude. So, anybody that wants to govern at any level must sign a covenant with Nigeria people to say under oath that he is going to fight corruption and he will also give us his manifesto; a manifesto that will clearly spell out how he intends to fight corruption and even swear an oath under God and there must be express provision to recall such politician if he fails. Corruption, for me is an issue for 2015, not all these lip service campaigns of providing electricity or roads. Don’t promise anything; just let us know how you intend to fight corruption. If we can weed out corruption, other things will take their proper place in this country.
Spiritual leadership is very powerful in every society and what is the missing link that spiritual leaders seem to have failed to exercise their authority to put Nigeria on the right path?
This is a very crucial and explosive question. When you talk of spirituality, you are talking about anyone of us relating appropriately to God and drawing resources from God and making it available to the people. It is a two-way thing and it is not just drawing and keeping. That is, you hear God, know what God wants to do and you give it to the people. You are also taking the people’s cry to God in petition.
In our country, you look around the country as a whole and what do you find? You find that in a church and a mosque, the people you see are the same people in the National Assembly or public offices. I am saying there is no difference between those in church and outside the church. Same Nigerians are there. They are supposed to be led by these spiritual leaders but they are part of these people shaped by the same kind of influences that you see around us. But should that be the way? That is the question. Should Nigerian church and mosque leaders be shaped by same influenced that shaped these people we say are bad? The answer is no. The spiritual man should be spiritually over and above those they are guiding. We tried over the years to speak out prophetically, but they are saying, is he the only man, so a tree does make a forest. Not many of our religious colleagues will embrace this because it does not pay them. A situation where, a religious leader is not different from an average businessman, his religious leadership is more of business leadership. They run their mosque and church like business. So, where is God’s spirit and they have no sermon to preach; except breakthrough, money, prosperity among others. It is very strange in our time. It was not so forty years ago, but all of a sudden, it is breakthrough, as if there is nothing more than that. Nothing else matters. Where is the crucifixion and passion? Those are not in their vocabularies and their lifestyle speaks volume.
Spiritual leaders in this country have failed whether in church or mosque. They have failed woefully because they have lost their voice. Any spiritual leader who cannot say thus says the Lord or speaking as an oracle of God to any situation, has failed.
But then God can do without anyone of us. I am hoping and praying that God will raise men and women of integrity who know and love the Lord and are ready to proclaim boldly and courageously without mincing words as the oracle of the Lord.
Prophecy is not about ‘it is well with you.’ If you study the Bible carefully, it is all about the wellbeing of the nation and people. Occasionally, it can be for the individual, but by and large, it is all about leadership and the people and government.
When you have a righteous leader, people will smile. If you don’t do that you have failed, it is not about personal comfort, self-glory and on mundane things. It is so sad all across the country, every street is filled with churches and mosques, yet there is still much evil because spiritual leadership has failed to proclaim as oracle of God. I am praying that God will raise people to proclaim as His oracle for this nation.
Culled from The Guardian Newspaper
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