NIGERIA WILL BE GREAT AGAIN - PASTOR JAMES

By NBF News

•Pastor Bassey James
General Overseer of Royal House of Faith Assembly at Lekki, Lagos, Pastor Bassey James has said that Nigeria will be great again in a very short while.

He said all that people needed is a little patience, because they were already on the right course.

Pastor James, who is also a chancellor for Akpabio Centre for leadership development, as well as a security and communication consultant, advised that the President Goodluck Jonathan should be left alone to enable him deliver on national issues.

Speaking on pastors in politics, James, from Mpat-Enin Local Government Area said, great men in the bible like Solomon, Joshua, Moses, Joseph, David to mention a few, were able to make a difference in their time when they became actively involved in the governance of their city.

'Jesus Christ our perfect example posited that 'a city led by a group of bad leaders, the people governed will know no peace, but when the righteous sits in the helm of affairs there will be relative peace and joy in the land.' My candid opinion is that men with the fear of God need rise and take up the challenge of governance so that innocent blood will not be shed again.'

He argued that religion and politics were inseparable. His words: 'Practically I will be contesting in a local government election very soon and I belief God has a reason for my action. It is about time men of God engage in the polity of our society, they should not sit on the fence again, enough of criticizing get involve. Do you know that when you are in politics you tend to reach out to the needy, oppressed, downtrodden and the helpless ones in the society directly without any hurdle. I will build more churches for God's work and that will serve as a refuge home for the underprivileged. Christians need to be imported into governance.

You need political and economic power to get it right with God and change the course of mankind. We need God-fearing people in government houses. Are you not aware that such era of John the Baptist where the Kingdom of God suffers violence but only violent ones take it by force is here. We need to take government by force to serve and change the destiny of our people to God's own glory. Joseph was not a realist until God gave him the political power. Today, we can't talk of religion and politics without mentioning Joseph. Political power is probably referred to as the tool for change.

He explained that, 'the concept, Akpabioism philosophy was brought about as a result of the landscape achievement we saw in Governor Godswill Akpabio. Just like we see

Zikism in the East, Awoism in the West,we need an ism in the South, that is why we cannot but attribute the Akpabioism in the South owing to the entire southern region.

Akpabioism is as a result of his leadership style, governance and people oriented programmes. It is made up of realists, whose core interest is bring about a positive change not forgetting that Martin Luther's philosophy brought out Barak Obama today. I am humbled to be the brain behind the ideology.'

According to him, 'challenges serve as a stepping stone to my success, increase my level of success, give me ability to manage people, open doors of opportunities, build my confidence level, propel my innate abilities and so long its not a task that threatens one's life, I am always out for the best.'

James maintained that President Goodluck Jonathan has a good mandate for Nigeria, but that he is surrounded by a group of sycophants who do not mean well for this country.

On security challenges, the cleric noted: From a micro angle, do you know that in Akwa-Ibom State there are over 200 security vehicles distributed evenly and fully equipped and manned by security Personnel to help eradicate crimes, with this assertion, in a broader perspective the FBI and CIA operatives in the country at the moment will not help much due to varying factors like language, environment and so on. With the disguised method adopted by our traditional security personnel like SSS, Police, CID, Military intelligence, it will help manage to the barest minimum our security challenges.'

He called on those behind bombings in the country to desist from it, adding, 'we are peaceful and loving people they should desist from such actions and stop shedding innocent blood, no religion supports the killings of innocent people.'