Whether Jonathan or Buhari wins, there’ll be no change’

Only a few weeks away from the presidential election slated for February 14 and barely four months be­fore a new government is formed in Nigeria, Prophet Melchizedek Oged of the Messiah Christ Mission, Ajah Lagos, has said that whether the new government is formed by the sitting president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, or his rival, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), it would be business as usual as far as governance is concerned.

The man of God, who acknowledged that there was high rate of corruption in the land, declared that President Jonathan was a victim of the dynamics of the end times, insisting that neither the president nor Buhari had the will to effect any meaningful change.

He also said there would be violence after the presidential election, but gave assurance that God would take control of the situation, as he said: “The wonderful thing about this nation is that God has chosen it to be the last frontier to propagate the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that is also why, in spite of all the chal­lenges facing this country, the grace of God has always made it sufficient.”

He speaks on the activities of the Boko Haram Islamist sect and the United States America’s latest posi­tion that Nigeria will no longer break in 2015, among other issues.

Excerpts:

The presidential election is only a few weeks away, with so many predictions that there would be crisis if President Goodluck Jonathan wins. What is God telling you?

Of course, there will be trouble but it shall be contained.

Can you give Nigerians an idea of the magnitude of the trouble to be expected?

The magnitude of the trouble that will fol­low the elections will depend on the power to contain it but one thing is sure and that is that Nigerians are one of the most resilient people in the world. They have always had the grace of God to pray. Already, prayers are going on and the wonderful thing about this nation is that God has chosen it to be the last frontier to propagate the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a covenant power of the most High God that is at work in this nation and that is why this nation has continued to remain one. And that is also why, in spite of all the chal­lenges facing this country, the grace of God has always made it sufficient.

The whole world knows the strategic posi­tion that God has mapped out for Nigerians. In the spiritual realm, Nigerians are like the Jews during the time of their sojourn in Egypt when God chose them; everybody was against them. If you travel abroad, you will know that Nigerians are some of the most exception­ally brilliant people in the whole world. Of course, they are also the most targeted people in the whole world. If you carry the green-white-green passport, you will have a problem because of the falsehood, the crimes and law­lessness perpetrated by some Nigerians. So, the end result is that God’s purpose for Nigeria is able to contain the forces that may want to cause the crisis.

Where do you see Nigeria after the elections, specifically from May when the new government would be formed?

What will happen is that there will be a new crop of technocrat, which I believe would be deployed by any government that comes on board then. If you look back in our history, you would remember a time when you had to wait for months to be able to get a vehicle. You would also remember a time when you had to get import license to import goods and it was the norm; but suddenly a man just came up with the idea to open up the system. So, there are challenges and there are creative solutions that will come. The only thing we ask is that the men that will be put there should have the uncommon courage to be innovative and do whatever that needs to be done. We are living in a digital age, where there are methods of evolving economic issues. We are living in a time when globalisation is almost driving the economies of the world.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the economy was not pushed to be able to maintain what is called global best practice. You find out now that the concept of being able to have a front that measure up to integrity on the global scale will force Nigerians to begin to be more trans­parent. That does not mean that things won’t go wrong, but there is going to be a measure of increasing sanity and that will make it possible for a whole lot of reforms to take shape. If you look back, during the June 12, 1993 crisis, a lot of things went wrong and those things that were wrong began to be corrected when the civilian administration came up. I remember those days, between 1990 and 1999, when I used to wait at the NITEL office for hours trying to fix my phone. But today, the story has changed. There is a technology that is changing. The Bible says that knowledge is in­creasing and because knowledge is increasing, nations that are able to manage the informa­tion age and digital device in the system are able to get more strategic in their governance. Hitherto, there was nothing like data-mining; it is a new concept.

Data-mining can take your bank account, the purchases you make every week, how you spend your money and where you spend it and by the time they collate it; if you have criminal intent, what items you bought can be zoned over. That is exactly what happened in France last week. By the time those pieces of informa­tion get collated and the data-mining editors look into it, they can begin to form what is called an idea of who you are. Of course, there is another side to it, which is called the Big Brother Surveillance. Every call you make as well as every short message you send has a record. So, technology will come to a point where everybody can be seen naked.

So, if the nation is able to contain the violence; that will be the basis at which they move. The only problem is that according to the Bible, the heart of man is desperate and wicked above all things. Lawlessness will not stop. The falsehood in all realms will not stop; it will increase. Cybercrimes will continue and at the end of the day, you find out that it is only the few, who control the technology that will control the wealth, the bank and the politics. They are the power brokers. In the book of Revelations chapter 17 to 19, the Bible calls it ‘Corporate Babylon.’ We are going to a point where the end result is to enthrone the anti- Christ. As an end-time prophet, I can tell you that God has planned all these, for the Bible says that at the end of time, lawlessness shall increase leading to total tyranny.

When you look at global breaking news, you see that every day, more terrible things are happening. What we have is that the whole world is geared towards ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’ (MAD). Bring that back to the political system we are running and you find that those who determine that they will do whatever it takes; bribe whosoever and kill whosoever to get to the position will win.

Are you saying that the most violent will win the election?

The most strategic and the most violent; the one who is able to pay the most money will win. It is like what I call, ‘kill them all and stand up alone,’ in this election. Some people have armed all their thugs and got hired assas­sins all over the place and very soon, you will see them working out.

What prophetic message do you have for Nigerians in this 2015?

The prophetic message is that God has a remnant. God’s remnants are those who are determined to stay within His due divine order. His remnants are those who know that He is determined to raise a people for Himself; the church of Jesus Christ; they are those who are blood-washed; those who have taken seriously the fact that a man cannot by himself attain anything; those who will study to have the right choices of God and live a holy lifestyles; those who will study to enter into the covenant of God’s presence, peace, protection and pros­perity. The Bible says that the spirit of God will equip them and fight their battles for them. There are those who are God’s friends; those who have the mark of Jesus.

In 2003 elections, we cried out to God and He gave us a word in Psalm 92 verse seven, which says: ‘if the wicked seem to succeed and flourish, they will be destroyed forever.’ Now, some of the key players that the judg­ment was targeted against are still functioning because, according to God, the anointing given to prophetic men is like a bazooka but the people you shoot it against are like the butterflies and mosquitoes. For instance, if you go to God’s court and secure a judgment; the judgment is like a bazooka and the mosquito or the butterfly you are aiming it against goes to God to say, ‘I am sorry.’ The story of Ahab in the Bible explains this point. There was a judgment against Ahab but he repented. So, the key factor is for people to repent and cry on to the Blood of Jesus to forgive them. God is long suffering and because He is long suffer­ing, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter eight verses five to 13 that because the wickedness of the wicked is not instantly judged, men will continue to be wicked. But then, the Bible also says that if the wicked man lives up to 100 years, it will never be well with him.

What do you have to say about the activities of Boko Haram Islamist sect?

Book Haram is like a war declared onto people. The military, for so many years, were trained for such insurgence. The intelligent network; most of the men who are strategists in the military are not versed in what is going on. The spirit of Boko Haram is part of the end time destructive spirit set loose over the world.

Is it then right to say that Boko Ha­ram is politically motivated?

Of course it is political as well as reli­gious and economic. It is a grievance of a sect against what they believe, which is that western education has not helped. The Lord says that the heart of man is desperate and wicked above all things. When you mix that desperation with racial conflict and the spirit of economic determinism, you will see a sect that believes that they have lost out of the national cake and so, you have a bonfire coming up. But, on the spiritual realm, because of what is called radicalised Islamist, they are the same group that is forming ISIS; they are in Kenya; they are the AL SHABAB and like you have over the years, the forces of nationalism be­lieving that it is by being able to take by force that you can impose your own government or your religion. Of course, people believe in divide and conquer to rule. So, it is a multi-faceted input that is going on in Boko Haram. There is a local side; there is the religious side and there is the external force because some of these people are not just Nigerians.

Do you see an end to the Boko Ha­ram activities soon?

Soon depends on the level of firepower for firepower. Soon depends on if the whole northerners are determined to really put an end to it. Soon depends on the whole lot of factors, which like they say, are multifaceted. So, if you can bring those factors under control, it shall be sorted out. The cause of all these is lack of love and mistrust. People have the spirit of dog-eat-dog in corporate politics, just as you see them in the market place and until human beings get to submit to the spirit of Christ; the spirit of laying down your life for your brethren, the problem will persist.

Corruption is believed to be on the rise in Nigeria. So many people believe that the present government is not serious in fighting corruption. Do you agree and what message do you have for President Jonathan in all of these?

President Jonathan is a victim of the dynam­ics of the end times. Between June 12, 1993 and when the late Gen Sani Abacha began to clamp down on micro-finance houses; the statistics of capital flight from this country was at its peak. That was the situation, which Jonathan inherited. Before the June 12 crisis, people were satisfied stealing N1 million. At that point before Abacha came, one dollar exchanged for N50; Abacha pegged it at N85 per dollar. But because of the confusion in the nation, even good Christians had to take their money and flew to London because they were not sure if the nation was going to survive. So, when you have turbulence in the system, that is what you get.

I wonder if America would have developed the way it is today if they all had to flock to London or Paris every summer. That is the problem here; everybody wants the naira to be translated into Dollar and Pounds and the pressure continues to make people to be so greedy. One of the most difficult things that the Bible addresses is a greedy man. Unfortu­nately, we are living in the end of time where there is a group of very sharp minded financial trade brokers also known as ‘the greed is good generation.’ They use all kinds of economics to buy back debts and increase debts mak­ing people to borrow money and all kinds of things. When greed is not able to be contained, you can jail all the people in Nigeria and noth­ing is going to happen. So, Jonathan is a victim and the victim is such that in the end time, ruthlessness since 1950s is increasing to the point where until the saviour comes, it is going to get from bad to worse.

By Sunday Ani, [email protected]