As Nigeria set to celebrate her Independent day October 1, 2025, one of the nation’s political analysts, a revered Pentecostal voice and the President of Agape Ministerial Network, Bishop Dr. Oscar Ossai shares his thoughts with Christian Benefits on the state of the nation and the alleged compromise of some Nigerian church leaders whom he says are aiding bad leadership of the country. Excerpts.
What is your assessment of the current Nigerian government as the nation is set for another Independent Day celebration on October 1, 2025.
The government is not our problem as much as selfishness! Except self is sacrificed at the altar of God we aren’t going nowhere as a nation.Even our sermons are basically self glorification and advancement of own church structures. Sincerely, let us leave the government and her challenges out of this. Let us look inwards. Many of us are worse than the politicians as pastors. No real and genuine fear of God again. Many native doctors now wear suits. Our leaders have lost their voices. Institutional structures that should mirror what Jesus would do in setting such as this are all shaking hands with Ahab and Jezebel. They are dining with the kings of the earth. You can be sure God’s anger will boil over real quick and very soon. We have fine and very polished cosmopolitan verbiage in our speeches but no fire of conviction. We preach and men clap, but in the past men wept. Do you remember the expression “men and brethren, what shall we do? “ Not anymore! People chew gum while we preach. They even bring in bottles of coke into the sanctuary.
Tell us more about the Church’s impact on the government and the nation
We (the Church) cannot in all sincerity hold on to a moral high ground anymore. Our positions are compromised. The testimony of our God standeth sure. Let he that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. The word sin simply means to miss the mark It looks like most people were propelled to hold up certain individuals who became heads of Pentecostal churches. As soon they climbed the ladder they threw away the ladder. The society seems to have lost confidence in the Church. Then COVID dealt a terrible blow on the Church and the perceived power she was projecting. One business man told me that if he puts down one million naira every month on a Willie, they would do better than these dancing platforms in terms of predicting future air crash for him. I really wept listening to him. In all sincerity, this power we have seemed not to be able to heal our nation. The church is looking morose. Seem not to have a solution. Worst part is that when we call for prayers we face more ridicule by those asking to see the results of earlier prayers and fasting. No wonder society calls our churches business centres and franchises. We need a real revival before God’s wrath becomes unleashed on our big and rich Churches Most of us look like bank executives these days Five star churches is the norm now; not mountains of prayer centres
How does the current state of the nation affect Nigerians, particularly the youth?
The very brightest and the best are economic migrants in search of meaningful lives in Europe and America. Cost of living has sky rocketed beyond any economic statistical explanation. There seems to be no prices anymore for commodities. Sellers sell at triple the prices and cannot restock. So shops are as empty as buyers who also have no spendable cash.