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Bishop (Dr.) TOM SAMSON Tells City People
Bishop (Dr.) Tom Samson requires little introduction. He has remained as popular as he has always been over 20 years ago. This very consistent and widely respected man of God has been around for a very long time. And he has remained extremely passionate about the word of God. Long before many of the so called men of God today became popular, this brilliant and charismatic man of God, Bishop (Dr.) Tom Samson, was already a household name in the country. Almost 20 years ago, with no social media to ride on, Bishop (Dr.) Tom Samson’s posters could be found in every nook and cranny of Lagos where he is based. And his church was hugely popular as well.It is still hugely popular. It was the church a lot of young and upwardly mobile Lagosians trooped to and attended at the time. Whenever he had any of his church crusades, people came from far and wide, within and outside the country, to attend his power packed programmes. He is the presiding Bishop and General Overseer of CHRIST ROYAL FAMILY INTERNATIONAL Church. Many know him as that spirit-filled and energetic man of God that shook Lagos and its environs with his annual explosive programme, ‘IT IS WAR!’ about 20 years ago when it first started.
Last week, City People Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) engaged this very intelligent man of God for a very brief period and got him to share with us his thoughts on the political situation of the country. Though, as a Cleric, Bishop Tom Samson is not known to making political remarks or inflammatory statements against any government. He believes men of God should not be seen to be playing politics while on the pulpit. And you should not be making inciting utterances against the government as well. But we got him to speak for a few minutes about his impression of the Tinubu led administration and what it can do to calm the anger of Nigerians down at this very critical time. And you can trust this ever pleasant man of God, he was at his very best, giving us extremely intelligent responses to the questions we asked him.
At almost sixty, Bishop Tom Samson has remained his jovial and unassuming self. He has remained hyper active, energetic on the pulpit and very humble to people around him, despite his status and immense resources at his disposal. It was vintage Bishop Tom Samson, he made it a truly enriching conversation. Here are excerpts of what he said.
Share with us, sir, your worries about the prevailing economic situation in the country, how concerned are you about the plight of the common man because I know that, as a pastor, you wil even feel it more with hundreds of church members who need one assistance or the other?
Oh, yes, we feel it more, and you know why? When people go through hardship, it’s only their church’s door that is open to them. Many do not even know the way to their Senator’s house or his office, but they can’t forget the way to their church where they can seek for help. The reason why you see the poor trooping to the church is because they know they can easily get help there. For instance, during Covid, we were busy giving out food. And some ministries cannot even afford that. Not every ministry has the capacity. And I’m not talking about the size of the church, but the volume of support the church is getting both from within and outside the church. A tuber of yam now is almost N10,000, pepper has become untouchable. But I want to encourage them, this will pass. I believe there’s going to be a solution very soon. I believe something is going to happen. Let me give you an example in the bible. There vwas a time in Samera things were so bad that two women conspired to kill their children to eat. So, when they killed the first child, they ate, when it was time for the other woman to kill her own child, she refused. They took the matter to the king. And the king said, if God will not help you, where will I help you?
I believe prayer works. Prayer makes things happen. Where there’s a problem, there’s a solution. Somebody said it’s the white man that created pencil that also created the eraser.So, I need to encourage our people, they shoud not give up. And many times, difficult times help people to discover themselves. I started over 35 years ago and it has not been rosy all the way. I have a thousand staff to pay. I have schools. I have over 500 teachers. I have one college of Education and I’m building a university. I have professors, doctors, I have hospitals. I have mebers to care for. But somewhow, I always get help. But I want Nigerians to learn something from this difficult time. The Bible says Jesus learnt obidience through the things he suffered. Many times, tough situations make some people come out of their laziness, so everything works together for good. This will soon pass. There is a solution in sight and I just want to believe it. I am not a pessimist. We have the resources and the man power to turn things around in this nation, something will surely happen. Secondly, I want to appeal to the voice of the people, somewhere there, there’s a way out. Look at the way God created the body, for every disease within you, there are certain organisms in your body that can destroy the disease. So, within us here, there will surely be a way out.
My message is encouragement. We will survive it. And one thing I want to appreciate Nigerians for, there’s this communal living way of life that we have become accustomed to. That’s why it’s good to be in church. Church is a community. It’s a place you unwind. When you see people committing suicide, it’s because they are far from family unit. You might not see your brother for two years but in church, we see ourselve every week. And again, the church is a place where you can easily ask for help. Make sure you’re in church. Then, when you’re in church, don’t stay all alone, mix up and open up where you need help. Bible says he that asketh receiveth. I have been to many churches out there, this is a difficult time. Yet, churches are always welcoming new members.
Many peope don’t know the role the church has played in this country in ministering at the grass root, and, trust me, church is the real grassroot. People are always welcomed. And where you’re not treated with love, you leave the place. So, my advice in this hard time is, look for a church to attend, you will find love there. Not for money, but people to talk to, people to relate with. And if you feel you’re not welcomed in the church, please walk away and look for another one. It’s better than committing suicide. It’s better than being lonely. But like I said, this too will pass away, it won’t last. Thank God for democracy, come 2027, we have the power to vote them out if they don’t deliver what we want. And again, I want us to stay away from violence, it never does any good. Everytime we embrace violence, somebody dies. When we take a life, that’s somebody’s father, somebody’s husband that died, that’s somebody’s wife, that pain will never leave them. So, I want to plead to the government, to listen to the people and sincerely work towards finding a solution to our problems. Above all of these, let us pray. Prayer is getting help from God. It always works. When people pray, there is always help. And when help will come, it doesn’t come as God, he uses your neighbour.
How would you rate the performance of the president? Do you think he’s heading in the right direction?
Well, you see, to begin with, considering what he met on ground, Nigeria was almost gone. He knew what he met and believe me, its not child’s place. That’s why I laugh when I hear that people expect that Tinubu will just get there and turn everything around within one year, something that was repeatedly destroyed for more than three decades? It’s not easy to correct all that has gone wrong within such a short while. I know that when he came in we all had high hopes. But things have not gone that way. I think he needs to look at his ministers and decide who has performed and who has not. They said they were going to review their performances by end of last year and sack those who have not performed but they have been silent on it. The president can’t do it alone, he needs ministers that can perform. He needs governors who can perform too. And this is the point where I will plead with the government. They must quickly do something about food, fuel, once the poor man has fuel to power his small generator and with his food in his stomach, he is good to go. Light is very important. Let power be available. Everybody needs power to run their businesses. In Ghana there, the light is working. They must work on these three things as quickly as possible; light, food and fuel, and every other thing can begin to fall in place. So, while the president may be working on other things, he must make food priority.
Individuals too must make some efforts. See what Ooni of Ife just did, disbanding all the market associations so that anyone can sell food stuffs at relatively cheap prices. And you know, in Nigeria, when things go up, they don’t come down, except the government has the willpower. But should we be ruled like the days of Idiagbon? We don’t need to. We have advanced in everything. But its annoying because people are generally inflating prices and also hoarding so many items. My counsel is that the president should do somethng immediately about food. Then, with the fuel and light, let the government step up and do the right thing. If not for the fact that the hunger is biting, you won’t see them complaining much. It has come to the extent that the poor can no longer afford to buy yam, plantain and even ordinary garri! That’s why Nigerians are talking and complaining. We are resilient people. We have the ability to survive on our own. We ae not lazy people and we have the survival instincts in all of us, but this is biting hard. Once you take this food problem out of the way, many people will be okay. That’s why I’m pleading with the government and anyone else that has a solution to this food crisis, let them speak. The poor man is really suffering. I know that it’s possible that people around the president are giving him wrong information, they tell him all is well, but they know they are lying. But, again, I say and I declare, that Nigeria will be great again.
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