Why Pastors Need Private Jets

Pastor Felix Omobude is the General Superintendent of New Covenant Gospel Church, an arm of Gospel Light International Ministries, GLIM, and the National President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN).

In this interview, he speaks on some national issues as well as life as the PFN President and its challenges. Excerpts:

The country just celebrated its 54 years independence, yet Nigeria is unstable. The Boko Haram insurgency has dealt a big blow on the nation killing thousands of people including Christians. What is your view?

Nigeria is a great nation. We have overcome many ordeals. Boko Haram does not determine Nigeria success.  Today, Nigeria is a nation many other countries have to emulate.  Although, we have challenges of corruption, inequality and injustice, we must celebrate the good things that happen to us.

Boko Haram is an issue but I also believe that the God who saw us through the civil war will see us through this challenge. Boko Haram will become history in Nigeria. I honestly commend the armed forces, many of them have paid the supreme price.

As much as I agree that Boko Haram is attacking the Church, it has also killed many Muslims, and their leaders, including emirs. I think the Boko Haram issue is beyond religious crisis. It is a deadly and evil ideology and the Church has paid a huge price. As at last month, over 750 houses have been destroyed. Many people have become widows, orphans to the activities of Boko Haram. We will continue to pray and sensitize our people against insecurity. We have also in our own little way rendered assistance to the affected people. PFN launched a fund, called “Emergency Relief”, for victims and people have donated to it and so many people have benefited. We are calling on all  PFN  members to join in this calling.

Do you think government is doing enough to curtail insurgency in the country?
‘Doing enough’, to me, is relative. Within the limits of what is available, the way things are, I think they are doing well. But I believe they can do more. You probably know that  many security personnel have paid the supreme price  trying to defend us. Insurgency and extremism are over the world, it is not an easy war to fight. Nations stronger than us have spent a lot in terms of human and material resources trying to defend themselves and they are still doing so. Nigerians should be patient. It’s not an easy war. It’s not like the regular war.

What is your take on the issue of corruption in Nigeria?
Corruption is a hydra-headed monster that has killed this nation gradually. If you take a very close look at it, it permeates almost every sector of the country. You pass through airports, people offer services for  which they are paid  and they are asking you if there is anything for them. It’s a shame, it’s an embarrassment. We must all resolve to hate this thing called corruption. Some people will fight it, some people will pay the price for it, but it is something that we must all fight. I believe also that you journalists can help us  to highlight the issue. I am just hearing that the United Nations said this government is very corrupt. I don’t know how they came about that. But I’m worried. I am telling you the truth. Corruption, even in the Church, can be very saddening. Corruption in the military, corruption in the police, even among you, journalists. To point at Jonathan, this is one of the problems of this nation. People dump garbage at the centre of the road, and you blame government. When are we going to take responsibility?

Do you envisage the breakup in the country?
I believe it is better to stay together and remain strong with each other.

As the PFN President, so much have been said about pastors owning jets.  Are you also thinking in this direction?
I am honestly waiting when you, the reporter, will come and deliver one to me. If anybody donates to me, I will be glad to receive it. But, it is not in my agenda.

Should pastors own private jets?
This has to do with our developmental process, if a man has the resources. For the man who oversees  several thousands of church branches within and outside the country and his work shows evidence that he needs to reach various places, and God provides him with  the means to do that, I don’t think such is a crime.

I was at the airport recently. I got there around quarter to six in the morning and spent almost the entire day waiting for a flight. As President of the PFN, I am supposed to visit several places. If I had the means, I would just walk to that airport and fly to Benin and finish what I am doing. It will serve the body of Christ properly. Why must people think that pastors have no right to own private jets? The CEOs of some companies have them. If someone gives me one freely, I will so much appreciate it. I don’t have the means to use it now. But, if in the process of time God makes it possible, I won’t throw it away. And why should people think that it came through corruption? I left the public service several years ago. I have taken to this work for close to 42 years now. May be, if I also had started a business and it had gone well, I could be somewhere today. That anybody who takes to the gospel must be poor, so that people would believe him, is not the idea of the gospel we preach. I have no quarrel with pastors owning jets but the quarrel is how they got it. If they got it through godly manner, I have no quarrel with it, but if it is through a dubious manner, then there is problem.

On the $9.3million arms deal involving Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the PFN is calling for thorough investigation of the issue. We are not hiding anything and we will not shield anybody. The investigation should show who used the plane, who owns the money among others.

While the Church is growing in leaps and bounds, immorality is also growing. Is there nothing Church leaders can do?
I agree that the Church has grown. I also agree that we have churches on every street but we have not seen the last of it. It is going to grow more. I share your view that, in the midst of good, there are hypocrites. We are aware that it is not every place that we have the signboard of a church that is truly a church. Jesus Himself gave a parable that a certain man sowed wheat but in the night, someone else sown tears in the same field and when the owner of the farm discovered it, he said, “Leave them until harvest time”. The good, the bad and the ugly, the beautiful may be there but the harvest time will come.

On the other hand, the reason we have so much decadence in spite of so the many churches is because it is one of the dynamics in the society. When I was growing up, there was only one television station that we knew of. It was based in Ibadan at that time. Now there are TV stations all over the place. The only newspaper that was available then was Daily Times. But, today, we have several newspapers and TV stations, yet, people are still uninformed.

The Church is growing, yet crime and other things are growing. The question you will ask is, ‘What would it have been if the Church was not there at all? I believe that we are making progress. I believe we are there, where we ought to be.

What is your most challenging task since you assumed office as the PFN National President?
I believe that any leader who leads at such a time as this will consider insurgency as a tasking assignment. I believe that if you are a leader at such a time like this and over 200 young girls are snatched from their school, if you feel unconcerned, there is something wrong with you.

You took over from Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor?
Yes.

As his successor, what do you say about him?
Our various past leaders have done a lot to keep our identity, worked hard for the unity of the body for  which I am grateful. Pastor Ayo highlighted the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN. He added colour to the Fellowship. I only would have to build on the foundation he had laid and that is what I am doing. I am building on the legacy my forerunners have built and I intend to handover the legacy to anyone who would take over from me.

Is it not worrisome that some of the poor who contribute to building gigantic projects in the Church such as universities have no access to quality education in the same universities they contributed to build?

There are other humanitarian activities that the Church is involved in apart from school. There are hundreds of indigents who would not have gone to school without the help of the Church. It is true that the churches own universities and polytechnics, but you should also know that it is not free to employ teachers and run quality education. Setting up a school and bringing structure is one thing, growing it is another thing. Education all over the world has never been free, no orthodox church- run university is free of charge. Education in the private set up can never be cheap if it has to be run the way it is supposed to.

Are you saying the poor in the Church should not go Church-owned universities in spite of their tithes and offerings?
That is not what I am saying. The poor in the Church have scholarships. Each of these churches gives scholarships.

Let’s talk on the vision of GLIM?
The GLIM started about 26 years ago. I  was  pastoring with the Church of God Mission before I left. We have a church arm called New Covenant Gospel Church. We have educational arm- Covenant Christian Academy and the Light House Polytechnic, Bible college, the humanitarian arm.

I honestly never ever thought that I will leave the organisation (the Church of God Mission). I still love the organisation. That is history.   I prayed over it and it was during the prayer exercise that God gave me the GLIM vision.

…And the challenges of a new beginning?
I lead the church as the chief servant. The challenges of a new beginning were enormous. We have gone through a lot. The church started in my sitting room, there was a time we had palm trees as roof. Then, we moved to a rented warehouse, until we got to where where we are presently.

...I read that you heard the voice of  the late Archbishop Idahosa?
I went to a crusade organised by the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa and I heard him preached the gospel. He made  altar call and that was how I turned my life to God.

I have never known any other pastor in my life other than Archbishop Benson Idahosa. It was at that service that the man of God said ‘empty everything that you have’. It was like a joke, some grumbled and left but we did. We trekked from miracle centre at Airport Road, GRA, Benin-City down home. I believed my pastor.

I was going to school in America and I went to him; of course it was through his help that I got into school abroad. Then he said ‘kneel down’ and I did. He said, ‘Omobude, your gift will make room for you’. He put his hand on me and prayed for me; then he put his hand in his pocket and gave me a 100 dollar bill and a copy of the  New Testament Bible. I got up and I was staring at him. I knew he had lots of friends. I thought he would ask me to take a card and meet someone, but he said, ‘You go! Your gift will open doors for you’. I never took his words lightly. A copy of that New Testament Bible that he signed is still with me today.’

What are those things your pastoral calling has deprived you off?
Leadership is infectious. As a leader, I try to lead by good example. I check myself and the type of company that I keep and my behaviour. It may not be sinful to eat in the public but I don’t do it because I am a leader. Every leadership position has a responsibility. I try as much as possible to check my consciousness.

Your priorities in life?
My priorities in life include satisfying the God who has called me into this work. I am looking forward to the day I will be welcome by God as a faithful servant.

If you were not a pastor, what would you have become?
I have passion for engineering and I would probably have continued my journey as an  engineer.