SUNDAY, 01 JANUARY 2012 00:00 CHRIS?IREKAMBA FEATURES - IBRU ECUMENICAL CENTRE
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It is a new year with new hopes. There are fears though that several of the ugly episodes of violence and hardship that marked 2011 may not stop at the threshold of 2012. Are Nigerians headed for better times or otherwise? Prominent clerics share their thoughts with CHRIS?IREKAMBA, Excerpts

‘Better Things Ahead, If Nigerians Learn From Past Mistakes’

(Pastor William Kumuyi, General Superintendent of Deeper Life Bible Church, Worldwide)

God had already created this world, and he told man ‘go and subdue the earth. Whatever you make of it, I’ve given you the intelligence, the brain and everything to do that work.’

Our country, likes prayers but prayers alone without work will not do it. We say work and pray, pray and work. So, what we are saying for this coming year is that if the citizens in this nation will learn from mistakes of the past and will put our minds and heads together and resolve that we are going to solve our problems… The foreign nations are not going to solve the problems for us. And prayers alone are not going to solve our problems for us. It is only if we are willing to turn around and decide that we want to be a better country, and we are going to contribute positively for its progress.

I believe that there is hope. Better and greater things are coming for us in the New Year in Jesus’ name.

‘A Year Of Greater Glory’

(Dr Mike Okonkwo, Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Gbagada Expressway, Anthony Oke, Lagos)


AS we prepare to enter into the year 2012, I wish to call on every Nigerian not to lose hope, but rather to continue to pray for our country, especially now when there is so much hopelessness around.

I specially call on all Christians to pray that God will cause us to experience peace and stability in our land in-spite of our challenges because I believe that Nigeria has a great future.

In this New Year, we must all be filled with expectations because I am a firm believer that God will visit us in an unusual way. There is no doubt that the hand of God is upon this nation and so no matter the challenges we have gone through, I still believe that we would rise up again to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives.

I, therefore, call on every Nigerian to expect positive changes because I see God move in our land in a supernatural way. I challenge every Nigerian to also see him or herself as an agent of change because, as we all begin to do things right, in our various callings and endeavors, pretty soon it will have a snowballing effect on the entire nation.

I also call on all our lawmakers and those in authority to ensure that in the coming year, they do not pass laws that will further add to the suffering of the masses, but rather pass laws that would better the lot of the people.

I declare that the year 2012 is a year of greater glory and I believe that we will both see and experience the glory of God as individuals and as a nation.

I believe that the grace of God will see us through in the New Year, and I know that He is opening a new chapter in the life of our nation. Things will improve and we will see tangible development especially in our economy, health, education and socio- political sectors.

I therefore encourage everyone to remain steadfast in the faith knowing that God has just started with us. I believe that there shall be pleasant surprises in 2012.

‘2012 Shall Be Perilous’

(Pastor Lazarus Muoka, General Overseer, Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries, Worldwide)

WHAT I am going to say may not be what the people will like. The year 2012 will be a perilous year. The Bible says, “In the last days, perilous times shall come. Iniquity shall abound.” Many people that are professing to be Christians will even fall out of the faith. Economic problems will arise, and many crises such as insecurity and unemployment will be all over the world.

Now, God allows those things so that people of the world will come to their Creator and be saved. So, the way, I look at the years ahead of us are years of uncertainties, calamites and sorrow. But in these calamities and sorrows that will usher in the Second Coming of the Lord

Jesus Christ, the Church will be kept. We believe that the real children of God will be kept just like what happened in Egypt when God was about to take His children out.

The world is heading for total collapse. All these things that people are crying about now are just the beginning. The New Year will be worse than the previous year. And as those things are happening, men will be seeing the finger of God on the wall and nobody will have to tell them to return to their Creator before it’s too late. If it becomes a bed of roses, they will not repent. So the issue is that God has allowed those crises, so that men will come back to Him.

But above all, this year, for the Chosen ones, is the year of Dominion and Prosperity. The Chosen that are living right shall have dominion and prosperity.

‘There Shall Be More Belt-tightening’

(Pastor Wale Adefarasin, Senior Pastor of Guiding Light Assembly, Ikoyi, Lagos and National Secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN)

I DON’T think next year is going to be an easy one. Already, we can see some of the things that are on the horizon. For instance, if government goes ahead with its subsidy removal, there will be resistance. And we pray that those who don’t love Nigeria will not take advantage of that to create trouble. I also see that whether it is fuel subsidy removal or the impact of removing it, it’s going to be more belt-tightening for Nigerians. But I believe that the children of God who walk closely with Him will do well.

The message to the Church or Nigerians is that they should be close to God. The Bible says, “A thousand may fall at your feet, ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. But only with your eyes will you behold the reward of the wicked.” I believe that God will protect those who walk intimately with Him. This is not time to run around committing sin. This is the time to be sober and become real and genuine followers of Jesus Christ. For those who follow God closely in the New Year, it will be a great year for them.

‘Treasury Looters Will Be Punished’

(Rt. Revd. Dr. Peter Awelewa Adebiyi, Bishop, Diocese of Lagos West)

WE thank God for His mercies towards us in the outgoing year. When we cast our minds back, we confess that we have witnessed moments of joy and happiness but at the same time, it appears that our moments of anxiety, agitation, disappointment and sorrow took a larger toll on the life of the average Nigerian in 2011.

Nigeria has witnessed moments of unrest, which culminated in the burning of homes, looting and wanton killing of innocent children and young adults, most especially some of our children in the National Youth Service Corps Scheme in the northern part of the country.

The proposed removal of the subsidy on fuel by the federal government in 2012, has dampened the morale of many Nigerians; what with the poor economic power of the average citizen to face the effect of the removal and the strong determination of the government to go ahead with the removal irrespective of the general opinion of Nigerians.

It appears that Nigerians are going into 2012 with some measure of bitterness, helplessness and disappointment. However, Christians must never forget that the world and everything in it, belongs to God.

As we enter into the New Year, the Lord is warning our rulers in various capacities, as well as civil servants who know the secret of embezzlement of public funds and who teach their political lords how to steal from the national till and yet escape justice, to desist from their wicked ways. Such people should think twice because the judgment of God is coming. You may not believe it, but that does not negate the fact that it will come.

Nigerians are already on edge and any further provocation may portend great danger to the fragile peace.

As for us, we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and our lives are safe in His hands. Let us go into the year 2012 with great hope that the Lord will be merciful to us and deliver this country from the hands of its oppressors.

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72367:the-shape-of-year-2012-by-clerics&catid=102:ibru-ecumenical-centre&Itemid=596