Boko haram is a scourge but it’ll go away –Ilechukwu, ex- CAN chairman

Dr. Cosmas Ilechukwu, former Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Imo State and Deputy National Secretary of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), is cast in the mould of an old testament prophet: Fire-spitting, fearless, fastidious and steadfastly loyal to the faith he professes.
A frontline revivalist, Ilechukwu, who is the General Overseer of Charismatic Renewal Ministries, believes that despite the current challenges facing Nigeria, it  will turn out better. In this chat in his office in Owerri, the capital of Imo State, he reflected on life at 60, 25 years in marriage and why pastors’ marriages are crumbling, the Boko Haram menace, among other issues.

Asked if Christians, in the face of provocation, should fight back, he said: “Christians should not fight back, but Christians should not be docile when somebody is coming to attack them. I won’t sit here and allow you burn this church. If I have a gun, I’ll shoot you before you do that. I won’t be there and allow you come and rape my daughter or kill my sons. I’m under obligation to defend them. Christians should not proactively go and engage them but Christians should be ready. It is said that if someone is surrounded by enemies, he should be on his toes all the time. If you are surrounded by the enemy, you sleep with one eye open. Christians should be vigilant and defend themselves. We won’t carry arms and go fight them but it will be irresponsible for any Christian to remain docile and watch them destroy your property and kill you. If you have the wherewithal to prevail against them from doing that, stand up to the challenge. “
Excerpts:
                      
What lesson has life taught you at 60?
The only lesson life has taught me at 60 is that God is good. There is really nothing in this life that matters so much as somebody using every resource and every ability God has given him to be good to others. At the end of the day, the true worth of a man is not in what he possessed, but in people that he helped, people that became better because they crossed his path, people whose status in life were elevated because of whatever little contribution or the other they had made. So, apart from learning that all is about God, the follow up to that is that people should invest their life doing good to others and helping others to be better.

How do you feel at 60?
I feel like I’m 25. I feel good, I feel strong. I think that age is a mere chronological human invention. I don’t think it has anything to do with God’s programme and plan. I’m still exactly the way I felt 10 years ago. I feel strong, energetic, powerful and purposeful. I don’t experience pain anywhere. I’m just cool.
How did your journey into ministry begin?
As a young boy, I never thought I will end up in ministry. My father was my hero and I wanted to follow his example. My father was a teacher, a politician and a businessman. So, after my secondary school, I taught for one year. And I told him: ‘Papa, you taught for 35 years, I’m only teaching for one year and I have fulfilled that aspect of my ambition. The other thing I want to do is to go to university, come out and make money and then go into politics.’ And that was my desire, that was what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a successful businessman and a politician because my father was. I got into university and I got saved and everything changed. I suddenly realised that the desire to do business, the desire to do politics were no longer as strong as they used to be. My reading changed. Instead of reading stuff about Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and all those powerful fellows, I began to read the Bible and biographies of people like Billy Gram. And as I read the stories, something began to happen in me and I saw it as a better way to invest my life. As I read, my heart was enlarged and one day after reading the New Testament in my Bible I went to our Reverend Father to ask some questions.
I was born a Catholic. I asked him if what I read in the New Testament, particularly the Acts of the Apostles were real, if they really happened. He said that they happened. I asked him if they were still true today and the Reverend Father said, sure. He said everything there was the word of God and true. I asked, why are you not telling us that in the church? I can’t remember how he answered that question, but he didn’t quite answer the question. And I said, ‘Father I’m going to spend the rest of my life telling Catholics everywhere that they can be saved and be filled with the Holy Spirit because the transformation I experienced in my life was so momentous that it is difficult for me to ignore.’ I told him that the way I felt and sensed the power of God in me, every human being should feel or experience that. I was very blunt and I said from that day, I was going to spend the rest of my life telling Catholics that they can be saved and be filled with the Holy Spirit. This happened in 1977. Basically, that was how I got into ministry.
What were those things that you read in the Acts of of the Apostles, but you were not taught in the Catholic Church?
For instance, I was never taught that I can be baptised with the Holy Spirit. In Acts of Apostles chapter one, Jesus said you shall receive power when the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of the world. I wasn’t taught that. First of all, I wasn’t even taught that the Bible is the word of God I should be reading daily. I was rather given simple prayer book and all the other stuff. When I was doing my youth service, I worked with the late Archbishop Ganaka of Jos. One day, he called me and asked, ‘what is the most important benefit you derive from your involvement with the charismatic movement?’ I replied that the greatest benefit I derived was that when I got into the charismatic movement, I was introduced to the Bible and the Bible revealed the love of God for me and revealed how I can relate with the Holy Spirit. I didn’t get born again as a small boy; I got born again at the age of 23. And for 23 years, I was a very active Catholic. When I say active, I’m not boasting about it. I’m yet to see somebody who was more serious than myself at my age. I’m yet to see somebody who was more committed; I’m yet to see somebody who was more sold out to the church than myself. So, I wasn’t at the periphery, I was at the very centre of everything. But it was just mere religious observances, not a life I live. When I got born again, the word of God and the Bible became a life I live, not knowledge I acquired. The second thing, I was never told in the Catholic Church that I can receive and demonstrate the gifts  of the Holy Spirit: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, discerning of the spirit, the gift of faith, the gift of healings, working of miracles, the gift of prophesy, the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues. These are nine supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church told us that there are seven and there is none of these. The seven the Catholic Church told us are ones listed in Isaiah chapter 11: wisdom, knowledge, fear of God, fortitude and what have you, which are actually not gifts. They are fruits per se. But why would you even be using the Isaiah list rather than use the New Testament list when the Holy Spirit is actually active?
In the Catholic Church, I was told that only Catholics will go to heaven and that I shouldn’t regard anybody who is not a Catholic. I shouldn’t respect them; I shouldn’t read the books they wrote. So, I grew up a religious bigot. In fact, even when I got born again, I couldn’t read the Bible. I had to travel to Ibadan from Ife looking for a Catholic Bible that had an imprimatur on it because I was still a young convert and I wanted to make sure I was reading a Catholic Bible. From the question you asked, I guess you are a Catholic. In the Catholic Church, we pay lip service to the word of God. When I was having a dialogue with our bishop, I told him that the Catholic Church should insist that every Catholic should have the Bible and that the word of God should be preached. The Bishop asked me, who told you that the Bible is the word of God? God gave me wisdom and I said, ‘Bishop before I came into your office to discuss with you, I was at a mass where you were the celebrant.’ You read a book, you kissed the book, you lifted the book and said, this is the word of God and we all said thanks be to God. I said, ‘Bishop, you told me that the Bible is the word of God.’ He chosed me out of his office and I left. So, these are the issues. When I gave my life to Christ and dedicated myself to reading the Bible on my own, my life was changed. It is not a story; it is a live experience. You can argue with theories, you can argue with precepts and principles, you can’t argue with experience. My life was changed. People who knew me saw the change.
My parents knew this was not their son that went to school, something happened. That is the grace of God at work in my life. This ministry began with what I’ve just told you. It is a long story really. But we became an independent church on the Pentecost Sunday of 1998. Up to that point, we had no ordained ministers; we didn’t baptise, we didn’t do anything. We just do fellowship and evangelism. From that Pentecost Sunday we began to do all of those. We had the first ordination of ministers in 1999 and from then we became an independent church till today.
You described your father as your hero. Why?    
My father, Chief Peter Joseph Onebike Ilechukwu, was a good man. He was a very kind man, a very hardworking man. In my community, there are so many people who are human beings today because of my father. There were people he trained, people he sent to school and people he started business for. A high elementary teacher, he worked his way to become a principal. He worked his way to become a community leader. He was one of the most prominent citizens of Nnewi. Oka oburuzo Nnewi. He was one of the highly respected persons at a very young age. He became the chairman of Onitsha Southern County Council. He later became the chairman of Nnewi LGA. After his retirement from teaching, he established business and did very well. He entered politics and contested election in 1979 although he didn’t win because he was in NPN. I advised him to join the NPP because I knew that the Zik factor will not allow anybody to win election in Igboland if he is not in NPP. But he refused. He remained in NPN and so he lost the election. He remained an active politician until he died in 2007.
He was religious. He believed in Catholicism and pursued it. He was an exemplary Catholic. A Catholic by conviction and by his own right, he can confront a priest who is wrong and tell him you are wrong. He was very outspoken, very strong and, above all, fearless. I love my father. He was my hero. He was a good man.
You have not mentioned your mother in all these. What sort of woman was your mother?
I have not talked about my mother because you have not raised an issue about her. My mother is a greater hero to me than my father. Over 70 per cent of what I know my mother taught me. It is difficult for me to make a public statement without talking about my mother. My father was a strong personality but the person that taught me discipline, the philosophy by which I live today is my mother’s philosophy. That is the philosophy of hardwork, philosophy of diligence, philosophy of initiative. All of these my mother taught me. Far, far beyond my father, my mother was my greater hero in every sense. There are a few things I quote about my father, I just adore him. But it is difficult for me to make reference that this is what I learnt, I only admire him. But the things that made me who I am today are things I learnt from my mother. The philosophy upon which I built my life, my mother taught me.
My mother taught me to love people, my mother taught me to care for the needy, my mother taught me to respect my wife, my mother taught me to relate well with people in the office. She used to tell me don’t ever maltreat the person working with you; don’t ever deny them their due. Even if they are wrong, be careful in how you punish. In fact, there are some of them she will tell me no matter what they do I must not punish them; that any punishment that is due them she was ready to bear it herself.
My mother was a comforter. She may not have all you need but my mother will never send you away empty handed. My mother was a lover of people. She had a thriving business selling abada (wrappers). But because of poverty they were women who were using one wrapper to tie themselves and their babies and when my mother saw such women she would give them wrappers, asking them to bring the money whenever it was convenient for them to do so. It does not matter to her that she doesn’t even know the name of the person, not to talk of the fellow’s address. She trusted people so much believing that they would bring the money. Many didn’t bring the money but the good news, for her, was that a problem had been solved. She gave freely, generously. There are a few human beings I’ve met that are as generous. Mama taught me all those things. I don’t know who I would have been without my mother’s influence. She died not too long after the death of my father. My father was buried on January 10, 2008 and my mother died in June 2009