Lagos cleric, Prophet Lai
Bamidele, recounting his travails in the service of God, submitted that it was
only perseverance that had kept him in the vineyard.
Specifically, he said he lost
three wives in succession and five children, and that at a time, all his life
savings in Kano were lost to ethno-religious crisis.
Bamidele, General Overseer of
Glorious Christ End-time Evangelical Church, a church with headquarters in
Lagos, spoke on the occasion of his 60th birthday at the weekend.
"It was as if I would never
get out of those disasters when they kept happening. Like the Biblical Job. I
lost three wives in quick succession during which five children also passed on.
I was virtually stretched to my wits' end; but I kept on in the faith.
“But I have been undeterred
because I know the devil, having caused those losses, had forgotten that the
Lord is faithful. And by the grace of God, I have been enjoying divine blessings
and increase. To the glory of God, I now have five other glorious children, who
are doing well along with my beautiful wife,” a visibly moved Bamidele said.
The cleric who also spoke on the
state of the nation, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently raise a
think-tank of credible economic experts, to help lead the country out of its
present socio-economic crisis.
According to him, rising cases of
suicide were clear indications that all is not well with the Nigerian economy.
Recalling how some persons had
attempted suicide in Lagos last week, owing to inability to pay up debts or as
a result of excruciating hunger, Prophet Bamidele said such situations spoke
volume “that this administration’s economic programmes are failing.”
“Much as we know that anything
that will be put right must come with some pains, this kind of pain is too
deadly for contemplation. It is more painful because the Buhari administration
was elected for four years and it is almost reaching two years without
something tangible to point at.
“That people are now committing
suicide owing to hunger, joblessness and social neglect is an indictment on
whatever economic policy that might have been put in place, and it is now time
for the Buhari administration to re-strategies by forming a committee of
credible economic experts, who will help lead the country out of these
doldrums,” he counselled.
Bamidele, who said churches in
the country had been praying for the President’s well-being and quick recovery,
advised him “to free himself from members of the cabal in power, so as to
deliver the dividends of democracy.”
He also called on the President
to re-jig his cabinet so as to do away with some non-performing ministers and
aides.
Besides, the man of God deplored
government's approaches to resolving ethno-religious crises in the country,
saying it gave the impression "that the Buhari administration is being
gourded to act along ethnic lines.
"Of reference is the
lopsided arrests of perpetrators of the Ife violence in Osun State and the prevalence
of the Fulani herdsmen attacks in the southern part of the country," he
stressed.
In his remarks, an entrepreneur
and chairman of the occasion, Mr. Austin Unoh, described Bamidele as not only a
role model in godliness and piety but also a true prophet of God, “who deserves
emulation.”
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