LAWRENCE ACHUDUME’I was once tagged sinner for playing football’

Apostle Lawrence Achudume, founder of Victory Life Bible has for the first time revealed his strong attachment to the beautiful game of football before he received the call to God’s vineyard.

“Of course, I played football  even up to the  university level,”  explained Achudume in a revealing interview with The Nation. “I grew in Benin; there is no way you’ll  grew up in Benin City in those days without getting involved with football and  I had the opportunity to practice with the  likes of  late Stephen Keshi; Austin Eguavoen and a host of others.”

But he was forced to  jettison the prospect of being a professional footballer  following a divine intervention and Achudume revealed  it wasn’t an easy decision until he was dramatically stopped by a confidant.

“I stopped playing football  during my undergraduate days at University of Lagos (UNILAG but it was an interesting story,”  stated Achudume even as he disclosed his love for politics in the days of yore.

“We usually played football on Wednesdays  which  coincided with our Christian fellowship but there was this Deeper Life brother  and whenever he sees  me playing on Wednesdays, he will come over and start shouting : ‘Brother Lawrence,  you are playing football when souls are perishing and when the trumpets sounds where will you be?’

“In fact,  we called him ‘Brother Bros ‘ and he was embarrassing me anytime I’m playing football on Wednesdays;   but I have to go time and again to confess my sin  during the fellowship.

“And what was my sin? I played football; but I eventually stopped because football was taking too much of my time.”

Yet football remains the opium of the people hence Achudume is still very much at home  with the game :“I still love football  and I’ve  organised an inter-church football competition here in Abeokuta too.

“But I don’t watch live football matches  for so many reasons. One, I don’t want to support a team that would lose and secondly, I don’t like the tension that football can give.

“As a pastor, I have enough burden and I don’t want to add football to it. In my younger days, I used to go to the stadium to watch football matches live at the National Stadium in Surulere and sometimes, I was there as early as 9am because you don’t want to be locked out because  of the crowd.

“Football is still very much part of me and hopefully before the end of the year, we can  organise another inter-church football tournament here in Abeokuta.”

Meanwhile, Achudume has questioned the integrity  of politicians vis-à-vis  lack of quality leadership in the country’s body polity.

The Abeokuta-based cleric known for his prophetic messages, said the spate of defections ahead of   the 2019 general elections was an indication of the structural defects that has stunted the growth and development of the country since independence.

But he  remains positive that  Nigeria would fulfil its destiny and the dream of a  great nation, adding selfless service on the part of leaders and renewal of minds  by all Nigerians are panache to the desirable change this interview with MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN. Excerpts…

Aside  football  and your pastoral calling, what are your other passion?

Though I’m not partisan, I love politics because it gives you the room to know people’s needs and how to be of help. Politics in the sense that it has to bring the mighty at par with the common men on the streets.  I love the American model which we are trying to copy  and let me give you an instance, when Joe Biden left  government as Vice President ; he joined train to go back to Delaware with his loads and  his people with maybe the secret service. In politics, there shouldn’t be that dichotomy between the big and small. But in Nigeria, you see a mere local government with almost six  mobile policemen as guards, what is that for? If we are to practice politics or democracy as it should be done, there should not be gap between the rich and the poor. If well practised, politics is beautiful but they make it so rigid and tough in Nigeria . Even in the  British system, you’ll see the  Prime Minister going from door-to-door to campaign but here rigging of election is the order of the day. That is why I hate poverty because it has made Nigerians not to have a sense of decency; once they are given peanuts, they’ll start singing praises of these corrupt politicians. We celebrate thieves because they distribute peanuts to the masses .

Poverty is a Nigerian problem yet  some people don’t want the church to preach against poverty. But I’ll keep preaching against poverty because that is the only thing that can make a man stands on  his own without fear. Until a man  has what he can feed his family with, he would keep compromising  because poverty makes a man to be eroded with decency.

What are your thoughts about the country’s political landscape ?

Those that think they have mouth and feel  they are not the only thieves, are running back to People Democratic Party (PDP) while the thieves that have big cases with Economic and  Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are running back to All Progressives Congress (APC ) to have cover. So where is the integrity of our politicians?  We said we are copying the American presidential model  but look at the spate of defections in our country, is that how they defect from one party to the other in the USA when they lose elections?  The other day our senators were talking about lobbying and I wondered if that was the same way it’s done in the USA because in our own case it is the height of deceit and bribery. Lobbying is influencing you to see my view but not distributing cash in  ‘Ghana-must-go’ in order to have my support which is purely trading one’s conscience  and integrity. Many governors don’t listen to their people in order to execute projects  and that is why most of those projects are usually abandoned when they are out of office. Here in Ogun State, there are several projects done by previous  governments that have been overgrown with bush today because those projects were not people’s oriented. In democracy, you start from the people to the government  and not vice versa ; so the first thing that should come to the mind of anybody in government is what are people in my constituency  saying? Bui the present circumstance, they collect money, sell the people and come back to give them peanuts.  What are the constituency projects you have seen anywhere around the country?  Except for repainting of toilet facilities or digging of boreholes that doesn’t bring out water. So we need  true elections  for us to get true and righteous leaders in Nigeria. Unfortunately, INEC is compromised and that is why we have not been able to credible elections; and the police must be independent of any ruling party. The military and Department of State Security must be independent so that they can’t be used to intimidate opponents.  A situation where they say the INEC commissioner is related to a member of the ruling party  doesn’t inspire Fairplay,  equity and it’s just not ethical.  Irrespective of the present challenges, the dream of Nigeria as a great nation shall come to pass.

What is your prophesy and predictions for the 2019 general elections?

Sincerely, I don’t have any prophesy yet about 2019 and I just live my life on a daily basis.  But I know 2019 by the grace of God will come like any other day; each day has its own good and bad; and it is what you want that you’ll get.   Why won’t things be better if Nigerians sow righteousness into 2019? Evil and goodness happen every year and 2019 will not be different. If they are men of integrity, elections should go ahead as planned for 2019 and nobody should start seeing vision that elections should not hold because of the way Nigerians are behaving. If the Presidency and people at INEC are men of integrity, they should allow for free and fair election in 2019. We don’t need prophets to tell us that elections should hold or not. Any prophet that says elections should not hold in 2019 is an evil doer and he’s not from God.

Are you satisfied with the quality of leadership we have now?

I’m not because of integrity challenges all over the place. Where can one start from? Is it the ministers or the senators? I don’t hate President Buhari or the APC but what will cost to fix few things. Imagine spending four hours on that short stretch  from the long bridge to the Redeem camp; in other places they often fix roads at night so that you don’t stress commuters  because the more people are delayed on the roads the more we lose economic values. Is it electricity? For the past 15 years, I have not used electricity in my house?  For almost eight years that we are here (VLBC Headquarters), we have not been able to use NEPA or what do you call it because it can’t carry the gadgets and equipment we are using? What is that we can’t get the issue of electricity solved? High cost of  power generation increases cost of production which invariably leads to high cost of  goods and services. So what kind of leaders do we have that can fix electricity after so many years after independence? Is it not a shame that Nigeria has the largest market for generating sets in the world? How can I then be satisfied with the quality of leadership we have?

What honestly do you thing can bring the change Nigerians desire?

It is easy to make change a slogan but one of the cardinal ways to bring the expected change is for our leaders to be selfless. One of the problems we have is that as soon as our leaders get into power, they begin to steal as much as they can in order to win the next election; and this is the problem at all level of government from the federal to the local government. The only vision they have is how to acquire money to win second term in office.  I don’t also know the work of the national orientation agency if they can’t let people know that monetarised politics and buying of votes is killing us in this country. Nigerians need renewal of minds; since nobody can live to be 150 years because we have all seen presidents, senators die. So why can’t we use the opportunity and available resources for the common good of all Nigerians? They borrowed money to steal yet none of us can sleep on two beds at time or sleep in two rooms or where four pairs of shoes at the same time. So we need a complete change of mind and I think our house of worship have great roles to play.

What is the role of the church in nation building and do you subscribe to partisan politics by men of God?

I’m not against any pastor or men of God going into politics because that’s their own personal decision.   Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly is one man I respect so much and I’ll support him in the best way possible because he’s forthright . Anyone is free to go but if they go, they shouldn’t compromise. Pastors should keep telling their people in government to remain forthright and that is what I do here at Victory Life Bible Church; money should not allow anybody  to forget this because immediately you compromise on this, you have lost your honour . That we want to eat cow doesn’t mean we should call cow an uncle. Any pastor that dances around men based on what he wants to get will definitely lose honour. Pastors must speak truth and the mind of God to our leaders; it’s normal and expected to be hated if you speak the truth. I know we still have genuine and outstanding men of God in this country and I beseech them to be steadfast.

Do you see Nigerians getting to the promised land?

I’m a Nigerian and I’m convinced that we would get to the land of our dream. I’ve never lived abroad and there is nothing bad about living abroad; but I’m convinced that Nigeria will get it right. Those who are stilling money and buying properties abroad are not wise because their children might not be able to inherit these properties when they die.  They should rather learn to give as much as they can give; no giving is easy. We must be ready to sacrifice for our people. I recently gave cars to two widows in the church and everybody thought it was too much. I didn’t have the money at the time I ordered for the cars but the spirit led me to see how I can ameliorate the sufferings of these widows.

So, what are some of the challenges you have faced since you founded  Victory Life Bible Church?

I think everybody has challenges but I have never seen any challenge that made me cry or that would give me sleepless night…

But what can make you cry?

Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve cried praising God for all that he has done for me but I don’t see what anybody can do for me that would make me cry. God’s favour to me has been too much and I considered myself as one of the most favoured person by God in this world and that’s why I  can’t cry no matter  what anybody would do against me. I have seen betrayer at the greatest level but I see that as human’s bad behaviour. That human beings can be ungrateful is something that I considered as normal and I don’t fray over it because I can’t be caught unaware;   I’ll already knew before anyone can betray me.  What I’m doing is not mine but God’s; and that is why you can’t find my name in the property of Victory Life Bible Church.

How do you separate the church money from Apostle Lawrence Achudume’s purse?

I think you have answered the question. The purse of the church is different from my personal purse.  I pay my tight and sew my seed like any other member of the church; I don’t draw salary from the church and the same as my wife though she’s a full time minister in the church. That is the standard and we want everyone to live by faith according to the words of God. My covenant with God is that I want to serve him and he has been faithful to supply all our needs. I have never shipped in goods of any form from abroad to sell and I’ve never asked anybody to do that on my behalf.  Abeokuta is known for its adire but I have never taken any to sell outside the country.  I have lived by faith and I can tell anybody that God is a provider.

You spoke so much about prophesying….

I’m a product of prophesy and I believe in prophecy. I’m not talking about these fake things the fake men of God claimed to be doing. Fake prophecy is cooked up and arranged in order to win fame or favour of the people.   I can prophesy that you’ll be great or that you’ll return to Lagos safely, why won’t you travel back safely? But genuine prophesy is revelation of hidden things long before it happened and I’m a product of such prophesy. There is nothing that would happen to me now that God has not revealed it to me years back. There has never been an alleged scandal or betrayal that has happened in this church that I was not aware before it happened. I usually tell my pastors ahead and the need for them to pray when God has revealed such to me because   I’ll already knew what was going to happen before hand.

What major scandal or betrayal have you suffered since the start of the church?

I have faced all sorts of things anybody can think of in this ministry. I have been accused of sexual immorality; even doing magic and deceiving people. But it doesn’t bother me because most people that accused me of such usually come back to apologize.  So I already have a ready-made answer when  people come  to me saying  someone said something to me;  and my answer has always been:’ the person who told you  this story knows the truth and I know the truth, so leave the person.’ Often times, when people lied against you when they are a victim of something. For instance, some lied against me because I counselled him to repent over something bad and actually told him not to tell anybody about it but before I knew, the story was everywhere and he was actually saying another thing. Such doesn’t bother me again; why would I argue when both of us knew the truth.  Someone I sent to university accused me of rape and I asked was it in her dream or how?  I’d also been accused of dating wo ladies who were close  to me but I knew I never did and fortunately  when they got married, their husbands came back begging  for my  forgiveness because  they met the two ladies in question as virgins.  There is nothing I would say behind people that I would not have said it to their face;  I would  have told you to stop stealing If I knew you are thief and what difference would it make if I now tell someone that I’ve told him to stop stealing but he has not?

How much of support do you get from your wife?

We met during our NYSC in Kaduna; I was the secretary of the Christian Corpers Fellowship while she was the assistant secretary; destiny brought us together because we didn’t plan it. It never crossed my mind that she was going to be my wife during our service year in the NYSC.My wife is a very quiet person except when she’s with the microphone to preach or praise God. I think she was born to be a missionary because she loves evangelism. I don’t think there is any village around Abeokuta that my wife has not gone on mission giving food stuffs, drugs and clothing where necessary.  She has that compassion to help people. Her latest advocacy is rehabilitating prostitutes; picking them from the streets and putting them in good accommodation where they acquire business skills and rehabilitated in order to give them a more meaningful life. She’s partnering the state government on this to keep these prostitutes off the streets. The bottom line is that she loves God. Both of us found early life that we needed  to help people and part from scholarships we give out, we still try to help in other various ways.