Dr. Mensa Otabil, the General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church, compared the Nigerian presidency to God’s style of rule, claiming that most Nigerians would not survive God’s rigorous rule if He were the country’s president.
The clergyman who announced this on Monday during a live appearance at the Platform, a programme that is non-political and non-denominational and is hosted by The Covenant Nation in Iganmu, Lagos State, cited Moses and the Israelites’ successful passage through the Red Sea and noted how their victory was incongruous with God’s ultimate plan when they met him at Mount Sinai.
“God is not your president; you just have to pray, because if God is your president, you’ll be so uncomfortable with life. If God was president of Nigeria, most of us would not survive,” Otabil stated.
“So, how does God behave as president of a nation? Well, check Israel. When he was president before they had a king, he ruled them, and how did he rule them? He gave them Manna; he had a good social system and a good welfare system.
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“He (God) gave them electricity by day and air conditioning by night; he provided support. He provided the waterworks system, he gave them water from a rock, and so in terms of their well-being, he supported them, but he also wanted them to live by laws.”
“The first thing God did for Israel after he delivered them was that when the people were delivered, they went into praise and worship. Miriam and Moses sang songs, and they all rejoiced because they’d come out of the Red Sea, but that was not really God’s plan,” he said.
“God says, ‘You can have your praise and worship. I’m taking you to Mount Sinai.’ And when they got to Mount Sinai, there was no praise and worship. There was law and God was so terrifying and the atmosphere was so dominating that the people did not want to be in the presence of God.”
“The first thing he (God) did was to give them laws (the Israelites who were captives for 400 years); not only did he give them laws, but he also had stern reprimands for when you disobeyed the law,” he said.
“He (God) knocked them off; he knocked them off so much that they had to learn to live a structured life, that is God leading a nation. You did your stuff on the wall; you are gone. You did your stuff in the bush; you are gone; he’ll take you out.”
