Last Sunday, a day after he moved out on transfer to a local church in Emene, Enugu, popular Catholic priest, Rev. Ejike Mbaka, held a Mass at the adoration ground near his new parish. He also fed thousands of worshippers at the adoration ground with snacks, announcing that regular church service would henceforth be holding on the ground every Sunday at 10:am. Some newsmen who wanted to know how Fr. Mbaka was in his new location, finally got opportunity to speak with him at about 6:30pm. In this interview, which he granted standing, Mbaka tried to clarify some issues, surrounding his life, ministry and prophecy. He also talked about his encounter with wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Petrus Obi reports for Daily Sun… Excerpts:
How are you coping with your transfer, father?
God is wonderful. You can see that I am smiling, filled with cheers and the joy of the Lord. I have the feeling that God’s hand is in my going out of GRA. No matter what caused it, no matter how it was caused, I am seeing everything as the will of God. When I remember that God is with me and for me, I am filled with joy and comforted. The ways of God are divine and mysterious and at times when He wants to do a thing, we humans may not understand it. We may be seeing the external, but God, who sees the future, plans and packages everything for us. When we were leaving the GRA on Saturday, the worshippers in the Adoration Ministry were filled with mixed feelings. I was also filled with thoughts of where to keep the ministry’s assets because this is a ministry God has blessed. I am not talking about my personal assets, which basically, are books and clothes. But I am happy that I am here. Although the place I am posted to cannot contain the assets of the ministry, we have to get going. As it is, I am joyful and the vision and passion have hiked; the vibration is all over and I want to tell you that starting from now, it is no longer going to be the Adoration Ministry that people knew before now, in Jesus name, Amen.
Mrs. Jonathan visited and you prayed for her. Where did the disconnect come in because there are allegations that you wanted phone number and money, which were not given to you?
Praise the Lord… I am just laughing because many people try to enter areas they don’t know. Prophetic area is a life that is spiritual. Holy Spirit controls that atmosphere. The Holy Spirit, who gives you life now can take it one minute after. He does not make mistake and because you are living last night and died in the morning does not mean He has made mistake. He is unchangeable. God can change circumstances. So, when it comes to prophetic life, it should be an area that should be left for people who have prophetic spirit; it is not a layman’s football field to play in; it is not even a journalist’s field to rattle words.
Prophet’s life is a gift. God has been using me to prophesy since my days in the primary school and all of them have come true. In my primary three, even when I knew nothing, people would come to me to tell them what I knew about them. I don’t see it always and I don’t know any particular thing that I do and I begin to see it; but when it comes, I will say it like that and it will be true. So, the case of Jonathan and his wife, God in heaven knew that apart from the offertory the woman gave at the altar, there was money in the bag that one of the aides of the former President brought. The Holy Spirit said send back this money and I returned the whole money plus the one she put as offertory. All of them were returned. When the saga was going on, I put my hands on the altar, swore an oath that if I ever touched Jonathan’s one kobo, may he win the election and that if I never and I was being accused of it, he would fail the election.
There was this issue about phone number….?
I demanded the phone number, not for any personal encounter; it was so that if any message came that we could give to him privately, we would do so. Some prophecies should not be made public, but when the person that should receive it privately inhibits the opportunity of receiving it, God may force you to make it public. It burns like fire in your heart. I don’t take bribe from anybody. God blessed me. Many people think I live by offertory but I want to say that throughout my stay in GRA, I was never fed with one kobo of offertory money. I am a musician; I have music worth multi-million naira. I don’t know how to write sofa notation; it comes by inspiration and it is a gift from God. But I swore an oath that whatever God gives to me will go to charity, to help the poor and less-privileged, the church and ministry.
The type of church I am talking about is the interdenominational and even inter-religious. When I want to do charity, I don’t look at who is a Muslim or Christian; it is global. So, why would I take money from Mrs. Jonathan, for what? If I need money from them, I know what was offered me, but I don’t need that kind of money. At that time, people were saying N5 million, but if I tell you what I was offered, you will drop what you are holding. Two senators were there when I returned the money; one of them, said if he was in my shoes, he would take the money and be prepared to die. He said a normal man of God could not return it and I said then, I was not normal. I left the money there and came back. So, when they could not give me their number, they asked Kennedy Opara to give me his number. So, I would call Kennedy that we were praying for them to win the election. I did not prophesy the day the woman came. I was praying for them and then on December 31, the prophecy came undiluted, just like the prophecy of 2013 that Nigerian oil boom time will turn to oil doom, that Jonathan should wake up and diversify our economy, that in no distant time, our naira would have a problem, our oil would fail in the market. The warning was for us to maximise the boom time and wait for the doom period.
Nobody listened; many men of God started criticising me. I never criticised any man of God because of his message. But why is it that anytime Mbaka speaks, people get worried? I would say that the prophecy was that Jonathan would not win the election and he didn’t win it. What else do we need to do to know it is true? The accomplishments, the fulfillment and realisation of prophetic utterance prove the reality. If it is God, it must come to pass; if it is not God, it must not come to pass. God cannot fail and if he had authored a prophecy, he will finish it.
So, the issue of Jonathan and money, God in heaven knows, none of their one kobo was given to me. Why are people even making a noise? Before Jonathan came, the prophecy came that the next president would come from Niger Delta; so why are they making noise? The day Abacha died, prophecy came a week before (Wednesday before the Monday he died), that the president would die next week. Instead of his aides coming to ask about the solution (because most of the time, when God gives me a prophecy, He gives the solution), they pursued me; even my mechanic was almost killed that time. They continued to witch-hunt me. I ran into the bush, from Thursday morning, Friday, Saturday and on Sunday I came from the bush to celebrate Mass and the message kept coming that Abacha’s death was imminent and the next day, I was in the chapel when the message came that Abacha was no more. So, that is it. I don’t know how it came. So, when Abacha eventually died on that Monday, people shuddered. I ask people to respect God and respect His words and ways and stop defaming the minister of God, remembering Psalm 105:15: ‘touch not my anointed and do no harm to my prophet’.
That I am a priest does not mean I am not Ejike Mbaka. So, there is nothing fake or political about my prophetic life. I don’t say things to gain anything. Even President Buhari, when it was prophesied that he was going to be the president, I had never seen or known him then. When eventually I met him (Buhari) when I went for prayers at Aso Rock (not the one people saw me shaking hands with him), what I demanded from him was good governance for Nigeria. I didn’t ask him to give me one kobo. One kobo of Buhari has never entered my hand.
So, did Buhari assure you of good governance?
Buhari assured. His only worry is democratic bureaucracy; if not, this country could, by now, have turned into one where everybody will praise God. So, it’s the same Buhari who worked with Idiagbon, the same spirit, the same enthusiasm, the same will power, the same focus and; the difference is that now there are lots of democratic hurdles; yet he assured me of giving Nigeria good governance.
But so far, are you satisfied with what he has done?
You know it’s too early to judge Buhari; because going by what we have seen in the past government, so far, Buhari has done very well. Look at the case of moral probity, how he, without mincing words, said no to same sex marriage. It’s unAfrican; he said it’s not debatable in Nigeria.
Because if same sex marriage is legalised in Nigeria, it is worse than economic collapse because the bedrock of every successful country is her morality. So, if Buhari is touching the nucleus of the country, which is the moral probity and enhancing spiritual value, he has succeeded.
Also, look at the issue of Boko Haram; somebody who came to fight terrorism, even though there are skeletal attacks here and there, but the issue of gang-up of Boko Haramic force, operating with flags and taking over the country is a dead story. So, he has succeeded; kudos to him. No matter how other people are seeing him, they must learn to see the good part of him; he is doing his best, but Nigerians must do their best too. So, the man who is fighting terrorism doggedly like this, has he not succeeded? We should clap for him, even if he has not gotten 100 per cent; 98 per cent is not a small mark.
In the area of corruption, for the first time, the untouchables in Nigeria are being touched. Courageously, he is moving, like a lion; not to get anything from it but to save Nigeria, the sinking Nigeria. If it’s not somebody like Buhari, by now Nigeria will be a country for sale.
Because of the faith, guarantee and assurance Buhari is giving to the international community, they see him as a man that is trustworthy; a man that is not corrupt; a man they can invest in his government and go home and sleep. That’s why multi-national companies are coming to invest; people are just waiting for the budget and the country will spark-off. It is the budget that is slowing down many things and you cannot blame Buhari over the budget and you cannot equally blame the National Assembly for the budget delay; because there is fluctuation in the core source of the budget, oil.
Today, it is $29, tomorrow it is $27; before you know it , it comes to $31; but remember the benchmark is $38; so, how can it be approved? Which means the budget under this present predicament is unrealistic.
Buhari was realistic when he proposed the budget, but the economic decay and collapse have put everybody off balance. If you approve it now, how will the money be realised? Can you imagine, the same people who wanted to continue to rule us embezzled 99 per cent of the country’s resources; not investing them in Nigeria, but sending them abroad; is that not wickedness? For me, it is a rape on the economy; past governments raped Nigeria. All of them should be kneeling down with hands up apologising from morning till night to be pardoned; going from house to house to beg Nigerians. It’s a rape. They raped our morality; they raped our economy, they raped our security; what did they not rape? They raped our spirituality; because they even gathered the men of God to be singing for them and they were giving them money. It’s holistic rape.
Some see you as a controversial figure, especially based on the way you fallout with politicians. Can you tell us what is happening between you and politicians?
Politicians want to make themselves god; and I am a servant of God. I am worried when somebody becomes an idol to be worshipped; and makes himself a sacred cow that cannot be touched; when he is a thief. I am not against politicians; politics is not evil; all politicians are not corrupt. There are some good people in politics. I encourage Christians to join politics, with good heart; it’s only good people, Christians that can change the country. Even if you are not a Christian and you are a good man, join the government. But you know the predicament Nigeria fell into was that when the military was handing over, good people were afraid whether the thing was real and a lot of hooligans took over and saw government as looting avenue where funds made to create jobs for the public, develop the country and the people is carried away by one person. Even in Igbo land, some of our politicians are turning our poor, unemployed people into Amajiris, so that when they come home they will dash them N2, 000 each, give bags of rice for 100 people and they will sing for him. And a man of God cannot be watching what is happening and keep quiet.
They say I am controversial because I say what they don’t want to hear. I don’t need their money; I want them to be faithful to God; to be dedicated to their duty, and to stop being corrupt. The little they have can be enough for them; somebody who doesn’t have a workshop, no office, no market centre, no business card, but he is a multi billionaire because he is getting sitting and standing allowance. And you say we should be clapping for them when all your brothers are wretched, and you are the only cock crowing. And when you say, my friend why should you steal, embezzle the money meant for the public, Mbaka becomes a controversial priest. These politicians want to make themselves beyond human, beyond God, forgetting they can die. Everyman of God owes God the duty of speaking the truth; if God asks me to speak, I should speak; If He asks me to keep silent, I will keep quiet. So if I am quiet and it is hurting some people and they say I am controversial, no trouble. And God asks me to speak out and I open up, but some people misunderstand me and take me as their headache. Instead of repenting they begin to fight me; how many times have they not attacked me? That is even the worry of my adoration members that where they posted me is along the main road with little space. So that’s their worry, but for me I see it as the way of God. So if I talk, it’s a problem; if I keep quiet, it’s also a problem. So which one will I do that I won’t be controversial?
How can you say Mbaka is controversial because he says give the poor people jobs? What is controversial in it? Our children have no future. There was a time I was in Aso Rock to meet Obasanjo during his time; I have been worried about the future of our children; the growing graduates. In the past, those who were thieves were those who were not learned; but when an engineer with computer begins to be a criminal, the worst is yet to happen. So what I am doing is that as a man of God I believe in excellence; I fear God, I believe in sound spirituality; I obey the church; I listen to the Holy Spirit, since I know he uses me. If somebody does well, I clap for the person, just like a father. I respect pastors; as I told you I am interdenominational, even though I am a Catholic. I am inter-religious, inter-racial; there is nothing discriminatory about what I am doing. What I am doing is global; it is divine; it’s celestial. So when there is growing corruption, the man of God should not close his mouth and face his work in the pulpit. Any man of God that is silent in time of evil is benefitting from the evil.
