Pastor (Dr) Daniel Olukoya is the founder and General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM).

In this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, he speaks on national issues and the next phase of the church after 30 years of its establishment.

Many Nigerians have continued to express their grievances about the various challenges of the country. What do you think could be done?

All and sundry cannot claim that we are unaware of the various challenges we face as citizens of the country. The problems have become so terrible that we don’t know what the end result would be, but the only solution I can proffer is God. Anybody who wants to fulfill his or her destiny in life must become a friend of God, because God is a programmer of everybody. He has our lives in His hands. He is the one that knows everybody best, because He is like a manufacturer and you cannot know a product more than the manufacturer and since God is our manufacturer, we have to become His friend. Also, we must obey God and leave a clean holy life so as to fulfill destiny and for us to experience a peaceful nation.

You said part of your mission as the leader of the MFM is to empower the younger generation. How have you been able to achieve this?

My agenda is to ensure that the youth devote their time to useful endeavours. This is why I took up the responsibility to champion an award of excellence for any graduate that finishes with First Class. This initiative is part of my 70-point plan for youth development and this has been achieved, because we have been encouraging and boosting their academics since we started. The award is one. The MFM football club is another and I thank God that both are doing well now. The award started in 2010 when we gave out 19 cars to first class graduates. By 2013, the number of first class graduates increased to 77. We could no longer afford to give out cars, so we resorted to giving out cash awards. This is why we honoured 311 youths of the church who made first class at various institutions with cash prizes at the celebration of the 30 years anniversary of the church recently.

Personally, I am amazed over the development. So, we now have over 600 first class graduates in MFM and this is record-breaking. However, the church is not only about deliverance and prayers, It also engages in praise and worship, holiness teachings and practices including a decent and stringent dress code. We have uncommon music evangelism. I don’t joke with music, that is why we invest so much in musical instruments. This is one of the reasons we made it a mandate for every student of the Mountain Top University (MTU) to learn at least one musical instrument, a foreign language and a vocational skill aside their academics so that they can become an all-round enterprise when they are out of school.

Despite the efforts of the church to curb the involvement of youths in vices, the rate of crimes and other vices is on the increase. What could be responsible for this?

There is something called spiritual magnet in the spirit realm where life forces will always attack life forces. I want to urge parents to educate their children and ensure they are godly and ensure that they keep good company.

Your ministry recently clocked 30, how has the journey been so far?

It has been glorious. We give honour to God for a supernatural guidance and 30 years divinely-orchestrated positive impact across the whole world. The experience and testimonies are numerous. Though it is hectic, it was not easy when we started. Also, it is not easy to be a lone ranger, because a lot of people were against us, especially on our activities and prayers. To the glory of God, they are doing the same thing today. I don’t take offence against this, I only see it as an expansion of the ministry. It is a worthy of note that MFM has expanded across the country and has reached the world irrespective of denominations. A lot of churches, even mosques, have adopted our style and it is evident that the ministry is built on a solid foundation. I want to say that the journey of the church has just started, as our best is yet to come as we prepare to move the ministry to the next level.

What is your plan for the next phase of the ministry as the church leader?

We have already mapped out the next phase and we are going to pursue it aggressively. We will not give space to be trampled upon. The followings are our plans: Aggressive evangelism; Bible addiction; courage; discipline; endurance; faith; giving sacrificially; holiness; integrity; joy; knowledge; love; non-conformity with evil; obedience; prayerfulness and fasting; quality; revival; steadfastness; thankfulness and praises; unity; vision; wisdom; excellence, yielding totally to the word of God and zeal in the house of God. These are the key things that will usher us in the next phase of the church and I am confident that God will strengthen us.

Despite efforts clerics like you are making the development of the church, some are still causing embarrassment to the body of Christ. How do you see this?

It is not peculiar to the church; it is all over the place. There are fake people even in the mosque. So, the church is not an exception. There are fake people in any religion. We also have fake herbalists. The Bible makes it clear that the church is like a dragnet thrown into the sea and when you throw dragnet into the sea, you fish, but you are going to take crab and many other things one doesn’t need. So, the church is always a mixture of people; you find strange people all the time anywhere in the world. Even among the disciples of Jesus Christ, there was Judas.

What should be the role of the church in ensuring restoration of the country to its rightful place?

The church should be the habitation of truth and prayer. When churches abandon prayers, a lot of things will go wrong in the nation. I want to charge the entire body of Christ to be closer to God, be an addict Bible reader and lead a holy life. And for our nation, we need divine intervention. Personally, I am a believer in one Nigeria and I believe God has a purpose why we are in this particular stage today. I keep telling people that if you look at the map of Africa, it looks like a gun and Nigeria is at the trigger end. So, God has a purpose for Nigeria. I believe that we Christians need to pray more for the revelation of God’s purpose for Nigeria.

Source: Tribune online