Taxing the Church will have grave consequences’

By Evelyn Usman

Reverend Ben Eragbai , popularly known as the Jesus soldier, is the General Overseer of Divine Appointment Ministry, Lagos. In this interview, he condemns the recommendation by members of the  National Conference to pass into law payment of tax by churches and mosques. Eragbai, who recently turned 50, also reminiscences on his days at  the shrine  of the late musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

How has life been in the last 50 years?
It has been so interesting in the sense that God has been my helper, because life without Christ is a life of crisis. By the grace of God, I have been able to put crisis behind me from the day I accepted Jesus into my life in 1989, that was when I graduated from the university. God has been faithful. I have never known a better last year but a better tomorrow according to Proverbs 4: 18 which states that the path of the just shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.

Rev Eragbai

How would you describe growing up?
I come from a humble background where poverty was the order of the day. But God has helped me to impact my family positively. Growing up was in the barracks. We moved from place to place because then, Nigeria had finished fighting civil war. . Early stage was characterized with moving from one place to another because my sister’s husband whom I stayed with was always on transfer.

I had a humble background that led to where I am today. I did not know God then. I smoked marijuana with the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. That is how bad it was. I would leave the University of Benin for Lagos, just to participate in Friday yabis night  with the late Fela. But today, God has been faithful and knowing God has really redefined my life.

What was the turning point of your life
The turning point of my life was in the 80s, when I attended a particular crusade organised by Arch. Bishop Benson Idahosa of blessed memory. I remember going there with my girlfriend and a group of friends. I ended up giving my life to God but, when we went back to campus, I derailed . But a seed was sown into my life and I believe that was the seed God capitalized on to make me what I am today.

You smoked marijuana and its likes but succeeded in coming out of it. Now that you are a preacher of the gospel, aren’t you concerned about youths who indulge in smoking marijuana and the resultant effect on their health?
I want to say God has been faithful because through me a lot of bad boys are now in church. Some of them today are pastors, some are in the ushering department and others in the choir because they heard my testimony . I personally remember one young man who stormed this place in the company of some social miscreants, to stop work while the building was under construction. I drove in that day and saw someone showing him a photograph of me in Fela shrine. Do you know from that day, the young man gave his life to Christ and I personally prayed for him? Even armed robbers have turned a new leaf by listening to my testimony. One of such was during my television programme . A young man who said he hated listening to men of God was about going out for a robbery operation when he heard me sharing my testimony on the screen.

He said he decided to listen but that at a point, he stood up to switch off the television, only to hear me say, ‘don’t touch that dial!’ He said he was shocked and wondered if I was monitoring him. Again, h e said he heard me saying ‘don’t go with bad gang, don’t go and join them to rob because you may not make it back’. He said that was to be his first operation but he never went. I remember him calling me to pray for him. He called some years later and said he was in Bible school. Another instance was when I was preaching in Onipanu area. At that time, we had this horn speaker outside and since we were at the bus-stop, this young man said something told him to come and join us inside, instead of waiting outside, so that people won’t suspect him. He said he was waiting to give information  to  members of his gang. I had almost finished preaching when he came in and he heard me say, ‘there was an armed robber who was about to go for an operation’ and that I said God is saying ‘don’t go because if you do, you may never make it back alive’.

He said he wondered how I knew he was present in the midst of thousands of persons. After the programme, I saw one lanky guy kneeling before me as said pastor ‘I am the one you spoke about’.. To ascertain his claim, he gave me a telephone number to call and when I did, it turned out to be the number of a pastor who is his younger brother . When I mentioned the young man’s name, the pastor exclaimed and advised me not to have anything to do with the person, that he was an armed robber and had been disowned by the family. After the conversation, we rehabilitated him; he told us he was sent to prison for a crime he never committed. He was awaiting trial for three and a half years.

During this period, he met an armed robbery kingpin who showed him care. He said this armed robbery kingpin was the first to be released and after three years, some human rights group facilitated his  own release. But he ended up staying with the robbery kingpin whom he met in prison, when his family disowned him . The man gave him a gun and, on that night he met us, he was sent to do surveillance of the area before the gang would strike. Today, that man is a pastor. The police could not change him, neither could the prison. But the church did. That is why any time I hear them say the church should pay tax, I get angry…

What is your take on the recommendation by the  Confab on the payment of tax by religious bodies?
I am totally against the church paying tax. In America for instance, when you give offering in the church, it is given to you as tax deduction and, at the end of the year, government gives tax rebate to churches. That is a nation that regards God,even though America may not be a righteous nation.
I want to state here, as a prophet,  that if Nigeria begins to collect tax from churches, Nigeria will end because God will remove his hand from this nation and that will be the final blow. Prophetically, I am saying God will remove his hand from this nation and the system will go down. Do you know why? Remember Russia, at a time stood against God and what happened?  Russia came down. Russia was a super power nation but never had regard for God. Today, it is at the mercy of America.

There is enough money in this country that politicians have squandered. The church is not the problem in Nigeria. Corruption is. The day that bill is signed into law , before six months, you will realise that God will remove his hand from Nigeria .. You know why? Nigeria is the only place that prayer is the only thing keeping us. Nigeria is the only place where prayer is working. We are interceding that there should be no anarchy. They are saying pastors are buying private jets. Let me ask, don ‘t government officials own private jets? What is the big deal about men of God owning private jets? They say churches have universities. Yes, but there are many people these churches are sponsoring without coming out to tell the public . They also ask why learning in the church-owned universities is not free of charge. It is because the lecturers have to be paid. If you pay peanuts as salary, its monkeys that will show up. If you want to hire professors, then you must pay professors’ salary.

In what way would you say the church has helped intercede for the country, with regard to the present security situation?
It is the prayer that is keeping Nigeria. Do you know, for instance, that it is God that made members of Boko Haram sect to kidnap Chibok students so that the world can be against them. Before this time, we tried to get the attention of the world but nobody was listening and Boko Haram went ahead slaughtering people. Even when they attacked the United Nations building, Thisday Newspaper house, the Police headquarters, among other places, the sect was not labeled  a terrorist group, until the school girls were abducted . Now, the United States, Isreal and other countries are interested in fighting this  scourge.God is at work. We are praying for the children and I am certain that they will be released.

How did you meet your wife?
As a matter of fact I didnt know she was going to be my wife because she was working in the camera department of the church. When it was time for me to marry, she was not even in the church, she was outside the country. I was not ready to get married  but was more interested in doing  God’s work. I remember that my father in the Lord, Rev Felix Omobude, who is the present President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, sat me down and said it was time for me to marry. I was afraid because I thought if I had a wife the anointing will stop. Aside that, I asked myself, where is the woman because  I had many of them hunting for me. Most came with gifts.

It was so terrible that I always left my office open to ensure my secretary was seeing me. I remember one of the ladies coming into the office at a time and held my legs saying, ‘ man of God, what did I do to you? God has spoken, why are you not talking?’. I had to call my secretary to take the lady out of my office and that was the last day she came to church.

Others did not take such violent approach. A particular one would always sit in front of the church to the extent that a a group of deaconesses came and said ‘daddy, why are you not looking at that girl that worships very well’. Actually, when she would be worshiping, she would be crying and rolling on the floor. They said she was a perfect match for me and that she was beautiful but I ended up chasing the group away.

The main reason of my being scared was because of my rough background and I was not ready to go back to it at all. If you talked about girl friend, I have had both white and black girlfriends, back in those days. Now that I am in the kingdom I told myself I was not going to live same life.
At a point, Rev. Omobude gave me a time to get married and the question was, how to talk to the ladies because those days, I wooed ladies under the influence of alcohol and marijuana. The big question was how to walk up to a member of my church and tell her I wanted to marry her.

At a point, I remember I had a member who was very gentle but was not in the country. I said, okay, since this one is not in Nigeria I could call and talk to her on phone since I won’t have to see her eye- ball to eye-ball. So, I picked the phone called her, I said my daughter how are you , she said fine .I said God bless you and dropped the phone. Few days later, I called her again and told her there was something important I had to discuss with her, she asked what it was, I said, em…. and dropped the phone. At a point, I summoned courage and called again and asked her if  she would be interested in marrying a pastor . She asked who the pastor was and I said,’ what if it was me and that was how it started and today, she is here as my better half.