The Church Must Lead the Spiritual Reawakening  – Oby Ezekwesili

 

The outspoken former Nigerian minister of education, minister of mineral resources, former Vice President of the World Bank, Africa Region, and former co-convener of Bring Back Our Girls, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, has lent her voice on the backdrop of present happenings in Nigeria and what has brought the country to its present state of moral decadence, and reputational low.

She bemoaned that Nigerians have outsourced their outrage to a few people, and our voices are divided when it matters most to defend the sanctity of lives. Our division over systemic destruction has become the world’s rebuke for our collective indifference and failure of voices, with foreign leaders like President Donald Trump warning about genocide and the killing of Christians in Nigeria, “it is not just a diplomatic embarrassment the way the people are seeing it, it is the direct consequence of our collective indifference. We did not unify our voices to defend the sanctity of life when it mattered, and that has made us become the world’s rebuke”, she lamented.

Dr Oby Ezekwesili made this known as the keynote speaker during the Kingdom Lifestyle Conference (Series 3), themed “From Systemic Poverty to Sustainable Prosperity – A Biblical and Market Impact-Oriented Framework”, organised by Jesus World Changers Apostolic Mission (JWCAM), and held at the auditorium of NIIA, Lagos.

She emphasised that it would be unfair to sit unconcerned about the desecration of human life until another nation started rebuking us. What the President of the United States said, should that be what happens to Nigeria? She asked, and further said, we brought it on ourselves where people are saying, this country is descending into a mass killing field, and what has brought the country to the present state of moral decadence and reputational low is because, over a decade, a few Nigerians have raised their voices, warning against underdevelopment and growing poverty when the citizens lives are not valued. Instead of awakening national conscience, such voices are met with stiff verbal attacks, slander and hostility by government officials and their allies, silencing them from demanding justice and leadership accountability.

“The vacuum of moral courage is what empowered impunity and got us to where we are today. Through Trump’s blunt words, warning Nigeria about genocide and governance collapse, we must admit that it is not an external insult, but the ego of our collective moral failure. You can’t solve what you don’t take responsibility for, and you can’t solve what you deny. Our strongest Nigerians are denying that we have a problem. We cannot continue to express outrage only when outsiders shame us”, Ezekwesili stated.

Speaking further, she said It’s unfair to sit unconcerned about the desecration of human life until another nation starts rebuking us. What the President of the United States said, should that be what happens to Nigeria? We brought it on ourselves, where people are saying, This country is descending into a mass killing field.

The Church is a powerful part of civil society, and we must insist that leadership is a trust, not a trophy to be won. We are all connected in building solidarity across our ethnic groups, our faiths, and our classes. We need to refuse to normalise failure.

Quoting from Romans 12:2, she said, This conference should make everyone renew their minds. Poverty is not just an economic condition; it is a mental and spiritual activity, sustained by a mindset that normalises lack, excuses mediocrity, and accepts injustice as destiny. The mind is both personal and systemic; transformation begins with the individual and ends with institutions. The kingdom mindset sees challenges as opportunities for divine creativity and refuses to be paralysed by scarcity.

To achieve sustainable prosperity, and change public narratives to celebrate diligence, the church must raise kingdom ambassadors, build mentorship and discipleship networks that model godly character in business and politics, and see themselves as stewards of heaven in the bathroom, making decisions that prioritize long-term stewardship over short-term, in the classroom, teaching truth, nurturing excellence, and inspiring curiosity; in the marketplace, building ethical enterprises that create jobs and uplift communities, and in the public service, governing with transparency, humility, and a certain talent. “When the mindset changes, behaviour changes, and when behaviour changes, the systems shift. That is when poverty loses its grip”, she said.

She charged the church to lead the spiritual reawakening of conscience, to teach every human being to bear the image of God, and practically consider using the pulpit to teach civic empathy, public morality, and to promote practical civic human dignity, justice advocate, speaking prophetically and persistently against mass killings and official indifference. Train congregants to demand accountability and lawful action when the state fails to protect life because the most politically illiterate people are still in the church, and to avert the crisis of leadership, the church must become leadership incubators, raising a new generation of values-driven leaders in both the church and the market spaces who see governance as stewardship of life. 

The church must begin to prepare people to understand that when you enter government, the only thing that will keep you away from corruption is character, because whether you are corrupt or not depends on the choices you make, not the system.

The time has come for a moral and civic awakening from the pulpits of our churches and the marketplaces, from classrooms, to the boardrooms and civil service. Nigerians must now look at our irresponsible political class and their allies and say Enough is enough.

In his presentation, Mr Ade Buraimo, the GMD/CEO of Alpha Morgan Bank and a proud product of Guaranteed Trust Bank, speaks on building an empire: a kingdom-based entrepreneurship system and value creation. Quoting Psalm 127:1, he said, Building an empire, only God can build it for you. “When you want to build an empire, at any level, start with a vision because, except the Lord builds the house, the builders are building in vain. Anything you want to build, start with a vision, know where you are going, and what you want to achieve. Write the vision and engrave it plainly on clay. That he may run, that written it, for the vision is yet for an appointed time. Even if there is a delay, you have written it, it is there, God will build it for you”, he enthused. 

Shedding more light, giving the example of Alpha Morgan Bank, he said, What you see today, and I give you is running a bank with vision. “I travelled a lot, most of the strategies and things I am unfolding, God is surely giving them to me at 30 feet in the sky. Anytime I am travelling, I have a paper and a Bible with me, as they are coming, usually very big, I write them down”, he said, and urged that, always write what you want to do. Where there is no vision, no goal, and nothing to work for, there’s no purchase. So that you don’t do anything you like when nothing is guiding you, and when you do things because others are doing it without being guided, or focused, that is not your vision, and you cannot have the right focus on what you are running.

“Write your vision, face something, let people know you for something, and the best way to start is to start with a vision. However, when starting, set a goal that others can still achieve, and a timeline that you think is impossible to achieve. Build something that can scale beyond yourself, and set the next generation for greater success and not failure”, he charged.

Berating the younger generation’s lifestyle of craziness for social media, Buraimo said, “Young people celebrate pregnancy that is usually only God, that will turn into a baby, will put it on social media, it’s like, you want to start a project, and before it starts, it’s already everywhere, he admonished.

Three Central Bank governors worked on our banking license, including the current governor. We did not discuss it with anybody. When we were granted our approval in principle (AIP) in 2023, we should have reported it. Previously, when you got an AIP, you were sure of your license to become a bank. However, someone who has obtained an AIP is still hoping to get the final permit.

You don’t celebrate pregnancy; it will take you nowhere. You celebrate the baby. The world is dangerously wicked. They want you to start, but don’t want you to finish. They want you to be married, but don’t want you to have a child. They want you to have a child, but don’t want you to have a good child. Therefore, keep it until the baby is delivered.  What God has done, He has done it. Today, we have a bank, Alpha Morgan Bank, which is everywhere. 

You may be the visionary, but if your business operates like a monarchy, with you as the king and your wife as the queen, rather than building a republic with many smart people involved and invested, your chances of staying, surviving and shining are very slim. Don’t run a business that, when you travel, you say has extraordinary material.

As a kingdom-based entrepreneur, don’t run a business that, when you are not there, will be nothing. Build culture, build structure and build systems. Not people. However, people will leave, resign, pass, be terminated, or become your competitors. People were taught that people are the greatest asset in our lives, but it is the structure and the system you put into your business that will last. The people who are the greatest asset of any organisation are culture, structure and system.

Don’t build everything around people; make it around culture, structure and system. However, ensure your system, process, and business are simplified and not too complicated.

Other speakers at the Kingdom Lifestyle Conference include the President and Chairman-in-Council of NIPR, Dr Ike Neliaku, who speaks on Faith Field Communication for Market Impact, and Pastor Akin Akinpelu, who speaks on From Systemic Poverty to Sustainable Prosperity. Also, a highlight of the conference was a prayer session for Nigeria, the Church, and the country by Rev Mrs Roseline Oduyemi, Rev. David Amosun, and Rev. Tony Olukoyede.

In her remarks, the Chairman of Conference Planning Committee, Dr Mrs. Dere Awosika, mfr, oon, appreciates all the elders, servants of God, and others, who immensely supported and contributed to the success of the conference. She specifically mentioned the keynote speaker, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, and she referred to those she described as senior friends, colleagues, sponsors, and partners, who, out of love for God, and for our nation, see the conference as a

of God unto stewardship, and answered the call to identify with the vision. 

 “Nigeria has hope, and the hope today is the hope in God, and I thank God, who loves us so much that He made it possible to break the barriers of denomination. I have repented of never calling any denomination a traditional church. The church is one; all I pray is that, if you are Catholic, you believe in Jesus. If you are Baptist, believe in Jesus, if you are Anglican, believe in Jesus, if you are white garment, believe in Jesus, and if you are Pentecostal, believe in Jesus, we are all one”, she declared.

“One day, I got that revelation, I searched and searched my Bible, and I didn’t see traditional, Greek, or whatever church. As Christ was going, He said, “I pray that we (the church) will be one, like He and the Father are one”, Mrs Awosika stated.