bodyguards, policemen, etc, the type you see with some Lagos and America pastors. His flamboyance is in the Lord, spending the money to expand the ministry, giving, sowing seeds and doing the work of God. To him, its the grace of God. "God has given us favour in all the continents of the world. That is why Im been sought for to preach in churches, preach at ministers conferences and other seminars all over the world. I enjoy doing these. If anybody holds me down with a chain, I will break loose!". In this interview, still being prepared, the Bishop speaks on this grace, how to receive such grace and how God sent him to anoint General Olusegun Obasanjo as Nigeria's next president in 1998, long before Obasanjo himself knew that some people would come and ask him to be.In this interview conducted by Bola Adewara, late last year, the Bishop spoke on his calling, his relationship with President Obasanjo, his pet project, PCUniversity and the year 2007. Excerpts.
Looking at the Nigerian church today, are you satisfied by the quality of sermons coming from there? Are you happy with the state of Christianly here?
You are asking two questions in one. On how happy I am with the Church in Nigeria , yes, I am happy because I see that the Lord is moving mighty here. People flock to Church in thousands and hundred of thousands. The largest Crusades are held in Africa, the largest congregations, the largest Church, the largest prayer gathering are all in Africa. People are getting born-again and there is hope for Africa .
But if you ask me about the quality of sermons, I will say no, because though a lot is happening, someone said the Christianity in Africa is a kilometer wide and an inch deep. And this is not far from the truth.
We speak in tongues, we quote the bible, we prophesy but all these have not reflected in our daily national lives. Our traffic are chaotic, our urban lives are messed up, so much of corruption, poverty in the midst of plenty and abundances. Some are obscenely opulent, others are terribly backward and poor. So when we begin to apply the teaching of Christ in all we do, we would begin to enter the teaching of Christ.
But remember that the people we compare our country with had had Christianity for over a thousand years. America hard had if for over 200 years. Even though Africa had had Christianity before these nations, we lost it. But it was in the 1900 that revival began, at about 1841, and that was when we began to have industries, schools, e.t.c. So we are our way.
| "... someone said Christianity in Africa is a kilometer wide and an inch deep. And this is not far from the truth. " |
 * Bishop Francis Wale Oke... On duty |
So I will say our men of God should be less theoretical in theology. They should seek for ways to apply the word to our day to day living, love, diligence, excellence, and all the practical things of life. I urge my friends, Clergies, pastors, etc to let us be very practical in our teaching so that we would be able to make impact.
A Nigerian pastor in the US contended that Archbishop Benson Idahosa
(now late) stampeded Nigerian Pentecostal Christianity into these prosperity Preaching. How do you react to its?
That was a good stampede because poverty is bad. When we find a man sitting in poverty in the midst of plenty and abundance, let us scare him. Let us stampeded him out of poverty before he dies in poverty. Idahosa has done a good job and he has gone to heaven to collect his reward from God.
Some people have criticized your closeness to Nigeria 's President Olusegun Obasanjo. What do you think of his government? What did the Lord tell you about him?
Let me answer you in two ways. My idea may not necessarily be what the Lord is saying, however that does not mean I'm wrong. But when the Land says something, if I like it or not, the Lord prevails.
| |
Then, early this year when some people were making moves to elongate his tenure, the Lord told me that his administration comes to an end in May 29, 2007.
And he should not accept one day of extension. The Lord said his job now is that of Elijah to raise another Elisha that will carry on his reforms.
And by the grace of God, I went to him and I told him point blank in the presence of at least 20 witnesses. |
Obasanjo is a great man. His destiny is tied to Nigerians. That was the man who ended the Nigerian Civil War. That was the man who did not plan to become the head of state but became; the man who handed over from militancy rule to the civilian rule; the main who was imprisoned, refused to die, came out of prison like Joseph to be the man who took over from the military to the civilian. He is surely a man of destiny.
It is not fair for me to access Obasanjo while in government because he is close to me. However, what I will say is, until he leaves office before we can decipher the quality of his leadership, and know and appreciate what he has done as the president. Then Nigerians will realize that Obasanjo was the best president we ever hard. That is about my opinions.
Now going to what the Lord told me about him, God puts it in me to go and anoint him as the next president of the country. That was in March 1998 and he came to be. The rest is history. He did not believe he has anything to do with politics. It was shortly after I anointed him that he was drafted into politics.
Then early this year when some people were making moves to elongate his tenure, the Lord told me that his administration comes to an end in may 29, 2007. And he should not accept one day of extension. The Lord said his job now is that of Elijah to raise another Elisha that will carry on his reforms and by the grace of God, I went to him and I told him point blank in the presence of at least 20 witnesses.
When you first met him, did he believe you?
No. His reaction was sharp He said “I have been a very important personality in Nigeria and have been a very important prisoner. I want to rehabilitate my life. I am not interested in politics. That was exactly what he said. It was spontaneous and sharp.
But It told him “Sir, do you know why you have to go to prison for an offence you did not commit? Do you know why you have to pray and fast in prison? Do you know why you have to be born again in prison? Do you understand why you have to read through the Bible five times while in prison? God was building you to become the leader of the country. Can we pray? He said, well, there is no harm on praying. I said can we kneel down and pray, he did and we prayed and I anointed him the president of the country and I left. Today the rest is history.
| In our ministry, we are commencing a 14-day prayer and fasting for Nigeria. We are mobilizing over 3million people to join us between January 6 and 19th |
 *(L-R) Bola Adewara, editor www.elifeonline.net, Pastor A. T. Williams and Bishop Wale Oke. |
The year 2007 has come. A lot of people thinks its going to be a difficult year because of elections. What has the Lord told you?
The Lord said everything will be peaceful and nobody should be afraid of the challenge that would come with the elections. He said the elections will come and it will hold. There might be some skirmishes here and there but the transition from civilian to civilian will be successful. He wants us to pray and trust him. That will keep the devil where he belongs.
By the way, so many men of God are praying and fasting for Nigeria. In our ministry, we are commencing a 14-day prayer and fasting for Nigeria. We are mobilizing over 3million people to join us between January 6 and 19th. Our battle cry is that in 2007 the, the wicked cannot rule the godly.
How have you been able to cope with the demand for Wale Oke all over the place which has virtually kept you busy?
The point is that when God gives the assignment, he gives the grace. The mission He gave me is that of a prophetic evangelist, to win souls back to God and I am excited doing it. If you want to tie me down with the strongest rope ever, I will break lose and go because that is my calling and commission.
I thank God that He has given me grace to be known all over the continents, people call me to crusades, conferences, seminars, etc. What a privilege! The Lord gives the energy, the utterance and we go.
Precious Cornerstone University. Why University?
For quite sometimes now, the university education has been bartardised. Gone are the days when you enter the school and you can predict when you will pass out. This anomaly is due to strikes by students, lecturers, cultism, etc. It's like the campuses have gone bananas. The Church has come to help because we cannot sit by and watch the future of our children wasted. So we come in on a rescue mission.
I remember while praying in the morning, reading Psalm 144, where the Lord was talking to me on the future of African youth, how to raise and keep them, it was there that the Lord spoke to me about precious Cornerstone University. He told me that we should produce youths who would become the cornerstone of the future.
The philosophy of Precious Cornerstone University is to produce original thinkers, employers of labour. We will give them an entrepreneurship orientation from the word go. Entrepreneurship will filter into every course and will be a main course on its own. The orientation will be that there is so much you can do on your own. Don't graduate from here looking for employment.
Since I graduated from University Lagos, I have not collected my certificate because I've never looked for jobs and so I've never needed it. May be I will stroll there one day to collect it as a souvenir. So its easy for me to speak from experience about how I started with nothing.
"... The philosophy of Precious Cornerstone University is to produce original thinkers, employers of labour. We will give them an entrepreneurship orientation from the word go. Entrepreneurship will filter into every course and will be a main course on its own." |
 * Explaining a point. |
Let us talk Gospel Music. Do you enjoy what you listen to these days in the name of gospel music
Let me say I trained as a musician for 3 years. I was my college organist for one and half years. There is a world of difference between music and noise. The purpose of music is to entertain, edify, inspire and some music combine all. A genuine gospel musician does not only entertain, though he does while singing. He ministers, edifies and entertain.
I can classify our music into music the first class, which combines all. There are those I will consider as thrash, those who do things because others do it. There those who are in between. But in all we do, let us try to improve. Those who produce thrash today can produce excellent songs tomorrow if they don't give up.
Let us talk about your books. How far have you gone?
I have written 48 books but have published 42. What we want to do in the next 9 months is to repackage the books and release them.
The flagship of our publication is Alone with God . That book has gone through several editions, American Version, British Version and Australian Version. This is its 21st year in circulation and its still in demand.
