Background
I was born in Jos Plateau State. My primary and secondary schools were at Baptist Day Primary and Baptist High Schools respectively. The University of Jos was where I read Applied Chemistry. After my youth service, I worked in a number of places but my last circular job was with a finance company in Lagos.

Calling and area of ministration
Right from my secondary school days, I had always had a witness inside of me that I will end up in the ministry someday. This urge came strongly in 1992, so I had to leave all I was doing and started working in my church then Provident Baptist Church, Lagos as an administrative officer.

Later on, I went for a masters degree in Divinity at Nigerian Baptist Seminary Osogbo. My studies over, I got a call to pastor this church in 1998. In the eight years I have been pastor, I have seen my calling more in leadership development, building leaders for the kingdom of our master.

Fake men of God
I think it is a process of development. There have been fake men of God since the Bible days. In Ephesus during Paul and Silas' visit, there was a lady following them and prophesying that ‘these were servants of God who have come to tell us how to be saved'.

What she was saying was true but it wasn't of the spirit of God. Let me say here that the motives and the reason why people are in the ministry are what classify whether the person is a fake man of God. I believe strongly in my heart that everything that is genuine has fake.

In our Christian experiences today, it seems we are producing more fake men of God than genuine ones. It could be the pressure of the economy. Many people are into the ministry today, because of the economy and loss of jobs. But come to think of it, I often say that there are 6 categories of men of God but God approves only one. First, there are those called by circumstance, some by their friends and those by their church. Still, some are called by their parents while some call themselves and then those genuinely called by God.

Abominable acts by pastors
I think it is borne out of the craze for competition. The ministry I must say is unfortunately the most deregulated business in the world, especially in Nigeria. These atrocities happen also in other parts of the world but it has taken a centre stage in Nigeria. This is because there is no minimum requirement to enter most of these ministries.

Anybody can just grab the nearest plot of land or shop and set up a church then claim to be called by God. For those of us in the mainline churches, there seems to be a lot of discipline but it is not so for those who probably stand on their own. Oftentimes, these acts come from them. This is because they do not have a background; they do not know where they are coming from.

But strictly speaking, the harshness in the land has jaundiced peoples' perspective of God. We now see God as the answer to everything including the ones that man can handle. And indeed, people are taking horrible advantage of that. Patience is no longer in our dairy in this nation, people no longer queue. We are in a terrible hurry to get to where we are going and this has been carried over to our religious world, to the level that people are in a hurry to get miracles from God irrespective of the fact that God has His own time.

Abraham had to wait for 25years for the child of promise to come. But today, people do not want to wait, either they get it immediately or go to where they will get it fast. This makes some pastor or men of God to go do some terrible things in the craze to have the highest congregation or have high influence in the land.

Nigerian leaders
One of the foremost world scholars, Gonjel wrote in one of his books that ‘leaders are fast becoming one of the endangered specie'. In Nigeria today, leaders are our problem. We seem to be producing people who are grappling in the dark and searching for a way out when they don't even know how to get out of their own quagmire. People who just want to experiment with leadership, not knowing that it is not something to be experimented but a call from God to serve. This is dangerous for us in this country. I do not know among those who parade themselves as leaders, the percentage that understand the call of leadership.

Essentially, God does not put people into position but gives them assignment. The first thing that crosses my mind when people want to be leaders, secular or religious is, on what assignment is he going. It is true we all have a stake to build this nation. The unfortunate thing is that we go out to other countries and I keep wondering, is it not men that God used in those lands. Oftentimes, people pursue positions instead of assignments. God's appointment of Saul in the Bible 1Sam: 5 is an example. When Saul failed in the assignment God gave him, God still left him in position but he was just wandering for the rest of his life while God already had someone else for the assignment.

And quite unfortunately in this country, just everything is politicized and used as a tool to cause divisions. Leadership is not about causing divisions but building harmony, bringing people together, being able to rally them to a common cause and get them to where they need to be. Whoever would be the leader of God's people must always see them as God sees them, that is, as his image and likeness and understand the situation they face.

Until the day we probably get leaders in this country who really worry less about themselves but care for the people, we would still be searching for the right leaders. My prayer is that God will see us out of that dead wood in Jesus name, amen.