WE SHALL OVERCOME (Part 1)

Blessed be the name of the Most High God, the God whose I am and the God whom I serve. Blessed be His holy name forever.
I thank the presiding Bishop of this great Church for honoring me in this way and giving me the opportunity to share a few words with this massive congregation. I thank the Pastors and the Board of Trustees of the Church for inviting me.
I look at this massive gathering of believers and I am humbled. I am also a little intimidated. I regard it is an honor and a privilage for me to be here speaking to you today from this holy pulpit and in this hallowed hall and chamber.

Unlike most politicians I shall endeavor to be very brief and not to keep you here any longer than necessary. Permit me to get to the point without much ado.
We are at war in this nation. That is obvious and self-evident. Yet despite our circumstances we must harbor no fears because we are winning that war. I say this because my bible tells me that darkness cannot overcome light and that even though it may tarry, the vision of total victory is for an appointed time.
I have been told that some of you that are here today lost their loved ones who were soldiers that were gallantly fighting at the war front against the terrorists. I hear that some died in Bama, others in Konduga and some fell whilst defending Mubi.

I am touched to the marrow and my heart bleeds for the pain that you must be going through having lost your loved ones in this way. I want to assure you that the great sacrifice of these noble, courageous and gallant heroes shall not be in vain.
It is my sincere prayer that their souls rest in peace and that the cause for which they paid the supreme price is achieved. May God reward them and their loved ones for their service to our nation. No greater a gift can a man give than to lay down his life for his people and for his country. The veracity of this assertion can hardly be disputed.
And neither is there a more honorable or noble death than that of a soldier who falls at the warfront whilst fighting for his nation. Your loved ones fought gallantly for Nigeria and gave their lives for the future and unity of their country. We shall never forget them.
More importantly history and posterity shall be very kind to them and their names shall be listed amongst the greats who stood to defend our people and our cause when the days were dark and when the enemy knocked at our gates.

Again I am told that there are others here today whose family members were innocent and defenceless civilians but who were murdered in cold blood in the sanctity of their own homes by the butchers of Boko Haram.
What a terrible tragedy this is. It is a tragedy of monumental proportions and it has engulfed, not just the north-east, but our whole nation. It is a tragedy that touches, concerns and affects us all. Your loss is ours. We share your pain and we mourn with you.
I assure you that those that were killed in this cowardly, brutal and barbaric way will be avenged and those that killed them will face the judgement of God and the justice of men both in this world and in the world to come.
What dark times these are. Yet despite the darkness of the night let us not forget that joy comes in the morning. As the bible says, let us count our tribulations and suffering as nothing but joy knowing that our Lord and master has already paid the price for our salvation and deliverance by shedding His precious blood on the cross at Calvary.

Let us remember that in the end we shall prevail and we shall overcome because we serve a mighty God. Let us remember that evil can never overcome good and that the Church of Christ and our Christian faith itself was built on the blood of the martyrs and the persecution and suffering of the saints.
Let us hold on to God’s word. Let us be courageous. Let us exercise our faith and let us never forget that hope against all odds and strength, even in the face of the most trying times, are the hallmarks of a true believer. Let us remember that our God is irresistable and unbeatable and that in the end He makes all things beautiful.
Let us take heart and let us make no mistake about it: in the end, as surely as night follows day, we shall overcome. Let us remember that no matter what the media, the opposition, the Haramites and their secret friends in high places, the skeptics, the international community or anyone else tells us our Armed Forces remain the best, the most fearless, the most courageous, the most disciplined, the most effective and the most ferocious warriors on the African continent and we have every reason to be very proud of them.
If I were the President of this country, if I were compelled to do so by the circumstances, I would go to the four corners of the earth and to the edges of hell itself in order to procure the very best arms that money can buy for our soldiers so that they could protect our people and fight a good fight against the relentless barbarians that torment, afflict and plague our land.
If I had to I would violate every convention and norm in the land in order to bring the terrorists to justice and to degrade, kill, maim and destroy those who slaughter our people at will, who burn our homes, schools and churches , who violate and defile our women and who abduct and enslave our children.

People need to understand one thing: when fighting a war against an inhuman, barbaric and beastly enemy like Boko Haram in Nigeria or ISIS in Iraq, or Hamas in Gaza, or Al Shabab in Somalia, or Al Qaeda in Libya and Mali, or FIS in Algeria, or the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, or Daesh in Lebanon, or the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, or Al Nusra in Syria, or the Janjaweed in the Sudan or the Chechnyan separatists in Russia the gloves must come off.
History tells us that the policy of appeasement and the willful and naive display of weakness and procrastination before wicked and heartless men with reprobate minds can only lead to a further display of violence and aggression against the innocent. There must be no display of restraint or weakness exhibited to the enemy in this war and no quarter must be given to him. This is because we are fighting against an adversary that is beastly in all his ways and that does not consider himself as being bound by the laws of war or any known and internationally-accepted rules of engagement.

In such a war all is fair and all is permissable no matter how extreme and no matter how frightful and ruthless. No mercy must be exhibited. Absolutely anything goes and anything is allowed.
We must wipe them and all that is theirs out completely because they are the ultimate expression of evil. We must wipe them off the face of the earth. We must crush and eliminate them totally and wipe out all trace and memory of them. This is our God-given duty. It is our divine obligation and we must not fail or shirk it.
We must win this war and thereby stop the beasts from taking our land, enslaving our loved ones, beheading our children, raping our women, burying alive our men, burning down our churches and wiping out our beautiful Christian faith.
As long as Jesus sits on the throne and as long as some of us remain alive they shall not pass and neither will they succeed in their cruel venture because ultimately we shall prevail. We will not, we must not, we shall not and we cannot lose this war.

It is rather these shameless and conscienceless cowards, huns, biblical Egyptians, Philistines and Amalekites: these enemies of God and those who secretly support and encourage them, that shall fail. This I know because the bible says ”the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church” and neither shall they prevail against the Lord’s counsel.

I say this with absolute and supreme confidence because our God never fails. I say it because He is the Alpha and the Omega: the Man of War, the Ancient of Days, the Holy One of Israel, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Lord God of Hosts whom none can resist in battle.
I say it because He knows the end even before the beginning. I say it because He is high and lifted up and the earth is His footstool. I say it because our God is an awesome God, He reigns from heaven above, with wisdom, power and love: our God is an awesome God. (TO BE CONCLUDED).