Cleric warns youth against depending on govt

An Uyo-based cleric, Apostle John Okoriko, has urged Nigerian youth not to rely on politicians for their daily survival, but should be forward-thinking to carve out a niche for themselves.

He asked the youth to get something to do, no matter how small it might be, as such could be a platform for their growth and recognition.

Okoriko, who is the founder of Solid Rock Kingdom Church, said this during a monthly interactive service for the month of May.

He explained that no matter how corrupt a system is, there are people who still triumph in such a system and are not corrupt.

“Let me tell you, manifesting it through the lives of leaders ourselves is not going to work. No matter the leaders, no matter the corruption of the system, you can do yourselves a good thing by doing something that helps you first before you think about people in authority.

“You must be sure of your security, your sustenance, your mercy, your deliverance, your healing, and your financial stability. If you fly a plane, the captain or the engineer, even the service men and women, give you instructions on how to use the safety apparatus, like the lifejacket. When the plane has any problem, they ask you to do it first to secure yourself before you think of even your son, your husband or your wife.

“They keep those instructions; they don’t tell you that the plane would crash on water. They don’t use that word. Instead, they say, ‘if we land on water, very few planes are made to land on water,’ not all the planes, but they use that term to avoid creating fear, thinking that something can happen as they land.

“Then they give you instructions to take care of yourself first. So, I don’t want to answer questions in respect of leaders, I want to answer questions about you first

“You cannot blame anybody for not doing what you have a dream of doing. You can be a Joseph no matter what comes around you; you pursue your dream, and it will take you to where you saw yourselves.

“I never believed, my little self in those days, I never believed I would be having a church of one, two, three, four, five to a hundred and now over two hundred branches. I never had that faith, because I know there was nothing except the vision,” he said.

According to him, young Nigerians should have enquiring minds and be independent of government. “Create your niche, that’s having your product or services and walk towards achieving your goals,” he said.

He stated that to be a businessman, one cannot be a businessman alone; he will attract other like-minded people to cooperate with him, and then they form a company.

He stated that to be a businessman, one cannot be a businessman by yourself alone; you will attract other like-minded people to cooperate with you, and then you form a company.

“So, anybody who has a vision, a dream, who wishes to become a great woman or man and then break the jinx of poverty and sickness and is afraid of what people will say, will never be able to bring out the revelation to materialise.

“There are many things young people are afraid of, and these things they are afraid of, and many of them may not exist,” he said.

According to the Apostle, Jesus blamed his disciples whenever they failed in their mission. He added that Jesus was blaming them because it was their divine right of duty.

“You cannot blame anybody for not doing what you have a dream of doing. You can be a Joseph no matter what comes around you; you pursue your dream, and it will take you to where you saw yourselves.

“I never believed, my little self in those days, I never believed I would be having a church of one, two, three, four, five to over two hundred branches. I never had that faith, because I know there was nothing except the vision.

“I had no body, no education, and I had no connection, and God told me what would happen. They did bring fears, and that was why I had to fight the fear – mentally, physically, spiritually, and otherwise. I fought it. I did it like Esther, who said, “If I perish, I perish.”

“The fear of death is one of the greatest fears. There is glory in death if you die in a good cause. What you die for, will never die with you. When I started the ministry, I had only poor and rachets children. I had the most dysfunctional people when I started the ministry,” he said.

Okoriko revealed that he hosted the state governor in his church. He added that before the governor came, he had planted 50 hectares of an estate of palm trees without telling the governor that he had a palm tree farm.

He noted that when he was sitting down beside the governor, the technician brought the picture of his farm and displayed it before the governor.

He said: “The governor was amazed at the whole layout of grown-up palm trees when he came up to speak. He did something to that farm.

“He gave me a mill; he thought I wouldn’t ask the government because he saw me helping myself already. I didn’t invite him to come to the farm. So, do something first, look for the heavenly place intervention for yourself first, before you think about the government people. They don’t care about you; they take care of themselves first.

“The mistake most people make is to look for outside forces without investing in themselves

“The force that will make you great comes from inside of you. Any force you look for that is not from your heart; is not coming out of your mouth is not, but a force borrowed; others may take it from you.”