“You’ve got to love it when a highly placed public official is so unassumingly sold out to God that they do not mind a decrease in their own esteem for an increase in people’s estimation of God. What do you say of a seasoned army general publicly testifying that the Lord fights his battles? Before dismissing such a confession as a mark of incompetence or irresponsibility, just know that he was not referring to battles of flesh and blood, but to those waged by principalities, powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places.
Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd), recently returned to the altar of Conquerors Global Assembly in Abuja to testify to how divine intervention catapulted him into national leadership when circumstances and possibilities seemed bleak. We deliberately used the word “returned” because he had previously stood on the same holy ground to exalt God after being unceremoniously relieved of his duties as Chief of Defence Staff. At the time, he recounted how prayers and the support of Bishop David Abioye sustained him at the war theatre in Maiduguri. He also inspired patriotism in the congregation by urging Nigerians to safeguard their country from rabid jihadists through prayer.
During that outing, Musa made a statement that bears relevance to his latest testimony. He disclosed: “We serve a living God who will never let us down. I grew up in the Church. I was born and raised in Sokoto. (Deborah Samuel’s fate and its aftermath highlight what life in the Seat of the Caliphate can be like for a Christian.) … My wife is a prayer warrior.” This remark by the Defence Minister forms the idea behind the caption and serves as the fulcrum of this intervention. Patience—we shall return to it shortly.
Last Sunday, General Musa carved time out of his busy schedule to worship in church. (After all, some VVIPs are simply too busy to attend Sunday services.) When it was time for testimonies, the man took to the podium and said the following: “We give God the glory for what has happened this year. Even when the enemy thought they were putting us down, they did not know God was going to lift us up. In their small mind, they conspired and thought they had won.”
“In their small mind,” indeed! That has always been the limitation of forces aligned against those who have God as their pillar. These villains are as myopic as Satan, who thought he could win by orchestrating the harrowing death of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. Alas, that act became his nemesis, as Jesus “disarmed the rulers and authorities [those supernatural forces of evil operating against us], made a public example of them [exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession], having triumphed over them through the cross” (Colossians 2:15 AMP).
Followers of Christ like General Musa are still reaping the benefits of that grave miscalculation by the devil. This informed Apostle Paul’s assertion in 1 Corinthians 2:8: “None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” If it offers any comfort, anti-Musa conspirators should know that their plot to pull him down achieved the opposite because they were up against a man who dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High. Such a man, according to Psalm 91:1, abides under the shadow of the Almighty, which renders him invincible to the enemy.
To understand this invincibility, think of the “You can’t see me!” Hail Mary popularised by now-retired WWE sensation John Cena, which precedes his trademark Five-Knuckle Shuffle and Attitude Adjustment. Of course, General Musa’s sweet victory is one that can be enjoyed by everyone who has God in their corner while the enemy rages or rampages. The testimony underscores that the Lord is sovereign and intentional enough to make all things work together for the good of His people. The Defence Minister’s reality is not much different from the lived experiences of biblical characters. And if those scriptural accounts feel too abstract, the testimony delivered in Bishop Abioye’s church a few days ago certainly should not.
This is not the first time God has evidently taken over General Musa’s battles. In my last article, reference was made to how over 1,000 Boko Haram fighters surrendered to the General Musa-led Operation Hadin Kai in the Northeast. He acknowledged the September 2021 victory as something that “looked like part of divine intervention.” Even as the serving Minister of Defence, God continues to help him succeed, with the active involvement of Uncle Sam in the campaign to exterminate ISWAP terrorists from Nigeria. Recall that his predecessor, Abubakar Badaru, was thoroughly criticised for claiming that the Nigerian Air Force could not rout forest-hiding terrorists because some hideouts were too thick for bombs to penetrate. As events have shown, recent United States airstrikes in Sokoto State have exposed the falsity of that claim.
Providing spiritual insight into these developments, Bishop David Oyedepo noted that it is the first time in nearly 20 years that the persecutors are themselves being persecuted. “Fear has come into their camp. They will never recover from it. God has taken over the battlefield. Kidnapping will become history in Nigeria. Armed banditry has come to an end in Nigeria,” the Bishop declared.
All this goes to prove that Nigeria would be better off with more Christopher Musas in national leadership. Functionaries like him, who embrace God as their pillar, clearly know Him. As Daniel 11:32 states, “the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” Even when constrained by bureaucracy and political exigencies, Nigerians can still say of such leaders—just as Laban said of Jacob in Genesis 30:27—“I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.”
What an Eldorado the country would become if exploit-achievers and divinely graced individuals were the ones pulling the levers of government and occupying the commanding heights of the economy. Indeed, for the sake of such anointed officials, deus ex machina would become commonplace”.
VIS Ugochukwu, a sage, poet, and essayist, can be reached on X @sylvesuguwanyi.