The retirement party of the Nigerian gate keepers (2), By Ayo Akerele

His name was Zacharias Tanee Fomum, a prolific Cameroonian revivalist of blessed memory, whose ministry of prayer sent shock waves round the shores of hell, igniting the souls of many in the African church to seek God in holiness and purity. Now of blessed memory, Dr Zach Fomum, whose ministry strikes a close resemblance to that of Leonard Ravenhill, found his way into our hearts in the late 1980s, a season when the light of the truth of the glorious gospel of Christ was beaming from the church in Nigeria with much clarity and impeccable integrity. In 1990, Dr Zach Fomum was scheduled to host a week long revival program at a famous Baptist church in South West Nigeria. Scheduled to be in attendance were the cream of today’s church leaders, fathers across the Pentecostal spectrum of South West Nigeria. I sat at the back of the large amphitheatre to witness the mighty outpouring of the power of God and the fiery prayers from the mouth of this giant of faith as he spoke so passionately to many of our fathers who were mostly in their late thirties at that time. He cried in agony. He pleaded in pains. His message was simple and clear, do not forsake holiness and righteousness.

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Interestingly and sadly, the generation of Zach Fomum has passed. The generation of S.G Elton is gone. The generation of Barrister Emeka Nwakpa is going. They didn’t play. They prayed for Nigeria. These were the generations of intercessors whose consciences rocked with fear for the inerrancy of the Bible and the infallibility of the truth of the gospel. None of these people had a place in the roll call of the rich and the famous. They were not privileged to have their names tagged to millions of people on social media. They did not adorn their memories with the construction and ownership of edifices, estates, and camps. They lived and died for one thing, interceding for the church, and most importantly, for the soul of Nigeria. They were dispassionate with the truth, telling it as they found it in the Holy Bible. But they had one thing in life, which they still retain in death, integrity. Job said, “till I die I will not remove my integrity from me.” (Job 27:5).

Dr Tim Lahaye developed a sense of urgency in an experience he had while on board a flight across two US states. Dr Tim Lahaye wrote the popular book, “Left Behind”, which became a series and a best seller that sold more than 30 million copies across the globe. He was actually motivated to write this book by an experience he had in a plane. He was flying across two US cities and right in the middle of the flight, he saw the pilot of the plane flirting with one of the hostesses. He said to himself, “what if the rapture happens now”? He disembarked from that plane with such an urgency to warn men of the imminent return of Christ, through the publication of the “Left Behind Series” book. Although, Dr Lahaye passed on in 2016, leaving an indelible legacy of cutting edge insight into the events of the end time, the urgency and fervour in his message have not diminished. Contrary to expectation, his messages have continued to rivet through history, leaving a track record of imminence and urgency in the way we understand, interpret and relate to world’s events. Peradventure, you are reading this article and have become apathetic or even ignorant of the times and seasons we now live in?

This explains why the sleeping giant in the Nigerian intercessors must wake up. If you faint in the days of adversity, your strength is small. Many of you are getting tired in the place of prayer. Of course, because many of you have prayed and prayed, and rather than Nigerian and her church getting better, things only seem to have gotten worse. Some of you are battling with personal challenges that range from various social issues to many severe economic challenges. Satan is using numerous tools to shut you down, one of which is weariness and discouragement. The people that are not praying are living well.

You that are praying can barely survive the hash economic climate of Nigeria. Many have told me that they have quit their ministries of intercession, forgetting that the intercessor is the last man standing in the time of war. Nigeris is currently at war with the powers of darkness. She has been severely wounded and battered, gasping for breath in the emergency ward of the intercessors. If you abandon your tools and gadgets and throw in the towel of intercession, she will die on the stool. If she dies, a whole generation will die. Africa will die. Souls will die, and above all, hell will laugh. The fire must not go out, it must never go out.

“A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out” (Leviticus 6:13)

Ayo Akerele is the senior pastor of Rhema Assembly and the founder of the Voice of the Watchmen Ministries in Ontario, Canada. He can be reached through [email protected]