5th June, 2013
Everything about him speaks integrity and today, not only does his lifestyle reflect this virtue, he also preaches it. Prophet Isa El-Buba who believes integrity is not synonymous with money or wealth always stresses that it comes with good character and service to humanity.
Prophet El-Buba is from Maiduguri in Borno State, a former Islamic occultist who served the queen of heaven from his childhood as a dedicated child. He inherited Islamic occultism from birth. He is a man who only attended Arabic school without the opportunity of being within the four walls of a university, yet he has many honorary doctorate degrees from around the world. He was raised as a devoted muslim by disciplined and dedicated muslim parents.
His journey into Christianity began when the Lord showed him series of revelation of the reality of hell, and in 1982 he experienced the exceeding grace of the Lord and saviour Jesus Christ that brought salvation to him.
Of a truth is the saying: “When a virtuous man is raised, he brings glory to his posterity and success to his associates.” Without mincing words, Prophet El-Buba is a virtuous man who has left an indebible mark on the sands of time. Indeed, the prophet is a man who has been consistently bringing smiles to the faces of the erstwhile rejected and dejected and has restored their hope for a glorious tomorrow.
Asked about his guiding principle, the man who has chosen to live for the service and enhancement of the life of his fellow human beings said: “There are basic principles; the first is to know that we exist but exist for somebody, we actually don’t exist for ourselves. Secondly, never live for yourself because you don’t exist for yourself; whatever you do, do it for the benefit of others, by so doing God will certainly reward you. I was raised to understand that without discipline one cannot survive in life, so I was taught that to live a long, healthy and successful life, you have to be disciplined and live a decent life. I was also raised to know that without focus or a purpose-driven life you cannot function in life. So these are the principles that guide my life and I grew with them because I was raised with it and I got these principles from my father”.
Prophet El-Buba believes in service to humanity instead of acquiring cars, houses, wives and other things of the world. Worthy of note is his contribution to the development and enhancement of orphans, the less privileged, the homeless and others who he has touched through his ministry. Recently, the mission built 29 three-bedroom houses, self-contained apartments and rooms free of charge for residents of a local government area in Plateau State, and is still desirous of doing more. In fact, he has devoted great attention to the plight of people around him because he believes government cannot do it alone.
Asked if the churches are doing enough to promote peace and unity in the nation, the gentle, disciplined and God-fearing prophet said, “Without the existence of the church the country would have been a forgotten nation. Without the church Nigeria wouldn’t have been because I can tell you, millions of people are praying, crying to God for this nation. I have travelled to virtually all nations on the planet. What has kept this country above other nations is the prayer of the nation. From the beginning you find people that have drifted away from God but God doesn’t look at the majority and the multitude, He always looks at the few people that love him and keep purity in their heart and I believe that is the reason redemption is coming into this nation. Even though we have problems, these things are happening as responses to the shaking of the foundation. What we are experiencing now is what has been bottled up for years and prayer of the saints is breaking them. This however is leading us to the glorious place Nigeria is occupying in the comity of nations. So we can say categorically that the church is doing tremendously well today in terms of development. For instance, it brought education into this country. Secondly, the church is doing greatly in the transformation of people’s minds when they listen to the gospel because the greatest thing that could happen to a man is his mental transformation. I will say the church has helped in terms of education, employment, mental transformation, community development, infrastructural development, industries; in fact the church has done so much to help the government of the nation.”
Highly discipled and humble, Prophet El-Buba is a man with uncommon passion for the development and sustenance of the nation. His principles in life have made him maintain a Godly life style and propagate peaceful co-existence everywhere he goes.
When asked on the consequences of the bad image of Nigeria on the country and the citizenry, the Prophet said, “The bad image has done terrible harm to this nation and the citizenry. Let me give you this example: A fake preacher went to America and had the privilege of raising fund to help people and the fund was diverted for his personal use. Also, we do see civil servants on Level 8 living like somebody on Level 15. The level of corruption has eaten deep into our national life. This is affecting us but thank God, this is changing now, though some of us had to pay the extra price to prove that there are still honest Nigerians.
“I am a frequent traveler, I travel to America every month but I don’t spend more than four days at most. Each time I visit, it amazes the American leaders and I tell them that I come to America to deliver them with the gospel. Prophetically, Nigeria will lead the redemption of the world. Nigeria is the greatest nation in the world, so Nigeria will restore scriptural values to the nations of the world. Nigeria will be what Egypt was to Israel in those days because America is degenerating, Europe is also degenerating and so are other nations of the world. Nigeria is in this mess because of the wrong people that have gone ahead and have ruined the image of the great nation. There is hope however that there will be light at the end of the tunnel.”
Responding to a question on the spate of bombings and killings by the Boko Haram sect, the well travelled prophet said, “I will say the cause of the Boko Haram issue is nothing but the negligence of the religious leaders. It is totally wrong to attribute the Boko Haram bombings and killings to poverty because most of the sect members have wealthy parents. But I will first of all say that the family value system is to be considered. How were they raised?
“The issue of the Boko Haram sect is the issue of value ideology. It was recently that we began to face the reality about some of the Almajiri schools. I attended one in those days, there is always the teacher or the Mallam who is like a pastor. There is no balance in terms of what he presents to the children. I grew up with the mindset that anything that is not Islamic is an abomination, anyone that is not a muslim is a pagan. There are things that we pick from the Quran which lead to the destruction of the reality. So you see, the kind of ideology you grow up with will certainly affect your thinking, positively or otherwise. The solution is to recruit those mallams with education and exposure that will take these people out of their present thinking. Government needs to transform the mind of these people by moving them to a location where they can be put through skill acquisition, mind transformation and also have time for their religion because these people have become so demonic. The aim of the sect is not to take over government but to turn Nigeria to an Islamic nation.”
The man of God who believes so much in values responded to the question on the call for national conference thus: “It will be of help but national conference is not the actual solution to the problems on ground. First, the northern leaders need to do their homework well. National conference is when all blocks start bringing their pains and their cries and this is not an avenue for the agitation of Nigeria to break up.”
He continued: “Nigeria is established by God, Nigeria will never break because of the internal placement of Nigeria to the community of the world. It was God who brought us all together and He blessed all parts of the country. So the North needs the South, the West needs the East and vice versa, and that is the truth. We cannot do without each other. The strength of Nigeria is in our unity, differences and diversity. Instead of organising national conference, organise a committee of people with clean values. Not corrupt leaders who have been in the system for years and cannot proffer solutions to our problems. Nigeria still has honourable men of value.”
Advising young Nigerians, the prophet said, “They should know that there is no better life than to first fear God. Young Nigerians should not be driven by money or material things, but should live a purely principled life. Be consistent because somebody God has sent to help promote you is watching you closely. David was an example; he was focussed on his family business, he did not advertise himself but yet God elevated him to the position of a king. So, in summary, if young Nigerians can live a pure, focused and God-fearing life, they will be celebrated.”
—Temidayo Ajibade