The founder of Firelight Global Gospel Network, Dr Ayo Oluwagunna, speaks to OLUFEMI ADEDIRAN, about his new book and why the youth must take charge of their future

What inspired your new book?

There was a message I preached sometime on the university campus; it was about the time of the students’ examination. Normally, what the fellowship leaders would do is to arrange for an exam series, then a minister comes from outside to chat with them.

I have this special grace to speak from experience because I finished as the overall best student in my university days; I was the valedictorian. So, the belief is that if this man can have the grace to combine spirituality with excellence; he should be the one to talk to us. Then, I titled the message, ‘War Against Wasters’, which was in 2013.

Recently, somebody reached out to me and said, ‘Pastor, there was a message you preached on campus when I was a student. I would be glad if you could help me find that message; I need to listen to it’.

So, I searched through my archives and I found it. I also listened to it and the Lord said to me, ‘That is a book’. I have had a lot of books written halfway, but the Lord said, just get this done.

Was that how you got the inspiration?

Yes. I felt that the principles of examination apply to life. Life is like an examination – you have to prepare well. You have to read and then sit an exam. But you may find out that after the examination and you look at the result, expecting an A, but you fail.

Some people fail for reasons they do not know, and as long as you do not know the reason, you may keep on failing. That is why in the West, you get feedback if you fail an exam. The lecturer will tell you where you did not do well. That level of knowledge is good to prepare for the next exam.

The Bible says, ‘My people perish for lack of knowledge.’ Because we don’t know why we are failing in life, people keep failing. So, that was what I felt as God told me to write the book; it is to meet the needs of people across all walks of life, because everybody at one level or another faces certain things.

At some points, some get disillusioned and discouraged, because they feel like, ‘What have I not done? I have fasted, I have prayed,’ and then some people become disappointed with God. The book is not to get people necessarily war-conscious, but win-conscious.

Can you highlight the major messages in the book?

I think what will really matter for anybody who wants to get into winning in life is to first know their identity. If you belong to a God who doesn’t fail, you have no reason to fail. So, if people fail, it is not because God has not made provision for them to succeed, it is because we do not know. Like God lamented, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

For me, it is very surprising that God is still claiming ownership of these people, and yet they are failing. There are a lot of things I can highlight, but the major thing is to let people understand that in all aspects of the battles in life, you have what it takes to win.

You just need to know what you have, because many times we look at battles and we think they are from outside. Most times, we are the chief architect of our failure in the sense that we have time at our disposal, and if you are a time waster, you are the first waster and you need to address yourself on that. So, the book cuts across time wastage, talents, treasures, opportunities, and connections wastage.

But for youths, I think people should understand early that we do not have forever to live here, and you come to a point where you realise what you could have done, and then you find that you have not done anything close to that.  If there are wastages from outside, you can deal with that, but the first thing to address is that you should not be a waster of yourself, your time, and the opportunities that God has given to you.

How do you think Nigerian youths can maximise their potential to save themselves from wastage?

I think those of us who relate directly with them owe so much to a generation that is carried away by flimsy things. One of the things that have driven the youth to this kind of situation is the way some of us have modelled success to them. They feel it is a waste to wait on God.

We have raised a generation that does not want to go through the process, but they want to have progress. They do not want to wait; they haste, and eventually they waste. It might be a prolonged thing, but it starts from somewhere. To begin to inculcate into these youths and get them to understand the mindset of success is not a press-button, instant-to-do kind of a thing.

We need to understand what it means to know ourselves. Most people do not have an identity clarification; they do not understand who they are. As long as you keep thinking of success only in terms of material things, you are going to keep getting them plunging into it. If, for example, Isaac in the Bible was going to blame the land for fruitlessness, he had every reason, because the Bible tells us he sowed in the land, and in that same year, he had a hundredfold. Now, if you understand the context of that narrative, you find that the land was not yielding even for the owners of the land. He was a stranger, and he came to that land, so, what was the secret? Was it because he had a special seed he sowed? I think it was because of a covenant, and he knew who he was. That if people are doing this, and they are not thriving, if the economy is difficult, if the labour market is congested, if you know who you are, God will make space for you. I think if you begin to understand beyond the economy, although things might be terrible, what gives a man the audacity to hope against hope? Economy is bad, everything is bad, but I won’t subscribe to waste, because I have something in me that is going to propel me to success, I’m meant for dominion, it is not because things are okay that it will be okay with me, I define my reality.

So, I think if we can find a way across different spheres of our influence, maybe in church, politics and the society to address the youth, because we are losing this generation, it is already a waste, actually. We need to just look at the possibility of recovery now. The mind is the might; if the mind is right, energy will come, and we are going to find recovery.

Do you think the government should be blamed for the challenges youths are facing?

Well, we cannot completely remove that factor. Everything rises and falls on leadership. If what we parade today as success in politics, governance, is opulence, affluence, and whatever has nothing to do with hard work and diligence, then there is a problem. A leader’s sin is a leading sin. We have seen people in places of influence who clearly don’t deserve to be there. So, it begins to make even the youth ask themselves, ‘Why do I have to put diligence into what I am doing?’ ‘Why do I have to apply myself to this?’ They see it as a waste of time. In those days, before you finished school, a job was waiting for you. But everything is wrong now, and it comes from the head. If something is wrong with the head, it will get down to the bottom. But even if those up there fail you, you shouldn’t fail yourself. And that is why you have to take charge of your destiny, because at the end of the day, it is your destiny, and you can’t blame somebody else for that.