The Church, State Capture, the Loss of the Prophetic Voice. Whenever the Church exchanges her prophetic independence for political patronage, she loses the moral authority to speak truth to power
The Egg-Eating Snake
When I was growing up in the village under the care of my aunt, an unusual problem confronted our household. The eggs laid by our local hens began disappearing mysteriously. Every morning someone would discover that one or two eggs had vanished without any trace.
The elders suspected that an egg-eating snake had found its way into the compound.
Instead of setting traps or searching endlessly through the bushes, they devised a simple but ingenious strategy.
Three eggs were carefully hard-boiled and quietly mixed with the freshly laid eggs in the nest.
According to the elders, whenever an egg-eating snake swallowed an egg, it would first strike its neck until the shell cracked before swallowing its contents.
That method had never failed.
But this time, something different happened.
The snake unknowingly picked up one of the hard-boiled eggs.
Thinking it was an ordinary egg, it repeatedly struck its neck against the ground.
Again.
Again.
And again.
The shell refused to break.
The snake persisted.
It hit harder.
It hit longer.
It exhausted every ounce of strength trying to break what could never be broken.
Finally, the snake became so weak that it could no longer crawl away.
It was then easily captured and killed.
That village story has remained with me throughout my life.
The snake was not killed by hunters.
It was destroyed by its own uncontrolled appetite.
Its greed became its executioner.
Its persistence in the wrong direction became the instrument of its destruction.
There is no greater tragedy than a creature destroying itself because it refuses to abandon a destructive appetite.
Today, I fear that this ancient village story has become a prophetic picture of the Church, our nation, and indeed many institutions across the world.
The Yoruba have a timeless proverb: "Tí ẹnu bá jẹ, ojú á tì." Literally translated, it means,
"When the mouth has eaten, the eyes become ashamed."
Our fathers understood a truth that many universities still struggle to teach.
The proverb is not about food.
It is about conscience.
It is about integrity.
It is about the subtle corruption of the human heart.
Once a person begins to benefit from another person's generosity, that person's moral independence is placed under severe pressure.
The mouth eats.
The eyes refuse to see.
The ears become deaf.
The tongue refuses to speak.
The conscience gradually falls asleep.
This is the oldest form of bribery known to mankind.
Long before governments existed...
Long before constitutions were written...
Long before anti-corruption agencies were established...
The human heart had already learned how gifts could silence truth.
The Bible says:
And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous. Exodus 23:8
Thousands of years before modern democracy, God had already warned humanity that corruption does not begin in the treasury.
It begins in the heart.
Many people think there was only one forbidden fruit.
No. There was only one forbidden tree in Eden.
But every generation has produced its own forbidden fruit.
The fruit changes! The temptation remains the same.
Esau's forbidden fruit was a bowl of porridge.
His appetite became greater than his inheritance.
For one meal he sold what generations could never restore.
Balaam's forbidden fruit was money and honour.
He exchanged the voice of God for the rewards of a king.
His prophetic gift survived. His prophetic character did not.
Eli's forbidden fruit was compromise.
He tolerated what God condemned because it involved his own household.
The priesthood left his family forever.
Judas Iscariot's forbidden fruit was thirty pieces of silver.
He sold the Son of God.
Then discovered that money cannot purchase peace.
Adam and Eve desired forbidden knowledge.
Lucifer desired forbidden authority.
King Saul desired forbidden popularity.
Ananias and Sapphira desired forbidden reputation.
Every generation has its forbidden fruit.
The appearance changes.
The names change.
But Satan never changes his strategy.
He merely repackages temptation.
If Satan were to plant a forbidden tree in today's world, what fruit would it bear?
I believe it would bear one name: State Capture! Yes, State Capture!!
State capture is more dangerous than ordinary corruption.
Ordinary corruption steals money.
State capture steals institutions.
Ordinary corruption affects transactions.
State capture affects generations.
Ordinary corruption breaks laws.
State capture gradually controls those who should enforce the laws.
It occurs when political authority becomes so dominant that institutions established to restrain power begin instead to protect it.
The Legislature no longer checks the Executive.
The Judiciary gradually loses public confidence.
Independent institutions slowly become dependent.
Appointments become rewards.
Justice becomes selective.
Public resources become instruments of political survival.
Power becomes concentrated.
Accountability becomes weakened.
Eventually, the nation continues to wear democratic clothing while losing democratic character.
The institutions still exist.
But their independence slowly disappears.
This is not merely a political crisis.
It is first a spiritual crisis.
Because every form of state capture begins with heart capture.
Lucifer was the first being to experience it.
God had entrusted him with honour beyond imagination.
Yet honour was not enough.
Authority was not enough.
Influence was not enough.
He wanted God's throne.
Every abuse of power begins where Lucifer began—
with dissatisfaction.
The greatest danger is not having power.
The greatest danger is wanting more power than God intends.
Pride eventually convinced Lucifer that position mattered more than obedience.
The result was catastrophic.
He fell from heaven.
Every generation continues to repeat the same mistake.
The battlefield changes.
The temptation remains.
The serpent still whispers:
"You deserve more."
"You should control more."
"You should possess more."
"You should become greater."
That whisper has destroyed kingdoms, churches, governments, corporations, families, and ministries throughout history.
And it continues to do so today.
When the Church Is Captured
Perhaps the greatest tragedy of our generation is not that governments seek influence.
Governments have always sought influence.
The tragedy is that the Church—the very institution ordained by God to be the conscience of society—is itself increasingly vulnerable to being influenced.
History teaches an astonishing lesson.
The Church has survived persecution.
It survived Roman emperors.
It survived prisons.
It survived lions.
It survived swords.
It survived dictators.
It survived communism.
It survived colonial oppression.
But there is one enemy that has often proved more dangerous than persecution.
Prosperity without discernment.
Satan eventually discovered that if persecution failed to silence the Church,
patronage sometimes succeeded.
If threats could not buy silence, favours often could.
If prisons failed, privileges sometimes prevailed.
That is why the Yoruba proverb remains painfully relevant:
Tí ẹnu bá jẹ, ojú á tì.
Once the mouth has eaten, the eyes become ashamed.
The Church must therefore ask itself difficult questions.
Can a prophet freely rebuke the hand that constantly feeds him?
Can a preacher boldly confront injustice if he has become dependent upon those who perpetuate it?
Can the Church remain the conscience of the nation if it gradually becomes indebted to the very powers it is called to challenge?
These are not merely political questions.
They are spiritual questions.
They concern the integrity of the pulpit.
They concern the credibility of our witness.
They concern the future of the Church itself.
For if salt loses its savour, with what shall the nation be seasoned?
My brothers and sisters, having considered the subtle danger of the forbidden fruits of our generation, we must now ask an unavoidable question:
Can the Church still speak truth to power when it has become comfortable with power?
Can a prophet who continually dines at the king's table freely rebuke the king's sins?
Can a watchman who depends upon the city for his survival faithfully warn the city of approaching judgment?
These are uncomfortable questions, but they are questions the Church must answer if she is to recover her prophetic voice.
Throughout the history of redemption, God carefully preserved the independence of His prophets. Their authority did not come from political appointments, social status, or royal patronage. Their authority came from God.
Nathan stood before David and declared, "Thou art the man!" He did not soften God's judgment because David was king.
Elijah confronted Ahab and Jezebel without fear because he first stood in the presence of the living God.
Daniel served successive emperors, yet no emperor ever owned his conscience.
John the Baptist rebuked Herod's immorality knowing that the truth might cost him his liberty—and eventually his head.
These men remind us that God's servants are called first to please Heaven before they seek the approval of earth.
The authority of a prophet is measured not by his closeness to the palace but by his closeness to God.
Scripture presents no clearer picture of spiritual independence than Abraham's encounter with the king of Sodom.
After rescuing Lot and defeating four powerful kings, Abraham stood as a victorious commander. The king of Sodom approached him with a generous offer. Humanly speaking, Abraham had every reason to accept it. He had earned it.
Yet Abraham refused.
He lifted up his hand and declared:
"I have raised my hand unto the LORD, the Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a sandal strap... lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich.'" (Genesis 14:22–23)
What remarkable integrity!
Abraham understood a principle that every servant of God must learn.
The day another man can claim responsibility for your prosperity is the day he begins to imagine ownership of your loyalty.
Abraham refused the king's wealth because he treasured something greater than riches—his testimony.
Permit me to ask every pastor, every judge, every legislator, every public officer, every businessman, and indeed every Christian:
If the King of Sodom stood before you today with his gifts, would you answer as Abraham did?
Or would your mouth eat until your eyes became ashamed?
The Yoruba understood this long before many of us were born:
Tí ẹnu bá jẹ, ojú á tì.
When the mouth has eaten, the eyes become ashamed.
When conscience is purchased, courage quietly disappears.
There is another king whose story deserves our attention.
His name was Eglon.
The Bible tells us something unusual about him.
It says,
"Now Eglon was a very fat man."
His fatness was more than a physical description.
It symbolised a ruler growing wealthy while God's people carried the burden.
Year after year Israel paid tribute.
Year after year Eglon's palace prospered.
The people became poorer.
The king became richer.
Oppression financed luxury.
Power fed upon the sweat of ordinary people.
Then God intervened.
He did not send an army.
He did not organise a political campaign.
He raised one man.
Ehud.
Ehud entered the palace carrying tribute.
The king expected another gift.
Instead, he heard these unforgettable words:
"I have a message from God for you."
What a contrast!
The king expected tribute.
God sent truth.
The king expected honour.
God sent judgment.
Every generation produces rulers who gladly receive tribute but refuse correction.
Yet Scripture reminds us that no throne is beyond God's reach.
No ruler is beyond accountability.
No institution is greater than the God who established human government.
History teaches a solemn lesson:
Never mistake God's patience for God's approval.
God may appear silent.
But He is never absent.
Judgment Begins in the Sanctuary
The Apostle Peter writes:
"For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God." (1 Peter 4:17)
What a sobering declaration.
Notice where judgment begins.
Not in the Presidential Villa.
Not in Parliament.
Not in the Supreme Court.
Not in the marketplace.
It begins in the sanctuary.
Before God confronts corruption in society, He confronts compromise in His Church.
Before He judges nations, He examines His shepherds.
Before He speaks to kings, He speaks to priests.
The greatest danger confronting the Church today is therefore not persecution.
It is accommodation.
It is the slow surrender of conviction in exchange for comfort.
It is the subtle exchange of prophetic authority for political acceptance.
It is the temptation to become celebrated by the world instead of consecrated unto God.
When the Church becomes comfortable in Babylon, she gradually forgets how to sing the songs of Zion.
Christ Rejected the Greatest Political Offer
The supreme example of uncompromising obedience is not Abraham.
It is our Lord Jesus Christ.
After forty days of fasting, Satan made Him the greatest political offer in human history.
"All these kingdoms of the world and their glory I will give You, if You will fall down and worship me."
Imagine that temptation.
A crown without a cross.
A kingdom without Calvary.
Power without suffering.
Influence without sacrifice.
Many men would have accepted.
Jesus refused.
He rejected the shortcut because He knew that every crown obtained through compromise eventually becomes a crown of shame.
The Cross came before the Crown.
So it must also be for His Church.
We cannot proclaim a crucified Christ while pursuing a gospel of worldly privilege.
Our authority flows from the Cross—not from political patronage, financial influence, or earthly recognition.
Nigeria at the Crossroads
Today our beloved nation stands at a decisive crossroads.
Millions pray for economic recovery.
Millions pray for justice.
Millions pray for peace.
Millions pray for righteous leadership.
God hears those prayers.
But history teaches that national transformation seldom begins in government.
It begins in revival.
It begins when God's people repent.
It begins when the Church once again becomes the conscience of the nation.
Nigeria does not simply need another election.
Nigeria needs another visitation of God.
We need righteous leaders.
We need honest judges.
We need courageous legislators.
We need principled business leaders.
Above all, we need a Church whose conscience cannot be purchased and whose prophetic voice cannot be silenced.
Permit me to return to where this message began.
I still remember that egg-eating snake from my childhood.
It did not die because another creature was stronger.
It died because it refused to abandon an appetite that had become destructive.
That is my greatest concern for the Church today.
Not persecution.
Not opposition.
But appetite.
The appetite for influence.
The appetite for wealth.
The appetite for political acceptance.
The appetite for celebrity.
The appetite for forbidden fruits.
May we never become like that snake.
May our mouths never eat what will make our eyes ashamed.
May we recover the integrity of Abraham.
May we recover the courage of Nathan.
May we recover the holiness of Samuel.
May we recover the faithfulness of Daniel.
May we recover the boldness of John the Baptist.
Above all, may we follow Jesus Christ, who refused the kingdoms of this world because He had come to establish an everlasting Kingdom.
The Church must once again become the conscience of the nation.
She must stand before presidents without fear.
She must speak to rulers without favour.
She must comfort the oppressed.
She must rebuke injustice.
She must proclaim righteousness.
She must never exchange the Cross for comfort, truth for popularity, conviction for convenience, or holiness for influence.
For when the Church recovers her prophetic voice, the nation will once again hear the voice of God.
And when the nation hears the voice of God, hope will rise again..
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