By Mokwugwo Solomon, Awka
Rev. Ogbuchukwu Makuo Lotanna (Esq), a priest of the Diocese of Nnewi, Anglican Communion, recently resigned as an Anglican priest to pursue what he said was the directive of God. In this interview, he reveals why he had to resign from the Anglican Church, the message God gave him concerning marriage, polygamy and sexual purity. Excerpts:
Please introduce yourself.
My name is Rev. (Barr) Ogbuchukwu Makuo Lotanna. I hail from Mbanagu Otolo Nnewi, Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria. I was ordained an Anglican priest on 22nd December, 2019, at Cathedral Church of St. Mary’s Uruagu, Nnewi.
Which parishes have you worked in as a priest of the Anglican diocese of Nnewi before your recent resignation?
I’ve worked in my home parish, St. Thomas, Otolo Nnewi. Others are: St. Paul’s, Otolo, and Church of Transfiguration, Nnewichi. My last parish before I resigned was Chapel of Glory, Uruagu, Nnewi.
What do you have to say about the rumour making the rounds that you resigned from the Anglican Church, and floated a movement that will encourage polygamy?
I resigned in obedience to what God told me to do since twenty years ago. God gave me a revelation, but initially, I did not understand it. The scripture says that ‘as humans, we see in parts, and we understand in parts; but with time, it is made whole’. I had a revelation some twenty years ago when I was in the prayer team of the Anglican Children Ministry (ACM). I was one of the committed leaders of the prayer team. I had the revelation then without having full understanding of it; but some three years ago, the revelation became holistic, and I was able to understand fully the message that God gave me.
What is the message?
God told me what he demands today about marriage and sexual purity among men and women. I realized from what God revealed to me that the church has not helped men. God gave specific instructions in the scripture about monogamy; but the church generalized it; and that has created problems in the society, and in the church. It is obvious that the church, especially the Anglican Church, has been teaching against polygamy; but the lord opened my eyes to the reality that polygamy is not sin. What God hates is divorce in any form, sleeping around with another person’s wife or husband, and having sexual affairs with someone you are not married to. God prefers that men marry more than one wife, instead of going for someone’s wife or ladies they are not married to. The church has hidden this information from the faithful for a long time, and God told me it is high time people are told the truth. So, based on God’s vision, men are encouraged to marry their side chicks to escape hellfire. God told me it will be better to consummate the marriage and bring her into your house as wife. God is not against polygamy! By the grace of God, through series of teachings that will come with time, I will completely reveal all the messages of God concerning His demands on marriage and sexual purity. It will be an eye opener on what God wants.
Why do you have to resign from your church, instead of using the platform to deliver God’s message to His people?
It will be wrong to stay in a church that says no to polygamy to give teachings in support of polygamy or even practice it. The scripture says that two cannot walk together unless they are in agreement. It will be a sin for a person to be in a church that says no to polygamy and sexual immorality; yet, he continues to do it secretly. That could be termed gross disobedient, and that alone can take someone to hell fire. What I did was that I took one year leave to study more on God’s revelation to me. Though it was not get up to one year before floating the movement, because, I understand the timing of the Most High on the issue.
Did you get any specific instruction on the name you will call the new church or movement?
Members of the new movement will be called Gideonites; while the place of worship will be called Gideonites Temple.
Why did it take you a very long time to come to terms with what God revealed to you two decades ago?
Having come from a very strong Anglican family, I should have been the last person to say I am resigning from the church to float a movement that contradicts the church doctrine. I had to obey this instruction finally because it is a mandate of heaven, with the intention of winning souls. Sexual sin magnets other sins. You cannot indulge in sexual sins without committing other immorality. This is much demonic covenant that is attached to sexual immorality. Once you find yourself indulging in sexual sins, it will certainly attract other sins on you. So, to stop this flow of sexual immorality, it will be better to deal with it from the root. This sexual immorality has made men to leave the church; and because majority has left the church because of it, worshiping and praising God have become secondary in their attitudes and lifestyles. In one of the revelations, God said to me, “Makuo, I died for these ones!” And in another revelation, He said, “How many men are you bringing to heaven?” Today, a lot of people run out of the church because, they don’t want to be told on a Sunday service not to do what they know they will certainly do on Monday morning. So, it is the perfect will of God that men can marry more wives instead of sleeping around with other men’s wives. Kissing a lady that is not legally married to you is sin; not to talk of shifting a lady’s pants. Monogamy is still good for those who can practice it. At the same time, polygamy is not sin for those who practice it. It is one hundred percent God’s will for men. So, the church should create a platform for those who practice polygamy to live their lives comfortably and serve their God, and make heaven. After all, there are people who are in the church, who are still not saved, because they do not practice what they preach. You find them at the altar, at the choir stand, etc.
A lot of things went through my mind that kept this message for a long time – starting from what my family would say, and what people out there would say. But, at a point, I asked myself, if I should stand before Jesus after the rapture, should I explain to God that I could not deliver this message of liberation because I was afraid of what people would say?
Are there areas you can site in the scripture to suggest that the revelation you got about polygamy is a perfect will of God for men?
There are so many of them; but I cannot let them out now. I will reveal them in the series of teachings that will come later. They are going to be series of teachings that will be an eye opener to men. Each of them will come every Sunday; so that people will see the light and hear the truth. What the spirit of God explained to me about marriage is quite different from what people, especially the church, understands and preaches.
What are the reactions of your immediate family, your diocesan bishop, and your congregation to the decision you have taken?
I do not discuss my family in public. Mine is a priestly family, and discussing it outside is not proper. As for my former diocesan bishop, he will have his own opinion on the issue, which I will not be the one to discuss with you. He is the person entitled to air his opinion on the issue. For my congregation in the various parishes I served, I will only tell you that I resigned before floating this movement; so, I wouldn’t know their reactions to the decision I have taken. Notwithstanding, from few that called me on phone, there are people who are in agreement with the vision, and there are those that are not in agreement with the vision.
Given the fact that the revelation came twenty years ago, and has been bordering your mind, how were you able to remain faithful to the doctrine of one man, one wife of the Anglican Church, vis-à-vis the revelation you had on polygamy?
Apart from my reservations, I close my eyes on issues like not giving Holy Communion to some persons because they are polygamous. Nobody received such instruction from God. Administration of the Holy Communion is the only thing that Jesus asked us to do in remembrance of him. Every other thing we do in the church is fixed by us, including Christmas. Jesus did not even ask us to celebrate Christmas for him. Holy Communion is the only thing he asked us to do. So, what I did on this as Anglican priest was that I pretended that I did not know that anybody was polygamous. So, I closed my eyes and was giving Holy Communion to everybody. So, I did not go as far as asking questions to discover whether this person is this or that before giving communion to him or her. I think many priests are coming to understand this fact too. So, in many occasions, they turn blind eyes on emphasizing on the issue of being in a state of grace before receiving Holy Communion, knowing full well that communion is meant mainly for sinners.
Now, having resigned from the Anglican Church, and having floated this movement, how would you cope with the stigma that will follow it from a society that is already indoctrinated to accept the opposite of what you now preach?
That was exactly what delayed me for a long time from floating this movement. St Paul said ’when I was a child, I reasoned like a child; but when I grew up, I gave up childish things.’ So, with time, the understanding of the revelation became more pronounced in me. What I did was to pray to God to give me the lion heart to take the bold step. If not for that prayer, and the lion heart that God gave to me, the reaction that greeted this development on the social media would have discouraged me from moving on. As an Anglican by birth, it is not easy to shift ground now; but I have to do so in obedience to the will of God. It will not be easy now, but with time, we will overcome the fears. I want to shift ground to obey God.
How many wives did God reveal to you as ideal for every man?
This will be part of series of teachings that will come very soon. This movement is floated to open people’s eyes on God’s perfect will for man concerning marriage. Based on the teachings, every man will decide for himself the number of wives he would like to marry.
