The Senior Pastor of House on the Rock Church, Paul Adefarasin, has again stirred discussion online following his comments about Nigeria’s origins.
During a Sunday sermon as monitored by GospelRaw, Adefarasin questioned the widely held belief that the country was created through divine will, instead arguing that Nigeria’s formation was a product of colonial interests aimed at British economic benefit.
“I do not believe Nigeria was created by God,” Adefarasin asserted. “It was a colonial construct, designed for the British to profit. Elizabeth the First struck a deal with the Ottoman Empire concerning the Sudan. There is a book by a man called ‘The Martyrdom of Man’ that explains this history.”
The pastor suggested that the idea of Nigeria’s divine creation was misguided and rooted in misconceptions about its historical foundations.
Adefarasin also criticized the legitimacy of Nigeria’s constitution, which he claimed was not the product of the people but imposed by military rulers.
He cited Psalm 11:3 to argue that a nation cannot prosper without a solid foundation. “If the foundation is destroyed, what can the righteous do?” he asked, highlighting the flawed nature of a system created by those who were not chosen by the people.
Addressing issues in governance, Adefarasin used the state of the country’s infrastructure as an example. He specifically pointed to the poor quality of many roads, contrasting them with the well-constructed roads leading to places like the Lagos airport.
“There is a difference between any road and the road that leads to the airport. Why do they build roads and resurface them incorrectly? Somebody must be making decisions without a sense of fairness or justice.”
The pastor also dismissed Nigeria’s prominent nationalist figures, including Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, and Nnamdi Azikiwe, as the country’s true founders. Instead, he attributed the creation of Nigeria to British colonial officials and Lord Lugard.
According to Adefarasin, the name “Nigeria” was coined by Lugard’s girlfriend, and the country was formed not for the benefit of its people but to serve British economic interests.
“This nation was created to serve the business interests of the British,” he concluded. “The real founding fathers were those in Whitehall and Lord Lugard, not the figures commonly celebrated as such.”
