The End of the World is near - and all Christians need to prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Olusegun Obansanjo, the former president of Nigeria, has claimed.
"You have to be fully prepared for the second coming of our Lord, there is no compromise," Obansanjo, who served as president between 1999 to 2007, said at the 2017 Camp Meeting Concert by Apostolic Faith Church Choir and Orchestral at the Camp Ground Igbesa in Ogun State.
"I have a friend who will always say that when we get to heaven that we will be exhausted praising God and it will be like a prison and will be very boring," the 80-year-old politician added, according to News Agency of Nigeria.
Obansanjo speculated that singing at church could be an indication of what heaven will be like, however.
"But what I have seen this afternoon by the choir, I will want to go to heaven and join the hosts to sing," he said. "If this is an example of what praising God in heaven will be, then I want to be part of it. If what I have seen here is an indication of how heaven will be, I will like go to heaven."
He added, "Jesus Christ came to the world to show us the way to salvation and eternal life. We have a good heritage and we have everything to be proud of."
Obasanjo also reportedly said that if Nigerians turn to God, He will bless their country.
"We have a lot of things wrong with this country if all Nigerians are sincere," the former president apparently said at the church.
"Nigeria can be fixed by God but we have to invite Him into our lives. What we have to do about this country is in our hands. God's grace abounds when we do not abuse it."
According to a 2001 report from the CIA's The World Factbook, about 50% of Nigeria's population is Muslim, 40% are Christians and 10% adhere to local religions. However, Nigeria is ranked 12th on Open Door USA's World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most persecution, and has received the maximum score in the violence category.
The country remains embroiled in a bloody battle with the Muslim extremist group Boko Haram. Since the start of Boko Haram's armed campaign in 2009, more than 20,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million made homeless in northeast Nigeria. In 2015, the group pledged allegiance to ISIS.
Open Doors notes that while most of the persecution against Christians is carried out by Muslim extremists Hausa-Fulani Muslim herdsmen, the government has shown little interest in responding to the continuing violence.
