₦airaland Forum

jonbellion:
The christians are always fond of saying that "carnal minds" can never understand the bible.
Well my mind must be be carnal then
2 kings 2:11
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
John 3:11
No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man.(these were jesus' words)
I don't think you need a soothsayer to tell you there is something wrong here
What's your say on this christians
Hopfullandlord, Hahn. Lennycool, jackbizzle, benzics, lepasharon, liberadeus, immorttal, seun, randomperson, teempakguy, SirWere, Akintom
The christian crew

Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

The nazarene was a deluded miscreants that hadly got mentioned, in the historical documentation of the scholars, who lived about the very time that the delusionist was claimed to have lived.

The christards will rather impale massively, than submit that the whole buy-bull is a crap.

obinna58:
Haha e pain am


U talking of prayer how about wishes
U guys hate seeing atheist say something related to god
Haha I can shout Jesus anytime I like cos I grew up that way

You know, these religious sissies think that there's something capable of actually influencing human minds, in mentioning certain words that have religious origin.

Without a conscious, deep meditation and emotive connection with these words, no influence is possible.

I still sing the songs of both orthodox and traditional religions. Nothing to it, just for relaxation.

Blogthug:
We see alot of New online Atheist demand for proof of God's existence, but can they even prove their mums existence is not a figment of their imagination? let's put it to the test , note if u can't it means u only believe your mum exists and not Know she does

A defeatist strawman act is peculiar to the most unintelligent religious lily-livered.

You sure don't have any iota of intelligent response, to the simple question of presenting just a proof, of your personal god idea.

The honest few among the religious folks here, have retreated to the terrain that indulges their charades.

The Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi has said that he would introduce a law prohibiting poor men from marrying more than one wife, saying there is a connection between polygamy, poverty and terrorism.

He said because muslims practice polygamous marriage, most poor men end up marrying up to four wives with as many as 20 children whom they sometimes don’t train in schools hence, some of them become thugs and terrorists.

The Emir gave the statement during a speech he delivered at a muslim gathering on Sunday. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Emir of Kano “Those of us in the [mainly Muslim] north have all seen the economic consequences of men who are not capable of maintaining one wife, marrying four.

They end up producing 20 children, not educating them, leaving them on the streets, and they end up as thugs and terrorists.” The emir discussed different areas to be covered by the wide-ranging family law, which he said would be passed by the Kano state government.

“The law will address what Islam says on marriage, it will outlaw forced marriages, it will make domestic violence illegal, it will put in conditions that you need to fulfil before you can marry a second wife, it will spell out the responsibilities of a father beyond producing a child.”

“It is a big law which covers a whole range of issues from consent to marriage, to maintenance to divorce, to maintenance of children and inheritance. It will be the first time in northern Nigeria that a Muslim law on personal status will be codified.”

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/law-ban-polygamy-theres-connection-polygamy-poverty-terrorism-emir-kano/

Emusan:
Atheist delusion indeed! The last time I checked, PRAYER
prayer
prer/
noun
noun: prayer; plural noun: prayers

a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God or an object of worship.

So instead of hiding under the guise of saying prayer why can't you come out openly and say SORRY MAN, I DON'T BELIEVE IN PRAYER.
?

Like i had pointed out in my previous writings, religious folks are mostly hasty, assumptive and find virtue in been bereft of wider knowledge, that's beyond their extremely microscopic field of religious knowledge.

Also, the religious folks, particularly the fanatical ones, take odious pleasure in creating public nuisance and irritation.

It will certainly be the delight of a religious folk, to to create unnecessary scenes of irritation in a gathering, than apply intelligence.

Below are other meanings of pray/prayer. I derived my action from there.


Prayer

Educational approach

In this view, prayer is not a conversation. Rather, it is meant to inculcate certain attitudes in the one who prays, but not to influence.........

-Wikipedia

Definition of PRAY

transitive verb

1. ENTREAT , IMPLORE —often used as a function word in introducing a question, request, or plea < pray be careful>

2. to get or bring by praying

intransitive verb

1. to make a request in a humble manner

2. to address God or a god with adoration, confession, supplication, or thanksgiving

Emusan:
You end your prayer with "AMEN" ?

So what does that prick in you?

Emusan:
and in between your prayer you stated "...i ask that our minds be stirred and guided to proffer useful and beneficial ideas..." ?

I did say those words as a suggestive attitude required for a successful meeting.

Rather than the act invocation of imaginary "spirits of guidance and wisdom", i believe that a non conventional way of asking my listeners, to inculcate attitude required for a productive deliberation, is the best

Emusan:
Sorry, who/what that will carry out this action

Prayer, to me and in my own use, isn't to be influenced by any imaginary spirit, but a suggestive words.
.

CASE STUDY

I was once asked to say the opening prayer, during a committee meeting, which had the most senior person in my organization in attendance, presided over the meeting and requested that i lead the opening prayer. In this meeting were members who know me as an atheist.

I certainly didn't want to create unnecessary confrontation, that will most likely be interpreted as slighting the boss publicly.

As a way out, and to the curiosity of the theists there, i did the following:

"shall we rise, as i pray". And i prayed thus: "we are all gathered here today and at this hour to deliberate on the progress and development of this organization, as we begin this deliberation, i ask that our minds be stirred and guided to proffer useful and beneficial ideas, that will drive this organization to the desired height. May all these be granted us, Amen".

Everybody said amen, and that was it.

The life of an atheist and how he/she relates with the psychosocial leaning of religious folks, in a world system that's predominantly submerged in illusionary cravings, is that which stirs curious and perplexing questions in the minds of the religious folks.

These questions borders on the following:

* what kind of mentality does an atheists have? (most theists have erroneous and distorted understanding of who an atheist is).

* How does an atheist feel when alone? Since he doesn't fellowship with gods.

* what/who will an atheist call on in the moment of emergency needs? eg Gasping for breath after car accident, pointed gun at by robbers etc

* what will an atheist do when victimized? eg threatened to be sacked, denied opportunities, ostracized etc because of atheistic views.

* Isn't it Hypocrisy for an atheist to pretend to be religious, just to escape victimization?

* what will an atheist fill in a form that requires religious identity, when applying to an organization, which has predominantly religious board members?

* Do atheists really hold on to the idea that heaven/hell is a religious illusion, even at the point of death?

* Don't atheists really entertain fear of the "almighty god"?

* what will an atheist do, if finding someone to marry becomes difficult because of his/her atheistic views?

Most atheists have been confronted with these tempting questions at one point, in the course of their journey through life.

To the atheists in the house, kindly share how you handled these in the past and how you will likely handle them, in case you're confronted with them in the future.

Cc:

Hahn
HopefulLandlord
SirWere
Jonbellion
Seun
lepasharon
Desepiero
Niflheim
dalaman
JackBizzle
LiberaDeus

MrMontella:
I choose to disagree Sir.
that one lady who could rock your world or even change it may disappear because of something as little as religious preferences.

I believe marriage is not a relationship of Static behaviours,appearances,patterns etc

over time changes are bound to occur..even the slightest. the ability to live with that change is the concept of a life relationship.

so simple as ABC :your beliefs changed after marriage.

when a strong relationship has been rooted. that can't shake it.

my opinions tho

I wish to qoute myself again "Based on my experience in married life, am very clear about one thing, which is that relationships are as unique as each one" .

Some of us have come to define the act of been straight, on issue that's vital to significant others, as being respectful towards their person, not necessarily that which they hold as vital.

Again, to the man who is unlimited in his mind, a closed door presents the stimulus for cracking latent doors.

LiberaDeus:
Hello all,

I am creating this topic for the purpose of discussing how freethinkers should conduct themselves in Nigeria and the world at large.

There is a widespread opinion that freethinkers should be undercover in Nigeria because of what Nigerians can do to you and how the society would react, I have a contrary opinion to that. I believe freethinkers should be more outspoken but not aggressive, there are exceptions to this e.g northern Nigeria.

These are my reasons below
1. You are doing a great service to the nation even though you would be vilified for it.

Many religious people and church goers have serious doubts about the efficacy of their religions but they eventually find a way to shelve the doubts in a compartment of their mind, they do this because they are either uninformed or they have never met a freethinkers before , if they had met one they would be know that freethinkers are people like them.

Many of them even feel crazy for feeling these doubts, they think something is wrong with them, in reality they need to see a well functioning human in society who doesn't subscribe to religious beliefs for them to know that their doubts are shared by others.

When freethinkers hide and pretend to go with the flow, you are doing a great disservice to people who actually need guidance, guidance doesn't necessarily mean you giving advice but just being visible, their brains would work everything out for them.

Sometimes people need confidence and community to be strong in their convictions. Take NL for example, as at 6 years ago, how many non religious people were on this section? But because of the confidence of some atheists, many have been set free from the shackles of religion just because they viewed religious debates. Imagine just 100,000 freethinkers in Lagos alone being outspoken, there would be a massive gradual effect.

This remains our country and if we allow small minded people to feel smart about their beliefs then we would be bringing out kids to a backward, misogynistic, bigoted country. But by being outspoken then we can soften the landing for future generations.

2. Your fear of religious people is a bit overhyped.

For those living in the northern part of the country, I think your fear is justified but for those living in the liberal south and middle belt then your fear is overhyped.

Lets face it, not all Christians are like pidgin and Analice, we still have the likes of bennyann etc. I have engaged in like 3 religious debates with colleagues before, I tried to be as mild as possible, the funny thing is that those people still related with me afterwards.

Maybe it's because they had known me for a while so they just assumed I was like them. When they found out about my agnosticism, it was too late. I think a safe method would be to act as normal as possible so as not too arouse too much interest but when folks have known you well then they can know you don't belong with them.


I think we fear religious people so much, maybe because they are in the majority and for the stuff they believe, nothing is too much for them to do. I think many religious people are tolerant enough to let you be even with your atheism.

This also depends on the lifestyle you have, I believe if you have been intellectually daring enough to doubt and criticize the largest nd oldest institutions in the world then I don't think you should be insecure in relationships or even be itching to be accepted. If you are the insecure type, then make sure you pretend to be normal and religious.

We saw the thread created by someone complaining about what atheism has to offer him, am sure the dude had been ostracized by religious folks thereby making him want to belong again.

As for me, I don't need peoples acceptance especially when they are so religious. If you can let me live and breathe, that's ok by me. When you are confident, people are more drawn to you and find you more fascinating but even if people avoid you, it won't matter because based in your intellectual level, those folks would have never been interesting to you at all, so why lose sleep over a relationship that would be shallow at best.

3. My last reason and I should say the strongest is ; be outspoken for your internal freedom. We think we know ourselves so much, believe me, when you are open about your life style you actually see yourself better than ever.

When you try and mould yourself into what the society accepts, you lose a part of yourself. For me , I can't be giving excuses when people ask me why I didn't go to church on Sunday, why should I lie to a human being just to please or appear on? Being outspoken to your family and friends also sieves fake and judgemental people away from you. Believe me when I say its better to have just 3 real friends than 40 normal acquaintances. I don't like the burden of being friendly or even pretending to be friendly with everyone, anything that even sieves or separates me from ignorant people would be appreciated.

For all these points there are exceptions which include ;
1. Don't tell any interviewer that you are an atheist or agnostic . They would see your confidence as a sign of trouble. Odds are high that the interviewer goes to one of the modern day Pentecostal churches, they would see it as a real service to their god if they deny you the job.

2. When you are dating, don't tell your partner the sum total of your religious conclusions, let him/her know the little doubts but not the sum total. People see these things as signs of how the relationship would eventually be.

3. If you are seeking a contract e.g building contract, electrical contract , ict contract etc don't expose your religious beliefs .

Please only freethinkers should comment

Cc Hahn, HopefulLandlord, SirWere, Akintom, jonbellion, Seun, lepasharon, Desepiero, johnnydon22, niflheim, dalaman

Well, it depends on the level of self disclosure, already made public. I for one, it's on my Facebook that i am humanist and i regularly update my page with atheistic articles, opinions and links.

With this level of public status, i have transcended most of the realm of cautionary moves that you advised.

But that doesn't mean that these advice, are not wise tips, for those who have not yet attained a level of freedom in vital areas of life, that can embolden them to progress to the realm of full disclosure.

LiberaDeus:
Hello all,

2. When you are dating, don't tell your partner the sum total of your religious conclusions, let him/her know the little doubts but not the sum total. People see these things as signs of how the relationship would eventually be.

.

Based on my experience in married life, am very clear about one thing, which is that relationships are as unique as each one.

This means that when you get involved with someone, you must strive to understand what works with the person.

In case an atheist have marriage in view when dating, i advice that full disclosure be the option (my personal opinion though).

You will be justified when complications (beliefs conflict) occurs in future, if only you have dealt truthfully at the onset.

ADEWUMIMichael:
In our day and age, I have noticed,
and please correct me if I am wrong,
that some people including Christians
do not take God’s commands or
doctrines very seriously.



Some people
think that when the new covenant,
the covenant of grace, came into
effect, God stopped caring about
doctrine. Some feel that doctrine is
insignificant in the new covenant,
only serving and loving God’s
people are what’s important today.






Brethren, I am a firm believer that
serving and loving God’s people are
important. However, obeying God’s
commands and doctrines are very
important as well. In fact, not only
are we going to be judged on our
service to others, but we will also be
judged on how faithful we are in
following the Word of God.



(1) According to ( Gal. 1:9 ), people
who distort the Word of God will be
eternally condemned.



(2) According to ( 2 Pet. 2:1-3; 3:16 ),
people who distort the Word of God
will bring upon themselves
destruction.



(3) We must never intentionally
distort the Word of God to satisfy our
human and worldly beliefs. If we do,
we are jeopardizing our souls.



(4) If we distort or disobey a
commandment of God, we commit
sin ( 1 Jn. 3:4 ). And you know, as
well as I know that sin is a very
serious offense.




(5) When God gives us a command,
we need to do our very best to follow
it. We need to start taking God’s
commands more seriously. In the
Bible, when people disobeyed God’s
instructions, they were punished.

It's no surprise that your god is not angry, jealous, irritated, paranoid, confused, and vexed, when one of the rogues who raped Nigeria sore, donated part of the filthy lucre to Bishop Oyedepo's coven.

Except oyedepo and all other folks who preside at the den of robbers and rogues called churches, mosques, shrines, temples and synagogues, are not disobeying the imaginary gods.

Your god shall soon be detained at the EFCC dungeon.

RELIGIOUS DEN OF ROBBERS AND ROGUES!

The earliest Nigerians realize that there's no god that judges criminality, the earliest our liberation from bad governance.

The judgment of the rogues, who plundered the commonwealth of Nigeria, is in the hands of the citizens.

Nigerians will find massive prosperity, when they are ready to take it.

Reasons:

These rogues donates the proceeds of filthy lucre to the synagogue, tabernacle, churches, mosques, shrines, covens, and all kinds of dens of evil.

In turn,

The pastors, bishops, imams, herbalist, witchdoctors, sheikh, masters, dons, and all kinds of evil incarnates, who presides in these dark places, bestow on the rogues titles that fetches them;

* sits on the front rows

* promotional titles

* recommendations for placement that attract more opportunities to rape Nigeria.

* illusionary prayers and charms for protection

* pleasure of god who is as wicked as them (the very reason these folks are evil minded without scruples).

Those who look up to some gods for salvation, shall inherit illusion in abundance.

[quote author=Lilzmalcolm post=53847035][/quote]I find it difficult to respond to your comments/points, because it's all muddled up.

Let me teach you how to respond per point.

1. Click qoute
2. Highlight the bracketed "quoted author....." and copy it, paste it blow the point you want to respond to.
3. Copy the bracketed "qoute" at the end of my post, highlight it and copy, and paste it just at the end of the last word, of the point you want to quote.
4. Write your reply between step 2 and 3.
5. Repeat the same for all the points you wanna respond to.

Goodluck!


But the summary of all your rebuttal, is still 100% based on assumptions and illusions.

I

LordAdam7:
It went off the rails because @DoctorAlien kept reiterating non-issues that had been resoundingly explained by AgentOfAllah. I can't recount how many times I almost felt like closing the thread because the back and forth were annoying.

Clearly, DoctorAlien has never being in a hi-tech lab nor does he have a degree in pure science and he is searching through creationist forums to find rebuttals to widely-accepted explanations of concepts that are too complex for his pea-sized brain to process.

Antiparticle and AgentOfAllah are incredibly patient debaters. I couldn't have gone past this statement of DoctorAlien on page 2:

"Who was there when the rock was formed to determine whether they were contaminated(and in what quantity) or not?"

No offense, but that statement is so stupid it isn't even funny. It is exactly what an unintelligent market woman would say in the face of irrefutable facts, not a self acclaimed "scientist."

To his credit he did make some valid points, but they were so corrupted by various fallacies, that even a tyro student of philosophy will scream blue murder.

Anyone who says the Bible as it is today is completely true and divinely-inspired should not be debated with on scientific topics. He or she should simply be sent to a theological school or just given funds to open a church.

I'm not trying to debase the person. We all have our different opinions. But that statement is as insulting as it is shocking. And valuable time that should be spent on more important scientific debates should not be spent on an opinion that is quite frankly in all essence a broken record.

-Lord

excellent submission.

johnydon22:
But let us fall back and take a critical look at things, not every religion banks on these values to instill morality or conformity, there some ancient religions out there that are deep and profound, that teach compassion and empathy in the most profound ways.
r

These ancient religions are organized into cult form and have intra personal relationship that's more of a fraternity than a psychosocial group.

They have no compassion for non members. In fact, if they will ever be willing to act with compassion, the recipient of such favors will be required to first become a member, before such favor is granted.

johnydon22:
again i also think religions are quite useful and important in the world today, it has proven to be a very effective tool in pushing people into conformity or control and you wouldnt like a world where there is no bond or shackle of some sort holding people down, that propbably will be a recipe for disaster

So, the conformity and control that results from taking advantage of the gullible, mentally weak, the oppressed, etc is USEFUL to humanity?

Breeding folks who will reject reason in favor of blind faith, belongs in the stone age.

orunto27:
They have Wisdom to Discern The Truth anyhow anywhere anytime.

Discern which truth?

Highly religious people are less motivated by compassion than are non-believers

By Yasmin Anwar, Media Relations | APRIL 30, 2012

Love thy neighbor” is preached from many a pulpit. But new research from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that the highly religious are less motivated by compassion when helping a stranger than are atheists, agnostics and less religious people.


Study finds highly religious people are less motivated by compassion to show generosity than are non-believers

In three experiments, social scientists found that compassion consistently drove less religious people to be more generous. For highly religious people, however, compassion was largely unrelated to how generous they were, according to the findings which are published in the most recent online issue of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.

The results challenge a widespread assumption that acts of generosity and charity are largely driven by feelings of empathy and compassion, researchers said. In the study, the link between compassion and generosity was found to be stronger for those who identified as being non-religious or less religious.

“Overall, we find that for less religious people, the strength of their emotional connection to another person is critical to whether they will help that person or not,” said UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, a co-author of the study. “The more religious, on the other hand, may ground their generosity less in emotion, and more in other factors such as doctrine, a communal identity, or reputational concerns.”

Compassion is defined in the study as an emotion felt when people see the suffering of others which then motivates them to help, often at a personal risk or cost.

While the study examined the link between religion, compassion and generosity, it did not directly examine the reasons for why highly religious people are less compelled by compassion to help others. However, researchers hypothesize that deeply religious people may be more strongly guided by a sense of moral obligation than their more non-religious counterparts.

“We hypothesized that religion would change how compassion impacts generous behavior,” said study lead author Laura Saslow, who conducted the research as a doctoral student at UC Berkeley.

Saslow, who is now a postdoctoral scholar at UC San Francisco, said she was inspired to examine this question after an altruistic, nonreligious friend lamented that he had only donated to earthquake recovery efforts in Haiti after watching an emotionally stirring video of a woman being saved from the rubble, not because of a logical understanding that help was needed.

“I was interested to find that this experience – an atheist being strongly influenced by his emotions to show generosity to strangers – was replicated in three large, systematic studies,” Saslow said.

In the first experiment, researchers analyzed data from a 2004 national survey of more than 1,300 American adults. Those who agreed with such statements as “When I see someone being taken advantage of, I feel kind of protective towards them” were also more inclined to show generosity in random acts of kindness, such as loaning out belongings and offering a seat on a crowded bus or train, researchers found.

When they looked into how much compassion motivated participants to be charitable in such ways as giving money or food to a homeless person, non-believers and those who rated low in religiosity came out ahead: “These findings indicate that although compassion is associated with pro-sociality among both less religious and more religious individuals, this relationship is particularly robust for less religious individuals,” the study found.

In the second experiment, 101 American adults watched one of two brief videos, a neutral video or a heartrending one, which showed portraits of children afflicted by poverty. Next, they were each given 10 “lab dollars” and directed to give any amount of that money to a stranger. The least religious participants appeared to be motivated by the emotionally charged video to give more of their money to a stranger.

“The compassion-inducing video had a big effect on their generosity,” Willer said. “But it did not significantly change the generosity of more religious participants.”

In the final experiment, more than 200 college students were asked to report how compassionate they felt at that moment. They then played “economic trust games” in which they were given money to share – or not – with a stranger. In one round, they were told that another person playing the game had given a portion of their money to them, and that they were free to reward them by giving back some of the money, which had since doubled in amount.

Those who scored low on the religiosity scale, and high on momentary compassion, were more inclined to share their winnings with strangers than other participants in the study.

“Overall, this research suggests that although less religious people tend to be less trusted in the U.S., when feeling compassionate, they may actually be more inclined to help their fellow citizens than more religious people,” Willer said.

In addition to Saslow and Willer, other co-authors of the study are UC Berkeley psychologists Dacher Keltner, Matthew Feinberg and Paul Piff; Katharine Clark at the University of Colorado, Boulder; and Sarina Saturn at Oregon State University.

The study was funded by grants from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley’s Center for the Economics and Demography of Aging, and the Metanexus Institute.


http://news.berkeley.edu/2012/04/30/religionandgenerosity/

GoodMuyis:
But one and simplest benefit of Serving God is Peace of Mind.

What's peace of mind?

The very bishop of this winners chapel, once boasted that the church is immune to recession.

Why wouldn't the church be?

All the rogues that plunged Nigeria into recession, have their seats in the front rows of these synagogue of thieves and robbers.

The very bishop of this winners chapel, once boasted that the church is immune to recession.

Why wouldn't the church be?

All the rogues that plunged Nigeria into recession, have their seats in the front rows of these synagogue of thieves and robbers.

iSpirit1:
A single verse will answer your question. You'll get to know why God bore them of old even in their lack of faith and worked amongst them.

"And the times of this ignorance God winked at (overlooked); but now commandeth all men every where to repent:" (Acts 17:30).

Look at that verse carefully. Alot of people have misinterpreted this verse to mean that God overlooks whatsoever humans do ignorantly. But that not what the verse is saying. Because God won't excuse anyone into heaven if they are not righteous because they committed the sins in question ignorantly.

Here is what it says:

"and the times of ignorance, God overlooked." meaning, there was a time when God overlooked certain things that men do which are against His standards. And that time, he refered to as "the times of ignorance"

But NOW, he demands from all men everywhere to repent (walk according to His standards). Altho' not all men everywhere knows God's standards. But as far as God is concerned, NOW is not the time of ignorance.

Notice: it reads "but now commandeth all men every where (whether you know God's standards or not) to repent:"

it didn't read "but now commandeth all men, who knows the truth or all men who knows God's standards to repent:"

That tells you that NOW, God is no longer taking ignorant as an excuse. And won't do anything until man have Faith.

In summary: In the Earlier times, before the way of Faith was revealed, God refered to that time as the times of ignorance and there4 he overlooked their inability to have Faith. But now, not any longer.

You're still a baby in the elementary doctrine of faith. Don't worry, before you stay up to few months on this forum, you will throw away the whole bible away. Because you shall realise that it's all childish tales.

But to help you out on the infantile exegesis you brought up.

The whole crap is trashed, on the fact that Abraham believed god, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. So also are all the heroes of faith, as listed in the book of Hebrew.

You're a learner. Just be careful with how you row with the tales.

kayzat:
That man is a chronic thief he even played fast move on the Church by paying #35million to the Church instead the usual 10% which is suppose to be 490million.

Kikikikikikiki..... Hilariously Speaking.

N8.5bn fraud: How Major General Atewe gave Winners Chapel N35m
February 17, 2017 Ayomide Owonibi Odekanyin - Lagos
A prosecution witness, Nkem Ahidjo, on Friday told a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos how Major General Emmanuel Atewe diverted N35m out of the N8.5bn he is standing trial for to the Living Faith Church, popularly known as Winners’ Chapel.



Atewe served as the Commander of the military Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield, in the Niger Delta before his retirement.

Atewe was last week re-arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for an alleged fraud of N8.5bn, which the EFCC claimed was perpetrated during the operation. He is facing 22 counts before Justice A.O. Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The other defendants in the case are a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi; Kime Engozu and Josephine Otuaga.

The EFCC accused them of conspiring among themselves to divert N8.5bn from Operation Pulo Shield between September 5, 2014, and May 20, 2015, using six companies.

The six companies were listed as Jagan Ltd; Jagan Trading Company Ltd; Jagan Global Services Ltd; Al-Nald Ltd; Paper Warehouse Ltd; Eastpoint Integrated Services Ltd and De-Newlink Integrated Services Ltd.

They were arraigned on three occasions and had on each occasion pleaded not guilty to the offence.

Led in evidence by the EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, Ahidjo introduced himself as a businessman, who dealt in stationeries, printing, and general contracts.

The witness said he carried on his trade under his five companies based in Abuja, adding that he was a registered contractor with the National Assembly, the National Population Commission, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, to which he made supplies.

He claimed to have known Atewe from Villa Church in Abuja, where they both worshiped.

The witness said, being a pentecostal, he also attended Living Faith Church, and Atewe also worshiped there. He said he cultivated a good relationship with Atewe, to the extent that he attended “midnightchurch” in Atewe’s house in Abuja, three times a week.

Ahidjo narrated to the court how Atewe moved to Bayelsa between July and September 2014 where he served as JTF Commander. “He invited me to Bayelsa and I went. He told me that the Federal Government gave JTF a grant for security and building of barracks and if I have any company into which account money could be paid. And being somebody I knew very well from Guard Commander to Major General, I provided the companies that I listed earlier,” Ahidjo said.

The witness said on a second invitation and visit to Atewe in Bayelsa, Atewe told him that three payments were about to be made into his accounts and as soon as they were made he should acknowledge the payments and await further instructions.

He said within two to three days of the meeting, he started to receive the payments and accordingly informed Atewe, who asked him to hold on till he (Atewe) returned to Abuja.

The witness said upon Atewe’s return to Abuja, he invited him to his office at Niger Barracks in Abuja, where he introduced, Engozu, who is the 3rd defendant, as the person that would take delivery of the money from Ahidjo.

Ahidjo said in view of the volume of the monies, Engozu advised him to change the money from naira to dollar before delivery, and he according contacted a Bureau de Change operator, named only as Jimoh.

“Each time I received it (money), I would call a BDC operator, named Jimoh. I knew him before this time. He would change the money, I would pay him the naira equivalent and take the dollars. Once I changed it, I would wait for instruction either from Major General Atewe or Mr. Kime. That was what we continued to do until the end of the transaction in 2015,” Ahidjo said.

He said he received a total of N4,915,163,103 within the period, out of which about N4.1bn were converted to dollars and delivered to Engozu, who in turn issued a receipt for each payment based on Atewe’s instruction.

Ahidjo said of the remaining amount, he was instructed by Atewe to transfer N35m to Winners’ Chapel; N103m to INP Ltd; N170m to First Investment Ltd; N99m to Lord Fem Ltd; N88m to Ocean Gas and N297m to Cisco Nobot.

Asked by the prosecutor the purpose of the transfer to Living Faith Church, Ahidjo said, “I don’t know what it was for; it was on the instruction of Maj. Gen. Atewe. All these monies, I don’t question what they were meant for. It is not my money, so I can’t question what it was for. Maj. Gen. Atewe asked me to act on instruction.”

The matter has been adjourned till March 21, 2017, for Ahidjo to continue his evidence.

The religious folks are under the illusion of thinking that there exist, a god that sees everything, hears every conversation, knows every thought and can do anything.

This informs the irrational and morbid fears, that rules the lives the religious.

They are deceived to think that their god make all things happen, and that nothing happens without its permission.

But in reality, nothing can be far from truth, than these assumptions.

Life without god is robustly rewarding, satisfying and peaceful.

Serving god bears no beneficial rewards, other than the momentary numbing, denial, rationalization of painful experiences. Just like opium.

Lilzmalcolm:
2.the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) taught us that supplications are answered in one of three ways:
[1] by actually giving the thing being asked;
?

Evidences abound to the effect that Allah has never and will never grant prayer requests.

Lilzmalcolm:
[2] Or by warding off a harm that would have otherwise afflicted the person;
?

This is according to Myths and tales by moonlight. Nothing like this can be established objectively.

Lilzmalcolm:
[3] Or as gifts awaiting the person in the next life, which is the best form of du’a being answered. [Musnad Ahmad].
?

Like the illusionary promise of 70 virgins abi?

Lilzmalcolm:
This, is the reason behind the conversion of many from Islaam to atheism, the claim that they were once in a situation of need and God didn't answer his calls, or because he suffered a lot despite the fact that he worships God.
So, they go on and decide that God is not just and therefore does not exist.?

this is not atheism. This is called religious disillusionment. Atheism can be likened to a man who has been healed of blindness, he certainly will never wish to be blind again.

Lilzmalcolm:
Now, by disbelieving in God, does your situation get better?
?

* yes, i can refuse to believe that receiving blood transfusion angers god. I will live and not suffer pain or death.

* I can reject Allah and Mohammad as worthy of any notice. Yet i will live a fulfilling life. Devoid of:

# fanaticism
# terrorism
# hatred
# fatalism
# child abuse and slavery
# chauvinistic and misogynistic tendencies.

iSpirit1:
Lemme bring this Forth. . .Faith means to trust wholly without an atom of doubt or wavering from what God has done.

.

Am very afraid for you. Based on my previous teachings on the subject of faith, my observations on the understanding that Christians have on the subject, and how it rewards them, you're at the baby phase of the Christian doctrine.

According to the advanced level of faith in god, FAITH IS NOT ABSENCE OF DOUBT. RATHER, FAITH IS TAKING GOD FOR/AT HIS WORDS, YOUR DOUBT NOTWITHSTANDING.

The three Hebrew kids said "EVEN (doubt) if our god will not deliver us.... Oh King, we will not bow to this image...".

Yet, according to the myth, Yahweh saved them from the furnace.

Just be careful, not to get hurt with the myth of the Bible.

iSpirit1:
The Testimony is, me who used to fall sick every month and won't get well until the doctor place me on series of treatments has not taken ordinary paracetamol since the last 6years. I've being enjoying my healthy life for the past 7years..

It's not a "miracle" if you claim that random crisis appears to have cease. Most SCD folks experience this at adulthood.

iSpirit1:
As for reconfirming my genotype, to be honest, I haven't done that. But it's obvious that an SS patient can't live for 7years without at least, a little health challenge.
.

Whatever god is behind the 7yrs "miracle", shouldn't find this conversion a difficult thing to do for you. Not even with this your mountain moving faith.

iSpirit1:
All I do is continually affirm what God has done for me in Christ without an atom of doubt.

May i advise you and others reading this. The concept of psychosomatic mechanism of the human body has limitations,when it comes to denying, rejecting and suppressing signs of illness.

There are diseases that can accommodate that, but the cumulative effect of the micro damages to the body organs, will roar up one day and death might end it all.

Am very familiar with the line of Christian doctrine that you are harping here. You certainly don't wanna know how this doctrine has complicated treatable and curable disease for folks. Some of them eventually died needlessly.

iSpirit1:
Myself for example, I was a sickle cell disease patient. Was sickly until I came to this perfect liberty. This has been the case since I started to address sickness as a corruptor. I always affirm that I can NEVER be sick because Jesus never suffered such (1John 4:17b) and so it has been for me over the years.
.

* have you commanded the "SS" to "AA" or "AS" now?

* do you still take medication or just "command" only?

hahn:
I already understand it. I enjoy watching the shock when I say Jesus doesn't exist or ask them "what is the benefit of serving god"?

The atheists have said that god(s) is an idea, and that the whole rituals packaged as religion, are mostly illusionary and delusional.

And because of this conclusion by the atheists, the theists in response, also conclude that the atheists are fools, for lacking belief in the existence of god.

To the theists therefore, what can possibly be the wisdom in or benefits of:

* believing in god(s)
* worshipping/serving god
* performing religious rituals

felixomor:
Mscheww....

Coward and quack are siamese.

Farmerforlife:
Personally, I feel more balanced in my life on the whole than many atheists I have met. .

this is subjective. And remember that i said the thrust of this discussion is on assessment of the rating of intelligence at play when atheists and theists approach life experiences.

Farmerforlife:
were we to generalise, you will agree with me that any scientific research attempted on this topic would be totally meaningless. .

Again, intelligence that borders on different specialized areas knowledge, is not in focus here.

The focus is rather about the intelligence (working sense), that is deployed when confronted with life experiences.

Farmerforlife:
The factors that affect 'intelligence' are hardly understood,
.

I will elect to say that they are multi-factorial, rather than "hardly understood".