₦airaland Forum

Text of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor’s acceptance speech on the occasion of his election as president of CAN July 6, 2010

My beloved brethren in Christ Jesus, Let me first express my gratitude to God Almighty, who has given me the privilege and opportunity to serve you as President of the Christian Association of Nigeria. Without Him, today would not have been possible, and I give Him all the glory.

Let me also thank the outgoing President, His Grace Archbishop John Onaiyekan for his leadership of CAN over the last three years. It has indeed been an honour for me to serve under your leadership, and I know I speak on behalf of not only myself but the whole of this General Assembly when I say we appreciate your dedication and sacrifice to the cause of Christianity during your just concluded tenure as President of CAN. The words in the letter to the Hebrews come to mind concerning you.

For God is not unjust to forget your work and labour of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. Hebrews 6:10

Let me also take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all those who have encouraged and supported my candidature these last few months. I thank you for your time, energy and commitment, which have gone a long way towards making this day possible.

It is my abiding belief that the Church of Jesus Christ has a pivotal role to play in the future and potential of Nigeria, this is what has prompted me to accept the many entreaties I received, particularly from our brethren in Northern Nigeria, to stand in the just concluded election.

I reiterate what I said at the NEC meeting yesterday, I am here to serve, to serve our Lord God the Almighty, to serve you the leaders of the Body of Christ in Nigeria, and to serve Christians across the length and breadth of Nigeria, from every shade of Christianity within our five blocks. I am here to listen to you and to move in the course that you chart for CAN.

One of my aspirations for the Body of Christ during my tenure as your President is to see us forge a new bond of peace and unity. Elections have the capacity to divide, and sometimes open wounds. The elections have been concluded, and whether your choice of candidate won or lost, I stand here by the grace of God to represent you, with all my heart and to the best of my ability. Let us now put the elections behind us and work together for a stronger Church in country. Our Lord Jesus Christ had warned in Mark 3:25 ‘And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand’.

We are the only hope of Nigeria, and this calls for our unity as one indisso-luble church. Whatever wounds, whatever offences we have suffered in the past, let us forgive one another and start afresh on a new page.
Top on the list of my priorities is the transforma-tion of our beloved nation Nigeria. If we were to be honest with ourselves we must admit that all is not well with Nigeria. We have had perennial religious crises in Northern Nigeria, which we will continue to shout about until a permanent solution has been implemented.

We continue to face monumental levels of corruption in our society, which translate into poor education for our children, deteriorating infrastructure, poor supply of electric power to name just a few. I firmly believe that if the Church of Jesus Christ were to live up to her responsibilities all these things will soon become history, however we must be bold and courageous to speak the truth at all times to whoever needs to hear it, we must be as wise as serpents, so that the voice of the church will be listened to and heard with clarity.

Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. Isaiah 58:12
Let me close this short address by once again thanking the outgoing President of CAN, His Grace Archbishop John Onaiyekan for his years of meritorious service, I count on your counsel and advise sir, and I know that you will continue to be a very dynamic part of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

God bless you all, God bless CAN and God bless Nigeria.

Indication emerged weekend that three Nigerian banks and three from South Africa are bidding for the purchase of Nigeria’s rescued banks.

The local banks that have indicated interest are First Bank PLC, Fidelity Bank and Ecobank The foreign banks include Standard Bank Group ltd, First Rand and Old Mutual Plc all South Africa financial institutions.
First Bank of Nigeria Plc it was learnt wants to buy at least one of the banks bailed out by the CBN according to the Chairman of the bank Oba Otudeko who spoke to reporters in South Africa.

He said “We are pursuing one or two of those on offer,” in an interview in Johannesburg. He also said that First Bank is considering a secondary listing in London or Johannesburg According to him listing in Either Johannesburg “is on the table,” he said.

CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has repeated said that the apex bank would in October open bids for the sale of Oceanic, Intercontinental, Union, Afribank, Finbank, Equatorial Trust, Spring and BankPHB.
The CBN fired top managers of these banks in August last year and injected N 620 billion of capital to ease a
debt crisis that threatened to cripple the financial system.

Standard Bank Group Ltd., FirstRand Ltd., and Old Mutual Plc, three of the largest financial institutions in South Africa, said in January they may be interested in buying stakes in the rescued banks. Fidelty Bank Plc and Ecobank Nigeria Plc also on Friday said they wanted to buy Afribank Plc.

Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi last month said he expects three international lenders, a number of private-equity firms and local lenders to submit offers by mid-July. The interested parties are undertaking “detailed” due diligence, he said. The central bank said last October that local banks can only buy a 20 per cent stake in the rescued banks. Oba Otudeko said “Our decision will be based on working with the government and also protecting the best interests of our shareholders.

“If we acquire, we would acquire at value.”

While a listing in London or Johannesburg is being considered, Otudeko declined to specify a time frame. “What we must not do is chew too much at one time,” he said.
“We have enough for now.” First Bank has gained 1.1 percent in Lagos trading this year, bringing its market value to 412.1 billion naira ($2.74 billion).
Nigeria may overtake South Africa to become the continent’s biggest economy in little over a decade, Standard Chartered Plc said last month.

Investors have swarmed to Nigeria, drawn by oil and gas reserves, the development of mobile phone networks and the country’s untapped banking market.
First Bank will expand its loan book in step with economic recovery, Otudeko said. “I’m sure we’ll not compromise on our conservatism and prudential lending,” he said. “It would be natural for us to want to grow, but we will be much more careful.”

Its a good one for him. I dont see AC winning the Presidential seat yet!

yep, your WIFE

for politicians, it may be true, not all nigerian

Good for him!

PROVERBS!! By the Wisest!

Ban your children, not the artist

Clarence Peters

[size=14pt]AKIN AND PAW-PAW!![/size]

Study your mother-in-law and see how you can get the best out of them

Ridiculous! taught IT WAS JUST A film!!

As CNN suggest, we await another development!

Interesting!!

One should be Assistant Deputy, and that solves that!!

Take a look at the break down, its pretty ridiculous!

If its this Behind, i would wear it

Majority went for Customs. Why cant EFCC go there,rather than going after Akingbola.

This government bodies steal in Millions, if not Billions.

Good to hear that Wishing you the very best

Thats not for Jambites, right? Its like a 400 level exam question!

My sister scored 198 and choose Mass Communication, kindly give updates

No information yet. Keep in touch with the Website for any information

Before you apply, you have to register by filling the form (thats what i saw when i visited the site now)

No information yet. Keep in touch with their website

Federal Government yesterday suspended bids for Citizenship and Business (C&B) automation of the Expatriate Quota Department of the Ministry of Interior.

This is coming as 78 companies participated in the bidding exercise for the N385 million Nigerian Airforce Capital projects for 2010 at an open bidding conducted by Air Officer Logistics, Air Vice Marshal Sikiru Smith and Secretary to the Tenders Board, Group Captain Adewale Ogunmodede at the Nigerian Airforce Headquar-ters, Abuja.

A statement issued by the Ministry said the bid exercise “allegedly carried out by the Ministry of Interior was not in full compliance with the Public Procurement Act 2007”.

“The Minister of Interior was not notified of the exercise and so formal and proper communication channel was breached, just as the Legal Adviser of the Ministry was not involved in the process”, it said.

The statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Minister on Media, Ben Iheanacho, said “the Minister of Interior had through a memo on 29/6/2010 earlier instructed the permanent secretary to stop further actions on the bid until instructed otherwise, citing paragraph one above”.

“Finally, several complaints received by the Minister regarding the exercise has made the suspension imperative and timely, in order to ensure transparency and avoid litigations”, he said.

Meanwhile, the open bidding for Nigerian Airforce Capital projects which took place in Abuja witnessed the participation of 78 companies, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) and the media.

The projects include development of the Nigerian Institute for Safety, Ipetu-Ijesha, Osun State; rehabilitation of Makurdi Airport runway.

The Safety Institute projects would entail the construction of roads, provision of water supply, electricity, construction of headquarters complex which comprises classrooms, a mini-hall and offices, among others.

The runway project comprises rehabilitation of transverse and longitudinal joints and safety areas, airfield lighting for taxiways and apron as well as runway bird and wildlife hazard protection system.

About five people including a new born baby to be christened today were killed yesterday following a heavy downpour in Osogbo, the Osun State capital which resulted in flooding in most parts of the metropolis.
Also, properties worth millions of naira were lost in the incident. Houses, markets, vehicles and motorcycles, electricity poles, wire cables and other home appliances were destroyed.

The rain was said to have started around 3:30am and lasted till 6:30am.
When THISDAY visited most parts of the metropolis, especially areas such as Alekuwodo area, Obate, Rasco Cinema, Ilobu road, Sabo, Oke-Baale, the flood had wreaked havoc as buildings were destroyed and food items in Akindeko market were washed away.

Also, the flood rendered most of the roads in the metropolis impassable for vehicles.
Meanwhile, the state Deputy Governor, Erelu Olusola Obada, has commiserated with the victims of the flood.
Inspecting the flooded areas in company with top government officials, the deputy governor attributed the disaster to the blockage of water ways with buildings and dumping of refuse in drainages by recalcitrant inhabitants of Osogbo.
Obada mandated the state Ministry of Environment, Emergency Management Agency as well as Osogbo and Olorunda Local Government authorities to clear the waterways promptly.

She promised that government would not shy away from taking decisive actions to prevent a recurrence of the flood.
She disclosed that she had informed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Federal Ministry of Environment about the incident.
The deputy governor commended the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps and men of the Fire Services for their rescue effort.

She appealed to the people particularly the victims of the flood to be calm, saying the government would address the situation shortly.

Im not sure there would be any exam this year. I guess they are using the UTME score. At most, i learnt they would conduct Oral interview for the selected candidates that meet their cut-off.

Whether Ajah or Lekki, the issue is the pathetic state of the house. Its pretty ridiculous seeing that!

The pastor in charge of Arise and Shine Church, Owo, in Ondo State, Rev. John Adeniyi, has been arrested by the police for allegedly buying a Hyundai Accent car believed to have been stolen from the owner.

The alleged seller of the vehicle, Mr. Seyi Oluwadayomi, was also arrested on Wednesday by the Owo Division of the state police command.

The Commissioner of Police in charge of the state command, Mr. Magaji Nassarawa, told journalists in his office on Thursday that the pastor claimed to have met Oluwadayomi at a crusade sometime this year in Owo.

Nassarawa said the cleric also confessed to have bought the car for N335,000 from Oluwadayomi.

He said the Hyundai Accent car with registration number Rivers AG 971 KPR, a Ford Expedition XLT marked Lagos DN 875 LSD, and another Nissan Primera without registration number, were also found in the suspect’s possession.

Speaking with journalists, the pastor claimed that Oluwadayomi presented himself as a true believer in the church, who could be trusted.

He said, “I met him (Oluwadayomi) in the crusade ground. I never knew he was into this kind of ugly business. He told me that he usually travelled abroad to bring in cars for sale in Nigeria.

“In fact, he was a strong member of the church and he played prominent roles during the crusade organised by the Pastor Adenuga’s church in Owo. I never knew he was into this type of ugly business.”

Oluwadayomi claimed that he was a graduate of the University of Port Harcourt, where he bagged a degree in Accounting in 2001 before he travelled abroad in 2004.

The suspect said he returned to the country 2007 to set up a business.

He said, “When I returned to the country, I was duped to a tune of N7m in 2007. I then started searching for a good job but all efforts I made to get a job were futile, hence, I decided to start this business (of selling stolen cars).

“I had wanted to travel back to Europe but there was no money. I had only made N620, 000 from the two cars I sold since I started the business.”

Meanwhile, Nassarawa said the two suspects would soon be charged to court.

By Ndahi Marama

MAIDUGURI—BARELY two weeks after all the five Borno State-owned tertiary institutions embarked on an indefinite strike over non-payment of their
entitlements, civil servants on the pay of the state government, as well as those in the 27 local government areas of the state, have been instructed by the state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Garba Ngamdu, to join their counterparts in the strike beginning from today following the inability of the state government to address some of their pressing demands.

The NLC Chairman in the state, at a press briefing which took place at the NLC’s office in Maiduguri, said the industrial action became necessary in view of the deprivation being faced by the civil servants in the state under the present administration of Governor Ali Modu Sheriff.
Comrade Ngamdu stated that the decision to embark on the strike was because of the earlier warning the union gave to the state government last week, where it stated that if government failed to meet their demands, it would lead to total closure of government offices in the state.
He said, to their dismay, the state government failed to even consider how to resolve the issue at stake. He, therefore, ordered all members to stay away from work from today and that any worker who fails to join the strike would have him/her- self to blame.
Broken promises

He lamented that the Borno State government had ailed to implement the agreement entered into with labour unions in 2008 to offset some backlogs of unpaid wages as well as the establishment of structures that will guarantee the welfare of the Borno workers.
Some of the demands which the Borno State government was said to have failed to meet despite a signed agreement between both parties in 2008, are: constituting a Local Government Pension Board, implementation of Local Government Scheme of Service, and payment of one-month salary arrears to five local government areas, which are Askira-Uba, Biu, Bayo, Kwaya-Kusar and Hawul council areas.

Another agreement that was said to have been flouted by the Governor Ali Modu Sheriff administration was the, “immediate payment of promotional/annual increment benefits to local government and primary school teachers’ arrears of October, November and December 2009; and payment of HATTIS IV 22% to animal and health workers in the local government areas.

Eligibility criteria for elections into the executive committee of the Nigeria Football Federation have been relaxed to allow for a more transparent process, according to the new leadership of the NFF.

Vociferous criticism of the skewed Election Guidelines led in part to the crisis which saw President Goodluck Jonathan decide to withdraw Nigeria from international competition for two years.

The President reviewed the decision following the impeachment of the NFF’s principal officers and pleas from football stakeholders, and the new NFF leadership now say they have made changes to the Guidelines
“We have had our first Board meeting since the change and we assure Nigerians that we will work towards getting Nigeria football back on the right course.”

“Already, we have slashed the cost of form for the elections and expanded the scope for every interested Nigerian to participate. We have also called for an Extra_Ordinary General Assembly for Friday, 9th July in Abuja that will bring forth a lot of ideas,” Acting President Aminu Maigari said at a meeting with Sports Minister Isa Bio on Wednesday.

The decision has drawn support from the Nigerian government, with Bio welcoming the three-month extension of the election timetable
“As far government is concerned, we have no objection to the three–month extension that you are seeking for your Board’s tenure. That is good because you want to open up the democratic space, which is courageous and commendable.
My charge to you is to be focused, transparent and accountable,” Bio said.