₦airaland Forum

swegiedon:
This can't be true. He ain't broke dude

Maybe not broke like ordinary folks

Everyone has his own version of the truth but i remember the youtube video of Ojukwu warning anyone against another Biafra war. if u need the link holla

Former PDP youth leader and convener of the Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju, says former president Goodluck Jonathan is broke.
Speaking in a recent interview with Sahara Reporters, Deji said Jonathan has complained he doesn't have money. He refuted claims that the former president was a corrupt leader.

"The former president is a simple man and he is very trusting. The problem was that he trusted too many people and those people did not live up to the expectation. Personally, I do not think that the former president is corrupt. But there were too many corrupt people around him. Now, he complains that he doesn't have money. So if a former president can be complaining all the time, not just once, not twice.....he complains frequently. Its a very complicated thing. We did our best and offered the counsel we could give but things turned out the way they did"he said

Deji commended the APC government for the ongoing war against Boko Haram and also for the return of the abducted Chibok girls which according to him, his party which is the PDP could not accomplish.

"No doubt they have tried in the war on terror Again we could not bring back any of the girls and they have brought out some of the girls. I believe that the girls were kidnapped. When it first happened I had my doubts because of the circumstances of the principal and her story not adding up but when the girls came to the villa, the ones who escaped, I saw them and I connected immediately. Infact, I came to social media to apologise that if I had raised some doubts, I was very sorry. I apologised to the Bring Back Our Girls people and I urged them to stand firm and I think those giving this conspiracy theory that the girls are looking well fed and that the girls were hidden in a politicians house...these are not necessary. These girls were taken. and we should stop politicizing the agony of the family"he said

IamaNigerianGuy:
It seems that way to you because you are biased.

Do you understand the meaning of bias? because i don't understand how being biased correlates with the question i asked.

roblopez018:
Every time you borrow money,you're robbing your future self.

Photoshop niggur

For a week and some days, Biafra has dominated public discourse, social media and media in general. Nigerians have been debating about the civil war, what led to it and if we have learnt anything. Biafra obviously dominates the headlines with the huge loss of lives.

Unknown to many the Nigerian Civil War wasn't the only war that happened in Nigeria. On February 23, 1966, Isaac Adaka Boro formed the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF).

The NDVF was formed 40 days after January 15, 1966, coup, the first military coup in Nigeria's history. Annoyed and disgruntled about the plight of the Nigerians from the South-South, Boro declared the Niger Delta Republic.

It was an attempt by the former police inspector to wrestle his people from the unstable Nigerian system that had sidelined his people in the grand scheme of things. On this day, the Niger-Delta seceded from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

"Today is a great day, not only in your lives but also in the history of the Niger Delta. Perhaps, it will be the greatest day for a very long time. This is not because we are going to bring the heavens down, but because we are going to demonstrate to the world what and how we feel about oppression… Remember your 70-year-old grandmother who still farms before she eats; remember also your poverty-stricken people; remember, too, your petroleum which is being pumped out daily from your veins; and then fight for your freedom" said the 27-year-old Boro on the historic day.

The rebellion did not last long. Isaac Adaka Boro and 159 men fought against Nigerian forces. The battle did not last more than two weeks as the NDVF forces were crushed.

Isaac Adaka Boro was arrested and almost executed. During the Biafran War, he was tasked by General Yakubu Gowon to fight against Biafra. Boro was an exceptional soldier who led Nigerian troops to key decisive battles and victories.

He never lived to see a unified Nigeria. He was killed in Rivers state on May 9, 1968, in mysterious circumstances.

Here is a selection of statements that Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari made in public domain. They are quite unusual and paint a picture that may be seen as quite extreme but perhaps also present a Buhari who has never concealed who he is. You be the judge.

On Election Rigging: Kill Them

“Ku fita ku yi zabe. Ku Kasa, ku tsare, ku raka ku tsaya. Duk wanda bai yarda ba, ku halaka shi.”

In English: “Firstly, you must register, come out and vote. You guard, protect, escort to the collation centre and you wait until the result is counted. Anyone who stops you, kill/destroy them! (Crowd chants wildly.)” – Video, Pre-elections 2011 [Note: Buhari locked up ex-Governor Sule Lamido for identical words]


On Boko Haram: Don’t Kill Them
“The appropriate thing to do, according to the law, was for the police to carry out investigations and charge him (Mohammed Yusuf) to court for prosecution, but they killed him, his in-law was killed, they went and demolished their houses. Because of that, his supporters resorted to what they are doing today.

You see in the case of the Niger Delta militants, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua sent an aeroplane to bring them, he sat down with them and discussed with them, they were cajoled, and they were given money and granted amnesty.

“They were trained in some skills and were given employment, but the ones (Boko Haram) in the north were being killed and their houses were being demolished. They are different issues, what brought this? It is injustice”. –theNation June 2013.

On Yar’Adua When He Was Sick: Impeach Him!

“Former Head of State, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), has declared that the only solution to present political uncertainty in the country is for the National Assembly to set machineries in motion for the impeachment of ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

The 2003 and 2007 presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) made the declaration yesterday while addressing members of the National Unity Forum (NUF) which had visited him in Kaduna.”–Ismail Omipidan, Kaduna, Sun Newspapers (Wednesday, March 10, 2010)

On Democracy And Inclusivity: 5% Gets Less

“Er yes, erm I hope you have a copy of the election results. Literally, constituencies for example, that gave me 97 percent cannot in all honesty be treated, on some issues, with constituencies that gave me 5 percent. I think these are political reality.

While certainly there will be justice for everybody, everybody will get his constitutional rights, but where the party and constituencies that by their sheer work, they made sure that they got their people to vote and to ensure that their votes count, they must feel that the government has appreciated the effort they put in putting the government in place.

I think this is really fair in delivering.”–In response to Dr. Pauline Baker at US Institute of Peace, July 2015

On FOREX For The Privileged: Those Who Can Afford It Can Afford It

“If the country cannot afford it, so be it. (Your children will continue their studies, no doubt?) Those who can afford it can still afford it. Nigeria can’t allocate FOREX for all those who decide to train their children outside the country. We just can’t afford it. (So it’s tough luck) Well. That’s the situation we are in.” – AlJazeera’s Martine Dennis, March 2016

Here is a selection of statements that Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari made in public domain. They are quite unusual and paint a picture that may be seen as quite extreme but perhaps also present a Buhari who has never concealed who he is. You be the judge.

On Women: Belong in Kitchen

“I don’t know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room.” -BBC, Oct. 2016

Buhari insists it is role of a woman to Phil Gayle of Deutsche Welle:

“I am sure you have a house. You know where your kitchen is. You know where your living room is. And I believe your wife looks after all that even if she’s working.”

Mr. Gayle: “that is your wife’s function?”

Buhari: “Yes, to look after me”.

On Massacre By Military: Would Have Been Worse If I Was Still Military Leader

“It is unfortunate and extremely serious. How can any group will create a state within a state. I don’t want to speak about it in detail now. I better leave it until I receive the inquiries.

But there are a number of clips I saw where some excited teenagers were virtually hitting the chest of Generals; you know, putting road blocks, banning vehicles and pelting them with missiles (Questioner: Do you feel infuriated?) Very much so, but again I realize my position. I am now a sitting duck.” – In media chat after hundreds were killed and secretly buried in Zaria incident of Dec. 2015

When Fulanis Were Reportedly Killing Locals In Oyo in 2000: My People

“Your Excellency, our visit here is to discuss with you and your government our displeasure about the incident of clashes between two peoples… the Fulani cattle rearers and merchants are today being harassed, attacked and killed like in Saki.

In the month of May, 2000, 68 bodies of Fulani cattle rearers were recovered and buried under the supervision and protection from a team of Mobile Police from Oyo State Command. That some arrests were made by Oyo State Police Command in the massacre with their immediate release without court trial.

This was said to have been ordered by Oyo State authorities and they were so released to their amazement. The release of the arrested suspects gave the clear impression that the authorities are backing and protecting them to continue the unjust and illegal killings of Fulani cattle rearers…”

According to the general, they therefore wanted immediate stoppage of the killings, justice and compensation to the Fulanis. The police and SSS however revealed that the reverse was the case. – October 2000

What is interesting to note is that these above are not a tiny selection from many talks but actually about a quote per few times Buhari has spoken publicly.

If such extreme speech is so common the few times he’s been heard in public, does it imply that he always speaks this way?

Only his inner circle can confirm. But it is important we know that Buhari is who he says he is and most importantly, who he acts as and not who we conjure him to be in our minds and dreams.

Why does it feel like Ojukwu was trying to enforce Biafra on southwest?

My dear Victor,

1. For some time now, you and I have been discussing the circumstances that have led to the current and inevitable disintegration of what was the Federation of Nigeria. We have been fully convinced that the aim of the Hausa/Fulani complex has ever been, and will ever remain, the total domination of every other part of what was known as the Federation of Nigeria. It is impossible to forget that the crisis which led to the army take over in January 1966, the coup of the Northern soldiers led by Gowon in July 1966, the wholesale and indiscriminate massacre of the people of what is now Biafra- and, to a less degree, the people of the Mid-West and West, including the Yorubas, were all the direct result of Hausa/Fulani attempt to subjugate and use as tools, the gallant people of Western Nigeria namely the Yorubas. We do not need to remind ourselves of the heavy losses in life and property suffered by the Yoruba people in their fight for justice and freedom during 1965.

2. Sharing.our belief that the people of Yorubaland have a right to live a life of equality and self-respect and justice free of domination and dictatorship from any quarter, you have both identified with the cause of the Biafra struggle for survival and expressed your determination to see the people of Yorubaland freed from Hausa/Fulani domination. We, the people of Biafra, for our part are willing and have decided to give you and the people of Yorubaland every assistance to achieve your aim.

3. After clearing the whole question with my Executive Council, I, as the Commander in Chief of the Biafran Armed Forces, have decided to place at your disposal Biafran forces, for the liberation of Yorubaland on the following clear conditions:- (i) You will have nothing to do with the Military Administrator in the Mid-West Territory during your sojourn there prior to your move to the West. (ii) The willingness and preparedness of Biafra to assist any part of the former Federation of Nigeria wishing and willing to liberate itself from the Hausa/Fulani domination, does not in anyway whatever imply any inclination on her part to compromise her sovereignty or preserve what remains of the defunct Federation of Nigeria. In other words, our sovereignty and break with Nigeria is irrevocable. Nothing must, therefore be said or done by you or any member of the Liberation Army to give a contrary impression. (iii) Biafra is determined to maintain and safeguard her sovereignty and ensure that her integrity and safety are never again threatened. (iv) Biafran troops will, after the liberation of the Yorubaland, remain in that territory only for as long as we in Biafra consider it necessary for the Yorubas to consolidate their position and sovereignty against any external threat. (v) On the liberation of the Yorubaland, you will be appointed as the Military Governor of that territory. (vi) The liberation of Western Nigeria will be a prelude to the liberation of all Yorubas up to the River Niger and the severance of all connections between the West and the North at Jebba. (vii) During the period of Biafrans troops’ presence in your territory, all political measures, statements or decrees shall be subject to the approval, in writing by myself or on my authority. (viii) Should our troops arrive and liberate Lagos, the government of the Republic of Biafra reserves the right to appoint a Military administrator for the territory. Such an Administrator will remain in office until a merger of that territory with Yorubaland is effected by Biafran troops. (ix) As soon as possible after your appointment as the Military Governor of Western Nigeria and separation of that territory from Nigeria, you and I must meet to discuss: (a) the duration of stay of Biafran troops in your territory; (b) the areas and subjects of cooperation between the liberated sovereign states of Western Nigeria, or by what name it may call itself, and Biafra.

4. I do not need to remind you that Biafra regards all Yoruba as friends. As such everything should be done, to ensure the minimum force and loss of life are involved in achieving the objective of liberation.

5. It is essential, in order to avoid misunderstanding or confusion, that all subsequent requests for support be formally made to me by you in writing.

6. Will you please signify in writing, your acceptance of the above conditions so that you may leave for Western Nigeria and lead the army of liberation.

Yours very sincerely, signed Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu,
Military Governor and Commander in Chief of Biafran Armed Forces.
culled from " A Break in the Silence : Lt. Col. Victor Adebukunola Banjo, pp.66-68, by F. Adetowun Ogunsheye, Spectrum Books, Ibadan, 2001". Provided by Prof. Olufemi Ojo

Lagos State House Chaplain’s Femi Taiwo Fired For Anointing Others Before Governor Ambode’s Wife, Bolanle

There is anger at the Chapel of Christ the Light, Alausa, Lagos State, after the Presiding Chaplain, Venerable Femi Taiwo, was sacked by the Governing Council allegedly on the order of the state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Taiwo got the sack on Monday, May 15, without any query or official reason stated in the sack letter.
He was said to have been ordered out of his official quarters where he lived with his wife and two children within 24 hours of receiving the letter.

Despite pleadings from church leaders and other reputable elders in the church, the government was said to have insisted that the cleric must leave the church.
Some church members reportedly contributed money to buy gas cooker, and other household items for the family as they vacated the vicarage.

Church members were said to have filed out to receive anointing oil during the May 14 service without any preference given to Bolanle, who waited endlessly with her entourage.
She was said to have later moved to be anointed and moments later, stormed out of the church, as some of the women leaders ran after her.
Bolanle, who was reported to be visibly angry, allegedly shunned entreaties from the women, which included the wife of the presiding chaplain.
The cleric got the sack the following day.
The directive was issued in a letter dated, May 15, 2017, and signed by the Chairman, Governing Council of CCTL, Mr. Olugbenga Solomon. The letter also ordered the Assistant Chaplain, Very Rev. Ayo Oyadotun, to take over with immediate effect.
A church member, who witnessed the drama and begged not to be identified, said , “The church had declared seven-day fasting after we lost two prominent members.
“The Sunday service, which was declared as anointing service, was supposed to end the fasting.

“The First Lady, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, was present with her entourage. She comes to the church once in a while.
“When it was time to be anointed, the cleric asked people to come forward, adding that it was optional. Three people stood at the stage to anoint people. They included the chaplain, the presiding chaplain and one other person.

Sanyeri said " I always remember those times that we didn’t have much and she stuck by me. When my wife gave birth to our first child, I had just N3, 500 with me, so it was quite tough. That’s why I always say that there is nothing I cannot give my wife. As of the time she married me, the only property I had was my tribal mark.

A teenager has revealed how he was defiled several times while in Kirikiri Prison. The teenager, Bashua (surname withheld), said that the incident happened in 2014, when he was just 16-year-old. He said that the policemen doctored his age, to ensure they arraigned and sent him to prison.

Bashua had recently regained his freedom, through the intervention of the Stephen and Solomon Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (WHO). The foundation is led by Mr. Giwa Amu, a Lagos-based human rights lawyer.

Bashua, a secondary school student, said he was returning home from a coaching class when he was arrested by a team of policemen. According to him, he was later charged to court for an offence he did not commit. He said: “I was remanded at the Kirikiri Prison and experienced being locked with over 100 inmates who were older than me. I was molested S3xually. I was defiled several times in a day.

They would tell me not to cry. I was in remand for one month and those days were hell for me. “I was going home from Epe, after coaching class, when a team of policemen on patrol arrested me at Obalende and took me to Bar Beach Police Station, Victoria Island.

The police kept me in a cell with other boys and suspects for one week. I was arrested on November 20, 2014. The policemen told me and the other boys that we belonged to a gang that attacked a team of policemen. “I denied the allegation.

I told the policemen that I’m a secondary school student. I was just 16-yearold, but they did not listen to me. They beat us mercilessly and said we should shot up. I was in police custody for one week with other boys. Our parents were not aware we were in police custody.

The police arraigned us at Igbosere Magistrates’ Court, Obalende. They doctored my age from 16 to 19 years. The magistrate ordered we should be remanded in prison.” Amu said the case of the 16-yearold boy was most touching. He said: “His age was doctored to be 19. We started rehabilitating him since he was released because he told us that he was kept in the open cell where there is high activity of homoS3xuality.


He is undergoing treatment and we have placed him on scholarship so he can continue his education.” Amu added that boys were arraigned in court with no counsel representing them.

He said: “As part of our prison ministry, we visit the courts regularly to help indigent accused with free legal services. We happened to be in court the day they were to be arraigned. It was a dock brief and we found out that they did not have any lawyer.”

Bashua was not the only youngster arrested and charged to court for allegedly attacking policemen. Others were Oladepopo (21), Samson (21), Yinka (19) and Andrew (20). The boys would have continued to languish in prison but for the quick intervention of lawyers.

A businessman, Mohammed Yakubu Jacob, yesterday married another set of 50 less privileged girls in Gashua town, Yobe State. This is coming a month after he married 40 internally displaced girls, which attracted thousands of well-wishers.
The ceremony was held under the guardianship of Emir of Gashua, Alhaji Abubakar Umar Sulaiman, at his palace mosque in Gashua. The girls were mostly daughters of internally displaced parents, orphans, and less privileged people who had suitors but could not have the means to marry them off.
Speaking at the event, the Emir of Gashua said all the couples had undergone genotype, HIV, and pregnancy tests. He said the brides and grooms had been screened religiously to avert any chance that would invalidate their marriages.

Former Head of State and Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Major General Muhammadu Buhari has faulted the federal government’s clampdown on Boko Haram Islamic insurgents.

He accused the government of killing and destroying their houses while the Niger Delta militants were given special treatment by the government.

Buhari who spoke on Sunday on a Liberty Radio programme, Guest of the Week monitored in Kaduna also admitted that the road to the registration of the All Progressive Congress (APC) was rough, pointing out that the promoters of the party were well prepared for any hitch that may arise.

The former Nigerian leader said that unlike the special treatment given to the Niger Delta militants by the federal government, the Boko Haram members were being killed and their houses demolished by government.

While accusing President Jonathan of failing from the beginning to address the security situation in the country, Buhari said he has never been in support of the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa state.

According to Buhari “what is responsible for the security situation in the country is caused by the activities of Niger Delta militants. Every Nigerian that is familiar with what is happening knows this. The Niger Delta militants started it all.

ModsWillKillNL:
Which one is your father?

I don't know what to say to you, maybe the the fact that my 13 year old nephew speaks better English, or maybe i should just put the blame on your useless human you call your father. Your response will help me in making a choice on who to blame.

A Chemical Engineering graduate of Covenant University, MsFoyin took to her Twitter handle to list the requirements of her dream man.

Cordinator you mean..

In the bid to control HIV AIDS in Uganda, lawmakers have demanded for the production of bigger condoms that will size the sexual organs of their youths.

The condoms made available in the country is small compared to the size of our youths sexual organs, thus the need for a bigger condom arise, they said.

In the bid to control HIV AIDS in Uganda, lawmakers have demanded for the production of bigger condoms that will size the sexual organs of their youths.

The condoms made available in the country is small compared to the size of our youths sexual organs, thus the need for a bigger condom arise, they said.

Dear Nigerians ladies, please run from Ugandan men.!!!

Sirhethat12:
threaten ke? people need to get informed Biko, I wonder how they can be so callous taking advantage of job seeking individuals.

cc lalasticlala

See Proof o

The Inequality report released by Oxfam International on Wednesday, revealed that the combined wealth of five richest Nigerians, put at $29.9 billion, could end extreme poverty in the country.

The report, entitled ‘Inequality in Nigeria, Exploring the Drivers and obtained in Abuja, exposed the large and growing gap between the rich and poor in Nigeria.

It revealed that the benefits of the nation’s economic growth had been captured by a few wealthy elite at the expense of the ordinary Nigerians.

According to the report, the economic inequality is a key factor in the conflict in the North-Eastern states of the country.

Oxfam International also disclosed that Nigeria’s richest man earned 8,000 times more in one day than a poor Nigerian would spend on basic needs in a year.

It said that more than 112 million people were living in poverty in Nigeria, yet the country’s richest man spent one million dollars a day for 42 years to exhaust his fortune.

According to the report, Nigeria is one of the few countries where the number of people living in poverty is on the increase despite the growth of the economy.

According to the report, public office holders steal estimated 20 trillion dollars from the treasury between 1960 and 2005, while multinational companies receive tax incentives estimated at 2.9 billion dollars a year.

And NEOLIFE, those ones will even be threatening you.

The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello has denied that he is after the life of Senator representing the Western part of the state, Dino Melaye.

He described Melaye as a liar and professional blackmailer‎.

Recall that the lawmaker had recently escaped assassination in his hometown of Okun area of the state.

Speaking with Vanguard, Fanwo said, “I also heard of the allegation and it is an embarrassment to logical reasoning.

“Governor Yahaya Bello is not competing with Senator Dino Melaye for anything. He is the Governor of the State, father of the State and the leader of the All Progressives Congress in the State.

“The Governor has no reason to be after Dino Melaye’s life. Governor Yahaya Bello cannot hurt a fly. The allegation is not only irresponsible and false, but represent the height of pathological lying.

“There is need for the Senate to call Dino Melaye to order. He should stop embarrassing our revered Senate.

“Anyone who is a serial liar, morally bankrupt and professional blackmailer should not be making laws for us. Senators should be societal role models.”

I agree...Just as stealing is nkt corruption.

Fake news. Where's the pic

STALE...LOOOOL LASTMA

According to the Ogirishi of Igboland, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka and the Deputy Publicity Secretary of Eastern Consultative Assembly, ECA, Dede Uzor A. Uzor.
Biafra state remains a Biafra state but that the problem with Ndigbo is that Biafrans themselves have not helped themselves.
According to Ezeonwuka, “If you call yourself an Igboman or a Biafran, you must have heard that only 20 pounds was released to every Igbo man shortly after the civil war, and their properties were forcefully taken away from them in some parts of the country in the name of abandoned properties, yet they managed to survive”.
“However, he continued, it is quite unfortunate that the same Ndigbo who suffered these deprivations have not learnt our lessons from it, to the extent that after surviving the post-civil war trauma, they still went ahead to invest all their monies outside Igbo land where their monies and properties could be abandoned for the second time in the event of another outbreak of war or possible break-up of the country”.

“I presume that Ndigbo cannot be identified as fools with their first mistakes but with this second mistakes of continuing to invest massively in other parts of the country, as they are doing now in their numbers, they can be identified as proper fools and as such, the step could be likened to an Igbo adage which states that first fool is not fool but second fool is proper foolishness”.
“To me, Biafra republic has already been declared by Ojukwu in 1967 and there will be no need for declaration of Biafra for the second time. Ojukwu declared it, fought for it and died for it. There will be no need for a second declaration. All we need to do is to do remembrance anniversaries and befitting burials for those who died during the struggle”.

According to him, “The effect of what led to the civil war remains unresolved till date. For instance, no Igboman is in top four echelon in the strategic security apparatus of the nation, ranging from Chief Of Army Staff, COAS, Chief Of Defence Staff, CDS, Insoector-General of Police, IGP, Director-General of State Security Services, D-G SSS, Specurity Adviser, SSA, Chief of Air Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, Immigration Service, Prisons Service, NAFDAC, NIMASA, Aviation, Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, among others”.

He queried: “Does it mean that no Igboman is qualified or educationally sound to hold such a strategic positions? These are the issues behind the continued agitation of ndigbo for restoration or actualization of Biafra”.
“Since these fundamental issues are yet to be addressed, we in the ECA would want to align ourselves with some prominent Igbo personalities like Dr. Alex Ekwueme, second republic vice president who are in support of Nnamdi Kanu’s continuation with his clamour for the restoration of Biafra”.

We want the Yorubas and other like-minded people, including the South outh to continue to throw their weight and support behind Ndigbo since no individual or group have regretted supporting Ndigbo and I must emphasize that Ndigbo remains trusted allies to any group of individual who wishes to align with them”.

Reno Omokri is a Pentecostal pastor. He is the founder of a certain Mind of Christ Christian Centre. Keep that name in mind.
He flaunts his knowledge of the Bible. He dispenses nuggets. He has written a book on Godly wisdom. And another, interestingly, on “short cut to God.” He has taught Jesus on television. He was once a spokesman for a country’s president. Yet, he is, obviously, a flippant man.

He is, evidently, a political attack dog. He is, seemingly, incapable of sobriety. And apparently, he has no use for self-restraint. But this is not about a 43-year-old Papa Reno Omokri. It is about the watery Pentecostalism that has birthed many of his kind. It is about a pattern of dissonance, a habitual lack of harmony between what is preached in words and what is preached indeed. It’s about naked hypocrisy that is rampant in our politics, that has seized the church by the scruff of the neck. It is about the lust for titles, and for oversized names of worship centers.

The 1970s Pentecostal Christians weren’t saints, but they were visibly different. Had Omokri met the Pentecostalism of the 70s, he could have been a more temperate man. Now, there is a Reno Omokri who clings to the reputation of a pastor but who engages in political diatribes like a motor park tout. When he likes, he masquerades as Wendell Simlin. When he is not dishing nuggets, he is splashing insults. The modern Pentecostal duplicity. Pastors ought to be conscious of the moral burden and expectations priesthood places on them. We know anger can detonate bombs. But how can anyone explain a pastor deliberately making a career out of being a political attack dog? Yes, pastors aren’t saints. But pastors are supposed to be seen striving, struggling, to be moral examples. They can’t relapse into chronic self-indulgence, they can’t run brothels and they can’t live as pimps. They simply can’t be resident in sin.

Where, in the chaotic soul of a political attack dog can the Holy Spirit find rest? Pentecostalism is now all talk, no action. Intemperate glib talkers are all pastors. Pastor Reno Omokri is the founder of Mind of Christ. So he is a papa too. But there is no link between the name of his church and many of his public utterances. Some other pastors are less dissembling. A pastor named his church “Now Now Miracle Centre.” Nigeria lives in the present, and everybody wants quick fixes. The pastor, with an eye on earthly acquisitions, preaches materialism in the name of prosperity. It makes sense, there is congruity. An irascible attack dog can shepherd anything but not a ‘Mind of Christ Centre.’

This new watery Pentecostalism is not built on the fear of God. It lets ‘Area boys’(urchins) who haven’t completed drug rehabilitation programs become pastors. Those capable of sobriety are reluctant to be ordained. Yes, they are fainthearted. But they are honest. The burdens and the expectations of genuine priesthood are scary. Charlatans make an easy leap for the title and fame, for recognition, for status.
They don’t need attitudinal changes, they can just put on the mask. Then with jollity, throw themselves forward as worthy of communal respect. Their courage comes from knowing, from the outset, that they won’t have to live their sermons, and nuggets. Many Nigerians have regrettably kept away from politics for similar reasons.

What has Christ to do with acrimony and vindictiveness? Christ’s mind can’t look at a sick old man and mock him. It cannot sit with fools and churn out conspiracy theories. Christ’s mind has no room for the ‘yab me, I yab you’ mentality Reno Omokri has patented in Nigeria. Yet Omokri is not a truck pusher in Ochanja market, he is not an Obalende danfo driver. He is a Pentecostal pastor. Pentecostal Christians have been at the forefront of Christian evangelism in Nigeria in the last 40 years. They have been aggressive. But what they have succeeded in spreading, of late, is a form of flaky Christianity. A Christianity remarkable for being extravagant and superficial. They like to preach on T.V and in buses.

They like to build big churches with loud microphones and musical equipment. What they don’t do, is preach with their lives. When they serve in public offices, their works don’t recommend Jesus. They lead double lives. One rolls on the floor in churches. And the other takes over in the office shaming Christ, propagating evil. Reno Omokri is the founder of Mind of Christ Centre, but you can catch him yelling publicly at a minister “your mother! It’s possible. He once looked at Rotimi Amaechi and called him” a pot-bellied mad man.” He fights for President Jonathan. President Jonathan is not a pastor, but he has never been uncouth in public. I can’t understand this perpetual wallowing in and splashing of, mud by any pastor. Nominal Christians experience bouts of sobriety in between sinfulness. They come back to their senses, call victims and apologize, make confessions and seek forgiveness. Pastor Omokri can quarrel, every day, for 365 days.

Omokri is a manifestation of faulty Pentecostalism. “You are a waste, you should be thrown away by Lagos Waste Management Authority,” he once told Gov Amaechi. He publicly referred to Rev Fr Mbaka and Pastor Bakare as blooming hypocrites. They disagreed with him on Buhari and Jonathan. He has uttered childish insults like: “You are as useless as ‘P’ in psychology.” He has never tendered any public apologies. I tried to imagine some of these vileness dropping from Pastor Adeboye’s lips and I was struck by vertigo. Modern Pentecostal pastors always look too well fed. But from their fruits, you know that many are spiritually malnourished.
Pastor Omokri bakes nuggets. Yet he exhibits all the signs and symptoms of spiritual malnutrition. Perhaps he needs nuggets of humility from Femi Adesina. Adesina is a presidential spokesman. He is not a pastor. But he carries himself with the dignity of a bishop. He needs nuggets from Prof Osinbajo. Osinbajo is a pastor and comports himself like a cardinal.

Blood Burster? Wow, it's a new low everyday on NL

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