₦airaland Forum

.Did you know that the national flag should not be left outside beyond 6pm? The National flag should be hoisted and flown ceremoniously and briskly at 6am and lowered slowly in the same manner by 6pm everyday.

•Rarely should the flag be used horizontally or laid flat. In a case when it is placed over a casket, a licence must be granted by the government.

•The flag should fly at the peak of the hoist, except on memorial days or during state funerals as a mark of respect, when it is flown at half-mast.

•When in a room or hung anywhere, no other flag, emblem or insignia should be placed higher than it.

•When the flag is carried in a procession, the carrier should be neatly and properly dressed and must be placed in front.

•When there are two flags and the second flag is not a national flag, the national flag should be in front.

•When other flags are carried along in a procession, the national flag should be in front and at the centre of all other flags in the procession.

•For an audience in auditorium or hall, the flag should be on the right end of the first row.

•For a speaker on the platform, the national flag should be on the speaker’s right hand as he faces the audience. Other flags can be on the left and take their position sideways both left and right.

•Whenever a group of flags are displayed, the Nigerian flag should be at the centre and placed higher than the others.

•Only cars of special dignitaries are allowed to use the flag. Where permitted, the flag should be mounted on the radiator cap or attached to the right fender of the vehicle chassis of key government official

A 35 year old record has just been broken.The last time West Brom defeated Man U was in 1978.

Pleasant' accountant found dead in her home as son, 21, is arrested on suspicion of murder
Police were called to large £350,000 four-bedroom property in Wickford
Discovered body of 44-year-old accountant Tolu Kalejaiye at 10am
Son arrested soon after by Essex Police officers and remains in custody

A 21-year-old man Oludotun Emmanual Kalejaiye, the son, was Friday arrested and charged with murder after his mother was found dead with stab wounds to the neck in their home in Essex, England.

Her son, Oludotun who is aged 21, of the same address, who was arrested shortly after, remained in custody Thursday night and is due before Chelmsford magistrates on Saturday. Police said their identification of the victim was "provisional" and was subject to the opening of an inquest.

Oludotun Emmanual Kalejaiye, 21, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates Court this morning charged with stabbing his 44-year-old mother Tolu Kalejaiye to death at their home in Wethersfield Way, Wickford, on Thursday.

Suzanne Stringer, prosecuting, said: “She was found at her home address in Wickford. She was found lying on her back, in her kitchen, with a large laceration to the left side of her neck. She was surrounded by blood.”

Kalejaiye, who appeared in red prison-issue sweat shirt and jogging bottoms, had no chance to enter a plea and spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth.

A police spokesman said: “A post-mortem was carried out on Friday, September 27, and the provisional cause of her death has been given as stab wounds to the neck.”

Police Officers were called just after 10am on Thursday to a large £350,000 four-bedroom property on Wethersfield Way in Wickford, Essex, where they discovered the body of a woman named locally as 44-year-old accountant Tolu Kalejaiye.

The death is being treated as suspicious and a cordon is in place around the property. Fred Lyons, who owns F Lyons Family Butchers in nearby Southend Road and is parish councillor for Shotgate, said: “I know Wethersfield Way and this area is very quiet. A lot of new people have moved into the area this year because it is very sought after.

“This is very out of the ordinary. I have been here for 28 years and there has never been any bad news. We encourage community spirit and for people to look out for each other. As a parish councillor we are usually only moaning about youths gathering and petty things, nothing dramatic at all.”

Grief: More than 10 of Mrs Kalejaiye's friends and family stood in tears this afternoon outside the family home

Neighbours said they had been told the mother was stabbed to death, but it was not confirmed how she died. More than 10 of Mrs Kalejaiye’s friends and family stood in tears Thursday afternoon outside the family home, which remained cordoned off whilst a team of forensic officers worked inside the property.

Michael Day, 57, her neighbour on the quiet road, said: ‘I left my house at just gone 9.30am and when I came back 10 minutes later, there was all this commotion.

'People were running around on the grass outside on their phones and it was all very chaotic. Police cars were quickly on the scene and then the police helicopter was overhead.

Mr Day described Mrs Kalejaiye as ‘pleasant’, saying that he would only usually see her on Sunday mornings when she went to church. ‘She would wave when she saw me,’ he added.

According to her Facebook profile, Mrs Kalejaiye is engaged, studied accounting and finance at Middlesex University in Hendon, north London, and is originally from Abeokuta in Nigeria. She had also been involved in a successful campaign with other neighbours to establish village green status for the small area of grass at the front of her home.

'People were running around on the grass outside on their phones and it was all very chaotic' - Michael Day, neighbour

An Essex Police spokesman said: ‘Detectives are investigating the death of a woman in Wickford. Officers were called shortly after 10am today after neighbours reported concerns for a resident at a house in Wethersfield Way.

'Officers attended and found the body of a woman in her 40s. The death is being treated as suspicious.

'A cordon is in place around the property. A 21-year-old man has been arrested.’

http://africanoutlookonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7274%3Anigerian-man-21-charged-with-essex-stabbing-of-tolu-kalejaiye&catid=99%3Aoutlookscroller

As part of its news item yesterday on NEWS AT 10 by Channels Television as cast by Bimbo Oloyede,it was reported that First Bank of Nigeria PLc has been declared the best Company to work in Nigeria for the year 2013.The award was given by an organisation known GREAT COMPANY TO WORK.The criteria for the award given to First Bank include but not limited to; remuneration,organisational structure,human resources policies and training for staff.

Amazing Photo: Artist Peter Cook grew this living garden chair using tree shaping methods, primarily trimming a living tree through constricting the direction of branch growth. The chair took about eight years to grow.

ASUU Executives Were Called For A Meeting In The UK... So They All Met At The Murtala Muhammed
International Airport In Lagos...
While They Were Seated And Relaxed In The Plane, They Were Informed That The Plane Was Built
By A Group Of Students From Nigeria's Universities And The Plane Was On Its First Experimental Trip... They All Ran Out Of The Plane, Except One Person, When He Was Asked By The Other Staff, His Reason For Remaining, He Said "If It Is Made By Our Students, It Will Not Even Start...TGIF

As part of its news item yesterday on NEWS AT 10 by Channels Television as cast by Bimbo Oloyede,it was reported that First Bank of Nigeria PLc has been declared the best Company to work in Nigeria for the year 2013.The award was given by an organisation known GREAT COMPANY TO WORK.The criteria for the award given to First Bank include but not limited to; remuneration,organisational structure,human resources policies and training for staff.

CERTAIN MEN ARE PROFESSIONAL LIARS & AND WILL BE SO UNTIL THE END OF TIME. THEY WILL CONTINUE TO TELL YOU THE SAME LIES THAT THEY TOLD TO YOUR FORE-PARENTS. AVOID THESE MEN AT ALL COST THEY MAY LEAD YOU ASTRAY & CAGE YOUR BODY AND MIND IN ETERNAL IGNORANCE. IF YOU COME IN CONTACT WITH THESE MEN AND THEY TRY TO TELL YOU ONE OF THEIR STORIES, DEMAND THAT THEY SHOW YOU SOME PROOF, FACTS, OR EVIDENCE TO BACK-UP THEIR CLAIMS AND YOU WILL SEE HOW QUICKLY THEY SCATTER BACK INTO THE DARKNESS FROM WHICH THEY CAME, LIKE ROACHES WHEN LIGHT IS SUDDENLY TURNED ON THEM.

WHO OWNS THE COPY RIGHTS TO THE BIBLE?
If the Bible is the word of God; why is it that, it’s the church and it’s publishers who are the holders of the copyrights to the Bible? The copyrights should belong to their God which would in turn means that it belongs to every human being on earth.
Check this out:
King James Version Public Domain in America
New King James Version®
Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.
Bible text from the New King James Version® is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.
New International Version
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible
Scripture quotations marked (NASB)taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by)
English Standard Version
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Thomas Nelson publishers made hundreds of millions of dollars off the Bible since the company was founded in 1798 in Scotland. Zondervan (1931) & Lockman Foundation (1958) also made many millions of dollars of profit selling the Bible.

Sex is a fact of life like death. The mind naturally craves for Food, Water, Sex and Sleep. This is the natural order of things. After eating, one must drink water and after sex, you will sleep. It is an established order. To be Hot is not a crime and sometimes to masturbate has been described as a good therapy but all must be done for the right purposes.

Africans are always Hot and at best masturbate. The most alarmingly disturbing is that all are done with all intent and purposes, for the wrong reasons. Africans are only Hot for religions. They masturbate profusely because of religions. When you see an average African looking pale and sex-starved, it is all because of religion. An average African wants to Bleep all the time because of christ, sango, oya, osun, mohammed, krishna among others.

While reasonable people in the advanced world are Hot too, they are Hot for developmental reasons. Japanese, Chinese, Americans, Brazilians are Hot today for science and technology. They masturbate vehemently so as to be satisfied by going into space and even conquering earth. Apart from achieving a lot, they are also making sure that Africans are sexually satisfied all for the wrong reasons.

Africans do not think of fucking advancement. Hell NO!!! Africans think of raping (embezzling) foreign aid and grants. Africans love free sex that continuously give them incurable diseases (underdevelopment and destruction.) Today, many Africans are trying to undo a lot of things but lack the necessary capabilities and proficiency to change things, hence WE come to Facebook and Twitter.

Those who lead the continent have permanently subscribe to the pornography produced only in California which to them always remains the best; hence, refused to look at the beautiful beauties ubiquitous within. The mental enslavement has made the fascinatingly dazzling African princesses to bleach just to satisfy the California pornography because their African princes love FREE SEX which is really KILLING.

Reduce the level of being Hot for religions in Africa and half of the problems are solved. This is so because they will no longer sit and home and blame sango, oya, christ, buddha and mohammed for being sex-starved, rather they will go out there, strive hard, study the environment in a bid to conquer it for their own benefits and Bleep developments big time.

Their leaders will no longer be Hot and beg California Porn stars for satisfaction, rather they will act like real men, work dexterously and adroitly to win the most winsome of the African princesses to be real the women of their lives for the most exhilarating satisfaction. The satisfaction that generations yet unborn will live to benefit from.

Ironically, Africa oils this free sex industry. It is not at all FREE because it is the sweat of Africans that makes it stand. The constituents are taken away from Africa and repackaged BUT Africans believe it is FREE. Today, as always, FREE SEX is killing Africans.

"God’s" Word Verses Man’s Word Which Is More Accurate?

A lie in any language remains a lie, it remains a lie no matter who tells it whether a god or man, it remains a lie no matter how long ago it was told, or in which book it is written; you can’t change a lie into the truth by translating it into a different language, or saying it in a different way.

If the bible is the word of god why didn’t god caused it to be written in a language that can never be misinterpreted, or forged by any human being, a language that does not need any holy man to translate it for us, a language that even a child in any country can quickly comprehend?

WHY COULDN’T YOUR GOD PRODUCE A BOOK THAT IS AS ACCURATE AS THE MULTIPLICATION TABLE WHICH WAS CREATED BY MAN?
.
The multiplication table can’t be forged, or tampered with without someone quickly spotting the flaw, any child anywhere in the world can comprehend this table in a few hours, yet the same can’t be said about the Bible/Quran that is said to be god’s word. If man with his puny brain could devise such an accurate system as the multiplication table, that is beneficial to entire world and every human on earth can agree to this system; then surely the supreme being that created the universe can do much better than these antiquated books of lies, contradictions, superstitions, and myth that we call the Bible and Quran . THINK ABOUT IT!

moscobabs: I met my wife a Virgin and we had our first sex a day after our wedding.it's a pride ooo.don't think any other guy out there can be luckly like me.

Have you heard about secondary virginity!

[quote author=L.M Ayedun..]Gov.Mimiko with a funny look in the 1st pic....
What was he looking at that seriously?[/quote]In this picture is GEJ in the company of Minister for Agriculture Dr Adesina Akinwunmi, Kofi Anah, Mimiko exchanging greetings with Mr Bill Gates, the richest man on the planet...

Take a closer look at the picture...While others were seen smiling as Jonathan greet Bill Gates...Why is Mimiko gapping behind as if he had not seen Bill Gates?

may be baba aladura go borrow me de #AGOGO0 wey dey for church. shebi na GOD own, yes! that can bring me the best of luck and not only good luck

In law,there is a terminology known as VICARIOUS LIABILITY which is applicable to real life situations,football inclusive.

She is the daughter of Segun Odegbami popularly known as May7ven and based in the UK with her passion for music. And as artiste, she likes to make crazy and controversial fashion statements

Would you rock this as a lady and as a man, would you allow your loving babe rock this?

http://www.naourown.com/forum/topics/ladies-would-you-rock-segun-odegbami-daughter-s-crazy-fashion-pho

Which of the gods saved her?Christian god,Muslim god or Confucians god

The House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency Tuesrday threatened to issue a warrant of arrest on the Managing Director of Mainstreet Bank Limited, Mrs. Faith Tuedor-Matthews for allegedly sacking 670 members of staff members of the bank without regard to due process.

The Chairman, Banking and Currency Committee, Hon. Jones Onyereri said the bench warrant would be issued if the bank MD failed to appear before the parliament next week.

Some aggrieved ex-employees of the bank had approached the Committee seeking its intervention on their sack by the bank.

Leader of the aggrieved workers, Mr. Eyo Usanga alleged that the bank breached laid down rules when they were relieved of their jobs.

Eyo urged the lawmakers to compel the management of Mainstreet Bank to pay them their terminal benefits (redundancy) according to collective agreement; their 2012 annual leave and passage allowance and their outstanding housing allowance up to December 2012.

The aggrieved workers also demanded the computation of all outstanding annual leave days, the payment of their July 2012 salary in full as well as the conversion of the termination letters issued to them to retirement letters.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/house-threatens-to-arrest-tuedor-matthews-over-workers-sack/159859/

The first son of the late founder and General Overseer of World Soul Winning Evangelistic Ministry (WOSEM), Pastor Paul Obadare, recently disclosed that the funeral of his father, Apostle Timothy Obadare, on August 17, gulped a whooping N96 million. The younger pastor’s revelation was made to correct “speculations” that the burial of the clergyman may have cost up to N130 million. Ordinarily how a family chose to bury their loved one should not be anyone’s business. It is a private affair. But the statements attributed to Pastor Paul Obadare regarding his father’s burial should be considered very unfortunate. According to Pastor Paul, a breakdown of the N96 million for his father’s funeral reveals that the casket was bought for N5 million while N61 million was spent on the construction of a Mausoleum to provide a “befitting resting place” for the late GO. The remaining N30 million was spent to entertain guests. In fact shortly before the funeral, Obadare’s son boasted: “The coffin to be used for the burial of our father is the type used for the burial of the late Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston.” As stated earlier it is none of our business even if the family bought 100 per cent pure gold- crusted casket or built a billion naira mausoleum for their father. It is perfectly within their rights to engage in such profligacy. However, what we find indefensible in this sad episode is the revelation that the Osun State government “donated” N35 million of tax payers’ money to the shameful display of ostentation called funeral. But this is not only about Apostle Obadare’s funeral. It has indeed become a regular feature especially among those who profess Christianity to engage in such nauseating displays in the name of burials. In some parts of the country, funerals have become a burdensome and competitive exercise. Sometimes a dead relation’s corpse is deposited in a morgue for between three months and one year. Apostle Obadare died on March 21 and was kept in the mortuary until August 17 when he was buried. Some people go as far as taking loans or even selling lands just for the purpose of making the burial of their relation “a great celebration of life” ever. Apart from the cost of the caskets, there are several other expensive trappings that have made the task of burying the dead to become a humongous albatross. In fact some people end up being pauperised after burying their relations. While we cannot advocate how people spend their money, we deplore a situation in which public money will be deployed for such wasteful ventures. Without prejudice, Christians do have something to learn from their Muslim compatriots regarding the conduct of funerals. Muslims bury their dead within 24 hours in a manner that is so simple. While we do not intend to prescribe for people how best to bury their loved ones, we must state that we do not subscribe to a situation whereby people have to break the bank in order to give “befitting burial” to a dead relation. Sometimes the person being buried in a golden casket suffered neglect in the hands of the same relatives. In fact the person whose corpse is in a mahogany coffin and carried in a Rolls Royce ambulance probably never entered a Volkswagen Beetle car all his/her life. All said, we believe that the most befitting burial rites would be to set up a charity foundation or a trust fund and dedicate the millions of naira wasted in a single day of funeral to the education of the less privileged and providing succour for the poor. This will be a lasting legacy to the memory of the dead man or woman instead of expensive coffin, food, drinks and allied expenses.

[quote author=Road_Lord]^^^@beejay.

Have u ever wondered why people are religious?
Religion promise to reward the good with heaven and the bad with condemnation. If there is no promise of harvest, a farmer will not till the soil.

If you remove police, court and prisons from our society in your imagination, you will see that we all have propensity to commit crime. I agree morality pre-exited religion but crime pre-existed the law too. Law was put in place to check crime. Without law, the story will be different.

Morality is about right or wrong. Good and bad are more explicit. Except you want to argue, you should know good and bad are not moral issues.

Bad in my context means anything you do that can harm you or others. Ask an adulterer how he would feel if someone sleeps with his wife. When you catch a thief, there is no point asking if what he did is bad or good.


I will not gainsay anyone. We can only learn when we listen to opinions.

Thank you.[/quote]At his best,man is the noblest of all animals.Remove law and justice he is the worst.

Castos: u were just there snapping and thinking of how to make a front-page on NL

Civility is one of the virtues I embrace if not I would have poured scorn on you and your thoughtless comments.For your information,Jarus is the convener of the program.

HOW TO IDENTIFY A FRAUDULENT SET-UP IN PROPERTY ACQUISITION IN NIGERIA

1. Environment: Office setup is one of the things you need to observe. Here you will be given two extremes. One is the office you enter and you really don’t see the sign of any serious work going on, for example, proper staffing, files, computers (desktop or laptop). Most often, it is a blackboard with properties listed on it written in chalk that leads to such offices. It is not unusual for the purported office owner to bear a title aimed at impressing like Chief, Alhaji, Elder, Apostle or Doctor. When you do meet the Chief Executive, he is not dressed in a proper office-like manner and would be dressed traditionally. Be careful of such people, you may need to ask around as there must be people who can speak up for their reputation.

The second situation reviews a situation where you enter an office which looks so posh and appears to be telling you “you are the one we have been waiting for.” This is not very common. Everything looks so organized and practiced, including the way they are talking to you. No sweaty looking junior staff. No one comes in saying “I just came back from that Gbagada duplex house, oh the landlord is difficult.” If it is tea and biscuits they are serving, you need to be wary. They might just be after your money. In Nigeria, estate practice is a lot of hard work and easily you will see it in the offices and the speech of those around the office.

There is the middle line of a proper estate office which oftentimes is a little untidy because of activity and phone calls for enquiries. There is usually a secretary and other staff who conduct themselves in a proper office-like manner. Sometimes there is an information board within the premises with typed brochures, photographs etc. introducing properties to let and for sale. That oftentimes is the right office for you.

2. Character: As a matter of fact within thirty minutes in an office you should be able to catch the spirit of their dealings. How educated are they? Do they seem honest and dependable? Are the staffs already asking for money one way or the other? Are they dressed in a way suggestive of irresponsible people? All these can let you into the type of agent you have come to and these things have serious implications here in Nigeria.

3. Inconsistency of Speech or Information: You may observe that the things you are told either by the manager or his staff are untrue or that they are constantly making mistakes and trying to cover them up. For instance you are taken to a property for inspection and within a few hours you are told that you were shown the wrong property or perhaps you were told the landlord lives in Lagos only to learn that the landlord actually died three years ago. Beware!

4. Pointing out Buildings without Any Depth of Knowledge about the Owner: This is closely related to the above only that it is more pointed. In your discussions, you might find the agent just reeling off the various addresses of properties from his list but knows nothing about the owner(s) or the details of the property as in the house type, street number and details of ownership documents. In other words, the agent is not convincing.

5. Strange Relationships: This also makes reference to the office. You may note that there is no coherence in office activities. Perhaps the person introduced to you as the Chairman does not seem familiar to the person introduced as manager. Again you might have observed that there are too many whispers here and there between staff each time glancing at you or being pretentious. You may need to back out quietly of such relationships.

6. Hurry: This is another strong point you need to watch. If everything about the people you are dealing with is hurry; hurry for payments; hurry and hurry; you are under pressure to perform or the agents exert a sense of compulsion in the things they want you to do. Wait to think so you can operate with a clear mind or else you might have agreed to do things you may never be able to reverse.

''Nigerians, if the French had colonised Nigeria, we'd be speaking French as an official language,caling ourselves french names and worshiping any God/gods they came with,today; if the Spanish had done we'd be speaking Spanish and calling ourselves Spanish names and also worshiping their gods. If the Indians had colonised Nigeria, we'd be speaking their language and worshipping their gods.
The Arabs invaded North Africa and some other parts of Africa, hence those places speak Arabic and follow Islam. Same in Latin America with the Spanish/Portuguese and English/French. Hence they speak those European languages and worship their gods.
If the Yorubas had conquered the world,98% of the world population would be speaking Yoruba and worshipping the Yoruba God,with the remaining 2% tagged rebels,unbelievers,fools,infidels,slaves etc(see how funny the human minds operate?).
It is that simple,it is not rocket science! Quit hating and killing people over religions that was enforced on you and your ancestors through invasions and colonialism.God is God everywhere,there is no religion greater than another.All religion are same,borne of the need to fellowship with their divine creator.It is either you take the truth or you leave it for fact are sacred

'I Alive and WEll' Ex Governor Bola Tinubu show off on exercise bike to confirm he's "well" (Somehow funny I must say, I couldn't help but burst into a massive laughter, it is one of the most ill advised video I have seen from any Nigerian leader, almost close to a parody)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-8clKxpnFM&feature=player_embedded

The history of the world over centuries is littered with dead religions, dead gods and dead worshipers. In some ways, we are all children of a retired god. Key events in the world always retire religions and their gods. Traumatic world events always prove the old religions inadequate. The coming of the Europeans, for instance, essentially laid to eternal rest a lot of the African gods. Other events and movements like the Enlightenment reform religion. Reformation extends the life of a religion. An irreformable religion is one that is bound to implode.

The tragedy of Africa is that it reached the information age without first passing through the industrial age. In matters temporal, Africa got to the modern age without passing through the Enlightenment. That is why some people believe that a child was born holding a mini-Koran in its hand, or that a child came out of the womb holding a cross in its hand. Why mini-Koran? Why a cross? Why something we already know? Why does this kind of phenomenon only happen in societies that wallow in superstition? If it is a message from God, as some believe, why won’t God use the opportunity to send a definitive manual of life?

The Enlightenment instituted the culture of demanding empirical proof before believing. If a woman comes into the church and gives birth to a dead horse, you don’t clean up the floor and bury the horse. You send the horse to the lab and the woman to the hospital- mental and/or medical.

Every religion that comes begets a new one. Two hundred years from now the people that will occupy this world will look at our era and our religions that we fight for and die for and call our age the Extreme Dark Ages. In another two hundred thousand years, nobody will remember what god we fought for, killed for, or died for. Just like we have no idea what god the people who were on this earth 100,000 years ago fought for, killed for or died for.

It is hard to imagine it now, but after the Third World War and after a nuclear war, a new world will emerge with new religions. The old religions left standing will go through reformation. And subtly and gradually, new religions will replace the old. Because it takes hundreds of years for this kind of transformation to be visible, it is hard for those living in that age to notice the change as it happens. We won’t wake up one day and notice that our religion is dead.

It is hard to live without the concept of God because it is hard to live without an answer to the original questions, even if it is not definitive. That is why many will stick with their religion as if it is their parents. Virtually all religions place God beyond reach- at times above the sky. Do you know why? If God is within reach, God will suffer the fate of all parents – be critiqued and be seen to have fallen short.

The trouble with religion is that for every religion to survive and gain members and fend off competitions, it has to proclaim itself to be better than the others. That my religion is better than yours is like saying that my moon is better than yours. That my God is better than yours is to say that my sun is better than yours.

To be willing to fight for your God- which is to say, kill and die for your God, is like to climb on top of each other to pull the moon until it stands still on your side of the sky. It may sound stupid but it has been done before and continues to be done.

Those who worshipped the Greek gods used to believe that they had the final answer. Those who worshipped Oduduwa used to think that their story of the creation was the ultimate. The highest level of human stupidity is the belief that our religion is the final answer to these original questions- who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? Who made me? The arrogance of that assumption has no equal in human folly.

Religions come and go but the earth remains the same. Until we know the definitive truth about the very beginning; and until we answer the original questions without a doubt, religion will remain attractive. But religion will continue to promise us that we find the answers only when we die. Science is the only one trying to find answers to these questions while we are still alive. And science is the only one trying to get to the very beginning and empirically show it to us for the very first time. It may take science one million years to get there. But I am rooting for science not religion.

Nigerian former Head of state and APC stalwart, General Mohammed Buhari is facing another test of his political career as the All Progressive Congress; APC now remains divided over his nomination of Rotimi Fashakin as the party’s new Publicity secretary.

Speculations are now rife that contrary to the wish of other members of the party that, Lai Mohammed deserves to remain in the said position, Buhari is of the opinion that Fashakin ho was the Publicity secretary under his defunct CPC takes over from Lai Mohammed who is now the interim National Publicity Secretary of the party.

It would be recalled that the interim national Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande has been agreeing and disagreeing with Buhari over several party matters, especially with regards to the ideological differences noticed after the merger. The former leader was stopped from answering questions directed to him by the press on several occasions by Akande, all in an attempt to regulate his superiority in the party.

An inside source has revealed to DailyPost political correspondent that even though, a convention to elect the party’s National Working Committee has not been held yet, Buhari has requested that Fashakin one of his foot soldiers be considered for the position of the party’s National publicity secretary, a request that is said to be opposed by the Tinubu group who sees Lai mohammed as most suitable for the sensitive position .This scenario appears to have unsettled the party as Buhari’s loyalists insist that Lai should conceal the position to CPC group.

Buhari, whose hope of becoming the party’s flag bearer is almost dashed, as the party has resolved to pick a younger person from the North, is asking that his trusted ally, Fashakin be considered for the position, or he pulls out of the party as the request was the first major one he had made since the merger became successful.

The source had further revealed that the party leadership has already arrived at an agreement to retain the service of Lai Mohammed, whom most of them have said was brilliant enough for the job, but Buhari argued that Fashakin was as good as Lai, hence his interest must also be regarded if he must give up his ambition for a younger person, come 2015.

Our checks have revealed that the disagreement over the Publicity Secretary position has created different tents in the party, as most of the party leaders from the Southwest are beginning to doubt Buhari’s sincerity towards keeping to the terms of their initial agreement.

However, both Lai and Fashakin have refuted the rumour, asserting that there is no such in-fight in the fold of the APC. Speaking with our content Editor, Adoyi Ali, the APC media officer who pleaded anonymity said ‘’Buhari himself wrote a letter commending Lai Mohammed’s handling of the defunct A C N publicity , urging him to continue as the publicity secretary for the APC. I would have shown you a copy of the letter if not that my office is locked, so there is no disagreement over the position of the interim national publicity secretary of the party because the position was zoned to the defunct A C N”

While speaking with Engr. Fashakin on the phone in confirmation of the story, he said ‘’ Me, I don’t know. I don’t know anything about that at all. That is a rumour to me. My brother, it’s all rumour. There is no truth to it.’’

http://dailypost.com.ng/2013/09/20/buhari-threatens-to-leave-apc-over-national-publicity-secretary-position-insists-on-fashakin/

Turned into Painted idols after make-up!

As a product of the Word of Faith movement in the early 1980s, I will forever be indebted to the books and teachings of Kenneth Hagin Sr., Smith Wigglesworth, John G. Lake, T.L. Osborn and the like. These were holy men of integrity who turned the world upside down with their faith and teaching.

I learned how to pray for the sick by reading Osborn’s book Healing the Sick, and I learned how to resist the devil by reading Hagin’s The Believer’s Authority. In reading many biographies of Smith Wigglesworth, I have always been challenged by his utter consecration to Christ and to walk in the light of His Word whether in or out of the pulpit. I shudder to think where I would be right now if not for being influenced by these men and this movement.

That being said, as I continued to grow in the Lord and His Word, I saw several flaws in the teaching and in the movement in general. This article is not meant to dampen anyone’s faith but to bring a more balanced picture of the ways of God—especially since many have been discouraged in this movement because they did not understand the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) and did not have a theology that included certain things that challenged their faith.

I have found that whenever we preach or emphasize one truth of God’s Word to the exclusion of the others, it becomes a mixture and produces both good and bad fruit. For example, this has happened with the hypergrace movement, as well as the view of hyperfaith. From an overemphasis on outward holiness, we get legalism. And we come into a form of fatalism when we emphasize God’s sovereignty at the expense of human responsibility.

However, I will go on record saying that I would much rather be with people attempting to walk in faith and victory than be hanging out with depressed saints filled with unbelief and doubt. Also, like most other movements, the Word of Faith movement restored to the body of Christ a biblical truth that was neglected by the church—and in doing so, overemphasized it. But after several years, more balance comes as folks like myself “eat the meat and spit out the bones.” Also, I believe that Brother Hagin never approved of some of the excesses that came out of the faith camp—especially regarding the unbalanced teachings on prosperity that came from some of his more radical followers.

The following are some of the flaws of the Word of Faith movement from my perspective (and I realize these are generalizations that don’t fit exactly every person classified as “Word of Faith”):

1. They preach a “rights centered” gospel rather then a "stewardship centered" gospel.

Perhaps influenced by our Jeffersonian heritage of individual rights in America, the way the gospel is applied to individuals in the Word of Faith movement is based on personal rights in Christ. Although this is partially true, the New Testament balances our rights in Christ with our responsibility that goes along with these rights.

For example, in Deuteronomy 8:18, we learn that God gave believers “power to get wealth, that His may establish His covenant.” This passage clearly teaches us the primary purpose of prosperity is for the kingdom—not only for our individual comfort and pleasure. Many in the faith movement used to “claim” houses and cars and attempt to use their faith merely for their own individual needs, which, in and of itself, goes against our call to seek first His kingdom (Matt. 6:33) as a prerequisite for our individual needs and wants being fulfilled.

2. Their dispensational belief precludes the role and importance of the Old Covenant in the New Covenant age.

I heard Brother Hagin brag several times in his teaching sessions that he did not read the Old Covenant because we have a new and better covenant now in Christ. The challenge with that teaching is that he did not understand the relevance and role of the moral and civic law of God found from Exodus to Deuteronomy—especially the Ten Commandments that were repeated over and over again either exactly or in principle by the New Testament writers. Without the moral law of God, we have no standard for holiness and will lack the conviction of sin the moral law gives as our standard of holiness and ethics.

Furthermore, Hagin and others like him would only quote the Old Testament when convenient—when it comported to his view of faith. For example, he would quote Exodus 23:25, where God told the Jews He would take sickness from them, but he neglected to also teach that in order to walk in health, they had to follow the strict dietary code as found in Leviticus 11. Thus, healing for the Jews included not only claiming a promise of God but also staying away from unclean food. (In my opinion, walking in physical health also involves having a healthy diet and lifestyle—or else we are tempting God by intentionally violating His natural laws and then expecting Him to heal us.)

3. They have a semi-gnostic dualism regarding their view of God.

Word of Faith preachers have a simple view of God: Everything that is good is of God, and everything bad is from the devil.

While I totally agree God is a good God, sometimes He has to bring judgment or allow things to take place that in our natural minds may be interpreted as bad. What do Word of Faith preachers do with passages like Isaiah 45:7, in which God says He not only brings prosperity but also disaster? Or 2 Samuel 24:13, where God told King David to choose one of three calamities He would bring upon the land of Israel as punishment for his sin? Or Amos 3:6, which clearly says God sometimes brings disaster to a city? What about the book of Job, where God allows Satan to afflict Job physically with boils as well as bring disaster to other areas of his life?

I remember Brother Hagin teaching that Job doesn’t count in the New Testament because Job 42:10 says God turned the captivity of Job and that Luke 4:18 says Jesus set the captives free. That would all be fine, except for the fact that the book of James carries the life and story of Job into the New Testament for the church age—specifically, James 5:11 offers a lesson for us regarding God’s ways and dealings. (Also, without the book of Job, we have nothing to say to Christians who unexpectedly lose a loved one or experience great personal challenges and loss. Job is comforting to me as a pastor because it shows me that God is sovereign over all things—in both the good and the bad—even when it is hard to explain and understand in the natural. Furthermore, God never gave Job an explanation for why He allowed disaster to strike.)

Finally, what do Word of Faith teachers say about Revelation 2:22-23, where Jesus says that He will cast people on a bed of sickness and even strike people dead? This does not go along with the simple dualism they teach.

Now, I will be the first to say that God’s general will, as revealed in the Gospels, is for divine health (see also 3 John 2) and that, in general, He always wants us healthy in spirit, soul and body (1 Thess. 5:23) and that Jesus came for us to have an abundant life (John 10:10). But those in the Word of Faith movement have such a narrow view of the Word of God that they do not have any explanations for mysterious things that happen to us that challenge our faith. It is not always true that something bad happened to a person because they had sin (John 9:1-3) or that they didn’t get healed or calamity came to them because they lacked faith. Of course, the instance where Jesus brought sickness and death in Revelation 2:22-23 had to do with disobedience, which took people out from under the covering of the Lord (Ps. 91:1).

In summary, it is still generally God’s will to bring us health and prosperity in the context of obedience to His Word.

4. Positive confession sometimes leads to dishonesty and superficial Christianity.

I have been around many believers who are afraid to be honest and admit they are struggling with their faith. This brings people into bondage and even a form of superficial religion. Some believers are like robots—when you ask them how they are doing, they routinely say, “I am blessed and highly favored!” However, I know some of these people, and they are merely trying to keep a positive confession even though their world is falling apart.

Now, I do believe in speaking the Word of God to our challenging circumstances and not giving in to negative talk, but that is different from what James 5:16 tells us when he exhorts believers to confess their faults one to another. Positive confession is good and biblical (Prov. 18:21) as long as it doesn’t stop a person from getting pastoral counsel and being honest with fellow believers when they need prayer.

5. Their view on prosperity is only based on giving.

While it is true that the Bible teaches we reap what we sow and that if we give, it will be given back to us (Luke 6:38), one of the flaws of the Word of Faith movement is that it only teaches people one side of prosperity. I believe the church needs to equip the saints not only to give but also to get, as well as how to manage what they get while investing and saving for the future.

When we only teach the saints how to give, we limit the amount of creativity and blessing some people can experience—because without combining giving with hard work, education and an understanding of how to manage and create a budget, many folks will continue in cycles of poverty even though they may experience elements of God’s provision based on their giving. God can only bless in proportion to our ability to manage what He gives us!

In poor countries, I have found that when the only solution presented to the people for breaking poverty is “giving to the church,” the only person who becomes prosperous is the preacher. In the kingdom of God, the church is called to have a more empowering and holistic approach in regard to prosperity and breaking cycles of poverty.

6. They have faith in their faith as a principle rather than it emanating out of the person of Christ.

I have found in many instances where this movement presented faith almost as an impersonal force, like the law of gravity. This led to teachings like “having faith in your faith.” When this is taught, it can disconnect faith from intimacy with the Lord. The more I get to know a person, the more I can trust them. Faith is not a force. It is a result of growing in simple trust based on growing in an experiential knowledge of the Lord. Faith is relational. It is not an impersonal force.

7. Some pastors have modeled their church preaching after these “specialists” in the body.

Brother Hagin, T.L. Osborn, Smith Wigglesworth and the like were not typical pastors called to oversee a flock. Thus, they were able to preach based on their primary assignment, which was faith and healing.

The challenge is, many pastors who don’t understand this began to mimic these great men of God and attempted to build congregations only around those three themes—faith, prosperity and healing. That is OK if you are a traveling teacher or evangelist, but a congregation needs to have a balanced diet of the Word that includes the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). A pastor needs to preach on healing but also holiness; faith but also tests and trials; moving mountains but also marriage; giving financially but also stewardship and hard work. I love preaching on faith and healing, but as a pastor I often had to preach subjects I really did not have a great passion for but knew others needed to hear to fully mature in the Lord.

8. It can put guilt and bondage on believers.

I have heard of many people who walk around in guilt because they are not healed or because they are struggling financially. In some cases, I have even heard of famous faith preachers who checked into a hospital under a different name so word would not get out that they were sick and under a doctor’s care!

We need to have a culture of faith in our churches, but we also have to engender a culture of humility, honesty and brokenness—admitting that we don’t always walk in victory over sin and sickness as well as making allowances for mystery The fact is, we don’t always understand why certain things happen to believers. (See again the book of Job.)

9. It can produce independent, narcissistic believers.

When the Word of Faith movement went from a stewardship-centered gospel to a rights-centered gospel, it also attracted many self-focused people—people who used God as an excuse for their lavish lifestyles and who frowned upon those living in simplicity. Unfortunately, this teaching often appealed to the narcissistic tendencies in all of us, and many large ministries were built more upon the American Dream of having a nice house and a nice car than upon taking up our cross and following Jesus. Jesus said in Luke 14:33 that we have to lose everything in order to be His disciple, but many in this movement only focus on what we gain. Truly, you can’t be resurrected until you first go to the cross!

10. It is not connected to the cultural mandate of Genesis 1:28.

Last but not least, the Word of Faith movement did not go far enough. Instead of limiting faith to merely believing for individual healing and health, the Word of God teaches that our faith should also transform whole cities and subdue kingdoms! (See Isaiah 61:4 and Hebrews 11:33.) The gospel is a blueprint to disciple and baptize whole people groups, not just individuals (Matt. 28:19-20). It not only deals with individual sinners but systemic evil. The Word of Faith movement, though, brings faith for individual victory but doesn’t say much about corporate victory. However, regarding the community of believers, faith is also based on the corporate culture and anointing of a congregation. (First Corinthians 11:27-32 and Hebrews 3-4 teach that whole congregations can be negatively affected by a culture of unbelief or disobedience.)

The Word of Faith movement in general separated the gospel from the kingdom and, in doing so, made it more about individual prosperity then societal transformation. When you separate the gospel from the kingdom, you tend to become more self-focused because the Good News gets disconnected from our responsibility to steward the earth. With the gospel of the kingdom, we believe in individual, congregational and societal transformation!

Finally, I believe with all of my heart that there was more good than bad in the Word of Faith movement and that it was God’s intention that biblical faith for the supernatural be restored back to the church. All of us only know in part and see through a glass darkly—even the apostle Paul (1 Cor. 13:9,12). Consequently, it often takes years for the body of Christ to discern how to have balance when old truths are restored. One of the keys to life is balance—and biblical balance cannot come until we attempt to embrace the whole counsel of God!

Joseph Mattera is overseeing bishop of Resurrection Church, Christ Covenant Coalition, in Brooklyn, N.Y. You can read more on josephmattera.org or connect with him on Facebook or Twitter.

http://www.charismamag.com/spirit/spiritual-growth/18679-10-ways-the-word-of-faith-movement-went-wrong

Former Super Eagles’ coach, Samson Siasia, discusses life outside the pitch. In this interview, he also unveils another side of him

Do you have dreams?

Yes I do. I always dream that someday I will become a Super Eagles’ coach again and learn from the mistakes that I have made before. I want to build a nice empire, where I will be able to create jobs for young men, so they will be empowered to take care of their families. I want to make sure I take care of my kids and give them the best education there is in the world.

http://www.punchng.com/spice/essence/i-want-to-be-super-eagles-coach-again-samson-siasia/

The misconceptions around abortion need deconstruction. First is that women who seek abortion are promiscuous. Aside the subjectivity of the term “promiscuous,” studies show many married women seek abortion, too. Second is that children are generally a blessing. Well, not in all cases especially if we go by Nigeria’s 52,000 annual incidence of maternal mortality. Third, all children come from God and deserve to be born. Not at all children are a biological reaction; God does not make them, regardless of what miracle preachers say. Children are born because people have sex. And to those who make the banal argument of if-your-parents-did-not-give-birth-to-you-would-you-be-here, I ask in return, “Since your birth, what good have you done the planet?”

One thing conservatives should note is this: most women would rather avoid abortion altogether. I once attended a conference where a doctor who runs an abortion clinic read from the logbook her patrons filled after the process. It was agonising to listen. The women, one could tell, suffered guilty consciences. If the conservatives add to this the economics of abortion, they will get a picture of what the decision is really like for women who have to procure it. Others who trump up the argument of infanticide need to understand that matters of sex have many grey areas and there cannot be an umbrella definition of virtue to cover everyone sufficiently.

Issues around abortion are tense everywhere, even in the so-called liberal societies. Nevertheless, countries legalise the practice for pragmatic purposes as women who want an abortion will procure it regardless of risk to their health and, even, life. For all it’s worth, such women deserve support, legal and social.

Abortion legalisation does not mean women would start trooping to hospitals through the front door. Abortion is hugely stigmatising in many societies and the impact of this law will only be marginal for a while. The poor and working-class women will most likely continue patronising quacks. It will take time before society fully reconciles itself to certain realities.

Those who use religious precepts to counter arguments on abortion should understand that not all women are religious; some of us don’t want our choices decided by the injunctions in someone else’s religion. I am a non-theist; there is no rationale why my choices should be regulated by Roman Catholic principles. There are even multiple studies that show that on issues like contraceptives, Catholics are already ahead of the Vatican dictates, so why not let us be realistic?

The culturalist position on the issue is not more tenable either. Culture is not immutable; otherwise Nigerians would still be killing twins. And let’s not get started on the myth of superior African values. Cultural values are relative and Africans have no more mores that trump other places in the world where abortion is legalised. That we are more pretentious or too coy to deal with certain subjects is not superiority.

Let’s note: Abortion is never compulsory, either for the doctor or the woman involved. It is an alternative for those who exhaust their options. Nobody should therefore use their influence on political institutions to impose their position on everyone (otherwise, why resist Boko Haram?) That Imo State is Catholic-dominated does not make it a religious state. Okorocha should allow this law as a test of strength and virtues of those who preach love and tolerance on Sunday but live otherwise during the week.

Finally, I want to preempt those who will ask if I have any value for life at all. The answer is yes, I do. But I am also a realist so like Bill Clinton, I believe abortion should be safe, legal and rare. What our conservatives should debate is “rare,” not total suppression. It is delusional to assume people will always want every child when we know that mistakes do happen; people miscalculate. Nature itself is inconsistent and so folks find themselves with children they do not want.

When that happens, every woman should be left to consult her conscience and arrive at her own decision. Not everyone woman will choose an abortion anyway. The Igbo have a saying, “Egbe belu, ugo belu.” It roughly translates as live and let live. I read that in Chinua Achebe’s book.

ADELAKUN ADUNNI ABIMBOLA