₦airaland Forum

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ON 1ST OCTOBER 2012?: There are 3 times normally that the President of Nigeria addresses the nation; 1st of January, 29th of May and 1st of October. 1st January, 2012, Petrol subsidy was removed, 29th of May, 2012, Unilag became MAULAG among many surprises in the President's broadcast. Get ready for another surprise, I hope it would be a pleasant one!

Henry Akpan, FCT’s Permanent Secretary, Special Duties, on Tuesday, told the Senate Committee on Special Duties that the Presidency has no data base of the national honours award.

Akpan, while defending the ministry’s budget, noted that since the inception of the national awards, “there is no record of the full list of those who had received the award so far”. “The only capital project before it was the e-library, of which the ministry was asking for an appropriation of N80 million,” he said.

President Goodluck Jonathan, after presiding over this year's award, announced that government would withdraw the award from any past recipient found wanting in character and behaviour.

http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/presidency-has-no-database-national-awards#.UGM4JFF7E5E.facebook

Somebody should please help me whisper to the president that globally, it is part of the job description of the opposition to take advantage of any situation that presents itself to criticise the sitting government. Oh yes!

My take: Is Oritsejafor referring to Nuru Ribadu or Mohammed Buhari as the ones behind BH's activities?

The President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Ayo Oritsejafor, has again stated that Boko Haram Islamist sect was created and sponsored by political failures looking for political space in 2015. Oritsejafor maintained that since they realised they had failed to achieve their ulterior motive through the ballot box they decided to vent their anger on Nigerians by seeking to divide Nigeria along religious lines.

“Boko Haram is fueled by extreme religious ideology and not poverty because they have not come out to tell us that they are killing people because they are poor,” he said. The CAN president, who stated this yesterday while speaking at the opening ceremony of a six-day meeting of the Niger Delta Christian Leaders Forum holding in Christian Central Chapel International (CCCI), Calabar, Cross River State capital, said the claim that Boko Haram was a creation of poverty was a lie.

He said “those sponsoring the organisation or its apologists are just misleading Nigerians and the world by saying that Boko Haram members are poor people. The leaders of Boko Harm are from very wealthy family and background and even that young man who wanted to blow up an American airline, his father is a retired permanent secretary and one of the richest men in Nigeria.”

According to the CAN president, “the sponsors of Boko Hram have control of a section of the media through which they feed the public with what he calls half truths.” On the allegations that he is a fundamentalist and partisan leader, the number one Christian said, “it is really misleading and unfortunate because I have never shot a gun before neither have killed anybody before; I have never encouraged anybody to kill anybody before. But what I do is to identify the truth and respond to it because I am not afraid of trouble.”

He said “many people are afraid of trouble that is why they cannot achieve greatness nor speak out when necessary but we have to face up to the reality because the Niger Delta region is a great region on whose pedestal Nigeria is standing to lay claim to greatness.”

The cleric, who spoke in an angry tone stated that, “Niger Delta is a region of great people yet we are poor; the Niger Delta is very small and powerful yet we are weak. This is time for exchange as all those things that have eluded us shall be reclaimed.” In his welcome address, the president and founder of CCCI, Calabar, Bishop Emmah Gospel Isong, said this was the time for all Christians to wake up from slumber and fight terrorism in Nigeria as it was capable of tearing the nation apart.

The PFN chairman, Cross River State, however, called on Nigerians to reject any move by disgruntled persons to cause disharmony among Christians at this auspicious time of national revivals.

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/national/boko-haram-politically-motivated-oritsejafor/

Once upon a time, a man named Tai Solarin founded the Mayflower School in Ikenne,Ogun State. The Late Tai Solarin was an unrepentant 'atheist'. Yet, christians, muslims, traditional worshippers sent their kids to the school because of the quality of education. The school flourished and produced some of the best brains in Nigeria of today. In spite of the quality, the school fees wasn't out reach of for the average Nigerian family. Tai Solarin, though an atheist, his legacy forever lives on. Now the question is, how many 'Christian' families can afford to send their kids to the current 'Christian' private school founded by popular pentecostal movements? Moral of the story, you need not to wear a white collar or grow long beard to impact on humanity. Service to humanity is not a religious matter.

An irate Senate President, Senator David Mark today descended heavily on the Minister of information, Labaran Maku and indeed got personal when he described the President Jonathan's government spokesman as a stupid person.

Mark was reacting to comments made last week by Minister Labaran Maku that "National Assembly resolutions are merely advisory" while fielding questions on the national assembly's resolutions on the suspended planned introduction of new N5000 note by the central bank of Nigeria, CBN.

While moderating senators debate on a motion which deliberated on the menace of flooding across the country,

Mark described Maku's comment as a careless talk. His words: "He (Maku) didn't think properly. I think the information minister is a careless talker. It was a careless talk. I hope that the president cautions him and calls him to order. He shouldn't educate us; we should educate him. For any minister who talks that carelessly next time, we will take a resolution asking the President to sack him. For those who ask ministers to bow and go when they come here for screening, this should be a hard lesson."

After the harsh words for Maku, the senate passed a resolution urging the president to forward to the National Assembly, supplementary appropriation to address immediate needs of flood victims in all parts of the country.

http://www.ediong.org/2012/09/mark-to-maku-youre-stupid-minister.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

President Jonathan Should Sack Sanusi Now! By Eghes Eyieyien

After reading Dele Momodu's article which he aptly titled " The Bully Called Sanusi" published in his back page column in the Saturday, 22nd September, 2012, edition of Thisday newspaper, the urgency to sack Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the CBN Governor dawned on me.

Sanusi has outlived his usefulness in that hallowed office! His arrogance, infantile flippancy, ineptitude and incompetence should no longer be countenanced. Why he has stayed in office this long despite his folly and foibles is a mystery.

Nigeria needs a new CBN Governor like YESTERDAY! My recommendation for the position is Mr. Ballama Manu. He was the Executive Director, Operations, NDIC; former, Executive Director, Union Bank; former Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service; and former Interim Chairman of the Nigeria Stock Exchange. He would make a great CBN Governor. By the way, he is from Yobe State and a Muslim. If the CBN Governor must be a northern Muslim, there are of course very many others who are imminently qualified: a person like Alh. Ado Wanka (MD of Unity Bank) and Mohammed K. Ahmad (Director General of the Pension Commission) readily come to mind.

But this is not even about section or religion. I am a NON-TRIBALISED (as distinct from "de-tribalised"!) Nigerian. My marriage, close friends, business associates and employees bear testimony to this fact.

Sanusi is an Old Boy of my alma mater (King's College, Lagos) and I used to be his fan. I supported his appointment as the CBN Governor and also spoke publicly in favour his controversial removal of the eight bank MDs. I was on Channels TV's live programme, Sunrise (with Chamberlain Usoh and Suleiman Aledeh as hosts), pushing his suitability for the post the day he appeared before the Senate for his confirmation hearing. I was also on Channels TV's live programme, Business Morning (with Boason Omofaye as the presenter at the time) defending his take-over of the eight banks and the sack of their MDs.

So what happened? Sanusi's imposition of his wrong-headed, illegal, unconstitutional, Malaysia-style Islamic Banking policy exposed him as an Islamist. I subsequently also became aware of his inglorious role in the infamous Kano religious riot which culminated in the beheading of Gideon Akaluka in 1996 and for which he was incarcerated for two years in Sokoto Prison by the government of Gen. Sani Abacha. This vital factual information is, understandable not disclosed in any of his profiles. The Senate was misled by late President Umaru Yar'adua (who ensured that this information was not highlighted in his Security Report) to confirm him as the CBN Governor. I have challenged Sanusi publicly to come clean on this issue or sue me if I have maligned him!

Moreover, his incompetence, profligacy (he now wants CBN to be sponsoring the Super Eagles!! LOL!!) and inane monetary policies have damaged the financial services sector and badly affected our nation's economy.

President Goodluck Jonathan should sack this guy before he does even more damage! It has now reached a crisis point. And the time to act is NOW!!

God bless Nigeria!

http://www.proshareng.com/news/18331/President-Jonathan-Should-Sack-Sanusi-Now

Who is Sanusi Lamido Sanusi Written by Uche Igwe

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Dan Majen of Kano must be both saddened and probably shocked wherever he is now. I do not know the Central Bank Governor in person. I saw him first at the annual meeting of African Development Bank in Abidjan in 2010 and then in Washington DC earlier in the year but did not get to chat with him. However, since he was appointed the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, I have been following his utterances and actions cautiously and methodically.

slsOne must admit he has taken some steps which portrayed him as a man with enormous guts and convictions. The sack and subsequent prosecution of Managing Directors of five banks suggest that Mr. Sanusi could bring an end to ‘business-as-usual’ practices in the Nigerian banking industry. Furthermore, the man called SLS by his admirers never shied away from public debates as it can be said to be to his credit that the debate about the salaries of federal lawmakers was brought to the public domain.

Both in 2010 and 2011, Emerging Markets Magazine named him the World’s Central Bank Governor of the year. In 2011, Times Magazine voted him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world while Forbes magazine voted him as Africa’s person of the year. These are no mean achievements that both his admirers and critics must acknowledge. But I am not carried away by them. Lest I forget, SLS has also till date procured about five honorary doctorate degrees for himself from five Nigerian Universities. Though the fact remains that these are no mean achievements either, there are so many things about the apex bank governor that deserve urgent clarification.

Many observers have raised justifiable reservations about his academic qualifications pointing to the fact that SLS may not be as qualified and may only be posturing. But that is by the way. His seeming knack for controversy has caused observers to continue to probe into his background to raise questions about whether Mr. Sanusi is using his position to advance national interest or a sectional one. His stubborn insistence on introducing Islamic banking and his controversial donation of 100 million naira to the Muslim victims of Kano bomb blasts partly confirmed rumours that continued to lurk around his personality. Never mind that he ran back to donate 25 million (one quarter of what he gave in Kano) to the Christian victims in Madala, Niger State in an effort to cover his shame.

Here is a man who conducted himself as though the Central Bank that he heads is a republic of its own even under the nose of a sitting President. You can take this to the bank. The main reason behind every conduct of Mr. Sanusi might be the fact that he is fully aware that he is not qualified and he is doing everything humanly possible to cover up his deficiencies. Although SLS has a bachelor’s degree in Economics, most of his writings before his appointment have been Sharia legal system only. Though Section 8 of the CBN Act is not explicit about the meaning of ‘proven integrity and recognised financial experience’, I argue that someone with Sanusi’s credentials could suffice as Governor in the sixties not in the era of globalization. One must continue to wonder the sort of system that throws up people who are relatively unknown to sensitive national positions based mainly on geographical considerations. I recall that Mr. Sanusi was nominated to that position at a time when the word cabal was probably the most important word in the Nigerian polity and that partly justifies the way he carried himself even after the cabal publicly lost out in the vicious power game. Both his utterances, his pattern of donations, even his policies sound like they are predesigned to make a particular section of the country comfortable and happy. A more objective and rigorous scrutiny of the actions carried out by SLS will reveal his ‘reforms’ might turn out to be one of the most unprofessional and whimsical consolidation exercises that have ever been conducted in the history of banking in Nigeria. Mr. Sanusi might have denied his rumoured Presidential ambition, but the trajectory of his new found philanthropy has sold him out. He will go down in history as one man who has made the highest amount of discretionary donations with public funds.

Probably the most disturbing is the allegation that Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is both a supporter and sympathiser of religious extremism. Dependable academic sources documented that one Sanusi Lamido Sanusi alleged played a catalytic role in the public beheading of one Mr. Gideon Akaluka in Kano in 1995 on a false allegation of desecrating the Muslim holy book. A 2003 report from the Centre for Human Rights Policy at the Kennedy School Harvard University, United States of America, affirms that this singular event sparked off the religious riots where thousands of Christians were massacred. It was said that Mr. Sanusi was expelled from Kano and locked up in Sokoto prisons for two years by the late Sani Abacha government until his benefactors bailed him out. Now, hang on a minute- could it be the same person or a case of mistaken identity? Who really is Sanusi Lamido Sanusi? A cerebral economist? A reform minded regulator? An ambitious politician? Or an Islamic fundamentalist? The answers to these questions will reveal the real personality of the head of the apex bank and can give ordinary Nigerians fresh insights as to what the next move of the Dan Majen Kano may be.

http://transparencyng.com/index.php/contributions/60-guest/7141-who-is-sanusi-lamido-sanusi

The three apples that changed the world.

I guess we can in good conscience avoid the necessity of wishing the First Lady "soonest recover" before offering our thoughts on yet another manifestation of recklessness in the presidency. If the owner of the head says she has no headache, those posting get well messages need to stop taking panadol and Alomo Bitters on her
behalf. They have said that she is not ill. She has only gone to Germany via Dubai for a "moment's rest" because "she has not taken a rest since President Jonathan’s election last year". That's the Presidency's official statement, released by Ayo Osinlu, spokesperson to the First Lady. Two quick observations, though, on the politics of this expensive rest in Dubai and Germany.

1. I don't understand why it is the business of the Nigerian people that the First Lady has not rested since her husband's election. On which errands did we or our military-imposed constitution send her? How are we responsible for her state of non-rest? She is not recognized in the Constitution. Even in Bayelsa, she is a ghost worker and not really doing the work of a permanent secretary. We shouldn't have to foot the bill of this curious "moment's rest" in Dubai and Germany because no be we say make she no rest.

2. When you are stressed and you need real rest, the Western world is not the place to go. I've spent the bulk of my adult life circulating in Europe and North America. Real rest is still in the deep African countryside - where you can get away from it all, sleep to the cries of crickets and wake up to the crow of the cock, take evening strolls on paths fashioned by dew-beaten legs and just experience that psychic connection with creation. Admittedly, you have to go deeper and deeper these days for this idyll because of the penetration of social media and cable TV to even our remotest villages but the African countryside is still the place to go to recharge your batteries. Mrs Jonathan should have gone to Otuoke - not to the gloss of Germany. Nigeria's elite suffer from an incurable inferiority complex. Westerners would give a leg and an arm to escape the postmodernity of their world and enjoy the kind of rest Mrs Jonathan could have had in her husband's village, Otuoke.

Finally, we must leave Ayo Osinlu, the Jonathans, and the entire cast of clowns in the Presidency with these words. Okay o, we hear you. Madam is not sick. She's only gone to rest in Germany via Dubai. When a man has ten yams and announces noisily to his neighbours that he has thirty yams in his barn, he will eat twenty lies after eating his ten yams.

I guess we can in good conscience avoid the necessity of wishing the First Lady "soonest recover" before offering our thoughts on yet another manifestation of recklessness in the presidency. If the owner of the head says she has no headache, those posting get well messages need to stop taking panadol and Alomo Bitters on her
behalf. They have said that she is not ill. She has only gone to Germany via Dubai for a "moment's rest" because "she has not taken a rest since President Jonathan’s election last year". That's the Presidency's official statement, released by Ayo Osinlu, spokesperson to the First Lady. Two quick observations, though, on the politics of this expensive rest in Dubai and Germany.

1. I don't understand why it is the business of the Nigerian people that the First Lady has not rested since her husband's election. On which errands did we or our military-imposed constitution send her? How are we responsible for her state of non-rest? She is not recognized in the Constitution. Even in Bayelsa, she is a ghost worker and not really doing the work of a permanent secretary. We shouldn't have to foot the bill of this curious "moment's rest" in Dubai and Germany because no be we say make she no rest.

2. When you are stressed and you need real rest, the Western world is not the place to go. I've spent the bulk of my adult life circulating in Europe and North America. Real rest is still in the deep African countryside - where you can get away from it all, sleep to the cries of crickets and wake up to the crow of the cock, take evening strolls on paths fashioned by dew-beaten legs and just experience that psychic connection with creation. Admittedly, you have to go deeper and deeper these days for this idyll because of the penetration of social media and cable TV to even our remotest villages but the African countryside is still the place to go to recharge your batteries. Mrs Jonathan should have gone to Otuoke - not to the gloss of Germany. Nigeria's elite suffer from an incurable inferiority complex. Westerners would give a leg and an arm to escape the postmodernity of their world and enjoy the kind of rest Mrs Jonathan could have had in her husband's village, Otuoke.

Finally, we must leave Ayo Osinlu, the Jonathans, and the entire cast of clowns in the Presidency with these words. Okay o, we hear you. Madam is not sick. She's only gone to rest in Germany via Dubai. When a man has ten yams and announces noisily to his neighbours that he has thirty yams in his barn, he will eat twenty lies after eating his ten yams.

Nothing serious Nairalanders, she went for cosmetic surgery to look like the girls GEJ saw in Addis Ababa.

Just imagine if Adam and Eve didn't disobey

There is a serious fire outbreak at the Lagos university Teaching Hospital in Lagos. Several people including sick children are reportedly trapped in the inferno according to Nigerian emergency officials.

An emergency official said all efforts are being made to put out the fire,

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/fire-raging-lagos-university-teaching-hospital-lagos

TAKE NOTE.....
If you are SINGLE and keep on saying "I DON'T TRUST MEN OR WOMEN!" remember... your mates are getting married every Saturday. Let me ask you, are they marrying spirits? Wise up! If you are MARRIED and keep saying "I HATE THIS MARRIAGE!" OK! Is it not married people like you that are celebrating Gold, Silver and even Platinum jubilee? If you keep on ranting, ''I'M LEAVING MY MAN, HE CHEATED ON ME!" Please, go to town and see all the fine, cute, hot, hungry and desperate chicks waiting to snatch your man's money and property, they don't even mind sharing. Make it work, my friend!

Major James has been monitoring d movement of her only daughter recently. Infact, he first picks her calls to confirm d identity of d caller before handing over the phone to her after thhorough screening.

But on one faithful day, her boyfriend called & major picked d call as usual.

Major: hello! may I know u?

Caller: sorry I want to speak with Janet Sir.

Major: I said who are u & what for?

Caller: ( after understood d situation at hand ) Okay Sir, I am Frank Edoho from who want to be a millionaire. Janet's friend is presently on hot seat & needs her help to answer a question for 2million naira. So d next voice u hear after is hers, d time starts now.........

Major: oh no am very sorry!!! Janet! Janet!! pls take d phone, ur friend needs ur help...................

Caller: d question is; when are u coming tomorrow?
(a) morning
(b) afternoon
(c) evening
(d) night

The Many Tragedies of Today’s Church

These days some pastors give the impression that they see God physically every day, hobnob with Him, and so are above human scrutiny. They invest upon themselves this garb of infallibility, which means they should not be questioned or made to give account to anybody. “Who are you to judge another man’s servant,” they would quip and interpret this scripture out of its context of judging people in what they eat or drink (Romans 14:3–4), which, as far as Paul was concerned, was a petty matter in piety. They say they are accountable to only God who called them. But is this true?

Peter was “the first Pope,” as Roman Catholics teach. In Acts 10, God asked him to go and preach to Cornelius at a time the gospel had not yet got to the Gentiles. When he came back, the New Living Translation says in Acts 11:2 that “the Jewish believers criticised him.” How dare you criticise an “infallible pope” called Peter? Today, a typical pastor would have barked that they have touched the Lord’s anointed, and would distort that scripture to be the special preserve of pastors, whereas it pertains to every child of God. And that scripture, in any case, talks about physically harming the person, not about critically assessing his actions or inactions.

People found businesses and grow them with their own effort. But once they involve others, or make them invest in it, they make their stocks and salary known to such shareholders. When Bill Gates was the CEO of Microsoft, people knew his salary and shareholding. This is also true of publicly quoted companies in Nigeria. But hardly any church member in Nigeria’s “private” Pentecostal churches can boast he knows his pastor’s salary, not to talk of his personal worth – yet most of them made their wealth only after they founded such churches.

Many of such pastors make no discrimination between what belongs to the church and what belongs to them. Many actually see the church coffers as their personal estate. Some, with their wives, are the signatories to church accounts although many of them strain to give it a semblance of credibility by adding one lackey. Any day that lackey gets bold enough to ask questions, he gets fired. Today, pride and arrogance have become the trait-mark of most pastors. They carry themselves not with the aplomb that befits God’s children but with the hubris that befits Satan’s agents. They drive the best cars and live in the best houses. This is good, since the Bible calls believers kings and priests that should reign on earth.

But when some of them deny their lieutenants such goodies, or make vain boasts about them, or flaunt their expensive shoes and wristwatches and suits amidst their messages, I usually feel a lump in my throat. Often I ask, could Jesus have done that? Of course they would say that Jesus wore designer dresses and that explains why the soldiers “…parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.” And if it is true that Jesus wore designer dresses which in any case I do not doubt, it means that all his apostles also wore designer dresses; for the soldiers that came to arrest Him could have used his disparate dress mode to single him out but they could not, until Judas betrayed Him with a kiss.

But today, enter any church and you need not be told who the pastor is. I see churches just struggling to kick off but one of the first things the imperial pastors do is to buy for themselves and their wives expensive seats, or they make “papal chairs” with ornate engravings and expensive upholstery – just to ensure they are “set apart” from the congregation. And they would have church protocol or security details stand as a ramrod around the altar while they preach. One day, I saw one such detail that probably had not eaten for days collapse under the torture. Are these not the vain exercise of dominion in Matthew 20:25–28 Jesus said is found among the Gentile leaders that should not be seen among us?

This virus of pride and arrogance has also infected student pastors in our higher institutions. Thus when one visits such places to minister, one sees a student pastor being attended by a horde of attendants – one bears his Bible, another his handkerchiefs, and another his handsets, ad infinitum. And one sees the other students scurrying like startled rats once they sight him, and the whisper of “Daddy is coming” would fill the air. Daddy! Who is this daddy – a fellow student who pitiably inherited a culture that blows his position out of proportion? And once this “big daddy” is appointed or before he graduates, his assistants, in a bid to prepare the ground for such largesse during their own reign, would prey on other students to raise money to buy him a car.

Some students have been deceived to give their tuition fees in such acts, and some of them have been expelled for inability to pay thereafter. Thus when such “daddies” graduate, they don’t seek for jobs. They want to found their own denominations, or wangle their way into prominent positions in a thriving church where the goodies and accolades they had known as students would continue to come. They want to become, overnight, like the tested wealthy pastors, men who had paid their dues in the pursuit of God. This, quite pitiably, often draws from the words of these tested pastors who often give testimonies that suggest they just happened upon success, without any wilderness experience.

Today, some pastors teach you not to get close to your pastor for your own safety, so that you don’t see him committing fornication or any other sin and ruin your Christian life. And if ever you see your pastor in sin, you should run for your dear life. Behave as if you didn’t see him; and what is more, remain in that church and be loyal to him. Don’t judge him! Leave him to his God that called him! And they would quote David when he mourned Saul’s death in 2 Samuel 1:20 by saying: “Don’t announce the news in Gath, don’t proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon, or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice and the pagans will laugh in triumph.” But this scripture, in my thinking, is the wisdom of David not that of God.

There are three kinds of philosophies or wisdom in the Bible. They are that of God, that of Satan and that of man. Thus if those words by David were the wisdom of God, He would not have allowed it to be written in the Bible where not only the daughters of Philistines heard it but their granddaughters and great granddaughters still hear it till today.

Today, there is this esprit de corps, a kind of cult mindset among some pastors, that boldly declares: “Hide my sins and I will hide your sins, exalt me when you preach in my church and I will exalt you when I preach in yours.” They go to lengths to defend the excesses of other pastors so that they too will have the liberty to indulge in such excesses. When they come as guest ministers, they would make members literally worship the host pastor by making them stand up and sit down, shout and clap, and say words of adulation, which they hardly ask to be given to the Holy Spirit.

This cult mentality makes some pastors kowtow to an unwritten code of conduct that demands that “when you preach for me, raise money so that when I preach for you I too will raise money,” “when you preach for me, I will give you hefty honorarium so that when I preach for you, you too will give me hefty honorarium.” Some guest preachers even ask for as much as 30 per cent of what they raise or they will fight for it. So people like us who are not pastors in the sense of having a parish or founding a denomination, and so cannot dole out hefty honoraria to reciprocate such gestures, are only invited to preach by few pastors that love the truth.

Nowadays, some pastors teach things that many accept as truth when such things are lies from the pit of hell. For instance, I hear some pastors teach that the minister is greater than the ministry. This is a weighty statement whose hidden import include, one, the minister is greater than everybody in that ministry put together; and two, when that minister dies, his ministry will also die. Is this not a bad way to prophesy over one’s labour? Some pastors today teach that poverty is a sin. I have not seen that in the Bible! Jesus said, we shall always have the poor among us. And when Paul went to clarify some doctrinal issues with the church in Jerusalem, among the things they told him to always do was to feed the poor. Yes, the Bible calls poverty a curse, but it never calls it a sin! It is a curse of the law just like sin and sickness which man inherited from Adam. In principle, man is supposed to be free from these curses at the new birth, but in reality it is not so. It takes revelation to go from the principles stated in the Bible to the reality lived in life.

The result of such half-truths is that congregants now do all in their power to make money. There was the media-celebrated case in Lagos of the man who stole tens of millions of naira from his employers to give to his church. He didn’t do it to enrich himself but for God to bless him to enable him pay back what he stole. There was a case in Aba of a sales girl who stole about N2 million from her employers and gave all to her church. She was sued and jailed two years. Even her church refused her employer’s N500,000 plea bargain offer.

Today, prostitutes and armed robbers go to churches and feel no pangs of conscience. When pastors attract such a crowd, the next thing they do is to raise money. I was in a service recently where a guest minister raised tens of millions of naira without stating what the money would be used for. “There must be a need in the church,” he said and began to call people to give in the millions. The more he raised, the more honorarium he got.

Most pastors today have the same view on rebellion, even those that broke away from other churches. They kink its meaning to suit their aim of trapping members. For instance, when somebody fails to carry out the pastor’s instruction, it automatically becomes rebellion. And they would threaten that the ground would open up and swallow the person as it did to Korah, Dathan and Abiram in Numbers 16:32. But these were men who wanted to split the ministry of Moses and not men who failed to obey an instruction. But then is rebellion against God not one of the definitions of sin? And we all, including these pastors, sin against God every day and God has not asked the ground to open up and swallow us. Why should He do that just because a pastor is involved? Moreover, we now live in the era of grace when such things no longer happen.

The result of all this is that many people today go to church out of fear (but where the spirit of God is there should be liberty!), or simply to please their pastor – not out of unalloyed desire to worship God. Permit me to state here that the church is a living thing, spiritually speaking. So it has the seven major traits of living things. Based on this truth, the church can be divided into three. First is the living church. This is the church guided by the word of God. It allows men to manifest their gifts. It does not cage the Holy Spirit but gives Him free course to manifest in their affairs. It is a church that feeds her members with the pure bread of God’s word sans poison. Few churches in any epoch belong here. The second is the dead church. These are churches that give no regard to the revealed word of God. They feed their members with bread drenched in poison, which leads them to spiritual death. They are full of ceremonies and fatuous rituals. They stifle the gift of God in men, cage the Holy Spirit and keep Him out of their affairs, which they run with human philosophies. Many of the orthodox churches belong here.

The third kind of church is the quasi-living church. This one has traits that swing between the first and the second above. Some are like the Laodecean church that Jesus spoke of in Revelation 3:14–22. They are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, and the Lord said He would spew them out of His mouth. It is a church that boasts in its material possessions like we do today. They preach prosperity and miracles instead of preaching values. Because of the untruths we spread today, the church has become impotent and prey to groups like Boko Haram, hence our insane act of taking arms against them. The church should never take arms against any group. We must win all battles in the spirit realm.

I know this article would ruffle some feathers in Christendom, make me lose some friends, and many would pillory me for washing our dirty linen in public. But permit me to state, unlike what many would argue, that exposing our sins does not make God any less powerful nor His gospel any less potent. The Bible does not support hiding our sins. That is why it says in Proverbs 28:13 that, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

One of the tragedies of today’s church is that the knives that are sharp have no handles, and the ones that have handles are not sharp! Thus the orthodox churches that have drab messages, whose pastors are as blunt as wood, have better character and structures, and the Pentecostal churches that have great messages, whose pastors hone themselves to keen-edge sharpness, have many character and structural flaws. And to worsen the matter, they now wear the garb of infallibility. May God help us!

DEFINITION OF "EX": Thanks for the EXperience. Our time has EXpired. Now EXit my life.

1. Beauty tips by Obasanjo; 2. Value of family planning by Tuface; 3. How to live in peace by Boko Haram; 4. Tactics to win trophies by Arsene Wenger; 5. Say no to corruption by James Ibori; 6. My love for America by Osama bin laden; 7. How to speak good english by Mrs Patience Jonathan. Now available in all bookshops nationwide. Get ur copies fast!

By SaharaReporters, New York

Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, has responded to a sharp rebuke by Doyin Okupe, President Goodluck Jonathan’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs. In a recent statement, Mr. Okupe, who is a medical doctor, berated the former for constantly describing the Jonathan administration as a failure.

In a statement released today, Mr. el-Rufai’s media advisor, Muyiwa Adekeye, stated, “After the needless drama at the Lagos airport when the SSS tried to truncate his trip abroad, Malam Nasir el-Rufai was greeted at his destination with evidence of further misguided action by the Jonathan government. That was the spectacle of the recycled Dr. Doyin Okupe providing a specious political thesis that confirms the crisis of thoughtlessness in government. Dr. Okupe asked that critics of the government should tell it what to do, wrapping his defense of incompetence around a false patriotism.”

Mr. Adekeye’s statement continued: “It bears repeating that the duty of patriots is to stand up for their country, not necessarily for its government, especially one as uninspiring as the incumbent. Had more patriots stood up in Nazi Germany and Apartheid South Africa, millions of lives would have been saved. Service to one's country includes being able to acknowledge when the responsibilities of office seem beyond the ken of its government.

“The federal government is failing to tackle terror, kidnapping, armed robbery and other forms of insecurity.

It is right that it be held to account for these failures. The best response the government can give its critics is performance, not cheaply questioning their patriotism. The Jonathan government cannot outsource to others the duty to provide good governance and the quality of leadership that can inspire the country.”

The former minister, who is now a top member of the Congress for Progress Change (CPC), also stated that he and the likes of Pastor Tunde Bakare worked hard to ensure that Mr. Jonathan became acting President during the prolonged hospitalization of then President Umaru Yar’Adua, now deceased. The statement noted that Mr. el-Rufai’s support for Jonathan’s ascension as acting president was borne out of sheer patriotism. “It was the patriotism of many citizens in the Save Nigeria Group, including Pastor Tunde Bakare and Malam Nasir el Rufai, that helped make Goodluck Jonathan acting president against the machinations of the Yar'Adua cabal,” the statement argued. “It was the patriotism of citizens, expressed in the discourse and agitations against fuel subsidy removal that exposed the trillion naira subsidy scam.

Better still, it was the patriotism of these citizens that pressurized (sic) the government to reluctantly indict their friends and financiers that were found wanting by the National Assembly probe into the worst corruption saga in our checkered history.”

Mr. el-Rufai’s spokesman suggested that the Jonathan administration was bereft of ideas. “When the government is not begging the opposition for ideas, it is busy trying to cocoon clerics. Nothing stops priests from caring about the conditions of living of those to whom they provide moral and spiritual leadership. And their status as priests neither abrogates their citizenship nor constrains their right to free speech. Tunde Bakare is not the first priest to perceive his responsibilities as embracing a concern for his country's fate. He is following the illustrious examples of the Reverend Martin Luther King in the pursuit of civil rights in the United States, and Bishop Desmond Tutu in fighting racism in South Africa. The courage of these clerics helped make their countries freer and more equal, and the world, a better place.”

The former minister blasted Mr. Okupe, a recently appointed presidential aide, for excessive enthusiasm. The statement accused the presidential aide of seeking “to impress in his new job.” It then cautioned him to serve the president “with fidelity to history, and cease calling patriots that stand on principles his brothers just so he can smear them.” The statement added: “If the Jonathan administration wants El-Rufai to provide them a manual on governing Nigeria, they should do so nicely without violating his civil rights, harassing him incessantly or suggesting that the man wants to run for an office now being desecrated by an occupant who blames everyone but himself for his zero performance.”

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/el-rufai-okupe-governance-cannot-be-outsourced

HEAR THIS OH
In a singles convention a prayer point was raised" that singles should pray for their heart desires".
A lady prayed,"oh lord I don't want to marry a short man. Any short man that is coming my way I bound him by holy ghost fire!
And there's this short man standing next to her, praying: oh lord I'm a short man but I'm a billionaire.
Immediately she heard the word 'billionaire', her prayer changed.
She said "oh lord! is that your voice? Who am I to say no? I will marry the 'content' and ignore the 'container'.

This should be a nightmare, not a real event. There is absolutely no reason for the SSS to continue to
harass Pastor Bakare. Why is this agency is so obsessed with circumventing the free speech of a single citizen, when its
resources are... sorely needed in the fight against the grave danger posed by Boko Haram?
President Jonathan: do something to make your presidency stand out as a beacon of freedom, robust political
debate and cultural growth in general. All of those values are fundamental to progress in all areas of national
life, including the vital national interest in moving the people into the digital age. Advancing that national interest
is a sine qua non of economic diversification in the contemporary global market.
We do realize the fact that the legislature also has a responsibility on these kinds of matters. Its leadership should
craft laws that help in reining in the agencies and the personnel involved in the security services, the police and the
military. The people, should be activist defenders of their freedom, and their sovereign authority, as well by inundating legislators
with protests and a call for action, whenever we see these kinds of actions on the part of the SSS. However, the primary
burden rests on the president. President Jonathan: do something

Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Okikiola Aremu Mathew Obasanjo is 75 today. It is on record that this man is the most politically fortunate Nigerian. He is the only Nigerian that has ruled Nigeria the longest, first as a military head of state (1976 to 1979) and as a civilian President (1999 to 2003). In fairness to him, there are many things both positive and otherwise that can be ascribed to the period of his leadership. Just as there are people that were ''made'' during the period of his reign, so are there those that he was King ''Uzziah'' to. I wish him many more years in health, service to fatherland and REPENTANCE!

I AM THE GREATEST LIAR ON EARTH
Can u beat that?
(1) My dad just bought a
generator
that uses palm oil.
, , (2) I just finish praying on Lagos/
Ibadan express way.
(3) We use to have 7 swimming
pools in my house until armed robbers
stole 6.
(4) Hummer 7 that uses water.
Come and see it in my daddy's garage.
(5) Hope u guys know dead sea?
My dad killed it.
OYA!
CHALLENGE ME WITH YOURS IF YOU
CAN,

An Ikeja High Court this morning ordered the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, to pay the N25 million damages awarded to popular comic actor, Mr. Babatunde Omidina, a.k.a. Baba Suwe. Justice Yetunde Idowu ordered that the N25 million should be paid into an interest yielding account within 21 days.

Ibrahim Badamisi Babangida who made corruption a state policy.

Justice Olanrewaju Mabekoje of the Abeokuta High Court disappointed many citizens of ogun state and beyond thru his verdict,discharging the lion of asoludero court despite the overwhelming evidences which proves dat otunba daniel misappropriated the funds belonging to ogun state and its people.But its not coming as a surprise,since 1999 till date no serious prosecution$convictions of ex-govs. have been achieved.Though he may be a free man today courtesy of a jankara judgement,tomorrow might hold a surprise package for him.
#Like Ibori,like Ogd#

Justice Olanrewaju Mabekoje of the Abeokuta High Court disappointed many citizens of ogun state and beyond thru his verdict,discharging the lion of asoludero court despite the overwhelming evidences which proves dat otunba daniel misappropriated the funds belonging to ogun state and its people.But its not coming as a surprise,since 1999 till date no serious prosecution$convictions of ex-govs. have been achieved.Though he may be a free man today courtesy of a jankara judgement,tomorrow might hold a surprise package for him.
#Like Ibori,like Ogd#

http://www.theeagleonline.com.ng/home/news/1587-court-frees-daniel-says-efcc-did-not-follow-due-process-in-amending-charges

James Iroha, populary known as Giringory, is dead.
A top notch of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Segun Arinze, authored a Blackberry message confirming the death of Iroha.
Aged 70, Arinze said Iroha's son, Uche, confirmed the passing on of his dad.

The Blackberry message reads: "Just received the sad news now that Veteran Actor James Iroha aka Gringory of the popular Masquerade tv comedy series is dead!
"I spoke with the Son Uche who confirmed the story.
"He was aged 70 years.
"We at AGN commiserate with his family.
"May God Grant him eternal rest."
Iroha became famous for his role in the rested Nigeria Television Authority programme, The New Masquerade.
He starred alongside Chika Okpala, aka Zebrudaya

http://www.theeagleonline.com.ng/arts-and-entertainment2132/1498-james-iroha-aka-giringory-is-dead

emmydee:
hahahahahahahaha

This is not enough o. all this revelation aint taking us anywhere unless
he is forced or convinced to return the looted funds to the naija govt.!

James Onanefe Ibori won't lose much of his wealth. His beloved cousin is the Delta State Governor who has been stealing money since he took over from Ibori. He pays Ibori 200million a month since Ibori left power. Calculate that!

UK govt wants to collect the looted $250million and hand it back to Delta State government. Once the money gets to the Delta state, Emanuel Uduaghan will hand it back to Ibori. Case close.