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Some members of Livingstone Explorer International Initiative, a non-profit organisation, were arrested and detained by the police on Saturday while on medical outreach in the Dange Shuni Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

The team, which had earlier sought and received approval to bring in medical supplies for residents of the area, distributed free drugs for malaria, typhoid, skin rash and other ailments as part of their end-of-the-year activities.

However, midway into their medical outreach in the local government area, members of the team in company with some National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members were accused of having ulterior motives by handing out medicines to residents without the knowledge and approval of the state’s health ministry.

Some leaders of the community went on to accuse the medical team of trying to convert their people to Christians by distributing audio bibles to them.
After calls were made to the Commissioner for Health in the state and other officials, four members of the medical team were arrested and detained by policemen from the Dange Shuni Divisional headquarters.

They were accused among others of violating the religious code of the region by distributing bibles to Muslim residents.

Corps members in the team were released to go after identifying themselves with their NYSC cards.

Narrating the ordeal of members of the team in the Sokoto community, Bwaseh Gankwe, one of the coordinators of Livingstone Explorer International Initiative, disclosed that they were held by the police from Saturday afternoon until about 9:00 pm on Sunday before being released following the intervention of the Christian Association of Nigeria chairman in the state.

He disclosed that they were harassed and humiliated purely for being a Christian group and not because of the free drugs they distributed to the people in the Sokoto community.

He said, “It is the first time in all the medical outreach that we have conducted that we were treated like this.

“We have had the same programme in Yobe, Taraba and other states in the North without any issues; we don’t understand why the situation was different in Sokoto.

“Some of the community leaders after speaking with the Commissioner for Health in the state ordered the police to arrest and detain our members for more than a day simply because audio bibles were distributed to some of the residents with smartphones.

“Despite informing the community head about four times of our outreach and even getting approval to come, some of the leaders still accused us of having ulterior motives.

“But we later came to know that they were angry with us for giving their people bibles. One of the policemen gave us this information. They were angry that we wanted to convert their people to Christians but this was never our plan.

“If not for the intervention of the CAN chairman in Sokoto, our people could have spent Sunday in the police cell as well for committing no offence.”

Spokesperson for the police in Sokoto State, Sanusi Abubukar, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, expressed strong doubts over the incident, stating that policemen in the state could not do such a thing.

He said, “I doubt if policemen will do such. We have freedom of religion in Nigeria, so I doubt if such can happen. I will investigate but I am not sure it can happen here in Sokoto.”

Sokoto, located in Nigeria’s North-West region, is a predominantly Muslim society and home to Sultan Sa'adu Abubakar, the spiritual leader of all Muslims in the country.

http://saharareporters.com/2021/12/21/breaking-police-arrest-detain-medical-team-distributing-audio-bibles-during-outreach

I converted from Islam to Christianity simply because Islam gives no guarantee of salvation. Because Islam recognises that Jesus is 'the word of God' so God "the Messiah therefore the savior ( Surah 3 v 45). Because Allah recognises in the Qur'an that thoe who follow Jesus Christ (Christians)will be above those who do not follow Jesus Christ ( Muslims and others)until resurrection ( surah 3 v 55). Because Qur'an itself recognises that Jesus Christ is without sin (pure) (surah 19 v 19),while the Qur'an asks Mohammed to pray for the forgiveness of his sins ( surah 40 v 55). Unlike Mohammed,Jesus has lived more than 33 years without ever sinning.

I converted because where Mohammed recommends the killing of enemies ( surah 9 v 5) Jesus Christ recommend loving them (Matthew 5 v 44).

Mohammed just affirmed,but Jesus Christ confirmed his words with all kinds of miracles and resurrection of the death.

I converted because Mohammed is asking the Muslims to turn to Christians to get the truth ( surah 10 v 94).

I converted because despite Mohammed's claim to be the seal of the prophets,he is dead and will never return,but Jesus Christ whom I hated before died and resurrected and will come back to fight the Antichrist ( even according to Islam).

I converted because despite Jesus Christ being surrounded by several women,he did not seek to have s*x with them unlike Mohammed who even had sex with Zaynab the wife of his son Zaid, surah (33 v 37).

And also because uptil this day,tye name Jesus delivers all kinds of captivity unlike the name of Mohammed. Because Mohammed recognises that he doesn't know where he and the Muslims will be after death surah ( 46 v 9).

I converted because Mohammed says all Muslims will go through hell (surah 19 v 71) while Jesus Christ gives eternal life to all those who come to him ( heaven) John 3 v 17.

I converted because Jesus never attacked someone to take something from him,while Mohammed claims war booty surah (8 v 1).

I converted because the birth of Jesus Christ changed the whole world and not a community and many more reasons.

So my brother my sister,only Jesus Christ saves. He is the way,truth and life. When I was a Muslim,I believed in everything we were taught about the Christians and the Bible and today that I became a Christian and read the Bible,I realise that what we were told is all wrong.

Jesus was never a Muslim,he is the savior of the world and He loves you and wants to save you. Give your heart to him.

I pray that the Lord God will bless those who share this article.

https://news-af.feednews.com/news/detail/17f8b65c15e39af177ef35cee97a7358?client=news

In Somalia, there are thought to be no more than a thousand Christians in a resident population of 8 million people, with perhaps a few thousand more in the diaspora. The Islamist Shabab militia, which controls most of southern Somalia, is dedicated to hunting these remaining Christians down and eliminating every one of them.

Christian men attend mosques on Fridays, so as not to arouse suspicion. Bibles are kept hidden. There are no public meetings, let alone a church. Catholic churches and cemeteries have been destroyed. The last nuns in the smashed capital, Mogadishu, were chased out in 2007. The year before, an elderly nun working in a hospital there was murdered. The only Christian believers left are local Somalis.

Catching and killing these Christians is useful propaganda for the Shabab, not least for indoctrinating its young fighters and suicide-bombers in the belief that America, Britain, Italy, the Vatican, along with Ethiopia and Kenya, are all “crusaders” trying to convert Somalis to Christianity. The UN lurks nefariously behind. Israel, of course, is also doing its bit to undermine Islam.

The shaky transitional government led by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, whose writ runs weakly across the territory the Shabab does not yet run, is unlikely to speak up for any of its citizens caught with a Bible. Though professing moderation, he promotes a version of Sharia Law whereby every citizen of Somalia is born a Muslim and anyone who converts to another religion is guilty of apostasy, which is punishable by death.

Every month several Somalis are killed for being Christian. Sometimes that is just a label that the jihadists stick on people they suspect of working for Ethiopian intelligence. But many are simple believers. According to Somali sources and Christian groups monitoring Somalia from abroad, at least 13 members of underground churches have been killed in the past few months. Most were Mennonites, evangelized by missionaries on the Juba River in southern Somalia.

https://news-af.feednews.com/news/detail/d832890b607e08ecf2bf42f6e43ac263?client=news

More than 24 hours after Nigeria's Ministry of Health announced the first confirmed case of Coronavirus in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to speak on the issue.

The virus, which was first identified in Wuhan, China, has spread globally, affecting more than 80,000 people in nearly 50 countries.

A yet-to-be identified Italian, who arrived in Nigeria on Febuary 24 aboard a Turkish Airline flight, brought the virus into the country.

Buhari, known to hurriedly sympathise with foreign nations during tragic occasions, is yet to address Nigerians on the discovery of the virus in the country and disclose what his administration was doing to contain the spread of the disease.


http://saharareporters.com/2020/02/29/president-buhari-keeps-mum-over-coronavirus-outbreak-nigeria

chatinent:
When people say they joined Christianity, it's quite vague. These churches don't believe the same thing! Just mention the denomination you joined.

Christianity is not about a denomination, it's about following Jesus. The man said he left Islam to follow Jesus. That's all he said, that's all you need to know.

Former Muslim Nabeel Qureshi explains how his search for the truth about Jesus in scripture led to his conversion.

Contrast is the mother of clarity. So says author Os Guinness, and this principle is what ultimately led me away from Islam and towards the gospel.
As a young Muslim in the West, our community very intentionally defended me against Christianity, the majority religion. The first verses of the Koran that I and the other young children at our mosque memorised proclaimed that God is neither Father nor Son (based on Surah 112:3).

Traditions informed us that this teaching makes up a third of the Koran (Sahih Muslim 812), so we recited it every day. By the age of six, I had recited, ‘God is not a Father, God is not a Son’ thousands of times. It is no wonder I became a bold opponent of the Trinity.

We were also taught that Muhammad was God’s greatest messenger; the most perfect man who ever lived. We learnt the story of his life and did our utmost to follow it. We emulated him to such a degree that we even attempted to walk into the lavatory the way he did. The reverence we accorded him was barely secondary to our reverence for Allah.

Although Islam teaches that the Bible and the Koran originated from God, we were effectively instructed that they were polar opposites: the Bible has been polluted, the Koran remains pristine; the Bible is partially the word of man, the Koran is purely the word of God; the Bible contains contradictions, the Koran is completely coherent; the Bible leads to confusion, the Koran leads to life.

So, as a young Muslim I ardently called others to the way of Islam. I was certain of its truth. My confidence in Islam translated into zeal for Allah, Muhammad, the Koran and sharia. But contrast is the mother of clarity.

DOUBTING THE KORAN
I met a young Christian named David, and we quickly became firm friends due to our common morals and devotion. The time came when I challenged him on the reliability of the Bible, and I had finally met someone who was equipped to defend his faith.

Ultimately, he challenged me to contrast the history of the Bible with that of the Koran. It was then that I discovered there had been so much dispute over the Koran early in its history that an official edict established one standard Koran and ordered all the rest destroyed (Sahih Bukhari 6:61:509-510). There was no occasion for the Bible to have been officially altered throughout Christendom, but there was certainly occasion for the Koran to have been modified throughout the House of Islam, and records remain of old variants that testify to former versions.

While discussing the Bible and the Koran, I also challenged David on the divine authority of Jesus. He responded to my points, but he also challenged me to contrast my arguments with a case for the authority of Muhammad. It was then that I realised my standards for criticising the origins of Christianity would raze the foundations of Islam if I applied them consistently.

Though I doubted the reliability of the Gospels, written in the lifetime of Jesus’ disciples, the entire edifice of the Sirah (various traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad) rested on accounts from 150-250 years after his death.

The earliest account of Muhammad’s life is only known to us because one devout Muslim preserved it, and he uses no uncertain words to say that what he received contained fabrications and false reports (Ibn Hisham, who edited Ibn Ishaq’s Sirah Rasul Allah).

By contrast, the case for Jesus’ death, deity and resurrection was very strong, built on early records that were most coherently explained by orthodox Christian positions. It was through this contrast that matters became clear.
YOUNG MEN WHO ZEALOUSLY CHAMPION ISLAM REMIND ME OF MY YOUNGER SELF

THE CASE FOR CRUCIFIXION
While still contemplating these issues as a Muslim, I attended a debate between a Christian called Michael Licona and a Muslim called Shabir Ally on the topic of Jesus’ resurrection. A trend in Ally’s thinking emerged through the course of the debate, and what I saw shook me.

Multiple ancient sources report Jesus’ death by crucifixion, including Jewish, Gentile, and Christian records. These reports are so numerous and the surrounding circumstances so clear that even atheist and agnostic scholars say Jesus’ crucifixion is among the surest facts of history. But with excessive scepticism, one can deny anything. Ally advanced the koranic view of Jesus: that, despite all the reports, Jesus did not die by crucifixion.

But what reason is there to stand by the koranic claims about Jesus when all the other records disagree? The Koran was written 600 years after Jesus and 600 miles away. The only reason to believe the Koran is an a priori faith in Islam. That is why only Muslim scholars deny Jesus’ death by crucifixion. Ally was very sceptical with the Christian case but not nearly as critical of the Islamic perspective. No contrast, just one-sided criticism.

REACHING MUSLIMS TODAY
That was 2004, and I continue to see the same trend among proselytising Muslims today: constant criticism of Christianity in the face of rather uncritical acceptance of Islam. I see many young men zealously championing Islam, and they remind me endearingly and dishearteningly of my younger self. I see them as sincere, honest, devout young men who usually haven’t seen an equal treatment of these two faiths.

Is there no one to befriend them, as David befriended me? Is anyone praying for them, as David’s church prayed for me? Is anyone loving them as Jesus would, with both compassion and truth?

Through dialogue, these young men, precious to God, might come to see that the Christian view of Jesus is much earlier, more coherent, and better evidenced than the Muslim view of Jesus. They might come to see that Islam is built on much weaker foundations than Christianity. In turn, they might stop leading people away from Jesus and instead become evangelists for the gospel. It happened to me, and it can happen to them.

https://googleweblight.com/i?u=https://www.premier.org.uk/Topics/Church/Apologetics/The-convert-Why-I-left-Islam-to-follow-Jesus&hl=en-NG

A Muslim lady has revealed how she has been hiding and reading the Bible for the past six months, saying there is something inexplicable about the Holy Book that brings her peace.

The Nigerian lady identified as Fatima Yusuf could not remain silent any longer over the sacrilegious act as some Muslims frown on reading the Bible, and they forbid their children to read it.

“I have been reading the Bible for 6 months now, there’s just something about it that brings me peace,” Fatima Yusuf wrote on Twitter.

Well, there may not be anything wrong with Christians reading the Quran and the vice versa. It may rather broaden their understandings of the two religions and their practices.

https://www.pulse.ng/news/metro/theres-just-something-about-it-that-brings-me-peace-muslim-girl-hides-to-read-the/8y0kmsw

President Muhammadu Buhari has officially disbanded the Niger Delta Development Commission Board which the Senate had earlier confirmed awaiting inauguration.

The President had sent the names of 16 member board to the Senate for confirmation and the red chamber on the 5th of November 2019 confirmed the appointments of Dr Pius Odubu and Bernard Okumagba as Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and 13 others amidst pomp and pageantry for the members.


However, their celebration was cut short Tuesday as Muhammadu Buhari in a letter to the Senate President which was read on the senate chamber disbanded the board.

This new development may have brought to an end the power play and the intrigues that have continued to rock the commission which has crippled its activities for some months now

The President’s letter reads in part: “After the dissolution of the board of NDDC an interim management team was set up to manage the affairs of the commission before a new board was composed and sent for Senate’s confirmation.

“The Senate is invited to note that after the process of composition and the Senate’s confirmation was ongoing I directed that the Forensic audit of the board be carried out which is being overseen by the Interim management team.

“Based on this and in order to allow for the uninterrupted process of the forensic investigation the board appointment confirmed by the Senate has to be put on hold to allow the interim team continue to manage the commission pending the outcome of the forensic audit.”

https://m.guardian.ng/news/buhari-disbands-nddc-board-confirmed-by-senate-before-innauguration/

A supposed doctor has stirred controversy after stating that his wife should be let go if she eventually kills him during an altercation.


A Nigerian doctor by name, Anenya Ushakuma Michael has wielded into the murder case involving Maryam Sanda who stabbed her husband, Bilyaminu Bello to death and thereafter was sentenced by a court ruling that she should be hanged to death for the heinous crime.

Reacting, Michael said his wife should not be hanged or killed if she ever makes the mistake Maryam made.

He asked that his wife be left to live and take care of their children if she ever does kill him..
”I know my wife will never kill me. But if for any reason this happens, let her be allowed to live and take care of my children.

This is me Dr Anenga Ushakuma Michael writing this, and I want this tweet to be admissible in court as evidence” he wrote.

https://www.tori.ng/news/140718/maryam-sanda-if-my-wife-kills-me-let-her-live-and.html

MexManuel:
Wow.
Death by hanging.
That's terrifying.

Too harsh. Life imprisonment would have been enough

I don't support death sentence, life imprisonment would have sufficed

kahal29:
Medicine after death. What stopped you from canvassing this points at the Supreme Court when you had the chance? The record of appeal was with you all this while but you failed to look at it only to come now to use style to correct your mistake.

You don't canvas new points at the Supreme Court. The SC, and even the appeal court, relies on evidences and arguments made at the tribunal.

rottennaija:


There is no fact from what you call fact. The first and most important fact (which you fail to know) is that the SC relied on the document presented by the police.

Why should they rely on documents provided by the police? Does the police conduct elections? For your information, the only body authorised to conduct elections in Nigeria is INEC. Their documents are the most authentic as far as election cases are concerned.

Real facts have emerged that the Supreme Court failed to do a thorough mathematical computation of the results of the election but relied only on the wrong computations submitted by Sen. Hope Uzodinma to declare him the duly-elected governor of Imo State.

It should be recalled that at the state’s Governorship Election Tribunal, Sen. Uzodinma had from pages 9 to 27 of his petition drawn up table of votes allocation which he claimed were the figures obtained from the duplicate copies of Forms EC8A handed over to his party agents at the 388 polling units where he claimed results were excluded from the overall result of the election.

From the table he compiled, there were 252,452 registered voters, who gave the APC 213,695 votes and 1,903 t o Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The table did not indicate the total number of accredited voters, nor the number of invalid votes and the votes allocated to the remaining 68 candidates that contested the election.
However, an analysis of the duplicate Forms EC8A tendered by PW54, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Rabiu Hussein, there were no fewer than six polling units where more votes were recorded over the registered voters.

For instance, on figure number 69 which indicated votes cast at Eziama/Okpala (Umualum Village Square, Eziama), the total registered voters was 492, whereas the table showed that the APC scored 819 votes and PDP, 7 votes, giving a total of 334 votes more than the registered voters, without including the votes allegedly polled by the other candidates at the election.

Also, at page 22 of the petition on polling unit 282, the registered voters was 591, whereas the tabulation showed that APC polled 586 votes and PDP 9 votes, with a total of 4 votes more than the total registered voters, not including votes scored by the other candidates.

Similarly, at the same page 22 of the record, polling unit 285 (Obudi/Aro, Central Assembly Square, Unusable 11) with 449 registered voters, APC was credited with 780 votes and PDP with 4 votes, providing a total of 335 votes above the actual total registered voters at the unit.

what do u have to say about this ?

https://www.gistlover.com/proof-reveals-the-mistakes-made-by-supreme-court-in-computation-of-imo-state-election-results/amp/

MZrapper:

Your ignorance is legendary.

But don't you believe what the Quran said about Jesus?

Adefemi404:
-worshipping on Sunday means you are worshipping god of sun not God the creator of heaven and earth.

- God is not foolish to give that commandment to worship him on Sarturday, Sabbath day.

- The Roman empire changed it to Sunday which is the for the worship of god of the sun.

- Even Jesus Christ, the early apostles all worshipped on Sabbath day which is Saturday. Then how come Sunday?

You are talking as if Christ has not come. These are the things the Bible calls the "shadow of things to come" . The reality is Jesus. And Jesus has come. Everyday is a day that God made. You can worship Him any day. In fact, He requires that worship Him everyday!
Just give your life to Jesus, and that will be enough. The only thing that will take someone to hell is if that person rejects Jesus, not the day he worships.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Colossians 2:16‭-‬17 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/col.2.16-17.NIV

Well said Sir.

Note that just as the wife should submit to her husband as unto the Lord in everything, the husband is to love the wife as the Lord loves the church. That is, just as Jesus gave up His life for the sake of the church, the husband should be ready to sacrifice anything for his wife.

The truth is that if every couple would conduct their marriage as prescribed by the Bible, we will not be having marital problems and dysfunctional families we're seeing in our society today.

This is a summary of a testimonial interview of Mario Joseph. Watch in YouTube by typing the name " Mario Joseph "

"My great grandparents were from Turkey but they came and settled down in India in the South. I'm the third child for my mother, when I was in the womb of my mother there was an infection in her womb and the doctor said thai I would die. The doctors compelled my mother to kill the baby, but she was a very good devotee of Allah (God) so she did not accept anybody's advice. She prayed to Allah saying I know you can give life, if you give life to this baby I will surrender this baby to you, that was how miraculously I was born although they thought I would die in the womb. Since I've been dedicated to God, my parents did not send me to school, so it was very bad because when my brothers and sisters had freedom to go to school I didn't have any freedom to go, because I was dedicated to God. At the age of eight, I was sent to a Muslim Arabic College so I could be a Muslim Molana. I wasn't very happy because it was against my wish, Nobody asked me If I was ready for God.

Typical to become a Muslim molana, you have to study philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, logic, and Arabic language also and then theology in your second year. The first year is called muktuser, the second is called motowel. So I studied in Arabic college in South Kerala.

In Islam there's punishments for disobedience, you know, my daddy use to tell me to stay in the mosque, if I did not stay in the mosque they would beat me, they would tell you to leave Ramadan. They won't give me food as a punishment.

While I was working in the Muslim moscheer as an Imam, parish priest, i onced preach in my parish, Jesus Christ is not God. But thenwho is Jesus Christ? In my quest to know, I read the entire Quran once again 114 chapters 6666 words in the Holy koran. When I read, the name of Prophet Muhammad I found in only four places but the name of Jesus ChristI found in 25 places. I was a little confused on why does the Koran give more preference to Jesus, and I also found only one woman's name in Holy Koran which is Mariam, themother of Jesus.

According to the Holy Koran, Mariam was born without original sin and she never commited any sin in her life. chapter 15 of Koran says that she went to heaven in her physical body.

Then about Jesus, when I read chapter 3 verse is 45, according to Koran it says Jesus is word of God, Spirit of God and he is Jesus Christ. Koran says that Jesus took a mud and made it to a live bird which means he can give life, he spoke when he was a baby like 1year old.

Jesus cured a man born blind, he cured a man with leprosy. Jesus Christ died, resurrected and went to heaven meaning he is still alive.

I read about Mohammad and he never cured the blind, never gave a bird life, and he is dead and never resurrected. So I knew from that day that there's a lot of difference between these two prophets as I thought Jesus was but I knew one is better and superior. That could never be enough reason so; I went to my Arabic teacher, the one that taught me 10 years in College and ask him teacher, how did God create the universe, then he didn't answer me because if he said God created the universe through the word and then the Koran says that Jesus is the word, Then it is clear that Muslims must become Christians because God created the Universe through Jesus Christ. Muslims dont believe this, so they say that God cannot have a son without a wife, yes but the Quran says God can hear without ears, he can see without eyes, then to justify it he can have a son without wife.

I wanted to be sure of my decisions so I prayed to Allah because I didn't want to ask anybody other than Allah (my God) to open my eyes to know the truth. When I opened the Koran after praying I saw chapter 10 verse 94, it says, "if you have any doubt in this Koran in which I give to you, go and read the Bible or ask the people those who read the Bible, the truth is already revealing that." So if you ask me what converted me to a Christian, it is not my friends, not my brothers, not Christians but the Holy Koran converted me to Christianity.

So after then I decided to study the Bible, I went to retreat centres in India and I went there to do my Bible studies.

My first day, father read John 1 verse 1 which says in the begining was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh. The Holy Koran says Jesus is the word of God too so I found similarities. The best part of it was John chapter 1 verse 12 , it says in the Bible that if anybody accept Jesus, Jesus will give them power to become sons of a God. In Koran, Allah calls human beings slaves and he is the Master, but no one loves to be called a slave but when I read John chapter 1 verse 12 it says if you believe in Jesus, Jesus will give you power to become sons of God. Then I said I needed Jesus because I want to be a child of God, then I began to call my God daddy. Until then I never knew that I could call God Daddy. So I then decided to accept Jesus because I want to be a son of God.

It is written in Koran more than 18 places to fight with non believers and in some places to kill the one who rejects Islam.

My dad and others wanted to kill me, I was starved, locked up for 20 days because he knew I started going to church and that I converted to christianity. I was so thirsty and without food, my brother came and urinated into my mouth; That is the punishment for unbelievers.

The last day he came with a knife to kill me in the cell which I was, so I decided that it was my end. I knew Jesus died and came back so I knew I would come back.

But suddenly I felt a moonlight on my forehead and power, it was like an electric shock all through my body. It entered me after my dad strangled my neck to kill me although I didn't blame him because that is the religion and it was for him to kill me as an unbeliever. I pushed him and cried the name Jesus!! My dad fell down and was cut by the knife on his chest slightly. I knew then that Jesus is Alive when you call his name.

This was how I escaped and stayed alive today because Jesus is alive. Am not afraid of death because the only surest thing in life is death so nobody should be afraid of it. It will surely come, even this interview is not sure if it will be broadcasted so nothing is sure in life.

But the hope is, when you die in Christ you will resurrect as he did. And Jesus said, in my father's house there are many Mansions and rooms, I am going to prepare a place for you."


This is not in anyway what you would call partisan. This testimony is brought to you by Mario Joseph during his interview and I have been able to summarize all he said shortly. The video is 35 minutes long on YouTube. I would advice all Christians and all Muslims in the world today to please watch it. I stand to be corrected if there are certain words or names I shouldn't use, I just felt the urge with pains to quote 80percent of the words I heard in Mario Joseph's Interview.

https://news-af.feednews.com/news/detail/725f96efacc24a5d84b0beab2d821d9e?client=news

1. God Loves You.
God loves you and wants you to know Him so He can fill you with peace and give you real life -- forever. "God loved the people of this world so much that He gave His only son, so that everyone who has faith in Him will have eternal life and never die." Jesus said, "I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest."

Since God planned for us to have peace and life, why are we so far from God?

2. We are Separated from God.
Since the beginning of time, we have chosen to disobey God and go our own way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God.

"All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's holiness." Sin is choosing to say or do or think things that are against God's plan. "The result of unforgiven sin is death. But God's gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord."
There is only one way to reach God.

3. Jesus Christ Died for our Sins
Jesus Christ is God's Son. He is the only One who can bring us back to God. Jesus died on the Cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people.

"There is only one God, and Christ Jesus is the only One who can bring us to God." "Christ died once for our sins. An innocent person died for those who are guilty. Christ did this to bring you to God."

God has provided the only way – we must make the choice.

4. We Must Receive Christ.
We must trust Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and receive Him as our Savior and serve Him as our Lord. "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believed on His name."

Would you like to give your life over to Jesus Christ right now? If so, you can pray the following prayer and accept Jesus as your Savior:

Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave to give me life. I know You are the only way to God. So now I want to quit disobeying You and start living for You. Please forgive me, change my life and show me how to know You. In Jesus' name. Amen.



https://www1.cbn.com/stepstopeace?intcmp=cta-side-evan-peace

Waiting for APC to reduce corruption in Nigeria is like waiting for your beans to be cooked with candle. You are on a long wait!!

Our hope is in God, not in this government.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to the Transparency International Corruption perceptions Index released on Thursday



DAILY POST had reported that Nigeria dropped two steps below on the 2019 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index.

In the latest release on Thursday, Nigeria ranked 146 out of 180 countries studied.

PDP in a statement by its Spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan said the report had further validated its position that corruption had worsened under President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC).

The opposition party said the report was a prove to show that Buhari’s anti-corruption war was ‘fake’.

PDP added that with the Transparency report “It is clear that the Buhari administration and the APC have not only failed in their boasts to tackle corruption and insecurity but have ended up economically despoiling our nation and worsening our security challenges.”

The statement read in part: “The party describes as a national embarrassment that under an administration by the same leader who wears the medal as “African Union (AU) Anti-Corruption Champion”, and whose government boasts of zero-tolerance for corruption, our nation now ranks as fourth most corrupt country in West African and one of the leading most corrupt countries of the world.

“The TI report, which shows our country dropping to a malodorous 26, from the already disapproving 27 points it maintained since 2017, had further exposed that the Buhari administration and the APC as merely posturing as saints and hounding innocent Nigerians with fake anti corruption war, while engaged in unprecedented looting of our national resources.

“It indeed speaks volume that the Buhari administration and the APC that came into power in 2015 on an anti-corruption mantra, has ended up becoming the most corrupt in the history of our dear nation.

“Moreover, the fact that the APC and its government, with their numerous megaphones, have remained silent over the report is also very revealing.

“By this TI report, Nigerians are no longer in doubt as to why our nation has been plagued with worsening economic hardship, poverty and hunger, dilapidated infrastructure and devastating retrogression in critical sectors such as health, power, education, transport, agriculture among others in the last four years while APC leaders, their families and cronies, gloat in affluence to the chagrin of Nigerians.

“Nigerians can recall that our party has since been challenging Buhari Presidency and the APC to come clean, account for the over N14 trillion allegedly stolen by APC leaders from government coffers in the last four years.

“This includes the stolen N9 trillion detailed in the NNPC leaked memo; the N1.1 trillion worth of crude allegedly stolen by certain APC leaders using 18 unregistered vessels; the over N1.4 trillion stolen from shady oil subsidy deals as well as monies stolen from sensitive government agencies including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) among others.

“It is now clear that the Buhari administration and the APC have not only failed in their boasts to tackle corruption and insecurity but have ended up economically despoiling our nation and worsening our security challenges.

“The fact remains that the Buhari Presidency and the APC cannot controvert these damning facts. The only thing left for them is to apologize to Nigerians and get ready for their place in the dustbin of history as the worst government and political party ever in the history of our nation.”

https://dailypost.ng/2020/01/23/pdp-mocks-buhari-apc-as-transparency-international-releases-report-on-nigeria/

Islam is a beautiful religion, and Allah said in Holy Quran that a Muslim who follows the teachings of the Quran and also Hadith and Sunna of Prophet Muhammad, may Allah be pleased with him will be in Paradise, where in it Virgins and other beautiful pleasurable, but if you disobey Allah, punishment in hell will await such unbelievers.

Indeed, we have produced the women of paradise in a (new) creation. And made them virgins devoted (to their husbands) and of equal age(Quran 56:35-38)

The question is how does the number of 72 Virgins comes? It is gotten from one of the Hadith's of the Prophet Muhammad stated as follows.

Abu Umana narrated that the messenger of God said "Everyone that God admits into paradise will be married to 72 wives."
It is not clearly stated whether the 72 wives will be virgins but only Allah knows best.

http://news-af.feednews.com/news/detail/ca43324edd74509d475895fd34e188be?client=news

President Donald Trump unveiled new federal guidelines today to protect the constitutional right to pray in public schools.

The president previewed his idea earlier this month at the Evangelicals for Trump rally at the King Jesus International Ministry in Florida, saying he would take action to safeguard students' and teachers' First Amendment rights to pray in school.

"We will not allow faithful Americans to be bullied by the hard Left," Trump said.

The president told CBN News' David Brody at the White House Thursday, "Well, it is a cultural war. You have two sides. You have a side that believes so strongly in prayer and they're being restricted and it's getting worse and worse and I think we've made a big impact. And we're loosening up a lot and I want to loosen it up totally. But you do have things happening today that 10 or 15 years ago would have been unthinkable, what's happening."

Now the US Department of Education is sending letters to officials in all 50 states to ensure students and teachers don't face discrimination for practicing their right of religious freedom.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos explained the new rules protect students' right to pray, but they also go beyond that to protect faith-based student groups and much more: "The Department's efforts will level the playing field between religious and non-religious organizations competing for federal grants, as well as protect First Amendment freedoms on campus and the religious liberty of faith-based institutions."

White House Domestic Policy Director Joe Grogan said, "We're going to be making it clear that students have the right to pray publicly in school if they so choose."

Due to cases where the law has been misunderstood, today's announcement reinforces what's on the books. Grogan says it will "remind the chief education officers in all 50 states that students have the right to pray at their own direction, to gather at their own direction, to bring the Bible to school if they choose to, to bring the Koran or the Torah in."

The bottom line is this: Public schools now risk losing federal funds if they violate students' rights to religious expression.

The prayer announcement comes on Religious Freedom Day, an annual event held on January 16 to mark America's long history of protecting religious liberty going all the way back to the 1786 passage of Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom.

"A society without religion cannot prosper. A nation without faith cannot endure, because justice, goodness and peace cannot prevail without the glory of Almighty God," Trump said this month at his evangelical rally. "For America to thrive in the 21st Century we must renew faith and family as the center of American life."

"These angry radicals want to impose absolute conformity by censoring speech, tearing down crosses and symbols of faith and banning religious believers from public life," he said.

"But we will not back down, we are standing tall for the values that we hold dear."

"I will be taking action to safeguard students' and teachers' First Amendment rights to pray in our schools," Trump said. "They want to take that right along with many other rights."

"My administration will never stop fighting for Americans of faith," he said. "I really do believe we have God on our side."

Franklin Graham tweeted, "Thank you President Trump for protecting and empowering the right to student-led prayer in schools."

Dr. David Jeremiah, pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church, praised the president's effort to defend the right to pray in school.

"President Trump has made the right decision to give America's children permission to pray again in our public schools. It's absurd that generations of our children, in our public schools, have been raised to think that there's little to no place for faith outside of one's church, one's home or one's heart. Our public schools ought to be places where people of faith feel free to be who they are, and -of course- no one really believes doing so constitutes enforcing one's personal faith on another. Our founding fathers would be utterly astonished that the one thing we thought wise was to deprive our children of their faith through America's education system. Can't we just agree that America is better off when people of faith pray, beginning with our children?"

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said, "For years, we've watched secularists pressure school administrators into telling students that they can't pray, read their Bibles, or talk about their faith in class. Some school officials are willing participants in the secularists' intimidation campaign while others fear the lack of funding to fight threatened lawsuits. Now the tables are turned. The onus is now on states to certify that they are compliant with U.S. Department of Education guidelines which protect students' religious freedom. If schools fail to protect religious freedom, they now run the risk of losing federal funding. With this and his other announced rules, President Trump is continuing the drumbeat of religious freedom and the long march toward restoring religious freedom in the public square."

Rev. Johnnie Moore, a commissioner for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, is applauding the move, saying it's just the latest proof that President Trump is a champion of religious freedom.

"The White House isn't saying whether one should pray or to whom or what they should pray to, they are simply making it clear that in the United States students have First Amendment rights also, and our 'separation of church and state' wasn't intended to suppress a vibrant religious life in America but to facilitate it. Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists, where he referenced this separation, was actually more about protecting the church from the State than the State from the church," Moore said.

He says he experienced a taste of the discrimination that other faith-filled students often experience in America's public schools.

"I found my personal faith in middle and high school as my family moved several times among multiple states and I attended multiple public schools. When I became passionate about my Christianity, I decided to start prayer meetings at each of my schools. I generally did so outside of school - before school - because these public schools, even in the Bible Belt, had a total paranoia about the separation of church and state which required us students to pray in the cold or rain, outside," Moore recalls.

"Even in those environments that were more open, the approval processes seemed intentionally burdensome. I was once called into a principal's office in one of my high schools for trying to have a Bible study during the lunch hour. It was totally absurd."

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/politics/2020/january/trump-fighting-to-put-prayer-back-in-schools-we-will-not-allow-faithful-americans-to-be-bullied

oilPUSSY:
You knew the perception your people have for APC yet you deviated.. You have allowed vultures to deceive you.
The same people people that were clapping and rejoicing that you would deliver the entire SS are no where to be found simply because you lost the election and above all you have lost your people as well..
See the name the name they have given you in your state "Herdsman terrorist" "Christian killer" Keep moving around with that tag till you come back to your senses.

See, Akpabio was not deceived. It was the fear of EFCC that drove him to APC. Deep down in his heart, he knew he was committing a political blunder by joining APC. I suspect that his hands were not clean and APC used that to blackmail him and forced him to join them.

A "Prince of ISIS" has done what many would consider unthinkable, making a commitment to turn away from his horrifying past to unite with a new way of life through Jesus Christ.

The former ISIS leader, whose identity has been disguised for his safety, is being called Mohammad. The miraculous circumstances that led to his transformation were reported by Dr. Michael Youssef's Leading The Way ministry.

Since the launch of its Christian satellite TV station, THE KINGDOM SAT, Leading The Way is working to touch "some of the most unreachable lives in the Arabic world," including people like this notorious 'Prince of ISIS'.

A video testimony from the ministry reported that one of their follow-up coordinators named Peter received a call several years ago from a man who pleaded to meet with him.

The man on the other end of the phone with Peter turned out to be a spiritual leader in the terrorist group. Even though Peter knew it was possible that Mohammad may try to kill him, he believed God was leading him to go ahead with the meeting.

In a reenacted testimony, Mohammad opened up about his dramatic shift from Islam to Christianity. "One day, somebody asked me why I am a Muslim," he said. Scrambling for answers, Mohammad began to search in the Quran, Hadith, and Sunnah.

"I wanted to find proof and evidence that Allah exists and Islam is right... I found nothing," he said.

But that wasn't the initial reason why Mohammad met with Peter. He says he had just wanted to kill Peter, but during their first encounter, Peter boldly spoke the Word of Jesus over the ISIS leader.

The meeting did not end on a positive note. Mohammad became frustrated and struggled to grasp what Peter had told him about who God really is.

Then the two met for a second time.

Charisma News reports that Leading The Way's senior director of ministry outreach Maged Atalla explained what happened in the next meeting. "The second time they met, Mohammad told Peter he had a dream and saw an envelope dripping blood with great fragrance," he said.

Peter explained that the dream was God telling him that blood had to be shed for the forgiveness of sins.

"Peter told him, 'Jesus is sending you a message and you need to give your life to Him.' At that moment he surrendered his life to Jesus.

Mohammed then told Peter that the first time they met he had a knife in his pocket and wanted to kill him on the spot, but something prevented him from doing this," said Atalla.

Now Mohammad's burning life questions have been answered and his life dramatically turned around.

After repenting, Mohammad experienced a peace he had never felt before.
"I saw a love that didn't exist in Islam," he said.

Because of his regular meetings with Peter, this so-called 'Prince of ISIS' accepted Jesus Christ into his life and began his journey as a Christian.

"The true book, in my opinion, is the Bible," declared Mohammad. "I found the truth in Jesus Christ. And because I have surrendered my life to the Lord, I am certain He will never forsake me."

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/cwn/2019/march/former-prince-of-isis-turns-to-christ-after-a-god-dream-i-saw-a-love-that-didnt-exist-in-islam?amp

PrecisionFx:



Jesus is the only way to the Christian heaven

There's only one heaven because there's only one God. If you believe Jesus is the only way to the Christian heaven, then He's the only way to heaven because there's only one heaven...

Auki:
Well package paganism.

Worship only He that created you and your forefathers of old. He that ur soul will return to, that is Lord of the Worlds.

Assigning divinity to Jesus is sheer paganism. Pauline Christianity that is now main stream is never tought by Jesus nor those his early followers do what u are currently doing. Jesus never asked mankind to take him and his mother as an object of worship instead of the Lord of the Throne.

I and the Father are one. ( John 10:30 )
He who has seen Me has seen the Father… ( John 14:9b)

Paul didn't make the above statements, Jesus did. Actually, Jesus claimed to be God, and that's why the Jews killed Him.
"Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God".
John 5:18 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/jhn.5.18.KJV

That said, what the article is trying to say is that Jesus is the only one who paid for sin. No other religious leader or prophet paid or even claimed to have paid for man's sin. Only Jesus Christ!

If you don't believe in Jesus or accept that He died for your sins, your sins remain with you and you will pay for them yourself. And the wages of sin is death, eternal separation from God, that is hell fire!

Many people have criticized Christianity and believers in Jesus Christ as being too narrow-minded because we preach that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. They point to the numerous other religions of the world and say, "How can your way be the only way?"

One of the answers to this question is that Jesus himself declared that He was, in fact, God in the flesh.

I and the Father are one. ( John 10:30 , NASB)
He who has seen Me has seen the Father… ( John 14:9 b, NASB)

Jesus did not give Christians any other option but to preach that it is only through faith in His sacrificial death on Calvary that we can receive salvation from our sins.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." ( John 14: 6, NLT)

Jesus claimed to be God. We have to judge his statements about himself as either true or false.
The great British writer, C. S. Lewis, explained in his well-known book, Mere Christianity , "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher; he'd either be a lunatic -- on a level with a man who says he's a poached egg -- or else he'd be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse."

"You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

So Jesus was either a madman, a liar, a myth, or He really was -- and is -- the Son of God.

It's Not About Me
Some people believe that all the religions in the world are basically the same. But that simply is not true. Christians, Jews, and Muslims believe in a personal God who has revealed Himself to mankind. Buddhists and Hindus believe God is impersonal and unknowable. But God cannot be both personal and impersonal -- both concepts cannot be correct.

But Christianity is also different from all other religions of the world in one other vitally important concept -- the idea that God reached out to man to save him because man was helpless to save himself.

Every other religion in the world is based on man's efforts to reach God. These world religions teach that man must somehow do righteous deeds or perform religious service in order to become good enough for salvation. In order to be saved a person must pray a certain number of times, in a certain manner, facing a certain direction. Or he must wear a particular type of religious garment. Or he must visit a certain religious shrine or temple. Or he must worship in a particular way.

Some religions require sacrifice and even the infliction of pain upon a believer in order to become holy in the sight of God. Some extreme religions require adherents to beat themselves with whips or rods to show their devotion to God. Some require pilgrims to crawl on their knees a certain distance in prayer in order to earn righteous points with God. Some religions require worship on Friday; others on Saturday; and others on Sunday.

But in all of this, the striving after righteousness is based on the religious activity of the man or woman. In every other religious system besides Christianity, a spiritual scale hangs over the head of the individual, with all of the sins they have committed on one side and all of their righteous deeds on the other. The person never knows whether they have been good enough, or prayed enough, or worked hard enough to earn the righteous points needed to counter their earned sins.

But the Christian Bible teaches that man is a sinner and could never earn salvation by what he or she did.

As the Scriptures say, "No one is righteous—not even one." ( Rom. 3:10 , NLT)

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. ( Rom. 3:23 , NLT)

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. ( Is. 64:6a, NLT)

The apostle Paul makes it clear that salvation is available only through the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made when he carried the sins of the world on the cross.

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Cor. 5:21, NLT)

Jesus never sinned. So He was the only one who could pay the price and carry the sins of all people who ever lived upon himself on the cross. He was the sacrificial lamb who took upon himself the sin of the people.

This salvation comes only through the grace of God toward man, and we can only receive it by faith -- not by any deed that we could ever do.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. ( Eph. 2:8-9 , NKJV)

No matter how good you are; no matter how religious you are; no matter what you do for God, you can never be good enough, or holy enough to earn salvation.

Any plan of salvation that is based on the efforts of man is doomed to failure. But the Bible tells us that salvation has been made available to us because Jesus came to earth and bore our sins on the cross.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ( John 3:16 , NKJV)

All we have to do is believe and receive what Jesus did to bring salvation to us. God has given us the grace to receive salvation; all we have to do is open the door by faith.

Receiving the Free Gift
Jesus Christ declared himself to be the Son of God, the Savior of the World. Now you need to decide how you will respond to his call to "follow me." He declared that He alone is "the way, the truth, and the life -- no one can come to the Father, except through Me."

Will you take the next step now? Will you trust Him to be your Lord and Savior?

Put your life into His hands now. Do what He asks you to do. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He asks you to believe in Him. He asks you to honestly confess your sins to Him and to receive His complete forgiveness. He has a special gift that He wants to give you -- eternal life.

http://www1.cbn.com/questions/jesus-only-way-salvation

The man aiming to wrest the Nigerian presidency from Muhammadu Buhari has built a career circling the summits of public life.

Atiku Abubakar has been a top civil servant, a vice-president, and a prominent businessman and philanthropist, making his fortune in the oil sector and giving some of it away to charity.

The highest office in the land has, however, eluded him. On three occasions, he has tried for the presidency and fallen short. On 16 February, the 72-year-old tries again, offering his credentials as a seasoned political operator and serial entrepreneur as the remedy for Nigeria's ills.

However, his critics point to accusations of financial impropriety against him which they say make him unsuitable for top office in a country where corruption is a huge challenge.

He denies any wrongdoing and says the charges are politically motivated.

If elected, Mr Abubakar will be confronted by soaring unemployment, chronic poverty, a legislature gridlocked by regional rivalries, and a sluggish economy heavily dependent on fluctuating oil revenues.

His campaign is exploiting the contrast between his image and that of an incumbent who has become a target for much of the frustration over the economy.

Mr Buhari's critics say his personality - austere, aloof and inflexible - has proven ill-suited to the demands of governing Nigeria, even if it helped him win the last election, lending credibility to his pledge to fight corruption.

Mr Abubakar, by contrast, is an affable, enterprising figure, moving adroitly between the worlds of commerce and politics - qualities that, his supporters say, will help him unite the country and revive the economy.

Both candidates are from the mainly Muslim north of the country, and have tried to reach beyond their power base by choosing running mates from the mostly Christian south.

According to Cheta Nwanze, head of research at Lagos-based risk advisory SBM Intelligence, Mr Abubakar's campaign will hope to attract some of the people who voted for Mr Buhari in the last election - particularly "the educated youth that live in cities and have seen their incomes fall in the last few years".

Political insider
Mr Abubakar is the candidate for the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the dominant force in Nigerian politics for the last two decades. He was with the PDP when it was formed at the end of a military dictatorship, and has served as vice-president in two of its administrations. However, he has had a tempestuous relationship with the party he helped create, twice having left it for opposition groups.

His first exit, in 2006, coincided with an investigation into his record as vice-president, when he was accused of having diverted $125m (£95m) worth of public funds towards his business interests. Similar charges appeared in a
2010 US Senate report, which accused Mr Abubakar of having transferred $40m (£30.55m) of "suspect funds" to the US, using his American wife's bank account.

The charges have never been tried in court, and Mr Abubakar has rejected the allegations of corruption as politically motivated. In January 2019, he visited Washington DC, ending speculation that he was avoiding travel to the US because he might face arrest there.

According to Olly Owen, a lecturer in African studies at Oxford University, Mr Abubakar is the ultimate political insider.

"Back in the 1990s, when they were getting rid of military rule, he was in at the ground floor," he says. "He is a long-term power-broker, switching allegiances and dictating the nature of elite alliances."

Both candidates in the election are over 70, but Mr Abubakar's relative youth - contrasted with Mr Buhari's rumoured ill-health - is viewed as an asset in a country where most of the electorate is under 40.

Mr Owen says the two men appeal to two distinct tendencies among Nigerian voters - a yearning for clean government and a desire for economic opportunity.

"People are sick of corruption," he says, but on the other hand they are also "very entrepreneurial".

Tycoon and veteran power-broker
Born in 1946 in northern state of Adamawa
Co-owner of multinational oil services company that started life in a Lagos shipping container
Oversaw privatisations during two terms as vice-president

Fought against corruption charges, describing them as politically motivated
Founded American University which gave scholarships to some of the "Chibok girls" who survived Boko Haram kidnapping

His father, a devout Muslim, was briefly jailed for trying to stop him from attending a Western-style school

An Arsenal football supporter, he has four wives and 28 children

Mr Abubakar's reputation in business is linked to the spectacular rise of Intels, the oilfield logistics firm that he co-founded in 1982. From its original office in a shipping container, the company has grown into a multi-national, multi-billion naira operation, employing more than 10,000 people.

'Making money'
He has diverted part of his wealth to charitable causes, most notably establishing the prestigious American University in Adamawa state, northern Nigeria. The university recently offered scholarships to some of the "Chibok girls" - survivors of a high-profile kidnapping by Islamist Boko Haram militants.

Mr Abubakar regards himself as a lucky beneficiary of the Western-style education offered at the university and fiercely opposed by Boko Haram. He was born in Adamawa to a devout Muslim family, and his father, a Fulani tradesman and herder, was briefly jailed for preventing him from attending school.

"Father was responding typically with fear and anxiety to the onslaught of change in Nigeria," Mr Abubakar writes sympathetically in his autobiography.

After finishing his studies, he joined the customs service, serving at Lagos port and airport. "Corruption was rife in Customs but I was not part of it," he writes. "I saw Customs… as a way of making money for the government."

While still a civil servant, Mr Abubakar began buying property and farmland for commercial purposes, eventually moving into the emerging market for oil and gas services. "I recognised very early in life that I have a good nose for business," he writes in a chapter of his autobiography entitled, Making Money.

His career in customs brought him into contact with the military and political elite, two categories that have been interchangeable for much of Nigeria's recent history. Mr Abubakar grew close to the former army major, Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, regarding him as a political mentor.

Against a backdrop of coups and crackdowns, the two men began networking with other regional leaders, hoping to form a credible government-in-waiting.

Privatisation drive
In 1989, Mr Abubakar quit the civil service to dedicate himself to politics. He made his first presidential run in 1991, as a candidate for the faction that had gathered around Shehu Yar'Adua. He would step down after coming third in the first round, and the election itself was later cancelled by the military government.
More about Nigeria's 2019 vote

The repression intensified in the 1990s under the dictatorship of Gen Sani Abacha. Mr Abubakar was briefly exiled in London, while his mentor, Shehu Yar'Adua, was sent to prison and would eventually die there.

Mr Abubakar returned to Nigeria in 1997 as Gen Abacha relaxed his grip on power. He became vice-president after the elections in 1999 installed the PDP candidate, Olusegun Obasanjo, in the presidency.

During two terms in office, he oversaw a series of privatisations, earning praise as a liberaliser in some quarters, and criticism elsewhere as a crony capitalist.

In his autobiography, he takes credit for reforms of the banking sector, the auction of mobile phone licenses, as well as for an economic boom that enabled Nigeria to pay off much of its debt.

Mr Abubakar says he will bring back the good times if elected president in 2019. However, his ability to keep that promise will be subject to powerful forces outside his control.
"It's hard to predict what he could achieve," says the BBC's Nigeria editor, Aliyu Tanko, "with an economy that depends so heavily on the price of oil."

Mr Abubakar has four wives and 28 children.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47046599