₦airaland Forum

PhysicsQED:
There was some truth in here, but also some nonsensical and erroneous claims. I will be back to address this article in a day or so.

“There is no god like the throat: it demands sacrifices daily.” – The Tortoise

In our dear country, we are inundated everyday with messages from our pastors. These “men of God” declare that we must give, and give cheerfully “unto the Lord”. They teach their congregations that the more they give, the more blessings they shall receive from their “Father in heaven”. They then proceed to hold themselves out as living examples of the rewards of life in service to God.

And believe me, the life is very fucking good, what with the mansions, posh cars, and (more recently) private jets. Life couldn’t be sweeter for these men, and the sheep keep lining up to get fleeced. In a nation where the bulk of the national wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few government officials, where corruption is rife, and where the vast majority live in penury, one would think that it behoves church leaders to rail against the inherent immorality involved in stealing from the public to donate the money to God. Surely God is no fence, delighting in the receiving of stolen goods and, surely, God will strike down any who dares to offer Him a slice of criminal activity? Does God demand to “wet His beak”?

There was no equivocation in Exodus 20: 15, where God declares “Thou shalt not steal.” It is then difficult to imagine that a God who declared, expressly, that stealing is a grave offence to Him, condones the high elevation of corrupt men in His churches. Where are the messages from the pastors notifying those men who sit in the front rows of their churches that God will not accept donations sourced from theft? Where are the messages telling them that God does not support the theft of the will of voters via rigging? I dare one pastor to announce that any Senator seated in his church should kindly show himself the door, as God does not approve of men who steal from the public by awarding themselves ever larger salaries while their constituents go hungry and lack basic amenities. Will that ever happen? Bleep no. Where will the next private jet come from, if such a message is passed across? Or the next $4,000 suit, come to that?

Therefore, we must ask the question: if the God of the Bible does not support theft, and Nigerian pastors do, then which God, exactly, are they serving? In the midst of my musings on the subject, came news that Christ Embassy, one of the largest churches in Nigeria, actually charged people N1,000 to get into the premises for its Christmas services. And that, my friends, is the last fucking straw.

For too long most Nigerian churches, especially those of the Pentecostal bent, have marketed (no, that’s not a typo) themselves as venues of entertainment. The most common complaint about orthodox churches is that they are “boring”, hence the need for pastors possessing charisma and stage presence. For indeed, the pulpit is prop, a fixture, required only for the actor to have a place wherein to fix his other prop: his Bible, while he mesmerises his audience (yourselves) to part with their cash. And you lot are so completely in thrall, that when the pastor prays that God shall increase you as you increase the church, you thunder “Amen!” without pausing to consider that you’re praying that thieves shall continue to steal so they too may “increase” the church.

So, you guys keep on praying while around you your country goes to hell in a hand basket. After all, God will take care of everything for you as long as you remember to tithe, and sow seeds, pay your gate fees, and whatever the Bleep else Pastor, sorry “Daddy” says you should do. “Daddy” does need that new Rolls Royce, doesn’t he? Imagine if he showed up to a pastors’ convention and he was the only one who didn’t have one? The shame! The humiliation! The embarrassment!

The debate is on, the people are raging, and the question is, “why did the Eagles fail in South Africa?” If the Eagles failed at all.

Chief blame must go to the Nigerian football governing body; Nigeria Football Federation for being swayed by a section of the Nigerian media that said the former coach of the team, Shuaibu Amodu should go.

The media, unhappy that he did not do their bidding and that he “insulted” them during a press briefing, waged a campaign of calumny against him.

Comments like him not being technically sound for the World Cup, his refusal to use home-based players, his aging team and a squad full of bench warmers were freely used and the Nigerian populace bought into it.

The media said he dropped players from the Cup of Nations team without a training session and that players like Yakubu Aiyegbeni paid their way into the team.

They argued about him using three defensive midfielders in a game yet failed to realise that the coach knew the strength of his team and played accordingly. Most of all they said the Eagles did not play pretty football forgetting that we were doing just enough to win.

Lies all the way

For their part, NFF refused to heed the warning that history would not be on Nigeria’s side if we let go of our coach. They refused to listen to the advice that no serious country sacks its coach in a World Cup year.

Sani Lulu and his team refused to trace history, which showed that Nigeria’s best performance at the World Cup so far had been when the coach who qualified the country actually took the team to the World Cup.

The same section of the media who deceived Nigerians said a new coach, a foreign coach would entirely change the structure of the team.

They said he will scout Europe for hungrier players; they said with his clout he would be able to convince people like Dennis Aogo, Victor Moses and Nedum Onuoha to play for Nigeria.

They said he had four months and that was enough for any serious coach to prepare a country for the World Cup but these were all lies.

A few of us warned them of FIFA windows and how the new coach would have just three weeks to train the team; a few of us warned them of how the players the former coach used were our best and would still be at the World Cup; but most of all a few of us warned that it would be suicidal to sack a coach four months to a World Cup since we had tried it before and it backfired.

But the deed had to be done. The coach was sacked, Lagerback was hired.

He immediately said the Nigerian team had the potentials to play in the semi finals, a lie, just to get the job but Nigerians believed him.

He started talking about players like Solomon Owello, Marvin Ogunjimi, Victor Moses and lots others completely deceiving his employers and most Nigerians but not some of us who knew.

We stood by our grounds that the majority of the players who featured in Angola would be in South Africa

Same old story

Eventually, Lagerback on fifty million naira salary monthly (the former coach was on two million) named a team of 44 players and dropped 14 without a training session.

The same old legs and bench warmers made the World Cup team, the Eagles played three defensive midfielders in a match and after 250 million naira gone in salaries we had a horrible World Cup outing.

It is clear to Nigerians now that the NFF made a mistake by sacking the former coach but are too embarrassed to say it and will now do anything to exonerate Lagerback from the blame.

The NFF must take the blame for sacking Shaibu Amodu. That was where the initial mistake was made.

The sports writers must take a part of the blame for putting sentiments before their jobs, which was to report the news.

Then Lagerback must take his share of the blame for his incompetence.

Do the players have a share in the blame? No, certainly not. Somebody picked them. Unless we want to argue that they also paid their way into the team.

And some of us who knew always said we do not have world class players like our press have deceived Nigerians into believing. Our players are below average, maybe on the same level as the Greek or Slovenian players so they gave the performance their level could reach.

The Eagles may not have done better and maybe they could but we will never know because Shuaibu Amodu did not take them to the World Cup, but the performance could not have been worse.

And that makes us ask the question, “Why give a coach a contract for the World Cup if the plan is not to win the World Cup?” Why assure Nigerians we will go as far as possible in the Cup when we had a clueless coach who came in just for the big pay day?

The way forward is that Lagerback must go, the NFF board members must honourably resign and Nigeria must start afresh.

We must begin to look inwards at our coaches, at our league, at our own.

And the good thing about it is that we have four years to prepare.

Stephen Keshi or Samson Siasia or a combination of the two will make mistakes along the way but between now and 2014 they can give us a team that Nigerians and the World will be proud of.

But for now, first things first, let the NFF board resign and let Nigerians make a fresh start.

History is a great teacher. We fell by the wayside because we ignored history.

I hope we have learned our lesson this time.

stormm:
@oyb
You are just a clown. The News Group, did they ever have any govt patronage? Did they not survive under the most difficult operating environment? Tell magazine for a very long time never had any govt patronage and they survived it. Comet newspapers ressurected as The Nation and until recently did NOT have advertising revenue.

Yes in the days of Daily Times, it survived not just because of Govt patronage but largely because of circulation. Daily advertising revenue was in excess on N500k(1990-93).

Advertisers are very prudent spenders. While page layout and aesthetics play a little role, the bottom line is circulation, reach and intensity. Every other thing is pure lingo. Get yours facts right pls.

Aloy+Emeka:
Only in Britain. American banks don't charge people for keeping their money with them unless you run a checking/current out that requires a minimum deposit and you fail to maintain that deposit.

funkybaby:
infact, GTB offered 3%
Union homes 5%
It was only FCMB that offered 7% and that was after plenty talk talk and shakara to withdraw the money from the bank since that was where the money was lodged.

ssumpta:
We must not copy everything they do in the west. We re not on d same level yet.
I even heard he d soon cancel giving of interest by banks. na wa o.
I think Sanusi is doin d right things, but human beings are more important than policies.
Unless they'd be for our future good.

funkybaby:
i think sanusi started well but somehow he has lost the plot

,I was shocked when a friend told me he was offered 5% interest rate on 20million naira by a major Naija bank!!

What has sanusi done to interest rates?

PapaBrowne:
If the article is false, then the Federal Government would have released a press statement to counter it. As it stands right now, the story remains true as it is written.
Sanusi is on his way out. And very very soon. And guess what, you can't do nothing about it!!

mikeansy:
Have u considered that the so called catastrophe that Sanusi inherited was amplified?

Some banks are saying they did not even need nor used the bailout money given to them.

Pat Utomi has said several times that the crisis in Bank PHB was exagerated.