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Teaching, pls

NUC vs. MDCAN - AN IMPENDING IMPLOSION

(The Reason Doctors are on Strike in Nigerian Hospitals)

When you hear of strike actions from medical doctors in Nigerian hospitals, the union that readily comes to mind is the Association of Resident Doctors (the body overseeing the welfare of resident doctors). However, there is another body that oversees the welfare of senior doctors or Consultants in our various hospitals called Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) that has almost never embarked on any strike action in the annals of the profession. Unfortunately, as at the time of this writing, this body of professionals have embarked on a strike action beginning from Monday, 25th of February 2020 and the duration of the strike is indefinite because MDCAN had previously undergone a warning strike after several pleas to avert the strike, yet the authorities still refused to bulge.

At this point, many questions would be rising in the minds of readers: why have these senior doctors chosen to go on strike and who are these “authorities” MDCAN is protesting against? This article intends to supply answers to all of such questions.

MDCAN has embarked on an indefinite strike to protest a recent directive by the National University Commission (NUC) which is asking senior medical doctors who already possess Fellowships in the field of medicine, to henceforth enrolled into PhD. programs as an additional prerequisite for their career advancement in the Universities where they teach. The said directive was published in a communique to all medical postgraduate schools in Nigeria. It reads in part:

“…after exhaustive deliberations at series of meetings held between the Commission (NUC) and the management of National Post Graduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN), stakeholders unanimously agreed to introduce PhD. programmes in the Clinical Sciences in the Nigerian University System, for the postgraduate training of interested medical practitioners and for their career progression, especially for those in the academia.” This communique was sent out on the 24th of December, 2019.

This directive follows an earlier publication by the NUC which had provided guidelines for appointment of academic staffs in the Universities in Nigeria. In stating the minimum academic qualification for anyone who will teach in the Universities, they wrote:

“All academic staffs are expected to have the terminal degree of PhD. For academic staffs in the Clinical departments of Faculties/Schools/Colleges of Medicine, the Fellowship of the National Post Graduate Medical College of Nigeria and/or the West African College of Surgeons/Physicians is currently accepted as the terminal qualifications, instead of PhD. However, no promotion shall be made to the level of senior lecturer and above even for those in the clinical departments of Faculties/Schools/Colleges of Medicine without PhD from 2025.”

The aforementioned and particularly italized and bolded words are the grouses that MDCAN has with NUC. They are worth examining on close quarters:

First, MDCAN is indeed a stakeholder in NPMCN and they readily agree that they had joined the NUC in series of meetings where the matter of PhD in the academia were extensively deliberated upon. But MDCAN never, at anytime, “unanimously agree” with any of the stakeholders, let alone NUC, that the PhD. programs be introduced into Clinical Sciences in Nigerian as their highest qualification. The position of MDCAN, throughout the deliberations, was that the Fellowships that doctors obtain, which brings them to the position of Specialists and Consultants, exceeds the regular PhD. obtained by anyone in Nigerian Universities because the curriculum which an average Consultant must have passed through before acquiring the Fellowship also encompasses research. Thus it is superfluous to again begin to ask doctors with Fellowships to obtain PhDs before they can be promoted in the Universities.

Secondly, the communique had initially stated correctly that the Fellowship was a terminal qualification for doctors, not PhDs. But, inline with its published guidelines, it went further to state that doctors with such Fellowships will no longer be promoted in the Universities by 2025 except they obtain PhD.

This position calls into question the age old wisdom and practice that had limited doctors highest qualification to Fellowships and it also disregards the unique style of training medical doctors undergo as against other professionals in the academia. Doctors are primarily professionals that attend to patients. The nature of their job is hands-on, and not so much research based. Doctors cannot reach the epitome of their career until they have undergone extensive training in an aspect of their field in hands-on practical works with patients. This is the reason why the Fellowship, which demands five to seven years (depending on the speciality) in residency training in the teaching hospitals is their highest qualification. Residency training is also accompanied with the writing of two rigorous examinations (a part one and part two exams), and the submission of a final thesis. These standard not only equate in demands with PhD training but even exceeds them.

The NUC communique had rightly stated that PhD. programmes in Nigerian universities require a minimum 52 credit unit of course work. They however disregard the fact that the Fellowship training come with a minimum of 204 credit units. This is almost four times the credit units required to obtain PhDs.

Besides, the records show clearly that doctors with Fellowships produce more academic research works than other professionals with PhDs in the Universities. A list of most published scholars in Nigerian universities reveal that doctors with Fellowships and without PhDs are the leading published scholars in Nigeria. Prof. Adesola O. Ogunniyi of the University of Ibadan is a doctor without a PhD but with fellowship. He is the third highest publisher of researches in Nigeria. Prof. Emmanuel Adoyi Ameh is the seventh and he also does not have a PhD. Out of the 28 researchers listed in that paper almost 70% have only Fellowships and no PhD.

The current position of the NUC to impose PhD. as the highest qualification on all academic staffs in the Universities in Nigeria, including doctors, is not a well thought out one because it is a well known fact that medical graduates from Nigeria are in high demand in countries like Canada, United State of American and United Kingdom leading to an alarming brain drain of young doctors in the health sector. This new guideline is a sure way to further deplete our health sector of her best brains because our senior doctors would also be forced to exit the country in droves and it is hoped that NUC will heed the cry of MDCAN and withdraw those guidelines placed against doctors practicing and particularly teaching their profession in our Universities.

At the moment, the strike action is limited to universities, meaning MDCAN members have withdrawn their services by not teaching medical students and other ancillary students in the teaching hospitals. However, if NUC refuses to withdraw this unsavoury directive, MDCAN would be forced to extend its strike action on hospital services. This would bring a total collapse of services in Nigerian teaching hospitals and innocent patients would be at the receiving end because by extension, their mentees resident doctors will not be taught or supervised. This will lead to total collapse of the health sector and with the threat of Coronavirus and Lassa Fever epidemic breathing down our necks in Nigeria at this time, the country faces an avoidable implosion.

This is the reason MDCAN is using all available channels to air their grouses and it is hoped that those who have ears to hear will listen.

© Deji Yesufu (Yesufu is a Public Analyst. He can be reached on newdejix@gmail.com)

Bros. You don't have a problem. May God bless your home.

Maybe When the children arrive, she'll loosen up.

Call them and tell dem say them try ...

The American army gave the world the internet...

The Nigerian army gives us bottled water.

We try...

The E. A. Adeboye Tweet

By: Deji Yesufu

At first I regarded the whole matter around E. A. Adeboye's tweet of advising his “son” to fire a lady, all because the gentleman found her attractive… I found the whole thing a storm in a tea cup.

I am not an Adeboye fan and this situation could have afforded me another opportunity for attacking the pastor. But I am gradually loosing appetite for that venture these days. Besides, I was almost sure that the supposed Twitter handle was a cloned one (these pastors are too antediluvian to engage social media, I thought). I was wrong; even Punch reported it on their online medium. It is true: Adeboye typed those words.

So my interest in this matter was kindled when, in a discussion today, somebody pointed out that it was very wrong for Baba to advise the sacking of a lady for the mere fact that his son in the faith couldn’t bridle his lust. Is it a crime to be attractive now? Will Adeboye advise the sacking of his own daughter if she was in the shoes of that lady? The conjectures are endless and I have no intention to add to them. I would be looking at the issue from another perspective.

Note that attraction between sexes in work place environment is NORMAL. One would think that Adeboye, with his experience, would know that the number one calling of Christian men is knowing how to handle their bodies in holiness and sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:4-5).

Of course one would not be surprised that Adeboye would counsel the pulling out of the eye that sins – as long it is not his eyes or those of his sons involved. Jesus taught that it is the sinner that should sever his arms or eyes in cases of temptation, not the other way round. Christian men would not sack their secretaries; they should rather deal with their flesh. If Adeboye will fail in a mere ABC of sanctification, I suspect he is failing in many other areas too.

A little over a week ago, I got into a social medium debate on this dicey matter of side chics. I counselled that our ladies could do better in keeping their husbands from the strange woman. I said little about the role of the man because that post was intended to counsel women.

I am not sure I have found greater opposition to a position I’d ever taken on social media before, as I found with that thread. I pulled down the thread. It appears that in this matter of infidelity in marriages, women have borne the greater burden. And Adeboye is not lightening those burdens for them. He is now advising their sacking.

Christian men are expected to be Christian first of all in all that they do. Our Christianity will be tested at home and even much more in the office. The strange woman will appear and we must say no to such vain lusts. If the Christian man fails in this basic pursuit of sanctification, we has every reason to doubt the genuineness of his salvation.

Which brings me to my grouse with E. A. Adeboye. It is not his pedestrian counsel of sacking a lady for his son's sins that I have issues with. It is neither his false humility and make-belief simplicity. My grouse with Adeboye is that this man doesn’t preach a Christian gospel and his sons are not born again. Nay, I have every reason to doubt Adeboye’s own conversion itself. Thus when a man is devoid of true Spirit wisdom, he would have no qualms recommending light medicines for serious ailments.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/1505609702848568/posts/2616029838473210/

The Side Chic

For those who have not seen the video, an older woman is seen accosting a younger woman, very likely at the Ikeja Mall. From the words of the older woman, who happens to be the only speaking, one can tell that the younger woman is the side chic to the older woman’s husband. The younger woman is visibly embarrassed and her silence is actually not golden but a betrayal of her culpability.

When she would not respond and attempts to leave, the older woman assaults her. Pulls her wig and drops it on the floor. The younger woman attempts to leave; people are seen cautioning the older woman; the younger woman, seeing she has become the but of instant videos for Vloggers, flees the scene. The older woman is hot on heels.

While the video made the rounds on social media, it was the comment by a man on Twitter that brought my attention to it all. He had said if his wife were ever to try that nonsense with his own side chic, the side chic would be upgraded to the status of a wife. Incidentally, on my timeline, there were both comments for and against his position. I am neutral. This article, however, is just some random thoughts on side chicing.

Well, Abu has seen quite a lot at this gate called Facebook. I believe I learnt the term “side chic” here. One lady told me that she’s a side chic to a senior officer in the Nigerian civil service. My jaws simply dropped. By the way, the same lady is “happily” married. So those who are breathing fire and brimstone on Men for keeping side chics should know that there are “side guys” too in some instances. But let’s limit our talk to the chics.

It was also on this dial that Abu was told of a guy who had a side chic at the office. The relationship went well until, for some reason, they had to part ways because the man relocated. Some twenty years later, in the middle of gisting with his wife, he discovers that his wife knew of his relationship with the side chic all along and said nothing of it back then. He was shocked. He later summoned courage and asked her why she did nothing then, and the wife said “ where is she now….” In other words, I knew it was a fling. It would pass. It did pass. Mr. Man is nearing sixty now and wholly contented in the last one standing. His wife.

Here is my position.

I think more women lead their husbands to side chicing than any other thing. Take the matter of the Ikeja Mall ladies, clearly the older woman has issues. Even if her husband was guilty, accosting that lady that way would win greater sympathy for the side chic and further alienate her from her spouse. At worst, she should have settled it with her husband in private. Or, perhaps, her nagging is the root of the man finding solace outside.

I agree that men should discipline their libido. But after a man has worked hard, provided for his family; only to return to a woman in the house who is bent on snuffing out his soul, would you blame him if he finds comfort in Delilah's laps?

I am thoroughly convinced that women are the author of the state of their homes. If you want peace, give your husband peace. If a man goes after a side chic, play the game: be a better chic to him at home. Win your man back. Returning tit for tat will not solve the matter. The man will move on and you’ll be left to rue your chances.

For the wise woman, having your man is a win-win situation for you. If your husband is disciplined, be thankful and do not take it for granted. If your husband is not, take it as a challenge. You will laugh last. All the side chics will come and go, and guess who will remain: you.

Sheath the sword, older woman, it is not worth the fight.

© Deji Yesufu.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/1505609702848568/posts/2576069972469197/

For whatever it is worth... From Ibadan

Concerning New Year Prophecies and Declarations

I begin this piece by wishing everyone on my timeline and all who will read this a HAPPY NEW YEAR. I sincerely pray that the year will be good to you. That you will fulfill your goals and heart desire. Most of all I pray you will find peace with God through Jesus Christ and that you’ll be a blessing to humanity which is God’s creation.

This piece is both a lamentation against New Year prophetic declarations and it is also a prophetic declaration over you as I “received” a word from God for all of you just this morning. First let me tell you how God spoke to me this morning.

For many years now, I believe since 1998, I have developed a discipline of just reading the Bible through, Genesis to Revelation. When I started the discipline I used to cover the whole Bible two or three times a year (I don’t use a Bible reading plan and I am not recommending mine to you – I am simply telling a story). I could spend a year or more reading the Bible through.

Most of the time when I read scriptures like this I get nothing. In fact I become afraid that I am just fulfilling all righteousness. But I keep at it bc some days comes, God uses this Bible reading plan to speak directly to me. I believe he did this morning.

My reading this morning was Jeremiah 14-17. It is a long text and I’ll wish that you will find time to read it. The text, like most of Jeremiah’s writings, describes God’s unhappiness with Israel. Rather than wishing them well, he condemns the whole nation for their sins.

In chapter 14:13-16, God takes on prophets who are prophesying lies to Israel. They were telling people that all will be well with them (in the New Year) when they ought to be telling the people to repent of their sins.

In chapter 15:1-4, God says even if Moses or Samuel were to intercede to Israel, his mind to bring them to destruction was made up. God says he had destined Israel to four types of destruction: pestilence, sword, famine and captivity. (BEWARE OF PASTORS WHO WILL TELL YOU THAT THIS IS A YEAR OF PROSPERITY AND BREAKTHROUGHS)

In chapter 16:1-4, God destroys family plan: he tells Jeremiah not to marry or have children. Because children and pregnant mother’s will be killed in the coming destruction.

In chapter 17, God says all these will happen because Israel had sinned against him.

Many years ago while I attended a Charismatic church in Ibadan, the pastor said this at a New Year gathering: “some people will say is it possible for God to always declare only good in the beginning of year?” Then he replied: “Our God is good and only wishes good on his people”.

Friends, that’s a blatant lie. God is good, yes. But in the texts I just listed, God wished EVIL on his people.

There is no such thing as new year or new month prophetic declarations in the whole Bible. It is a lie. It is men producing a word from their hearts, when God has not sent them. God’s sufficient word to humanity is scriptures and these are the words of scriptures:

Repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus. If you don’t whatever may be the outcome of your life on earth; your eternity is bleak.

For the Christian, pursue righteousness, holiness and love, and God’s good will shall come to pass in your life (good or evil – it will all work out for good).

For the church: God calls false churches, lying pastors and evil prophesies to come to an end. If you don’t stop, God will judge you: in this life and in the life to come. Your errors will become more obvious to many and God will rid his elect from your congregation. You will grow bigger – filling your churches with unbelievers. Your churches will become more beautiful; but so shall your condemnation become more fearsome. REPENT!

There is no such thing as new year declarations in the Bible. Is it not coincidental that Pastors who will not celebrate Christmas are the ones leading the parade for New Year gatherings? Stupid people. You’ll rather belittle the day of the birth of our Redeemer and then celebrate a New Year that has no precedence in scriptures. Deceivers!

2020 will be whatever it is destined by God to be. Those who walk in the path of righteousness and truth will find God’s help even if the storms come.

I personally pray that things will be better for Nigeria this year. I pray that Boko Haram will cease to exist this year. I pray that false pastors will be exposed the more this year. I pray that young graduates will find entrepreneurial opportunities this year and grow rich with time. I pray that it will be well with all that wish well for others. I trust God to expose all frauds in Nigeria.

And that’s the point of my New Year “declaration”: we can only pray that things will be well. God has not put any word in anybody’s mouth to declare anything. If we would declare at all, we should declare God’s words as written in the Bible. Alone.

Amen.

© Deji Yesufu.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/1505609702848568/posts/2556128794463315/

"Kongi" goes to prison... Where "The Man Died".

Throw Back Thursday.

Evangelicals’ Support of Donald Trump

By: Deji Yesufu

On Wednesday last week, the House of Representatives in the United States Congress passed a resolution impeaching the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump. The impeachment process would be the climax of a battle that has gone on between the US President and the House of Representatives, led by the Democrat – Nancy Pelosi. Prior to this, Trump had undergone a tumultuous tenure with the House determined to make Trump’s first term in office impossible. Immediately he was elected into office in late 2016, the allegation that was levied against him was that he had collaborated with Russia to undermine the US electoral system and that this was the impetus for his victory at the polls.

After months of investigation, reports from Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, showed that Trump was not guilty as charged. That storm had barely died down before the Democrats brought forth allegations that Trump had abused his oath of office by asking the Ukrainian government to investigate Joe Biden’s son on corruption charges. Biden is running to be President on the Democratic Party’s ticket in 2020 and, Democrats argue, Trump’s getting a foreign country to investigate him was Trump seeking to cast Biden in a bad light before voters and this was an abuse of office. This is why Donald Trump was impeached.

Unlike impeachment processes in other democracies, being impeached in the US Congress is not automatic removal from office. The House of Representatives are the ones who impeach a President and they then make recommendations to the Senate, who sit in a trial over the President and decide whether or not the President should be impeached. In the US today, the Senate is controlled by the Republicans and an impeachment trial brought to them by a House led by Democrats has a 99.999% chance of not sailing through. In fact as of the time of this writing, Nancy Pelosi has refused to send the impeachment proceedings formally to the Senate. She knows that it would be a waste of time. The Democrats have said that though they are sure the impeaching of the President of the US will not remove Trump from office, they are content with the fact that he would only be the third President in US history to be impeached and that this is likely to stain his re-election bid in 2020.

In all of these debates on impeachment, one voting block has found itself in the middle of political punches. These are the evangelicals. Evangelicals are Christian Protestant body of churches that hold to biblical values which they contend are the values that the founding fathers of America believed in. These evangelicals are almost always Republicans because the Republican Party, although wholly political, still holds to basic Christian values that Evangelical uphold. History has it that while the Democrats supported Slavery at some point, Republicans always opposed it. It is also on record that Republicans supported many civil rights campaigns that ultimately ended segregation of blacks in the USA.

America today is becoming increasingly godless, as Christianity is continually regarded as an antediluvian concept – and the leading purveyors of these ideologies are the Democrats. All of the basic values of righteousness which that country was built on has been thrown out of the window. The Barack Obama Presidency, a Democrat, was at the forefront of this war against Christianity. In his time the American government became increasingly secular, with all basic Christian practices thrown out of the window. Christmas became a mere holiday. “God” became “world”, and all kinds of liberal thinking crept into government. While American Christians, mostly Evangelicals, could bear with some of these things, two things they could not bear were the increasing acceptance of homosexuality and abortion in America. Under Obama, homosexuality reigned supreme. It flourished so much that the LGBTQ community became tyrants in the society. State sponsored abortion programs were everywhere and America was descending into the dregs.

When Trump ran for office, he was clearly not a righteous man. Donald Trump had baggage that many would be ashamed of identifying with him. Yet he had one thing going for him: he was not a Democrat and somehow he made a commitment to uphold basic Republican values. When Americans would go to the polls in 2016, the voting Evangelical block voted massively for him and he won. Immediately he entered into office, Trump removed all of Obama’s idols from the White House and replaced them with biblical things. He stopped state sponsored abortion programs and stopped government’s open support for LGBTQ communities. For these alone, the Evangelical block are genuinely thankful. When the news of his impeachment came forward, it was the evangelical block that stood the most against his removal.

The question often arise: if Trump has all these moral baggage that he has, why does the evangelical block, with all their claim to gospel integrity, still support him? The answer is simple: Donald Trump represents a party that condemns the twin evil destroying the American moral fabric today. These evils are abortion and homosexuality. It does not matter who runs on the Republican Party ticket, as long as they pro-life and they discourage the flourishing of homosexuality in society, evangelicals would support such a party.

This writer is an evangelical Nigerian. Someone would ask: what is your business with American politics and their religion? Plenty. America is the leading supporter of Christian missions in the world today. While the American government may not invest a dollar in missions, the Evangelical community in America does. In fact they invest massively in mission outreaches to various communities and countries in Africa and whatever affects them will ultimately affect us. If the liberal ideologies of the Democratic Party takes over America today, that nation would be sold to unrighteousness and the words of scriptures would be fulfilled on them: righteousness exalts a nation and sin is a reproach to its people (Proverbs 14:34). It is righteousness that brought America to where she is today and sin will bring her down. If America goes down, mission support to African countries will deplete also and this will affect outreaches to unreached areas here. So America’s politics is our own politics also.

One is glad that Trump’s impeachment will fail. In fact since it appears that Donald Trump thrives in controversy, then these impeachment proceeding, rather than affect his chances in the 2020 bid to be President for a second term, might actually be the catalyst that would launch him to a second term in office. If this happens, you can predict those who would be the happiest: American evangelicals, of course.

Deji Yesufu is the author of the books Victor Banjo and Half a Millennium. He leads a Reformed Bible Study group in University of Ibadan every Saturday morning.

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/evangelicals-support-of-donald-trump/

Goshen360:
There's nowhere scripture divided the law into 3. The law is a whole package. If you have scriptures where the law was divided into these 3 Categories kindly bring it up. CHRISTIANS are not under the law, including the 10 commandments.

When Christians do the "thou shall not" it doesn't mean they are obeying the 10 commandments. It simply means, they are doing the life of God which was then in place before the thou shall not was given....e.g, where was thou shall not commit fornication or adultery before Joseph flew flee from his master wife, where was thou shall not before Noah, Enoch and Abraham walked upright before God...?

I want to say upfront that there's nowhere scriptures divided Moses laws into three. The division is theological. It is a result of centuries of study. You may accept or refuse this but this is my theological position and it safe.

Now consider these scriptures:

Romans 3:29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 3:30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

My main concern is verse 31. What does Paul mean by "establishing the law"? Another version calls it "upholding the law".

Second:

Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet... 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good... 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

Now this is removing verses from their context but you'll admit that Paul puts a positive twist to the law there. Question: why does Paul say the law is not sin? Why is the law holy? How does Paul delight in the law?

I provide these scriptures to prove that while Paul will speak of abolishing the law in one hand, he speaks of upholding it in another.

We see that Paul saw circumcision and Jewish Sabbath keeping as laws abolished. These were clearly civil snd ceremonial laws bc these were laws for a nation and the temple, resp. In Christ there are no Jews and there is no temple.

Yet, he upheld all the ten commandments that included things like sexual purity, not stealing, worshipping God not idols, etc. Bc in Christ we still live morally. If not we would be immoral and this is what we accuse hypergrace of - immoral living in the name of Christianity.

The OP is right and I endorse much of what is written there. Hypergrace is heresy. Let me make my point by sharing a story relevant to Nairaland and even Goshen360 who I see has joined this thread.

Many years ago, Goshen360 and I joined a couple of others to organize a Conference on Nairaland which we called GRACE conference or something of that nature. There we postulated the gospel of grace and enjoined it on our listeners.

It was only years after that I realized that I had teamed with hypergrace individuals to do that conference. I had joined the hypergrace team to condemn tithing. I don't know what I was getting myself into.

Now, I cannot go into the details of the error of hypergrace but the opener has done much of the work. Let me just give nuggets:

1. Christ had died to redeem the elect. In the process we are saved from the law.

2. The law we are saved from is the ceremonial and civil lawd of Moses. We are still under the moral law of Moses, which is largely depicted by the ten commandments.

3. While Christians are not under law, we are still expected to keep the moral law. Which when expounded will exceed even the ten although the ten will form a natural heading for all of them.

4. Christians law: Law of Love = Ten commandments = A million other laws which the Holy Spirit dictates to each of our hearts daily as we work with God.

5. Christians are not lawless. They are lawful persons.

6. Because we are still under law, our failures of these laws, sins, are still alive and well. Thus requiring a lifetime of repentance and faith from us.

7. Our only joy and confidence is the perfect righteousness of Christ which we hold in one hand, our justification, and we labor on to attain perfection in the other hand, which is our sanctification.

Peace.

ALPHABASE:
IS HE RELATED TO AISHA YESUFU

No relations of Aisha Yesufu

Omoyele Sowore’s Stupid Revolution


By: Deji Yesufu


No people in the world ever did achieve their freedom by goody-goody talk and moral suasion: it being an immutable law that all revolution that will succeed must begin in blood, whatever may answer afterwards – Mark Twain

It was a slightly chilly morning one day in 1991 when my parents entered the office of an American immigration officer. They had come to discuss the possibility of having their four boys go live in the United States of America. Mother had been in the USA since 1988 when she went to do a Master’s degree program in photography. By the time she concluded her program in 1990, she was unwilling to return to Nigeria. Back then, Nigeria was actually not a country to return to because the “Maradona”, General Ibrahim Babangida, was still not sure whether or not he would be handing over power to a civilian government. Coupled with the fact that Babangida had just recovered from the bloodiest coup the Nigerian state had ever witnessed—the Gideon Orkar coup, the uncertainty was too great. So, while Babangida played ping-pong with the future of the country, the economy was nose diving.

Mother would not return to such a country. My siblings and I lived with our father in Northern Nigeria. Dad had visited mother for a prolonged period from 1989 to 1991 and that visit had resulted in another baby sister, Doyin – a young woman I have never met even up till this moment that I am writing this. Our younger sister, Wumi, eventually got the favour of the American Immigration and joined mother and father in 1991. My three brothers and I were left behind in this hell of a country called Nigeria. It was in a desperate move to relocate us from Nigeria that my parents had visited the US immigration officer.

After the initial greetings, my dad went straight to the crux of the matter: “How can the boys join us in America?” The situation was dicey. The youngest boy at that time was nine while the oldest was fifteen, but we were not offered the immigrant status that Wumi enjoyed. Mother was desperate.

“What can you do for us,” she asked plaintively.

The immigration officer looked at her and smiled. “Madam, your children will be fine, even if they have to live the rest of their lives in Nigeria.”

“But I don’t want them to live in that country…,” Mother protested.

Dad was silent.

“But you say they are four boys?”

“Yes…?”

“Boys have a greater tenacity for survival than many of us parent credit them with.”

“It appears you did not get our point: we want our children out of that country.”

“Is Nigeria at war presently?”

“No. Why did you ask?”

“Because even if that country was at war, your boys will survive. In fact, it is boys their age that are known to fight in battles when countries go to war.”

“My children will not be fighting anybody’s war.”

With that statement from my mother, the meeting was about over. Daddy told my brothers and me that story one day after he returned from the USA. Does this story have any relevance to Sowore’s stupid revolution?

In August 2019, Omoyele Sowore and a host of other youths decided to embark on a nationwide protest which they titled “Revolution Now”. Days before the protest began, Sowore made some utterances, the video recording of which was widely shared on social media. He stated that these were not going to be mere protests; he and his fellows were committed to making the nation ungovernable through their street protests. They were seen making graffiti on the walls of public buildings. A day to the commencement of the protest, Sowore was picked up by men of the Department of State Security (DSS). He was in detention for 125 days. After a judge had threatened the DSS with contempt of court, Sowore was released last week Thursday only to be rearrested the following morning. There was outrage from many Nigerians because the DSS sought to arrest him right inside the courtroom.

The social media went agog. Many people who cared little about the activist’s words in the past felt that the action of the DSS was a desecration of Nigeria’s democracy. A security outfit under the Presidency had invaded another arm of government, the judiciary. In one of the debates that I got into while discussing this matter on social media, a lady described the revolution that Sowore was leading as a “stupid” revolution. I knew immediately that whenever I would express my opinion on Sowore’s arrest, I would have to title the article “Sowore’s Stupid Revolution”.

The natural inclination is for most people to forget things and that is why history is an extremely vital aspect of our lives today. We have a lot to learn from history. Nigeria is not a divinely instituted state. The whole geographical contraption that is called Nigeria was put together by the British who also instituted the system of government we run today. The Nigerian people have chosen to remain within this geographical context only because we believe that our staying together is better than our shattering up in pieces. If we would, however, stay together, certain minimums must be in place. One of such is good governance.

Omoyele Sowore and his cohorts, like other Nigerians, have rights within the constitution of the country. They have chosen to exercise those rights to make their views known to all. Sowore left his base in the United States of America and ran a political campaign to be President in 2018. He started sensitizing the Nigerian people of his willingness to run for President a whole six months before political campaigns began. He put his all into the effort. When the nation went to the polls and the votes cast for him and his party were counted, they amounted to a meagre 30,000 plus. Sowore felt that he had been robbed. He felt that the same system that robbed him had also been robbing other Nigerians of their rights to the basic necessities of life. Sowore’s protest, or revolution like he calls it, is NOT stupid. Sowore has only put into action what many of us have in mind.

We should remind ourselves that democracy was not always the system of government in this country. We once had military rule. In fact, at some point in our national life, the military had ruled this country for no less than 75% of our years as an independent state. It was the Nigerian people who fought, tooth and nail, to return the military to the barracks. The likes of Omoyele Sowore led the campaign then. If democracy, as we have it, is not delivering on its promises, it is the same Nigerians that must call for a change. The means to change will come in many names. Sowore has only chosen to call his campaign a revolution. And seeing the manner with which the state is clamping down on a legitimate protest, I wonder whether all of us shouldn’t be joining in this protest.

It has been almost thirty years since my parents visited that immigration office in the United States of America. The four boys my mother sought to find refuge for in America are still in Nigeria battling to survive. Mother died in 2006. Daddy turned seventy July this year. My sisters are all grown up and married, living with their families in the US. My brothers and I are all in our forties now and we have still not gone to America. We have been waging a war of survival here in Nigeria and yet our story is just one of millions in Nigeria; in fact, we would consider ourselves privileged. We are not yet where we hope to be though. If we would get there, it is certain that we would have to make certain sacrifices that young men and women make in order to better their lot in their countries of birth. This is what Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikwe did in the 1940/50s. This is what Beko Ransome-Kuti and Femi Falana did in the 1990s. This is what Omoyele Sowore and all young men in this country must do today. It is young men, with strength, that fight wars for the betterment of their nation. Again, the context of the fight would take many names. Sowore has chosen to call his “Revolution Now” and this revolution is not stupid.

Deji Yesufu is the author of the books Victor Banjo and Half a Millennium. He leads a Reformed Bible Study in the University of Ibadan every Saturday morning.

Source: http://mouthpiece.com.ng/omoyele-sowores-stupid-revolution/

Much Ado about Witchcraft Conference

By: Deji Yesufu

The Center for Policy and Research, University of Nsukka (UNN), Nigeria, organized a conference with the theme: “Witchcraft: Meaning, Factors and Practices”. The conference held between November 26-27 and had keynote speakers from all over the nation come to discuss the subject of witchcraft. Days before the conference commenced, there had been much debate on whether or not the conference should hold. The organizers of the conference were accused by members of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) of planning a conference where witches and wizards would be invading the sacred city of Nsukka in Enugu State. There were also some protests, as Christian bodies called upon the authorities of the school to ensure that the conference did not go on. Reacting to these criticisms, the Director of the Center where the event was billed to hold, Prof. Egodi Uchendu, said:

“Freedom of speech is a fundamental human right. CAN and others are free to express their opinions, just like we have the freedom to have an academic conference on witchcraft.”

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/much-ado-about-witchcraft-conference/
To be fair to the organizers of the conference, the conference centered on an academic discussion on the phenomenon on witchcraft. Some of the resolutions that proceeded from the conference was that there were no such thing as witches. That witchcraft was the invention of an age that was superstitious and unenlightened. Science has proven that most of what many regard as witchcraft manifestations were basically natural occurrences. While I may not agree with everything that was said in the conference, I cannot but help to see a bigger problem from this situation.

17th century United States of America was a society that was steeped in beliefs in witches and wizards. The famous Salem witch trials in Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693 left no less than sixteen women burnt at the stakes, after they had been alleged, tried in court and executed for claiming to be witches. Evidences that were gathered after these women were killed showed that there were strong indications that they were innocent. A wave of remorse enveloped those societies and the killing of witches stopped.

It has been discovered that superstition and lack of education are not the only factors that contribute to this tendency for calling people witches. One other leading factor is hardship. When a people have been plunged in economic difficulties, they find a way of releasing their frustrations on others. One way of doing this is by indiscriminately calling people witches and bringing swift judgment of death on them. The Nigerian situation is doubly worse. People are not only dealing with harsh economic realities, they also have to come to grasp with the false teachings that are proceeding from the pulpits of those who call themselves pastors in this clime. The leading culprit in this matter is the man at the helm of affairs of the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries: Pastor Daniel Olukoya.

Olukoya invented a new kind of Christianity. This Christianity is not only Pentecostal, it also has a rabid commitment to deliverance. Olukoya teaches his adherents that the devil and his demons are in every situation of life and they are possessing every human being – no matter the idiosyncrasy that person may manifest. Olukoya teaches his people that everything can be solved by deliverance (in Jesus name). The natural consequence of such world-view is to see the devil everywhere; in everything; and possessing everyone. This is the sought of mindset that the folks who protested the conference at UNN are possessed with.

My position is simple: there are indeed works of darkness still existing in our world today. There are people who have given themselves to such evil and demonic activities, that they are possessed by these very demons themselves. I am however confident that these people are few in our world today and they are largely harmless. The real problem in our society is not the presence of witches but the prevalence of ignorance. Such ignorance that is further heightened by pastors who refuse to gain knowledge for themselves.

The fundamental problem with those who spend their time opposing conferences on witchcraft is a theological problem: a tendency to forget the heart of the Christian gospel. It is good to remind Christians that Jesus Christ died and rose again to redeem men from sin as taught in Matthew 1:21 (and not to act as a shield against evil spirits and witches). This is a fundamental fact that is lost on a kind of Christianity in Africa that sees the church as a means for protection against animist beliefs in demons and spirits that Africans have always held to. Prior to the coming of Christianity to the continent, Africans have always held to an animist belief of good fighting against evil in the atmosphere. And that the sole goal of every man was to get good forces to help overcome evil forces. When Christianity came, it was quite easy for them to begin now to use the name of Jesus (instead of the name of Sango or Obatala) to defeat the evil spirits around them.

These scenarios are often seen in Nigerian movies where a problem arises and after all is said and done, a pastor is implored to come and ward off the evil around. The pastor comes, prays and all is well. So, the tendency to use God as a talisman is the main deficiency in many theological beliefs in this country. This is their train of thoughts: since witches and wizards are termed evil, then anyone that is promoting a conference to discuss these issues is also promoting evil and must be resisted.

If however these churches understand that the gospel is not pursuing evil forces around, to defeat them so that people can live happily ever after; if we understand that the gospel seeks to help us realize our debt before God (sin) and to turn to Christ who alone can pay that debt, we would realize that witches and wizards are not the issues that are paramount to the Christian. With or without witches and wizards, the Christian man would achieve God’s purposes for him. If a witch were to afflict a Christian, such an evil providence would only act to help fulfill God’s will for him (2 Corinthians 12:7). So, for example, if a Christian is plagued by, say depression, which may have been instilled by a witch. In the long run, the Christian will overcome the depression and possibly become an authority in it to help others overcome depression. The devil is God’s tool and not his rival and enemy in that sense.

If Christians today understand this, we can busy ourselves with teaching and propagating the gospel. While we could even benefit from intellectual discourses into metaphysical phenomena like witchcraft. It sure wouldn’t hurt anyone; rather it stands to add to the body of knowledge of God’s wonderful creation.

Deji Yesufu is the author of the books Victor Banjo and Half a Millennium. He leads a Reformed Bible Study group at the University of Ibadan every Saturday morning.

Source: http://mouthpiece.com.ng/much-ado-about-witchcraft-conference/

MuttleyLaff:
VBCampaign, this your latest piece hin get as it be ooo. If to nobi say, I personally know you and know you truly to be really are a moG after God's heart, I would have typed na one of dem "na dem na dem" gang members, lol. VBCampaign, you honestly mean well, however there are quite a few holes in your write-up filled with presuppositions, assumptions and looking at things with wishful and even biased eyes. For example, as regards the latter, there's nothing the matter with being a millionaire pastor. That just right there, is being biased. What of if everyone else is a millionaire, lol, hmm?.

I hear you Muttley

Thanks for the support as always

Why You Should Pay Your Pastor Well

By: Deji Yesufu

Recently I made an appeal for help for a minister friend of mine from Eastern Nigeria. Somebody used the occasion to vilify me; saying that since I have been known in the past for criticizing wealthy pastor, why should anyone offer me any help now. He said that he is happy I am seeing that pastors also need money. Thankfully I did not have to respond to him because someone else had done so. I realize now that it would take time for people to understand my position on religion; hopefully my articles in this column will continue to shed light on matters relating to my views on the Christian faith.

I wish to make it clear that whether I am appealing for help in ministry or I am advocating good remuneration for pastors, as this piece would soon outline, I still remain a strong antagonist of a kind of Christian ministry that has pervaded much of Nigeria. I maintain that Christian ministers cannot be millionaires. The phrase “millionaire pastor” is an oxymoron and all who today can be described in this manner are thieves and robbers. If you have eternity to pursue, I would beg you not to put your spiritual life nor those of your household under the cover of such a pastor. You will be raped; you will be defrauded; and you would be lucky to come out of such organizations alive. Such organizations that such men oversee are not Christian; they are den of thieves. Having made this point clear, I will nonetheless proceed to make an advocacy for good remuneration for pastors.

Before we can even talk of the pastor’s pay, we want to talk of the church’s finances. A church should have two kinds of leadership: a spiritual leadership and a managerial leadership. I suspect that the ministry of deacons in the Bible in the first century churches was its managerial leadership. Today, however, people choose to rather have a church board that has a member of the church as its chairman. The spiritual leadership on the other hand consist of the pastor leading other ministers to oversee the spiritual life of the church. The managerial leadership is the ministry of deacons or those of the chairman leading other members of the church. A situation where the pastor is also the overall chairman of the church is not ideal. Churches must mature to a point where members of the church can handle the administration of the church.

It is the administrative arm of the church that regulates the church’s finances. They are the ones that should be signatory to the church’s account and they are the ones that should pay the pastor his salary. This administrative arm of the church are the ones that should be able to regulate the church’s finances. Churches should not run mainly on member’s giving. The reason is because most of the time, members are developing spiritually to the point of understanding that their giving should be part of church life. And no one has the right to breath down the neck of another, demanding for monies in form of tithes and offering. People should be freely motivated to give. And the best way to get people to give is for the leadership, both spiritual and managerial, to lead by example. So the biggest donors to church finances should be the leaders. Then the leaders must be able to find other Christian organizations that believe in the missions to support what they do. It is only after this is done that people can be enjoined to give.

If by God’s grace a church is able to overcome the laborious process of setting a financially viable chest, the next step they must take will be to agree on a proper remuneration for the pastor.

First, we must realize that it is to the congregation’s advantage that a pastor works full time in ministering to them. Where this is not possible, it should not be enforced. But a congregation that has a part-time pastor will suffer for it because his attention will be divided between his service to the church and whatever other business he does.

With a full time minister, the next thing the congregation wants to do is to agree on a “living wage” for that pastor. A pastor working full time will be giving himself to the study of the word of God to deliver both on Sunday and other service days, he would also be giving himself to prayer (Acts 6:4). Both of these ministries (word and prayers) are very important for a spiritually viable church. Besides this, there is the job of counseling church members, attending to ceremonies involving church people, witnessing to unbelievers in the society and setting out plans to help grow Christian witness in the community. Any congregation sustaining a pastor in full time ministry is adding to the spiritual vitality of their community and even to those of their unborn children.

The minimum wage for any pastor in Nigeria of today should be N150, 000 a month. Any congregation that cannot pay their pastor that amount has no business setting up a local church. They would do well to either close down or join forces with other congregations, so as to have at least one pastor in full time service; instead of, say, two. Pastors being paid as much as half a million in Nigeria is also not too much either, if the congregation can afford it. The important thing is that the man of God is delivering on what he is being paid to do. Maybe the reason church people are not too concerned with what their pastors are delivering to them is because many of them are not contributing to the finances of the church from which the pastor is paid. If they are doing this, all hands will be on deck to see that the pastor himself meets the high standard of ministry that is required of him.

Another reason why pastors should be well paid is because churches should be concerned with getting the best minds to Christian ministry. Gone are the days when those who go to seminary are those who could not enter university or could not get a job elsewhere. The ministry should be for the best minds. If the pay is good, the best minds would be attracted to it. Yes, the matter of sacrifice cannot be removed from a man’s calling. But the man who is called to ministry is already sacrificing on many fronts. If his remuneration is ok, sacrifice on other fronts would be a lot easier and lighter.

One of the things we should understand is that what we have as far as church gatherings in Nigeria is concerned is not the norm. We have way too many churches but because many of these churches are not even doing what they are called to do, the number of churches in this country, serving people in a biblical manner, is a lot lower. I am looking at a biblical church here and because there numbers are few, people who find them should be able to commit resources to them to make them thrive. We must be concerned about building ministries and churches that would last the time of evil in our days because the days will come when it might be impossible for our children to find living churches to go to. If we however make the sacrifice today to build good churches, through sacrificial giving, we can be sure there would be churches for our grandchildren to be discipled in when we are long gone from the scene.

Deji Yesufu is the author of the books Victor Banjo and Half a Millennium. He leads a reformed Bible Study at the University of Ibadan every Saturday morning.

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/why-you-should-pay-your-pastor-well/

Mryacks:
Have I read a more aptly captured article like this in a long time? Not sure...very good work...well done !

Thank you

Chiggsglover:
You made lots of sense, I was curious about the video but watching it is the classic porn, lol. that's why I love Redeemers university, such a thing happened then, they simply enrolled her to their correctional facility for a year where those with issues of drugs and other misconduct are taken care of, this lady ended up coming back to her studies after a year and convocated.

That's good

Evangelical Thoughts on Wole Soyinka

Prof. Wole Soyinka should be one of Nigeria’s most accomplished personalities. His accomplishments are the results of his own works and are genuinely meritorious. Soyinka won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986 – the first African to do so on pure merit. As a humanist, he has remained steadfast to his personal commitment to bettering the lives of people all around him – especially the Nigerian people. His humanist beliefs have led him to champion the course for a better Nigeria through various activisms. Even till now, the Professor would very willingly join protest groups on matters germane to his heart.

Wole Soyinka has been protesting for a long time. He broke into national reckoning in 1965 when he held up a radio anchor with a gun and made them play a tape of his own reading of the results of the Western Region’s elections – to the chagrin of the Akintola Government. Justice Kayode Esho will later discharge and acquit the young Soyinka. Wole Soyinka has since gone on to help inaugurate a Road Safety program for the country, which has helped to curtail the high rate of vehicular accidents on our roads. From an account in his Memoirs: You Must Set Forth at Dawn, one could guess that among Soyinka’s greatest accomplishments will be fighting the Sani Abacha despot and seeing that man’s end.

A brief article like this is insufficient to chronicle Wole Soyinka’s achievements and I do not intend to do that at all. Rather I want to express in writing my evangelical thoughts on Prof. Wole Soyinka. I had thought to write the great man an open letter but I feel so terribly inadequate to address him directly that I will rather do so indirectly through my personal musing, or if you like, daydreaming, about a Christian Wole Soyinka. I understand that Soyinka is neither Muslim nor Christian. Judging by what I’ve read about him, I believe that the Prof is a traditional worshipper of one of the old Yoruba gods – probably Ogun.

In his writings Wole Soyinka can be seen as someone who is very conversant with the Christian religion. His native land of Egba was one of the earliest budding points of Christian missionary activities in the early 20th century and young Soyinka, who was exposed early to Western education, would certainly have gone to Church. Soyinka refers to his mother as “The Christian”. I suspect she might have been a devout Christian and must have instilled in the young Soyinka some basic Christian values. I have not read any account of where and how Prof. Wole Soyinka finally renounced belief in the Christian God but it certainly must have come at some point in his life.

An account in his Memoirs reveals his disdain for many Christians and their hypocrisy. As the account goes, Soyinka has a collection of images somewhere in his house. Each of these little images represents one of the African gods. When he needs to relax or gain some inspiration for his writing, he would go and sit among these collections and meditate. They were quite a number but he knew each of them well enough and where they stood. About that time, 1968-70, Soyinka had been incarcerated by the Gowon Government for his role in the Biafran crisis. After he was released, his first port of call was his collection of images. Lo and behold a number of them were missing. Before he went to prison, Soyinka’s younger brother was beginning to profess to be “born again”. Soyinka was suspicious of him but said nothing. Eventually it was discovered that it was this “Christian” brother of his that had looted his collections and sold them to a foreigner. Reading this account in the book, one could discern that Soyinka was still hurt from that incident. No wonder his disdain for Christianity.

Another account of Soyinka’s encounter with Christianity was his famous media debate with Prof. Muyiwa Awe. Incidentally I met Prof. Awe through my wife and we visited his home in Ibadan in 2009. He was also at our wedding. Soyinka, Awe and five others founded the Pirate Confraternity in University of Ibadan in the early 1950s when they were undergraduates. The humanist tendencies that have driven the Professor’s actions up to now, were the driving motives behind the formation of that confraternity. Unfortunately it has led to many cult groups on our campuses and this was the crux of the debate Soyinka had with Prof. Awe.

Prof. Muyiwa Awe had become a Pentecostal Christian and had joined a committee in the University of Ibadan to help end cultism on the campus. Up till his death Pastor Awe, as I knew him, had a ministry for exposing cults. At some point, Awe and Soyinka got into a media war on this matter of cultism. Awe had suggested in a write up that certain elements, which himself and other founders of the Pyrate Confraternity had instituted at the founding of the group, were at the root of the violence among cult groups in the country. Soyinka responded by denying that fact. The media exchange between the two went on for quite a while.

These are the challenges that I find myself faced with as I nonetheless endeavour to present the gospel to a humanist. It might help my discussion here if I begin by stating that the God of the Bible is a humanist (John 3:16). Humanists do everything for the good of humanity: God sent his Son Jesus to redeem humanity. Some humanists believe there is no life after this one and so we will do well to live this one well enough, and leave behind a better world. Well, Christians do believe there is a life after now but they are also committed to leaving the world better than they met it, thus the Christian championing of education, health and a just society. Christianity also broached the idea of a communal society. In the historical book of Acts, the Bible records that the first Christian group lived together in a community and had all things in common (Acts 4:32). While humanists are not necessarily communists, they share in this socialist idea and we see in Acts that it is Christians that first started healthy socialism.

Despite the aforementioned, humanists have many differing points with Christianity. There is no point spending time to list them here for a debate since all religions and philosophies will always propose a certain first principles that their adherents cannot compromise on. For example, Islam considers the Qur’an as God’s revelation to humanity while Christians regard the Bible as that revelation. Except God proves either of these first principles false for either of these adherents there can be no meeting point. In spite of this challenge, I will take the chance of looking at one problem with humanism – one challenge that all humanity shares; It is the humanist’s self-righteousness.

If one were to ask a humanist why he does not consider Christianity as a religion he may wish to practice, it is likely he would respond by saying that there are very little Christians do that he does not do. In fact where Christians have been known for their hypocrisy and moral failures, humanists have triumphed. A typical example is the subject of our discussion today, Soyinka. What other person, Christian or otherwise, have done more to better the lives of Nigerians? I will willingly admit there is none. In fact I alluded to that fact in the beginning of this article.

But therein lies the challenge with self-righteousness. If the Christian message is ever relayed correctly to anyone, it usually states that human good is not sufficient to merit God’s approbation. This is the essential difference between the Christian faith and other religions, including humanism (If humanism can be called a religion). Every religion upholds its good works to earn divine approbation. In a sense, Christians uphold their unrighteousness to earn divine approbation. This is the crux of the theology of men like Apostle Paul, who taught that all men have sinned and come short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). And lest the Jew will glory in his covenantal relations with God and his ability to keep the Mosaic laws, Paul says even the Jews were equally sinners before a just God (Romans 2:23).

Therefore to earn divine approbation, the Christian admits his sins, his failures, his self-righteousness, his idols and his total unworthiness. It is in the light of these that he repents and confesses the righteousness of another – the righteousness of the Son of God – Jesus Christ. This is the biblical concept of grace: partaking of God’s largesse for the unworthy. Not based on one’s merit but on the merit of another, even Jesus. When the humanist presents his good works before God, the Christian Bible teaches that he would be condemned. For God is too holy to behold unrighteousness. Because even if a man were to possess a billion good deeds but has just one sin along with them, he stands condemned before a holy God. Therefore obtaining God’s approbation must come via a righteousness that is outside of us. This is the Christian gospel.

I end this discussion with the story of my encounter with a man. He was born a Muslim. He got converted to evangelical Christianity in his youths. He yet again practised the white garment religion at some latter point. But the moment he was sixty years old, he realized the end had arrived. He took a sincere look through his odyssey with various religions and converted back to Islam. I suspect that he must have remembered the religion of his childhood – a religion free from all hypocrisy and decided on that. I said that with the hope that Wole Soyinka may consider the religion of his parents, Christianity, and make a commitment to Christ in the twilight of his life. May the God of heaven, with whom nothing is impossible, grant that the Professor consider this request in the privacy of his hearts.

These are my evangelical thoughts on Wole Soyinka and may God bless these words on the hearts of all sincere readers. Amen.

© Deji Yesufu

Deji Yesufu is the author of the book Victor Banjo. He leads a Reformed Bible Study at the University of Ibadan every Saturday morning.

Source: http://mouthpiece.com.ng/evangelical-thoughts-on-wole-soyinka/

Iziq:
To the author of this incredible piece,
I envy your writing skills and so wish to reach your level and beyond someday. that is by the way.
I have a challenge of bonding my with mother even having spent close to a year with her. similarly, I don't feel like a have any strong relationship with my siblings and it affecting my social life negatively.
Your advice can save a drowning young lad.

Thanks.

I suspect there's more to this challenge than you mentioned here. Can you send me an email at newdejix@gmail.com

Sex Tapes and Depraved Viewers

In the past week another sex tape hit the Nigerian social media space. A young couple can be seen in the video in what is best called compromised positions. It happens that the two of them are students of Babcock University. Almost immediately after the tape was published, the university issues a statement saying that the boy in the tape had since been rusticated from the school; while the university has now taken the decision to also expel the lady.

In a bid to get more information on the story I thought I should view the tape myself. So I searched on YouTube and saw this seven minute video of a young man saying something like this:

“Eh, so what are you looking for? Sex tape abi? I don’t have any sex tape here o. I just want you to subscribe to my channel. You know, you people come here and watch me tell jokes all the time but you don’t follow my YouTube videos. Is it good? Now sex tape has been released and you are all running around looking for it. It is not here… Just subscribe to my channel; abeg…”

While his message was meant to be cheeky and a creative way to get people to follow his videos on YouTube, it turned out to be a rebuke on my own heart. What exactly did I need a sex scene for? The facts of the story were already in the public. So why was I looking for the video to validate the story? I realized that my own depraved mind was looking for something which was clearly pornographic but couched in the guise of a breaking news. It did not take long to see my heart. I repented.

The fact of this story is simply this: all of us are in one way or the other culpable in this matter. I would use the rest of this essay to describe our sins to us with the hope that we all can find repentance and possibly that kind of faith in Jesus Christ that would spur a holiness that can prevent partaking in the next sex tape will hit the Nigerian social media sphere.

First, the couple are guilty. Their guilt is not in the fact that they had sex. If these young people are above the age of eighteen, they are adults and they have the right to do whatever they wish with their bodies. And since they are clearly not professing Christians I cannot use the standard of God’s law to judge to them here. Their sins are in recording their actions on tape. No one knows yet who published that tape but it appears that the very filming was done by the duo themselves and possibly preserved for each other’s viewing pleasure – in private. But with time, things could have happened. There may have been a fallen out between them. One of them may have given the tape to a friend, who eventually began to use it to blackmail them. The possibilities are endless. So the foremost mistake they made was in putting a private act, a precious and sacred act, on recording. I hold the theory that 100% of nude photos and sex tapes will come to the public – sooner or later. It is better those things are never recorded. A naked human body is a sacred picture that should be preserved for that person alone; or for their spouses within the boundaries of a marriage. The moment it goes beyond those boundaries, anything can go wrong. In these days of recording videos on phones, people should realize that it is wrong to make nude recording. It is a sin against human nature that has the potential to destroy one’s life.

Second, Babcock University is guilty. I am hoping that the young girl and her family would realize that there is no law in Nigeria that forbids anyone from having sex – whether or not it is recorded on tape. I hope that they can find lawyers that will sue that university blind and collect damages. Babcock University, an institution owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Churches in Nigeria, are being hypocritical in sending away a student all because her sex tapes were published. Of course they would say that they are both a university and a religious organization and such acts contravene their moral code. But they forget that there are hundreds of other acts like these going on right under their noses. The difference is that those ones are yet to be caught. If Adventist’s Christianity is genuinely redemptive, restoring that girl to a relationship with Jesus Christ should be higher in their agenda than separating themselves from her failures. This situation reminds one of Jesus’ words to the Pharisee: “…he that is without sin should cast the first stone…” (John 8:7). Babcock University will expel that young girl because they have failed to bring their own children and wards up in the way of the Lord. And the moment an act that will tarnish their reputation is published, they now do everything to distance themselves from it. They remind me of Foursquare Churches Nigeria, who quickly distanced themselves from the Mr. “Lecturer” of University of Lagos, following the BBC publishing of sex for marks in that school. If these institutions are genuinely intent on instilling morals in their wards, they would not be casting them out the very minute they discover they fail.

Third, the viewers of the sex tapes are all guilty. That is you and me. Has anyone ever wondered why sex-tapes go viral? Viral means that something has gone everywhere – like the spread of a virus. The reason such videos go viral is because certain people are watching them. If you do not watch a video and choose not to pass it on to the next person, the video will stop right there on it tracks. But there is a depravity in all of us that loves to see nudity. Many of us do not watch pornography but we enjoy the sight of others being exposed while doing what people should be doing in private. It is sin in us that makes us crave to see sex tapes and this is where repentance is required of us all. We are all guilty.

There is this scripture that has helped me to deal with my own heart depravity regarding sex. It is the words of Apostle Paul:

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his body in holiness and honor…” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4.

While the command to abstain from sexual immorality is clear in the whole of the Bible, the latter instruction is very helpful: it says to know how to control one’s body. Now that is the key to dealing with sexual immorality: know your triggers and separate yourself from them. It may be a look; it may be a touch; it may be a gist-partner; it may be friends; or it may be movies or recorded videos. The trigger points for sexual immorality are abundant and if we are intent on pleasing God with our bodies as Christians, we must know these things and separate ourselves from them. The very act of separation is what sanctification entails.

But even much more than these: we would realize that these admonition was not to everyone. The letter was written to Christians in Thessalonica. It means therefore that anyone who is not a Christian does not have anything in himself to control his body against sexual sin, besides will power; and the moment your will power is compromised, you are done. Thus the very next admonition is to call all who wish to know victory over their sexual appetites to believe in Jesus Christ and find the help of his Holy Spirit to overcome their inner depravity.

The words of Paul puts the Babcock students’ scandal to perspective: separation from sexual sin is holding the human body in honor. Humanities’ use of sex may either lead to glory and honor, or to shame and disgrace. Sex is a sacred act that God has created within the boundaries of marriage alone. Anything outside of these boundaries will lead to shame, dishonor and sometimes even death. This is the story of Babcock and her students; and it will be the story of all who choose to dishonor God in their bodies with sexual immorality. The next victim can be you if you choose to continue in your way of sin and dishonor.

© Deji Yesufu

Deji Yesufu is the author of the books of Victor Banjo and Half a Millennium. He teaches a Reformed Bible Study group every Saturday morning at the University of Ibadan.

Source: http://mouthpiece.com.ng/sex-tapes-and-depraved-viewers/

tinubulagos952:
I found out the woman I want to marry is HIV positive when we went for HIV test.

She is the reason for who I am today.
She is the one that connect me to a wealthy man that gave gave me contracts that made me a rich person today.

She stood and believe in me that I have the potential.

I love her so dearly but she had the virus.

I don't know what to do.

Help me

Marry her. Follow the necessary precautions. You'll be fine.

David Oyedepo and Road Repairs

By: Deji Yesufu

On October 24, 2019, David Oyedepo, presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Churches Worldwide, announced to the public that his church will be committing $2 Million to repair the stretch of government road that runs by Canaanland where the church and her university are situated in Idi-Iroko, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. The announcement immediately made the front pages of newspapers and online news portals. It became a cause for great rejoicing among Nigerians as the thought of a wealthy Nigerian, wielding his vast resources, to save Nigerians from the failures of her government, began to cross people’s minds. If no one rejoiced, people living in the immediate vicinity certainly would have had cause to give God thanks.

A few days after this announcement, another headline surfaced around this story. The news alleged that David Oyedepo and his church were embarking on this public service to help ease traffic for the myriad of church faithfuls that shall be trooping to SHILOH, their annual gathering, in December. Innocently, and without any hidden motive, I shared this position on a social media timeline. I had hoped that those who rejoiced over the earlier announcement will see a possible motive for which it was made. I was wrong. Rather than even examine the veracity of the claim, folks held the position that Oyedepo was doing this nation great good in fixing the roads and whatever motives may have engendered his actions are not important. My protest, stating otherwise, fell on deaf ears. Thus I have decided to bring my protest to my weekly column.

First. While I maintain that David Oyedepo’s motive for wanting to fix the roads are not altogether altruistic, I wish to add by showing that it is not the duty of pastors and churches to fix roads. While companies may embark on Community Service Responsibilities (CSR); churches are not companies. Ideally, if David Oyedepo is doing Christian ministry in the manner that he ought to do it, he would not have the kind monies he has such that he can rival multinationals in CSRs. David Oyedepo has succeeded in lying to a generation of Nigerian professing Christian community. He invaded Lagos with his kind of gospel in the 1990s, from his roots in Kaduna. He sold faith to people and in return collected large sums of money from them. Today he is about the richest pastor in the world in a country that remains about the poorest in the world. If Oyedepo preaches the gospel in truth, he would not have the kind of money he is throwing around.

Second. When did Oyedepo become government and thus assumed the responsibilities of one? If Oyedepo and the other pastors, who spend their time building businesses and houses, remit taxes to government, will there not be monies available to fix the very road he is today pontificating to wish to build? In September 2013, officials of the Ogun State government came to Canaanland, Oyedepo’s fiefdom, to collect taxes he owed the State government. Rather than remit those taxes, these men were beaten up by Oyedepo’s tugs – masquerading as Christians. The Encomium reported the incident in an online medium thus:

“Pandemonium broke out in Bishop Oyedepo’s Canaanland, Ota, Ogun State on Thursday, September 5, 2013, when some church workers beat and detained five officials of the State Internal Revenue Service over N2 million tax owed the government by Kingdom Heritage Nursery School, between 2004 and 2010. We learnt that trouble began when some officials of IRS stormed the premises of Winners Chapel to collect the accumulated tax owed by the ministry’s school. According to chairman of IRS, Babajide Odubanjo, ‘authorities of the school had been served the notice of the tax duty but they had been ignoring it. Sadly, the officials of the state ITS whose mission it was to enlighten the school on the compliance programme of the Revenue Service were violently assaulted and later unlawfully detained in the premises for hours. As a result of the incident, an officer of the State IRS is currently hospitalized in Ilaro while others with minor injuries have been treated and discharged. Also, a number of assets belonging to the commission were damaged beyond repair.’

“Barely 24 hours after the ugly incident, the church was also accused of beating up two staffers of Ogun State Television, Peter Falomo and Lekan Egunjobi. They were assaulted and their camera damaged when they went to Canaanland to cover the service of building inspection notice by officials of the Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning. Aside them, two officials of the ministry were also injured by the irate church members who prevented the team from entering the premises. It was reported that the ugly incident was witnessed by Bishop Oyedepo, who was equally visibly angry by the officials attempt to carry out their statutory duties on his church premises. The injured journalists and other officials were treated at the General Hospital, Ota and subsequently discharged.”

A church that couldn’t pay taxes of N2 million owed by its Nursery School, is now pontificating about building government road for $2 million. Oyedepo will do well to tell us if his tax remittances are now complete – considering the massive business concerns he runs at Canaanland. Obviously if all Nigerian pastors with schools, hotels, houses and other businesses, pay their taxes, government will have resources to fix our roads.

Third and lastly: those who claim that it doesn’t matter what motive Oyedepo has; that it is to the benefit of all that the road be fixed, miss a crucial point. They forget quickly that God, whom Oyedepo claims to serve, weighs the heart and not the mere actions of men. And I cannot help but to see Oyedepo from this light too.

My grouse with David Oyedepo has nothing to do with building roads. Throughout the history of humanity, saints and sinners have been doing general good to society. My grouse with Oyedepo is the messages he is preaching. Oyedepo is deceiving myriads of professing Christians to an eternity without Christ, without God. He is offering men heaven on earth and hell beneath. Oyedepo preaches a false gospel of health and wealth, and a vast number of Christians today around the world look up to him as a great man of God. David Oyedepo is not a Christian talk less a man of God. He is deceiving folks and has succeeded in taking his deception to Nigerian roads. If he does construct that road, he will be beatifying his doctrines and practices a lot further. Those who had succeeded in seeing him as he is in the past will now begin to look on him as a true Pastor. He is not.

If David Oyedepo and all other pastors give the requires taxes they ought to give to government, the Nigerian state will have resources to fix her roads. Until then, deceivers will continue to portray themselves as angels of light when in actual fact they are wolves in sheep clothing.

Deji Yesufu is the author of the books Victor Banjo and Half a Millennium. He can be reached on newdejix@gmail.com

© Deji Yesufu

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/david-oyedepo-and-road-repairs/

Thanks MuttleyLaff

jesusjnr:
I believe he has repented, and not just the shallow kind of repentance but the deep one, because his music career was one that I closely followed at the beginning because of the extent to which he took the gospel of Christ even though at the time he wasn't truly repented but just a Christian who appreciated what God had done for him, especially after he miraculously survived a nearly fatal accident, and felt the burden to use the stage and opportunity of life he was given to do what hardly other hip hop musicians could do like "Jesus Walks".

It was sacrificial because he was rejected solely because of that gospel aspect of his music but he stuck with it and I believed God rewarded him for that by making him the most relevant hip hop artist of that period.

It was not until he completely drifted after his mum's death that I stopped following him as i used to before, and I was able perceive that it was mostly because of because of his mum's death because she was very close to him, so i felt he was really devastated by that.

However I just kept an eye on him because of his history, so wasn't completely surprised when I got news that he had repented, because I knew God was actually trying to take him through a process and make him better vessel for His own purpose but he took it the wrong way.

I heard some of his utterances in his message during the church service which I thought were very deep, and are even similar to some of the things I say here in Nairaland, about how God deserves the most not just the least from us, hence i was able to perceive that there was something really serious going on there even before i heard that he was now all for gospel music.

I know it's definitely not going to be easy for him, because I expect the devil to fight him hard because of his influence, especially if you add that of his connection to the Kardashians who have been used mostly to advance the devil's interest. But i know that God who brought him to this point would see him through.

God bless.

Well said

1StopRudeness:
If he doesn’t walk away from the mtv/ Hollywood circle of friends...I doubt if his case will be different from R.kelly or DMX...they see the light truly but the pleasures of the world won’t make them rooted for too long..
I saw a video recently where Kanye has started to really become bothered about the way Kim dresses...I was shocked a bit...Kim was trying to tell him not to use his spiritual awakening to disturb upset her..that she ddnt complain when he started...so he left angrily...it might be possible he’s truly born again...

like I said being born again isn’t so hard....God promised the out pouring of his spirit on all flesh in Joel 2v28..of course this will lead to conviction even of men with stone-cold heart.. as he promised he doesn’t want anyone to perish......
but look around u...so many born again everywhere...It’s staying born again and retaining the spirit that was received at salvation/ conviction that’s the issue...

Being born again is hard... Hard stuff.

It will mean a change of heart. It could wreck both his career and marriage. That's Christ for you. But only time will tell whether or not Kanye has met the Savior.

Is Kanye West Born Again?

By: Deji Yesufu

The rave on the internet a few days ago was about Kanye West becoming a Christian. It was all the news; so much that Nigeria’s leading newspaper, the Punch, also published a story on it. On October 14th, 2019, Punch wrote in their online medium:

“American rapper, Kanye West, has declared that he is now a Christian. West said this at the weekend, when he was in Washington DC, where he held his usual Sunday service and also a listening party during which he gave fans a taste of his new album, titled ‘Jesus is King’”.

If this story got the attention of Punch newspapers, which is actually a very conservative newspaper, we should consider it a hot topic.

The person closest to Kanye, his wife, Kim Kardasian, another celebrity, also testifies to her husband’s sudden conversion. She is quoted as saying: “(Kanye) has had an amazing evolution of being born again and being saved by Christ.” That testimony, for me, is something one should take to heart; since it is coming from the man’s own wife. But others, particularly those in the evangelical world, are saying that we should be careful to jump into conclusion regarding Kanye’s sudden conversion. They say that there are many examples of celebrities claiming a salvation experience, they draw a following after them, but suddenly return to their vomit when the reality of following the Lord downs on them. What then should we make of Kanye West conversion? Is Kanye West born again?

In their October 8th, 2019 edition, “Wrath and Grace”, an online radio platform, had Pastor Adam Tyson as guest. Adam Tyson is the gentleman at the center of Kanye West’s discipleship. Tyson had not led Kanye West to Christ; he only met him after the latter had had a sudden and inexplicable encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. So when he met Pastor Tyson, he sought for Tyson to teach him the Bible. So much that Kanye would fly Tyson from Los Angeles to his country home in Wyoming every Thursday evening for Bible Study with Kanye West and others who attend the Bible Study program. Tyson believes Kanye West has met the Lord Jesus Christ; although he also agrees with the skeptics that all profession of faith should be tested with time. However, Tyson said a lot more which I cannot document here.

My interest in West’s conversion story followed my watching the Wrath and Grace interview with Pastor Adam Tyson. This is why. Adam Tyson is not the regular pastor. He is not one of those guys looking for converts and leading people around to Christ with a “Lord’s Prayer”. Tyson is a Master’s Seminary graduate. The Master’s Seminary is the seminary that was birth by the congregation that Dr. John MacArthur leads in Los Angeles, California. It is a seminary grounded in the reformed faith. Adam Tyson claims to be reformed and even Cessationist. You do not get anyone to be more conservative than that. Yet, Tyson believes that Kanye West has encountered the Lord Jesus Christ.

Tyson says he has spent considerable time going through the fundamentals of the faith with Kanye and has taken time to observe the fruit of his life. He explains that the enthusiasm of Kanye, to let everyone know about his faith, is the normal fruit of a genuine conversion: the usual zeal that accompanies meeting the Savior for the first time. Tyson is not bothered about this; in fact he is rejoicing about it. He believes that God is doing a work in Kanye and it is not his duty to control that work. He gives Kanye freedom to do whatever he feels like doing, while at the same time carefully teaching him God’s word each week at the Bible Study sessions. In fact in recent times, Tyson has been preaching live at Kanye’s events. Bringing the gospel to thousands of Kanye West’s fans. Tyson believes that all these is an open door from the Holy Spirit to reach more and more people for the gospel; and rather than skepticism, he urges the Church to pray for Kanye West: that God will perfect the good work he has started in him.

I am not a fan of Kanye West. I am not sure I have listened to one track he has produced despite my past history with rap music. I just realized that the last rap entity whose work I followed was Eminem. That was 1999/2000. So I am out of date in the rap world. But I am conversant with Kanye West, particularly his relations with Kim Kardashian – the leading reality TV person in America today. So when the story broke that he was now a Christian, naturally it caught my attention.

My initial reaction was that of caution too. There are too many people, both popular and unpopular, who make a profession of faith today and whose lives renounce the faith the next day. I remember Kate Henshaw once coming to say she was a Christian. Somehow she got caught up with the fundamentalist type of Christianity; removed her make-up and dressed down, and all that. A few years after that, she was back to the limelight again. This time, the lipsticks were back and she was looking even flashier than ever before. Jesus Christ was no longer on her lips. Thus, there was a reason to be cautious about West.

But concerning Kanye West, and following the testimony by Adam Tyson, I am a lot more optimistic about his conversion. Reformed Theology, the aspect of Christianity that I profess, is serious stuff. The reformed faith is concerned with preaching the gospel and seeing sinners coming to faith in Christ. Most reformed preachers will not give an altar call. They are convinced that the preached word is enough to convert the sinner, no matter how rebellious they are. They look to God the Holy Spirit alone, not men’s gimmicks, to change a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. Following conversion, reformed theologians are concerned about discipling people to maturity. They care little about healing, miracles and prosperity. In fact, this is an aspect of Christianity that condemns the prosperity gospel wholeheartedly.

So learning that Kanye West is associating with a reformed pastor, my heart was at rest. I genuinely pray that Kanye’s profession of faith will take root downwards and bear genuine fruits in the days to come. I trust that the Lord will lead his career and music in such a direction as to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, even as his latest album professes that “Jesus is King”. Most of all, I pray that the myriad that listen to his song, will hear the gospel in it and be saved. Amen.

Deji Yesufu is the author of the books Victor Banjo and Half a Millennium. He can be reached one newdejix@gmail.com

Source: http://mouthpiece.com.ng/is-kanye-west-born-again/

I was at Mokola (Ibadan) three days ago. Bought this "original" charger from one of the guys there. Three days later, charger stops working. Not that it is not charging but the battery percentage for the phone could take an hour to charge 3%.

I returned it to my seller, a guy from Eastern Nigeria. The guy begins to para... said he cannot change charger for me. Something I bought for 1k o.

Guys, please help me. How can I get a good charger for my phone and at what cost? I use those chargers they call "blackberry" charger.

Thanks.