₦airaland Forum

kpankpangolo:
No summary, no proper comment from me. Miss me with this.

According to ChatGPT

"The author reflects on the pervasive presence of falsehood and dishonesty in Nigerian society, illustrating this through personal experiences and societal observations. They begin with a fictional video highlighting issues of trust and DNA testing, criticizing how societal pressures and international demands—such as DNA verification—dehumanize Nigerians and reflect a deeper problem of societal decay rooted in dishonesty.

The author argues that issues like infidelity and DNA testing are symptoms of a broader moral decline, emphasizing that children’s identity should be based on love and family bonds rather than forensic verification. They criticize Nigeria’s participation in global practices that degrade human dignity, asserting that such measures are a sign of Nigeria’s subordinate status.

Drawing from a personal career setback in the IT field, the author recounts their experience with fraudulent CCNA certification exams in Nigeria, which revealed the widespread corruption and lack of integrity within professional spheres. This disillusionment led them to shift focus from technology to moral and religious reform, recognizing that dishonesty permeates various aspects of Nigerian life—politics, religion, marriage, and business.

The author contends that Nigeria’s high levels of corruption and falsehood are linked to weak law enforcement and societal motivation, contrasting Nigeria’s situation with countries where strict enforcement and values discourage dishonesty. They conclude with a reflection on the futility of dishonest pursuits, noting that those who engage in fraud often do not prosper morally or materially, and that societal integrity depends on fostering a culture of truth and uprightness."

Kobojunkie:
1. I am not a fraudster, and I do not make a living scamming people out of their blood and sweat.

2. You are mistaken! I am not criticizing but calling him and all the others out for what they are...scammers who hide their particular scams behind the many mentions of the name of a god or more. That is what your gods of men are.

Kobojunkie:
A fraudster died yesterday and we are already writing essays for what purpose?

budaatum:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxB6-HnXZEU?si=xJ1zB2MbP9I37D1u

How I Ended a Career in Information Technology

By: Deji Yesufu

I saw a video yesterday that brought back a flood of memories to me. The video was obviously a make-believe to pass the lesson that society should be founded on truth and that when lies become endemic among a people, we have a really big problem on our hands. The lady introduces herself as laboratory personnel in a DNA testing centre. She explains that many women cannot be trusted because on so many occasions she had had to change the results of DNA testing to read something other than what it truly says so as to save a marriage. She concludes the narration by saying that her own world has come crashing because she made the mistake of checking the DNA of herself and those of her siblings, and has now found out that their loving Dad is not their biological father. She ended the video with a lamentation: “Fear women!”

My position on DNA testing is that it puts women in an uneven position with men. I hold the theory that if women are ten-fold unfaithful in their marriages, it is because men are 70-fold unfaithful to their marriage vows. If men were the ones who get pregnant when there is infidelity in a marriage, marital scandals would be more pronounced than they are now. The second point I usually propound for this DNA matter is this: children are too precious to be put into the stigma and trouble of DNA testing. While a man may have donated the sperm that made the child, the real father is the one the child calls “Daddy” and the debate should end there. Now, I understand that the issue has become more pronounced now with embassies requesting the true identity of children before they leave the country with the man or the woman. The question that you and I should ask is this: which other country in the world demands this kind of dehumanizing thing from their people? Does Nigeria conduct DNA testing on Americans before they bring their children into our country? If we make our country great, the international world will respect us. The whole idea of asking Nigerians for DNA tests on their children is part of the servile state the world has relegated Nigeria to. That is what should concern us – not infidelity in marriages. Having made this point, I now come to the subject of how I ended a career in information technology. I hope to be able to tie it to the question of truth and lies in our society.

Between 2006 and 2010, the only job I could lay my hands on to do was teaching. Even as a graduate with a degree in Electrical Engineering, I taught in a primary school and then a secondary school, before I went to teach Physics in an A-level institution. In this four-year period, I was looking for every way to find a way out of the teaching profession because teachers are generally poorly paid in Nigeria. Someone introduced me to the whole idea of becoming a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA). I bought the books, attended some classes, and got myself ready to write the examinations. There was a beginner’s module I was meant to cross, and then I could move up to higher qualifications – all in CCNA. I dreamed of getting the qualification then getting a good job, and then becoming rich. It was not easy to find the money to pay for my examinations but I eventually eked out the sum and went to write the exam.

The centre I used was a facility run by one gentleman who had his office in one of the buildings in the Agbowo shopping complex – opposite the University of Ibadan. I remembered walking up to the place situated on one of the topmost floors, through a dingy dark and scary staircase. The elevator in the building was not functional. When I entered the office, it was agog with activities. The exam centre looked like a business office that people would go to browse the internet in the early days when internet facilities arrived in Nigeria. I gave my exam details to the guys in charge and I was asked to take a seat with a computer. I had the opportunity also to do some practice questions – while waiting for the examination to commence. I had studied hard, and I was confident that I would pass the examination – which was going to be an e-examination. I had taken examinations like these before with the American SATs and GRE college examinations – so nothing was new to me here. But I noticed that while I was focused on practising the questions, the other people who came for the examination were very carefree. There was a lot of talking; there was no external invigilator; the whole place was like a marketplace.

Eventually, we were told that the exam was about to start. Everyone manned their system, and then we commenced. The moment we started, I did not pay much attention to happenings around me anymore. The paper was to last an hour; the exam questions were multiple choices; and I simply sped through it all, as I tried to beat the allotted time for the test. As I was concluding, I noticed that every other person in that hall with me was receiving assistance from the guys running the place. I could not understand; I thought we were in an examination centre. The moment I pressed submit, my result was posted back to me. I failed; falling just a few marks below the cut-off. I had the opportunity to retake the examination though in another week or so. So, I immediately set my mind to reseat the whole thing. But when I reported my scores to the owner of the place, he appeared shocked. He told me that every other person in the examination centre passed. He then said that he thought I knew what I was doing and that was why they did not volunteer to offer me any help. He said everyone had support. Now, when I heard that news, I became depressed.

The problem was not failing the CCNA examination; the problem was that I knew that in no time CCNA certifications from Nigeria would be rendered useless and that it is people like these that would spoil the market for all of us. There was no point retaking the exams; there was no future for CCNA examinations in Nigeria. That was 2009. A few years later, when a friend was going to take a similar examination, his examination centre was scheduled to be in Ghana. He said that at that time no one did any serious professional examination in Nigeria again. The CCNA course is a very practical profession. The stage one exam is the least practical and thus the reason why we could write the examination on the computer. How will you prove to an employer that you are a certified CCNA professional, if people wrote your exams for you? Will they also do your job for you? I remember walking out of that place and heading to my fiancé’s house (now my wife). I told her point-blank: I am no longer pursuing a career in information technology. The fact that fraud had invaded that profession will render it useless in Nigeria with time. As I write this, which is sixteen years after that event, I have yet to meet one CCNA-qualified person who got his qualification in this country and now works here. Most people who will get any of these professional certifications must leave the shores of this country to get it.

It brings me back to the point the lady in the video was making: truth and lies. Eventually, I switched my focus in life from becoming an IT professional to helping our society revamp its moral fabric by adopting religion. Of course, with time, I will realize that the tendency towards lies and falsehood is not just in the Nigerian IT market alone. Wives lie to their husbands about the fatherhood of their children; husbands lie to their wives about the relationships they keep outside the home; pastors lie to congregants about church finances, while the congregations have devised means to give to the churches without running into debt. Politicians lie to the people at campaigns; the people lie to the politicians – they collect money from them and do not vote for them; etc. The country is built almost entirely on falsehood.

Nigeria cannot be the only country in the world where sinners reside. Why is it that corruption is rife in this country, but we do not have it to the same degree as in Ghana, the United States of America, or Saudi Arabia? I think it might boil down to law enforcement and the general motivation of the civil populace. In many countries, lies and corruption are heavily clamped down on and this discourages its occurrences. Besides, many people have devised ways of enacting contracts and agreements before they embark on businesses between persons. And there are systems that blacklist individuals that are known to be fraudulent. So, when people realize that they can make it via the straight path of truth, they do not need to cut corners with lies. And generally, the motivation within many people in these countries is a lot more than just immediate riches and success. Some people are concerned about helping others; others are concerned with establishing a legacy; while others just take joy from seeing society get better. When money is the only motivation for people in a society, we usually end up with lies and fraudulent practices.

Today, whenever I pass by Agbowo Shopping Complex, I remember the experience I had with that CCNA examination centre. Their main office which was very close to Adamisingba has since closed down. The building is even being reconstructed. I am sure the guys behind that business have since moved on to other deals – still defrauding Nigerians. Such people can not live well; neither will they end well – and that is not a curse.

columbus007:
The man who eventually took poi.. son afterwards he truly died for Nigeria 😏😏.

MrPresident1:
This article is full of spiritual and historical errors.

CreatedtwoRule:
Heart lifting piece. He is in heaven. May God use his death to bring those mocking his death to eternal hope in Christ. We should know too that we are not sinners rather we were sinners saved by grace! Thanks

Typing:
Nice read

RIP Azaman

Exceed15:
Well balanced write up. However we can be too careful. It's by God's mercy.

jchioma:
A great piece!

My Thoughts on the Death of Rev. David Azzaman

By: Deji Yesufu

I did not know him at all. I never heard of his name, but it appeared that a lot of people on my social media feed knew him quite well. David Azzaman was a Christian minister who led ministry in Kaduna. Accounts following his death say that he was bold in his enunciation and defense of the gospel. He was also into apologetics; often defending the faith in the face of Islam. If you lead a Christian ministry in northern Nigeria, you cannot avoid the question of Islam. Azzaman died from injuries he sustained from a motor accident on Saturday 24th May 2025, as he returned from an outreach to Benue State. When you look at his Facebook wall, you will see pictures from the very outreach he had carried out in Benue State. Korede Olawoyin mentions that Azzaman was billed to partake in their forthcoming apologetics conference. His death is a great loss to Christian witnesses in Nigeria, and as someone in ministry myself, I cannot but rue it. But the more I see social media messages on the death of this man, the more I think it is important that I share my thoughts again on the question of death. I hope that at the close of this essay, Christians can remember the hope we have in Christ, and those who do not know the Lord might have an opportunity to hear the gospel preached. This way, Azzaman’s death will bring with it some positives.

The first thing that I think is worth mentioning around this subject of Azaman’s death is to remind ourselves of some basic road safety rules. In his book, “You Must Set Forth at Dawn”, Prof. Wole Soyinka explains that one of the things that informed the setting up of the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) is the sheer number of needless deaths that occur on Nigerian roads through motor accidents because our people ignore basic safety rules when driving. I think that God, the maker of the heavens and the earth, has been extremely kind to the people of this country. Going by the sheer number of bad driving and bad drivers we have on our roads, it is a pure miracle that we do not have a lot more deaths through accidents than we have today. Let us remind ourselves that an average car weighs about 1.5 tones. When you realize that impulse, which is the measure of impact on any object, is the product of the weight in kilograms and the velocity of the vehicle, you will understand why driving at merely sixty kilometres per hour is putting the car at dangerous levels of impact. But Nigerian drivers will drive at no less than a hundred and twenty kilometres per hour. Any disruption of that vehicle at that speed is sure death. Second, I do not understand why the use of seat belts is completely foreign to the Nigerian psyche. I got a clear understanding of how effective seat belts were when Princess Diana died. The driver and the bodyguard seated in front of the car, lived, while Diana and her boyfriend at the back died. What saved the two men in front was seat belts. I do not know what exactly the situation was with Azaman and those in the car with him, but one will not be surprised that his death could be traced to a simple lack of observing basic road safety rules.

Another point that needs to be emphasized is that Christians need to be reminded that they are mortal beings: Christians can die from accidents too. I cannot wrap my head around the idea that some believers have that they cannot die in accidents. Some Christians think Christ died and rose again to keep them safe from road accidents. That is a pure lie. I read a Facebook post that recalls that Azzaman was told that he could be involved in a motor accident, and he replied he would never die from an accident. Now, it is this attitude that usually makes believers not pay attention to basic safety rules. If you think you can never die from a motor accident, you will not do the things that could immune you from an accident. I have lived long enough to see many young, strong and vibrant believers die in vehicular accidents. I have stopped asking God why this thing happens. I now know that if I would not die in an accident, I should do things to avoid it. First, by all means, avoid long road trips. Travel only when it is necessary. Stay at home. Use a plane if you can afford it. Where you cannot, ensure you wear your seat belt when you travel. The Bible makes it very clear that the body of the Christian is mortal. It means our bodies can die just as the body of the unbelievers. We must be responsible for keeping our bodies alive and well.

A third thought on Azzaman’s death is a response to Muslims. I hear that some Muslims are rejoicing that David Azzaman died in an accident. I hear that Azzaman never took prisoners when it came to debating Muslims. Well, perhaps, we should tell our Muslim friends that David Azzaman is in heaven and has gone to be with the Lord his served all his days. The reason why Azzaman used a good part of his ministry to debate Muslims is so that he could show them that it is only in Jesus Christ that any man may find hope in the afterlife. My earlier appeal in this essay has been to believers to be responsible with the use of their vessels on earth. But whether they are responsible or not, the believer who sleeps in death opens his eyes to heaven in the life to come. There is no eternal hope in Islam. The only way to God’s kingdom is through the gospel message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You must repent of your sins, and believe the gospel if you will be saved. This, I am confident, is what David Azzaman wishes for all Muslims in this world to know, and it is just fitting that on the occasion of his death, we can again remind ourselves of the gospel message he so faithfully preached throughout his life.

A few days ago, I reached out to a few of my associates in Christian ministry and told them that in case I die suddenly, they could access some vital information about the church I lead and the numerous Christian ministries I am involved in via a certain channel. My mentality about life is this: I am not the owner of this body. Jesus Christ gave me this body and I have used it for forty-eight years now. He can very well come at any time and demand for his property back. When I slammed my head to the pavement last year in April, I was supposed to have returned this body to him; but he gave me a second chance by ensuring that I was wearing a helmet that day. It is extremely presumptuous of any of us to think that we deserve a day extra. We don’t. We are sinners, who have been saved by the grace of God. But the reason why men die is because we still possess a body of sin, that God has covenanted must die – because of the sin of Adam our forefather. Therefore, the wise person is a person that is ready to die, daily. Jesus Christ does not owe you another day; he does not owe you another hour. We will do well to follow the admonition of James to always accentuate every plan we have with “if the Lord wills” (James 4:13-15). What that means is that if God permits us to see more days, it is his grace and mercy to us, and we should endeavour to make the best of the remaining days we have.

For the Christian, death is a bad thing. It brings an end to relationships on earth. It turns a wife into a widow and renders children fatherless. It makes a congregation lack a pastor and a solid witness for the defense of the gospel is silent. In the same breadth, for the Christian, death is a good thing. It is the pathway to see the face of our Lord. It is an opportunity to hear “well done, good and faithful servant”. It is the pathway to the kingdom of God. It is an opportunity to join the chorus of glorified saints. Paul said that to live is Christ, and to die is even better. David Azzaman has taken the better part – however untimely it might seem to you and me. His death can be a reminder to the church to pay attention to basic road safety; it can be an opportunity to remind ourselves of our mortality; it should be an opportunity to share the gospel with the unbelieving; and it should be an opportunity to talk about how the gospel renders the sting of death powerless.

Amen.

Deji Yesufu is the pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of HUMANITY. He can be reached at naijareformed@gmail.com

okomile:
Summary pls

chiagozien:
Ok

Acehart:
Mighty words. Thank God and thank you for this article.

Kobojunkie:
Nonsense and eegridient pronouncements! 🙄🙄🙄🙄

OP, I insist you go get your health examined by a professional mental health therapist before it is too late.

Daisyle:
Is this the father of Aunty Kemi Olu yolo?