Some old pupils of Herbert Macaulay Primary School in Adekunle area of Yaba, Lagos, are fervently calling out to family and relatives of their old teacher, Andrew Moses Egboro, who passed on three weeks ago to come and claim his body for burial. Dare Odufowokan reports.

SOME concerned old students of Herbert Macaulay Primary School in the Adekunle area of Lagos State, are frantically searching for the wife, children and relatives of their former teacher, Mr. Andrew Moses Egboro, whose corpse is now lying in a morgue, with nobody on hand to claim it for burial.

This followed his unexpected death earlier this month.

According to his former students, the sixty-one year-old teacher was known to have a wife, Mrs. Ijeoma Egboro, and two children: Raphael Egboro and his sister, Esther Egboro.

“Surprisingly, since his death on January 7th this year, we have not seen any of them coming forward to take his remains for burial. What we learnt is that he has been alone for almost two decades now. We don’t know the reason his wife and children abandoned him but now that he is dead, we expect them or his relatives to come forward and give him a decent burial,” Akin Martins, a former student of the deceased said.

Speaking on the development, Mr. Felix Aniya, a friend and former colleague of the deceased who said they both taught together for some years at Ereko Methodist Primary School in Lagos and even lived together at Abeokuta Street, Ogba, said he is surprised at the turn of events.

“I don’t know what to say. I cannot explain what is happening. I just want to appeal to his wife and children to come forward so this man can be buried,” he said.

Another former student of the deceased, Lekan Oluyelu, claimed that several efforts to trace the relatives of their former teacher have proved abortive. “We have searched far and wide. We have consulted and even sent people to his village in Bayelsa State. But nothing has come out of all our efforts. We appeal to his people or anybody who can help trace them to please come forward. He was a good teacher who impacted positively on many of us back in primary school.

“We don’t understand what happened and why this is happening to him. But he is dead now and needs to be laid to rest. He died after a brief illness according to what we heard from his neighbours. That is why we don’t want his remains to suffer. We have been everywhere searching for his people,” he added.

Tourism journalist, Okorie Uguru, who visited the late Prophet T.B. Joshua alongside a team from National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) at his Prayer Mountain in Agodo-Egbe, Ikotun, Lagos days before he passed recall his last moments and wishes.

THE Lagos zonal office of the National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) had written a letter to the late Prophet T.B. Joshua requesting to pay him a courtesy visit, for which he granted an appointment for Thursday, April 29, 2021.

The visit took place at the SCOAN Prayer Mountain Resort, Agodo-Egbe not far from his Ikotun Synagogue Church, where the late prophet had been staying since the outbreak of COVID-19. The SCOAN Prayer Mountain was where the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) started. This writer was part of the NIHOTOUR team. It turned out to be his last encounter with the prophet.

Before meeting him, the late prophet had instructed one of his aides to take the team round the multi-billion naira expansive facility. For tourism practitioners who had been privileged to visit world class facilities in different parts of the world, the SCOAN Prayer Mountain Resort was clearly of world-class standard.

After about an hour’s tour of the facility, our team was ushered into a meeting room to meet with the prophet. He came down after about 10 minutes.

Read Also: T.B. Joshua: There was a man I knew

For those familiar with the late prophet, he used to dress simple to meet with people. His favourite attires were T-shirt, half trousers and palm slippers. However, on this Thursday, Prophet T.B. Joshua came down wearing a grey colour free flowing Jhalabia robe. This was usually the kind of attire he wore when praying and fasting.  Prophet T.B. Joshua walked down from a winding metal staircase into the meeting room. Apart from the unfamiliar attire, he was not exactly ebullient like he used to be. The warm and accommodating welcome was there, but there was no spark. This reporter assumed that he might be in a period of praying and fasting, which was common with him, especially since he was still in his robe.

The NIHOTOUR Lagos Zonal Coordinator, Chinyere Ibeabuchi, explained to him that the team decided to visit him in acknowledgement of his huge contributions to the development of tourism in the country. She also requested for support for the zone from the prophet.

Prophet T.B. Joshua, in his response, thanked the team for the visit, promising to support NIHOTOUR. He said: “We are all in the same industry, but ours is at a higher level; it is all about service to humanity.”

After the meeting, the team requested for a group photograph with the prophet while handing over a magazine from the institute to him. In order not to stress him, the team suggested that the photograph be taken inside the meeting room, but the prophet insisted that it was best taken outside with the beautiful and natural scenery all around.

After the photo session, the guide was to take the team on the Prayer Walkway inside the resort. The prayer walkway stretches for between one and half to two kilometers. The prophet walked with the team for several meters before returning.  While on the walkway, this writer went to him to find out whether he intended to open up the resort during his birthday as he had once said before during one of his ministrations. Prophet T.B. Joshua answered in the affirmative.

Earlier at the meeting, he had said: “I know by June, my birthday, when I will be 58, we will have enough and people can stay. At least, if you want to spend seven days, we will have enough. It is just like that.”

Although the late Prophet T.B. Joshua gave the world a sneak preview of the resort through his pre-birthday message video, he is not alive today to physically welcome visitors to one of his biggest accomplishments in life.

By Temilolu Okeowo

Let the truth be told an average Nigerian girl/lady is unfortunately into prostitution with pleasure or under duress! The average girl has been raised not to see anything wrong in sex outside marriage and would gladly give herself to the highest bidder. I get mails from girls/ladies daily and they innocently ask me what I expect them to do when their only source of having a good education or three-square meal and all the comfort or as little as the basic necessities their fathers could never afford to give them is a man who wants to sleep with them! Take it or leave it, these girls would prefer to learn the art of make-up, seduction and body enhancement and even go to the extent of resorting to voodoo to have rich men fall over them than study hard and make the most of their God-given potentials! Yes! Because the society has proven that men and women with vices are better recognised and hyped than virtuous people as expressed by people, displayed on the social media and even as expressed by business organisations who would rather splurge on indecent reality shows displaying youth who add no value to the society than celebrate uncommon brilliance, intelligence, integrity, moral uprightness etc.

Sadly, a lot of parents who should assist their children on the right path to follow are either unavailable, non-chalant, morally-bankrupt or practically pushing their girls into prostitution by encouraging them to date so soon and never batting an eyelid or bothering to make enquiries whenever they take home expensive gifts or clothing they didn’t buy them! When your foundation is indirectly telling you, you can do as you please, what can anyone tell you that would make sense?

We are in a society where “runs girls” – ladies whose preoccupation is to sleep with men for money are the role models of an average Nigerian girl. I deal with these younger ones daily and I know the type of ladies they’d rather emulate! A society where thieves and people of questionable character are glorified!!! We are in an impoverished society where an average man would never assist a young lady unless he sleeps with her especially because he feels that’s what an average lady does! Can anyone blame his sheer wickedness when our girls fling themselves over men and sell themselves cheaply? We are in a society where the youth-driven church would rather preach about wealth-acquisition than lay emphasis on you seeking first the kingdom of God! LORD HAVE MERCY!!!

What a shameful, depraved world!

We all watched innocent-looking Chidinma calmly confess how she murdered her lover! She’s not the first product of a broken home and won’t be the last! The madness she manifested didn’t just start today- if you don’t intentionally raise your children positively, the devil will raise them for you! I can tell you there’s likely to be a CHIDINMA in every home who’s dying of oppression and wishing to have the best things of life at all cost! These girls need your help early enough to be taught contentment, patience, endurance, godliness in all forms! They don’t know what they’re doing! The world has become so hostile, oppressive and highly-competitive! I pity, pity, pity our unborn children! What type of mothers would raise them? This is a very serious matter!

Parents… parents… parents, if you don’t drive godliness into your children’s souls early enough- the society will take over their lives! I plead with you to ensure your children prioritize their lives, shun inanities as much as possible, pursue holiness, concentrate on their studies and graduate in flying colors so they can have a better life than yours and take care of you in return in future after all you have suffered for them!

Girls…girls…girls, the earlier you face your potentials, make the most of it and map out a comfortable future for you and your unborn children the better. Stop having your head in the clouds, believing you will certainly end up with a rich man in future because you’re beautiful. There are too many beautiful women in the world today who have been turned to cesspits because they are dependent on men for survival! And once you develop the habit of sleeping with men for money, the devil takes over the reins of your life and can make you do just about anything for money! Don’t fall into the devil’s trap! The world would never forget Chidinma who murdered her lover and as beautiful as she is, she’s likely to spend the rest of her life in jail if not sentenced to death! God has given you virtues that could fetch you what the resources of your entire generation can never have. You have all it takes to have all the money in the world without sleeping with any man! Follow God with all your heart and come and see if you won’t have more than you can possibly exhaust in a life time. May God bless you all and make you VERY GREAT in Jesus name!

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Come Friday the 9th of July (2021), the remains of the late Prophet TB Joshua, founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) would be interred in the church premises in Lagos; however, our Ondo State Correspondent, Osagie Otabor, who visited his hometown in Arigidi Akoko in Ondo State report that the town, as a whole, has literally adorned a sorrowful toga since his demise, with the people insisting that they would mourn their departed son and benefactor for a very long time.

RESIDENTS of Arigidi community in Akoko Northeast local government are still in mournful mood. For days, candlelight walks were held by youths, elders, men and women of the community to mourn the passing of the late founder of the globally renowned Synagogue Church of All Nation (SCOAN) Prophet Temitope Joshua. Virtually all participants of the procession were Muslims, African traditional worshippers and Christians of all denominations.

The reception of residents of Arigidi to inquiries about Late Prophet TB Joshua showed that he was a man loved by all. It was gathered that anytime TB Joshua visited his home community, he never slept in any hotel but his personal house that is yet to be completed. His doors were said to be open to anybody as foods and cash were also made available to those in need.

A story was told of how TB Joshua switched off his power generating set simply because the community had no power supply. When asked why, the late man of God was said to have told his aides that he wanted to feel what other villagers felt without electricity. He was said to have subsequently paid the backlog of electricity bills owed by the four local government areas in Akokoland, which prompted the Benin Electricity Distribution Company to restore power to the area.

Condolence registers have been opened at his father’s house and the Palace of the monarch of Arigidi, Oba Yisa Olanipekun.

Chief Imam of Arigidi/Agbaluku Central Mosque, Alhaji Salisu Musa, said the Muslim community joined in mourning TB Joshua because he never discriminated against them.

He said, “TB Joshua has been the person helping me. You know I am not paid for being an Imam. Prophet Joshua bought me the current car I am using despite the religious differences. He believes we are one. He never discriminated when sharing palliatives to the downtrodden. Irrespective of religion, he would help without hesitating. He also gave me the personal house I now live in.

“He was not a man of religion, he was for everybody. Once you are a believer, he will help you. He was not sent to Christians only, but to Muslims too. He was a man of peace, a generous man, a very good man.

“He furnished our mosque. Every year he used to give us money whenever we are fasting. Also he would give us rice. He gave us whatever we asked. When there was total blackout, he paid all the debt of consumers in the four local governments of Akoko. On one occasion when he came home, he had his generator on. However, when he came out in the evening and saw darkness all around him, he ordered one of his staff to put off the generating set, just to share in our pain. He asked the reason the total blackout; we told him that the four local governments were indebted. So he was pained, and decided to foot all the bills which was over 100 million naira. Last year, he gave each street five cows, bags of rice and one million naira to share.”

“When I received the call that broke the news of his death, a cold shiver ran down my spine. In fact, I was with him in Lagos the week before he died. He even told me to come again in three weeks. For days, I was neither able to eat nor sleep well. We are sad here. We are pained. All commercial activities were paralysed for days.”

Youth leader of Agbaluku Akoko, Gbadamosi Tajudeen, corroborated the story that TB Joshua used to give them cows, bags of rice and money during festival celebrations.

“He was fondly called husband of the widows, because he gave them food every month. He usually doled out N300,000 to the aged as well. He was the one who funded the repair of all our transformers in this community. His contributions are immeasurable. He was not a religious bigot. He donated money to the central mosque in Agbaluku. People have been groaning as another Sallah celebration is fast approaching, because they know that nobody will donate food to them as usual. It had become his usual gestures to donate food to us. There was a time he gave us five million naira to help us build our market. The market is yet to be completed as of now. His contribution cannot be weighed because it is enormous. He loved people and never looked down on anybody. He was fond of hosting his age-mates anytime he came around to Arigidi. If we went to see in him in Lagos, and he heard any of us speaking our community’s dialect, he would give us preferential treatment.”

A beneficiary of late prophet’s largesse, Solomon Rotimi, said they are pained because of the massive project TB Joshua just began before his demise.

“It is painful that he was unable to complete the project before his death. I was opportune to be in a meeting he called when he wanted to start that massive building. He told us the project would make the town his headquarters because his wish was to make Arigidi a place to come for rest. So we are pained that he couldn’t fulfill his age-long vision.

“We believe that T.B. JOSHUA has been called home by God. But we the indigenes and non indigenes are mourning his departure. We want his remains to be buried in his new site in Arigidi. We believe if he is buried in Arigidi, people would come down there and it would develop the town in his absence. We believe in God over his life.”

Another indigene of the town, Elder Rotoye Ademola, described the late Joshua as their messiah in Akokoland.

“I will say he constructed road in Akoko. When there was blackout, he paid the money in cash. During the issue of armed robbery that left Ikare First Bank in shambles, Baba also assisted the bank. He gave out Hilux vehicles to all Police stations in Akoko, while he gave to soldiers too. Through him, we have good roads.”

His sister, Bosede Balogun, said the sorrowful mood in the town would be difficult to erase.

80-year-old Muniat Sunmaila Bello also believes Joshua should be buried in Arigidi, as it would ensure that the church never forgets the town.

She said, “Prophet T.B Joshua used to give me huge sums of money and food on a monthly basis.

“He is very good man. He has helped me well. I love him and I will miss him. I want him to be buried so that our community can get global recognition and we shall be in the world map. Again, if he is buried here some of his legacies will be vitalised. Even the founders of many prominent churches were buried in their hometowns. Also it would ensure that his massive uncompleted projects are completed.”

Yetunde Oladeinde chronicles the world of delectable ladies holding their own in a vocation hitherto exclusively preserved for men.

Rugged ladies. That is what comes to mind as you see them running around with the hammer, climbing ladders and jumping across shelves as they ply their trade.

Welcome; it’s the world of female carpenters.

Not your usual kind of carpenters though. These are pretty, creative and focused ladies, on account of whom you may well fall in love with the vocation. Happily they take you into their world, passion, challenges as well as the inspiration to break the glass ceiling in a field previously dominated by men.

Loveth Ndubueze who is known with the sobriquet, The Lady Carpenter takes you into her world happily. “I started carpentry in 2018 during my internship. Then one day, while I was playing online, I saw a wooden ring case and I think that was what inspired and drove me into exploring more.”

Interestingly, Ndubueze is also a dancer and dance teacher. “I also have other digital skills that I work with.”  But first, she would talk about how she fell in love with carpentry: “I decided to go into carpentry and I just made more research on my own. I became so passionate about it and somehow the interest grew. It was at that point that I had to share my interest with a few people who cared.”

Satisfied that she was headed in the right direction, Ndubueze kept on horning her skills in different ways.  “I went online and took free courses on carpentry, which I found very interesting and inspiring. It was at this point that someone referred me to WOODDESIGNES, which is a furniture company run by a lady”.

That turned out to be another learning curve and she was encouraged to keep forging ahead and prove her mettle.

“It wasn’t a long stay. I was with her for a few months before I broke out. I broke out for a few major reasons which pushed me into starting my own carpentry business just to make some funds to survive,” she recalled.

Determined, she worked day and night, with big dreams of conquering her world with nails, hammer and other gadgets. She summed up her inspiration this way: “Maybe the wooden ring case, because there was really no particular inspiration.”

Now a master of the craft, she talks about her proudly made in Nigeria products with great confidence.  “I make wardrobes, tables, chairs, sofas, artworks, bed frames, bookshelves, wall shelves, some general decorative furniture and the likes.”

But it wasn’t really easy crossing the Rubicon.  Having the ‘I can do it’ spirit was the first foundation, while her perseverance sealed up the deal in a sector dominated by men. “The first challenge was having people doubt me; then having to do the heavy duty work myself.”

That wasn’t the only hurdle on her path. “Delivery was another challenge because I do not have my own personal truck yet. However, I wasn’t deterred by all this; my focus was to produce items that were great and compete favourably with others in the market.”

She is ready to tell anyone who cares to listen that there are so many opportunities for women in the business.”Unfortunately, not many women are in this line because the society we live in has made it look like it is strictly for men, which I don’t believe in. I don’t flow with that school of thought at all.”

Ndubueze adds: “There is money in this sector and being a woman is just going to make it easier for you, because everyone doubts you but want to test you. So, please follow your heart.”

Her greatest wish therefore is to see more women in the vocation and have the society accept that anyone, irrespective of gender, can do anything as far as they put their mind to it.

“The government should also be willing and able to support women who do these extra-ordinary things in our society because it is not every time you see a woman who wants to break out of the norm and do the extraordinary. A little extra support would go a long way.”

Interestingly, she has a few young ladies who have started thinking in this direction.  “At the moment I am mentoring just one person. They used to be three but two of them had to go to school.”

Omotayo Lasaki is the CEO of Tayasaki, a furniture company making a difference and inspiring a number of young people in her environment.

Lasaki informed that she was inspired by the quest to defeat poverty. Even though she was into branding and general lifestyle products, she made a u-turn when she discovered a better option in carpentry.

“I started after my final year exams at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). Then I stopped working for a company that produced wooden doors. I worked there first as a marketer and later became the Personal Assistant to the boss. Here, I learnt a lot of things as well as the opportunities. ”

Fired by the zeal to succeed and aware of the potentials, she decided to learn carpentry and start her own business. Looking back now, she tells you that she is happy to have taken that decision at that point in her life.

“We produce doors, kitchen cabinets, wardrobes, sofas, dinning sets, home and office furniture items.”

Asked about the challenges and Lasaki responds this way: “Each day, I discover new challenges but the prominent one now is the hike in market prices, which has really affected the cost of the materials we use for furniture making, thereby increasing our production cost almost on a daily basis.”

While praying that inflation rate stabilise soon, she talked about the reasons why many women are not in this line of business.

“The culture and norms that we are used to or brought up with has programmed our minds subconsciously, making us think that there are things women shouldn’t do or things only men can do. I have always not been one to follow norms or beliefs, so I went against all odds to start my carpentry business seven years ago. But now I see that so many women are now taking the bold steps to do things that are out of the norm and venture into male dominated businesses; and that makes me proud.”

Her advice for women who want to come into the sector therefore is that the more the merrier. “There are so many opportunities.  So, please take the bold step and don’t look back.”

Next, she talked about some of the changes that she would like to see in the sector for proper growth and development.

“I would like to see more support system being initiated to fund and aid women who start up businesses or show interest in going into ventures that are male dominated. Government can help by providing easy access to funds and loans to support small and medium scale businesses and also sponsor young ladies who show interest in learning trades and skills.”

For Tolulope Idiakhoa, an architect, her knack for creativity inspired her to go into the sector.  “I love being able to bring something from my imagination or from a picture to reality. Also, I really believe that people deserve access to affordable, functional and beautiful furniture. ”

In her collection, you find furniture that serves dual purposes and which are also collectors’ items.

“I produce statement and convertible dual purpose furniture that serve multiple purposes, like a bed that can be folded into a sofa or a wall frame that can be turned into a reading table and so on.”

Happily, Idiakhoa goes down memory lane to trace the journey and her passion working with nails and the hammer: “It all started after I decided to return to Nigeria in 2014. I thought of what I would like to do at home and was determined to start a company with design and furniture as its core.”

Armed with a diploma in carpentry, Idiakhoa learnt the ropes and it gave her a better perspective of what to do and how it should be done. “It was more about me having knowledge of the field of business that I would be going into. I didn’t want to be one of those bosses who ran a business but had no technical knowledge concerning the business.”

Necessity, the adage says, is the mother of invention. That captured the gap that finally plunged Idiakhoa into the wonderful world of female carpenters. “I had rented an apartment in Lagos but discovered that I had surpassed the budget allocated for rent; yet I still needed two basic furniture pieces – a sofa and a bed.”

Unfortunately, she could only afford to buy one, so she opted for a bed first. “That led to a tortuous one month, where my friends and family basically had to sit on my bed when visiting. Worse, they would sometimes place their feet on my bed during such visits.”

Desperate times usually bring deeper solutions. “I remember wishing I could flip a switch that would turn my bed to a sofa whenever visitors came.”

So she put on her thinking cap, combed the internet for resources and determined, she harvested lot of ideas and resources that led to a great turning point.

Not so easy though. It definitely took her some time to arrive at making these remarkable pieces. Just before the adventure, Idiakhoa bought a sofa set made at a local carpentry showroom.  Relief! “Yes, but within three months it started to fall apart with termite holes. I was upset, having spent so much to acquire it. That was when I determined that I was going to start making affordable and functional furniture for others like me.”

Like the other ladies, Idiakhoa has a number of young people that she is influencing and mentoring.  “Every once in a while, there is that young person who doesn’t know what to do about their skills or interest. There are also those who think they are living their parents’ dreams and not theirs. I work with them to gain clarity and maximise their opportunities.”

Government, she opines, should sponsor more vocational training and make sure these young people are taking up these jobs as well as having access to loans and grants.

“I would love to see more women in the trade. I would also like to see more technical colleges giving scholarships to females to learn skills in things other than clothes making, makeup and soap or cream making. I love that there are now a lot of female painters and I believe we can achieve same for carpentry.”