It was an afternoon of songs and praises recently popular gospel singer, Evangelist Tope Flourish, launched her album entitled, praise of his majesty.
The event, which was held at High Tower Global Church, Abesan, Lagos, brought together A-list gospel artiste-Bukola Bekes, Dare Justified, Gbenra, Seraph music group, among other artists.
Also, at the event were the Senior Pastor, High Tower Global Church, Abesan, Prophet Rufus Ikotun.
Some of the tracks in the album are; Olorun ti a yowo, Eru jeje, Olorun Iranajo mi, Igi leyin Ogba mi featuring Ola Onabanjo, Feyinfoluwa, and Akoni Eleru.
Speaking with The Nation, Flourish said her inspiration as a gospel artiste and minister comes from God. ”My Inspiration comes from God almighty. Gospel comes from above; it is not something you just happen on or makeup; so you need to calm down to get the message. My songs centre on praising God no matter the challenges that may come your way. God remains God in every situation.
“This album will get to the world and be a blessing, not just a tool for the popularity of the artist but as a message of the gospel to the whole world,’’ she said.
The Atlanta Zonal Superintendent, Christ Apostolic Church, Power House, Baltimore, Pastor Kunle Aroniyo, appreciated the artiste, saying he knew her as a teenager when she and her sister devoted their time to singing for God.
He urged gospel artists to continue to trust God and not keep their eyes off him no matter the challenges they may be going through.
Also, a gospel musician and writer, Bukola Bekes, said the grace of God is available to make a wonder of any of God’s children.
Evangelist Chukwuebuka Anozie Obi is the founder /spiritual Director of Zion Prayer Movement Outreach Ministry. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, he talks about how he started the Ministry, empowering youths, organising 100-day fasting and prayer for the nation, next year’s general elections and early life.
What do you see about the nation?
There is no hope for the youth. Everybody is crying. If you watch the youth, you find out that this is the first time they are coming out for the election. That shows that everybody is ready for change. The rich and poor are crying. Everybody is affected in one way or the other. People are not even safe in their homes, forests, and churches. The economy is getting worse on a daily basis. We are experiencing a hard time in the history of this country. We must all go out to vote; not prayer alone. We should expect a radical change; a nation without a plan for the youth is a nation without vision. Our youths are hardworking, but there is no job that is why you see high-level prostitution, kidnapping, and other vices.
Tell us how it all started in God’s vineyard?
I was born into a family of seven in Imo State; my mum was married for seven years without children. Then girls came and then she cried for a male child. Eventually, she got a revelation that she would have two sons and they would both serve God all their lives. I was born in a sanctuary, grew up with God. I started seeing vision at the age of eight years, then people used to come to me and I told them what would happen to them. When I was 12 years old, there was a priest they brought to my village. He loved and cherished the gifts of God in my life. He asked me to avoid three things: the first was to make sure I do not have sex with a woman before marriage. He saw me ministering to a multitude, but I should make sure I do not have a church and that if I keep those three things, God will use me. So, while I was growing up I didn’t have a girlfriend, which also affected my relationship with my sisters. Then I joined a charismatic revival group in my village; people came to me and I was telling them things. It was a gift and a calling from the womb. I grew up with it. I remember the day a Yoruba man came to buy something from us. He had a wound that was smelling. I laid my hands on the wound and it dried up the next day. It was a wound that he had carried for years. This place is not a church, but a prayer ministry.
People come here to pray and go. I am still a Catholic and would remain a catholic. This is a prayer ground that is the promise I made with God when I was 12 years old. God has been faithful and always confirms all my words, and messages with signs and miracles.
You empower the youth. Tell us about some of the things that you have done.
In the past year, we have rehabilitated over 800 prostitutes from various hotels and we are giving them jobs. We have a foundation working in seven states and we want to open a psychiatric home. If you move around streets, markets, you will see mad people everywhere and
it is very bad. Some of them it is because of frustration and there is
no plan for them. Our psychiatric foundation is starting in
Anambra State and we would have a bus moving around to pick these people in the different states.
I used to go to a deserted place to have quiet time and pray. A lot of
people started coming there to see me, then the owner of the place got
threatened and sent us packing. That was how some people from nowhere
this site for the ministry. It wasn’t in my plan at all.
What inspired your 100-day fasting and prayer programme?
In 2009, we started with 40 days’ annual fasting programme, but last
Year, we extended it to 100 days and we are continuing with that this year. We are praying for Nigeria against the killing, kidnapping, and for the many people who are dying in the north. Indeed, no part of the country is safe.
Even in the church, you see blood in the sanctuary. Our prayer is for God to take us to the next level. We have everything to be the best in the world.
If you meet the nation’s leaders, what would you tell them?
God has been saying so many things to me, which I communicated to my people. I have been passing the messages and I tell them the truth.
The Lord told me that I am the voice of the End-time. That is why they say that my messages are controversial but they all come to pass.
There was a footballer in the UK who was falsely accused of rape, a prophesy came and he was released. For the 2023 elections, Nigerians should pray very well because the cloud is very dark. I have met some of them already. I tell them the simple truth.
Our leaders must do the right thing. I went to South Africa and saw the way they are still honouring Mandela. I went to a mall and they were kissing the statue of Mandela. So, whatever you do is what you will be remembered for. What you have in your bank account is not as important as what you do to make other people.
Former Federal Minister of External Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Chairman, International Law and Jurisprudence, University of Lagos, Professor Akin Oyebode, and others have been billed to attend the Ninth Public Lecture of Foursquare Gospel Church.
The General Overseer, Foursquare Gospel Church, Rev Sam Aboye, made this known at a press conference at the National Office of the church in Yaba, Lagos.
The theme is ‘A nation at war against itself: The way forward?’ The lecture precedes the church’s 67th Annual Convention, billed for between November 14 and 20.
According to him, one of the tenets of the church is civil government. “We believe and preach that as responsible citizens of this great nation Nigeria, we have a duty and an obligation as stakeholders and partners with the government in the building of our dear nation.
He said: “Our Public Lecture, the Ninth in the series this year, continues to form part of our contribution to the discourse on nation building. It is from the height of the foregoing that on Friday, September 23, 2022, we shall be hosting the Ninth Annual Public Lecture at the National Headquarters of church, Alagomeji, Yaba, Lagos.
“This year’s lecture is very strategic as it comes on the eve of the commencement of political activities leading up to the 2023 general elections scheduled for early next year. We are, therefore, advocating issue-based engagements, where all sides and interests are allowed to contribute their quota to the advancement and progress of our nation.
“It is our candid opinion that at the end of the lecture this week. We would have succeeded in contributing valuable ideas and insight to the chosen national discourse as well as encouraging and motivating Nigerians to show more interest and engagement in the affairs of the nation.”
Aboyeji noted that we have recorded remarkable and enviable achievements in the past which earned us the status of Giant of Africa. Our people and diversity used to be our greatest strength as national interests superseded all other interests. However, the narrative seems to have changed, with the projection of individual, group, and ethnic interests over that of the nation by self-seeking individuals.
“This trend threatens to rip through the fabrics of our nation, giving rise to lack of patriotism, nepotism, corruption and promotion of sectional interest above the overall interest of the nation.
The cleric said Nigeria is a multinational state inhabited by more than 250 ethnic groups speaking about 500 distinct languages, identified with various cultures. We must, therefore, remain resolute in ensuring that these indices are harnessed to our advantage and the good of our nation rather than dividing us along interest lines.
Victor Agidi is an entrepreneur and Managing Director of Agiville Industries. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, he talk about how he took over from his father a great industrialist, inspiration, challenges and how the factory tripled its revenue during COVID lockdown.
Tell us about some of the lessons you learnt from your father, who was a great entrepreneur and industrialists ?
H e was a Civil servant and was at Unilever in the 60s. That was a great inspiration and he later set up a factory that he handed over to his son.
We grew up on the Island, went to Kings College and then travelled abroad for further studies. I came back and went into the business that he set up after his retirement.
We have been producing consistently for the past seven years. We started with one product and now we have four products lines. Our very first product was a 240 liter waste bin.
How has been a manufacturer transformed your personality?
It’s been an interesting transition from being a director to the Managing Director. The market condition you have to navigate is tough especially now that there is inflation. We have had to navigate all of those and have learnt to put in our best. Of course, there are always the local peculiarities that you have to deal with. But nevertheless we have been dogged, we have carried on and we are pushing forward. No matter what happens we always find ourselves on the other side, strong and ready to move forward.
What was the experience at the beginning?
The experience matched the product because it is a big product. We invested quite a lot because this is a large factory, not a mini factory.
Where were you coming from?
I came from the industry of selling generators and machine tools that was Metal working equipments. But after a while, we decided that we wanted to go into producing goods locally and selling them nationally.
How did that experience help what you are doing now?
It helped us because we were able to adapt technically to a lot of the issues that we got, the new machines that we had, working with hydraulics, sales, electric motors.
What inspired the production of waste bins?
We started with the 240 liter waste bins. There was a need to start producing this waste bins locally; these are the waste bins to carry waste especially for households. Then, we had a situation where they were just open containers that were not healthy and easily in terms of logistics for state government or local authorities to evacuate waste. So, that informed our decision?
Were you supplying state governments?
When we started we were importing the waste bins in containers and then we decided to go into production. It is plastic material and the raw material is available here. Also, we don’t deal directly with state governments; we have guys that help us get contracts. We prefer that route instead of dealing directly with them but in some cases we have dealt directly.
What are some of the challenges doing this?
It was getting the right technical staff to manage the company. After employing the foreign manufacturers staff who were Chinese Nationals for a while, we were able to get seasoned Nigerians and they have performed very well.
Is the sector competitive?
We definitely do not have a monopoly; there are other producers in the market. The advantage that we have is that we are fully Nigerian company, based in Lagos, the largest economy in the country. Also very important is that we produce all the components of locally. Every single component is produced locally. The buckets, tyres, axles and wheels are all produced 100 per cent locally. We do not import any component of the waste bin. All our staffs are Nigerians. We have branches in Abuja and Port Harcourt and those are depots. But we are also looking at opening a branch at Kano. We also use recycled products, it is part of our inputs. We use virgin materials as well as recycled products. We add some components of recycled items into our products.
How would you describe the experience during COVID?
COVID was an interesting period for us. It was interesting because the previous year we had done a certain amount of revenue. I can tell you that over the period of COVID, we tripled our revenue. How did we do it? We did this by reacting swiftly to the circumstances around us. We didn’t wait or sit down. Immediately, the lockdown was over, that was after six weeks, things opened up. We didn’t sit at home and say that we were going to monitor the situation. No. Everybody got back to the office, there were curfews from 4pm and we structured our operations around those periods to makes sure that we were producing 24 hours a day.
Were you making sales during the period?
Yes. People came to buy and we were delivering trucks across the country. It was a blessing in disguise. They enacted a lot of laws around cleanliness which help our industry, people needed our products. There was no avenue to diversify but we kept at what we were good at. The products are durable for any weather and have a 10 year warranty. In fact, our products right now in the Nigerian market are the heaviest out of the people producing waste bins.
Are you saying that the standards would not be lowered with inflation?
Our major selling point is the quality of our product and we are sticking to that 10 per cent. At the moment there is very high inflation and the options opened to us are either to increase the price but we are not going to do that. We are tinkering on making slight adjustments to our model, cutting waste, looking inwards to allow the customers to keep on getting our products.
Tell us some of the things that you have done in terms of Corporate Social responsibility?
We have supplied waste bins to some primary and secondary schools in the community. We try to make our impact felt positively around here.
Let’s talk about your management style. What has been your guiding principle?
I like to get different types of opinion and then take a decision from there. It is not an authoritarian kind of thing. However, when there is need for decisive action I know what to do and the steps to take. The principles that I learnt from my father was also very useful. He was a very tough person, people quaked around him. So, I learnt to have that level of toughness too, otherwise sometimes, you would not get the result that you really want. I also learnt humility and not spending frivolously are some of the other things that I learnt from my father.
The gory incident penultimate Saturday in which a container bearing articulated vehicle rammed into vehicles and commuters at Iyana-Isolo Bus Stop in Lagos has again raised questions about danger of this vehicles and a seeming helplessness of the citizenry. Gboyega Alaka explores the situation and possible ways out.
FOR the umpteenth time, Saturday September 10, 2022 turned out another bleak day for some commuters in Lagos, courtesy of the recklessness of articulated vehicles and their drivers. It was a day another wayward truck bearing a container, rammed into mini-busses, their passengers and commuters at Iyana-Isolo Bus Stop, instantly killing six-year-old boy and inflicting severe injuries on several others.
Speaking to The Nation on Wednesday, Funmi, who sells roasted plantain and corn at the bus stop, said it was a horrible sight. “The driver of the trailer, which clearly had failed break, was struggling to control it as it approached the bus stop area; unfortunately, the driver of a danfo bus got in its front and he rammed into it, causing its container to fall off. Immediately, a father, who was struggling with his two children, was thrown under the danfo, while the girl was also thrown off. The boy however got hit by the exhaust of the trailer, which immediately tore his stomach, revealing part of his intestines. The boy died immediately but the girl survived with serious bruises and an injury to the face. Their father had to be pulled from under the danfo bus. I think his leg was broken, as he could not walk. Several other people got injured; I think there was another man, whose scrotum was smashed. It was a horrible sight. We learnt the father later died at the hospital.”
Another witness, Feyi, who sells sachet liquor at the bus stop, said it was a black Saturday.
“That Saturday was a black Saturday. In truth, the container trailer was going on its own but a danfo suddenly got in its front, causing it to lose balance and cause the bloody accident. Four vehicles were condemned immediately. Apart from the boy who died instantly, the father also suffered broken leg and the daughter was badly bruised, a conductor’s two legs were broken, while one man’s private part was mangled. Really, I don’t know if doctors would be able to treat that man.”
She also spoke of the rumour that the injured father had died.
Both women, were however delighted when this reporter broke news that the father was alive and recovering at the hospital to them.
“Glory to God”, they both chorused.
Both women and another man, a cab driver, however gave kudos to the men of the Nigeria Police Force stationed at the Daleko Police post for their swift reaction.
“To tell you the truth, the police officers at the station here were very swift. They moved into action and helped in evacuating the casualties.”
That incident again raised questions about the road worthiness of these articulated vehicles and the perennial danger they have constituted, with many asking what has become of a ‘law’ by the Lagos State government, restricting their movement to 9pm to 6am. They wonder why such a law, which would have reduced the chances of casualties, was abandoned.
As if to confirm that the Iyana-Isolo incident was no one-off, another articulated vehicle reportedly fell over at Five Star bus stop along the same Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, just two days after; and three days after, on Thursday, another fell on the service lane just after Cele bus stop, causing gridlock and diversion. Thankfully, the Cele incident may have happened at night; it also happened a few meters from the usually crowded bus stop area, where human and commercial activities were usually in full swing.
Driver rammed into us deliberately – Victim
However, the father of the six-year-old now undergoing treatment at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) vehemently debunked the part of the witnesses’ narrative that a careless danfo driver caused the accident.
Speaking on his hospital bed, the victim (name withheld), who, as at the time of this discussion, was yet to learn of his daughters’ demise, said, “It’s not true that any danfo caused that accident. That trailer driver was simply a wicked soul who preferred to ram into human beings rather than ram into the median wall on his left. I saw everything. I saw the trailer; the driver had lost control from a distance and the vehicle was swaying while he was struggling to control it; but instead of him ramming into the median wall, he opted for a softer wedge, which was on his right, where we were waiting to board a bus, alongside other people and buses. I think he was trying to save his vehicle or its content from spilling.
“It all happened in seconds, so it’s not as if I had enough time to take any decision; but left to me alone, I probably would have jumped and escape unhurt. But I had my two children to struggle with and we were literally trapped. Before I knew it, I was under the bus, with my two children flung apart. I saw my boy try to get up but part of his intestines was out and blood was gushing out of his mouth. He was crying ‘daddy…;’ I think somebody carried him then. I tried to move but suddenly realised my leg was broken. I screamed for help but there was too much commotion. It was my injured daughter, who kept pointing at my direction that, ‘my daddy is there, my daddy is under the bus, before they pulled me out.”
We’ll prosecute driver/owners of truck- Police PRO Hundeyin
A member of the family of the injured father, who pleaded anonymity, testified that the police, led by one Superintendent of Police Garba from Area D Police Command in Mushin was at LUTH on the day of the accident to take inventory of the casualties. She also said he has visited a couple of times since then.
However, when this reporter visited the Area D office to follow up on the matter, mum was the word, as both SUPOL Garba and the Area Commander refused to oblige any information on the number of casualties or whether the driver of the trailer had been arrested, referring him to the Police Public Relations Officer at the Command Headquarters in Ikeja instead.
Fortunately, the reporter’s visit also coincided with the moment the police were loading the container onto the seized trailer, giving vent to suspicions that they were about to release the vehicle to the owners.
But reacting to this, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin explained over a phone interview that the owners of the goods in the container approached the police to let them take their goods, which the force granted them.
He assured that the vehicle was still in police custody and there was no plan or attempt to return it to the owner as at the time of speaking.
As part of ongoing investigation, Hundeyin said “the vehicle would be subjected to VIO inspection to ascertain what really went wrong. Was it a break failure or negligence on the part of the driver?”
He said, “The transport company is separate from the owners of the goods in the container; so when the owners of the goods approached the police to let them evacuate their goods, we had to let them. And the best way was to let them take the container to their warehouse and offload, as opposed to transferring the goods into another vehicle at the station. And I have confirmation that it has been brought back to the station. So we have issues with the vehicle, we have issues with the driver, but not the goods inside it because it belonged to another person. That is policing with a human face. He revealed that the driver of the truck was at large but said the owners of the container have been identified and they have shown up.”
He however said he did not have the identity of the haulage company, but chipped in that he would not divulge even if he had it, insisting that the charges were against the driver of the vehicle and not his employer.
Would that therefore mean that the company would be let off if the police are not able to find the driver?
“No, if we are not able to find the driver, the company will be held liable, because the company should be able to provide the person who stood as guarantor when they were giving the driver employment,” he replied.
He also said it will be a good thing if the families of the victims indicate interest to sue. In the absence of that, however, Hundeyin said the police would still go ahead and charge the driver or company to court.
“It’s just a matter of time. Once the VIO inspection is concluded and we still don’t see the driver, the case will go to court. We’ll tell the magistrate that we are holding the company in lieu of the driver. It will then be left to the magistrate to make a pronouncement.”
On the number of casualties, he said information available to him stated that “a trailer rammed into three other vehicles, killing one and inflicting fractures one and a minor injury on another.”
‘We’re working with NPA to ensure trucks coming into Lagos are roadworthy’
Giwa
Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Transportation, Mr. Sola Giwa speaks with Gboyega Alaka on the various efforts of the government to regulate and curb the excesses of articulated vehicles.
THE menace of articulated vehicles have continued unabated in Lagos, isn’t there anything the state government can do about it?
We must appreciate the fact that Lagos State is home to seaports that handle about 90 percent of imports and exports in the country; so we would expect to see these trucks on Lagos roads. We cannot stop their activities because if we do, we’ll be stopping the activities of the ports, and in essence, we’d be shutting down the economy of Nigeria. Of course there are other ports in Nigeria but what is the state of security?
However, for these vehicles to move, we have something that we have been operating for about a year, where we are collaborating with the Nigeria Ports Authority on how the trucks move in and out of the ports. That is part of what we did with the Apapa Special Committee that I head now. I was head of operations until this appointment as Special Adviser on Transportation. Now, we’re moving to the next level, which is the safety aspect. The NPA has what it calls the MSS (Minimum Safety Standard), of which you go through a process to get its sticker, as a prerequisite to working in the ports. So the Lagos State government is partnering with the NPA through our VIS (Vehicle Inspection Service); so going forward, for any truck that comes into Lagos to work, the VIS will have to certify them OK. In fact today, I was at the NPA headquarters in furtherance of this plan. We are working with the terminal operators through the NPA to get this done.
Lagosians have been wondering what happened to the law restricting articulated vehicles’ movement to 9pm to 6 pm, as it now seems like they move at anytime. Was it abrogated?
It was a regulation, not a law. You would agree with me that even the current call-up system we are operating is a way of regulating them. At that time, the regulation was a necessity, and nobody has reversed it. However, we also noticed the issue of security which came up, where drivers and owners came here complaining that they are being attacked while moving at night. So as a listening government, we started looking for other ways of regulating them, such as use of weigh bridges and stopping them from point of entry into the state. However, that may require serious logistics and even cause backlog of traffic. So we have decided that let them come to the ports and then they get checked there. As a government, we have to continuously think outside the box and evolve.
Who were those mandated to implement?
Basically, every law that is enacted – whether by federal, state or local government, is supposed to be implemented majorly by the police. And of course we have the LASTMA, the VIS and the FRSC. So where we are going now is not to prevent them from moving but to regulate them, rather than have them taking over the road. Our new technique is that every truck coming to Lagos or the port will have to go to a particular park – there are about 35 of such parks; generate a code, buy your ticket online and with that they are able to get into the port. That way, they don’t just move around constituting danger anymore. So they move from a designated park to either Apapa port, Tin can port or anywhere they are going. The ports also have an access barrier and it is the code that you generate that you will use to enter the park. If you have a job to do at say APMT, it is APMT that will confirm before that barrier would open for you to go out of your park. If you don’t enter that first park, the port barrier would not open for you. So the first access barrier and the second access barrier are in sync. And that is how we came about the success we have recorded. And like I said, the next level is the safety of the vehicles. Another challenge we have is that most of these vehicles are not registered in Lagos, which makes it hard for us to keep a tab on them. Let me also state that we will continue to arrest and punish the errant ones among them. We also recently issued a removal order to trucks parked under bridges in Lagos in seven days.
These days, it seems these trucks are driven mainly by teenagers and men just out of their teens, which may have accounted for these unsavoury incidences; isn’t there a way Lagos can regulate this?
Some things are not within the purview of the state, and issuance of driver’s license is one of them. Such issues have to be dealt with holistically as a nation. We have also noticed this trend; and what we have discovered is that most of those young drivers are motor boys, whose drivers released the trucks to, while they take a rest in Ogere or somewhere outside the state.
Victims can sue – lawyer
Otteh
Human rights lawyer and convener of Access to Justice, Joseph Otteh speaks on legal options available to victims.
WHAT are the legal actions victims of accidents from articulated vehicles can explore?
Anything that causes people harm or injury and is as a result of intentional or negligent act or omission is actually ground or cause for action. In this case it is of trucks that are not in good condition. Unfortunately, you can sue only if you are alive. But the families of the victims can sue; and those alive with injuries can sue for themselves and demand the people who caused the accident to be made accountable for it.
The police say they would be arraigning the owners of the vehicle if they cannot find the driver, who at the moment is at large. But they are not likely to be suing for damages on the part of the victims.
They actually indicate both civil and criminal wrong doing. You could say criminal negligence or failure to observe road safety precautions. The police can actually prosecute the driver of the vehicle and if they have proof that the owners of the truck were also complicit in that negligence, they can also sue them. Yes you are right, they may not pursue civil action for the victims but the victims themselves can sue and get remedies for this violation.
The problem with our people is more of ignorance; what are the processes for instituting such cases?
Everybody has the right to approach the court- whether with the assistance of an attorney or by themselves. But of course it’s going to be extremely difficult for people who don’t have an attorney to navigate through the very complex system of our court and the complex use of law that is involved in all of this. This is in addition to the fact that they will also be made to pay very high fees for filing this kind of claim. Some of the filing in court is actually calibrated according to the size of your claim. So yes, you have to pass through some rigours, both in the terms of hiring legal counsel as well as coughing out considerable sums of money to get the process started.
Another issue is the very slow pace at which the court processes take. To some extent, the time will depend on the calibre of lawyer you hire but on the average, it has to do with the court that you find yourself assigned to. While some judges do their work conscientiously, unfortunately, you cannot say same of others. There is also the possibility of the judge being transferred in the course of the process, which takes you back. Having said all these, our courts do have the capacity to hear out such cases and determine the claim. And hopefully, the victims of these atrocities would find some form of justice.
Nollywood actor, Jimoh with Kelly Bishop popularly known as Sir Godson speaks of his foray into acting, farming and why he especially has a passion for taekwondo martial arts. By Gboyega Alaka
Your role in the popular YouTube series, ‘Oga Osas’ has pushed you out there; how did acting begin for you?
I’ve always had an enthusiasm for acting and I generally needed to accomplish something in the field. Yet I was really confused whether to follow my passion or not; and then I went to Natty Bruce Action Film Academy, Lagos. There, I learned how to fight in a movie, fighting choreography, Action Acting, Fight Coordinator, Stunt in a movie, Action Directing everything about film fighting.
What other roles/movies have you featured in?
I played the role of a villain, a wicked prince in a movie titled, Oduna, produced by Slize Entertainment for Slize TV. I’ve also played the role of a lover boy in a movie titled Lies produced by Nevada TV. I was a local village boy in a movie titled Nwaike The Prodigal Son, also produced by Slize Entertainment for Slize TV. I’ve featured in several other movies such Irreconcilable Differences, Love in vengeance, Massive Grace, Mena, Royal quest, King Asemota; to mention just few.
Which movies or roles stand out for you so far?
That will be Oga Osas, Oduna and Nwaike The Prodigal Son.
Tell us about your growing up, education and training
I am an indigene of Edo State. I was born into a large family. My father, a successful cocoa farmer, had three wives and 18 children and was able to take care of his large family. I’m the first son from my mother. I hold a diploma in theatre arts in University of Ibadan
Aside acting, what other vocation are you into?
I’m a taekwondo instructor and fitness trainer. I also own a cocoa farm. You can say I took that from my father (smiles). Inside the farm, I also farm oranges, bitter kola, walnut, pears, plantains and other valuable crops. As a taekwondo instructor, I have a passion for training school children; I have an academy based in Lagos that takes care of that.
You must be a black belter to run such a school. Have you won any laurel or participated in any major competition?
I’m a third Dan black belt In Taekwondo. I trained at the National Stadium in Lagos for seven days a week: Monday to Saturday from White to Black Belt. We were not practicing just Taekwondo alone; we were practicing different martial arts together to be able execute them in the movie. But Taekwondo was our major sport. Our training was actually based on film fighting. But still we were attending all the competitions inside the stadium, such as LG taekwondo competition, IGP Police Taekwondo competition, and kick boxing competition. I also won the best in all Martial arts performances.
Have you had any physical brush in which your taekwondo skill bailed you out?
Yes, several times. It was when I was in my first Black Belt in Benin City that some guys attacked my friend and I was trying to stop them; one of them took a bottle from the ground to break my head, but I move swiftly collected the bottle and broke it on the floor to scared them away. However, I don’t fight because martial arts are not for bullying but for making peace. It is a form of self defence; it also helps you keep fit, alert and healthy.
Which class or group of people do you train and are there qualifications to be met?
Godson Taekwondo Academy is for children above 3 years of age to 18. We awards Belt with certificates and every other things to encourage the kids. For example we give awards for the best performing students, neatest uniforms, best behaviour and so on. Do you plan on featuring or making an action movie in which you will showcase your taekwondo skills?
Yes, certainly. It is something I’ve always looked forward to.
Do you find acting rewarding financially?
I can say yes but not for upcoming actors like me. The money is not coming in yet but I have a strong believe that it will.
The founder of Christ Apostolic Church, Agbala Itura worldwide, Prophet Kayode Abiara, has raised the alarm fraudsters have initiated a false investment scheme using his foundation, The Abiara Divine Foundation, to swindle unsuspecting members of the public.
He dissociated himself and his foundation from such illegal investment scheme.
In a rebuttal signed by his son, Pastor Isaac Abiara of the CAC Agbala Itura Worldwide on Sunday, he said it is not true that the Foundation is giving out money/investment, requiring beneficiaries to register with a bank account.
He said this is the handiwork of fraudsters, as the foundation never asked anyone for such requirements.
He declared the foundation has no affiliation with any investment scheme.
The statement reads: “It has come to our attention that there are false reports that The Abiara Divine Foundation is giving away money/investment with requirements to register with a bank account. Please note; this is a fraud.
“Neither Papa S.K. Abiara, nor the foundation does not, and will not ask for anyone’s account information to give assistance. In addition, the foundation is not affiliated with any “investment scheme” from any financial institution.
“We have informed relevant authorities for an investigation into this matter.”
Marriage counsellor, Pastor Bisi Adewale has pointed out that many pastors and church leaders are going through hard stuff for which they need urgent help.
Many of them, according to the President of Family Booster International (FBI), are under the strain of financial, emotional and social pressure that reduces their effectiveness and lifespan.
He said many Pastors and church leaders are overworked, underpaid, undervalued, highly criticised and overstressed by everyone.
Except they get help to scale through, Adewale warned many of them will drop off or fail woefully.
He spoke with reporters ahead of the three-day international conference with the theme ” Excellent family, excellent church” by the faith-based organisation.
The conference, which kicks off on September 15, holds at RCCG, Maranatha Church Gbagada 21, Layori Soetan Street, Oremeji-Roundabout, Gbagada, Lagos.
Some of the ministers expected include Evangelists Mike and Gloria Bamiloye of Mount Zion Ministry; Rev Tony Akinyemi and Rev Albert Aina.
Adewale said: ”Pastors are special People, they are the ones that most Christians call first whenever they need help, they are consulted for almost everything, times they have to act as Marriage Counsellors, Financial Counsellors, Psychologists, trauma healing experts, Guarantors, Lawyers, accountants, Health experts, Fathers, Pillars etc.
”They are consulted for almost every problem by everybody. Often Malign in the social media, stabbed at the back by their own people, but they are seriously needed every day by the same people that are hurting them.
”They stand with people when they get wedded, stand with them if can’t become pregnant, assist if pregnant, called by 1 am when they are in Labour, raised money if there are complications that need surgical operations, name the baby, nurture the baby spiritually to youthful age, wed out the youth, attend to them if the marriage run to trouble waters or hit the rock, bury elderly that dies, support the bereaved families.
”Despite all these, they are still grossly under-valued, underrated, not appreciated, not recognized, abused, maligned, hated and not well paid”.
”Most Pastors are lonely, sick and poor But work 24/7, some without vacation or time to rest. Over 70% of ministers report not having a close friend or someone to talk to when they need to”.
Pointing out startling statistics by Pastor Care Incorporation, Adewale said: ” Our findings at FBM revealed that Many pastors, Church Leaders and ministers are passing through many challenges that they find it difficult to discuss with anybody. Some of them, it is their marriage, and emotional battles, others it is deep health issues and some needs new knowledge to drive their ministry.
”We also discover that majority of Pastor wives are not happy with the state of things at their homes. While lots of Pastors Children are turning against their Parents and many Youths are turning their backs against the Church.”
He said Pastors must be helped with how to balance family life, health and finance in a changing and unappreciative world.
He said the Bamiloyes will address the Power of unity in ministry while Akinyemi will handle health and how to live without sickness with Aina focusing on finance and money management.
Some of the other issues the conference will consider include: How to regain and retain youths in the Church; the natural way to manage prostate enlargement; how to make money for the family without hurting ministry; how to help Church members build strong marriages; how to gain and retain youths in Church; inner healing for hurting Pastors and wives and striking a balance between marriage and ministry, among others.
The wife of the Continental Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Africa 3/Middle East, Pastor Rachel Odesola, spoke to Adeola Ogunlade on how women can cope with the present economic challenges, the need for s3x education for young people, and what pastors’ wife should be doing in their husbands’ ministry
What do you think women should be doing in this time of economic challenge?
There are families, maybe husband and wife, who are teachers, who have not been paid for months. It takes wisdom for a woman to find something to do with her hands not depending on what the government is paying and what is not forthcoming. Apply wisdom and ask God for what to do.
In the third month of our wedding, my husband had to quit his formal job and I became the breadwinner. My salary was three times his own. As a teacher in a secondary school, I was selling other things that were fetching me money and it did not affect my school work. Women must think of diversifying. As women, we should be wise and do more on our knees. Intercede for the nation, our children, and our husband. God will give us divine wisdom on how to handle the situation on the ground. Love your children. Be friendly to your teenagers and youths at home.
Is s3x education a taboo in Christian homes?
It is not, even those of us that grew up with our grandparents. They would always tell us in a scary way. For instance, they would tell us not to touch a man because just by touching a man, you would get pregnant.
I want to believe that teaching s3x education to our children should start when they know how to talk. Some children grow so fast. One year they are already talking. My first granddaughter started talking before walking. Before she clocked a year, she was already talking.
So once they know how to talk, let them know that God has given them certain parts of the body and that they need to protect them. Both males and females have given them certain parts to protect. And as they develop, they will be seeing certain changes in their bodies, it is normal. Some children, especially girls at the age of 12 to 14, will begin to see some changes; like breast development, an increase in height, and menstruation, while the boys will grow a beard and hair growing up within their private parts, the voice starts to change, among others. We need to tell them that there’s nothing bad in attracting each other.
Then when it gets to touching parts of other opposites, we should let our children know that they must not. They must be very careful in school. They should not allow either their teacher or any opposite s3x, even those that are of the same s3x to be touching their breasts or slapping their boots and so on and so forth.
I want to believe that we need to let them know that s3x is a good thing. S3x is a good thing but only within the confines of marriage. If you are married, there is nothing bad in having s3x, the Bible approves of it.
Engaging in s3x before marriage is a sin to God. First Corinthians 6:18 says, ‘Flee from s3xual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the s3xually immoral person sins against his own body.’ Our body is the temple of God. God is ready to fight anybody that commits fornication.
Fornication is a terrible sin, and there are repercussions. We need to let our children know the right thing because if we fail to let them know, the people in the world will teach them in a way that will lead to something disastrous.
What does it take for a man to raise teenage girls by a father in a situation whereby he divorces his wife due to incapacitation?
Will the man have enough time for the girl child? The man must be ready to sacrifice his time to raise his girls. To raise a female child by a man, that man must be very patient and God fearing. There are girls who have been defiled by their fathers. It will take a God-fearing man, filled with the Holy Spirit and cautious of heaven to raise a female child. He must make up his mind though. If he knows he can’t, he can send the girl to a woman figure.
We cannot hide the fact that there are increasing cases of divorce in our society and sadly, it is happening in churches today. And the reason is that maybe some are not patient enough, and some are not compatible. Some are tired of violence maybe from the husband or from the wife.
As the saying goes, when two elephants are fighting, it is the grass that always suffers. And that is why I want to plead with families, and young couples that they should please think of their lives, and the future of their children before they decide to end the marriage in divorce. If they can visit a marriage counselor or professional marriage counselors for help, that will be great.
To fathers, if they have to take care of these children after they are divorced, I think they should bring in their parents into this, like the grandparents to assist because most fathers are not always available for their children because they have to go to work and provide for the needs in the home.
Fathers have to set aside enough time to really be with the children. They need to guide them in the way of the Lord, talk to them, advise them and create time to bond with the children, especially the girl child.
So they should make sure they follow what they are doing on the internet. Follow them on Twitter, on other social media platforms, know their friends, visit their schools, ask them about what they want to do in life, and guide them in the way of the Lord God.
How should a pastor’s wife assist her husband’s ministry?
“Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” – Psalm 127:1. It has been God. We are following our Mummy GO. She is prayerful and patient. My husband will travel for almost a week. Sometimes when he is around 8 pm, he is still working in the office. You must know that your husband is working for God and be busy. When we were in the north on the mission field, I was a pastor and God helped me to do great work. My husband promoted me to an Area Pastor. My husband sent me to a place where they were using a school facility for service and he instructed me to build it to the glory of God, I supervised the project and built it.
One day, my husband asked me whether I was married to the parish because of my commitment to the work of God. Women need to be busy. When the two of you are busy for God, and you know that you will also get your reward in heaven, you will not complain.
Be patient, available to God and be prayerful. Allow the Holy Spirit to ride on you. Read your bible, take care of your children but when your hands are idle, then you will give room for the devil, don’t be suspicious, always trust your husband. When there is no room for suspicion the family will stand.
Why is pregnancy test compulsory in Redeemed before wedding?
We do pregnancy test before the wedding of any intending couple at The Redeemed Christian Church of God and is done like two weeks before the wedding in our designated hospitals and results will be sent to the church at least a week before the wedding. The bible says that marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. This is what the church is trying to encourage. Many have gone into illicit s3x before marriage and were wedded in church unknowingly but today they are looking for the fruit of the womb.
With victims of kidnap, mum has always been the word, as they seem to always come out scared stiff to relay their experience. However, a clergyman, who spent six whole weeks in the kidnappers’ den in this rare encounter with Gboyega Alaka tells his story. It is one of horror.
They tied both my hands tight with rubber wire and beat me mercilessly, asking, ‘Where is the N3million in your account? Where is the N3million transferred into your account? ‘When I told them the money was no longer with me and that I had transferred it to the owners, five hefty men started beating me with whip. When I insisted, they said, ‘You don’t want to talk, ko? Don’t worry, this is appetiser, we’re coming again tomorrow.’
“True to their words, they came back the following day and repeated the same thing. They beat me mercilessly. This was with both my hands still tied. They told me ‘We’d just kill you.’ I told them, even if you kill me, you cannot get the money from me because it is not with me. I also told them, if you kill me, that is the way God wants it. By this time, the beating had got to a level where I was beyond caring. I was in serious pains but they didn’t care. And to them, crying means nothing. In fact, they’d tell you, ‘You want to cry? No problem, cry on.’ Meanwhile, my hands remained tied and I was in serious pain.”
The above is sneak peek of what John Chukwu (not real name), a devout Christian, went through at the hands of kidnappers who abducted and kept him in very deplorable condition until providence intervened and he was released.
According to Chukwu, he was abducted in broad daylight in his farm house near Sarkin Pawa along Kaduna road by gunmen, who had initially visited his house and on learning he wasn’t at home, forced his wife to lead them to where he was.
“It happened on December 14, 2021. When they got to where I was, they broke into the house and asked for Pastor Chukwu. The moment they identified me, they seized me at gunpoint. They also called out another man and a woman. There and then, they asked, ‘Where is the three million naira in your account?’ I told them I didn’t have the money, so they tied my hands and took us deep inside the bush. We left around twelve noon and got to their camp at about the time they were calling for Muslim 4 o’clock prayer. That makes it about four/five hours trek. They had seized my phone, so I had no idea of time.”
In their camp, Chukwu said the kidnappers were ruthless. Aside the beating, his complaint that his tied hands were paining him fell on deaf ears. In truth, Chukwu said the exact amount of money they mentioned was transferred into his account but he had immediately disbursed it into the accounts of the owners. It was payment for soya beans which they had delivered to a company, for which the company usually transferred payment into his account for onward disbursement to the different farmers or traders.
“I never allowed money sleep in my house, and it was because of things like this,” he said.
Fortunately, Chukwu said he found favour in the eyes the kidnappers’ boss, who after forty-eight hours of torture, ordered that they loosen him. At this point, however, he said his hands were gone.
“Because they had been tied awkwardly for two whole days, which prevented flow of blood, into them, the hands became like logs, heavy and useless. I couldn’t pick anything; I couldn’t use them for anything; even to eat, somebody else, usually another kidnapped victim, had to feed me.”
Somehow, he said he kept praying, and it seemed God worked ahead of him and he found favour in the eyes of the kidnappers’ boss, as he never allowed them tie him or beat him again. Sometimes, he’d even ask him, ‘Pastor, have you eaten?’ And if he answered ‘no’, he would ask them to take from his portion and give to him.
Aside those occasions, however, he said victims only got fed pap in the morning, and afterwards, water in the afternoon and night.
“But if they had begun negotiating with your people and it was clear that good money was coming, they would move you to a separate location where you were entitled to two or three meals a day. They see you as a promising or profitable venture. I fell into the pap category because they were not able to reach my people. By the time we got to their camp, my phone battery had run out; and because there were several other phones of the same make as mine, all dead, they couldn’t locate which belonged to me and gave up after several efforts. That, in a way, was another of God’s favour, because if they had been able to reach my family, they would have demanded some huge sums, which I was sure my family would not have been able to raise. Right there, I heard them telling other victims’ families to bring huge unimaginable sums.”
Conversely, Chukwu said not being able to reach his family also had its disadvantage, which was grave.
“On some occasions, they would just come, pick some people and say, ‘Carry these ones, they are not productive; they’ve been here for months, go and waste them.’ And soon after, you would hear gunshots tatata…”
Asked if he could recall how many people were so eliminated, Chukwu said ‘Not really. About three or four’. Besides, he said counting the number of those eliminated wasn’t his pre-occupation at that critical time but praying in his heart for deliverance. Thrice they put me with those to be eliminated and thrice their boss stopped them, asking: ‘Who told you to put pastor among them?’
“At a point, I wondered if they had any humanity in them. Already, we were used to seeing them any time they came to attack villages around us, but it was when I got to their camp that I got to know the kind of human being they really were.”
Rape
Were there women among the captives? Were they abused?
“Sometimes, they would come and pick the young pretty ones and tell them, ‘You, get up, oga wants to talk to you. So they’d take them into a hut and by the time they came out, you would know they had been abused. Sometimes, three, four or five men would go into the hut to meet them. And it’s not a place where you can shout or get any help. So they just took it in their stride and never said anything.”
Shuwa Arabs and Nigerian Fulani
Asked what manner of persons the kidnappers were, Chukwu, said “They were predominantly Fulani. The people I saw were Shuwa Arab Fulani with long hair, possibly from Niger, Chad or Mali. Even their Fulani (Fulfude) was a bit different. They worked alongside Nigerian Fulani. The ones among them who covered their face were the Nigerians; and that’s because they knew you could identify them. And they were the ones who beat us and carried out eliminations.
“Anyway, I spent forty-one days in their camp. On the fortieth day, one of them said, ‘Hey come and see pastor, he is turning to white o, he is turning to bature (white man)!’ But there boss said, ‘You must be mad. Somebody is dying, you say he is turning to white man. Can’t you see he doesn’t have blood anymore?’
“And then their boss said, ‘Pastor, by God’s grace, tomorrow, you’re going home.’”
But rather than get excited, Chukwu said he became sad because that could also mean he was going to be eliminated.
“When he said that, one or two things crossed my mind: I had prayed to God for His intervention, and he had assured me that I would go home. So all I said in my heart was, ‘Let it be unto me according to your word.’
“The next day, the man was not around. Then on my 42nd day in their camp, he came and said ‘Ah pastor, you’re still here?’ Then he summoned one of the boys and said, ‘Where is his baggage?’ Someone said, ‘It’s only sickle o’, he said ‘give it to him.’ He asked, ‘Would you know road to your house from here?’ I said ‘no’. Then he appointed two of his boys to accompany me to the road. He also gave me N2,000. Meanwhile, the N900 I had when I was abducted was still with me.
“That was how I was released from the hell that was the kidnappers’ camp. You won’t believe it; even the escorts paid the bike man who conveyed me to town N500.”
At what point did he start using his hands?
“It’s going to a year, the hands are still not normal. Both hands literally withered and became thin because of lack of blood. I went to the hospital, and when the result of the x-ray came out, they said there was no fracture or dislocation but the veins were dead. I couldn’t pick or carry anything. The bandits released me on January 28, and by February 2nd, I started going for physiotherapy and massaging. So now, I can eat and bath by myself. September 2nd was eight months since I started going for treatment.”
Given up for dead
“When I arrived home, everybody already gave up hope that I was alive. They had even told my wife that I was dead, that I had been killed. In fact they had forced her into mourning even before Christmas. My wife was so lean; and when I asked her if she hadn’t been eating, she said how could she eat when she didn’t know what had become of me? Luckily, there was this other kidnapped victim who was released and whom I had given a message to deliver for me. That, I think, was what gave her renewed hope.
“Since I came back, God has been everything to me since I came back. A friend would just call and say ‘Send me your details and they’d credit my account. That is how my family has been surviving. I have five kids; imagine life without support of these good people!”
Spiritually, Chukwu said he learnt to meditate on Gods words because there was nothing else to turn to. Even though they seized his bible, which they never returned to him, he said he did a lot of meditating.
“Comforting verses were just flowing to my mind like drops of water, one after the other. Even in my dreams; I dreamt that I was released, and the shirt I wore in that dream was the same one I wore the day I was released. God told me specifically that ‘You will not die here; you will go home to meet with your family. It may be tough but you will laugh in the end. And that was why when they were eliminating people, I knew they would not touch me, but of course I kept my confession to myself.
“Psychologically, I became very sensitive to sounds. Any sound that sounded like a gun, even drumbeats, I would wake up with a start and start recalling the horrors of the kidnappers’ camp.”
Advice to the public
“One thing I want to advise is that people should be reserved about their possessions or monetary transactions. While I was in the kidnappers’ camp, I heard them asking questions like: ‘Who has money in your community?’ They would even call their informants right in our presence and be making enquiries about who just made a sales; who just made some good money and so on and so forth?
“I will also advise that any transaction done should immediately be deleted from our phones once read. In my case, I suspect it may have been somebody that collected my phone to check some app that gave me away. It may also have been in the bank, where somebody assisted me and I even gave him a tip. But I really can’t pin it down on anyone. And I’m sure it was not anyone from the company that paid the money into my account.
“Also I want to advise that people should avoid entertaining strangers in their homes, because there were people in that camp who became victims because they entertained visitors, who in turn told informed the bandits their worth. Business people should stop discussing their business or business dealings in the open or in the presence of strangers. These kidnappers have informants who tell them this man or that man just sold his yam and he has lots of money. And they reward the informants handsomely. Imagine giving somebody who has no job N300,000. That one would just be spending money lavishly, knowing that all he needs to do to make more money was to finger another innocent hardworking person. Anytime you see them attack any house or come for anyone, know that it is the work of informants, and they live among us.”
