The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sunday magazine

  • ‘I will end insecurity if I become Nigeria’s President’

    ‘I will end insecurity if I become Nigeria’s President’

    At 50, Prince Adewole Adebayo is the youngest presidential aspirant ahead of the 2023 general election. He is aiming at the Presidential ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to actualise his dream. In this interview with select journalists after collecting his Expression of Interest and Nomination forms at the party secretariat in Abuja, Adebayo, says insecurity will be history the moment he assumes office

    There are offices through which you can serve other than the presidency. Why the topmost office in the land?

    I have been offered appointment many times in the past. I know there is a place called the senate but I don’t have any business there because the problem of society is that of leadership. The executive power of the federation is vested in one man, and that man is the president. I have waited all my adult life, looking for one president that I will serve under. I am yet to meet that president traveling the direction I want the country to go.

    Which direction is this?

    The direction of Justice. This country, has, unfortunately, been deformed to accommodate injustice. This is a country, in the beginning, the leaders in the first republic, knew the importance of justice. It meant that they understood that public office was a trust and that nothing inside it belonged to them. They knew that exercising public powers was to use it to serve the people. They started their journey by serving the less privileged in the society by establishing school systems that catered to the needs of those who had no opportunity. They fought and were eradicating childhood diseases with immunization for everyone and by living close to the people and in modest manner as well.

    If I had been born at that time, perhaps there is an Awolowo (Chief Obafemi) I would serve under him as a minister or even a clerk, or even just to be carrying his bag, I would do so gladly because I would know that this is a man who has come to do justice. In politics, the leader that inspires me the most and whose work I follow is late Mallam Aminu Kano. He lived with the people, he lived for the people and he made sure that social justice was the centre point of his political life. He criticised the court system even though he was a son of an Alkali, sharia judge. He said the court system wasn’t bringing justice to the people and ensured the people formed their own political party, the Northern Element Progressive Union, NEPU and pushed common people to power. When he was made a minister of health and later, communication in Gowon’s government, he stood on the side of the people.

    When you take leaders of that time and compare to what we have now, you will see that we have self-serving leaders. If he is the president, he will be self-serving. Why would I go and serve him? I will just be part of his apparatus of self- service. If a political party is set up to confiscate and siphon the wealth of the society and perpetuate injustice, why would I go and serve there? I don’t believe in the system they are running now because it is a system of theft, unfairness, injustice. It’s a system of ordinary people who were given free education, who were the children of nobody, who were picked up from the lowliest waters of Nigeria. Some were sent to the armed forces, some to the Civil service.

    The expectation of the founding fathers was that these children of nobody that were sent to school, like president Buhari, who was an orphan, ordinarily, he should have been following cattle, but the systems set up by Sir Ahmadu Bello, who ensured that he was picked and put in boarding house, from primary education even up to the when he joined the army. He lived in boarding house all his life till he retired as head of state. As we speak, he still lives in boarding house in the Villa. All his life, Nigeria has catered for him. Will Ahmadu Bello be proud of him now? How many Nigerians has he lifted out of poverty? All those people who were picked up from cocoa farms by Awolowo and put in schools who became emeritus professor of medicine, professor of all disciplines, vice chancellors, are they not now living in plenty while the universities are on strike? So, where would I join in this?

    You can have the same executive powers in the office of a state governor. They are not different in terms of performance.

    But the jurisdiction is too narrow. Would I be a governor of a state and be able to take care of my brothers and sisters in other states? If I am crying because of the injustice in Zamfara, how would the governorship of Lagos help me? The penury you find in Borno, Cross-River, Lagos and urban poverty you find in Ibadan, how would being governor of one state help me? Will I overlook the root cause, which is the collapsed federal government that we have now. My mandate is to make Nigeria a great country. Anybody suffering poverty in Malunfashi is as painful to me as someone who is suffering in my family. I have to solve the problem from the top and across the country.

    You are contesting on the platform of Social Democratic Party, SDP. Why this party, and not APC or PDP?

    You cannot say before you join the fire service, you will first of all be an arsonist. You cannot say I have to be a reckless driver before I can join Road Safety Corps. You cannot say I should be an armed robber before joining the police. You cannot say before I join EFCC to fight economic crimes, I should first be a yahoo person. This country is where it is today because of PDP and APC. Why should I join them? They are deliberately impoverishing the people.

    These two parties are well grounded in terms structure

    Their victories are not from the people but from rigging and that’s why you see them struggling with the electoral act and all the manipulations. In any case, what is the essence of the power if you are not using it to help the people? Do you think president Jonathan is a happy man today? He is not. He tasted power but he made no difference in the life of anybody. Do you think President Buhari is happy man today, if he can reflect? He has gone from hero to zero. I am following the mantle of the late Chief MKO Abiola which is farewell to poverty. And now I say farewell to poverty and insecurity. If I am saying farewell to poverty, who is the author of poverty except PDP. If I am saying farewell to insecurity, who are the architects, custodians, profiteers of insecurity except APC? How can I go and join them to stop their business? You cannot join the wrong coalition in order to win at all cost. If you join the looters, the compromised, the riggers, the manipulators, you can travel fast, but you will not go far.

    You speak so confidently as if you are sure of victory?

    My confidence is coming from the place of justice. I believe that God didn’t create a country like this of 200 million people to be enslaved. That is not the believe I have. I believe God is showing us an experiment and in the fullness of time, this people will over reach themselves and an ordinary person will come and knock them down. This is the David/Goliath situation. I believe the David is the Nigerian collective people. I am not the David, the Nigerians are. I am just the sling.

    That sling cannot direct itself but David was divinely inspired to throw that sling. I am that sling that would hit the head of looters in this country. All of these things are testimony to the conclusion of a wicked system. I am not competing with them in the area of bullion vans and I am not competing with them in the area of bogus consensus they are doing, manipulations and the breach of trust they are doing, I am just taking my message to the people that journey that began in 1993 which Abiola was killed and everything came to a halt has begun again. These people have asked power, they have been given, they did nothing with it. They rob crèches, primary school, hospitals and mortuaries. Everything that has money in it is stolen in this country. Enough is enough.

    In the course of consultation round the country, what was the reception like, especially the power that you visited?

    I have gone round the country. I am still touring. I have seen former heads of state, traditional rulers, former governors, politicians, religious leaders, market men and women. The response has been warm and the message is clear. The former rulers have given their perspective and where things went wrong and what they want to see. None of them, I can tell you, is happy. Whether you contributed one way or another to where the country is today. None of them thought things would go this bad. They have become victims themselves. They have equally lost hope in the generation that is ruling now but that is compensated for by the fact that they have great hope in our generation.

    What would you do differently in the area of insecurity if given the opportunity to run Nigeria?

    Insecurity is the easiest problem to solve. The insecurity in the country is government-induced insecurity. Nigerian government is the source of the insecurity because it has become a business. Just like fuel scarcity, they have turned it into business. Lack of electricity is a problem they have turned into business. None of Nigerian problem is difficult to solve. The solutions to our problems are already there. The Nigerian army of today is better than the Nigerian army of ECOMOG time. But what is happening now is that they have turned insecurity into multi-billion businesses for the generals, permanent secretaries, contractors and politicians.

    When you talk to some members of the armed forces, they would tell you that they are not lazy and that they can finish these rogue fighters within a short time. Even during the civil war, there were a few who saw the war as a business, majority of members of the armed forces took the war seriously and that was why we were able to fight the war without borrowing a Kobo. Awolowo was finance minister in the Gowon’s government. It was a policy of that government at that time that they would not borrow money to execute the war. Awolowo was auditing and editing almost every bullet used. Clement Using was governor of Central Bank. He protected the bank against the government. A government can continue to perpetuate insecurity as long they want to make money out of it. I will put an end to that.

    The federal government often talks about cash crisis. How does it make you feel?

    Honestly, we have more money today than we had yesterday. The government is awash with money. If anybody tells you there is no money, you should know that that person is your number one enemy.

    But we are borrowing to execute our budget?

    We are borrowing because their greed is so big. They don’t just want to steal the money of today, but they want to rob the children unborn. The Nigerian leadership quest for money is a special mental disease, particularly when they steal what they don’t need. We must remove the original curse of Nigeria which is bad governance. There is this unhealthy competition: If one governor is using state money to control a political party, spending millions of dollars to remove chairman and do whatever, the other governor wants to copy it too. So you now have a well-known criminal organisation called Governors Forum. Everyone there are supposed to, as a matter of patriotism, report themselves to the nearest police station. They corner substantial revenue of the federation and steal the money of the local government. So, some of the poverty people are ascribing to Buhari us not totally his; Buhari has become an angel of disappointment though.

     

  • Oyedepo charges youths on life-changing values

    Oyedepo charges youths on life-changing values

    The Pro – Chancellor’s Covenant University, Bishop David Oyedepo has advised youths to imbibe the values of integrity, possibility mentality, capacity building, diligence, and spirituality as they remain panacea to success in life.

    Oyedepo said this recently at the 20th matriculation ceremony of the Covenant University held at the Institution Chapel, Ota, Ogun State.

    Oyedepo said that for any life to be productive, meaningful, and impactful, the need to imbibe the core values of spirituality, integrity, possibility mentality, and moral rectitude was imperative.

    He noted that by covenant, every child of God is destined for an enviable future which is realizable when one chooses to apply these core values to his/ her life.

    “Being a highly customized institution, Covenant University presents a set of life-changing core values which help in training up to each student for a productive life,” he said.

    He admonished each and every one of them to embrace these unequivocal values for immediate benefit towards enhancing performance in their academic engagements.

     

  • There’ll be great revival, says Olujobi

    There’ll be great revival, says Olujobi

    The General Overseer of Wisdom Church International, Prophet Bisi Olujobi has advised Nigerian youths to continue to seek the face of God, work hard and shun desperate moves which have become the order of the day.

    According to the prophet, the Nigerian youths are very desperate because of what they have seen in the country particularly the get rich quick syndrome and those showing off ill-gotten wealth.

    Speaking about the 2023 elections, he said it would be peaceful: “God has a good plan concerning the 2023 elections and that everything is in the hands of God. It is going to be a peaceful election. The next president will solve some of the nation’s problems but he cannot finish them all.”

    Olujobi also admonished one of the national leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to move closer to God and pray towards his presidential ambition. “God has a plan for him but he needs to settle with God. He needs to pray more, come closer to God so that God can shake away evil and grant him long life. No evil would work against him. God knows where he is taking him to and the plan of God cannot change.”

    Women, he stressed, are already coming up in the political space and they would support and make things better.

    On the new opportunities in the political scene for young people, he said: “I see a number of young people coming up for future national assignments. The list includes Gov Yaya Bello and Gov Seyi Makinde. God is preparing Yaya Bello for the future. Makinde will rise, there will be a little problem but he will come back for a second term. Others include Bukola Saraki, Ambode, Hon Toafeek and Hon.  Babajimi Benson. God has a purpose for them”.

    Olujobi added that there would also be great revival amongst God’s prophets too. “Great revival would take place amongst the Ministers and prophets. There would be some changes amongst God’s prophets. Some of the people that God would use include Apostle Suleiman, but he must be careful because some people would try to derail him. I also saw Apostle Zusa of Omega Power Ministry, Jeremiah in Port Harcourt. God said he would use them and I pray the Lord would uphold them”.

    According to the General Overseer, the challenge the Lagos transport union is currently facing with the National body will be erased in the state. “I saw a moon come down and the whole land open. Their position will be taken away; God will erase and clear them off from the parks. The state would be transformed and unique.”

    He also informed that fervent prayers are needed to avoid terrible clashes by bandits and ethnic militias. “God revealed that some of them would come up, sponsor, and cause problems. I saw people running helter-skelter and we really need to pray against any kind of confusion. It will not happen in Jesus’ name.”

    On the current war between Russia and Ukraine, Olujobi informed that God is using the two countries as examples of what to expect in the future. “It is part of the last day revival and we would see that Russia would face terrible things in the future. God would break Putin and power is coming from Korea and China. They are silent but when they show up, America needs to be careful. There would be a great shakeup. I saw people from Asia, Korea coming up, and then peace would come but not yet.

    “Two other nations would also face themselves and that would be more terrible than what is happening now. As a prophet, we would continue to pray against this and for peace to reign. I also saw that Ghana would have a civil war that would collapse their economy, they need to pray more.”

     

  • How God raised dead girl through me -Babatunde

    How God raised dead girl through me -Babatunde

    Pastor Lekan Babatunde, the General Overseer, Jesus is King Ministry, Samonda, Ibadan,is a former senior lecturer at the University of Ibadan. The Abeokuta born pastor turns 70 years on Tuesday April 5. He reflects on his 30 years in the ministry and life as a lecturer in an interview with Southwest Bureau Chief Bisi Oladele

    Can you share your background with us?

    I was born in Abeokuta to a textile trader. My mother was a textile trader and my father happened to be the oba of  Ilewo town, Ogun State.

    I am a full-time pastor now. I used to be a lecturer in the University of Ibadan.

    How long have you been in ministry?

    It’s been quite some time, because I left UI in 1989, and since then, I have been a full-time minister

    When you left for the work of ministry, were you in an existing ministry or you started from the scratch at that time?

    I started my own ministry, according to the instruction of the Lord, from the scratch but I had been involved with other churches, ministries as a Christian in earlier years.

    Which mission?

    Precisely, I was with the All Nation Disciples of Christ and I also worked with the late Prophet Obadare. As a matter of fact, I was very much involved in his WOSEM; I was the  financial secretary for Oyo State, while the late Colonel Makanjuola was the chairman at that time.

    I left to start my own ministry. In fact, it was a tug of war because I was really in love with my profession as a philosopher. I was in love with Philosophy and  only God could have taken me away from Philosophy. I loved it, I loved everything about teaching philosophy and about living philosophy. When God asked me to leave, I did not leave. I was still very much reluctant and it took His mighty hand to actually take me out because when He asked me to leave, I was still doing what He asked me to do on a  part-time basis. I knew I had to start a new ministry and so much evidence that He used to speak to me. So I started the ministry on a part-time basis. I would  go to places to minister, preach the gospel here and there.

    I will give you one or two examples.We were led by God to go to the Juvenile Remand Home at Polytechnic Road, Eleyele Road (Ibadan)  at one time.  We went there on this particular occasion, we preached and blessed the children and left. The team included myself, my wife and other brothers. We did not even offer  any prayer for healing or talk about miracle, we just went there, blessed them with the gospel, gave them gifts and left. We were just at the junction of the road when we saw people chasing us and we stopped. They said  Kayode has started speaking. I said ‘who is Kayode?’  They said Kayode was one of the children in the Remand Home. In the  Remand Home they also have a place for the handicapped. Kayode was one of the deaf and dumb. We did not know, we thought they were all just normal children; we were just talking and preaching. So, they called us that Kayode had started talking and hearing. We had to drive back.

    So, the language of God was clear to me and I knew God wanted me in His vineyard to do His work but I was reluctant. Eventually, we went there to see the boy, speaking fluently, hearing well. It was a miracle. These are some of the things that I had seen but I did not leave. God now began to show me some hard signs, I was almost losing all my children coupled with many other incidents. Then at a time I had to bow because the two girls I had at that time were very sick and I knew I was the cause because it was an unusual sickness, even doctors in the university clinic said it was unusual, that they had  not seen a case like that before. So, I was in the bathroom when the Lord said: ‘When will you give me total obedience?’ As I heard the voice, to cut it short, I said: “Right now Lord, I will give you total obedience.” I left the bathroom, I went to lay hand on the children, in fact, the voice was gone, they were not talking again, and if you put them on the bed, the skin would  be peeling. So we had to lay them on a mat. The moment I laid hands on them, the following day, you won’t believe what happened, it was immediate recovery.

    The following day, I went to UI, put in my resignation and it was not easy because my head of department was then working  on a virgin area, blending lesson and philosophy, medical ethics. My head of department did not like it, he did not want me to go. So, he quickly arranged for me to travel for something at a university in the US. So, in spite of all that, I just said I am quitting. So that was how I left University of Ibadan teaching job.

    Apart from your colleagues in the department who could not fathom why you resigned so suddenly and wanted to go and join the work of ministry, did you receive pressure from friends, associates and your wife?

    Yes! From my wife, there was no pressure because we were all together in it. She is a very understandable wife but my own senior brother, he went to my parents and told them that Lekan wanted to starve his children, that he has quit his job. And then of course, you know mothers, she had to travel down, to know what happened. I explained to her, still they thought I was sick because to be a lecturer in those days, was really something. So, there was pressure but I stood my ground.

    So 33 years after leaving your academic career for the ministry, how has it been?

    It has been great. The beginning was quite rough but the just shall live by faith. We had to believe God for our sustenance. I know things of God don’t just boom like that. We had a very small beginning and of course, I will tell you that it was not easy but the encouragement I had personally was seeing the tangibility of God’s power and presence throughout my life in those days.

    Another example apart from the previous one, was a day I was going to the Chemical Pathology Unit at the University College Hospital (UCH) to see someone. As I got to the secretariat roundabout, I looked to my right, I saw on Queen Elizabeth Road one man called Lateef Adewusi, he was  crippled, walking on his buttocks, coming towards the roundabout. I just heard the Holy Spirit telling me to go and help him. And of course, I understood the language. You know secretariat is an open place. On a Monday morning for that matter when people were moving here and there, going to offices, and now God is saying I should go and pray for somebody in that open place. It was not a crusade, it was not any service. So, my reaction was ‘God, if I go to him and pray and nothing happens, that will be an open embarrassment.’ The whole world will see me here at the secretariat, so I did not do it. I went straight to UCH. But you know God when He wants to achieve something. I did not have any peace of mind until I came back. The moment people saw me going to someone that looked like a mad man, because he was half naked and he was walking with his buttocks, they all shifted their attention toward me. But you know God will always be God, if I had known that was what would  happen, I would have done it the first time I heard the voice. I went to the man, I asked for his name and he said my name is Lateef Adewusi, I said: “Are you a Christian or a Muslim?’ He said he was a Muslim. I said: “If Jesus were to help your condition and raise you up from where you are now, will you serve Him? He said: “Yes, I will serve Him.” I summoned courage like in Acts 3. To my surprise, Lateef Adewusi got up and walked. At that time, we had  not started Sunday service, I was  attending CAC Oke Ife. The church was at Agbowo. When he stood up and walked, he walked back home and brought all his family members to come and do thanksgiving in that church. I will never forget that day.

    So, it was quite clear that I had no business in the university teaching, I was just being stubborn.

    I can tell you a thousand and more but I will just give you one more. Though the road was rough initially, His mighty hand has kept me on.

    One day, I was sleeping in my rented apartment at Kongi, Bodija. A kind of noise woke me up, I thought there was a fight between our neighbors but when I got to the gate, I discovered a young girl died and the vehicle that was to  take her to the  mortuary had arrived. People were wailing. Then my daughter that followed me there just told me: “Daddy, something told me that this girl will rise.” I will never forget that statement. So, we went inside. When I was still jittery because it caught me unawares, I think she saw the anxiety on  my face and said again: “Daddy, something told me this girl will rise.” So, I summoned courage and laid hands on her. As I laid my hand on her, she came back to life.

    The mother was virtually living in my house after that incident, only to go and sleep in their house. The husband later joined the church.

    So, I have seen Him like never before and even though, there have been great challenges.

     

    If you see a young man, who has received a call to go into ministry today, what advice would you give him?

    I will ask him if he really received the call because if you are really not called, it’s a kind of work that if you enter, you will run back and those people today that are doing all kinds of things, it is because, somehow, somewhere, maybe they did not really get the call because if you don’t really have an encounter with God, those things that will send one back are many. And if you don’t go back, you will compromise. You run into rituals, you run into other things. Today, I can say to you that I am not a millionaire, am not a rich person but I have my needs met and supplied. Because we are old timers, we don’t do all these kinds of bad things.

     

     

  • ‘Why we’re organising schools debate on irregular migration in Edo’

    ‘Why we’re organising schools debate on irregular migration in Edo’

    The Global Initiative Against Illegal Migration (GIAIM), a non-governmental organisation involved in the campaign against human trafficking and irregular Migration has announced its plans to organise inter-school debates amongst high schools in Edo State on human trafficking and Irregular migration.

    This, according to Emmanuel Obiyan, Founder /Executive Director of the organisation, is part of its plans to further enlighten and create awareness amongst young school-age children on the evils of human trafficking and irregular migration and further help stem the tide.

    “The inter-schools debate will be going on alongside our regular school sensitisation campaigns, which is one of our cardinal points. The pupils will be encouraged to identify what constitute human trafficking and irregular migration, and also explore the causes, consequences and how to check them. Specifically, these schools debate will focus on schools in Edo Central and Edo North, and the top contenders in both zones will now be pitched against each other in a grand finale. You will agree with me that Edo State has one of the highest rate of human trafficking and irregular migration in the country, so we figure that our little efforts would go a long way in curbing the trend.”

    Obiyan also announced prizes for the competition, which he said include a laptop for the winning school, N150,000 for the first runner-up school and N100,000 for the second runner-up school.

    The competition is expected to kick of this April as part of Global Initiative ‘s first quarter 2022 activities.

    Aside the schools’ activities, Obiyan said the organisation will also be organising an interface training and collaboration with security agencies in rural communities in Edo State, also as a measure of checking activities of human traffickers and promoters of irregular migration.

    ” Starting this April, we will also be organising an interface training and collaboration with the security agencies who are meant to be playing a very pivotal role in checking irregular migration, but who are not doing this because in most rural communities, there are no anti-human trafficking desks. All that they do is charge and bail; so the traffickers are able to exploit the largely ignorant rural dwellers without consequences. We shall be going through the police stations, civil defence corps and local vigilantes, to partner and train them  in identifying issues of human trafficking, being proactive and reporting same,” Obiyan said.

    In the second quarter through to the third quarter of the year, starting from May, Obiyan said Global Initiative Against Irregular Migration (GIAIM) will be focusing on intensive training in its vocational center located in Edo State for young people. This, as has become the culture of the organisation, is to train and empower young people in vocational and other skills, so they can earn money and not fall easy prey to lurking human traffickers, who target and dangle El Dorado life abroad to them.

    “The training” according to Obiyan, “will be a six-month intensive training to take us through to the final quarter  of the year. Our areas of focus include: Hair dressing, ICT and Secretarial Management, Fashion Design, Marketing, Business Management, Cosmetology, Catering and Agro-farming.”

    In the final quarter of the year, Obiyan said, “We shall be organising a seminar to round off our activities.”

    As a further measure, the Edo state-born lawyer called on the Edo State government to create an agency on human trafficking and irregular migration as against the task force that currently exists.

    “What we have in Edo State at the moment is a task force against human trafficking, which can be dissolved at any point in time. I am therefore calling on the government of Edo State, who, I admit are not doing badly, to establish an agency, which shall be a permanent government office to fight human trafficking and irregular migration,” Obiyan said.

    Asked how he intends to fund most of GIAIM’s loaded activities, Obiyan, a lawyer, who also runs a law firm, Obiyan & Associates, in Lagos, said “I fund them with my private earning, it’s my passion.”

    He however admitted that  he has in the past got ample support from the Swiss Embassy, saying, “Their support have given us the capacity to be at the forefront in the campaign against illegal migration.”

  • Fresh worries as kidnappers target kids

    Fresh worries as kidnappers target kids

    Many Nigerians appear to be getting used to the news of adults being abducted by kidnappers who demand heavy ransoms for their release. But the new worries centre on the abduction of kids, many of whom are less than six years old. GBENGA ADERANTI examines the trend and the reasons for the spike in kids’ abduction cases.

    THESE days, a week hardly passes without a case of kids being abducted by some evil-minded fellows either for ransom or for money rituals. About a week ago, there were reports of three girls aged between five and six years being abducted in one of the communities in Ogun State.

    A member of the community who spoke with The Nation revealed that the perpetrators of the act came fully prepared.

    According to him, two women, probably in their 30s, rented a one-room apartment in the neighbourhood, claiming that they would be staying for three weeks.

    The neighbours, who had no inkling of the evil mission of the two women, fell in love with their friendly nature.

    Two days after they arrived in the area, they took two children of their co-tenant out, pretending that they were going to buy them biscuits.

    On their way out, they met the child of another co-tenant and requested that she should join them and she consented. That was how the ladies took the three children away without a trace.

    The matter was said to have been reported at the Ajuwon Police Station.

    The spokesperson of the Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, while confirming the incident, said: “We heard about it. The case is under investigation.

    “The kidnappers came to rent an apartment in the building. They recently moved into that place and other occupants of the house never knew that they had a game plan.

    “Since they came into the house, they started playing with all the children, showing signs of good neighbourliness.

    “The parents relaxed, thinking that they were good people until they ran away with about three kids from that place.”

    Oyeyemi said some people were invited for questioning on the matter.

    But while the dust raised by the abduction of the three kids was yet to settle, the news broke of another set of under-four kids abducted by a yet to be identified ‘Big Daddy’.

    Unlike the kids abducted in Ajuwon, Ogun State, the two kids abducted in Ijesha, a Lagos community were found two days after, but the trauma their parents went through was unimaginable.

    “We suffered, we prayed, we did everything and went everywhere,” one of the mothers of the abducted children said in a chat with The Nation.

    For three days, the homes of the two kids, Wasiu Dauda and Alimeen Ibrahim, were in turmoil as ‘Big Daddy’ and his gang refused to release the three-year-old kids.

    Narrating how the incident occurred in a chat with The Nation, an aunt to one of the kids, Omotunde Moore, said on that Friday, the kids were outside playing while their mothers were in their shops at Ijesha Akorede Market, Lagos. At about 6:30 pm, a stranger took the kids to a Malam who was selling provisions at a section of the market to buy biscuits for them.

    Unknown to the Malam, the stranger that brought the kids pretended as if he was a family member, so there was no way he could have suspected that the abductor had a sinister motive.

    “He put the two kids inside a mini-bus popularly called korope and he drove off.

    “It was later when we did not see those children that we started searching the shops, thinking that they followed someone somewhere.

    “From that Friday, they started searching for the kids until they were informed that they were sighted inside a bus within the community on a Sunday morning within the community,” Moore told The Nation.

    “I think the person that abducted them brought them back and dumped them inside the bus,” he added.

    Moore said it was a long wait for the parents of the abducted children as they were highly traumatised.

    “All the people in Ijesha were touched because it was probably the first time something like that would happen in the community,” he said.

    The Nation gathered that shortly after the children were found, the first thing the parents did was to take them to the hospital. Although the kids have since been discharged, they were taken outside the community for a short holiday.

    Alimeen’s mum, Toyin Ibrahim, who spoke with our correspondent, said it was an incident that fouled everybody’s mood. She said the kids were traumatised and could not explain where they were taken to.

    Asked whether the kids gave any lead on the abductors, she said: “How do you expect them to know where they were taken to? They are not even four yet. They will be four in two months’ time.

    “My boy was traumatised. All the efforts we made to make him tell us about his abductors were unsuccessful as he kept talking about one ‘Big Daddy’. Maybe that was what they were calling the person where they took them to.

    “We have emaciated as we were traumatised by the trouble we went through searching for the kids. The effect is telling on our body.”

    Ibrahim told The Nation that it was intense prayers that brought the kids back, “many people joined us in prayers. I think it was a miracle that the kids returned.”

    She advised parents to keep serious watch over their children, saying they should not allow anybody to give them biscuits.

    “Parents should go out with their kids rather than leave them at home. Carrying pregnancy for nine months is not easy,” Ibrahim warned.

     More kids abduction cases

    In a similar incident about a week later, a four-year-old girl was abducted in Akure, Ondo State capital. According to a report, the four-year-old girl, Esther Olisa, was abducted by some gunmen.

    The gunmen, who were said to be four in number, reportedly abducted Esther at Danjuma neighborhood of the state capital.

    The gunmen had allegedly robbed the victim’s family of their belongings before abducting Esther and getting away in a black Toyota Camry Sedan.

    Curiously, while the three incidents aforementioned were perpetrated by adults, the video of an alleged 18-year-old girl kid abductor, Blessing John, from Michika, Adamawa State recently went viral. Innocent-looking Blessing, who was caught with a four-year-old boy, was quoted as saying that her quest for a car led her into the act.

    She said her client had told her that if she could bring a kid, she would be given the money to buy a car.

    Unknown to her, the picture of the missing boy was in circulation. In the process of taking the boy to where she would be given the money to buy a car, she was caught.

    Two weeks ago, a couple, Olatunbosun and Ganiyat Abbass were arrested by the Osun State Police Command for stealing a six-day-old baby.

    According to the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Wale Olokode, who paraded the couple, the baby was stolen from one Jemilat Musa on Thursday, March 24. Ganiyat, who was said to be the arrow head of the crime, gave the mother of the baby N200 and some wraps of cornmeal to distract her.

    According to Olokode, shortly after the baby’s mother left home to buy bean cake in the neighbourhood, the suspects abducted the baby, put her in a sack and ran away.

    The suspects were arrested in the early hours of Friday, March 25, 2022, in collaboration with the civilian JTF.

    But while the above cases were reported and arrests were made, there have been many unreported cases.

    The abduction of children is not particular to Nigeria. According to a report by the National Centere for Missing and Exploited Children (NCME), 421,394 children in the US were reported missing in 2019.

    The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a private, nonprofit organisation established in 1984 by the United States Congress. According to statistics from the centre, one out of every 10,000 missing children reported to the police is not found alive while about 4,600 children are abducted by strangers every year in the United States.

    Why phenomenon is on the rise —Security expert

    Explaining why kids have become prime targets of abductors, a security expert, Mr. Lekan Ojo, said rather than blaming the security agencies and government for the trend, the situation should be blamed the nonchalant attitude of parents.

    According to him, “some parents treat their children as if they bought them from the market.

    “Some even take care of their domestic animals better than they do their children.

    “They tie their goats well, cage their fowls well but let their children loose, meaning that they value those animals more than their children.”

    Ojo also blamed the trend on a part of African culture which allows these kids to hawk not only within the prism of the place where the parents live but kilomtres unguarded.

    “What happens to these children during hawking?” he asked.

    He also observed that the economy of these parents also contributes to the vulnerability of their kids as many low-income earners live in shanty areas in urban centres.

    “Most of the houses do not have fences. This makes it easy for these kids to stray away from the sight of their parents and become soft targets for would-be abductors,” he added.

    He advised government to do something about the Child’s Rights Act.

    “There is no law that protects children in this country. That is why you see all these careless parents.

    “Imagine a kid of four or five years moving to and from school unprotected and unguarded. This makes it easy for whoever wants to take them away. These are the problems.

    “Do you blame this on the government? No. There should be child’s rights act just like we have in the western world.”

    He also blamed parents, both literate and illiterate, who are fond of hiring house girls without bothering to find out about the history of the would-be house help or get adequate information before engaging them.

    “The housemaid cannot be traced to anywhere. Just because your neigbour brought the housemaid, you begin to leave your kids with her.

    “There have been many instances where the housemaid sold or abducted the kids they are supposed to protect and all of them would be looking for the kids together,” he noted.

    On the way forward, Ojo advised the government to work on protecting children by enforcing the Child Rights Act. Until this is done, he said, kids remain soft targets of abductors.

    A psychologist, Dr. Bala  Abdullahi, speaking from the perspective of abducted children in the Northwest and the Northeast, said there had been a surge in the abduction of kids because the perpetrators of the heinous crime want to give it global interpretation.

    Abdullahi said: “If they abduct people like you and me, it will not carry any weight. But by abducting children, it gives a global interpretation.

    “There are international organisations that are addressing the global vulnerability of children.

    “It also portrays that they want to get international popularity and sympathy by abducting these children.”

    He said the inability of the government to arrest the abduction of future generations shows the incapacitation on the side of the government.

    On arresting the trend, the don advised that the government should reactivate its surveillance system in order to monitor abductors at the point they are communicating.

    He said while child abduction cannot be totally eradicated, parents should review their childbearing and child-rearing practice so they don’t give birth to more than they can train.

  • I have a masseuse who gives me massages at home

    I have a masseuse who gives me massages at home

    Moremi Elekwachi is the Principal Consultant at Euphorique PR. Looking beautiful and radiant, she gives Yetunde Oladeinde an insight into the things she does to maintain her glow.

    S a working mom of 7-month old twins, looking good is a routine she pays adequate attention to and is happy with the outcome. “I would that the secret of looking good loves one’s body every step of the way. As women, our bodies are quite magical and resilient, and it constantly evolves at different stages.”

    When you feel good about yourself, that confidence radiates and you look good, Moremi opined.

    “I visit the spa once in a while, and when I do, it relaxes me. Though, I love the comfort of my home too much to go out to the spa too often. I’d rather try to recreate some aspects of the spa at home. For instance, I have a masseuse who gives me massages at home”.

    She added: “I also have my body and facial scrub products that I indulge in from time to time.”

    Then she talked about some of the other things, she does to pamper her skin.” I must say that pampering my skin starts by drinking lots of water, fruits, and vegetables.  Many people don’t realize that having beautiful skin is more about what you put in your body than on your body”.

    As much as possible, there are a number of things she avoids these days.  “I avoid dairy and too many animal products. I try to stay plant-based as much as I can.”

    Trendy, classy and unique sums up her favourite look at work or for that special or formal event. However, go naked in the name of fashion”.

    To enhance her natural appearance, she has some favourite products and make-up artiste that help to achieve her beauty goals without stress. “I love facial and body scrub products. I’m not too particular about the brands I use as long as they contain predominantly natural ingredients. I have very sensitive skin, so I am quite particular about using products that are as chemical-free as possible.”

    Moremi continued: “I’m not really big on makeup really – but if I absolutely need to put on makeup, I prefer the DIY route. A makeup artiste I admire is Omon of Beauty Cook Studios. Though she has never given me a facebeat before, I’d love to patronize her in the future, as her looks are natural-looking and not too over-the-top”.

    Maintaining a good physique, she agrees comes with a prize. A good exercise routine has been very useful and she opens up on the things she does to stay healthy. “I love to go walking/jogging in my neighbourhood, and I also love to workout out via YouTube with Jeanette Jenkins and Heather Robertson”.

    Apart from paying great attention to her hair from time to time, her favourite hairdo is the braids. She rocks her braids in different ways and keeps looking dynamic like an African queen.

  • Satisfaction in Christ Alone (4)

    Satisfaction in Christ Alone (4)

    The Samaritan woman in the passage of our text was a person who lived a life that was engrossed in marital, spiritual and career dissatisfaction. When she had an encounter with Jesus Christ however, her eyes of understanding were enlightened, she dropped her water pot, went into town proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and consequently won many souls to the kingdom – she became a great Evangelist! This is why I believe that what God cannot do does not exist, and that there is no hopeless case with, and in Christ Jesus.

    The Psalmist while highlighting the goodness of God in Psalm 107:8,9 spoke very eloquently about God’s works of wonders to human creation and that He must be hallowed for His mission of satisfaction and His commission to give the grace to live lives to the fullest to as many that came to Him (John 4:37). The Psalmist said that, “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness”. From this passage, the Psalmist said that the celebration of His goodness is not predicated only on the fact that He satisfied the longing soul but that He satisfies. This is sufficient to state that His willingness and capacity to satisfy is same as He did yesterday, still doing today and shall do forever (Heb. 13:8). It also confirms the fact that all powers belong to Him (Psalm 62:11) and that, He can qualify the unqualified and He can make a way where there was none.

    Beloved, you need to surrender your life, family, ministry and assignments to Jesus Christ today. When you surrender to Him, He would satisfy you with His mercy. In Psalms 90:14, the Psalmist said that, “O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days”. It is instructive to note that happiness is a mirage without His mercy. When God intervenes for you with His mercy, He cancels whatever judgment that had been placed on your life, known or unknown to you, and replaces it with eternal happiness (James 2:13). This is suffice to say that when God satisfies you, He cancels every evil judgment, curse, pronouncement and embargo placed on your family line and His power shall take you to the zenith of your commission.

    Besides that, whenever Jesus Christ steps in, He would satisfy you with His favour. Deuteronomy 33:23 says that, “And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord: possess thou the west and the south”. When you are satisfied with favour dear beloved in Christ, your capacity for lift up shall be increased, laws and rules shall be suspended for your lift up, your level of operation and testimonies shall be expanded and you shall be elevated beyond your level of competence. When God satisfies with His favour, he turns a stammerer to a deliverer, as He did with Moses; He lifts up an unexposed lady to be the wife of the most powerful nation in the world, as He did with Esther; he turns a stammerer to a deliverer, as He did with Moses and he moves a prisoner to become the Prime Minister in a strange land, as he did with Joseph.

    Not only that, He said in Job 38:25-27 that, God satisfies the desolate and waste ground and causes the bud of the tender herb to spring forth. In other words, when God satisfies you, He releases greatness on you and the position you never imagined or dreamt about shall be vacated for you. The Prophet Samuels of this world shall be sent to look for you. They will disqualify others to qualify you and shall refuse to sit down until your arrival for anointing.

    In addition to divine favour, God also satisfies with goodness (Jeremiah 31:14). When you are satisfied with His goodness, everything that is good shall locate and follow you all the days of your life and wherever you turn to (Psalm 23:6 cf Deut. 28:6). By His grace and divine intervention, you shall get a decent job, even in a season of economic recessions, such that when people are chorusing a cast down, you will have a testimony of lifting up (Job 22:29). God will bless you with a good husband, He will decorate your life with a good wife, build you a house of your own, give you good cars for easy movement and enlarge your family with very good children etc

    Beloved, it doesn’t matter what is going on in the world, if you decide to obey divine instruction, God will position your Joseph at His Goshen (Gen. 47:27) and your Isaac shall be domiciled at His Gerar (Gen. 26:1-13). In Isaiah 58:11, God had promised that, “I shall satisfy your soul in time of famine and make fat your bones: and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not”. The Psalmist said in Psalms 37:19 that, “They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.” Joel 2:26 says that, “you shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied”.

    Beloved, please return to God today, surrender your life to Him during this Lenten season, ask Him to take full charge of your life henceforth and drop your water pot of sin and carnality. Allow Him take over the driving seat of your life while you sit beside Him. As He lives, your life will not be the same ever again and you shall continue to live in the satisfaction that is only available in Him alone, in the name of Jesus

     

    • Prayer: Lord, take the water pot of sin and flesh from me. Please take me from where I am to where you had destined for me in the name of Jesus.

     

  • WBF repositions, appoints Emokpae chairman

    WBF repositions, appoints Emokpae chairman

    Corporate strategist, theologian and development economist, Dr. Osaren Emokpae has been appointed chairman of the Wilson Badejo Foundation (WBF).

    The appointment followed the transition of the founding chairman, Rev. (Dr.) Wilson Badejo and vice-chairman, Rev. (Mrs.) Yinka Badejo.

    The appointment of the new chairman was unanimously adopted by the board at a meeting chaired by Elder Segun Olusanya.

    Emokpae, founder of EDJOHN School of Management, is also chairman of several organisations including LAPO NGO, Havilah Group, Mindshare Group and Concorde Security.

    He is a fellow of the Institute of Marketing, Fellow of APCON, Fellow of Management Consultants and has two doctoral degrees in Philosophy and Organisational Resilience.

    An Alumnus of Oxford University, Cranfied University, Hertfordshire University and University of Lagos, he is both a corporate strategist and theologian, anchoring two highly watched programmes on Foursquare TV-titled THE ANCHOR and THE WEALTHY PLACE.

    He was the Founding Chairman of Foursquare Leadership Institute, former chairman-Foursquare International Conference Centre Idimu, founding president MIPAN, a founding member of Mcpherson University Board of Trustees, BOT and Founding Pastor of Lakeview Foursquare church.

    He is bringing his wealth of experience, expertise, goodwill and social equity to lead the new Board of WBF. Also elected are Mr. Femi Badejo as Vice Chairman of WBF and Miss Oreoluwa Badejo as Director, WBF

    In his first address to the board of WBF, Emokpae stated that to immortalise the visioner/former chairman Rev (Dr.) Badejo and and vice chairman Rev (Mrs) Badejo, the foundation is to be totally restructured-with institutions and processes to enhance robust corporate governance in fulfilling its mandate to make significant contribution in reducing poverty in Nigeria.

    He further stated the board’s committees would be developed as instruments of effective administration and governance structure of the Foundation and that a performance evaluation framework will be installed to appraise all directors in exercising their functions.

    He also announced that the next WBF lecture will be hold in the Institute of International Affairs with erudite scholar and Director General of the Institute of International Affairs, Professor Eghosa Osagie as guest speaker.

    The occasion will have the General Overseer of Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria – Rev Sam Aboyeji as chairman; and Mr Femi Adesina – Special Adviser to the President on Media as Very Special Guest of honor.

    Among eminent personalities already invited include Pastor Tunde Bakare, Dr and Mrs Godwin Ehigiamusoe -founder, LAPO Microfinance Bank and Dr Iyi Uwadiae -immediate past Registrar of West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

  • MY BEAUTY REGIMEN: I exfoliate with salt, ginger and garlic

    MY BEAUTY REGIMEN: I exfoliate with salt, ginger and garlic

    Ngozi Ehumadu is a Nollywood actress as well as an event planner. In this encounter with Sam Anokam She reveals her beauty routine and style .

    Glowing and looking so beautiful, you want to know the secret and how she maintains this radiant lifestyle. “I think the secret of looking good involves a number of things that you do consciously. This includes being careful about what you eat and what you apply on your body. It also has to do with  being careful of your daily meal, having regular exercises to keep fit as well as making sure you bath two or three times daily”.

    That is not all. In addition, “happiness is very important. This makes her glow from within and the effect seen outside. “So, I make sure I am always happy. The crux of the matter is that if one is not happy then looking good is out of the question”.

    She adds that: “I always take my time to relax. This has proved to be very useful. Most times, I relax by watching foreign movies and watching some comedians perform live on stage. This usually keeps me fresh and relaxed, “Ngozi enthused.

    Spa? “Well I don’t visit the spa and the reason for this is because I naturally have a beautiful skin. However, I take my time to work on it with beautiful products. They work wonders and give me what I want because I love my beautiful skin so much. I also ensure that I take my time to maintain my skin regularly”.

    She continued: “there   are so many products in the markets or supermarket these days. You must identify what works for your skin. I use the sponge cream also known as “exfoliating cream”. It helps to take away dead skin because of the things mixed with it. It takes away those dead and dirty skin in a unique way, just like a “refreshing a memory”. It helps to bring in a new skin to the body. It is actually mixed with salt, ginger and garlic. After sponging my body with the exfoliating product, I go ahead and wash it off, and then I use my soap to wash and apply my cream after bathing. The exfoliating is done just twice a week, then  I use my normal cream and soap”. On a daily basis, Ngozi also has a routine that has worked for her over the years. It is the water therapy.  “I love to take a glass of water every day by 5am. It takes away all the unnecessary things like headache and tiredness. This water therapy done at 5am daily makes me ready and healthy all the time”.

    The conversation moves on to talk about the things she loves to eat or avoid in her diet.” As much as I can, I avoid Ice cream and groundnut”.

    So, what won’t Ngozi do in the name of fashion? “Though I love fashion and I am a fashionable person but I just cannot go around or dress naked in the name of fashion. Also, I don’t like to wear clothes that are tight because I hate sweat. I therefore hate any outfit that will make me uncomfortable “.

    Next, she talks about her favourite products and make-up artiste.” I go for Jennyvee when it comes to product. She is a professional skincare doctor and her products are very good for my skin. I have been using her for the past decade and it’s been awesome”.

    She has so many makeup artists but in that pack her favorite is Amybaby. “I tripped the day @Amybaby touched my face. Naturally, I know I have this photogenic and beautiful face but that fateful day I met her during one of our productions. It was an amazing transformation and even the producer couldn’t recognise me after the makeup session. She is nice and always knows and like her job very well”.

    Exercise routine? “Yes, I do. I love to stroll out in the evening and I walk at least for one hour, sweat out and come back and have my bath”.

    The hair is the crowning glory for every woman and happily, she tells you her favorite hairdo. ” I love simplicity and I am in love with natural things. My best hairstyle is an hausa hair style called Ishiaka. Those ones that you make and then wear wig”.