The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sunday magazine

  • Odutola retires as BSN CEO

    The General Secretary/CEO of The Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN), Reverend Dr. Fred Odutola, is set to retire from the organisation with effect from 31st July.

    Odutola, who will attain the mandatory retirement age of 55 years in the organisation, rose through the ranks to become CEO in 2000.

    The longest serving staff of BSN joined on June 1, 1982 as the Lagos area secretary.

    During his tenure, BSN became the leader of other 40 Bible Societies in Africa in growth and in Bible distribution.

    The Bible Society of Nigeria is the largest distributor of English Bible in the world.

    In recognition of his expertise, skill and knowledge of the job he was elected the Chairman, United Bible Societies Africa Area Board in 2009.

  • Tackle insecurity, Ademowo charges FG

    The precarious security situation is unacceptable and must be addressed as a matter of urgency, the Diocesan Bishop of Lagos, The Most Rev Dr Adebola Ademowo, has stated.

    He spoke last week ahead of the synod of the church, which kicks off today.

    The theme of the synod expected to attract Governor Raji Fashola and other dignitaries is Counting Your Blessing.

    Ademowo said the nation is on a downward slope occasioned by the serious security challenges, especially in the north.

    According to him: “A situation where policemen are killed like chicken is disturbing and calls for urgent solutions.”

    The Dean Emeritus of the Anglican Communion challenged government to prove it is capable of arresting the situation before it further degenerates.

    He said the synod, which will feature Bible Study, presentations and meetings, is to deliberate on the way forward for the church.

    Recounting the many strides of the church in the last one year, he said the Diocese has presented a 14-seater Hyundai bus for the female section of Ikoyi prison.

    Inmates writing exams, he added, are also supported with payment of fees while some are on sponsorship for degree programmes at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

    He called for immediate decongestion of prisons across the nation to ameliorate the plights of inmates.

  • ‘Old public office holders should give way

    Everyone that is redeemed is to be glorified as Christ; so we become heir of God and joint heirs with Jesus. Our lives should not be a question mark, but an exclamation! That is God’s intention for you and me.

    No one can come unto Jesus, except the Father draws him. So, everyone that is born again today, was drawn by the Father to be justified and justified to be glorified (Romans 8:29-30). So, redemption that does not culminate in glorification is questionable. The ultimate of our redemption is our glorification.

    The Word of God says: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). So, when our sins are forgiven, then the glory is restored.

    First, recognize that redemption makes you a child of destiny. Your redemption is a product of God’s pre-destination. God’s Word says: For whom, He did foreknow, them, He also did predestinate… (Romans 8:29-30).

    Second, you are a particular child on a particular mission. Jeremiah 1:5 says: Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. So, before each of us came, God knew us and He has separated us with particular tasks. Paul said, “God who separated me, from my mother’s womb” (Galatians 1:15). So, everyone in the Kingdom today, is a child of glorious destiny.

    Second Peter 1:3 says: According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. So, your call is to glory, not to shame. Redemption is the gateway to your glorification. It is not just being a child of destiny; you have a glorious destiny.

    Remember, the Bible says: “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” (Proverbs 29:18). What is vision? The word ‘vision’ has been so grossly misunderstood today in the church that virtually every dream of the night is mistaken for a vision. That is why multitudes today, are chasing after shadows! The question then is: What is vision?

    Vision is the unfolding of God’s plan, as it relates to you in person. That plan is in place, but it is our duty to discover our God-assigned task, our God-ordained place, the God-ordained approach to our task and the timing of His plans as it relates to us.

    We have both natural and spiritual destiny with God; there is our assignment on earth, and there is our spiritual place on earth. The two together, guarantee our inheritance in glory.

    For every child of God, there is a pastor set over your life and it is for you to discover (Jeremiah 3:15-16). So, there is a spiritual platform for your destiny to flourish and it is your duty to discover it. It is correct positioning in your spiritual destiny that empowers your overall destiny to deliver.

    Who is the custodian of God’s plan on earth? The Holy Ghost is the custodian of God’s plan on earth (Acts 14:1-4). So, the outpouring of the Spirit of God, is the platform for visions and revelations (Joel 2:28).

    How does the Holy Ghost unveil God’s plan? He unveils God’s plan in two ways – He speaks and He shows. John 16:13 says: Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

    So, He speaks and He shows. Divine plan is unveiled through the voice of the Spirit and through the visions of heaven. Remember the Holy Ghost went to Peter and showed him a casket from heaven that had all manner of beasts on it. He told Peter, “Kill and eat.” Peter said, “No! We don’t eat this in Israel, it is unclean.” While that vision was over, the Holy Ghost told him that four men were waiting for him. The Holy Ghost showed him and spoke to him!

    Also, on May 1-2, 1981, the Holy Ghost showed me in an 18-hour vision, an array of afflicted humanity. I was crying, “God what’s happening?” He said, “But from the beginning it was not so.” He showed me and then He spoke to me. He is still doing that today. He shows us and He interprets what He shows us to deliver God’s ultimate plan.

    Why Do We Need Vision? The Word of God says: There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12). One of the greatest mishaps that can happen to a man is to lack an idea of where he is going, and how to get there. Many have rushed into certain open doors, only to discover that they were traps in disguise. Others have been deceived by the glitter of certain business plans, and have come to realize that not all that glitter is gold. That is why we need vision.

    We need God’s direction because often, the decisions we make in life are based on our assessment, which may not be absolutely correct. Everything may seem right and appear satisfactory to the human eye, but at the end of it is frustration, stagnation and untimely death (Proverbs 16:25).

    One can have a satanic encounter and mistake it for a divine encounter (2 Cor.11:14). God will only back up His plan, not our plan. We have a future in His plan; there is no future in our plan (Jeremiah 29:11). This is why we need vision.

    Friend, the power to be led by God is the privilege of children of God. You become a child of God as you confess your sins and accept Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. You can be His child now, if you have not been, by saying this prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Today, Lord Jesus, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You for saving me! Now I know I am born again! I will continue this teaching next week.

    I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with us through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

  • Priscilla Soyemi hibernates in Abuja

    BORN to a medical doctor father and an Irish mother, Priscilla loves the good life and has friends across the social divide, among whom are Daisy Danjuma, Angela Adebayo, Ranti Johnson, Lanre Ojora, Joko Olunloyo, Nike Makinde, Nene Lawal and others. A mother of two beautiful girls, in her late 50s with nothing about her depicting that she will soon be 60, the mixed race ex-public servant who used to be married to Chief Dele Fajemirokun was a bubbly socialite until she relocated to Abuja.

  • Ganiyu Olowu’s modest 40th birthday

    GANIYU Olowu, public relations consultant of notable brands. journalist clocked 40 last week. Rather than roll out the drums to celebrate the milestone, the birthday boy used the opportunity to donate 70 mass communication and media-related text books to the department of Mass Communication, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, (MAPOLY) Abeokuta, Ogun State, his alma mater.

    The birthday boy noted that turning 40 years old was symbolic and it provided opportunity to reflect on the past and project how to better serve God and be more useful to humanity.

    Forty out of the 70 mass communication text books were symbolically donated to mark the 40th birthday, while the remaining 30 were to complement volumes of books in the popular mass communication training centre.

    After the donation, Olowu and his friends were hosted by the Senior Special Assistant to the Ogun State Governor on Public Private Partnership, Dr. Tunde Sodade.

  • Fanfare as Apostolic Church dedicates auditorium

    SWEET, good memories! That just about describes the lasting impression in the minds of those who witnessed the ordination service as well as grand commissioning of the corporate headquarters of the Apostolic Church (Mount of Zion), Maryland, Lagos, penultimate Sunday.

    The twin event, which drew crowds from far and near, was the first of its kind in the annals of the church.

    A cursory look at the auditorium, decorated in turquoise blue and laced with white apparels, complemented by the galaxy of faces including church officials and guests decked in an all-white attire all vivaciously gyrating to the melodious hymns churned out by the choir, said it all: A ceremony was indeed in the offing!

    The officiating minister, Apostle (Dr.) Isaac Enoch, expressed gratitude to God for crowning the efforts of his congregation with success thus far.

    He said there was every cause for the congregation to bring out their drums and cymbals to celebrate their successes because the journey has been anything but smooth.

    “This whole thing started nearly over 23 years ago. This church you see standing magnificent here today can be described as a child of circumstance.

    “We faced a lot of persecution from different quarters as our members became the butt of derisive jokes, violent attacks, among other untoward sufferings.

    “But our faith remained unshaken. From a humble congregation of only three, we soon rose to tens of thousands. Today, what the Lord has done is marvelous in our eyes and we shall rejoice and be glad in it. From our experience, you can see that it is good to serve the Lord in truth.”

    The cutting of the tape to formally declare the church open was conducted by the presiding bishop, assisted by other elders in the church.

    The highpoint of the occasion was the ordination of some members including: Evangelist Imoh Stephen, Pastor Gabriel Ufot, Savior Ufot, Aniekan Akpan, Samuel Akpan, and Ekomobong Umosoh respectively.

  • ‘Boko Haram will outlive Jonathan’s govt’

    The founder of Mountain of Blessing Miracle Centre (Oke Ibukun), Abuja, Pastor Akintunde Elijah, is a 54-year-old blind cleric. He spoke with Olugbenga Adanikin on his ministry and the nation. Excerpts:

    Call to the ministry

    I was formerly a contractor and lived in a place called Alagbado Kollington in Lagos. That was where I started my building and block supply business. I also had a block- fabricating factory. I was also a transporter with vehicles that carry sand. Those were the things I did but I was told from the beginning that I would work for God because I wasn’t like this before.

    I didn’t accept the call because I had no problem. My business was running smoothly and nothing was wrong with me. Like I told you, I had companies and boys who worked for me. But I did not want to be a full-time pastor. I was under Pastor Adebiyi of Pentecostal Mission before I left.

    I would just operate there and go back to my office. I was doing this until I lost my sight and couldn’t see anything. Then God told me to move to the North. God later sent somebody to me to leave for the northern parts that He would tell me what to do. That was how I came down to Abuja.

    I have been here for 13 years now. When I got to Abuja, I knew nobody. I lived at Airport Road for complete seven years. The Express was where I slept all through the period. Five of my workers that came with me and I did not sleep in a house. We used iron sheets to build a makeshift house by the roadside before demolition came and we were sent packing. Because there was no money to secure an apartment, we started sleeping in Federal Housing Authority (FHA) uncompleted building.

    I used to go to the mountain to pray. My people would walk me there to pray until God revealed to me to come to Kaduna Road and that led us here. We have been here for over five years now.

    On miracles in the church

    We just offer fervent prayers because we do all night here from January to December. There is no rest except for Saturdays and Sundays. The Spirit of God leads us. In some situations, we are asked to pray into water and give to people. Barren women may be anointed with oil and by the special grace of God they conceive. There are many that we can’t start counting but we are being led by the Holy Spirit.

    Causes of rifts among churches

    What caused this is that not everyone called is chosen by God. I must not deceive you, if God did not call me with my sight I wouldn’t have been a pastor. I can’t deceive myself. Before I was called, I was using four vehicles: a Land Rover Jeep, Volvo and Toyota Hiace. That jeep is now N11million, the Hiace was 1.7million and I had a trailer. But God collected everything from me.

    So, most who call themselves men of God are not called by God. At times when we go to the mountains to pray, the offering could be just N400 to N500 and we have about 80 members in attendance. What can we do with N500? That is why most Christians deviate. It is not every Christian that can endure. The only thing I can say is anyone who is willing to work for God must be ready to bear the pains.

    I wore rags for complete seven years and I was working for God. Apart from that, most people don’t have the boldness to stand firm in the journey of Christianity because they don’t want to stand for spiritual battles. They battle and lust for money. I’ve been working for God for the 24 years and as I speak no one has ever given me N20, 000. So, lack of endurance, love of money and lack of humility are causes of deviation among Christian leaders.

    On Boko Haram

    Sorry to say, but the end of Boko Haram insurgency is in the hands of the Federal Government. If government wants it to end today they will, because already it is Boko Haram that is ruling this country. You see before the insurgency will end we need to be filled with prayers and fasting. A bigger storm is coming. Even after the 2015 election, we won’t see the end of Boko Haram. This is what God has shown.

    Those who call themselves Boko Haram, according to the vision I am seeing, are not poor. They do not lack money. Government can only preach truce to them by trying to give them money but that is not their problem. The issue is that they don’t want the person currently in power.

    That is why we can’t say it will end this year or it will end in the next election. The only solution to Boko Haram is when the President repents. But that it will end? God has not revealed that. He should repent in the sense that he should do the will of God and quit doing the will of man. He is doing the will of man. God gave me the grace to tell him when he was newly elected into office but the people I sent didn’t see him to tell him that his government will shed blood.

    For example now, a suicide bomber must have been given a huge amount of money. And it is not just one, two or three suicide bombers like that. The amount these people have spent on bombs run into billions. And you know there are many other things happening which are not caused by Boko Haram but in the name of politics, some now commit atrocities.

    Advice to men of God

    If we want this country to prosper, influential pastors should quit from the love of money. Let’s not deceive ourselves, Nigeria is where it is because of our pastors. Pastors are the ones destroying this country. Inability to preach the truth is destroying Nigeria. Every person in power has pastors they go to for prayers who do not tell them the truth because of what they stand to gain. So the challenges we all face in Nigeria are caused by those who call themselves religious leaders. So if we want these tribulations to die down, it is in the hands of the government and religious leaders.

  • Adiukwu Bakare gears up for son’s wedding

    SOCIETY woman and politician, Chief Mrs. Remi Adiukwu Bakare will take a break from her busy schedule as a top-notch of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Reconciliation Committee in the Southwest on the 18th of May, 2013 to host the crème de la crème in Anambra State at the wedding of her son, Michael.

    The wife of top businessman, Chief Stephen Bakare of the famed Oluwalogbon Motors, is leaving no stone unturned to make the event the most talked about.

    Sources said Adiukwu- Bakare, who is also Lika-Aje of Owu and three time Lagos State governorship candidate will use the event to re-strategise against 2015.

     

  • Human trafficking: Nigerian girls sold into sex slavery in Italy

    Naples mafiosi were convicted last week of forcing a Nigerian cancer patient into prostitution. Barbie Latza Nadeau on the African girls trapped in Italy’s sex-slave trade.

    The Domitiana highway was built in 95 A.D. as a thoroughfare, leading north up the boot of Italy from the bay of Naples. Now it is something like a one-stop sex supermarket where up to 600 Nigerian prostitutes can be found at a time along a 30-kilometer stretch of the pot-holed road.

    Across Italy, Nigerian women are forced into the sex trade, essentially kept as slaves who are bought and sold and moved according to a moribund supply and demand. Some of the prostitutes are young girls, just 13 or 14 years old. Others are in their 20s or 30s. Many have children. Some are still married to men in Nigeria. They usually sit on white plastic chairs under umbrellas to protect them from the rain in the winter and the harsh sun in the summer. The highest concentration of Nigerian forced sex workers is in and around Naples, but they are not limited to the southern reaches. On Thursday, in the central region of Abruzzo, four Nigerian gang members and an Italian taxi driver who allegedly procured prostitutes across the country were sentenced to between nine and 15 years in prison for making 23-year-old Nigerian Lilian Solomon prostitute herself even though she was in the late stages of lymphoma cancer. The court in Teramo ruled that the Nigerian band prohibited the young woman from seeking treatment and should be held responsible for her death. She was represented in court by members of “On the Road” association against sex trafficking, which alerted authorities about her plight. Solomon testified under oath against the band before she died in 2009. The sentence, four years after her death, won’t bring her back, but it is one small step toward holding the sex traffickers accountable.

    According to Renato Natale, a local Neapolitan doctor who is a former anti-mafia mayor of Casal di Principe, the majority of the Nigerian girls and women who are sex slaves were sold for around $50,000 by their parents or husbands in Nigeria, often to pay loan sharks or to get families out of debt. Some women paid sums of more than $13,000 out of their own pockets in exchange for the promise to find legitimate work in Italy with the goal of sending money home or even eventually bringing their entire families over. Natale says when they arrive in Italy, they are often raped into submission and plied with drugs and turned into prostitutes. Many of the women have scars on their bodies from a voodoo-style initiation ritual where they pledge allegiance to their pimps out of fear of torture. “Frida,” 26, is a former prostitute who now works at a shelter for abused women in Rome. She says her initiation included vaginal penetration with a hot candle. She has scars on her inner thighs from the hot wax. She worked on the Via Domitiana for three years before she ran away with one of her clients who she befriended. She said many of the women on the Neapolitan highway try to convince the clients to take them away, but they often get caught and the men are threatened never to return. “Even the police sometimes pay for sex,” she told The Daily Beast. “There is no protection there from anyone. There is no one you can trust.”

    She says she was required to pay the Nigerian mafia dons $400 a month for one-square-meter of highway to work off the $50,000 investment. Natale says the Nigerians, in turn, pay a fee to the Casalesi clan of the Camorra organized-crime syndicate, who run the sex trade around Naples. Natale says the women are not allowed to charge more than $13 a trick—the market rate for street sex in the impoverished south—and they are not allowed to refuse customers. Frida says they were afraid to charge more. “They watched us all the time,” she says. “They would drive by or send spies to make sure we stayed in line.”

    Prostitution is not illegal in Italy as long as the sex workers are over 18, but it is illegal to pick up a prostitute on the street. Recently, police have been enforcing the client crackdown on roadside prostitution by fining the clients, so the mob has started buying up apartment blocks along the Via Domitiana and in other parts of the country. They have started moving the women off the streets and into the villas where drugs are sold in the basement and sex is sold upstairs. Natale used to visit the women on the streets and give them medications for STDs. He says the move to put the women in the houses is far more dangerous and life-threatening. “These people are treated like merchandise,” he says. “Now they are being kept in these houses that are protected by armed guards. They were somewhat safer on the streets because at least there we could check on them.”

    There is little hope to stop the illegal sex-trafficking racket, says Natale, because most of the women are illegal immigrants and do not have documents and are not in the Italian state system and therefore “nonexistent” in the eyes of the authorities. But there is also a bigger problem in that there is no authoritative government entity currently involved in stopping sex trafficking in Italy. All the work is done by non-governmental organizations with limited funds and virtually no power. “We are like ghosts,” says Frida, who recently legalized her living status in Italy and wants to help other Nigerians get off the street. “We are literally shadows on the highway.”

    • Source: The Daily Beast

     

  • We must avoid religious war, says Atilade

    The chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) South West region, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, has called on Nigerians not to plunge the nation into an avoidable religious war.

    He spoke during his investiture as the life grand patron of the Peace Vision & Care Foundation, an interreligious organisation in Lagos.

    He challenged Nigerians to demonstrate and not just speak about religious tolerance by offering hands of fellowship to those from other faiths.

    According to him: “Religion is not the problem; the actual culprit is the lack of affection among the component units that make up the nation.”

    Since the two major religions in Nigeria embrace love and peace, Atilade said killing in the name of God is an abnormality that must be condemned.

    Spokesperson for Shamsideen Alislameen Worldwide, a Muslim group that attended the event, Imam Ahmed Oladiran, said: “Boko Haram members are not Muslims because Islam preaches peace and holds life sacred.”

    He added: “If they have the fear of God, which Islam advocates and love towards their fellow human beings, they would not be killing innocent Nigerians because of religious differences.”