The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sunday magazine

  • 2012 editorial sloppiness

    THE first set of slip-ups to round off this year comes from National Mirror of December 27: “Beside (Besides), the old generation universities should be encouraged to….”

    “Young estate surveyors task (tasked) on professionalism”

    “Mouka rewards distributors at end of year (end-of-year) party”

    “He became the third Lintas alumni (alumnus) to head the umbrella body which….”

    “NSE sanctions Dangote Cement, 96 others for late submition (submission) of results”

    Last entry from NATIONAL MIRROR Back Page Guest Columnist: “…that we have tried our utmost best.” All the Facts, All the Sides: ‘Best’ has attained the end-point of intensification/absoluteness/superlative summit/amplification and cannot, therefore, be padded or subjected to circumlocution or imprecision such as ‘very best’; ‘utmost best’; ‘better than the best’…such expressions smack of verbosity and hazy thinking that borders on linguistic indiscipline! The word means ‘the most excellent type/quality, most suitable/appropriate, the highest standard that somebody or something can reach….’ End of discussion or should it continue? You are welcome in 2013!

    “However, after series of intervention….” (DAILY SUN POLITICS…& Polity, December 26) Get it right: a series of interventions….

    DAILY SUN of December 25 displayed editorial sloppiness with these two headline juvenilities on the same page: “Fayose urges Nigerians to emulate Christ…and “First Lady urges Nigerians to emulate Christ” The sub-editor who planned this page must have been dreaming of Christmas the previous day! How else do you explain this tardiness?

    More from the above medium: “FRSC deploys officials on (to) Asaba-Onitsha highway”

    “No gang up (gang-up) against Jonathan”

    “Customs arrests (arrest) passenger with $456,000 at MMIA”

    Still on DAILY SUN under review: “With deep (a deep) sense of humility…who stood by us during the events of the past two months that culminated into (in) the closure of our petroleum products tank farm facility.” (Full-page advertisement by Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited…the nation’s oil giant)

    “…all Abuja brethren rejoices (rejoice) with…on the occassion of the 10th Anniversary of our great Ministry (sic).” (Full-page advertisement by state coordinator FCT Abuja of The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement) I hope this intellectualization of religion is not blasphemous!

    “Reception follows immediately at (on) the church premises” (Full-page advertisement by Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja)

    “Cold blooded murder!” This is an example of cold-blooded headline casting!

    “That was when I saw the handwriting (writing) on the wall.”

    Finally from DAILY SUN of Xmas Day: “YSFON mourns Late (sic) Hamza” Sun Sports: Do you mourn a living person? Enough of this loose thinking!

    THE NATION ON SUNDAY of December 23 contained a few slips: “…discussed the envisaged restructuring of the party and it’s (its) chances in 2014.”

    “…he was the governorship candidate under (on) the platform of CPC.”

    “An engineer by profession and Harvard trained (Harvard-trained) economist….”

    “…argues that the federal government is biting too much (biting off more than it can chew).”

    “…turning himself into a brand that many up and coming (up-and-coming) comedians struggle to emulate.”

    Finally from last week’s edition of this medium under review: “Where to find last minute (last-minute) Xmas bargains”

    “…they now resort into (to) more desperate inactivity.”

    “…shouldn’t the National Assembly summon the will and revert back to the….” How does ‘revert back’ sound, dear reader? Simply illiterate. So, delete ‘back’, which is implied.

    “…on the erroneous ground (grounds) that all of them are rich.”

    “Too many theories are already making the rounds (doing or going the rounds) which only an open investigation can stop.”

    “The Hausa and Yoruba residents of Idi-Araba on Lagos Mainland went for each other’s throats….” Justice in service of community: each other’s throat (two persons) and one another’s throat (more than two persons).

    “The disturbances, as is (are) are now well known, started from a non-issue.”

    “But as soon as the Igbo governors demanded for confederation.…” Gently delete ‘for’ in the interest of lexical sanity.

    “The reunited Ijaw Youths Council has declared February 28 as a day all Ijaw youths would be ready to lay down their lives in a bid to battle the oil companies operating in (on) Bonny Island.”

    “Times like this call for fresh ideas and bold initiatives that would put a final stop to this one dark spot of our national life.” The tragedy of gunmen: A time like this or times like these.

    “Karzai re-opens Afghan embassy in UAE” This way: reopen.

    “Any of the elected representative (representatives) who performs well will stand a better chance of being re-elected in the forthcoming elections.”

    “Therefore, they should refrain from joining the bandwagon in a life of greed and avarice and take a right step in the right direction.” Nigeria and leadership succession: climb or jump on/aboard the bandwagon (not join—it is not a club or society).

    FEEDBACK

    Permit me to point out two rather frequent anomalies in Nigerian English: People are said to die after a brief illness. Does this make sense? ‘After an illness’ implies they have recovered. Death occurs from an illness—NOT after it. Often the word ‘contract’ is omitted when reporters write about government jobs. The road has been awarded. Is it right to leave out ‘contract’? No! Once more, thanks for your good works. (Prof. N.P. Okolie/University of Benin/07031677944)

    YOUR efforts at reducing lexical insanity are appreciated. The column should be an every-weekend tonic to every lover of good English. (Stanley/08062925996)

    My dear reader: Happy New Year in advance as we reconvene here next Sunday by God’s grace!

  • Jonathan is target of assassination in 2013—Prophet Oluwasegun Isedowo

    Jonathan is target of assassination in 2013—Prophet Oluwasegun Isedowo

    Prophet Oluwasegun Isedowo, a fast rising healer and televangelist and leader of Ikotun-Egbe based C.A.C Calvary Cry & Miracle Ministry in Lagos, told news men yesterday that God has directed him to alert the nation to pray in order to avert a major catastrophe which may involve President Goodluck Jonathan in the year 2013. According to him, God has revealed that President Goodluck Jonathan has been marked for assassination in 2013.

    Saying that the specific month was also revealed through the spiritual message, he msintained this will not be publicized for security reasons and for the fact that God has given a directive, which must be obeyed by the president and all peace-loving Nigerian Christians in order to avert the impending catastrophe.

    Prophet Isedowo also said that it was revealed to him that enemies of the president have concluded their plan, which would come via a very insignificant bomb explosion. In his own words “ God the Omnipotent did reveal that the assassination could ONLY be averted if President Jonathan can fast for seven consecutive days in the first week of January 2013 with the support of all peace-loving Nigerians, especially, Christians, who must fast during the first three days of this same month.

    Warning concernedly that it is only through the recommended directive of God could be averted, the man who accurately predicted the capture of Laurent Gbagbo, former Ivorien president during a live telecast in Lagos, insisted that disobedience to the voice of God may spell doom for the Nigerian federation in this regard.

    Prophet Isedowo said, “should I be taken for an attention-seeking man of God and these warnings be unheeded, this could lead to the unfortunate balkanization of the country in spite of the preparations to mark one century of Nigeria as a nation in 2014”.

    In line with this spiritual revelation to him, the prophet maintained that “should this avoidable catastrophe be allowed to manifest, the balkanization of the country into three entities will be proceeded by an internal crisis and civil war of immense magnitude, which will negatively affect all Nigerians-home and abroad.

    Repeatedly, Mr. President is urged not to ignore the 7-day fasting as no amount of security beef-up around him might be adequate to deal with the evil designs of his enemies as only God in his infinite mercy, can terminate the plans of those bent in assassinating him.

    Apart from the specific message to President Jonathan, he revealed that God also sends him to all agents of evil spiritual deeds and ritualists, especially in the Christendom, in Nigeria that 2013 will be a year of severe judgment for them as they will be visited with sudden deaths unless they turn away from using their evil powers to spread diseases among the unsuspecting masses in Nigeria.

  • CAN prays for national peace

    As parts of efforts to curtail the rise of insecurity in the Nigeria, the South West and Lagos zones of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) recently organised a national prayers and fasting programme for peace in the country.

    The one-day programme which held at the Lagos Presbyterian Church, Yaba under the theme: ‘O! Lord, Save Nigeria in Distress’ attracted a host of clergy men from various Christian dominations as well as politicians and people from other walks of life.

    Notable among them was the South West Chairman of CAN, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, the Lagos State CAN Chairman, Monsignor Benard Okodua, the Secretary, Archibishop George Amu, The President of The Apostolic Church, Pastor Gabriel Olutola and Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who was represented by the Vice Chairman of Lagos Mainland Local Government, Mrs. Lola Essien.

    In his address, Archibishop Atilade noted that Christians have an obligation to pray for the peace of the country where they live because it is a biblical injunction. He added that the problems bedevilling Nigeria today requires spiritual solutions.

    He said: “As Christians we are under obligation to pray for the peace of our country. In 2nd Chronicles chapter 7:14, God said he will heal our land if we humble ourselves and pray to him. The problems of Nigeria can be solved if we humble ourselves and seek the face of the Lord and that is why we have organised this programme.”

    Other speakers at the event also charged Christians to be vigilant and continue in prayers to ensure that peace reigns in Nigeria.

    The highlight of the programme was the intense prayer sessions against kidnapping, violence, shedding of innocent blood and the destruction of churches by the Boko Haram sect in northern Nigeria.

    The programme also featured song ministrations by the Presbyterian Church Choir and other invited guests.

  • ‘Preaching gospel in UK is a challenge’

    The problem of acceptance has been identified as a major challenge in spreading the gospel among white majority in the United Kingdom and the Island.

    This was made known by the National Director of The Redeemed Christian Church of God in the UK and Island, Elder Pastor Baba Isiaka in chat with The Nation at The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Milk and Honey Parish Maryland Lagos. The occasion was the parish’s annual ‘Let Somebody Shout Halleluyah.’

    He was one of the people  honoured by the parish for their contributions to the growth of the church during the programme.

    In spite of the challenge, he said the church has succeeded in establishing over 800 parishes in the UK and Island.

    “The whites came to bring the gospel to us in Africa but we have taken it back to them  in the UK,  Island and America. In comparison, we are bringing the light back to them. The challenge is more of acceptance because the white majority is no longer conscious. We thank God for our presence there because the Lord is really working there. In UK and Island alone we have more than 800 parishes and they are always full,” he said.

    He called on Nigerians, especially Christians to remain committed to the Lord in the face of persecution by the Islamic terrorist group popularly called Boko Haram.

    He said: “As Nigerians we must call a spade a spade. Boko Haram is an enemy,  they can never be friend. Nigeria has a great future that is bigger than an individual. God is still working in Nigeria. The country is going to carry the flag for the Lord forever.

  • Church pushes evangelism

    The President of Lagos West Baptist Conference, Rev Julius Adeniji, has called on the church to review and re-strategise its approach in evangelism for Christ.

    Adeniji made this known at the 30th anniversary and dedication of new auditorium of El-shaddai Baptist Church held last week Sunday at Orelope, Egbeda, Lagos.

    According to him, our great commission is to preach the gospel and to accomplish the task, we must endeavour to adopt new ways, strategy, approach of reaching today’s world for Christ.

    He said that it is obvious that the world is changing with the new technological advancement, new lifestyle, increase in literacy level, which implies that the church should begin to reevaluate the method of reaching out with the gospel message in a changing world.

    This he said will not give room for suspicions or competition among the body of Christ as each denomination can build a model that is unique after thorough self examination of better and innovative approach in ministry.

    “The gospel of Christ is relevant in every society, and we should keep the gospel pure and free of our culture or human tradition. Our preaching should focus on Christ, not on culture or other traditional beliefs.”

    Adeniji noted that church can only grow when there is constant self examination of the people, their orientation, environment, changing lifestyle and the  available  resources  without  undermining the message of  God’s word.

    In his opening address,  the Chairman, Committee of the anniversary, Ayo Omole, said that the church which started with two members in 1982 as the first Baptist Church in Egbeda has produced many other churches within the baptist movement in Lagos.

  • Church makes case for Constitution review

    The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria has put forward a five-point proposal as its contribution to the planned constitution review and what it calls re-engineering Nigeria for enduring peace, unity and stability.

    This includes the strengthening of the status of Nigeria as a secular state where all religions thrive side by side and no particular religion is preferred to others.

    There should be no ambiguity as to the secular state of Nigeria both in principle and in practice, the General Assembly Executive Committee (GAEC) of the church said in a communiqué at the end of its quarterly meeting in Calabar,Cross River State.

    The Church asked the National Assembly to enshrine in the Constitution, the principle of true Federalism in which each State of the Federation would control the resources within its bounds. This, it said, would ensure equity and fairness and would also resolve the twin issues of resource control and revenue allocation.

    On the creation of more States in Nigeria, the Church expressed support for more States to be created in such a way that the geo-political zones would have equal number of States. This would further bring the Government closer to the people and stimulate the provision of more social amenities that would bring better living conditions to the people.

    The Church called for the removal of the Immunity Clause as it concerns State Governors as a step to boost the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

    On Local Government Autonomy, the Church recalled that the Local Government system was introduced in 1976 ostensibly as an agent of rapid development at the grassroots level. It stated that from 1976 till date, there was hardly anything on ground to justify the operations of the Local Governments mainly because of the hijack of the Local Government Councils by their State Governments and the high level of corruption that had attended the system. The Church therefore called for Local Government autonomy throughout the country to return the LGAs to their original position as the third tier of Government.

    In the eleven-point communiqué jointly signed by the Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly, The Most Rev. Prof. Emele Mba Uka and the Principal Clerk, Rev. Ndukwe Nwachukwu Eme, the Church commiserated with the nation and the families of those who lost their lives and property in the floods that ravaged various towns and communities in Nigeria.

  • RCCG donates gift items to widows

    Widows have been advised to desist from living a miserable life and focus on God as their husband.

    The advice was given by Pastor (Mrs) Christiana Omunagbe of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Praise Palace Parish, at a Widows Appreciation programme which held at the Church’s headquarter in Oba Oka area of Lagos.

    Pastor Omunagbe who was the guest minister at the event told widows to always thank and appreciate God in whatever situations they find themselves. She added that being a widow could be saddening but being alive is enough reason to thank God because when there is life there is hope for better things to come.

    Wife of the Province Pastor and organisers of the event, Pastor (Mrs) Elizabeth Akintaju, explained that the event was packaged to give succour to widows and also feed them with the word of God.

    She disclosed that the charity gesture started last year with the distribution of various gift items to widows and that the gesture was part of the Church’s determination to put smiles on the faces of widows as yuletide season approaches.

    Some of the items donated to hundreds of widows who attended the programme included rice, live chickens, groundnut oil and lace materials.

    One of the widows, Mrs Folake Ogunbiyi, said she lost her husband 19 years ago, and that she alone was saddled with the responsibility of taking care of four children since her in-laws had taken over her late husband’s property. She disclosed that not for once has God disappointed her because two of those children have graduated from the university while the other two are still in school.

  • Fountain of Life empowers business owners

    Technical know-how, not capital, has been said to be responsible for the failure of many businesses in the country.

    This was revealed by a survey conducted among thousands of small and medium scale business owners across the country by the Business Fellowship Department of the Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, Lagos.

    The head of the department, Pastor Mojisola Odukoya made this known, Wednesday during a networking workshop organised to enhance the capacity of selected growing business people across the country.

    She said: ” Our senior pastor,Taiwo Odukoya gave us the task of empowering as many members and non members of the church that are into small and medium scale businesses using global best practices. In trying to do this, we conducted a survey at the beginning of the year asking hundreds of business people to tell us the problems they face in doing their businesses. After we analysed the whole thing, we discovered that most of them lack the technical know-how. Surprisingly, finance wasn’t the biggest problem but know-how. It was an insightful research that made us to understand that priority should be placed on technical know how and not necessarily on finance. When a business has the capital but lacks the know-how

    it has a higher propensity to fail.

    The networking workshop according to her equiped the participants with the technical skills they needed to excel in their businesses.

    “The networking workshop empowers the close to 200 participants within and outside the church on how to network in the business world. The programme is open to everybody in any part of the country. We announced it and even made flyers that we distributed far and wide to inform people about it.It is highly affordable because Pastor Odukoya subsidised it emormously.

     

  • Lord’s Chosen holds 10th anniversary service

    The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Movement will holds its 10th anniversary service today (Sunday). The event which coincides with the annual end of the year convention of the ministry will be attended by members and friends of the church from various parts of the country.

    Speaking at a press conference which at held at the church’s headquarters in Ijesha, Lagos during the week, General Overseer, Pastor Lazarus Muoka said the anniversary ceremony is a time to reflect on God’s grace which has sustained the ministry from its inception in 2002.

    The pastor added that the ministry rose from a humble beginning to become one of the leading churches in the country today because God gave him a unique message.

    “We started this church in a kiosk at Ilasamaja and today we have branches all over the world. We have had so many challenges mainly because of the kind of message to preach but God has been sustaining us that is why we are coming together to celebrate”.

    Unveiling the plan for the next decade, Pastor Muoka disclosed that the ministry would embark on a radical evangelism programme to take the gospel to the farthest parts of the world.

  • Women ministry dedicates hall

    It was a day of great rejoicing and celebration for members of the Women With Anointing Ministry (WWAM) with the dedication of an ultra-modern hall, the Glorious Praise Events Arena. The event, which took place last week in Port-Harcourt, attracted a large number of dignitaries who trooped out to support a worthy cause.

    The Co-ordinator of the ministry, Mrs Ejiro Awobasivwe, who was visibly excited at the realisation of a dream, expressed gratitude to God for making the completion of the hall for the ministry’s meetings possible. Tracing the history of the ministry, she disclosed that it was ‘birthed out of a desire to provide a support system for women in marriage through close fellowship and studying of God’s word.’ “The ministry held her first meeting on the 6th of November, 2008 at the home of the mother of the Co-ordinator, where our programmes were held faithfully and successful for four years,” she stated.

    She noted that with the growing number of women attending the meetings, a bigger space was needed. “Luckily, our Patron, my wonderful husband, Mr Lucky Awobasivwe, was instrumental in purchasing the land required and building this magnificent edifice for our use which resulted in the birth of Glorious Praise Events Arena….Our prayer is that as WWAM holds her meetings in this hall, God’s praise would indeed be glorious in our midst as he keeps using us to touch lives one woman at a time,” she disclosed.

    While dedicating the hall, Rev. Kingsley Ojo stated that, “anyone who is poor, once he steps into this hall, Abraham’s blessings will be his/her portion in Jesus name.”

    The event featured the launching of three books written by the Co-ordinator as well as the presentation of items to flood victims in Bayelsa State.