The World Christian Council Association has called on religious leaders not to put the growth of Christianity on the acquiring of worldly treasures.
The leader of the association, Ayoola Omonigbehin, said rather than buying jets religious leaders should think of how to provide employment for many citizens who are roaming the streets.
IT’S usually the little black dress, but as it’s closer to Christmas, we have ditched the black for red-and- green, in true Christmas style. The fashion scene will be agog with an ocean of green and red in assorted variables. It’s time to do away with the blue that has been the king of colours for months. Why not try a wine or green knee-length dress for your Christmas or a red patterned maxi dress for that hot date? Get out there and get fashionable.
•December style secrets
With Christmas fast approaching, it’s time to sort your wardrobe. Whether you want to look super-sexy and stylish this party season or it’s a family get-together, an outing with friends, or the annual Christmas bash at work, Christmas is the time to see and be seen in the latest fashion trends. So, we have put together some of the main fashion trends.
•Supersize bags
Ditch the tiny clutch bags and handbags for night out, and bring in an oversize bag to hold all of your essentials. A big bag is also a good way to add a burst of colour to your outfit. So, colourful and bold bag can boost your look with minimal effort!
•Printed heels
This season, there is more reason than ever to get your pattern and colour-blocking high heels on because everyone’s going bonkers over patterns and prints, and they were even a huge feature on the catwalks.
•Blazers/jackets
There is nothing better than wearing a trendy blazers or stylish jacket when it’s cold outside. From Ankara to plain blazers/jackets, you can get any style you want from a lot of high street stores, so you won’t break the bank.
•Peplum fashion everywhere
Everyone is wearing it and everyone loves it! It’s perfect for all body types as it enhances the waist. With lots of different dresses and tops to choose from, you definitely won’t have trouble finding a colour that suits you.
•Belt it up
With beautifully-tailored curves and emphasis on the waist, belts are helping out a great deal with fashion this season. Imagine cinching your outfit with a red belt!
•Maxi dresses
For an indoor or an outdoor party, dress it the maxi way! Perfect for slimming down your figure with their long shapes, and sparkly and red or gold hemlines and all-over colour are perfect for the Christmas holidays.
•Sequin and metallic
You don’t have to wear a sequined dress to make a statement, it could be a skirt with a simple black top or the opposite with a sequin top and plain skirt or leggings and your favourite heels or flats for an effortless festive look; and shine like the star that you are.
Ex-model and one of Nigeria’s top bloggers, Linda Ikeji, reveals her favourite things to Kehinde Falode
Favourite shoe designer
Kurt Geiger
Favourite bag designer
Louis Vuitton
Favourite wristwatch
Omega
Favourite perfume
Angel by Thiery Murglar
Favourite Nigerian designer
Frank Osodi,Karen Millen
Favourite holiday destination
Hawaii
Favourite jewellery
White gold necklace
Favourite jeans
Brazilian jeans
Favourite pet
Dogs
Favourite car
Infiniti FX
Many Christians are operating outside divine grace because of legalism and self-righteousness, The Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Bishop Mike Okonkwo, has declared.
He spoke last Sunday during the opening ceremony of the annual Kingdom Life World Conference (KLWC), which ends today.
The theme of the conference that attracted thousands across the globe was Grace Grace.
Okonkwo said only Christians that completely rely on God will obtain grace to do exploit in all facets of life.
He condemned legalistic tendencies among Christians, saying such acts foreclose the wonders of grace.
Grace, according to Okonkwo, is “God in the race”, asserting that God has been reproducing Himself in the form of grace since creation.
He tasked Christians to stop struggling with sin, self and vices but surrender to God’s grace for ultimate victory.
The fiery cleric said: “The law condemns even the best but grace saves even the worst. Grace is to stop doing and receiving.
“Grace always locates your strong points, knowing that will deal with your weaknesses.”
He advised Christians to give grace a chance to experience the life designed for them by God.
Nkechi Alli-Balogun, former Chairperson, Lagos State chapter of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR)and Principal Consultant, NECCI Consulting, shared with Adetutu Audu why she is passionate about public relations, her involvement with matured singles and why marriage is not the ultimate thing in life.
YOU are one of the notable public relations practitioners we have around here; do you think we are practicing it the way it should be done?
In those days our people were interested in public relations office because PR is like a goal that projects future to the present. It also enhances the social aspect of it even in the negative. You will learn that at the end of board meetings they did all kind of things, you heard that they arranged this, they arranged that, but today that is not so. Our employers are more educated, our employers know more about public relations; the global aspect is also enabling us to understand more about public relations. And people today are bringing out the words, the public and the relation. So, now that we have an in-depth knowledge of what public relations is all about. Today, public relations professionals in Nigeria have embarked on many developmental courses in trying to do what their counterparts are doing in America because of the facilities they have in place, but then we need to change our thinking. Our thinking must be global if we want to achieve what they have achieved.
From your response, we still have challenges in Nigeria, what are these challenges?
If you want to look at it from that point of view, there are lots challenges in Nigeria as in people need to change their mindset of what public relations used to be in the past. What do I mean by that? People think practicing public relations is all about giving people money, so you find people saying why is that client giving you problem? Come on, give him what he wants. And before you find out what it is, they are talking about money. And when you are working with the set of people like that, you will discover that everything will end up with money and that is why so many of them think that public relations is all about giving bribe, which is not.
Anytime I come across such people, I just laugh at their ignorance. And that is one of the major challenges we are having in public relations because they believe that everything starts and ends with giving people money and that is one of the major challenges that we have; employers not having a broad knowledge of what public relations is all about. Though we do have organisations where we can find people who have a broad knowledge about public relations and we believe that a major difference will change the reputation of an organisation. And when the organisation starts having crisis, what most people do is damage control. A good public relations officer will bring about preventive measure in that organisation, so that there will not be crisis all the time.
Talking about governance now, what do you think is wrong with Nigeria’s image?
I always like coming out clear when I want to answer such question. To be candid, I don’t think public relations is well appreciated in Nigeria. We the practitioners, our job is always at stake and looking at the environment, most times you find out that Public Relations Officers are not being paid anything in their job or their profession. How many PR practitioners in this country would you say like their job? Some years back, I knew a lot of people that would tell lies because they didn’t want to compromise their job. So, in this country there is the issue of poverty, and it is such a problem where a man has wife and children and also has an extended family, and you ask him to come and practice PR. If you are not truthful, you cannot practice PR. Now, managing the truth and saying the truth become two different things; if you know the truth and you are able to manage it, that is one thing, and we have a lot of PR practitioner, who will not say it the way it is all because they don’t want to lose their jobs, and they know the right thing to do.
So everybody is compromised. And apart from this, we have the person who knows the value of what PR is all about. If it is not valuable, a minister wouldn’t have started the branding process, and that was the height of it. It is not that people don’t know the truth, but people like walking away from the truth. So many people say that constitution is the problem, but to me constitution is not the problem because whatever constitution we have, we should understand the constitution and respect the constitution. The issue is not whether we appreciate the constitution, the issue is are we ready to practice public relations according to the tenets of the practice? Public relations is truth well told. We have so many truths in this country that need to be told. We are the one that have tied ourselves, I will keep on saying this at every given time in every opportunity. Is South Africa better than Nigeria? And I don’t like it, and I feel insulted when we compare Nigeria with Ghana.
Are you going to compare the population of Ghana with Nigeria? Are you going to compare their facilities and everything? Are you going to compare the number of educated people we have in this country with Ghana? No! Recently, I was watching the news of a collapsed building in Ghana, I didn’t see it on CNN. But if it is in Nigeria, we are the ones that will be the first to send the picture or even upload the videos on YouTube or even to the international media. What CNN is writing about us, we are the one, that gave it to them.
PR well applied and handled by professionals will bring out the country from the shackles of bad image. And I think that is what Prof. Akinyuli was trying to do, but instead of surrounding herself with PR practitioners, she surrounded herself with advertising practitioners. We need people who will handle our image well. So we can have the right people who can write the right story, who know the right time and who understand the code of the people in terms of demography, in terms of education, in terms of finance, who understand who the major stakeholders are, the investors and the community people, what they expect. And these things are a two-way directional thing.
Does being a female pose any threat to you in the profession?
Thank God in the business I do ,I don’t panic, and thank God my faith also gives me that confidence. And I remember what my Bible says about creation of man. It says male and female, he created them; everybody in this world is always in need and there is a joy in the Lord that gives you the ability. So, the ability to will and do is in me. Whenever I am faced with any challenge in my profession, I just take it as part of me. The level of education today has made a lot of women move away from the back, even the people in the middle are at the front and that is what education does for you. So I don’t see any challenge as a woman practicing PR. Though, sometimes when we go for elections, men will flaunt their egos.
I could remember years ago as a PR manager when I got to where I was going, they would ask: are you the PR person of this organisation? And they would start praising me and be looking at me with surprised. And meanwhile, what they came for was different and they would take your official hour from you and before you realise what is happening, you would discover that it had nothing to do with what they came for. So these are the issues. They want a woman and this woman is proving difficult to do the other thing, and that is having a relationship with them.
What is your life-guiding philosophy?
Be the best in whatsoever you do and do it without compromise. This has guided me during the course of the year – accept who you are. What I just believe is that if what I do will make me to be successful in life, I will be there and I will never parade myself.
What inspired your fellowship for matured woman?
What inspired me are my activities in NGO. I have an NGO, Right Initiatives, which has taken me into women issues. And I discover that there are lots of stigmatisation against women, especially when a woman approaches the marriageable age. As soon as a girl clocks 25 years there is always a pressure from everywhere, you are not married, your mates are married and all that because we have placed value on this, and then you will see our females ending up with the wrong people or doing so many wrong things so that they will be able to get married, so that they will be able to satisfy their families. The word single has nothing to do with marriage, if you are single, you are single, even as a married woman you can be single; marriage. Is never the ultimate. I think who you are and what you come to the world to do, your purpose in life and your faith in God matter most.
On a lighter note, do you also practice PR in your marriage?
I usually don’t like talking about my family in interviews, but I tell you there is nothing like practicing PR in marriage. I thank God we have been married for the past 20 years; our marriage is based on the tenets of the Bible. So, I thank God for keeping us this far.
The National Coordinator of Project Youth Liberation, Pastor Uche Oyemike, was a cultist for several years while in the university. He shared with Sunday Oguntola how God saved him and why terrorists should repent to avert divine wrath
How did your journey to the world of cultism start?
It all started in Delta State University (DELSU) where I was admitted for a Pre-degree course in Geology. When I arrived there, one of my cousins was graduating from the school and she offered me her accommodation, which I paid for. Unknown to me, my compound was the den of cultists. There, you had all the leaders of cult organisations on campus. The leaders of Black Axe, Buccaneers and others were there. It was called Allen Avenue. I didn’t know anything.
One day, something happened in the compound. Some buccaneers from Ekpoma came and one of them had a girlfriend in the compound. Unfortunately, the lady was dating a Black Axe member in DELSU. He came and there was a fight. I ran from my compound towards Abraka Grammar School and saw a young man who had a girlfriend in the compound. I told him there was chaos. I didn’t know he was a Black Axe member. He mobilised more and the fight escalated.
The leaders of Buccaneer and Black Axe were from the same place-Agbor. They spoke in their dialect that they should settle and they got to know I was the one who ‘reported’ the guys who came from Ekpoma. Immediately, he made a decree that I should be killed. I got to know and ran home for about three weeks. My parents were disturbing me to return to school, not knowing death was waiting for me there.
Couldn’t you at least tell the authorities to bail you out?
The school authorities could not help. The fellowships could not help and parents could not. They said if I must stay on campus I must ‘belong’. Everybody I spoke to advised me to join them if I must stay on campus. They were, in fact, marketing their different cult groups to me. So, I made up my mind to belong to the strongest group, which was the Black Axe. I did that to at least remain on campus. But the killings were too much. The heat was much and after a year, I moved to the University of Benin to study Geology.
Then, you left the group right?
Not at all. I changed school and thought I had escaped. For one year, nobody knew my antecedents. In UNIBEN, the leader of the Eiye Confraternity was so powerful and influential. He had political ties that he was using to emasculate the Black Axe. So the group decided to infiltrate a political organisation called Rainbow Charity Christian Organisation (RACO) so that it can counter the influence of the Eiye group. About seven of us that were unknown were drafted to infiltrate the group.
But that same month, I gave my life to Christ. Immediately, God told me I was saved so that I can fight cultism. I told God nobody can fight against cultism. Many Christians who left were killed or maimed. But God assured me and said if I didn’t do it, he was going to kill me himself. We had a seven-month strike during the Abacha’s era and when we came back, I declared to everyone I was saved. I was there for one month and they didn’t look for me. Everyone, including me, was shocked. Then, I summoned courage and went to meet the chief priest, who was a childhood friend.
He said the reason why they had not struck me was because he was covering up for me. He thought I was feigning salvation so that I could graduate because I was in 300level. I said no I was serious. Then, he drew the battle line and said I should live with whatever came my way. He summoned a squad to hit me but when they came, they could not locate the same house they had visited several times before. They only shattered my room and left.
I was not perturbed because I was already with the Nigerian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (NIFES). Until that time, nobody, at least in UNIBEN, had left a cult group and stood for Christ. When people saw that nothing was coming close to me, many who had confessed Christ but could not declare it began to come out. My boldness encouraged them to come out from Eiye, Buccaneer, Black Axe and other cult groups. We started a group called the Called-out ones. It was such a big move because in my days, cultism was tough and untouchable. They would kill in lecture rooms in broad daylight. It was so attractive that those who didn’t belong felt foolish.
What was the group doing?
God used us to do so much. Mama Idahosa was there for us. She supported and stood by us. We started going round campuses through her sponsorship. There was also the late Bishop Onosode of Spirit of Life Bible Church. We were on TV, telling youths to come out of cultism. That was how cultism lost its grip in this nation. We exposed their secrets because the strength of secret cults is in their secrets. It got so good that you could slap a cultist back if he dared slap you. We were so effective.
I am sure you heard from them, didn’t you?
Sure, you are right. They formed a new squad team headed by the chief priest. I was staying at the doctors’ quarters in UNIBEN. When they got to my residence, they said it was too early and decided to carry out an operation. They planned to come back later. They went to a family and robbed them. There was a 7-month old pregnant woman. As they were going, the head of Black Axe turned and shot the woman in her stomach. They then met to share the loots. But surprisingly, a disagreement broke out over the sharing formula. The head got angry and shot the chief priest. Others ran away and came back to take him to UBTH. When they got to the reception, the pregnant woman who was shot was also being bought in. With her last breath, she identified them as her killers. They ran away.
The chief priest was in police custody for three days in the hospital. He then sent for me to come for prayers. I got a word from God to go. I got there and saw the criminal ward that was always locked with chains opened. Even nurses that had no business there could not get in. I entered and got to him. The detectives attached to him followed me without talking. The guy then narrated everything that happened to me. I led him to Christ and he said even if he was going to die, I should pray for him. I said he would not die.
His mother was wealthy and he was treated. He was sentenced and he came out. The head of the Black Axe was also looking for me. I couldn’t see him until we ran into each other on campus. He just came and knelt down. He was the most dreaded cultist on campus. He said he wanted to give his life to Christ. I said I didn’t preach to him but he said he was tired. He joined us and the guy who was to be his successor also joined us. They could not do anything because God was on my side. We were moving from school to school, preaching the gospel with our meager resources.
So, you graduated without hassles?
You can be sure. I left and joined Living Waters International Church in Port-Harcourt founded by Rev. Francis Bekee. I was there for 12 years, pastoring. I left for Enugu and pastored the church there too for another five years. I then came to Lagos and God told me to resign and start praying against the imminent violence in the land. I did and in the last four years I have been preparing for this assignment. The Lord said the assignment will kick off in Abuja.
Which is what?
The mandate is to put an end to youth violence in the country. From cultism, we have graduated to militancy, insurgency and now terrorism. We have really got worse. That is why I believe the proposed capital punishment against terrorists will not work. It should not be the first option but the last. If there was capital punishment, people like us would not have been alive today. Many people have come out of cultism. The government should exhaust every avenue to reach out to fight terrorism and cultism. Abacha voted many funds to fight cultism on campuses. In 1997, when we organised a programme, the school authorities gave us N100, 000 to support us. Cultism came down in the last 15 years because people rose up and said no.
So, what will you be doing?
We would start a non-denominational youth fellowship in Abuja where we will raise prayer altars. From there, we will spread to other geo-political zones in the nation. We will be taking our awareness campaign to them. 80% of people involved in social vices such as terrorism and cultism want to come out. But they cannot because there are no alternatives. I believe if they come to us, God will save them. Anyone that genuinely repents will be saved. I want them to overcome the fear of death. No one can kill you if your time is not up. Come out of them and God will accept you.
God is asking me to tell those involved in terrorism, cultism and militancy including their sponsors in government circles to give up. If they do not repent, God’s hammer will descend on them in 2013. God will start exposing them because He has had enough. This is their season of repentance.
By God’s design, the righteous and his seeds are blessed forever. The righteous and his children, even his children’s children are to show forth God’s goodness and blessings. Hear this;
He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease. Psalms 107:38
God is not talking about the blessing you can work out. That is why it is supernatural.
This is the blessing that comes from the very heart of the Father. The same way God desires that fathers are to break their families free from every curse so that they can experience supernatural overflow.
THE PATRIARCHAL PRAYERS
Children also need their parents’ patriarchal prayers and blessing. Consider these patriarchal prayers of David;
Make our sons in their prime like sturdy oak trees, our daughters as shapely and bright as fields of wildflowers. Fill our barns with great harvest, fill our fields with huge flocks; Protect us from invasion and exile— eliminate the crime in our streets. How blessed the people who have all this! How blessed the people who have GOD for God! Psalms 144:12-15 (Message)
There are five very important prayers that every father must continually pray over their children as seen in Psalm 144.
The prayer of a father
1. Posterity – that our seed may be mighty. No devil shall pluck your seed.
2. Prosperity – fill our barns with great harvest – this is supernatural harvest.
3. Supernatural multiplication – fill our fields with huge flock.
4. Divine protection – protect us from invasion.
5. Deliverance from crime
Fathers need to proclaim these prayers on their children daily because when they fail to do these, the devil will attack the family.
The reason why Satan is out to cut off fathers is because.
Fathers are shepherds over the family. So, when fathers don’t take their place spiritually, God raises a Deborah. She was the wife of Lapidoth, and that’s all we heard about the man Lapidoth.
You may be reading this article now and you are thinking I don’t have a father anymore to speak into my life. I take the place of a father to you today and I speak into your destiny as one of the next generation
§ You shall not be destroyed
§ Your destiny shall not be shattered in the mighty name of Jesus.
However, you need to clear every limitation to encounter this level of the supernatural and be free from every curse. Limitations and barriers must be taken away from before you. And God has taken as a responsibility to do this for you as He has promised in Isaiah 45:2-3; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
The reason why fathers need to rise and proclaim blessing upon their children is because curses which represent invisible barrier, limitation, delay, hindrance, obstruction, frustration and stagnation are also pronounced by the words of mouth. But the power of the blessing of God as pronounced by fathers will open the door that is locked. That blessing of God will multiply your family and your heritage. God arise on your behalf and that of your family in Jesus’ mighty name. look at this in Revelation 3:8; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
Every door locked against you, your family and business is opened now in Jesus’ name. From today, no curse shall stop you or your family.
God’s extravagant blessings will follow you this year.
Every gate of brass is commanded to be opened in Jesus’ mighty name.
The doors of blessing and freedom from curses are opened to you in Jesus’ mighty name.
Contact: Archbishop Sam Amaga @ Salem Mission House, Mabushi Abuja.
Phone: 08023018836; 08074450763
The Badagry District Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church, Lagos, Rev. Henry Ogbonnaya, has advised clerics not to turn churches to cinema houses.
He spoke last week ahead of the annual Ebenezer convention of the church with the theme “more than conquerors”.
The convention holds at Evangel College, Okokomaiko, Lagos.
Ogbonnaya lamented that several church leaders have diluted the word in a frantic bid to attract more people.
He said turning services to jamborees and churches to amusement centres negate the mandate of God for the church.
According to him, ministers are called to preach the truth and not amuse or make people feel good.
He said: “As ministers of God, our main duty is to preach the word of God, win souls into God’s kingdom and not involve in worldly amusement.
“We need to be serious and totally committed to God’s work because whatever we tell the people or pronounce is considered holy and followed by the congregation. therefore, ministers of God should not mislead their followers.”
Guest ministers expected at the convention include Bishop Bernard Azare, Rev Theodore Effiong, Rev Emeka Eze, Mazi Ohuabunwa and others.
The Pastor-in-charge of Providence Baptist Church, Lagos, Rev Julius Oduola, has backed the Federal Government’s decision to dialogue with the radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
He said it is always better to seek peace at all costs than resort to confrontations and armed resistance.
Acknowledging the group has engaged in unprecedented terrorist acts, Oduola said it is still best to engage them in dialogue for lasting peace.
He spoke last Friday with reporters on the anniversary lecture of the church with the theme, “Our people’s security and welfare: The role of the government and the church.”
The lecture will be delivered by Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Dr Matthew Kukah, on Saturday at the Lagos Airport Hotel.
Oduola urged the Federal Government to seize advantage of the sect’s willingness to dialogue to end terrorism in the nation.
According to him: “Dialogue is always the best way to resolve conflicts, not confrontations. When the militancy in the Niger Delta was becoming unbearable, it was the offer of amnesty that bought peace.
“If God is helping Boko Haram to ask for talks, I think we should embrace it. Confrontations will only lead to more deaths and loss of billions.”
While emphasising the need to seek peace at all costs, he pointed to ongoing clashes in Syria, saying, embracing talks would have ended the struggle.
He assured that the lecture, which will be chaired by eminent administrator, Dr Gamaliel Onosode, will examine what the government can do to bring about peace across the nation.
The Bishop of City of Refuge, Ojodu, Lagos, Oscar Ossai, has called for more involvement of the church and its leaders in political activities.
This, he said, will help entrench integrity in governance.
He said men of God have a track record of integrity and diligence, and should be willing to bring them to bear in lifting their countries.
He said: “Let us go back to the drawing board and develop our nation. Pastors have a proven record of self denial that cannot be gotten from 98 per cent of those in politics.”
Ossai said Nigerians should not give up despite the challenges of bad governance and lack of development.
The Bishop, who recently turned 52, has worked 35 years in the vineyard since 1974. The church opened on June 1, 1996.
The cleric decried the increase in social ills despite the proliferation of churches.
According to him: “Our foundation is wrong and it is time for Nigeria to look for an indigenous economic package that will work. Corruption is caused by insecurity and hopelessness. The whole system has failed.
Commenting further on the state of the nation, he said: “Corruption is not the problem but the failure of economic policies. Our social and economy policy formulators have taken advantage of Nigerians.”
“The problem is not the system but the operators. It doesn’t matter how good a car is if the driver is drunk. The drivers of the country are not driving right.”
On the problem of flooding that affected several states, Ossai said: “The floods and everything happening to us have a spiritual undertone. Let’s understand the spiritual impact of our actions.
“Nature is crying out because the land is polluted by the violence and bloodshed. The land is reacting to the corruption in the land. It is affecting yields in the fields.”