Category: Worship

The Coordinator-General, Celestial Church of Christ Genesis Team International, Evangelist Ekunola Davies, has urged Nigerians to pray for a peaceful election.

He said they should not relent in praying to God for intervention in the country’s affairs, saying the only way to get it right is through God’s intervention.

Davies spoke ahead of the 2023 Genesis Team Annual Crusade slated for January 13 in Ogun State.

He said: “Nigerians are depressed. We need hope. We need God’s intervention.

“I am very optimistic that God will appear during the crusade and people will experience God’s hand in miracles and our nation will be blessed.”

The annual programme tagged: ‘And The Lord Appeared Unto Him’ will be held at the Rehoboth Prayer Mountain, Ewekoro Local Government, Ogun State.

Davies said: “This is the first time we hold a conference for ministers of God to rekindle the light and catalyse revival across the nation, and I am happy that they are spiritually filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Human Resources, Ekunola Davies Ministry International, Prophet Samuel Bankole said Evang. Akinwale Adegbola and Prof Michael Adebamowo would be ministering.

Song ministration would be led by the GTI Marvellous Choir, among other gospel artists.

The newly inducted Pastor-in-charge of Bodija-Ashi Baptist Church Rev. Patrick Rotimi has urged Nigerians to seek God’s face before voting their preferred candidates in the 2023 general elections.

He said it was time for Nigerians to run to God for guidance, saying only God can appoint the right person to lead the nation.

Speaking in Ibadan during the activities to commemorate his formal induction as the Pastor-in-charge of Bodija-Ashi Baptist Church, Ibadan, Rotimi implored Nigerians to trust in God, remain courageous and be strong in the face of the current challenges.

He said: “God is in control of the affairs of man. Therefore, it is my strong belief that if we seek God’s face, God will choose the right leaders for the country that will lead us to the promise land.”

The President of Ibadan Baptist Conference Rev. Dr. Oyekola Bamidele appealed to the church to cooperate with the new pastor, adding that this guarantees fullness of God’s grace.

In his sermon titled: “Kingdom of priests”, the former Chairman of Nigerian Baptist convention, Rev. Dr. Olumide Kehinde admonished the new pastor and the congregation to walk in obedience and humility.

Taking his text from Exodus 19, Rev. Olumide said the requirement from God is for all to obey the instructions from Him through the pastor.

He also charged Rotimi to give his church revelation and not divination.

He described Rev. Rotimi as a Joshua, appointed to lead the Church to the appointed Canaan land, for its growth and refreshment in all ramifications.

As the New Year begins with so much hope, Nigerians are upbeat about this year’s election. In this interview with Adeola Ogunlade, the Chairman of the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), Lagos State Chapter, Bishop Stephen Adegbite spoke to journalists on his message for Nigerians, the forthcoming general election, and his reaction to a recent petition against him. Excerpts.

DO a retrospect of 2022 and tell Nigerians what they should hope for in the New Year?

The Year 2022 was a wonderful year and I take it from what happened in the days of Jesus Christ when there was a raging storm, the disciples were terrified and confused, Christ was sleeping and when he was woken up, he said to the raging storm, ‘peace be still.” By the special grace of God, there will be peace in Nigeria in 2023 because Christ is in control of our nation. Nigeria will never become an abandoned project. God is interested in this nation. We did not choose to be in this nation. There is a purpose for it and that purpose will be achieved. Nigeria will be great again and we will amaze the world. What I say to every evil prediction and prophecy against our land is that their prediction will not stand. God is saying that there will be peace and tranquility in our land in 2023. He is asking us to relax as he is in control and he will fight our battle for us and we will hold our peace.

 Every stony heart, God will melt them in 2023. 2023 will be the end of Boko Haram, insurgency, kidnapping, weeping, and agony in Nigeria. There is hope for Nigeria which will be restored by God himself. I will say to Nigerians, believe and trust in God. Whatever God has entrusted into your hands, do it diligently and when you and I do ours, we will have a great nation. Nigeria will be peaceful again. I remember how I used to drive from Lagos at night to Kaduna, Uyo, and Enugu, but we can no longer do that. Nigeria will be peaceful again and everyone disturbing the peace of Nigeria, God will raise a standard against them and there will be peace and tranquility in Nigeria.

 As the New Year begins, many false prophets will arise and begin to prophesy all manner of negativity about Nigeria. Let evil prophets go and sit down and let Nigeria have peace. God is bigger than any prophets and when God has spoken, every other person is a noise maker. God is saying it shall be well with Nigeria and that is what we are holding tenaciously to. 

What is your take on the current campaign by the presidential candidates as regards the 2023 election?

We want an issue-based campaign, not a personalized campaign. We want the candidates to treat issues. We have many problems confronting our nation, so we want every candidate to tell us the solutions that they are thinking about that will bring joy back to the lives and faces of the people. Whoever emerges as the winner of the 2023 election will be answerable to Nigerians. I will be in the vanguard of people that will be on the neck of whoever emerges as President to deliver the much-anticipated dividends of democracy to Nigerians. Enough is enough; it is high time to be accountable and responsible. Anyone who is not thinking of being answerable and accountable to Nigerians should not think of contesting for the post of Nigeria’s President. 

We know your stand on the 2023 election that has led to a call by the national body of CAN to probe you. What is your reaction to this?

The person that wrote that petition so-called is not anything to us but has apologized. The block where the person comes from in CAN has also apologized. I have the evidence to show you. We have five blocks in CAN- which are the Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN), Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (CPFN) /Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC), TEKAN and ECWA Fellowship. The petitioner is just from a part of one of the blocks and not representing any of the blocks in CAN.

 Every leader in Lagos has pledged their support, loyalty, and confidence in the leadership of CAN which is jointly done by all. We work in synergy and we work with one mind and everybody has seen that this is Lagos. We have lived in Lagos and have been part of the government for 22 years. We have been talking to the government about anything that is not good and they listen to God and us and we give all the glory to God. For anyone to think that we will be speaking against the government of Lagos when they have not done anything evil, will be wrong.

This is what the CAN in Lagos said to the writer (petitioner). The petitioner has invited me to his church to address God’s people before now. They brought him to my office and I said that anything that would bring peace and joy, we must accept in Lagos. In Lagos, we don’t fight on religion because we are interwoven and by extension, the entire Southwest where we are, we are interrelated. There is no family that you don’t find a Muslim or a Christian. So, the peace that we enjoy in the Southwest, we don’t want anybody to come and cause trouble between families.

In Oyo State where my maternal grandmother was a Muslim, she gave me an Islamic name. When I go to Oyo State, that name is what they will call him forgetting my skull cap. I have been eating ‘eran oniyo’  since I was born. How do you expect me to go and be fighting my family? We don’t do that here.

A lot of people have started attacking us, attacking CAN at the national level. We have said to ourselves, we are fathers to all. Let us be a father to all and let the will of God be done. You can’t force anybody on anybody. Allow people to vote according to their conscience, whoever wins, we must all support such a person. Once any candidate emerges as the winner, we have a duty from the scriptures to pray for our leaders. 

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You are openly supporting Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is that the position of Lagos CAN?

That is not the position of CAN, the position of CAN is to give everybody a level playing field. Let them tell you what they want to do, from their antecedents, from what they have done in the past; you can now make your decision. You will agree with me that not everybody that is a Christian in Lagos will vote for Bola Tinubu and not every Muslim in Lagos will vote for Asiwaju but because we have lived in Lagos and we belong to the Southwest and we have seen what Asiwaju has done.

On a personal note now, I have the right to support the candidate of my choice. I said this at the National Level of CAN and everyone admitted that. What we are saying is that let everyone tread cautiously because only God knows tomorrow. CAN did it in the past and it boomeranged. In 2015, we declared for someone, and at the end of the day, the person did not win and because of that, we were not allowed to enter Aso Rock for two and a half years. That should not happen this year. If some people in CAN belong to PDP, let them stay there and if some belong to Labour Party, let them stay there and if some belong to APC, let them stay in APC, anyone that gets to Aso Rock, we don’t lose. We must use our native intelligence. That is what we agree on at the national level in CAN. We are going to be a father to all. Let Nigerians decide their leaders and whoever emerges is our President. There is no contradiction between Lagos State and the National body of CAN. That is why we have granted all the candidates interviews and interactions at the national level. All the candidates have addressed us and we have told them what we want.

 CAN and PFN had initially protested against Muslim-Muslim tickets, what is the stand of CAN today?

 For justice, a lot of people believe that we must balance the situation. CAN is not a political party, we are a religious body, we have said our own, and the party has done its own. We can force anything on the party and that is why we left it at that level.

CHRISTIAN Association of Nigeria (CAN),  has described Prophet Chukwuemeka Ohanemere better known to many as Odumeje Indabosky  as a “Christian ecumenical commander”.

CAN chairman of Anambra State Chapter, Ven Joe Nweke said this while presenting an award to prophet Odumeje,  during a thanksgiving/birthday ceremony in honor of the prophet.

The event was organised by members of the Mountain of Holy Ghost intervention Deliverance  Ministry, Onitsha, Anambra State.

Nweke said: “We reached such a conclusion after conducting a discreet and independent investigation by a panel of eminent members of CAN on the character of Prophet Ohanemere.

Speaking further, the CAN chairman said “Our investigation revealed that your church; Mountain of Holy Ghost Intervention Ministry, is a church for all Christians regardless of denomination. Indeed Prophet Ohanemere is an ecumenist who seeks unity of the church.”

Continuing Nweke said: “An ecumenist is one who promotes unity and oneness in Christendom… we are here to confirm to the world that Prophet Ohanemere is indeed a true Christian working for the body of Christ and not a native doctor as the rumour mill has projected.

SCORES of less-privileged, including the aged, widows, and physically challenged benefitted from the gestures of the General Overseer, Pray Through Church of God, Pastor Taiwo Ayeni since December 18.

Ayeni donated cash, food, and other domestic items as part of his annual philanthropic gestures.

The distribution was done at the church premises situated at  Tollgate, a boundary between Lagos and Ogun State.

According to Pastor Ayeni, the programme tagged:  ‘Feeding the people,’  was to put smiles on the lips of the less-privileged and to enable them to have a sense of belongings in this yuletide season.

“Jesus’ feast was originally conceptualized to support the needy on this auspicious occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the church has been threading on the path for over 11 years.

“We have been doing this to enable the less-privileged, especially the widows, aged, and people with disabilities to enjoy Christmas and to have a sense of belonging in society.”

It was a celebration to behold as the choir and orchestra of the Cherubim and Seraphim Ayo Ni O, Surulere excited the participants with various songs of God’s love and gift to mankind at the church’s inter-denomination Nine Lesson and Christmas Carol Service, tagged: ‘Immanuel (God with us).’

The event brought together hundreds of Christian faithful from across the country. It featured Bible reading, song renditions, prayers, and word exhortation. Songs include:  ‘Wa eyin oloto,’ ‘Nigba kan ni Bethlehemu,’ ‘Ah Emi Adupe,’  and ‘Hallelujah Chorus,’ among others.

Speaking at the event, The District Chairman/ General Leader, Senior Special, Apostle Prophet  Sunday Funsho Korode said that the Nine Lessons and Christmas Carol was a service of Christian worship traditionally celebrated on or near Christmas Eve. The service which was interspersed with Bible readings and carol songs recounts the story of the fall of humanity, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus in one sitting.

He stressed that Carol’s service far exceeds the little amount of time invested, it would be the greatest tragedy this Christmas for us to enjoy the gift of family and friends and yet fail to appreciate the greatest gifts in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Korede further said that with the attendant tumult, crisis, difficulty, and problems that define our present time as a nation: “and with you on your feet in one piece without tossing your mental sanity is an indication that Immanuel is with us, to sustain and preserve us.

RICHARD Olumakiaye, the son of the late Archbishop of Ecclesiastical Province of Lagos and Bishop and Missioner, Diocese of Lagos, The Most Revd. Humphrey Bamisebi Olumakaiye, has eulogized his father describing him as a gift to the world who lived a consecrated, genuine life”

Olumakaiye said this at The Diocese of Lagos, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion organized an evening of songs, tributes, and testimonies held for the Most Revd. Humphrey Bamisebi Olumakaiye died on 29th October 2022 after a protracted illness. He was buried on the 8th of December in his hometown in Idare, Ondo State.

At the event which was held at Our Saviour’s Church, Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, encomiums were showered on the departed charismatic, prayerful, and life-achieved ministry within a very short time of Olumakaiye who was described as humble, forthright, goal getter who no doubt left his footprints in the sands of time.

Olumakaiye extolled God’s faithfulness and described his father as an embodiment of humility and generosity.

“He was great to the core, a true evangelist of the gospel. He was a visionary leader, full of ideas and vision.

“He lived an inspirational life, a joy of many generations. I am happy he led me to Christ. He was a true apostle of Christ, prayerful, and dedicated who loved God and Anglican Communion.

“My mother, Prof. Motunrayo Olumakaiye played the role of a true companion who made his journey very easy, ” he said.

Among those who also showered praises on the late Humphrey was the chair and past head of the department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, Prof. Ralph Akinfeleye who was represented by Chief Folu Olamiti.

He described Humphrey as a man with an unparalleled sense of humor, unassuming, and an Evangelist.  

The President of Lagos West Baptist Conference, Rev Samuel Oladiran, has reassured Nigerians of full recovery and restoration as individuals, families, and Nigeria inclusive as we approach the Christmas season.

Oladiran said this at a press conference on the state of the nation held last week at the Secretariat of the Lagos West Baptist Conference, Obanikoro, Lagos.

The cleric who spoke on a wide range of issues plaguing the country said that in the spirit of Christmas wherein we celebrate the gift of God, through Jesus Christ to liberate and restore humans to God to the position of authority and dominion after falling short of God’s expectation through disobedience, “we want to remind Nigerians that we have a very high hope of full recovery and restoration as individuals, families and a s a nation. We should therefore face life and the future full of hope of eternal and blissful life in the hereafter if we remain faithful and steadfast in Christ.

“For there is hope for a tree if it is cut down that it will sprout again and that its shoots will not cease.

 “All we need to do is to abide in Christ and live in obedience to his instruction. By doing so our issues become his issues as He gladly bears our burdens and reliefs us of all.”

He charged the government to be very intentional in ameliorating the very harsh effect of the current high cost of living which is practically snuffing life out of the average Nigerian and taking the necessities of life out of their reach.

He said there have been many cases of needless and avoidable death largely due to the inaccessibility of basic needs of life, food, medical care, and decent and comfortable housing.

He advised the government to put in place serious measures that would ensure that what the country is endowed with by God is made available should be escalated by the government.

On the state of insecurity, the cleric appeals to governments at all levels to come hard on the undesirable elements who are daily threatening the peace of fellow countrymen and making life unbearable.

According to him, no single group should be made to feel above the law. Nothing should appear to restore the people’s confidence in the ability of the government to secure them, since citizens’ security is the number one responsibility of any responsive government in authority to avoid a situation where everyone engages in the free usage of instruments of violence for self-defense.

He also appealed to the government and its agencies to allow the process truly afford Nigerians the opportunity to do so by creating a safe and conducive atmosphere for electioneering campaigns and elections.

After nearly three years, Jehovah’s Witnesses will resume their larger gatherings from January 7, 2023.

These assemblies have been held virtually since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although they resumed meeting at their Kingdom Halls in April 2022, their larger assembly facilities remained under lock.

The national spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nigeria, Olusegun Eroyemi, said arrangements have been put in place to ensure that the recommended safety protocols are implemented in all 23 Assembly Halls across the country.

He said: “Jehovah’s Witnesses are extremely happy with the opportunity to once again meet at their larger facilities.

“The virtual assemblies were very helpful while they lasted, providing much-needed Bible instruction during the pandemic.

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“However, nothing can replace in-person gatherings.”

Eroyemi said there will be 696 assemblies scheduled to hold across the country in 2023.

“These assemblies will kick off on the weekend of January 7 and 8, 2023, with 64 assemblies at various locations.

“The assemblies will highlight two Bible-based themes that will teach everyone ‘How friends of peace conquers the evil with the good’.

“The question will be answered: ‘Is your home a place of rest and peace?’ (Luke 10:6; Ephesians 4:3).

“Thus, the assembly themes are: ‘Friends of Peace’ and ‘Jehovah’s United Family’. No collection is ever taken.

“All are invited to attend an assembly at a facility near them. For more details on the program, please visit www.jw.org.”

President of Lagos West Baptist Conference, Rev Samuel Oladiran, has urged Nigerians to be hopeful about better days ahead.

“We want to remind Nigerians that we have a very high hope of full recovery and restoration as individuals, families and as a nation” he said.

Oladiran spoke at a briefing the state of the nation held at the Secretariat of the Lagos West Baptist Conference, Obanikoro, Lagos.

He said despite challenges, Nigerians should be optimistic about a better tomorrow.

“There is hope for a tree if it’s cut down that it will sprout again and that its shoots will not cease.

“All we need to do is to abide in Christ and live in obedience to his instruction.

“By doing so, our issues become his issues as He gladly bears our burdens and reliefs us of all.”

He urged the government to be very intentional in ameliorating the very harsh effect of the high cost of living.

He said there have been many cases of needless and avoidable death largely due to the inaccessibility of basic needs of life, food, medical care, and decent and comfortable housing.

He advised the government to put in place measures that would ensure that what the country is endowed with by God is made available

On insecurity, the cleric appealed to governments at all levels to come hard on the undesirable elements who are daily threatening the peace of fellow countrymen and making life unbearable.

According to him, no single group should be made to feel above the law.