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  • I went to church today and tremendously enjoyed the service, would you believe it?

    I went to church today and tremendously enjoyed the service, would you believe it?

    It is Thursday, June 16, 2016 as I write these words. Femi Osofisan is 70 today and the church service to which I refer in the title of this piece was held at the Chapel of Resurrection, University of Ibadan. Ordinarily, there should be nothing remarkable at all in my going to a service of idupe, of thanks, for my friend’s attainment of the age of “three score and ten years” that the Christian bible makes so much of in its wide-ranging reflections on our allotted time in this life, this existence. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that there should be nothing remarkable at all in a non-Christian tremendously enjoying a church service held to give thanks for the gift of long life for a close friend. For ordinarily, there should be nothing remarkable in an atheist, an iwalesin secularist joining Christian brothers and sisters in a worship to celebrate the life of a beloved friend. If the service had been at a mosque, I would have been there, at least if I am allowed to be there. If it had been at a synagogue of Judaists, I would have been there. Ditto for the places of worship of Buddhists, Hindus, Orisa devotees and other faith communities. In my understanding and practice of a quite robust secularism, ritual and symbolic expressions of thanksgiving for the gift of life take many forms, religious and non-religious. For this reason, participation in all or any of these traditions of expressing thanks for human life should be truly ecumenical. In other words, it should nothave been surprising for anyone to have seen me in church today joining the Christian community in the thanksgiving service for my friend. But that is not what happened.

    Ah, BJ, you will come back to Christ, many who saw me in church today said to me after the service. When I said in response that seeing me in church and even observing me sing lustily did not mean that I am on my way back to Christ having left Christianity more than four decades ago, these friends and relatives asserted knowingly that I may not know it yet, but Christ is at work and against my knowledge and will, he will bring me back into the rapturous band of the saved. Now, I should perhaps add here that a good number of these interlocutors were being rather teasingly playful: they did not in the least expect that sooner or later I would someday be back in the fold. But quite a few were dead serious: either I would come back to Christianity one day and be”saved” or my eternal soul is headed for perdition. As a matter of fact, this was the theme of the sermon preached very vigorously at today’s service, this radically anti-ecumenical notion that on a planet in which the non-Christians overwhelmingly outnumber the Christians, all the non-Christians will not be “saved”.And there was no doubt that this fate was reservedespecially for those like me who, having once been Christians, left the fold.

    Now it occurs to me as I think of these issues that as much as Christians, many secularists like me might as a matter of fact also come to the conclusion that my going to a Christian service of thanksgiving for the gift of life is an indication that I might indeed be making unconscious but inevitable steps toward a return to Christianity.  For such secularists and atheists, this is the pertinent question:  since all the songs and hymns, all the sermons and exhortations, all the poetry and sentiments evoked and expressed at the service today were aimed at affirming the majesty and grace of God, how can an unbeliever like me ignore this combined and overwhelming play of the sacred and the divine at the service? This question can be rephrased more piquantly: for the secularist, the non-believer, to whom and how might thanks for the gift of life be expressed if not to God and in the idiom of a religious service?  Another way of expressing the same question is to ask pointedly if atheists and secularists have their own non-religious ways of expressing thanks for the gift of life. Since indeed there are secular, non-religious traditions of expressing gratitude for life in virtually all the cultures of the past and the present, these questions boil down to the following central issue: is there really an unbridgeable divide between secular and sacred, “Christian” and “non-Christian” ways of celebrating life and giving thanks for happiness and longevity?

    My answer to this question might shock both religionists and secularist and it is this: reverence for life and gratitude for its enrichment and longevity is not the exclusive, sovereign space of religionists and/or secularists! During the three days of the festivities for FO’s 70th birthday that I attended and participated in, there were innumerable secular rites of song and dance, poetry and performance, narratives and jests all expressing thanks for his life and work. In the secular sessions, there were moments imbued with intimations of sacred or divine motivation by the performer, orator, dancer or poet. And in today’s church service, as much as the sermon heavily proselytized for those not yet “saved” to stand up for Christ, there were many moments of mundane, secular expressions. One instance of this stands out in my mind: after the officiating pastor asked us all congregants to give handshakes of solidarity and peace to those closest to us, as I shook hands with Emeritus Professor Ayo Bamgbose, he remarked to me, “Biodun, so mo itumo e?” I was startled by this knife-edgepiece of good humor that I translated as “Biodun, you incurable and unrelenting ideological warrior, I hope you know the meaning of a peace gesture!” And at a moment in the service when most of the congregants had already sat down when we all ought to have remained standing – worshippers do develop tired feet! – and the pastor said, “you may be seated” one man behind me said loud enough for those of us seating three rows away from him to hear what he said, “we are already seated”! And indeed, who does not know that sarcastic and even ribald humor often encroaches willfully into the space of the sacred and the divine in church services?

    There are of course atheists and secularists who will never do anything that would make them to be found anywhere near a church, not to talk of actually being seen in one participating in a service, regardless of the occasion. To such souls I say everyman and everywomanto his or her moral and spiritual scruples! But we secularists of all stripes have it hard in our society and no more so than at the present time when a fanatical, simplistic and superstitious religiosity dominates nearly all our faith communities. I speak from both direct personal experience and deep and sustained reflection over the course of several decades. Atheism and secularism remain not only very poorly understood but also repressively and self-righteously sanctioned in our society. Here is a sample from a litany of dismissive barbs usually thrown at all self-declared secularists in our society: Ha, how can you say there is no God? You are lying, you do not really believe it; you’re only saying it because you thinkit makes it seem like you know a lot! If there is no God, who made you? Did you make yourself? Isn’t atheism a Western, foreign invasion that we Africans knew nothing about and did not practice at all before the colonial age in our part of the world? Show me a single Nigerian, a single African who calls himself or herself an atheist who did not pick it up from Western, foreign sources! At the bottom of everything is the fact that you so-called atheists are arrogantly and blindly setting yourselves against God! And so on and so forth….

    Within intimate circles of friends and relatives, I made a breakthrough against the psychological and intellectual ostracisms of such anathemas against atheists and secularists when I shifted the bone of contention from either the affirmation or the denial of the existence of God to the iwalesin principle: the crucial thing is not your belief or unbelief in the existence of God, it is how your Being, your values and acts enhance and enrich life and existence. If your belief in God drives you to live and act in consistency with values that enrich and ennoble life, then I have absolutely no religious or moral quarrel to settle with you. Similarly, if your unbelief is based on the rejection of the great variety of mystifications in virtually all the religious faiths in the world that use worship of God to keep billions of the faithful in penury and hardship while few live in obscene opulence, then your unbelief is very much like mine and I have no quarrel with you. Here I should perhaps emphasize that one type of unbelief to which I am totally opposed is that which pits all secularists against all religionists. In my life, I have met many fellow atheists with whom I had greater disagreements than with believers whose moral and spiritual values I found more compatible with mine. Logically, belief may be the radical opposite of unbelief, but in the real world, that is not always the case.

    Yes, I stopped being a Christian, a believer about 50 years ago, but this hasnot stopped me from sometimes attending a church service when the bonds of friendship and community demand it – as I did today. And I have not needed these infrequent, occasional returns to church service in order to retain the richness of ritual, festive and symbolic idioms for the celebration of life that I had when I was a Christian. As a matter of fact, the reverse is the case: I now have access to a much wider range of religious and non-religious, Christian and non-Christian festive and ritual idioms for the celebration of life than I did when I was a Christian. Expressed in concrete terms, if the service for FO today had been conducted in ANY of the religious traditions of the world, I would have been there. That would not have been the case when I was a Christian, a religionist. This is not true with the vast majority of Christians I know and have met in our country: had FO decided that part of the service today be conducted in the ritual and festive idioms of Orunmila, the muse of his artistic genius, the great majority of the Christians in church today would have assertively and ostentatiously absented themselves from the service.

    I take my cue in this matter from both Marx and our own indigenous traditions of a secularism that is robust without being dogmatic. Most secularists like to quote only one half of the quotation from Marx that forms the epigraph to this piece: Religion is the opium of the people. But I do not ignore the other half of the quote: (religion) is the soul of a soulless world. I think of this and my mind goes to the many, many historical instances when religious humanism and utopianism served to liberate millions of people from the shackles of material exploitation and spiritual mystification. Which is why in my intellectual and spiritual adulthood, I was immensely fortunate to have (re)discovered the iwalesin principle which, for me is nothing if not vigorously and superbly secularist.

    I sang lustily in church today at the service celebrating FO’s 70th. Having read this piece, I now ask the liberated Christians who were also at the service today to join us if and when we continue the celebrations at the shrine of Orunmila!

    Biodun Jeyifo                                                                                                                                 bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

  • Church donates computers to school

    Church donates computers to school

    The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Lagos Province 44 has donated computers to the Information Communication Technology (ICT) laboratory of Aguda Junior Grammar School in Surulere, Lagos

    The gesture, according to the Pastor-in-Charge of the Province Amos Emovon, would make the pupils become familiar with computers like their counterparts in private schools.

    He said: “The importance of ICT in the modern day world cannot be overemphasised. We are in a technology-driven age. Today, everyone carries a mobile phone with them; we have teleconferencing, Skype, tele-communities and so on. More so, examinations are becoming ICT-driven and this tells us that anyone who wants to be relevant in this generation and generations to come must be ICT compliant.

    “For example, we know that the UTME is now computer based and no longer paper based so we felt that public students are not as exposed to computers as the private school students. That is why we had to donate equipments to public schools so as to prepare them for the exam and also for the future because when they go to universities, a lot of things are ICT-based.”

    Tutor-General/Permanent Secretary, Education District IV, Mrs Lola Are Adegbite, represented by Akindipe Samuel Ige urged the teachers and students to maintain the donated computers so as to get maximum benefit from it.

    She also urged other stakeholders to take a cue from what the church has done.

    “To the other stakeholders, we know we cannot tell them to do something. It is our character that would bring them. If these computers are maintained properly, others would also come in but if they don’t, others would not be encouraged to do it. The teachers should try to maintain these properties very well. I have told the principal that if they have any problem, they should not keep it within themselves,” Adegbite said.

    Appreciating the gesture, the school principal, Daramola Ademola promised that the computers would be properly maintained.

    Ademola urged other organisations to join hands with the government to build a better Nigeria.

    “The government cannot do it all. That is why there is need for other organisations to go out of the four walls of the church and impact on our immediate communities. I am also calling on other individuals to join hands with the government and impact our society. When we have educated people, they would make positive impact, not only on their lives, but also on all others. So, let us all join hands and do this together,” he said.

  • Catholic church to establish agro-based vocational schools in Calabar

    The Catholic Archdiocese of Calabar, Cross River State, has resolved that vocational schools that are agro-based be established in the archdiocese.

    This was resolved Maiden Archdiocesan Education Summit which held in Calabar, the state capital.

    Archbishop of Calabar, Most Rev Dr Joseph Ekuwem, said educational policy should clearly articulate social, political religions and cultural ideologies that will stimulate the Nigerian child during the learning process and prepares the child adequately to step into the society to function these capacities.

    Ekuwem said there was need for the Catholic Education Board, the highest policy making body in education matters in the Calabar Archdiocese, to take active interest in educational matters in the state and country.

    He said programmes should take cognizance of the environmental endowments and natural resources such that children from that community shall appreciate and participate in.

    The Archbishop also stressed the need for the board to form a lobby group to interact with lawmakers to push their positions on education matters.

    He also called for parents to provide quality home environment towards functional learning, prepare children for formal education and show concern for their children’s progress in school.

    He said parents owe children and the entire society the obligation of disciplining children to give them the right values.

    A communiqué at the end of the summit read in part, “Supervision has to be frequent in Catholic schools for effective teaching and learning performance. School management should evaluate the inspection processes with their staff. Schools should establish internal supervision units to prepare for staff external inspection.

    “The Catholic Schools Board Archdiocese of Calabar should adequately train the teachers in order to broaden their knowledge on the curriculum development and the content. Teachers should endeavor to assess and prepare themselves effectively before presenting their lesson in the class. The Catholic Schools Board should ensure that playgrounds with aesthetics are provided in all the Catholic Schools.

    It is the right of the child to be trained, educated and taught religion for sound moral upbringing. A child that is properly taught and evaluated by the teacher does not really need to be involved in examination malpractice.

    “The school should provide quality teachers and properly remunerate them. The school should cultivate serene environment for better teaching and learning. Parents should provide quality home environment in learning process for their children. Parents should be committed in the discipline of their children for their overall welfare. They should inculcate good values in their children.

    Parents should create a home environment suitable for learning through designing an area to do home work. They should provide ready materials. Also there should be genuine interest and active engagement from parents.

    “Government should pay living wages to enable parents live up to their family obligations. Children should develop the passion to learn and be committed. Home where parents do not speak refined English Language should be encouraged to speak the local dialect and norms to their children before going to learn English in school.

    “Our teachers must be oriented with the right attitude to supervision. The Catholic Church must as a matter of urgency create an inspectorate unit to achieve the desired change and assure improved quality of teaching and learning in all Catholic Schools. To identify suitable teachers in the system and avail them the necessary trainings for inspectorate duties.

    “Capacity building be modified to include scholarship to produce highly qualified professionals ad provision of adequate modern equipment and instructional materials in the schools. Funds need to be made available to remunerate inspectors as an incentive. Follow up inspection should be done to find out the effectiveness of their earlier exercise. Capacity building by way of training and retraining of teachers will enhance functional literacy in Catholic education.

    “The Catholic Schools should endeavor to focus on the training of teachers, especially Tourism teachers. Government or the national policy makers also should endeavor to involve qualified private sectors in preparing sound curriculum that will produce sound functional literacy in teaching and learning process.

    “Expulsion in primary level should be an extreme unction last resort. Teachers should be proud of their profession, thus disciplining themselves so that their children will be disciplined.

    “Since most students don’t line reading books, the Catholic Schools Board should encourage open book test to enable them be acquainted with their textbooks.”

    Odey said the State Priority Actions set out the short-term and long-term strategies for the state to more effectively prevent and respond to violence against children.

    She said the Priority Actions not only define the role of each stakeholder in ending violence against children, but also acknowledge that no one entity can end VAC alone.

    “I take this opportunity to call upon State and Local Government level actors, civil society, religious and traditional leaders, faith based organizations, community based organizations, the private sector, the media, families and local communities to join the Cross River State ‘End Violence Against Children Campaign’ to ensure all of our children are able to grow up free from violence. I am filled with hope that together we can eradicate violence against our children in Cross River State,” the Commissioner appealed.

  • Member reports ‘fake’ miracles’ church to police

    •Command probes allegation

    Allegation of faking miracles to defraud unsuspecting church members and the public has hit a Pentecostal church in Benin, the Edo State capital.

    An aggrieved member of the gang performing and staging fake miracles for the ministry reported himself and the church to the police in the ancient city.

    Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) from the police command’s headquarters have reportedly begun investigation into the allegation.

    Sources at the police command headquarters said the founder and General Overseer of a popular church had been invited and quizzed.

    The member, who allegedly reported the self-proclaimed evangelist to the police, said the cleric owed him N48,000, being the agreed fee for sitting in a wheelchair as a cripple for six days before he received his “healing” during a recent church deliverance programme.

    It was learnt that the man, who is currently the main complainant and suspect, also alleged that the evangelist bought him a ram for thanksgiving in the church.

    He added that the preacher collected from him a suit he presented to him as the church gift, in front of the congregation, shortly after he gave his false testimony.

    When our reporter approached the complainant at the police command headquarters in Benin, he said he wanted to use the money to buy drugs because he was on medication.

    He said: “It was N8,000 per day; the programme was for six days. He collected the suit from me and gave it to another person.”

    But a police officer prevented him from giving further details on the matter, saying: “The matter is still under investigation.”

    Our reporter’s visits to the church on The Limit Road, off Sapele Road in Benin, revealed a large congregation of worshippers, most of whom appeared hypnotised and desperately seeking miracles.

    In separate chats with our reporter, some members noted that “since God used our daddy (the General Overseer) to deliver a woman who carried a horse in her womb for several years, deliverance has not ceased here. Just sow a seed in the church and watch out for your miracle.”

    But others conceded that the church membership had reduced considerably because some members left when they felt conned or did not get “expected” miracles.

    Penultimate Sunday, the overseer told the congregation: “Run to the altar with your tithe. It will turn to alligator pepper in your pockets if you go home with it.”

    This happened during our reporter’s second service at the church.

    The old and the young in the church rushed to meet the evangelist on the altar in response to his statement.

    The photographs our reporter took in the church were forced to be deleted by officials of the church, led by the Protocol Officer, who said photos were strictly restricted in the church.

    Several attempts to obtain comments from the founder and General Overseer of the church did not yield any result.

    A lady, who claimed to be the church’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) but refused to disclose her name, said: “Journalists always work with rumours.”

    Contacted, police spokesman Osifo Abiodun, a Superintendent (SP), said: “The case has been transferred.”

    It could not be confirmed where it was transferred to at the time of filing this report last night.

  • Church celebrates anniversary

    The Holy Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church Worldwide (Ayo ni o), Amazing Grace District Headquarters, Iyana Ipaja, has announced activities lined up for the celebration of the church’s 21st anniversary starting  today.

    The celebration with a pre-anniversary lecture titled; “Your Attitude versus your message”, to be delivered by Pastor Kunle Osinowo.

     There would be a fund raiser for the permanent site of the church’s N100 million prayer ground on June  6, 2016, which would be followed by a power packed revival tagged; “ In the Beauty of His Holiness” to be anchored by Prophet Sam Adebayo.

    Two other revival programmes would follow on Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th tagged “Manifestation of His Glory” and “The Glory of the Latter House” to be anchored by Pastor Sam Sodipo and Festus Taiwo respectively.

  • Chibok girls: FG won’t fall for fraudsters’ antics – Buhari

    Chibok girls: FG won’t fall for fraudsters’ antics – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said the Federal Government will not fall for  antics of fraudsters who have been asking for money to negotiate release of the abducted Chibok girls.

    Speaking on Friday in Abuja while receiving the Primate and Archbishops of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the President said his administration will continue to insist on a thorough authentication of the identities and bona fides of any persons or groups claiming to have custody of the girls before entering into negotiations with them.

    Buhari,  however, assured the Anglican Bishops of his steadfast commitment to the rescue of the girls, saying their safe return will be one of his greatest fulfillments in office as President.

     

  • ‘Church leaders are causing problems for God’

    ‘Church leaders are causing problems for God’

    The first thing you notice about the senior pastor of The Redemption Glory Assembly (TREGA) Lagos, Pastor Emmanuel Abiodun, is this curious reclusion. He keeps to himself in a way that tells one there is something about him to be unearthed.

    This reclusion is an art he has mastered over the years, perhaps to save him the wrath of those affected by his radical views. But once one succeeds in drawing him out of his shell, Abiodun opens up in a friendly, amazing manner.

    It’s been ten, long years since TREGA came into being. But there has been no attempt to showcase the church at least in the media. Is there something Abiodun is hiding? “I have not been hiding but busy with running the vision,” he began.

    “There has been no intentional effort to blow one’s trumpet. You don’t announce the pregnancy of six months. It announces itself. I just love the simple, unassuming life.”

    This unassuming life makes many fellow church leaders avoid him. He hardly gets invited for ministrations. His views are radical and hard-hitting. But Abiodun is the least concerned. “Jesus is my friend and I am contented with him. It is not about popularity but being right,” he retorted.

    His obsession with being right is huge. As long as something is right, Abiodun is all for it, without minding whose ox is gored, the cumulative costs or losses.

    He also likes to see himself as a process-oriented minister even though he is also mindful results are not easily dismissible. “We are more interested in process without minding results. What is the essence of laboring without results? We want success, prosperity and power but we know that there must be a process. Our attention to process is great.”

    Abiodun, who runs TREGA Life centre, a community empowerment scheme that has benefitted over 200 people, says he is never under pressure to deliver despite being a prophet.

    According to him:  “You cannot come to this church and I will tell you God will do it in just two months. I will tell you He makes everything beautiful in His own time.”

    “I am not under pressure to impress God and people. I tell people there are many things I cannot do.  I am not God. I am only a prophet. I can only pray to God and He has the prerogative to answer or not. God has told me that gifts will not build the church, but the word.”

    He said the trend of overpromising puts the church at a disadvantaged. Many people, he said, have been disenchanted by God and the church. “

    “When you come to God, He will fix you. But the way, time and how are left to Him. No man on earth can determine that. Many Christians no longer preach Christ but church.

    “When we preach Christ, everything is balanced. We are causing problems for God. When we balance things, the focus will be on God, not the man of God. When they have challenges, they will remain.”

    Abiodun added: “When we promise what we cannot deliver, we are causing problems for God. We don’t have right over our lives. Why should we promise others things so that they become disappointed with God and the church?

    “There is someone who will never die; whose network does not fail. That person is God and He should be our main focus.”

    TREGA life centre is a free empowerment scheme designed to uplift the downtrodden. Abiodun said the scheme is an intervention programme that is not money-related.

    “We came to the realisation that the church is supposed to be a solution centre in every facet of life. Be it in spiritual or physical area, the church must offer help to mankind.

    “I believe the church can do the little it can do without monetizing it to the people around. That is why birthed the vision. We are trying to be a blessing to the community and imposing kingdom values,” he explained.

    Though it is taking a toll on the finances of the church, the radical preacher said the scheme has come to stay because it is the right thing to do.

    “We don’t believe you must derive monetary benefits to help others. We do what is right to be a channel of correction to others. Fellow pastors have asked why we are wasting our time. Some think there is a grant somewhere and the fact is there is none from anyone. I believe the reward is with God and will not be immediate.

     “We are strictly abiding by the core values of moderation and love. We are doing what God wants us to do without bothered about the popularity or otherwise.”

  • Church seeks compensation for victims of Fulani herdsmen’s attacks

    The Prelate and  Moderator of the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Most Rev. Prof. Emele Mba Uka, has called for the payment of compensations to the families of the victims of the Fulani herdsmen’s attack.

    He made the call with particular to Ukpabi Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State.

    Speaking with The Nation in Calabar, Uka also called for the re-building of all the structures damaged in the attack by the Federal Government.

    This, he said, was in keeping with the spirit which inspired the on-going re-building of the structures damaged by the Boko Haram mayhem in the North East and the rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in the area.

    “Anything short of this,” the Prelate stated, “would amount to lack of genuine sympathy and a lamentable demonstration of double standards by which the Federal Government tends to treat issues affecting people in South East geopolitical zone.”

    Prof. Uka described President Muhammadu Buhari’s orders for “Onslaught Against Rampaging Herdsmen” as mere rhetoric if it is not backed by a seizure of illegal arms being carried by the herdsmen.

    The Prelate charged the President to go beyond rhetorics and institute a probe into the sources and reasons behind the deadly ammunitions which the rampaging herdsmen carry with impunity and which they use to unleash vicious attacks and wanton killings of innocent citizens of the country.

    On reported moves by the Federal Government to establish cattle ranches with public funds for herdsmen in parts of the nation, the Prelate warned against this as it would only end up in increasing the tension and friction between the herdsmen and host communities, thereby worsening the security situation in the country.

    “Besides, the business of cattle-rearing is a private enterprise and Government has no right to invest public funds in private enterprise belonging to particular individual(s) from particular ethnic and religious group(s),” he said.

    He opined that the ranches be established only in States where cattle-rearing is the predominant occupation of the people concerned.

     

  • Clerics work, pray for united Qua Iboe Church

    As factional feud continues in the old Qua Iboe Church (QIC), leaders of the church have prayed for peace and unity under its new name, the United Evangelical Church (UEC).

    The UEC leaders spoke at the inauguration and dedication of the assembly of the Church (Victory Arena) at Udianga Enem community in Etim Ekpo local government area of Akwa Ibom State.

    Addressing the congregation drawn from the Ukanafun Conference of the Church, the National Chairman of Conference, Rev. Cornelius Emelogu (JP), admonished members to ensure the new Church grows from strength to strength.

    Represented by the Secretary, National Mission Board, Rev. Usen Alexander Umoh, the chairman stressed the need for all to join hands in the building process of the church.

    He prayed for the new Church to rise from its “small beginning” to become a major rallying point against forces of darkness that may want to truncate its vision and mission.

    The guest minister, Elder Etette Akang, in his words of exhortation drawn from Psalm 40, underscored the importance of establishing close relationship with God.

    He warned that unrestrained sins would only lead humanity to everlasting damnation.

    He asked God to imbue in humanity the discerning spirits and the empowerment to keep His ordinances at all times.

    The Chairman of the new UEC in Udianga Enem, Bro. Monday Ekoriko, who donated the land for the new church, recalled that the establishment of the Church was in line with the resolution of the Conference to change the name from QIC to UEC.

    He thanked the youths of Southern Ukanafun Superintendency, noting that the establishment of the new UEC was borne out of their evangelism with the theme: “Let there be light” in the community last October.

    “After the evangelism, members saw the need to establish the Church in Udianga Enem,” he recalled, adding that the agitation forced Rev. S.M. Udo, Chairman of the Ukanafun Conference to inaugurate the new Church.

  • Three Jos clerics kidnapped in Kaduna

    The National President of Fellowship of Churches of Christ In Nigeria known in  as “Tarayyar Ekklesiyoyin Kristi A Nijeria” Rev Emmanuel Dziggau and two of his subordinates have been kidnapped along Kaduna Abuja road.

    They were kidnapped at about 5:30pm on  Monday evening while the victims and other leaders of the church were inspecting a building site for the church in Kaduna state state.

    The site of the church project is located at Sabongari-Kasau, an entrance village that welcomes travelers to the state.

    Other clerics kidnapped along the President are his Vice Rev. Illiya Anto and retired Rev. Yakubu Dzarma.

    The national General Secretary of TEKAN Rev. Moses Ebuga disclosed the incident  during a press conference held at TEKAN headquarters in Jos the Plateau State capital on Tuesday.

    Rev. Ebuga said, “The abductors has so far released Rev. Illiya Anto due to his health condition but the rest are still been held by the captives.”

    He said, “The kidnappers whom has been using the mobile phone of Rev. Anto demanding for N100 million ransom before they could release the President and Rev Yakubu Dzarma.”

    According to Rev Ebuga, “We are not ignorant of the prevailing political scheming in the country over the planned national election of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) where the leaders have become the subject of attack particularly the leadership of TEKAN/ECWA Bloc in CAN”

    He called on the federal government and the Security agents to do everything possible to ensure the safety of it’s leaders and have the perpetrators fished out.