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Tag: Olagunju

  • Teach practical Christianity, Olagunju tells leaders

    The Senior Pastor of Praise Arena-Kingdom Light Christian Centre Pastor Jummy Adetoyese-Olagunju has challenged church leaders to put more emphasis on teachings of honesty, faithfulness, integrity, fear of God and making Christianity a way of life.

    He spoke with our correspondent last week at the 3rd anniversary of the church.

    Adetoyese-Olagunju said that the church has the divine mandate to reveal Jesus, His principles and demands to members in everything they do so that it will be well with them.

    He lamented many Christians boast of their denominations, wealth and affluence rather than living pleasing, Jesus-like lives.

    The cleric noted that despite having over 55 percent of the nation’s population, it is sad churches have not been able to permeate the society with the life of Christ, describing the situation as a great disservice.

    According to him the church has been on the forefront on advocating living for Christ among members since its establishment.

    He said: “We teach practical application of bible principles on daily basis. We present Christianity as a way of life and how it connects to the way every individual is expected to behave in the society.

    Adetoyese-Olagunju charged the church to invest time and resources in proclaiming the love of Jesus Christ in hard reach communities.

    “Many communities in need will only see the hope in the God we are service when do not reach out only reach out to their spiritual needs but provide pragmatic and tangible support that will meet their social and spiritual needs,” he argued.

    He added: “It is imperative that we go to hard reach areas and bring the love of Jesus to them with our gifts such that they will say that Jesus was here.

    “I am looking forward to a time when churches will build hospitals for people and make it affordable to the average persons: go to riverine area where there are no access roads to the city and build bridges, rehabilitate schools.”

    These, he said, will bring back biblical Christianity with special emphasis on the poor, downtrodden and helpless.

  • Why we need to praise God-Olagunju

    The Senior Pastor, Kingdom Light Christian Centre, Pastor Jummy Olagunju, has charged Nigerians to cultivate the act of praising God no matter the situation around them.

    Olagunju stated this in an interview with The Nation, ahead of the church Christmas Praise Arena programme holding on the 30th of December, 2016 at Le-real Hotel, VGC, Lagos. The praise night will feature praise and worship, prayer, word impartation and prophetic ministration.

    He said that praising God is more than entertainment; it’s connecting to God for uncommon breakthrough and success.

    The minister of the gospel declared that the present economic hardship in Nigeria is only a temporary setback for greater harvest if we do not lose hope in God.

    Said he: “The devil’s strategy is for believers to disbelieve or doubt God because of their problems. Praising God has enormous power and potency to turn defeat to victory, scarcity to abundance, and setback to breakthrough.”

    He enthused that many nations have gone through economic recession and came out victorious, adding that Nigeria is not an exception as God will take it out of this recession gloriously.

    Olagunju asserted that the wall of Jericho fell down flat in the scripture because the children of Israel obeyed and praised God, who proved himself faithful.

    He added that many people do not understand the grace we enjoy through Jesus Christ as a result of which they laboriously struggle and go through several activities in the name of praying to God, “whereas prayer is meant to be more of praises leveraging the finished work of Christ on the Cross, through which uncommon victory and answers to every needs can be received.”

    While we praise God at this Christmas season, he said, “let us strive to lift up others, promote tolerance and inclusiveness, fairness and justice and give praises for the happiness and love that bind all of us.”

    He said many civil servants are being owned salaries for months, but no governor or law maker has complained of non-payment of their own allowances.

    “Nigerians will be willing to sacrifice for the greater good if political leaders put the interest of the people first in all their dealings,” he declared.

  • Why EFCC operatives visited BoI, by Olagunju

    Why EFCC operatives visited BoI, by Olagunju

    The Bank of Industry (BoI) has assured of its commitment to manage the funds at its disposal for the growth of the industrial sector.

    The Development Finance Institution  (DFI’s),  Ag. Managing Director, Waheed Olagunju, who spoke at a briefing yesterday in Lagos, on the reason operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)  visited  the bank on Monday, said the visit had nothing to do with any untoward act, but was in response to a petition on  the management of Cement Technology Institute of Nigeria (CTIN), which had since been resolved.

    Olagunju went on the memory lane, detailing the sequence of events that led to the EFFC’s visit to the bank. He said EFCC operatives visited the bank over a petition dated concerning the management of the  CTIN fund, lodged on November 2, last year.

    He regretted that some reports had misconstrued his absence on the day of the EFCC’s operatives’ visit to mean that he was being evasive, saying his absence was because he had to attend a stakeholders session on the Nigerian Automotive Industry in Lagos that day.

    “It is very unfortunate that some reports stated that I evaded arrest,” he said, adding: “But given my profile, I could not have any hiding place in the world. On Monday, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, was in Lagos for a stakeholders’ forum organised by the Nigerian Automotive Industry to set an agenda for the automotive industry, which took place at Oriental Hotel.

    “We were invited to this stakeholders’ meeting because we are the managers of the National Automotive Council (NAC) Fund, which was the first fund BoI started managing. BoI in its own right is one of the vital stakeholders of the automotive industry. So that was why BoI was invited and I had to attend and that was where I was when officials of the EFCC visited our office. I did not know that they were coming; there was no tip-off. I am a responsible Nigerian; if I am invited, I will definitely honour the invitation .

    ”I went to the EFCC office on Tuesday and they asked me questions and I also wrote statements. The management of BoI is in continuum. I was not the Managing Director in 2010 and I was not the line Executive Director when all those transactions took place; the EFCC told me that they received a petition from the CTIN regarding the fund.”

    Olagungu said the EFCC operatives showed him the petition and asked him what he knew about the matter.

    “I told them all these matters had been resolved with Aliko Dangote and CTIN. When I assumed office as Acting Managing Director, one of my priorities was to look into our partnerships within and outside the country and I was briefed about issues regarding the CTIN and also heard that the CTIN was not happy with BoI and I said  it was regrettable. But I said that should not happen between BoI and Dangote because they are also our partner,” Olagunju said

    He said the parties to the transaction have addressed the issues raised with the new terms reached on how to manage the funds which have grown from N9 billion in 2011 to N13. 2billion, pointing out that BoI was appointed in 2009 to manage the fund that accrued from levies on imported cement for the development of the cement industry.

    Olagunju said when the funds were released, BoI granted loans to entrepreneurs in the cement value chain, adding that between 2011 and 2015, the Federal Government transferred N9.6 billion to BoI based on the earlier scheme as approved by the Federal Executive Council.

    He said when the CTIN was  established, BoI was in 2013 asked to transfer the fund to the CTIN’s account with a private commercial bank. A directive that was not carried out by the then management of the bank. In late last year, the CTIN petitioned the Presidency, following which a probe panel set up.

    “However, BoI management had since resolved the matter amicably with CTIN since late February 2016, during which it was agreed that an interest rate of eight per cent should be applied to the fund retroactively to previous releases based on which the fund grew to N12.3 billion as at December 2015,” he said.

  • BoI’s Olagunju gets Corporate Ambassador Award

    BoI’s Olagunju gets Corporate Ambassador Award

    Mr Waheed Olagunju, the Bank of Industry’s (BoI’s)Executive Director, Small and Medium Enterprises, has been conferred with the award of Corporate Ambassador at the Nigeria Arise Awards organised by BEN Television of London. Olagunju was honoured for his services to the corporate world, especially his selfless and dedicated service to the BoI ince its inception in 2001 that has enabled the bank make considerable impact on Nigeria’s industrial development.

    The organisers specifically noted the central role that Olagunju played in the successful New World Nigeria International Campaign that was one of the business and cultural side events of the 2012 London Olympics the high point of which was the High Level Business and Investment Summit on Nigeria that took place at the Dorchester.

    According to the award citation, Olagunju who joined BoI’s precursor institution the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB) in 1990 as a Senior Manager rose to Executive Director  (Business Development) in 2012.

    He acted as Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the bank between April 11 and May 16, this year and was reassigned as the Executive Director (Small and Medium Enterprises) under the bank’s management team led by Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa, BoI’s new Managing Director and Chief Executive to whom the organisers sent their warmest congratulations.

    Prior to Olagunju’s appointment as the bank’s director, in 2012, he served as the Company Secretary of NIDB/BOI for 15 years (1997 – 2012) and as General Manager, Strategic Planning and Corporate Communications between 2007 and 2012. In those capacities, he was one of the architects and strong drivers of BoI’s outstanding turnaround and transformation into one of Africa’s best Development Finance Institutions (DFI).

    During his involvement with the reconstruction of NIDB into BOI (2000-2001) and the consolidation of the mandates of NIDB, the Nigerian Bank for Commerce and Industry (NBCI) and the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND) into BoI, Olagunju worked closely with Messrs KPMG, the consultancy firm that was engaged to handle the exercise and the leadership of the then Federal Ministry of Industry.

    In the early years of BoI,  Olagunju coordinated the diagnostic study of the bank that was undertaken between 2004 and 2005 by the Swedish consultants (Messrs Swedish Development Advisers) who were appointed by the African Development Bank that managed the grant from the Swedish government for the exercise.

    Thanking the organisers of the Nigeria Arise Awards for the honour Olagunju dedicated the award to his colleagues at the bank.

    According to him, he was part of a formidable team that worked in concert to build one of Africa’s best development finance institutions despite daunting challenges. He expressed his gratitude to the bank’s successive Managements and Board over the past 24 years for giving him the opportunity to realise his potential.

    The Nigeria Arise Award was initiated by BEN Television of London to honour Nigerians at home and abroad who have excelled in their various fields of endeavours as well as friends of Nigeria and organisations that have made positive impact on Nigerians and also outstanding contributions to Nigeria’s development.

    Governors Godswill Akpabio, Ibikunle Amosun and Ramalan Yero of Akwa Ibom, Ogun and Kaduna  states were also honoured at this year’s centenary edition which is the fourth.

    Other recipients included Pastor Tunde Bakare and Dr Nazir Ahmed, an educationist, who has produced more than 100 high grade Nigerian students from his schools in the United Kingdom.