The Nation Newspaper

Tag: problems

  • Principals identify education sector’s problems

    The All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), said yesterday that political interference and poor funding had ruined the education sector in the country.

    The association ,in a communique issued at the end of its 60th annual congress in Port Harcourt, noted that there was general poor funding of the sector across the country, adding that most of what was appropriated for the sector ended up in the pockets of top government officials.

    The school principals  claimed  that appointments, postings and promotion of teachers have tilted away from merit to political patronage.

    The congress had as its theme, “Political Interference In Education: A Threat to Effective School Management.”

    The heads of secondary schools observed that there was high disregard for continuity in the formulation of educational policies while politically significant persons unnecessarily interfere in school discipline.

    The principals added that cheap politically motivated programmes such as free education and free feeding have been allowed to take priority over payment of teachers salaries and provision of infrastructure.

    “The ethos of diligence, sacrifice and self dignity is fast losing its place among heads of schools in Nigeria,” they added.

    They urged various levels of government to depoliticise the education sector and allow the system to run itself freely.

    “Government and stakeholders should put in place necessary in-built feedback mechanism that will guarantee continuity in educational policies.

    “The UNESCO 26% funding policy on education should be adopted, while prudent management of available resources is advised.

    “Adequate enlightenment and sensitisation should be put in place by stakeholders on the roles of education as solution to most of the issues that breed agitation,” they said.

    The principals further advised stakeholders to be more realistic in setting priorities in education and formulate relevant laws to insulate schools management from undue harassment.

    “Schools managers should uphold the ethics of the teaching profession in the day-to-day discharge of their duties and responsibilities,” they added.

    The principals commended the Rivers Government for providing enabling environment and support for the congress to hold in Port Harcourt.

  • Our economic problems in correct perspective

    Nigeria is in recession is a fact. My prayer is that we do not transit from the present recession to depression. A cynic once defined recession as when your friend loses his job and depression as when one loses his job. Economics is a common sense science based on empirical but not experimental knowledge. The study of economics was for decades subsumed within the study of history until about the 19th century when in Scotland, it became part of what was called political economy.

    Many historians still approach the study of history from the angle of political economy. This is a hangover from the Marxist interpretation of history which sees political development from the prism of economic relations. Economics as we now know it became an independent field of study as late as the first decade of the 20th century. This means that the so-called utopian economists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries were strictly speaking not economists but philosophers. Neither can one also categorize Adam Smith the author of the “Wealth of Nations” (1776) and the father of free trade, political liberalism and perhaps an early prophet of globalization an economist in the strictest sense of the word.

    At the University of Ibadan, economics was first taught within the Department of History with emphasis on economic history. It was not until the late 1950s that the Department of Economics came unto its own. The debate is still out whether economics is strictly arts or science. Of course, economics is science just as history is also science, science here defined as knowledge. In fact, in many American and Canadian universities, history is taught within the faculty of social science because just like mathematics is the foundation for all the sciences both physical and biological, so is history the foundation of all social sciences. In fact history in the old Soviet Union and modern and successor Russian Federation, history is studied under the rubric of historical sciences.

    Pardon my long preamble. The reason for the recession in Nigeria can be explained easily. As a country, we were involved in harvest and over time we were eating not only our fruits, we also ate the seeds. The lack of savings led to the situation that when the price of our sole commodity – oil fell in the world market, our economy went into a tail spin. To compound matters, the militancy in the Niger Delta led to a 50 percent cut in production and consequent reduction in revenue.

    That is not all. The militants blow up of oil and gas pipelines including those carrying gas to electrical power plants led to reduction in power generation and distribution and reduction in industrial production and dependence on locally generated electricity by individuals. All this add to cost of production making prices of locally produced goods uncompetitive. This led to workers lay off and social disequilibrium manifesting in increased crime and criminality. The critical role of electricity is obvious when we compare electricity generated for a population of 180million in Nigeria being not up to 4000 megawatts compared to South Africa’s 150,000 megawatt for a population of less than 50million people. Industrialists in Nigeria say our minimum requirement is at least 100,000 megawatts

    Available policy choices in this circumstance are severely limited. We can solve our problems by increased production in the agricultural sector to cut food dependency on foreign countries. This is the reason for government through the Central Bank of Nigeria increasing support for rice growers since within a generation, Nigerians have suddenly become addicted to rice eating with the result that we are the second rice importing nation in the world. If India and China each with a population of around 1.3 billion can feed themselves, we should be able to do the same considering the fact of our vast arable land. This will require determination and serious planning by the state and federal governments and individual entrepreneurs. We should also find ways of abandoning the imports substitution wrong strategy on which our industries are based. We should plan to replace all imports in the food industries. The same should apply to all other industrial production as much as possible. The preferential allocation of foreign exchange to so-called industrial sector should stop. Industrialists after all these years should source for foreign exchange independently of the government or the central bank. Industries should export to source for their foreign exchange.

    All the four petroleum refineries should be given gratis, that is, free of charge to foreign companies with the only proviso that they should be made to function. This will end the corruption of annual budgets for repairs which in most cases are shoddily done or not done at all. Hopefully the Dangote refinery will come on stream early in 2019 and the combination of the production of all these refineries should turn us into refined petroleum exporting country like most of OPEC countries.

    The savings from the revamped agricultural sector, the now functioning refineries, and the refocusing of the entire industrial sector would release foreign exchange to lift up the value of our currency and impact positively on the growth and development of the economy to the extent that we will be in a strong position to rebuild the Niger Delta in a win-win situation for the whole country. But whatever it will require including handing over the power sector to foreigners for a while, we must fix the power sector so that power will be available all the time. Without power, we will be groping in the dark and our innumerable generators will continue to ruin our environment and our health. Regular supply of electricity is the key to industrial development and modernization of all vital sectors like transportation, communication, health, education and research.

    Lastly let us hope the current difficult situation would have taught us a lesson about prudential management of national resources away from squander mania of the previous regimes when our problem was not money but how to spend it. In this regard, I would like to advice the Lord Bishop of Ondo (Anglican Communion) to face his pastoral duties and not turn his pulpit into a political platform sermonizing about not probing previous regimes that may have been corrupt. Is the Lord Bishop totally ignorant of about almost 700 thousand dollars and billions of Naira seized by the federal government from members of the previous regime if as reported that the bishop said people are hungry while government is probing corruption. Can he not see the connection between a prostrate economy and the deleterious effect of corruption?

    No country is perfect and immune from the boom and bust cycle of economic life. What we need do is to put the economy of our country on an even keel so that we are able to absorb all future economic shocks. We should not continue in this current state of dependency on the West or on the East. No country is totally an island but total dependency is not healthy. I also do not believe that the management of the economy by the current government is the cause of the current recession. The problem began a long time ago. What has happened is the cumulative effect of years of bad management. There is enough blame to go round. Let us ensure that when next we are faced with economic problems, we will have the buffer which heritage savings like sovereign wealth fund will provide.

  • In the throes of socio-political problems

    In the throes of socio-political problems

    Book Title: Midnight Cry
    Author: Paul Ugah
    No. of Pages: 116
    Publisher: Chapugah Publishers
    Reviewer Regina Achie Nege
    Date of Publication: 2016

    Fictional literature can have a significant social impact  where it is employed for social criticism. Paul Ugah’s debut collection, Midnight Cry,  a collection of twelve stories written in witty and humorous language, falls into this category of literature. As a social critic, Paul Ugah in this collection hopes to do more than entertain the reader. Although the stories are on diverse themes, one thing they all have in common is instructional value. The stories satirize those aspects of the society with which the author is disenchanted while also attempting to locate the reasons for these conditions in a flawed society.

    The first story, “Conspiracy of Silence”, explores the theme of superstition among Nigerian politicians who are often found patronizing  seers and sorcerers. Edache, an aspirant for a senatorial seat, sets out to obtain fetish powers to enable him defeat his opponents easily. In a twist of events however, the herbalist conspires with the other aspirants to make Edache appear mad by asking him to walk naked with a concoction held in his hands from his house  to the village square a number of times, saying that he would be invisible because of the powder. Edache obeys the instructions and all his constituents conclude that he is mad, thus dashing his political ambitions forever. When Edache realizes this, he laments: “Oh! I have irretrievably compromised my political ambitions by obeying Eche’s instructions in my desperation for power” (Pg. 20).

    The conspirators are not spared either as Eche, the herbalist, runs mad and Akamba, the chief conspirator, is killed by unknown gunmen. The moral in this story is clear: The story frowns at desperation for power and shows clearly that evil begets evil.

    The second story in the collection further emphasizes the writer’s posture as a social critic. This story titled “Deception” shows that a marriage may prevail against many challenges and trials, but when deception is involved, it will crumble. In this story, Amedu and Lizzy are plagued with the many problems of an inter-tribal marriage: mainly the lack of total acceptance of Lizzy, who is from Plateau state, by the Idoma people of Apa from where Amedu hails, and  the couple’s inability to bear children after twenty years of marriage. Through all this, the couple sticks together until the veil of deception worn by Lizzy is suddenly pulled off. This happens when Amedu stumbles on a letter written to Lizzy which reveals that she has two children whom she bore out of wedlock in her secondary school days, and that an attempt to abort a third pregnancy led to permanent damage to her womb. The shock of this discovery is devastating. Amedu is distraught while Lizzy collapses from emotional turmoil.

    The moral in this story too does not require elaboration. Ugah’s disenchantment with sexual promiscuity, and even more seriously, deception in relationships is loud and clear.

    This takes us to the third story in the collection, “Web of Love”. This is a touching yet humorous story of a young girl who is faced with the dilemma of whom to marry among her suitors. There’s Edo, a civil servant, who sponsored her university education and whom her conscience tells her she should marry. Yet, he is not as rich as Emmanuel, the governorship aspirant who wants to take her as second wife since his first wife is not polished enough to be first lady. There’s also the temptation to marry Adamu, the wealthy contractor.  Continuous worrying over whom to marry leads Aladi to a temporary  loss of sanity. When she begins to recover, she requests that her suitors be invited to visit her at the psychiatric hospital. Emmanuel and Adamu give excuses and only Edo, the poor civil servant, finds time to visit Aladi promptly. Instantly, the web of love is resolved and her decision is made. Through this story, Ugah has shown that money does not always translate to love and care. Although the wealthy suitors have money to lavish on Aladi, at the mention of ill health, they all scamper away.

    “Woeful Tales of Resurrection” is a parody of  the hypocrisy among some Christians whom by being active in church, engaging in ceaseless prayers and night vigils portray themselves as being ‘holier’ than others when in actual fact, they are hypocrites.  In this story, members of the “Millennium Chosen People of God Church”, a church well known for “powerful prayer and praises” in Apa, have received a message about rapture. So they organize a night vigil for the prayer band. During the prayer, two members exit; Brother Odeje who has diarrhea goes out to ease himself while Sister Charity Audu is called that she has a visitor at home. They both leave quietly so as not to disturb the prayer session. Not knowing the whereabouts of the two, the band members assume that they have been taken to heaven in rapture while the rest of them have been left behind. They thus begin to weep and confess their sins publicly. Among them are adulterers, bribe collectors and keepers of malice. The climax of the confessions is that of the pastor himself:

    The Reverend who remained mute stared at them like an Egyptian mummy for some time, moved stealthily to the center of the church like a young hunter retreating backward from a tiger and said: “Church, save your Reverend. I have always cheated on my wife”. (pg.40)

    The writer makes skilful use of suspense and dramatic irony in this story. It is after all the members of the prayer band have revealed their immoral acts done in secret that Brother Odeje and Sister Charity return to explain their disappearance. The author’s use of imagery in this story is also commendable as he uses words to create both visual and auditory imagery.

    While “Freedom”, the fifth story, highlights the evils occasioned by bad leadership and highlights the need to vote wisely during elections, “The Secret of Adamu”, which is the sixth story, in a deft use of suspense and surprise, shows the sudden metamorphosis of a chronic miser and a very hardworking man to an extremely generous and lazy man. In the end, one finds that the sudden change is as a result of a prophecy that he would soon die, as a result of which Adamu decides to squander all his wealth so that his brother does not inherit it after his death. After all that, Adamu does not die but is rather faced by the abject poverty he has brought upon himself. In anger, he proceeds to the herbalist’s house and attempts to kill him.

    “Midnight Cry”, the story that has the honour of making the title of the collection, deals with the highly topical issue of the invasions of villages by Fulani herdsmen with their herds, and the tragedies occasioned by this development which has caused the writer much pain. In this story, the people of Apa are just recovering from a scare that the Fulani herdsmen are coming to attack them again. In seeking a way forward, they are torn between going back to their traditional gods for protection, or relying on the Christian God introduced to them by the white man.

    The narrative in “Midnight Cry” is enriched by the vivid description of a traditional ritual, the performance by the Ichicha women at their member’s funeral, which entails songs, dance and story telling. The following paragraph illustrates this:

    Her soulful, plaintive and energetic voice belied her age as it wafted across the valleys, hills and riverlets of the clans of Apa like a first lone cockerel crow ushering the birth of a new day:

  • Firms blame forex scarcity for power problems

    The power sector is hard-hit by the rising cost of foreign exchange (forex). This has resulted in its inability to fulfil customer’s obligations, The Nation has learnt.

    The sector, it learnt,  was finding it difficult to get meters, transformers, transmission sub-stations, gas and other facilities, because of the forex shortage.

    The Nation further learnt that many of the firms were unable to get enough forex for importation while many others were scared of buying forex at N305 per dollar. The situation is impacting on their capacity to meet the needs of customers, who crave for improved electricity supply.

    The implementation of flexible exchange rate mechanism by the Federal Government last year to enable the firms source for dollars from multiple windows could not help as the companies struggle to get dollars.

    Group Leader, Generation, Sahara Power, Mike Uzoigwe, said power generation companies (GenCos) were finding it difficult to break even due to cost of dollar. Sahara Group owns Egbin Power Plant.

    Uzoigwe said the price of gas was denominated in dollars, stressing that firms, which hitherto paid N165 per unit of gas, now pay N430 for the same quantity of gas.

    Uzoigwe said: “From all indications, it is difficult for the firms to break even, considering the rising cost of dollars. You can imagine million of dollars, which a generation company (GenCo), would pay to buy gas. The astronomical rise in the value of dollar has resulted in a corresponding rise in the cost of spare parts used for our machineries.”

    Also, the Chief Executive Officer, Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Oladele Amoda, said forex scarcity was having debilitating effects on the activities of the sector. He said a transformer, which was N2.5million, currently costs N4million due to huge exchange rate.

  • The root of our problems

    SIR: Our biggest problem is not Buhari, nor was it Jonathan – as “wonderful” as his government was. Our biggest problem is our asinine and unjust political-economic system that engenders ethno-religious strife and ensures the reproduction of poor governance at almost every tier and arm of government.

    It is in all our interests to re-work our political and economic systems. We will make no sustainable progress practising an unjust system that generates so much strife, hate and violence. The business of a modern government should not be to be perpetual fire-fighters, putting off different sectarian fires across the country; fires that have and continue to be triggered by the structural flaws of our political-economic system.

    Our “patch-patch” attitude to governance and our well-being is not taking us anywhere, other than over the precipice and the opposition to federalism from the North, which is largely inspired by fear of economic loss or ruin, has been a major impediment to the re-adoption of federalism.

    The fear that federalism is tantamount to the parochial idea of “Resource Control” and will entail the total control of precious oil and gas revenue is unfounded especially seeing that the economic bankruptcy of northern Nigeria is not the goal of federalism nor is it even in the interest of southern Nigeria to have a faltering northern Nigeria. Federalism is not resource-control, whilst a sense of ownership is given to states or communities wherein natural resources are located, the proposed fiscal federalism, does not entail the absolute control of resources by sub-national governments.

    Furthermore, the terms of our new political-economic system, including its fiscal component was enunciated in the 2014 National Conference Report. The report largely canvasses for a simple review of items under the Exclusive list of the 1999 Constitution (as contained in the 2nd Schedule), with a view to devolving economic power to the sub-national units that constitute Nigeria.

    A simple devolution of economic powers to Nigeria’s federating units would engender a lot of positives for the country. It would greatly reduce the frenzied contest by ethnic nationalities for the control of the centre – the sole dispenser of goodies; thus restoring much needed social cohesion.

    It would also engender good governance at the sub-national level by occasioning the emergence of serious minded governors, seeing that the recurrent expenditure of states will have to be financed via the internally generated revenue of states, only men and women prepared to think and to work will present themselves for elective office, knowing that they will not be receiving hand-outs from the government at the centre.

    The benefits of the practice of federalism nay the decentralisation of power will cascade into every facet of our national life, from economic to security, to social cohesion, to power generation and lots more. The current APC- led administration should keep its word by abiding by the contents of its manifesto and consequently ensuring the practice of FEDERALISM,  in order that we may live peaceable and prosperous lives.

    • Ugochukwu Joseph Amasike,

     Lagos.

  • How to handle family problems

    Dear Harriet,

    I am 45 years old married man with children.

    Please, I need your counsel on family problems. Thanks.

    Mr. James Y., Lagos.

    Family problems come in all shapes and sizes; some are short-lived and easily managed, while others are more chronic and difficult to handle. Some are just temporary which disappear in no time, if only families learn to be patient.

    As the saying goes, there is no perfect family. That is why each family develops its own ways of coping with the various stresses like illness, injury, changing jobs, unemployment, financial difficulties and so on.

    Unsuccessful coping can be recognized by a number of characteristics as follows: poor communication, poor problem-solving, poor division of duties, lack of emotional support, differences, over-dependency on others, chronic crises.

    Poor interaction is one common problem that exists within the family. Could be that family members either avoid talking with one another due to past encounter or have not learned to listen well to what others are trying to say through their words, expressions or actions.

    As a matter of fact, a situation where conflicts and disagreements are not resolved poses as a problem to the family. This usually occurs when family members avoid discussing problems or even avoid admitting that there is a problem in the first place.

    Impression like this extends conflict which causes some discomfort and unhappiness. Some families still have not learnt  the skill of negotiating or, for some other reasons, cannot let go of bad feelings with little or no regard on how this action can affect the members of the family, bearing in mind that  children on their own pattern their attitude after their parents’ bahaviour.

    In addition, inability to settle differences within the family can also pose as a huge problem; for example, in a situation where family members are finding it difficult on deciding what problems really exist or who is responsible, the choice for working out the problem and how the family can agree upon an option and act on it can be a challenge. There may not be an agreement on what the priorities are within the family in the process.

    Another aspect that poses as a problem in a family is the area of poor division of responsibilities; families often decide how family responsibilities will be shared among family members. When situation like this occurs the life of the family becomes completely confused and many things are not accomplished.

    At the other extreme, some families are not flexible at all and family members do not help one another out or fairly reassign responsibilities as family circumstances change.

    However, cases like insufficient emotional support is not left out as a problem facing the family. Families are, especially for children, the most important source of emotional support. During the middle years, children, for instance, believe that their emotional support should come from their family. A situation where it is not available, they then start seeking for it outside the family, which as a result, puts them in danger. Note children do not perform or develop well without their family support.

    Lack of individual differences: Families function best when the individuality of each family member is acknowledged and appreciated. Personal traits and characteristics are to be highly valued. Each family member needs to tolerate and respect individual traits, and lack of this can lead to a serious problem in the family.

    When family members withhold love from one another because of family differences, children as members of the family are most likely to have difficult time developing a healthy self-image and they will have low self-esteem and limited poor social skills.

    Complete reliability on others: Children need to succeed in order to feel capable of successfully managing life’s stress and challenges. If they are taught or encouraged to depend on others (within the family or outside it) to solve their problems will be a difficult issue. It also limits their ability to challenge themselves. Low self- esteem is one common factor that is attached to over-dependency on others. As a matter of fact, this is one common problem the family suffers

    Habitual crises: Families who have some of the above characteristics are likely to have trouble coping with life’s inevitable crises. In these families, even relatively simple problems are not resolved, but take on the appearance and feel of major dilemmas. Thus by their lack of successful coping skills, these families create additional difficulties for themselves and go from crisis to crisis, with little relief and little pleasure from life or from one another.

    Although we all strive for perfection, there is no perfect family. Each family has its own strengths and weaknesses, assets and liabilities, challenges and problems. If your family seems overwhelmed with problems or if there is breakdown in relationships within your family, it is probably time for professional aid.

    As parents or guardians, your task is to meet the multiple demands of the family with energy and creativity. By so doing, you will enable your children to grow and develop in a positive, healthy way in order to experience self-fulfilment.

     

    Harriet Ogbobine is a counsellor and a motivational speaker. Send your questions and suggestions to her on bineharriet@gmail.com or text message only 08054682598. You can also follow her on twitter @bineharrietj, instagram-harrietogbobine, blog; liwh.com.ng

  • Our leaders will solve economic problems, says Bello

    Our leaders will solve economic problems, says Bello

    Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has reiterated his belief in the ability of leaders to solve the economic challenges facing the country.

    According to him, the economic hardship facing the country would soon be a thing of the past.

    The governor spoke yesterday shortly after the Eid-el-Fitr prayers at the Minna praying ground.

    His words: “The economic situation is a phase that will soon be history. Our leaders are committed to finding lasting solutions to the hardship.

    “For us in Niger, we are fashioning programmes and policies that will bail us out of the woods, set the state on a threshold of economic buoyancy and put it on a sound economic pedestal. Sooner than expected, our economy shall bounce back.”

    Bello urged Nigerians to remain prayerful and commit their leaders to Allah’s guidance and wisdom to enable them proffer enduring solutions to the country’s economic predicament.

    Former Head of State General Abdulsalam Abubakar, in his goodwill message, prayed for the continued peace in the country, even as he called on Nigerians to imbibe the teachings of Ramadan, which he said hinged on peace and sacrifice.

  • ‘How to tackle power problems’

    The Federal Government has been urged to adopt a holistic approach in fixing power problems.

    Stakeholders, including Electricity Meters Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (EMMAN)Executive Secretary, Muhideen Ibrahim and Kola Balogun,  Managing Director of MEMCOL Nigeria Limited, a meter manufacturing firm, urged the government to tackle power challenges from a broader perspective.

    Ibrahim  told The Nation that all sectors of the economy should  depend on each other for growth, arguing that the government’s attempt  to address the problems only in one sector, would not help the power industry.

    He said the power challenges were from other sectors, such as oil and gas and manufacturing. “This is the reason I said stakeholders, including governments must adopt a holistic approach to solving the nation’s problems of which power is the most critical one. Based on this, one can say that the complexities in the power sector are a reflection of a near failed system,  Ibrahim said.

    Balogun said the power sector would not grow if government  fails to solves generation problems by tackling the firms providing components, such as transformers, cables and meter, among others.

    According to him, when personal interest overrides that of the public in a country, the consequence for the economy is bad.

    “Why should somebody vandalise the gas pipelines, steal  armoured cables or underground cables?” he queried. He wondered why vandals should remove wires from the poles, destroy oil fields and wells, tamper with the transformers and meters.

    ‘The destruction of gas pipelines and  other national assets is injurious to the nation’ Balogun said.

  • Let’s seek divine intervention on socio-economic problems, says Scholar

    Let’s seek divine intervention on socio-economic problems, says Scholar

    An Islamic scholar Khalifah Abdul Gaffar Jamiu has enjoined Muslims to seek divine solution through prayer and fasting to the socio-economic challenges facing the country.

    Jamiu, who spoke at the Ramadan Lecture organised by Dada Adams Central Mosque, Ilupewo, Ota, Ogun State, said at a time when Prophet Muhammad was a leader, his subjects were facing difficulties as Nigerians are experiencing it today.

    According to him, the prophet prayed for Allah’s intervention. The result of the prayer, he said, was the revelation of chapter 108 (Suratul Kawthar) that guaranteed abundance for Prophet Muhammad and his subjects. Since then, his people  have been enjoying economic prosperity, he stated.

    Jamiu urged Muslims to use the period of Ramadan to pray for the success of President Muhammadu Buhari in his efforts to reposition the economy.

    He urged Nigerians irrespective of faith to support the government. He was optimistic that Nigeria would come out stronger from the current challenges.

    “Great nations of the world have had similar problems facing us in Nigeria today. With perseverance, they were able to surmount them. I am confident that through prayer and fasting, there will be divine intervention for positive change,” he added.

  • ‘Church leaders causing problems for God’

    ‘Church leaders 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.”