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Tag: revival

  • Church to hold revival and graduation

    The annual revival to herald the 20 years calling and 14 years in ministry of the Christ Apostolic Church (Ireti Ayo International Revival Miracle Centre) has begun.

    The revival, themed “Alpha and Omega”, will continue on Friday with “Hour of Praise”, and Saturday with “Time for Divine Favour and Success”

    Graduation of students of the International Bethel Bible College (IBBC) will hold on Saturday and grand celebration on Sunday with album launch, titled “Power of God”, followed by a special thanksgiving at 10.30am same day.

    Venue is 8/10, Abiodun Mohammed Street, Council Bus Stop, Idimu, Lagos.

     

  • A call for the revival of Ekiti core values for development

    A call for the revival of Ekiti core values for development

    An author and entrepreneur, Adesina Adetola, has embarked on another intellectual adventure. He has put together a collection of papers and discourse entitled: Ekiti State: Beyond Rhetoric, Myths and Sentiments. The book, which features the thoughts and ideas of eminent personalities and stakeholders of Ekiti State, canvasses for the resuscitation of Ekiti core values and bond for socio-economic transformation and development. In this chat, Adetola speaks on the book, which will be presented tomorrow, and the need for the rejuvenation of the core values, among others. 

    What are the core values that distinguish the people of Ekiti from others?

    Ekiti people share the gene and traits of other Yoruba people which is the hallmark of the “omoluabi” nature. Ekiti people have some qualities traceable to them. Over the years our forefathers have toiled to make an identity for the people, such as the “Parapo” (collective consciousness) ideology. The word, though, common today, originated from the Kiriji war (the Yoruba intra tribal war), when Ekiti people came together under one umbrella as Ekiti Parapo. Since then, solidarity and togetherness has been an Ekiti language. We do things in unity. Also Ekiti has a proud heritage of being a forthright people. It was hard for an average Ekiti person to deceive others.

    What do you mean by “was”?

    I used “was” purposely because an average Ekiti man would never see black and call it white. That was what distinguished our fathers. They believed in hardwork and dedication to good service, sincerity, responsibility and other good values. Unfortunately, things have changed. Some may say Ekiti people are very stubborn and unyielding but they were stubborn for a just course, to protect their rights: you couldn’t take them for a ride. That became our identity. We have to go beyond rhetoric and sentiments and bring back those core values that Ekiti people stood for.

    If the core values are practised by its indigenes, what impact would they have on the development of the state? 

    A lot of impacts! Good values will go a long way to transform the land. They will bring attitudinal change that will result to socio-economic transformation, positive change and genuine development. That is why I am saying we have to go beyond rhetoric, myth and sentiments and be sincere with ourselves.  If you claim you have integrity and you are honest and you find yourself in a place of authority, why can’t that honesty and integrity manifest there? A man of integrity will not steal public funds. If we genuinely have these values and put it to practice, Ekiti would be a great place. It will become a centre of attraction.

    What inspired this collection?

    The inspiration is simple: I am calling on us to bring back our core values for the development of the state. One of my colleagues wrote “Ekiti, One people two generations”, why can’t we bring back what made our fathers to excel and climbed to vintage place in the society. We have a proud heritage; we are benefactor of a profound solid background we must not lose it for a pot of porridge.  We can’t continue in this pedestrian way of doing things?

    What is significant the book?

    This generation is fast derailing. This is a bread and butter generation, a generation of cash and carry. And am not blaming us, because I belong to this generation, it is disservice the society has done to us. The society has taken it upon itself to devalue the system and made good values unattractive. Politicians are paying for the votes and the voters ate their cakes before having it. It is a very unfortunate situation. So my intention is to remind this generation of what made their fathers whom they were. That there is no short cut to success. Thank God the contributors has done great works, they had gone in their different ways to give ideas how the core values could be restored, how to redeem this generation and make the state great again.

    Who are the targets of the book?

    Every Ekiti person – young and old, male and female – we all have roles to play. We must bring our heritage back. Government stakeholders have role to place. Traditional fathers would uphold these great core value that was tradition of our for fathers, every adult will see it as a responsibility to teach the younger ones and guide them right while the new generation will also know what is being bestow upon them and how to immortalise it from generation to generation.

    Who are the contributors?

    We have 24 of them – distinguished men and women from different backgrounds. Their diversity is indeed great value of the book. They wrote from different angles.

    My main intention was to have diverse views. And I essentially want it not to have any political intonation, because nothing has ever divided Ekiti like politics, so I was very careful about that.

    It has forewords from three distinguished Ekiti personalities: a technocrat , Sir Remi Omotoso MFR; renowned academic, Prof. Akin Oyebode and eminent lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Wole Olanipekun.

     

  • Hawks and doves on Nigeria’s revival (1)

    Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced—James Baldwin

    I have deliberately borrowed the word revival to frame today’s piece. Millions of religious people believe that revival is a word charged with both material and spiritual value. Isoji (translated as revival in English) in the religious rituals of most churches in Nigeria, carries more force than synonyms such as rejuvenation, revitalisation, and reanimation can conjure. In Yoruba, the language in which I am thinking in this piece, revival means ‘bringing back to life of a force that had gone inert or moribund. To many Nigerians, their country had been inactive for decades with the result of being ‘unable to respond to its demographics,’ a euphemism for a political system that has not been designed or empowered to have the capacity to improve the quality of life of its citizens.

    My concept of revival today is akin to the transformation that can happen after an individual is given direly needed external stimuli to make him or her regain consciousness, after a long period of mental or spiritual inertia. Relatedly, restructuring as a process is seen by this writer as an application of special stimuli to the political organisation of a country, with the hope of saving the country from dead governance cells that had made the country incapable of responding to the needs of its citizens. If you ask the average Nigerian why there is no electricity, water, good road, good public schools, etc., he or she is likely to say the government is unable to provide such services. Many citizens also believe the governments in the country are unable to meet the needs of citizens because they are not designed to do so. It is, therefore, not surprising that the word restructuring has started recently to affect the consciousness of citizens who hitherto would prefer to block his ears to such word. To use metaphors to depict varying responses, restructuring has created hawks, ostriches, and doves.

    James Baldwin’s favourite quote: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced” seems to have found a new home in the country in recent weeks.  And this change of attitude is good for the future of the country as a democracy and a federal state. A national problem that has not been faced substantially for years now appears ready to be faced. But the manner of facing the problem of designing Nigeria to perform better than it has for the past 50 years can be characterised as hawkish, ostrich-like, and dovish. For the avoidance of doubt, the hawks of restructuring are different from those of secession. The reference to hawks in this piece is in relation to those who feel that restructuring should be rebuffed.

    Visitors to Nigeria for the first time shortly after the return of President Buhari from sick leave would have marvelled at the country’s penchant for theatrical way of solving problems. IPOB was ready to break the country and those who would not condone such sacrilege were quick to give Igbos quit notice from their natal communities or to call for application of state violence against IPOB. Now the tension about emergence of Biafra seems to have subsided as political leaders from Nnamdi Kanu’s section of the country are pledging loyalty to Nigeria’s indissolubility while committing to imperative of restructuring and lawyers are arguing about Kanu’s whereabouts.

    An unmistakable development on the nation’s political landscape now is the readiness of all ideological persuasions to give diverse conditions on how to engage each other on the matter of restructuring. Some experts are saying that it is the extremism of IPOB that has softened the hearts of those in government on the issue of restructuring to the extent that those who had sworn not to hear the in the past are now giving conditions that can bring them to the dialogue table to find out where the shoe of Nigeria’s current governance structure pinches their neighbours. Others have confirmed that President Buhari brought the manifesto promise of APC to entrench the federalist spirit in the constitution from CPC, suggesting that the country has been blessed all the time with a believer in restructuring. What matters now is that the audience for, if not adherents of the doctrine of restructuring, is growing by the day.  Being open to calls for dialogue is what civilised democratic discourse is about. No multi-national country can afford to ignore the grievances of its many constituencies while expecting to bring peace and progress to any or all parts of such nation-space.

    In the last few weeks of facing rather than ignoring the demand for structural change to the polity, hawks, ostriches, and doves have articulated their positions loud enough for each group to start feeling relieved that disintegration is not in sight as much as dialogue, negotiation, and compromise seem to be. Of course, the hawks are still active in claiming that any attempt to interrogate the current structure of governance foisted on the nation by departed military dictators is tantamount to doing the abominable: wrecking the country’s unity. But many citizens now seem to be coming to terms with the reality that demand for restructuring is not a call for disintegration but an effort to create a political environment for enhancing and sustaining the country’s much needed unity.

    Some pundits have cautioned against reading too much optimism into the fact that more people are now willing to give any attention to calls for restructuring. Such social media pundits are quick to draw attention to the concept of Taqiyya in Arabic and Islamic studies, i.e. the freedom for individuals or groups to act or talk in a friendly way without being intending to be friendly. But this writer’s reading of the situation in the country is that citizens of various political and cultural affiliations are interested in approaching problems facing the only country they can call their own, instead of looking away from it as many leaders and governments had done in the past.

    Ostriches still abound on the demand for restructuring. Most former military dictators are still in the mode of avoiding the word political restructuring. For example, former military head of state, Abdusalaam Abubakar, does not see any reason for restructuring while all that is needed is for all hands to be on deck to build the country’s unity, as if restructuring automatically kills unity. It is General Abubakar that is known as the author or owner of the 1999 Constitution that has theologised the current unitary governance. Similarly, former President Obasanjo, under whose military dictatorship major de-federalisation of the country took place, has called for restructuring of the mind as the only task that must be done. Of course, there must be many more beneficiaries of de-federalisation in and out of the military who think like Abubakar and Obasanjo. It is not totally unexpected that those who feel obliged to sustain their legacy projects would prefer to deflect attention away from anything that interrogates such legacy. But such response is akin to playing the ostrich.

    But, the latest response from the Northern Elders Forum to restructuring by the group’s president is a dovish move, in contrast to pronouncements of this organisation in the past: “The North recognises and acknowledges that there are demanding and legitimate questions on the current operations of the Nigerian state. The North has very clear ideas on all issues and positions that the nation sees as challenges and is willing to dialogue on all of them. What the North will not allow, however, is to be stampeded into adopting an agenda and grand designs from other parts of Nigeria, which will hurt its basic interests.” Paul Unongo’s statement is reassuring at this stage of the national conversation on how to make the country’s unity productive and sustainable. Even in Catalonia where Mariano Rajoy has bared his fangs unnecessarily against Charles Puigdemont, the Catalonian leader, some Catalonians are complaining that they were stampeded into carrying out someone’s agenda. No pro- or anti-restructuring group should have the freedom to stampede others into accepting their agenda. All sides should be given the chance to provide the picture of the country they want to live and die for.

    Next week will focus on more dovish approaches including positions that seem too dovish for achieving needed progress.

     

    • Roposek@msn.com

     

  • Revival, Nigeria’s greatest need, says Shodeinde

    igeria needs revival more than anything else, Presiding Pastor of The Saints Gospel Church (a.k.a. Shadow Tabernacle) Igando Lagos, Jacob Shodeinde, has said.

    He recommended revival as panacea to the nation’s woes, saying it was time  believers embarked on radical and aggressive evangelism.

    Shodeinde lamented that Nigerians, especially Christians, have relegated evangelism to the background in pursuit of money and other perishable items, a development he tagged as regrettable.

    He spoke at the second edition of the thrice-yearly Jesus Passover of the church where worshippers took turn to testify of God’s faithfulness to them through the ministry.

    According to him: “Revival is the responsibility of every child of God; everyone who has given his/her life to Christ.

    “It is the only solution because there is so much confusion in the world today and we need revival but, unfortunately, many people are running after worldly pleasures.”

    Reminding all of the inevitability of accountability, the cleric said: “God will ask everyone what they have done with their lives. God wants us to progress in righteousness and strive to please Him in all our ways.

    “He wants us to take revival very serious and not just running after things of this world.”

    He, however, saw light at the end of the dark tunnel in the ongoing political dispensation, urging participants to be hopeful.

    “You will all receive blessings and favour from God before the end of this political dispensation. The God of Hand of Fire does not disappoint,” he said.

    The Onigogo of Igogo-Ekiti, Oba Sunday Adewunmi, who was part of the service, described Pastor Shodeinde as a man completely dedicated to the propagation of God’s kingdom.

    The monarch added: “He is a focused man of God who believes in the service of God and humanity.

    “He is very spiritual and not after worldly pleasure.”

     

  • ‘Nigeria needs real revival again’

    ‘Nigeria needs real revival again’

    Senior Pastor of Faith Impact Church Lekki, Lagos, Rev Inyang Okutinyang, was a prominent player in the campus revival of the 80s.
    He speaks with Sunday Oguntola on the movement and how things have radically changed for the worse in recent times. Excerpts:

    Campus revival days

    I started schooling in UNIBEN where I was for two years before moving over to Ife where I studied Estate Management. God was beginning to do a lot of things on campuses in the 80s. Rev Kenneth Hagins teachings were beginning to have a lot of impact.

    We were young and impressionable. The teachings were quite revolutionary, liberating and impacting. We were actually seeing somebody directing us to the word of God and see it work out in our lives.

    A lot of us were so excited we took the word of God and went to villages for evangelism with healings as well as signs and wonders following. Things were springing up in places like UNILAG, UNIBEN, OAU, UI and campuses all over. I was so much on fire for God I let my academics suffer and my mother took away all my Christian books and bible.

    I was part of Rhema Fellowship that eventually became Christ Love Fellowship. My wife with her friends pioneered the fellowship. I attended for the first time in 84 as a guest minister and became the pastor later that year. Segun Omooba, Bayo Ademiju, Wale Akinyemi, Dara Alabi, Wale Adenuga and Kunle Oluwojure were all raised at the fellowship.

    We had a programme called the Agape celebration. It attracted young people all over the country, like Tunde Bolanta (UI), Chris Oyakhilome (BENSU, Ekpoma), Kola Ewuosho (UNIBEN), Efe Obuke (UNIBEN), Matthew Yusuf (UNIBEN), Yinka Ojo (UI), Nike Adeyemi (UI), Ojei Ohiewere (BENSU, Ekpoma) and Carlton Williams (UNILAG), among others.

    Pastor Chris Oyakilome was introduced to a lot of the people through that programme. You could see God was working through young men. Everyone was on fire. I graduated in 1990 and proceeded to Rhema Bible Training Centre in Tulsa Okhaloma.

    Ministry in Canada

    From there, I was in Canada where we started Victory Life Church in Toronto, Ontario, for 17 years. I left the church in 2011 after handing over to another pastor. You see how we do ministry here is different from what obtains over there.

    The church is not yours but a charity. You have an advisory board that fixes your salary and all of that and when you are done, another person takes over. When I was ready to leave, we merged the church with a smaller one and the pastor took over.

    Meeting a changed home

    From 2008, I moved back home and started with itinerary works till 2013. It was just recently the Lord laid it in my heart to put down roots here. But I came back and realised things have changed radically and negatively from what used to be. The Christianity around now is not what we experienced then.

    The point is we have the trappings of revival with mega assemblies and church growth everywhere. We have the ABC, which means Attendance, Building and Cash. But we lack the essentials of Christian character.

    A bewitched church

    We may have started with revival but the fire has gone down. We are kind of choking in the smoke. Back in those days, the media carried out a secret check on most of us and found we were real. But sadly people have imported African traditions and religion into Christianity and it is very easy to sway people.

    For example, I hear if people need a job, they are told to get sand from a place of prayer. Where is that in the Bible? There is so much enemy mentality as well. We are so focused on enemies, both real and imagined, but Jesus said ‘I give unto you the power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and over all powers of the enemies and nothing shall by any means hurt you.’

    I am an African and I understand witchcraft. But let them come and try, they will meet God. I am a seed of Abraham. The bible says ‘whosoever comes against you comes against me and they will flee seven ways’. Teach people the truth; preach the gospel, the victory on Calvary.

    I heard a pastor say one time ‘your victory and prosperity is in the mouth of your man of God’. That is not the gospel because there are no intermediaries. Everyone has direct access to God.

    Confirming truth

    No minister on earth regardless of how large their ministry is, is as anointed as the twelve disciples of Jesus. When Apostle Paul preached, the people returned to check what he taught. Paul commended them for it.

    When you hear anything preached, check first from the scriptures. It is sad too that black people generally are so largely ignorant of the truth of the New Testament and if you don’t understand the Old Testament, you can’t understand the New Testament because the key to the Old Testament is in the new.

    Paul said let one prophet speak and the other judge. So there is no prophecy that shouldn’t be judged. So there is no such thing as any revelation should not be judged and every minister of the gospel should encourage people to judge because every human being is fallible. That is why everything should be judged by the scriptures.

    Ministers are humans too

    We all have the Spirit of God and the same access. I don’t have any better access to Jesus than you do. We all have the same blood of Jesus. As ministers, we have an anointing but I find out that I can’t even use that anointing to meet my needs. I still have to believe God the same way every child of God waits.

    Let’s face it, we are all from fetish background and so we have transported elements of that into the church and packaged it in different ways and presented it and pushed it on the people and our people, because that is our background as Africans, readily rely on these things. As Africans, we need something to use to be able to hold onto. That is what idolatry is. Go read it in the bible.

    Faith is the substance of things while hope is the evidence of things not seen, not perceived or sensed. It is something you can’t touch. When you give people something they can relate to, that is idolatry. The bible warns against it. It is what Jesus died for.

    Repackaged idolatry 

    This is not about results. The Babalawos also produce results. That is why they are still in business today. So, it is not just for you to say results, because at the end of the day we are going to stand before Jesus. The bible says all our works will be tried by fire. God sees into our hearts. Are we helping to build the Kingdom of God or are we helping to build our own?

    The Catholic Church was criticised for indulgence and all of that but we Pentecostal churches are going down that path. Today, we sow seeds for all manners of things. But have we asked people why they are sowing? Where are they getting the seeds?

    There are times we should not take offerings in church. There are so monies we must never accept. Elemaz offered Peter money for the anointing and we all knew what Peter said. Let’s follow the template of the scripture. Paul, Peter and the rest of them preached the gospel that shook the whole world.

    We preach something that sounds like the gospel but we have not preached the authentic gospel, the one centred on Christ that sets people free. Some of the people I knew who were probably innocent back in those days, I don’t think I am in a position to speak back to them. They have grown so ‘big’ that the truth does not count much again.

    Church, the problem of Nigeria

    As it is with the church, so it is with Nigeria. The church is responsible for the atmosphere of every nation. Paul was teaching in the days of horrible emperors and there was no human rights movement back then.

    He said despite their wickedness, prayers must be offered, first of all, for leaders so that we can lead peaceable lives. Our business is to pray. It is in the atmosphere of well being that the gospel can thrive. If there is chaos, the gospel can’t be moving on the way it’s supposed to be as a church. I don’t see much of these discussions going on among Christians.

    The picture which we don’t realise that we allow the devil to do to our people and the society, we have got our work cut out for us as a church in this country, there is got to be impact in the society.

    The thing is God is not a Nigerian and He is not of any nationality. At the end of the day, we are all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. If we judge ourselves, He will not have to judge us.

    That is a great deal. In other words, I can look at myself and say ‘Inyang, what you are doing is not good. Repent and change.’ If I judge myself, He won’t have to judge me. But if I don’t judge myself, He won’t have any choice but to judge me.

  • World Bank’s $350m for mining, livestock revival coming

    World Bank’s $350m for mining, livestock revival coming

    The World Bank is injecting $350million into Nigeria’s mining and agricultural sector to revitalise its livestock sub-sector.

    While $200million will go into livestock sector resuscitation, the balance of $150million credit will be used used to help increase the mining sector’s contribution to the  economy.

    World Bank FADAMA Team Leader, Dr Adetunji Oredipe, who spoke in Abuja yesterday, said the global lender was working with the Federal Government to formulate the intervention policy, adding that discussions with the government’s team on the modalities for the project execution had also started.

    Oredipe said essentially, the bank would revive the livestock sub-sector with critical intervention in the areas of productivity and access to markets.

    “Productivity depends on a number of factors as it concerns the feeds which are very critical; the major problem of livestock production in the country is dearth of high-quality animal feeds, as the feeds determine what you get from your livestock.

    “World Bank is also looking at critical health aspects of the livestock industry, the veterinary aspects, as we are merging it with the surveillance,’’ he said.

    Speaking on the mining sector financial lifeline,  Senior Communication Officer of the bank, Ms Olufunke Olufon said the project would help to establish a strong foundation for mining sector development in the country.

    She said the credit would also enhance competitiveness by improving information infrastructure and knowledge of mining, adding that it would equally help in strengthening key government institutions and foster domestic investments in the sector.

    domestic investments in the sector.

    She said: “The project will help develop measures for formalising; regulating and inventorying artisan and small-scale mining; facilitate the flow of mineral transactions and facilitate access to finance.

    “It will facilitate access to technology and equipment; increase knowledge and support the mining and processing of the minerals in accordance with best practices.’”

    According to her, environmental and social protection will  also be enhanced by the credit line.

    Olufon said the expected results include the ability to attract and develop mineral transactions on medium and large mining operations and any other mining related investments.

    The  World Bank Country Director, Rachid Benmessaoudm was quoted to have said:“Nigeria has a favourable geological potential.

    “The potential is such that if adequately assessed, well exploited and managed in a sustainable manner, can support broader economic growth through mineral sector.’’

    Benmessaoudm said one of the key objectives of the project was to support Nigerian government’s priority to diversify the economy to a broader range of non-oil productive sectors.

    “The support will include the realisation of the full mineral endowment for sector policy, promotion, conducive business environment and integrated long-range resources and investment planning.’’

    He said the Nigeria had been unable to attract significant investment in exploration and mining into the sector.

    The global financial giant said the current productivity from the mining sector was still insufficient to meet local demands particularly for industrial minerals.

    The bank listed the critical binding constraints of the sectors development to include insufficient geo-data and geological knowledge, weak implementation and enforcement of the mining law and regulations.

    Benmessaoudm said that a large poorly regulated and informal artisanal and small-scale mining sub-sector was also one of the critical constraints of the sector.

    Elaborating more on the livestock financial support, Oredipe said there were series of reforms that would facilitate the efforts of livestock owners to change the business environment.

    He said the reform programme would be executed under the Livestock Micro Reforms Project, adding that the bank and government officials were now looking at the policy and business environment, with a view to perfecting them for the intervention.

    Oredipe said the World Bank’s focus on the livestock sub-sector was based on the request of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

    “The administration made it clear that they want the bank to critically look into the livestock sector because not much is going on in that sector,’’ he added.

    He said that the livestock sub-sector accounted for a sizeable part of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), providing income, employment, food, farm energy, manure, fuel and transport.

    Oredipe said that in the past, the livestock sub-sector was a major source of government revenue, adding that government was, therefore, making efforts to restore the lost glory of the sub-sector.

     

  • IMF’s Naira revival pill rejected

    IMF’s Naira revival pill rejected

    •Fund: currency overvalued by 20%

    If the Federal Government heeds the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s)  advice, it will collapse the exchange rates—official N306/$ and Bureau De Change  N360/$.

    To the IMF, the Naira is overvalued by 10 to 20 per cent.

    The IMF mission chief for Nigeria, Gene Leon, said that the Naira overvaluation “is somewhere to the tune of 10 to 20 per cent and that  the country’s 2017 projections for non-oil revenues are more optimistic than the Fund’s.

    He urged the authorities to increase tax levels to diversify income.

    Leon disclosed that the Nigerian authorities were concerned about the IMF’s last week Article IV Report.

    The Fund warned that the economy required urgent reforms and spoke of the dangers of a volatile foreign exchange market.

    It outlined a raft of failings in the Federal Government’s handling of Africa’s largest economy which could affect talks over at least $1.4 billion in international loans.

    But the President of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe, said the IMF should explain the yardstick for its advice.

    According to him, the IMF has technically said that the official rate of N306/$ should move to N360/$.

    Gwadabe said: “The IMF and others look at the bureau de change rate. That is why we are saying there should be a special window for both entry and exit to encourage more capital inflows to supplement the foreign reserves and diversify dollar sources.”

    The Naira closed yesterday at N390/$ due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) intervention.

    The Managing Director, E.M Consolidated Investment Limited, a BDC operator, Emeka Moses, said the IMF has not explained the basis of its judgment on further naira devaluation.

    “Their judgment is not correct. The IMF and their group have since 1980s have been insisting that the naira be-devalued further. But we have continued to devalue to where it is today. The value of the currency cannot be taken singularly. There are many things that determine how the country runs its exchange”, he said.

    Moses said that Nigeria has inflationary economy, and cannot devalue more because it is not going to help us and we are trying to encourage local production.

    He added: “They are not in a position to give us a comprehensive economy plan, but they are not the ones running our economy.”

    The new report, according to Reuters, strikes a more critical tone than the Fund’s board adopted in a statement last week, though that also said the country should lift its remaining foreign exchange restrictions and scrap its system of multiple exchange rates.

    The IMF quoted the government saying further measures were under way which included the implementation of a more flexible foreign exchange market and “maintaining tight monetary policy to underpin price stability.

    “Nigeria has not asked the Fund for fiscal support but its recommendations may influence institutional lenders ahead of the annual spring meetings with the World Bank.

    “The World Bank has been in talks with Nigeria for more than a year over an application for a loan of at least $1 billion and the African Development Bank (AfDB) has $400 million on offer. But talks have stalled over economic reforms.

    “Nigeria fell into recession last year, its first in 25 years, largely due to the impact of low oil prices and militant attacks on energy facilities in the Niger Delta oil hub. Crude sales account for more than 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings and two-thirds of government revenue.

    “The country, whose economy contracted 1.5 per cent last year, has also been plagued by a conflict with Boko Haram militants since 2009, creating a humanitarian crisis in the northeast which authorities are struggling to handle.”

    The Washington-based Fund’s analysis coincided with yesterday’s launch of an economic recovery plan by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    But the IMF said the plan (Economic Recovery and Growth Plan), criticised by economists for including few concrete measures, “is not enough to drag the economy out of recession.”

    “If Nigeria’s economy is to recover, much more needs to be done, the IMF said in the staff report.

    It also urged the Federal Government to introduce immediate changes to its exchange rate policy – characterised by CBN curbs, multiple exchange rates and an artificially high naira valuation – or risk “a disorderly exchange rate depreciation”.

  • Obasanjo calls for revival of storytelling

    Obasanjo calls for revival of storytelling

    • Donates books to Ogun schools

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday urged parents and community leaders to rekindle the culture of storytelling to enable children imbibe good moral standard.
    He spoke at his 80th birthday celebration in Ibogun village, Ogun State, which began with story – telling to entertain pupils.
    Obasanjo donated 12 story books, written by him, on tortoise to some public and private schools.
    The ceremony tagged: “Story Time with Baba”, featured reading of folklores, fables and drama presentations by pupils drawn from Baptist Day School, Ewupe; Baptist Primary School, Ibogun; Beryl Chrysolite School and Olusegun Obasanjo Academy Centre all in Ifo Local Government Area.
    The ex-President noted that the second part of the tortoise story would be out soon to “further tell more stories about the tortoise”.
    According to him, the book was to “revive the old story-telling culture of our days, which is full of lessons to learn”.
    The occasion also witnessed the celebration by Ibogun men and women, who presented gift items to the celebrator.
    The birth programme being organised by the Centre For Human Security arm of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), as part of activities marking his 80th birthday anniversary comes up this Sunday.
    The chairman of the celebration planning committee and Director of the Centre for Human Security of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Prof. Peter Okebukola, described the former President as a great writer and author.
    Obasanjo recalled that while growing up in the community, his parents and other community leaders gathered young children at night to give them riddles and tell them fables.
    “In our growing up days, our parents require us to solve the riddles so as to make us think deeply and sharpen our wits while they told us stories to inculcate moral values into us.
    “Most of the stories revolved round animals, particularly, tortoise, and will normally end with lessons to build character by pointing us to what to do and what not to do.
    “We have grown up with those moral values and they served as foundations upon which we built our lives and conducted ourselves wherever we went,” he said.
    He lamented that such practice had been jettisoned by parents and thereby robbed children of a good platform to imbibe good character.

  • Theme: The revival in His arrival (1)

    Text: “…… when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. ( Luke 5:5-6)

    In sundry places the Bible has admonished us never to trust in anyone, no matter how intelligent, seemingly kind, nice or trustworthy the person may be (Jer. 17:5-8). Human beings have limitations but the Almighty God who created the heavens and the earth is unlimited in power. He created everything and they are all subject to His desires and commands ( Psalm 62:11; John 1:3; Col. 1:16-17). Isaiah, in Chapter 40:28-29, described Him as “the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He is the One that never faints or gets weary and there is no searching of his understanding. He is the One that gives power to the faint, and to the people with no might, He increases their strength” (cf John 15:1-5)

    The passage from where our text is picked tells a story of a professional fisherman, a man who knew his onions when it came to fishing, a man who knew that to be a successful fisherman, you must go fishing at night, a man who understood that the spoils you get is dependent on the tools you work with and the experience of the workforce you have. The man, Simon Peter, complied with all that was needful to be successful in the business but regrettably, he failed woefully. While he was washing his net, Jesus Christ arrived at the scene, saw the other fishermen and boats there but He had favour on Simon Peter. Jesus Christ requested to use Simon’s boat for evangelism work and he obliged.

    Thereafter, He asked him to cast his nets (and not a net) on the right side which the man complied partially with (he cast just one net) knowing that such an instruction did not conform with the rules of successful fishing. His obedience however, brought many fishes to his net to the extent that his boat started sinking and his net broke (Isaiah 1:19). Jesus’ arrival heralded a great revival in the life of the miserable Simon – Halleluyah!

    When He steps into the boat of your life, He would suspend the laws of nature for you, destroy whatever is called impossibilities, rebuke powers holding you to the same position and open the gateway of awesome testimonies for you. At His arrival, you shall build houses, and inhabit them; you shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. You shall not build, and another inhabit; you shall not plant, and another eat: As the days of a tree shall your days be and as His elect, you shall long enjoy the work of their hands. You shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; The fruits from your loins shall be acknowledged as the seed of the Lord with their offspring. Before you call, God will answer you and while you are yet speaking, God will hear. ( Isaiah 65:21-24).

    What you need to do to experience a personal revival during this Lenten season, is to open your heart and ask Jesus to come into the boat of your life, confess your inadequacies to Him, surrender your means to Him and do whatever He asks you to do in return. As He lives, who is alive forever, people are coming to celebrate with you very soon in Jesus’ name.

    Prayer: Jesus Christ, I surrender my time, talent and treasures unto you. Use me for your glory, in Jesus’ name

  • Nigeria’s thorny road to cocoa revival

    Nigeria’s thorny road to cocoa revival

    Nigeria plans to reclaim her position as a global powerhouse in cocoa production and export. But, experts say without evolving a vibrant local chocolate industry to benefit from the entire cocoa value chain, and addressing some fundamental issues agitating the minds of cocoa farmers and stakeholders, the road to achieving the feat remains rough. Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

    Some people may not have noticed, but a revolution, somewhat silent, is sweeping through the cocoa segment of the agric sector. The revolution, when completed, would hopefully, return Nigeria to the height of its glory in the global cocoa industry.

    Apparently prompted by the economic crisis caused by the crashing oil price in the international market, which has forced the Federal Government to look towards the non-oil sector, the revolution, according to the former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga, would help Nigeria claim a greater share of the global market for finished goods made from cocoa estimated at $200 billion yearly.

    The ex-minister, who spoke at the Nigerian Cocoa Value Addition Summit, in Abuja, said the renewed emphasis on cocoa would create thousands of jobs. According to him, the government was repositioning to extract immense value from the cocoa industry where the global value of exporting raw cocoa is approximately $10 billion a year, while the total value from chocolates is over $100 billion a year. He said government was working on deriving benefits from cocoa for farmers and Nigerians through the implementation of initiatives and expansion projects in cocoa processing and manufacturing.

    Part of the initiative that has earned the government the buy-in and support of farmers and key stakeholders in the cocoa sub-sector, was the distribution of hybrid cocoa pods to farmers across the country to boost production and exports. At the last count, over 1.4 million hybrid cocoa pods, according to the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, have been distributed to  farmers across the country.

    Adesina, who spoke at the same event, said this translates to about 50 million seedlings, which are enough for farmers to plant 46,000 hectares of new cocoa plantation. This is based on the yield capacity of the distributed hybrids to produce five times the yield of what farmers get today, which is 2.5 tonnes as against 0.5 tonnes. He promised that with the introduction of the Cocoa Corporation of Nigeria (CCON), the government would be able to co-ordinate the sector and facilitate access to finance.

    That is not all. Cocoa farmers are also being provided with critical inputs, such as agro-chemicals, to guard against black pod and insects, and fertiliser to enhance yield per hectare. “We have also succeeded, for the first time, to introduce a specifically formulated fertiliser for cocoa. Cocoa farmers are also given agro-chemicals, insecticides, fungicides, in addition to fertiliser and hybrid pods,’’ Team Leader, Cocoa Value Chain Development at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Peter Aikpokpodion, said.

    The Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Ibadan, Oyo State, The Nation learnt, is also carrying out lots of researches on cocoa bread, liquor and cocoa detergent. According to its Director, Mr. Malachi Akoroda, a few projects were being executed in collaboration with foreign partners to research more into cocoa and see how it can be improved upon by way of partnerships, collaborations and linkages.

    Interestingly, some of these efforts appear to be yielding fruit. For instance, in 2014 alone, Nigeria recorded the highest export of cocoa and its products valued at N131b, according to the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC). “Cocoa and cocoa preparations were the highest exported products in 2014 with the trade volume on cocoa amounting to N131.2 billion,’’ NEPC noted.

    Statistics from NEPC show that Nigeria recorded N43.191billion exportation of the products in the first quarter of the year, while more than N18. 558billion was recorded in the second quarter. Over N24. 845 billion was recorded in the third quarter, while N44. 695b was recorded in the fourth quarter. NEPC said the exportation of the products was part of the Federal Government’s plan to develop and enhance market opportunities for non-oil export sector through the National Strategy Export Products (NSEP).

    The Federal Government in January marked out 13 NSEP to replace the nation’s over dependence on petroleum products. According to Aganga, tumbling prices of petroleum products at the international markets was threatening the stability of the Nigerian economy hence, this was part of Federal Government’s moves to revive the dwindling national economy with emphasis on rapid growth of the non-oil sector for exports.

    Although, 12 products were originally identified under the NSEP, the number increased because the Executive Director of NEPC, Mr. Segun Awolowo, made a case for the inclusion of Cashew on the list. Aganga listed the 13 NSEP in three categories, including agro-industrial-palm oil, cocoa, cashew, sugar and rice. Others are mining-related such as cement, iron ore/metals, auto parts/cars, aluminium, oil and gas industrial products, petroleum products, fertiliser/urea, petrochemical and methanol.

    However, while these efforts may have put Nigeria on the threshold of regaining her lost glory as a leading cocoa producer, there is a snag: lack of a vibrant chocolate industry to process cocoa into chocolate and other finished products. Ninety per cent of chocolate products in the market are imported from Europe and other African countries such as Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and South Africa.

    The Nation learnt that there are few processing companies with the capacity to process cocoa into chocolate in Africa’s largest economy; a situation that has denied Nigeria the opportunity of enjoying the full benefit of the ongoing revolution in the sub-sector. Issues such as regular supply of cocoa, capital to establish local processing plants, and the challenge of marketability viz-a-viz imported chocolate, among others, have been identified as serious obstacles to the emergence of a vibrant local chocolate industry.

    This was why Adesina, for instance, has been advocating that Nigeria produce chocolates instead of exporting raw beans. He said cocoa processing factories generate between $90 million and $400 million yearly even at their low capacity rates, urging Nigerians to give more priority to processing instead of exportation of cocoa beans. Adesina, who spoke at the recent 50th anniversary of CRIN, added that a special intervention fund will also be established to support cocoa processors for asset acquisition and working capital.

    The Founder, Centre for Cocoa Development Initiative, a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), Mr. Robo Adhuze, told The Nation that at the moment the ‘N100billion Cocoa Intervention Fund’ announced by the Federal Government to support cocoa processors remains at the level of a proposal. He, however, said the recent feat achieved by the Ondo State Government’s ‘Cocoa Revolution Project’, particularly in the area of cocoa processing, is an indication that government’s ongoing efforts at revamping cocoa is yielding positive result.

    Adhuze, whose NGO focuses on promoting the development of cocoa in Nigeria and fostering awareness on the usefulness of cocoa products, said Ondo State won the Chocolate Silver Awards at the recently concluded seventh edition of the yearly Academy of Chocolate Award, at the Fortnum & Mason Piccadilly, London.

    At the event, which attracted major cocoa/chocolate and confectionery industry stakeholders across the globe, cocoa produced in the state, for chocolate production, received world certification and recognition. The state was mentioned at the ceremony as the only chocolate award winner from West Africa that produces 75 per cent of global cocoa bean output.

    Chairman of the state Cocoa Revolution Implantation Committee, Jibayo Oyebade, said the product had already been presented to the partnering firm overseas, Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate firm in Netherland. “We taught our cocoa farmers on how to improve the quality of their cocoa through proper fermentation. Our partners have taken our sample, and are satisfied with it.

    “I am proud that our effort has yielded good results. We want to reproduce chocolate from our own cocoa,” Oyebade said, adding that only 300 kilogrammes of the product was sent as sample. He also said the state would increase production and establish a chocolate academy and factory.

    The Ondo feat has been a wake-up call of sorts for other cocoa producing states. According to Adhuze, several states are eager to replicate Ondo’s success by riding on the crest of the cocoa transformation programme midwifed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD).

    The Nation learnt that apart from Ondo, a number of state governments have already indicated interest to be listed on the cocoa value chain intervention programme of the FMARD. For instance, only six states were involved in the programme’s implementation in 2012, but that doubled the following year 2013.

    Adhuze said what gave Ondo State an edge in exploiting the entire cocoa value chain in terms of marketing, processing and adding value was that out of about 10 cocoa processing factories in the country five are located in the state. He, however, noted that although about 24 states fall under what is described as ‘Nigeria’s Cocoa Belt’ only eight are commercially viable, and they form the hub for the current economic regeneration anchored on cocoa production and export.

    “We have enough cocoa processing factories; the only thing is that they are not performing optimally because of high cost of fund and energy,” Adhuze told The Nation, adding that in the next five or seven years, Nigeria would meet its target in cocoa production and export.