BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE: THE NIGERIA STORY

BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE: THE NIGERIA STORY

By Adejoro T.S

An event happened this week, the event signaled the end of the FIFA U-20 world cup, England emerged winner of the competition. The most interesting point that prompted this article is that Nigerian players are the ones that constitute part of the team that won the competition. Most of the times as history would have it, our athletes constitute larger part of the  teams winning laurels in various sports outside our borders and beyond our shores e.g Boxing: Anthony Joshua, Football: Gabriel Agbonlahor and many more we can't mention.

Moving from sport to the finance sector  President Donald Trump had just appointed our own Tolu Ogunlesi to the economic team he was building in order to achieve the aim of "Making America Great Again". We heard of the brilliant Nigeria young girl who got admissions into the 5 ivy league schools in the US simultaneously, Isn't that magnificent? a feat that has never occurred, the other time CNN published a story of a lady who was the first to become the president of the Harvard Law Review Committee and guess what she is a Nigerian, just recently in the last concluded UK June 8 elections, we saw how  7 Nigerians got elected into the House of Commons, getting elected into the House of Commons is not a mere feat in the UK, it means they must have been tested and trusted in terms of leadership qualities and exemplary qualities, another recent example is Anthony Joshua who had just won a WBA title in the heavyweight division, instead of covering and bowing their heads in shame, the governor of his state deem it fit to send delegates to congratulate him, What a country!!!

Go outside and see Nigerians in diaspora excelling in various field, many milestone have been attained by Nigerians, many records have been broken by our people, but they can't come home just because their home is no more "home" for them. Somebody had told me sometimes around last year that if only I could go to the embassy I would see massive influx of Nigerians hoping to run out of the country, the country is not encouraging, our leaders have turned the country into a place that is not okay to live in.

We breed excellence, we emit incandescent luminous rays of unimaginable altitudes.In every areas of excellence we can't be shelved aside. Those people pledged their allegiance to foreign country  because they know their home country has nothing to offer. Nigeria is not worth dying for, that I indeed believe in

Nigeria blessed with men and means, God has blessed this country with so many things, we are blessed beyond measures, but why are we still underdeveloped?

Everybody wants a level playing field in everything he or she partakes in but when the level playing field  they desire is not given, they go out of the country and they excel and what we do next is issue out an appreciation message congratulating them, why haven't we given them a level playing field to exercise their prowess and prove their God given mettle in their father's land? the economy is not encouraging, the atmosphere is not conducive, we are blessed with people of tremendous and outstanding qualities, we have been endowed with what is enough for us to have 24 hours uninterruptible power supply, low unemployment rate, low poverty rate and a very encouraging GDP but reverse is the case.

Nigeria's problem are not caused by these sets of people excelling outside her borders, Nigerians problem is caused by our leaders, let our leaders create a level playing field devoid of ethnic and religious bigotry and diligently rewards those who have made her proud in every areas, let the health sector be revived so that Ben Carson's can be developed and raised in our nations,  we can be anything we want to be but government has a role to play in making this dreams come true, I believe no nation is better than OURS, we are at this state because the environment is not enabling for self development and goal attainment.

When you take your time to explore our  grassroots areas, you will marvel at how young and creative guys are making waves but because of no support,those young dreams extinguish like flame into thin air, there is a place I take my time to watch local boxing every Sunday around my area, you wonder whether these are Nigerians or not, but my brother they are all Nigerians. They make waves but no sponsorship even when they want to represent their countries outside the world they are asked to bring exorbitant fees to process, what are they processing?
Corruption will kill us if we don't kill it. If government can just create an enabling field for all to participate in, our country will not only stand among mere nations but it will rub shoulders with countries who supposedly call themselves "world powers".

Samson Adejoro is a writer and he tweets from @Samsss_A.

ON BUHARI, FRC AND THE CHURCH: A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

Religion is the strongest tool on earth. It can be used for wonderful actions that touch lives--Azuka Onwuka on "Why FRC should not allow its new law thwarted", The Punch(11-01-2017)

Last week Saturday, the General overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God Pastor E.A Adeboye, a revered man of God, a father to many, daddy G.O as he is fondly called by his church faithful’s made a shocking announcement  at the annual RCCG ministers conference that took place on Saturday at the newly completed 3 by 3 km ultramodern worship centre in Shimawa,Ogun state, annual ministers thanksgiving is a program that takes place every first Saturday of the year, its a  day set apart in the RCCG calendar to thank God for his unflinching mercies over the people of God, the monthly programs held, the yearly programs held, the leaders, ministers of God, workers, et al.

On this gracious day, ministers of God who for 52 Sundays have been wearing suit, T-shirt and tie will be seen wearing their various tribal wears like agbada, lace, babariga, atiku, etc as RCCG is a church with various ethnic groups, suffice to say anyone who is seen wearing an English dress on that day might be punished by the authorities of the church.
Daddy G.O as he is fondly called had gave out the watchword of the year as a year of “pleasant surprises” nobody in their imaginations would have had an inkling of what was going to happen, but at this shocking moment everywhere was silent like the graveyard as Baba announced he would be stepping aside, thereby handling over the affairs of the church to an Assistant General Overseer(Finance),Pastor J.O Obayemi, a man he said was "appointed by God".

After he made the resignation, he gave reasons for his actions citing the Financial Reporting Council stipulations called the corporate governance code which was signed into law in 2011, compelling all religious organisation heads to hand over the affairs of their various organisation at a compulsory age of 70 years or must have served for 20 years or pay tax.

The FRC is a unified independent regulatory body for accounting, auditing, actuarial, valuation and corporate governance. As such, compliance monitoring in these areas will hence be addressed from the platform of professionalism and legislation.
Quoting the law that forced Pastor E.A Adeboye to resign inter alia: “The founder or leader shall cease to occupy these three governance positions simultaneously. This is to ensure the separation of powers and avoid possible concentration of powers in one individual.

“The founder or leader may however choose – subject to the agreement of the organisation’s apex authority as expressed in the annual general assembly, annual meeting, annual stakeholder engagement, annual conference, annual synod, annual fellowship assembly or their equivalents – only one of these three governance positions subject to his current tenure. This is to ensure a clear division of responsibilities at the head of the organisation between the running of the governing body and the executive responsibility for the management and fulfilment of the organisation’s mission.

“Where the founder or leader has occupied all or any of these three governance positions for more than 20 years, or is aged 70 years or above, the choice in the section above should only relate to the board of trustees as in section below, except the constitution of the organisation otherwise provides.’’

In response to the new law and in response to the resignation of Pastor E.A Adeboye resignation, various Pentecostal churches have all risen up to say, we are not accountable to the government, why should they dictate the number of years we are to use as leaders of our churches to us, we are only accountable to God, but wait a second didn't Jesus said give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar? Jesus himself at a time when the roman emperor asked him for tax, he dutifully complied , when this men of God go about in an attempt to launder huge amount of money to purchase goodies, whose approval was taken? Is it God's approval? Is it not men's approval, when they go about building private universities their members can't afford whose approval was taken?, isn't that religious hypocrisy of the highest order, we have been blindfolded by religion, pastors will go about doing things that are not meant to be done, shouldn't there be an organization created to checkmate this excesses?, in the USA an inventory is taken into the account of every churches so why should our churches be different is,  a country that wants to progress will look beyond religiosity and embrace accountability.

The law came at the right timing as it is obvious and palpable everyday as shocking revelations are tripping in about how this not-for-profit-organisations have digressed from their core values and what they they stand for, they are now known to be self-seeking all in the name of God, money has now become their main interest not the people who they are meant to lead, welfarism of members has become what they least cherish, as leaders of this organisations are now seen flying around in private jets at the expense of their member who still wear  slippers to church, money meant to be spent on awarding scholarships to brilliant but indigent members are being used in building schools that their parents can't afford.
In my own view, I believe the government can't do everything, there is a need for an helping hands from the religious organisation thereby making the number of poverty decimate, citizens would not really feel the heat of governments inactions if religious organizations can make sure they provide foods to members at least in one of their worship days, there should be day set aside for welfarism, that day should be a day of giving back to the members afterwards the members have been the one contributing.

Suddenly after 72  hours of the resignation of Pastor E.A Adeboye, the enforcer-in-chief of the bill Mr Jim Osayande Obazee, FCA was sacked in what came as a shocking news to me as I could not fathom a tangible reason why a  presidency whose sole aim as clearly stipulated  at various times is to make sure corruption is totally eradicated from the country.

According to the mainstream media, the case of the law being dropped was agitated by the church and it was taken to court but the FRC won the case, knowing that Buhari still went on to sack the CEO of FRC, isn't that cluelessness?

This administration is clueless as I have always said, inside his kitchen cabinet are SGF Babachir Lawal who used 270 million naira to cut grass in IDP camps, Aisha Buhari and  Abba Kyari who are currently in connivance with the high commissioner of Nigeria in UK lavishing our common patrimony on pleasurable things at the expense of an average Nigerian who has not eaten for some days and Rotimi Amaechi who is allegedly reported to have bribed a judge are still seen holding up to their jobs, people who should have automatically resigned.
Why has Buhari not ordered the immediate removal of this people aforementioned even with glaring evidences of clear incompetence and corruption? Is he (Buhari ) such in a hurry to react to religious matters(that has to do with Christians) in a way of getting there votes in 2019?

This is a clear case of chasing rats when one house is on fire, at a point when recession is biting harder, hardship has not even gone away, poverty is still stretching its harms and gripping citizens of this country but issues which have least interest are the ones this clueless administration is looking at, issues that need serious attentions like that of the Chibok girls, the ethno religious killings happening at southern Kaduna, what he only knows to do is to sign on the dotted lines of sack letters.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria

God Bless Nigeria

EMBRACING MORALITY OVER RELIGIOSITY: A PATH TOWARDS BUILDING A VIRILE NATION

By Samson Adejoro

Lets not be a divided country, people who are divided are very easy to rule- Sean Hannity

Religion is the opium of the people- Karl Marx

As the topic reads, religion has now become a DO-OR-DIE affair in this country, it has become the basis on which politicians now capitalize on to win elections, it has now serve as an instrument of division instead of an instrument to foster unity, it has now become the basis on which terrorism has its base.

Religion should not be a basis on which people are appointed to major posts, credibility should be. The gullible masses are the one at the receiving end, it is so sad that our politicians play politics with  virtually everything including religion all because of wielding what will one day become vanity called POWER, they prey on the weakness of the unsuspecting masses. The president being a Muslim or a Christian isn't what matters, what really counts is SOUND and EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP.

Religion should not be a yardstick on which our fate is determined as a nation.

Not only the politician prey on this misnomer their various "FATHER IN THE LORDS" have chosen  also to throe in path of  capitalizing on the weakness of their members, we see men of God flying on private jets worth billions of naira that is capable of feeding almost all the members of his church, building universities that well to do members of his church can't afford, IS THAT NOT ROBBERY ALL IN THE NAME OF RELIGION? We now see fake prophets everywhere because they know our people can be cajoled with a mere prophecy that has ceased to exist. In the city of Lagos churches and mosques are springing up in every nooks and crannies all in a bid to indoctrinate  people with false doctrines and dupe people who are looking for quick and overnight success.

The problem with our people is that they are becoming fanatics all in the name of religion, Nigeria is the most religious nation but still underdeveloped, Religion has taken us nowhere because instead of channelling our beliefs in the right path we have chosen to imbibe on ourselves self-acclaimed belief which never exist anywhere, I was reading a lady's post on Facebook that says "Muslims should not greet Christians on Christmas day" when I pressed further by asking for her reasons she told me  because a cleric told her that the Christians are unclean. Really! On what basis did the cleric draw the inference that  he himself making the comment is pure. We are all Nigerians we are one, when politicians make useless propaganda all in the name of religion we should be able to critically look at it, think about it and make the right decisions. Or what is the essence of voting for a CHRISTIAN that knows next to nothing about how to lead? I have found out that a nation like ours love the popular saying thus; "HE IS FROM MY RELIGION" then you make your assertions because he  attends the same church with you and you fail to look at his wherewithal, you fail to remove the religious blinder that has been kept on your eyes that makes you see nothing other than RELIGIOSITY.

Philosophy of religion emphasizes on abstaining from religious intolerance and fanaticism. Hence, regardless of what we might believe in, we should encourage unity in our religious diversity; that is the essence of humanity. A country hinged on religiosity will never progress as it will surely be dogmatic in its approach to some situations. A nation HIGH on religion cannot possess the requisite sanity of mind to reason a way out of mess when it presents itself. Nigeria has everything that can make it  a better nation but religion has continued to divide us. I have always insisted that our colonial masters never wanted any good for us, there is nothing they gave us that has bettered our nation, I strongly believe our colonial masters knows the effect of what religion will do to our country.

Religion has done more harm than good, it is good to embrace morality and not hinged on one opium that any spiritual father tells you somewhere else, you are the owner of your mind and the captain of your soul, if you can think critically and reason, you would observe that MORALITY pay. Is there anything bad in greeting your fellow Nigerian be it a christian or a muslim, but that won't happen in a nation that has been deeply enmeshed in the razzmatazz of RELIGIOSITY. Is it not when we came to world that we heard what we call religion? That is why in the university when taking a course in philosophy, you will be asked by your lecturer to keep your religious beliefs outside and come in with a mind willing to think in a moral, rational and sane way. God will never answer to the yearnings of a country who embraces fanaticism at the expense of wisdom, that is why some people have been fooled into believing that without requisite hardworking and sound leadership if we pray to God, he would answer, my readers it doesn’t work like  that. That is typical of our nations problem.

The writer of this treatise is not an atheist or someone who doesn't believe God, all I am saying in essence is that different religion carries different beliefs and can two walk together except they agree? (Amos 3:3). Absolutely NO, we the citizens of this nation should not be fooled into believing one religion is better than the other for we are all equal in the face of God, God is not asking for an advocate, if he needs one he wouldn't hire you.

The main reason terrorism has ceased to never stop existing is because none of us will shelve our religiosity nature and embrace peace. Terrorism doesn't start in a day, it starts gradually from mere arguments like JESUS IS THE MESSENGER OF GOD and the other  person will say no MOHAMMED IS THE MESSENGER OF GOD, from there argument will sprawl up and terrorism will start, churches will start being burnt, people would start being murdered in the pool of their blood and thoughts of how to start fixing and countering the terrorism that has been caused will then arise thereby resulting in waste of resources to equip the army, rebuild damaged properties, feed those whom have been left homeless by these terrorist sects.

Moneys that should have been spent on ailing our dying economy, rebuilding our already collapsed tertiary institutions, building schools, equipping our deteriorating health care systems, rebuilding our roads full of potholes are being spent on some useless problems caused by the inability of us to embrace morality over religiosity.

God bless Nigeria.

Samson Adejoro writes in from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-iwoye, Ogun state.