How CBN FX Policies Will Continue to hamper economic growth In Nigeria- OPS

The Organised Private Sector (OPS) has said that the unorthodox foreign exchange allocations system of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) would continue to hamper economic growth.
The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr Muda Yusuf, expressed the worry in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.
He said that it was worrisome that the apex bank had maintained silence on major foreign exchange-related issues adversely impacting the economy.
Yusuf said that these issues, which had not been left unattended to, had continued to cause distortions and liquidity challenges in the economy.
He listed some of the issues to include acute liquidity crisis in the foreign exchange market, impediments to autonomous inflows of foreign inflow and regulations impeding movement of funds from one domiciliary account to another.
Others, he said, were the adverse effects of the foreign exchange policy on non-oil exports, its disincentive to foreign direct investments and the negative impact of the policy on portfolio inflows.
“Other are adverse effect on remittances by airlines, foreign investors’ dividends and profits; adverse effect on Diaspora remittances and the effect on investors’ confidence as well as the adverse effects on credit lines to Nigerian investors and contentious issue of the 41 items excluded from access to the official foreign exchange window,” he said.
According to him, liquidity squeeze in the economy is not abating but driven by the contractionary monetary policy, aggressive drive for tax revenue by all levels of government and the current import duty regime.
“The economy at this time needs an injection of liquidity in order to rebound. The budget appropriations are not enough to make the desired impact.
“Boosting private investment is, therefore, very vital,” Yusuf said.

Selena Gomez and The Weeknd have taken their romance 10 Steps Further

The new couple were spotted in Italy this weekend and appeared unable to keep their hands off each other as they traveled throughout Venice on their romantic getaway.
They jetted off late last week—sometime after their fun-filled date at a Los Angeles arcade—and were spotted on Friday in Florence visiting Michelangelo's statue of David at Accademia Gallery Museum. They stopped at Trattoria Borgo Antico for dinner later that night.

In fact, photogs captured the two enjoying their dinner date and even sharing a kiss in the middle of it!
"Selena was very sweet and very loving," on onlooker told E! news of their romantic date. "She would caress his face and kiss him often. He makes her laugh and she was completely focused on him. It was like no one else existed, just the two of them. They were completely immersed in one another."

Though we thought they were just "having fun," taking a very public, romantic vacation seems to say something different.
"Their romance is moving quickly, but they are OK with that," an insider exclusively tells E! News. "They are exclusively dating each other. Selena is not one to date around, and when she cares and opens up to a man, she makes sure it's the real thing."
Still, we're told, "They are just dating. Abel is taking it slow but respects Selena and wants to see where this may go. They haven't called each other boyfriend or girlfriend yet, but they are exclusively just with each other. They are both very smitten about each other."

The source added, "Abel is extremely romantic, and their time in Italy was perfect. They are enjoying getting to explore each other's worlds."
After their dinner, photogs caught the couple showing PDA while taking in the Italian evening. At one point, the R&B singer wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, kissing her on the cheek as she appeared to snap a selfie on her phone.
Gomez looked chic in a red sweatshirt, which she paired with cropped jeans and heels, wearing her hair back in a bun. The Weeknd, on the other hand, opted for a more casual look in white tennis shoes and a matching white hat, which he paired with a denim coat, dark pants and accessorized with a gold chain.

After exploring Florence, the pair was spotted on Sunday enjoying Venice. Not only did they travel through the Venice canals by boat (how romantic is that?!), but they also took in the sights of a few museums.
Gomez cuddled close to her man while strolling along during their sight-seeing expedition, only letting go of him to snap pictures along the way.
She opted for a long, navy blue coat for the trip with boots and pink round glasses. Her man also donned similar shades in blue, but opted for a camouflage sweatshirt layered underneath a denim jacket and jeans for the trip.
SelGo even took a second to capture a video of her fashionable beau, posting (and later deleting) it on Instagram. Though the video only showed the "Starboy" singer for a second, she captioned it with the heart-eye emoji, proving she's totally swooning over her man.

Despite the lovey-dovey moments though, there are a few reasons Gomez and The Weeknd are taking things slow.
"Selena was focusing on getting herself back together and The Weeknd was just getting out of a relationship [with Bella Hadid], plus putting out his new album," an insider previously told E! News.

Nonetheless, they're definitely enjoying one another's company. "He really likes her. They text every day," our insider added. "They have a really sexy and flirty relationship. They laugh and like each other's personalities."

Credit: [eNews]

Tension in Igando Area of Lagos State After an Hausa Man Killed A Bus Driver Over N30

There was palpable tension at College Bus Stop in Igando area of Lagos monday when a noodles seller, simply identified as Mallam Adamu, allegedly killed a bus driver, Lekan Adeleke, popularly known as Starboy.

Given the ethnic implications of the incident, the Area M Police Command and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) were quickly deployed in the area to douse the tension and prevent it from scaling into a war between the two ethnic groups.

It was gathered that Adamu used a plank with nails on it to hit Adeleke on the head following a disagreement over N30.

Meanwhile, the deceased’s family has appealed that his body be released to them so that he can be buried in accordance with Islamic rites

According to an eyewitness, Kehinde Akinduro, who said he was eating noodlesat Adamu’s snack bar when the trouble started, the suspect went berserk after the deceased paid his son N200 instead of N230.

He said Adeleke, after eating noodles and egg, was told his bill was N230, being a regular customer, he handed over the N200 he had on him and told the seller he would pay N30 in few minutes time.

Akinduro said: “The boy then told his father that Adeleke paid N200 and promised to come back with N30 shortly but his father ran after Adeleke.

“People who saw him running after Adeleke to the other side of the road, told him to calm down that Adeleke would not go away with his money.

“About five later, Adeleke brought the N30 and asked the boy if it was because of N30 they wanted to embarrass him.
“He was not happy, and also asked the boy that even if he didn’t have money, that can’t they give him food and pay when he had money?

“As Adeleke was inside the container talking to the son, Adamu just entered with a plank he was holding and hit him on his side.

“So, Adeleke turned around to know what happened and when he saw it was Adamu, he struggled to take the plank from him but he couldn’t.

“I was still eating. I left my food and went inside to stop Adamu but he used the same plank to beat me three times. My hands and legs are still swollen. I fell on the ground and I was weak.
“After the struggle, Adeleke ran outside. As a peaceful man, he was going to cross the expressway when Adamu chased him again.

“He didn’t know Adamu was coming behind him. That was how Adamu used the plank and hit him on the head again. The nail on the plank burst Adeleke’s head and he fell on the ground.”

The source continued: “When I saw what had happened, I called our other guys who were on the other side to come. People who were eating gathered and told Adamu to take him to the hospital, but he was busy pouring water on his head.

“But when he saw that our colleagues were coming, Adamu and his son fled. Others started chasing him but he used allegedly use ‘charms’ to distract the people, so we therefore called our chairman who called the police.
“I chased him too and found him inside a gutter at Ikotun road. He was hiding under a slab and refused to come out until the police came.” Another driver who gave his name as Eniola described Adamu as a very violent man, adding that he chased a customer with a cutlass two months ago.

According to Eniola, Adamu’s ear was chopped off some years back at Igando because he stabbed somebody to death. According to Eniola, “Youths in the area burnt down Adamu’s shop. We have destroyed the container and burnt it. Even his charms, we have removed all the ones we saw.”

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who confirmed the incident said they were on top of the situation.

Siezed Choppers: Wike accuses Amaechi of politicising Rivers security

 

 

Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, has accused the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, of being unpatriotic and politicising the security of Rivers State.

Governor Wike, who responded to Amaechi’s allegation through his Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu in TheCable, an online website described as false, baseless and unfounded, the allegation by Amaechi that the governor was responsible for his inability to clear  the  two Bell 412 helicopters, Amaechi’s administration paid for.

The governor noted that the documents  regarding  the communication  between the Rivers State Government and the relevant federal agencies on the said helicopters are in the public domain, adding that from Amaechi’s statement , the Jonathan administration through  the  office of the the National Security Adviser (NSA) paid $15 million, which was half the cost of the two armoured helicopters.

 

“At no point in the entire transaction did Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike then a Minister interfere with the process of the acquisition of the helicopters. He had no reason to stop a process for which the then Jonathan administration committed $15m as admitted by Amaechi, a politician  who is notorious  for his obsession for falsehood. Furthermore, contrary  to  Amaechi’s  claim  that his administration  improved  security  in the state, his administration  was compelled to procure armoured  helicopters  because  of the porous  security nature of the state at the time,” Wike said.

Wike added that despite Amaechi’s refusal to formally hand over, he embarked  on  due diligence, and discovered  the transaction  and followed up the interest  of Rivers State and the security of the people.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Rivers State Government under the leadership of Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike took proactive  steps to clear the helicopters for security purposes, but the concerned Federal agencies deliberately blocked the state government. As a result of the commitment of the Rivers State Governor to the security  of lives and property devoid of partisan politics, he applied to the President  for the two Bell 412  helicopters  to be  handed over to the Nigerian Air Force for custody and management.  This patriotic request of Governor Wike  was approved by the National Security Adviser (NSA)  vide a letter dated November 3, 2016 and signed on behalf of the NSA by Brigadier General A.T. Famadewa,” Wike explained.

Wike argued that despite the documentary approval by the NSA  for the transfer of the  two Bell 412 helicopters to the Nigerian  Airforce, it was shocking  that the Nigerian Custom Service had to stage a  drama that the helicopters  were imported  by unknown persons and that the service  had resolved  to transfer same to the Nigerian Air Force.

The governor alleged that for Amaechi’s statement to be filled with bitterness, lies and political blackmail is a proof that he was behind this crime against the people of Rivers State.

 Wike said it was sad that the former governor  would take his hatred for the people of Rivers State  to the level of masterminding  the diversion of security  helicopters  paid for with Rivers funds, which he now wants to be used in other states.

“That the security helicopters were hijacked by the Nigerian Customs Service  as a facility  under the control of the failed former governor shows the level he is ready to go as regards the politicisation  of security with a view to attaining  unpatriotic goals. Since Mr. Amaechi  left office in 2015, he has been sponsoring  crime and criminality  in Rivers State with a view to creating an unstable environment for the declaration of State of Emergency on Rivers State.  However, he has continued  to  fail because  the  Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike  is always ahead of him through the initiation and sustenance  of a sound security architecture,” Wike alleged.

Wike however noted that the fact that the two Bell 412 Helicopters  belong to the Rivers State Government has been established, adding that the drama  staged by the Nigerian Custom Service and the Nigerian Air Force was therefore unnecessary and unpatriotic .

The governor also described as politically motivated,  the refusal to grant the Rivers State Government  waiver to clear the  said helicopters.

“Amaechi could not provide  the  people of  Rivers State with good governance  that was why he had to recourse to the purchase of Armoured Helicopters.

“I have no need for armoured helicopters because I have provided the good people of Rivers State with good governance  and they are happy with him. In any case, Rivers State is not at war with any country, hence  there is no need for armoured  helicopters.

“I will continue  to  deliver  good governance to the Rivers’ people. This has led to the improvement  of  security, despite the evil political machinations of Amaechi and his cohorts,” the statement said.

 

 

 

 Source: [ThisdayNG]

Apostle Suleman Acuses El-Rufai of Masterminding Southern Kaduna Killings

The General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman, on Sunday challenged the Federal Government to compel the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to produce the Fulani herdsmen he gave money.

The governor, he said, should be made to answer charges of murder and other related crimes against humanity.

The fiery cleric made the demand in a statement issued by his Communications Adviser, Phrank Shaibu.

He said naming the beneficiaries of the money would disabuse the minds of Nigerians of the conflict that Christians were the targets of incessant attacks by Fulani herdsmen.

This came as the cleric prepares to appear before the Department of State Services today with not less than 30 lawyers for reportedly asking members of his church to defend themselves against attacks by Fulani herdsmen.

He advised security agents not to allow politicians and ethnic warlords to use them, warning that such a development might lead to grave consequences for Nigeria.

According to him, failure to compel El-Rufai to produce the herdsmen who purportedly collected money from the Kaduna State Government would be an indication of the insincerity of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The governor of Kaduna State confessed that he paid money to some Fulani herdsmen as compensation to stop the killings in Southern Kaduna. That means he knows those who have committed atrocities against Christians. El-Rufai must be made to produce them to answer charges of murder and other crimes. El-Rufai can be safely regarded as an apologist of the herdsmen and with a fact.

“On July 12, 2012, he tweeted the following, ‘We will write this for all to read. Anyone, soldier or not that kills the Fulani takes a loan repayable one day no matter how long it takes.”

Suleman said the governor’s response to the killings in Southern Kaduna had been  consistent with this mindset.

He said, “In a recent chat with newsmen in Kaduna, the governor made different remarks to substantiate his love for the herdsmen and their activities. First, he said when he became governor, he traced the attackers to Cameroon, Chad, and Niger and sent a message to them that one of their own, a Fulani like them, was now governor. This comment displays a dramatically bigoted mindset.

“A governor of a state in Nigeria was making appeals based on ethnic kinship and brotherhood to a group of foreign killers of people in his state! In other words, he was appeasing his murderous foreign kinsmen at the expense of indigenes of his state who are not his ethnic kinsmen but whose safety and interests he swore to defend.

“The governor’s shocking statement indicates that ethnic solidarity trumped his constitutional obligations to protect Southern Kaduna citizens from the external threats of foreign Fulani herdsmen.”

The Federal Government, Suleman said, would be engaging in double standards by asking the DSS to invite him while allowing El-Rufai to move about freely.

According to him, the fact that the governor has immunity does not preclude him from investigation.

“There’s no end to the killing of Christians in Kaduna. Those behind the heinous crime are known to the governor. Yet no one has been charged with murder. Instead, people like us, who speak the truth, are being persecuted. The Federal Government must not give the impression of partiality or suggests that Christians are the target of this administration,” he added.

Suleman wondered why his recent speeches had been taken differently by agents of the Federal Government when all he had done was to remain consistent in telling the truth.

He said, “Which is worse? Saying the truth or offering money to murderers? Did El-Rufai offer money to ghosts? For you to pay someone money, the person must have a known and fixed address. As the chief security officer of the state, was it not his business to arrest and put these hoodlums on trial? How come no one has been caught or being prosecuted for the massacre in Southern Kaduna? Obviously, there is more to it than meets the eye.”

Source: [PunchNG]

Senator Shehu Sanni in bigger trouble with the leadership of APC over 2017 Budget

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has written to the Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Shehu Sani to come and explain his utterances regarding the anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari

National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun drafted a letter yesterday evening to be sent to the senator inviting him to the party’s office in Abuja to discuss his criticism of the president’s handling of the allegations of corruption levelled against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir David Lawal.

Senator Sani had thrown a tirade on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday accusing the presidency of lies and hypocrisy, after the president wrote a letter to the Senate exonerating Lawal of corruption allegations.

The senator was miffed by the content of Buhari’s letter read by Senate President Bukola Saraki on the floor of the Senate, in which the president accused the ad hoc Committee on the Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in North-east chaired by Sani, of denying the SGF fair hearing by failing to invite him to defend himself during the investigation on the mismanagement of funds allocated to the North-eastern section of the country as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency.

The president, in his letter, also concluded that the ad hoc committee’s report was an interim one, obviously forgetting that the presidency had indicted and ordered the arrest and arraignment of the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, among others, in 2015, on the basis of an interim report submitted to it by a presidential committee set up to investigate the utilisation of funds for the procurement of arms by past administrations.

Sani had described the letter as the funeral of Buhari’s anti-corruption war, pointing out that when the president wants to fight corruption outside the presidency, he uses a disinfectant but when it is within the presidency, he uses a deodorant.

In another development, the ousted Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, yesterday challenged Saraki to treat the Senate’s 2017 budget differently from that of 2016, revealing that the breakdown of the upper chamber’s budget for 2016 was hidden from other senators.

Ndume, who made the remark while contributing to the 2017 budget debate, had earlier raised a point of order challenging Saraki’s alleged decision not to recognise him to speak when it was his turn, claiming that in accordance with the budget roster, he should have been the 16th person to contribute to the debate.

He said: “When you announced the debate on the budget, you asked us to write our names and I wrote my name and my name is listed. After Distinguished Senator Dino Melaye, I was prepared and I was following but I didn’t hear you call my name. So, I don’t know when I will contribute again.”
Responding, Saraki said he was not aware of the list that Ndume was talking about, maintaining that the authentic list he was using was the one before him.

“Senator Ndume, as I sit down here, I didn’t write this list. I take the order in directing the affairs of the chambers and the list I have is the list I am using and I don’t know whether that list is the one you are talking about.

“So, follow my list and you will be called in due time. So, I don’t know the list you are talking about. The only list that matters is the list I have in front of me and I am going with that list,” Saraki said.

Eventually, when Ndume was called to make his contribution, he insisted that the handling of this year’s federal budget must be different from that of last year, insisting that details of the budget must be well spelt out in a way that senators will be conversant with the details of the budget.
He also tasked the Senate Committee on Appropriation to ensure that the federal government provides details of the entire 2016 budget, pointing out that doing so would enable lawmakers to follow up on its implementation.

He said: “We come here to pass the budget without seeing the details. This is a government of change and this must change. The details of the budget report should be known and as required, must be considered holistically.

“Last year, we had several issues with the budget. In fact, to some extent, very embarrassing and that is because some of us are even innocent. I don’t know what was in the budget because the details of the budget were not provided and this should be done this year.

“The budget of the Senate is also not known to the senators. It should be known this year. This is very important because we cannot be taking blame or credit for what we don’t know.
“Mr. President, if you look at 2016 budget, yes we have been given the budget performance, but what the 2016 budget contained in relation to 2017 budget is not available.

“There should have been a column where the 2016 budget details will be enumerated. Then the 2016 budget would have been detailed so that we know, because we could end up having uncompleted projects.

“We could also end up having projects that are new and that will never be executed because we provided for them desperately in order to answer the call of our colleagues, yet they will not be done; or for technical reasons, they will say they will not do it.

“But if the budget of the 2016 column is there and we know what has been released for particular subheads, then we will know what is budgeted for this year. We will know how to do actual budget work. The Committee on Appropriation should do that and know the right thing.”

In his contribution, Senator Shehu Sani (Kaduna Central), challenged the federal government to ensure that the budget was not a mere compilation of figures, but a deliberate action plan to achieve development, even as he advocated the need for Nigeria to exploit the opportunity of its goodwill in the international community this time to seek another round of debt forgiveness.
“Each year, the budget passes through the ritual of passing through the National Assembly and the state of Nigerians as far as their lives are concerned experience no change.

“On N1.663 trillion for debt servicing, we should explore the goodwill that Nigeria enjoys today from the international community to seek for further debt forgiveness, so as to boost our economy to address other issues which we are faced with,” he said.

Sani wondered if the N50 billion education budget would address the rot in education sector and advocated for a reduction of the N140 billion defence budget in view of the perceived containment of Boko Haram in the North-east.

“The budget for education, will this address the decadence in the sector? Will this end the perennial and persistent Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike? Will it address the basic challenges of our education sector? The defence budget of N140 billion – in a situation whereby we acknowledge the fact that the insurgency has seriously been degraded – we need to see a scale down of the defence budget so that the large sum of those monies could be used for other sectors like in health and education,” he added.

Also contributing to the debate, Senator Philip Aduda (FCT) said the N37 billion allocated to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was inadequate, noting that contractors in the territory were owed billions of naira.

He also advised the FCT Minister to entrench a tax system that will enhance revenue generation for the development of the FCT.

But Senator Babajide Omoware (Osun East) lamented the increasing spate of unemployment in the country which he said was an expression of the stunted growth in the economy.
He said the federal government must spend more if it wants to revamp the economy and also ensure there is a reduction in the recurrent expenditure while capital expenditure is increased drastically.

“The number one solution to recession is for government to spend more. The executive must fund small and medium scale enterprises. There is about N50 billion in the budget for the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) and Bank of Industry(BoI). That is not enough; there must be a lot more money.
The challenge we have in Nigeria is not about providing this money. It is about ensuring that this money gets to those who need the money – the youths, the women.

“In the last dispensation, money was allocated to small and medium scale enterprises. People were not able to access it. The government must design a method of ensuring that those who actually require this money get it. This is the only way there can be growth in the economy,” he stated.

Source: [ ThisdayNG]

WHY BIG BROTHER NAIJA WAS FILMED IN SOUTHAFRICA-MULTICHOICE

 

It should be a dose of must-see television, but the new series of Big Brother in Nigeria has turned into another episode in the spat between the country and its continental rival South Africa.
Nigeria is investigating why its version of the reality television show is being shot in South Africa, after the minister of information's office said it had been "bombarded" by complaints from viewers.

"The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the reported shooting in South Africa of the ongoing Big Brother Nigeria reality show," the minister's statement said.
The minister implored Nigerians to "remain calm while the NBC investigates the issue and submits its findings". His office gave no details of the numbers of complaints.
The row is the latest development in the rivalry between the countries with Africa's two largest economies, which, in the past few years, has seen a battle for economic dominance and control over the continent's representation on the global stage.
Relations have been strained by accusations of South African xenophobia, with Nigerians alleging that Pretoria subjects them to harsh visa restrictions.
Nigeria banned 2009 film "District 9", directed by a South African, that depicted Nigerians as criminals and cannibals. Five years later Nigeria was criticised for its handling of a church hostel collapse in Lagos that killed 115 people who were mostly South African.
"Hosting of @bbnaija_ng in SA is enough reason for Nigerians not to watch," @JimNneke wrote on Twitter, one of many Nigerians who used social media to complain about the programme broadcast on DSTV, MultiChoice's widely viewed digital TV subscription service.
The investigation will examine whether MultiChoice, the South African company that produces Big Brother, in which housemates are cut off from the outside world and evicted weekly by public vote, breached regulations in any way, including whether viewers were deceived by not being told the programme would be made outside Nigeria.
MultiChoice said staging the show in a Big Brother facility in South Africa that "already exists and has been specially built for such purposes" was cost-effective and enabled high production values to be maintained.

"The ongoing Big Brother Nigeria is a proudly Nigerian show," it said adding that housemates, the voice over artist, series director and some production staff members were Nigerian.
Some people on Twitter said Nigeria's investigation was wasteful when Nigeria faces graver issues such as the national air force's bombing of a refugee camp last week where the death toll could be as high as 170 people.



Source: [ReuterAfrica]

Gambia Crises: No Agreed Immunity for Yahaya Jammeh- Senegalese Foreign Minister

West African leaders did not agree to immunity for Yahya Jammeh during negotiations that convinced Gambia's longtime ruler to flee into exile, Senegal's foreign minister said on Sunday.
Jammeh, who is accused of serious rights violations, led his country for 22 years but refused to accept defeat in a December election. He flew out of the capital Banjul late on Saturday as a regional military force was poised to remove him.
The peaceful end to the impasse will allow opposition figure Adama Barrow, who was sworn in as president at Gambia's embassy in neighbouring Senegal on Thursday, to take office.

Jammeh's decision to step down has prompted speculation over the terms agreed during two days of negotiations led by Guinea's President Alpha Conde and Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania.
Regional leaders had not gone as far as agreeing immunity despite Jammeh's attempts to secure this, Senegalese Foreign Minister Mankeur Ndiaye said.
"President Jammeh and his team concocted a declaration to be endorsed by (regional bloc) ECOWAS, the United Nations and the African Union that gave him every guarantee, essentially impunity," Mankeur Ndiaye said.
"This declaration was signed by no one."
The foreign minister made his comments after the AU and the UN published a joint declaration from the three bodies "with the purpose of reaching a peaceful resolution to the political situation in The Gambia."
In it, they pledged, among other things, to protect Jammeh's rights "as a citizen, a party leader and a former Head of State", to prevent the seizure of property belonging to him and his allies, and to ensure he can eventually return to Gambia.
However, Ndiaye played down the significance of the document.
"I want to be clear on the fact that no ECOWAS head of state validated this declaration," said Ndiaye, who added that Barrow had not been made aware of the document before its publication.

Jammeh's loss in a Dec. 1 poll and his initial acceptance of the result were celebrated across the tiny nation by Gambians grown weary of his increasingly authoritarian rule. But he reversed his position a week later, creating a standoff with regional neighbours who demanded he step down.
Rights groups accuse him of jailing, torturing and killing his political opponents while acquiring a vast fortune - including luxury cars and an estate in the United States - as most of his people remained impoverished.
Jammeh flew to Equatorial-Guinea with a brief stopover in Guinea's capital Conakry, the office of Guinea's President Conde said on Sunday.

West African troops from Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana and Mali were deploying in Gambia on Sunday as part of efforts to secure the country and allow Barrow to take charge.
"We will look for arms caches and detect mercenaries, so that we can restore calm," Marcel de Souza, president of the ECOWAS commission, told reporters overnight.
"Adama Barrow hopes to go back as quickly as possible."
Eye witness on Sunday saw war planes flying over the capital Banjul, which remained calm despite some concern over how the army, a pillar of Jammeh's regime, would react to his departure.



Source: [ReuterAfrica]

Excerpts of 19 States Northern Elders and Governors Forum Meeting Held In Kaduna over Kaduna South Killings

Northern Traditional Rulers Council (NTRC) and the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF), monday met in Kaduna over the incessant killings and other criminal activities in the region.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the meeting, which held at the Government House, Kaduna, Chairman of the NTRC and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, noted that violence had continued to thrive in the north with impunity because people who committed crime were not being punished for any wrong doing.

The Sultan said traditional rulers in the region were worried about the killings in the north, especially in the southern part of Kaduna State even as the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has frowned on what it said was an attempt by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, to trivialize the murder of innocent civilians in Southern Kaduna.

Abubakar 111 called on the governors of the 19 northern states to strive to achieve lasting peace in the region and the whole country in particular, assuring that traditional rulers will take measures to bring peace lasting peace.
“We at the Northern Traditional Rulers Council are very worried and sad with the situation of insecurity in the north, especially the happenings in Southern Kaduna, kidnapping, cattle rustling, the state of IDPs in the North East in particular and other parts of the country.

“We are more worried with the usage of places of religious worship to preach hatred, violence and other issues that tend to divide us, rather than strengthen our unity as a people created by one God.

“We believe, one of the numerous reasons why violence continue to thrive in our midst is the impunity that is allowed to thrive in our midst. Nobody is punished for criminal wrong doings they commit.
“We are therefore strongly supporting more measures taken and to be taken by Governors of the Northern States, especially the Governor of Kaduna State.

“We look forward to a very robust, blunt and honest discussion today. Let us collectively as one people say enough is enough” he said.

Speaking earlier, the chairman of the NSGF and governor of Borno state, Alhaji Kashim Shettima said the meeting was the first of its kind, “convened for us to collectively deliberate and find urgent, practical but lasting solutions to the myriad of socio-economic and political problems besetting our region.”

According to him, the core challenges facing the region revolve around “intolerance, absence of peaceful coexistence, poverty, illiteracy and lack of unity”.

“How can we address these critical concerns? We, the 19 Governors of Northern States believe that a gathering of some of the key leaders of the North, is more than able to provide solutions to our problems. As Governors, we are more determined than ever, to sincerely walk the talks generated from this important meeting” shettima said.

He lamented that “the North is a poor, pathetic shadow of its former self” in spite of well endowed, promising geographic space which accounts for 70 per cent of Nigeria’s land mass and up to at least 60 per cent of its population as well as huge solid minerals resources, noting that the region, has literally conspired against itself to be reduced to the laughing stock of the world.

Also in his address, the host governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai said the meeting came at a time when all hands must be on deck to complement government effort in the restoration of peace in different parts of the North and Nigeria as a whole.
“I believe that one of the major issues that would occupy our time today is to discuss the security challenges bedevilling this part of the country, especially clashes between herdsmen and local communities, terrorism, kidnapping, cattle rustling, among others.

“As we all know, traditional institutions are the closest organ of government to the grassroots. Your participation on issues of security therefore cannot be over-emphasized.

El-Rufai called on all political and traditional leaders to rise in condemning the incessant killings and destruction of lives and property in the region.

He said “The security situation has become ever more worrisome, as people who had co-existed peacefully for several years have now allowed some unscrupulous elements to instigate them to take up arms against one another, leading to the wanton destruction of the lives of innocent and law abiding citizens.

“This is not only reprehensible but most condemnable. It therefore, becomes incumbent on us to assist government and security agencies in bringing all kinds of criminal elements in our midst to justice, without regard to their ethnic and religious pretensions”.
He called for collaboration with the royal fathers to bring about peace and stability in the north.
A communique is being expected at the end of the meeting.

In a related development, the PDP has frowned on what it said was an attempt by presidential spokesman Shehu to trivialize the murder of innocent civilians in Southern Kaduna.

In a statement yesterday evening by its National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, the opposition party said such a narrow and jaundiced partisan approach to serious issue of the death of people smacks of insensitivity on the part of the federal government.

“We condemn in totality the statement credited to the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity (SSA), Garba Shehu, on Channels Television today, Monday, January 23, 2017 wherein he shamelessly alledged that the killings in Southern Kaduna is partly the fault of the PDP because it is the only Senatorial District in the North West with PDP Senator. How sad!

“We are baffled that such a callous, irresponsible and insensitive statement could come from a person who speaks for the President of Nigeria. This shows the extent to which every issue in the country today is viewed from the APC’s and the Presidency’s extremely narrow and jaundiced partisan political prism.

“Is Garba Shehu inferring that the hapless people of southern Kaduna were singled out for genocide because they elected a PDP senator? Or that the People invited such mindless violence upon themselves by choosing to be different in the sea of APC domination? Or is the Southern Kaduna massacre really an action to teach the people a bitter lesson for voting PDP and not APC? It is really unimaginable that any reasonable person can make such a reckless statement.

“One really wonders when the APC would finally accept responsibility for its incompetence and maladministration and end the blame game. They have spent the last two years doing nothing but blame the PDP for their woes. They will from all indications, spend the next two years doing the same. May be that’s what they were elected to do after all. Even then, they need not descend to the gutter as Garba Shehu did on Channels TV this morning.

“It is high time those in authority learned that we cannot reduce everything to partisan politics. You do not play politics with the lives of millions of people. That’s exactly what APC Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el Rufai and President Buhari have been doing with the lives of the people of Southern Kaduna. Beyond politics, we are all accountable to God almighty.

“We once again call for an international inquiry into the Southern Kaduna massacre. We have little faith that those at the helm of affairs at the State and National levels will do justice in the matter.
“Finally we call on Garba Shehu to tender an unreserved apology to all Nigerians for his unguarded, reckless and irresponsible statement failing which we would call on President Buhari to relieve him of his duties”.

Source: [THisdayNG]

Gambia Political Conflict: Adama Barrow Sworn in Senegal, Jammeh Tenure Extended By Parliament

 

Swearing In of Barrow at the country's Embassy in Senegal

Why is Mr Jammeh refusing to stand down?
Mr Jammeh, who first came to power in a bloodless coup 22 years ago, initially accepted defeat, but later reversed his position.
The electoral commission has accepted that some of the results it initially published contained errors, but said they would not have affected Mr Barrow's win.
Mr Jammeh's legal challenge to have the vote annulled cannot be heard by the Supreme Court until May because of a lack of judges, so parliament has stepped in and extended his term in office by 90 days and imposed a three-month state of emergency.
Human rights groups accuse Mr Jammeh of repression - a claim he denies.

President-Elect and family arrive the Gambian Embassy in Senegal

 ADAMA BARROW SWORN IN
He took the oath at the country's embassy in Senegal, ordering Gambian soldiers to remain in their barracks.
He has been recognized internationally. But strongman Yahaya Jammeh has refused to quit and is backed by parliament.
West African leaders have threatened to remove him by force. The UN Security Council backed their efforts to ensure Mr Barrow assumed power.
But the 15-member council stressed on Thursday that this should be pursued "by political means first".
Mr Jammeh lost the 1 December poll, according to the Gambian electoral commission. But he wants the results annulled, citing errors in the electoral process.
Mr Barrow took oath at the Gambian embassy in Dakar.

 In his inauguration speech, he ordered all members of The Gambia's armed forces to remain in their barracks.
"Those found illegally holding arms will be considered rebels," he warned.
Western ambassadors to Senegal, the UN envoy for West Africa and officials from the regional bloc Ecowas (Economic Community of West African States) attended the ceremony, while hundreds of Gambian expatriates gathered outside the compound.
West African military forces, stationed at the border, say they are ready to enforce a transfer of power in The Gambia, a popular beach destination among European holidaymakers.
Ecowas and Senegal are seeking backing from the UN Security Council for intervention. However, some diplomats said if Mr Barrow, 51, requested help after his inauguration, such approval would not be needed.
Nigeria said on Thursday that its "armed reconnaissance air force are over Gambia", AFP reports.
"They have the capacity to strike," Nigerian Air Force spokesman Ayodele Famuyiwa told the news agency.
Meanwhile, Mr Jammeh's term in office has been extended for three months by a two-thirds majority in parliament. Some experts say he still has a legitimate claim to be called the country's president.
Gambian Information Minister Sidie Njie told the BBC on Thursday that Mr Jammeh would not leave his office.
It is eerily quiet in The Gambia's capital. Most streets are deserted; shops, petrol stations and banks are all closed. People are mostly staying home, uncertain about what may happen, as European tourists continue to evacuate their hotels.
In some areas, men are standing on the roadside, arms crossed or looking at their phones. Some told us they were waiting for President Jammeh to go and would take to the streets once Mr Barrow was sworn in this afternoon.
They said they wanted West African troops to come in as soon as possible. Some also told us they were worried about Mr Jammeh's actions should there be an offensive against him. But so far we have seen little presence of security forces in the city.

Could there be conflict?
Hopefully not. The Gambia's army chief, previously seen as a close ally of Mr Jammeh, seems wary of action. "This is a political dispute. I am not going to involve my soldiers in a stupid fight. I love my men," AFP quotes Ousman Badjie as saying.
However, he has little influence over an elite unit of fighters, called the Gambia National Guard, who may opt to fight even if vastly outnumbered by the Senegalese and Nigerian forces. as they are from the same ethnic group as Mr Jammeh. The Gambia's armed forces are said to number 2,500.

One key question is how ordinary Gambians see the Senegalese troops if they do cross the border. The Gambia and Senegal are made up of the same ethnic groups, divided by colonial borders, so they speak the same languages and share the same culture.
However, a fierce rivalry has developed between the two nations, with many Gambians feeling they are looked down on by their more numerous, French-speaking neighbours.
So while supporters of Mr Barrow will presumably see any intervention favourably, there is also a danger that it could be seen as a foreign invasion force.



Source: [ BBC ]

Reaction trails Wole Solyinka's Comment on Religion In Nigeria

The Christian Association of Nigeria and the Jama’atu Nasril Islam as well as individuals and groups have faulted a statement by the Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, that religion will kill Nigeria if it is not tamed.

CAN’s National Director, Legal and Public Affairs, Kwamkur Samuel, and the Secretary-General of the JNI, Dr. Abdulkadir Khalid-Aliyu, stated this in separate interviews.

Soyinka had, at a book presentation in Abuja, on Thursday, warned that religion would kill the country if it was not tamed.

Condemning killings in the name of religion, the Nobel laureate stated, “I would like to transfer that cry (by President Muhammadu Buhari on corruption) from the moral zone to the terrain of religion. If we do not tame religion in this nation, religion will kill us.”

The Nobel laureate also said the President and the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, were wrong in their approach to the Southern Kaduna killings.

Reacting to Soyinka’s statement on religion, Samuel, in an interview with The PUNCH, said religion was not the problem of Nigeria.

The CAN leader stated, “With due respect to Prof. Soyinka, it is not true that religion is the bane of Nigeria’s stability. No genuine religion promotes killings and destruction of lives and property. It is unfair for the Nobel laureate to project religion as a problem when it is the faithful believers that are praying and sacrificing to keep the nation moving.

“Christianity preaches peace in all its ramifications. I challenge the professor to identify one attack on any community in Nigeria that was reported to have been carried out by Christians. Let him show any terrorist group by whatever name that shouts the name of Jesus before attacks or claim they are fighting for Jesus.

“We are sad that the so-called religious killing is persisting because our prominent leaders are not ready to call a spade by its real name.”

Samuel lamented that Nigeria’s security agencies appeared to use a different template in performing their functions at home from the one they adopted when on international mission.

He stated, “I wonder how Nigeria would have been without the coming of the Christian missionaries. This nation has the security agencies that present heavy budgets, undergo serious training both nationally and internationally, perform very highly on foreign assignments. Yet, when they are dealing with Nigeria, they seem to be very lost as to knowing what is happening in Nigeria, let alone finding any lasting solution.”

He urged respected Nigerians like Soyinka to ask relevant authorities some questions as to why for years, killings had continued with no single prosecution of perpetrators.

“Why a woman will be murdered in cold blood by known neighbours, yet they will be set free without prosecution like it happened in Kano? Nigeria will be far from getting to any solution,” he said.

The Secretary-General of the JNI, Dr. Abdulkadir Khalid-Aliyu, said depending on the context from which Soyinka made the statement, the retired don’s position was most uncharitable.

He called on Nigerian leaders to guard their utterances, especially on religion because of its sensitive nature.

Khalid-Aliyu stated, “Is Prof. Soyinka saying religion is bad? It is important that we really have to be decorous and be respectful of the sensibility of the people.

“Even in advanced countries, people respect religion and adhere to religion.

“Until we are able to separate the chaff from the grain; there is a difference between religion and people of religion. Such assertion coming from somebody who doesn’t believe in religion is uncharitable.

“If he is talking about moderation and the need to really purge ourselves of extremism in the practice of religion or of being used to advance considerations that are inimical to peace and development, then, that could be understandable.”

The former Secretary-General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, said religion was positive, admitting that positive things could be abused.

 “It depends on the perspective from which he was speaking. Anything, no matter how positive, if negatively good, will be negative and it is the other way.

“Religion, as far as I am concerned is positive. But that does not mean that anything positive cannot be negatively good. So, it depends on the context from which Soyinka spoke.”

Also, the Vice-Chancellor, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Prof. Taofeek Ibrahim,

disagreed with the Nobel laureate that religion should be tamed.

In an interview with journalists in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, Ibrahim said religion had been pivotal to the development and peace of many countries.

He stated that people, who were using religion to cause mayhem rather than religion should be held responsible for the killings and wanton destruction of properties.

He warned that going against the dictates of religion could be counter-productive and even destructive, adding that it was important to ensure peaceful co-existence of different religious faithful.

Ibrahim said, “I strongly disagree that we have to tame religion. For most of the developed world and everywhere, where there is sanity today, religion has been the basis of development and peace over the centuries.

“It is those that show themselves as religious but are actually not religious and for selfish reasons, which they impose in the name of religion, are the ones that cause the troubles we have been witnessing in this country.

“When you look at the history of America and Europe, you will appreciate the role of the church in the building of such nations. Similarly, where you still have relative peace in the Muslim world, you will see the contribution of Islamic religion in these areas.

“As a matter of fact, it is when we go away from the dictates of religion that we get into further problem. Whether Muslim or Christian, the problem is for people taking advantage of religion; it is for minimal personal issue that they destroy the picture of the role religion should be playing.”

The Al-Hikmah VC urged religious leaders to place greater priority on spirituality, morality and ethics rather than on materialism.

Ibrahim said, “Our religious leaders, the heads of the church and the mosque have a lot of roles to play. As we preach and eulogise the issue of mundane things, then there will be problems. We need to go back to preach moral and ethics.

“It is amazing that people in government, who claim to be Muslims and Christians will take all the funds they steal from the public or government to the churches and mosques. It makes nonsense of the whole claim of our being religious.”

The VC agreed with the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who, at the book presentation, lamented the non-prosecution of perpetrators of religious violence and other high-profile murder cases in the country.



Source: [ PunchNG ]

How FRC laws changed the Leadership structure in RCCG

Many religious faithfuls around the world panicked on January 7, 2017, over the sudden news that Pastor E. A. Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), had retired.

Were they have waited a bit longer, they would have known that the revered pastor remains the Spiritual Leader and Global Missioner of the Church, and was therefore much around.
In a memo by Assistant General Overseer, Admin and Personnel, Pastor J.F Odesola, to all Assistant General Overseers, SATGOS (Home and Abroad), Pastors in charge of Regions, Pastors in charge of Provinces, and Country Coordinators, later that day, he wrote 

“We refer to the 2017 edition of the Annual Thanksgiving Service for Ministers in the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the issues concerning the new structure of RCCG Nigeria during the meeting and therefore wish to reiterate the following for your proper information and attention:

•Sequel to some legal provisions guiding the operations of registered Religious Organisations and Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria, RCCG Nigeria now has an Overseer, a General Secretary and a Treasurer.
•Pastor Joseph Obayemi, the Assistant General Overseer (Finance) will be the Overseer for RCCG Nigeria
•Pastor Funsho Odeyemi, the Assistant General Overseer (Admin) will be General Secretary for RCCG Nigeria
• Pastor Joseph Adeyokunu, the Financial Controller, will be the Treasurer of RCCG Nigeria
“Kindly be informed that this new structure will be peculiar to Nigeria alone, as Pastor E. A. Adeboye, Daddy G.O., remains the Spiritual Leader and Global Missioner of Redeemed Christian Church of God.

“Kindly pass down this information to Ministers and Church Workers in your domain to further enhance their understanding about the new structure.”
But people, especially those in the 192 countries where the church has strong presence, panicked. Even some of the ministers at the Thanksgiving service panicked and started sending messages out with their phones immediately Pastor Adeboye broke the news.

Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager for Anglophone West Africa, Mr. Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, told the News Agency of Nigeria that Adeboye’s decision dominated discussions on the Internet, with many Nigerians searching the subject from January 4 to 11.
On my part, I disbelieved it when the message of a pastor of the church was forwarded to me by someone who is not an RCCG member.

At the Holy Ghost Service the day before, I felt in the spirit that some things were a bit unusual. I love the green colour, and when I saw Pastor Adeboye and his wife, Mummy G.O., dressed in deep green attires for the first time, I suspected a spiritual message I couldn’t decode. I let it pass, especially because I had not been at all the services over the years to know what they wore. However, I still felt that the green was particularly striking.

The announcement of the new leadership structure was made in a church to Ministers, but it got out too fast and the world panicked. Why not? The day before, a Pastor had testified to the hearing of millions of people around the world how he had used a handkerchief blessed by Pastor Adeboye to wake up the dead.

I was there at the December, 2016 Holy Ghost Congress when he announced that because he could not possible anoint the millions of people in the auditorium, out of logistic expediency he had blessed handkerchiefs for pastors of the church to use to anoint everybody. After that he said the pastors could keep the handkerchiefs. It was one of the handkerchiefs that raised the dead in another location. RCCG is noted for miracles signs and wonders!
So why would anybody be happy about the news of Pastor Adeboye’s sudden retirement? All what most people heard, ignoring that other part of the news, was that he was retiring. And they couldn’t take it.

There are stories of some groups planning to sue Pastor Adeboye to get him back in the saddle he has vacated.
In a quick reaction to the panic, a press release was issued to allay fears of the people. But even as at today many people are more concerned about what precipitated the changes and the effect on members in Nigeria. Not many people know that Pastor Adeboye’s designation remains Spiritual Leader and Global Missioner of Redeemed Christian Church of God.

Indeed, most of the 192 countries where the church is present have Country Overseers, except in countries where the number of parishes is so small that they have Regional Overseers.
Growing a church with 40 parishes, including a Headquarters in Nigeria, from when Pastor Adeboye took over in 1981 into one of the fastest growing churches in the world is no mean feat.
The church has spread to over 192 countries, and counting, with over 32,000 parishes in Nigeria alone and at least 540 branches in the UK and Ireland.

Millions of people from all over the world attend the church’s Conventions and Congresses; and the monthly Holy Ghost Congress at its Redemption Camp.
With the numbers surging out of available space, the Church had to go for a new auditorium called the Arena. Located on Simawa Road, a few kilometres from the current one-and-half-kilometre by one-kilometre auditorium, the three-kilometre-by-three-kilometre Arena has capacity to seat 12 million people.

The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria
With the Governance Code of the Council cited as the immediate cause of leadership changes in churches, the FRCN has come under heavy criticism. The latest is the position of the House of Representatives, which on Wednesday stated that no agency of the Federal Government is empowered by any law passed by the National Assembly to determine how long a religious leader should serve in office.

This was as it ordered a “detailed” public hearing on the activities of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.
The Council had earlier been dealt some blows for its excesses. Its board was promptly reconstituted and the controversial Governance Code suspended by the Federal Government.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) hailed the Federal Government for suspending the enforcement of the Corporate Governance Code.

The PFN’s commendation was contained in a statement issued in Benin by its National President, Rev. Felix Omobude, who said, “The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has consistently expressed its concern at the non-inclusive process that brought about the code and the all-pervasive nature of it.

“This is more so, especially, as it relates to the activities of the non-profit sector whose activities are already regulated by the provisions of the law under which they were registered.
For Jim Obazee, the former Executive Secretary of the FRCN, who was ironically a zonal pastor, and who was reported to have once snubbed Pastor Adeboye over an invitation for a meeting, nothing captures his fate better than the headline of THISDAY Newspaper on the story. It screamed “He Flew Too Close to the Sun and Melted, Obazee Sacked.”

According to RCCG Head of Media and Public Relations, Pastor Segun Adegbiji “Obazee was a teacher at the School of Disciples, but he voluntarily resigned. Afterwards, he started attending RCCG Province II Parish on Acme Road, Ogba, Lagos. He was neither suspended nor sacked by the church.
“There was no feud between him and the church that I know of, although I can confirm that I heard the story that he vowed to get Pastor Adeboye out,” Adegbiji added.

How He Become General Overseer
Pastor Adeboye must be familiar with the heat generated by leadership changes in the church, and may not have been unduly worried about the confusion caused by the current changes in RCCG. In God-fearing churches, leaders are chosen and empowered by God.
He was the least qualified to be a GO when God chose him to be one. According to him, “One eventful day in 1975, my Father-in-the-Lord (the founder of RCCG) called me to his office and said, “God has told me to ordain you as a pastor.”

I said, “What kind of problem is this? I didn’t come to church to become a pastor, I came to church to have problems solved and in the process my soul was saved. Beautiful!”
For fourteen days and fourteen nights, my wife and I fasted and prayed that I will never become a pastor. This is one of the prayers God didn’t answer. Then I became a pastor, and years after that my Father-in-the-Lord called me and said you are going to succeed me.

Haaaa! Being a pastor was bad enough. General Overseer, no way!
I couldn’t say no to him in his presence. So I made sure I got to Ilorin where I was lecturing before I wrote him a letter, a beautiful letter. “Please sir, get somebody else. I will support that fellow to the best of my ability.”
Papa couldn’t read, so another pastor read the letter to him. I didn’t want to be General Overseer but God compelled me.

That was the most challenging aspect of my Christian life, especially with so much opposition in the church from those who felt that I was too young. I joined the church only in 1973, even though it had been in existence since 1952. Some foundation members had been pastors even before I was born again.
They inquired, “Where is this young man coming from who has suddenly become our leader?” They regarded my promotion as too rapid! Some of them had become very influential because they had been pastors for a long time.

Fortunately, the majority of the congregation, particularly the youth, supported me because they realized that it was not what I wanted myself. They discovered this because the letter fell into the hands of one of the youths. God also helped me in many ways. This is how the events unfolded: The old man couldn’t read anything other than the Bible. Therefore, he had to ask somebody to read the letter to him. The young boy who read the letter told everybody about the incident and the older pastors thought I was manipulating the old man. However, it soon became clear that the situation was the exact opposite.
Since then I have kept the faith. Keeping the faith is one of the most important aspects of Christian life and this has been my life.”

The Changes Remain
The church confirmed during the week that the changes announced by Pastor Adeboye remain unchanged.
Pastor Joseph Obayemi is the Overseer of RCCG in Nigeria. Until his appointment, Pastor Obayemi was the Assistant General Overseer in charge of Finance and also Pastor in charge of RCCG Region 2 (Shomolu, Lagos). He is also a Member of the Governing Council amongst other offices he currently occupies. Although the RCCG headquarters in Nigeria is in Ebute-Meta, Pastor Obayemi will, for the time being, perform his functions from his RCCG Somolu Parish in Lagos.

Pastor Funsho Odesola is the Secretary of the Church. He was the Assistant General Overseer in charge of Administration and Personnel, Member of the Governing Council of RCCG and also the Pastor in charge of RCCG Region 1 (Ebute-Meta).
Church Treasurer is Pastor Joseph Adelanke Adeyokunnu. He was a financial controller and Pastor in charge of Lagos province 8.

Sources say a common feature of all three is their extreme humility. Pastor Obayemi for example is said to address people as “Sir” or “Ma” irrespective of their status.
The new structure means that all regional pastors will report to the Nigeria Overseer, Pastor Obayemi, who will in turn report to Pastor Adeboye. Considering the latter’s increasing role worldwide, this comes as a relief.

Adegbiji explained: “The newly appointed country overseer, Pastor Joseph Obayemi may remain the overseer in charge of Nigeria operating from his current regional headquarters in Somolu in Lagos.
“The national headquarters of the church remains in Ebute Metta, Lagos, while the global headquarters is at the Redemption Camp, but the new country overseer, Pastor Obayemi may not immediately move to the Ebute Metta headquarters because it will be administratively inconvenient for him to operate from the headquarters of another region.”
According to him, “The new development does not affect Daddy GO’s status, functions or powers. He will continue to preside over RCCG programmes such as Holy Ghost Congress, Conventions, the monthly Holy Ghost Service, Shiloh Hour, Divine Encounter, etc.”

Top sources in the church explain that although the changes may have been precipitated by the Governance Code because of the need by the Church to set a standard in obeying the laws of the nation as demanded by scriptural teaching that all constituted authority should be respected, they were cleared by God.

“Daddy GO will not do anything like that without consulting God, who speaks to him directly,” an official of the church said. “Remember Vice President Osinbajo, a senior member of the church, was privy to all these, but even if he wanted to stop it as Peter attacked one of the people who arrested Jesus to stop them, Daddy wouldn’t have changed his mind over what God had authorised.”
Corroborating, another source said, God had even revealed to Pastor Adeboye an anthem on the need for unity in the church ahead of the changes.

 The 5-stanza anthem reads in part:

1. We are Redeemites
United in love
Jesus is for us
We shall conquer

3. We are Together
United in love
Jesus is for us
We shall conquer

Adegbiji confirmed that, “If you know Daddy GO (Adeboye) very well, he does not make such an important decision without consulting the Church Council, and most importantly, God. That decision has been made and it does not in any way affect his position.
“So, there is no need to reverse the decision after the Federal Government has suspended the implementation of the FRC law.”
But for other mega churches which were planning to restructure to meet the demands of the FRCN’s Governance Code, they may have been saved the rigours of the exercise.

Source: [ ThisdayNG]

Photos: The Glitz and Glamour of Kaduna Fashion Show 2016

Okanlawon Tijjan- 

Fashion lovers in Kaduna had an awesome event and were entertained to top notch display of creativity, elegance, and trendy fashion designs in a first of its kind fashion show: The Kaduna Fashion Show, Held on the 11^th December, 2016.  

Different demographic audience were thrilled to a classy, oriental and cultural fashion designs, made by 13 participating fashion designers from across Nigeria, all the designs were strictly African fabric for the African society . As at December, 2016, fashion analyst opined that the Kaduna Fashion Show was the best organized fashion show in the state. With 40 male and female models gracing the runway, each appearance was well applauded by the audience creating a euphoric atmosphere all through the evening.

Miss Mercy Kanga

Speaking about the event during her vote of thanks, Miss Mercy Kanga, the initiator and brand owner of KDFW appreciated all the teens, the youths the elderly and members of FADAN that made it to the event. In her speech, Miss Kanga encouraged corporate organization to come and be part of the event for the 2017 edition. The Kaduna Fashion Show was birth as a need for the empowerment of youths via fashion show and to promote made in Nigeria fashion designs.  “Fashion Shows have always been glamorous events which boost visibility and promotion of brands associated. Fashion shows provide platform to creative designers to display their art and equal opportunity to models to showcase their talent, boosting their confidence.
This event will open vast opportunities for young designers & models. THE FASHION SHOW is also an effort to bring together best talents from the different design institutes of Kaduna.”- Miss Mercy Kanga.

eUpdateNG Media Partners

AVA- Partners of KDFS

Kanga Couture- Sponsor/Partners of KDFS

Sahara Fashion- Partners of KDFS

Khristnes- Sponsor/Partner

The event was themed “Bridal, Save Environment and Kaduna 2020”. Top Kaduna based models rocked various designers outfits some of whom are Brenda Michaels, Felicia ( the face of KDFS 2017) and Muna the fast rising male model .

Model-Brenda Michael

 

Model-Francis Mona

Model- Felicia

PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT:

C.E.O- Angbulu Couture

C.E.O- MENDOX CLOTHING

C.E.O- LILVA FASHION HOUSE

C.O.E- MUMMY'S FASHION

BADASKY FASHION HOUSE

FADAN

SAHARA FASHION HOUSE GRADUANTS

MUMMY' FASHION

C.E.O- BELLA HOUSE OF FAB

D.E.O- TOSH APPAREL

TOSH

MUMMY'S FASHION

LILVA FASHION HOUSE

LILVA FASHION HOUSE

DIAMONDZ CREATIONZ

LILVA FASHION HOUSE

BADASKY FASHION HOUSE

TOSH APPAREL

MORAL BRIGGS

DIAMONDZ CREATIONZ

JAHMEELAH FASHION HOUSE

MMK

Add caption

Add caption

C.E.O- 3REECREPUBLIC

C.E.O- MORAL BROGGS

MMK