THE MOUNTAIN OF IGNORANCE By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.

I have decided to take on, the biggest, in my opinion, challenge facing Christianity today. Which unfortunately is largely seen in the African continent and other developing countries. This challenge is ignorance! I have no doubt that ignorance is the biggest obstacle facing the church of the LORD Jesus Christ in this age.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for me;
because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children. Hosea 4:6.

It is no doubt that the church worldwide and especially the church in Africa is yet to grasp the full meaning of this incredible verse of the scripture. From this passage, we can see that the biggest challenge of Gods people is ignorance. Ignorance has become a mountain and a stronghold even in Christian churches. It is because of this MOUNTAIN OF IGNORANCE that I have decided to dedicate the next few days leading up to the inauguration of the newly elected Nigerian President, to writing a series of articles that I believe could help set the church and our continent on the right part.

God through Prophet Hosea is explaining to us reasons for destructions, calamities, failures and devastations among the people of God. That reason is not seen in demonic activities nor is it seen in prevailing economic situations of the land. The singular reason for calamities, destructions, failures and devastations is seen in ignorance of God's people. To my shame, my nation and the church of the lord Jesus Christ in my continent is covered head to toe in this ignorance. Ignorance, it can be said, is written in bold letters all over the institution that is supposed to be a shining light to the world. That is why I will not keep quiet until a revolution is started to fight ignorance and superstitions in the church of the LORD Jesus Christ and in the nation of my birth. This mountain must come down, the mountain of ignorance has to be brought down. The mountain of superstition has to be leveled for our people to taste a fresh breath of life in Christ Jesus.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. Martin Luther King Jr

Unfortunately the leading proponent of ignorance in our society has become the very same institution that was created to fight it - The Church. Instead of the church in Africa to be a place for eradicating darkness by beaming out light, she has unfortunately become the den of robbers as Jesus put it. All sorts of darkness and evil are now hiding themselves under the umbrella of religion, christianity, church etc. As seen in Hosea 4:6 says “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children”... and destroyed indeed they are! All forms of destructions all around us.

Destruction in values, destruction in people, destruction in faith, destruction in elders, destruction in the pulpit, destruction in the youth, destruction in government, destruction in society, etc. It is like we are having a harvest of destruction in our continent. That is why it is dangerous for me and indeed for anyone to keep quiet at the sight of these calamities. The mountain of ignorance must be pulled down.

“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.” ? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

What is my business in this? Oh yea, it is my business. It is not just my business, it is my calling. I am following in the footsteps of my master Jesus. He came and declared in John 8:12
“I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD”.

 Light in Greek is the same thing as knowledge which is the opposite of ignorance. He came to the earth as the light of the world because the whole world lies in darkness. Someone must stand up to confront and dissipate darkness. Hence the creator of the universe sent his only begotten son to the earth so that through the power of light he would destroy darkness which is ignorance. Why must ignorance be destroyed? Because it is the number one destroyer of the people of God. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”. Jesus came to eradicate that problem by declaring himself the light of the world. 

Most of the time when we talk about Jesus, we talk about him only as the Saviour of the world, but before he died to save the world, he had a ministry and that ministry was about eliminating ignorance (darkness) and all its consequences of destructions, calamities and sorrows in the world. It is that same ministry that I have been called to. I believe every minister of the gospel is called to this ministry first of all. The ministry of light, the ministry of destruction of darkness, the ministry of setting people free from ignorance. Light is what we are called to preach. Our LORD and saviour called himself light of the world. If we preach him, it means we preach light. Consequently we preach freedom from ignorance. I therefore beg to disagree with people who say that I am diverting from my main ministry when I write these articles. No, no, no, no, Sir! I am in the mainstream of my calling by writing these articles on politics in Nigeria, on the church. I am being a minister of light and a destroyer of ignorance and I shall never keep quiet until this horrendous mountain is pulled down in my country, in the church of Christ and in my continent.

It doesn’t matter if most people refuse to understand nor support my efforts, not at all, It doesn’t at all matter. What matters is, I am pioneering a revolution. I am charting a course that will become a seed which may fall to the ground and die. But out of it shall arise many seeds and trees that shall become a plantation of light, which would usher in a new dawn of Gods righteousness to the church, Nigeria and to Africa.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHURCH AND NATION
By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.

The Music Issue (Can a Christian Artiste Sing Secular Songs?) by @LekeAlder

A few days ago, there arose a Twitter storm of apocalyptic proportions over news that a young “secular” artiste was invited to sing during a church service. The young artiste is a Christian and the song performed was from his title album, God Win. One must assume that a song titled “God Win” sang in a church setting seemed most appropriate, but these are curious times.

There are many choruses that echo the same sentiment, some using exact same words yet there were a lot of issues raised. The very notion that a non-gospel artiste had been invited to “minister” in church consternated many. And not a few were peeved that the artiste in question performed from the “altar” – a most holy place. And how can an “entertainer” be invited to minister to “the people of God”, some wondered, with righteous and not so righteous indignation. Even the Pastor was not spared. What was his motivation? There was no shortage of opinion, aspersions and castigations. And there was no shortage of exegetes misquoting scriptures. Were Jesus on Earth he would have had to up his signature command of nature to calm the storm. He couldn’t do a reprise. This was no watery issue. But lurking somewhere in the sea was the leviathan of the fundamental challenge as to whether a Christian artiste can even do secular music. It’s not exactly a new issue. The Amy Grants of this world faced that same challenge in the 80s. It’s as if someone somewhere is instigating topical conundrum in generational cycles.

An analytical perusal of the issues however shows a confliction in knowledge on many levels. The idea for example that the “altar” is “sacred” betrays a mix-up in understanding between the concept of the temple in the New Testament and the concept of the temple in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament the temple was a building. It was basically partitioned into two parts – the Outer Court and the Tabernacle. The Outer Court contained the Table, Lampstand and Altar of Incense. The congregation could enter here. The Tabernacle was in turn divided into two parts by a heavy hanging curtain – the Holy Place in which only priests from the tribe of Levi could enter; and the Holy of Holies in which resided the Ark of the Covenant. Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies and he did so once a year, on Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement. The High Priest must make atonement for himself before he entered the Holy of Holies. He would die otherwise. The sacrifice was his life insurance policy. And since no one can enter the Holy of Holies to retrieve his body, tradition says a scarlet rope was tied on his ankle. Small bells were also sewed around the helm of his robe. A priest in the Holy Place tended to the other end of the rope. He would drag him out by the rope in case something went wrong. If the bells stopped jiggling the priest knew something was wrong. You served God with your life as High Priest.

But something curious happened when Jesus died on the cross. As soon as he gave up the ghost the Bible says the thick curtain separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was ripped from top to bottom. Paul would later explain to us the significance of that momentous event. He says we have boldness to enter the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus in consequence. That the curtain was figuratively the flesh of Jesus. And so as they tore into his flesh with those horrible lashes they were ripping apart the curtain in the Tabernacle, in a manner of speaking (Hebrews 10:19-21).

That curtain-ripping incident would usher in a new dispensation. It was a formal signification of a change in the order of priesthood, something Jesus had been working on. He had appointed apostles without consideration of tribal identity. Only Levites could be appointed priests in those days but Jesus appointed non-Levites as apostles. Jesus himself was not from the tribe of Levi. He was from the tribe of Judah yet he became our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-15). Indeed, perhaps only Matthew was a Levite. We know Paul was from the tribe of Benjamin (Romans 11:1). The priesthood thus changed from the Levitical Order to the Melchizedekian Order. This Order of Melchizedek is a curious order. Unlike the Levitical Order it is a priest-king equation. It takes its name from Melchizedek, the priest-king who received tithes from Abraham in the Old Testament (Hebrews 7:1-2). Jesus belongs to this order, and he initiated us into the order (Revelation 1:6). It is because we belong to this order that we can “minister” to God though not full time priests, and not belonging to the tribe of Levi. It is why we can be priests though with secular callings. We are priest-kings. And so we have priest-politicians, priest-lawyers, priest-engineers, priest-fashion designers, priest-models, priest-footballers, priest-computer scientists, priest-accountants, priest-doctors… And of course priest-musicians.

The death of Jesus and the ripping of that curtain also changed the definition of “temple”. God was no longer confined to physical tabernacles. He franchised himself into new abodes – us! Our bodies are now the temple of the living God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). It’s why we’re advised to abstain from sexual sin. You can’t join God’s temple to another in fornication. We are spiritual building blocks. The Bible says we’re living stones that God is building into a spiritual temple (1 Peter 2:5-9). The temple of God in the New Testament is not a physical building, it is individuals. The Holy of Holies is now inside us. It’s why the Holy Spirit dwells in us. And so a church can meet in a nightclub, museum, hotel, civic center, tent, private residence, cinema, school, etc. The building is not the holy place, it is the people in who the holy God resides. And so the notion of “altar” being a place a secular musician cannot sing from or “minister” from is fallacious. That view does not align with New Testament realities.

And we question the prevailing notion of “ministration” and ministers. Since all Christians are priest-kings, all Christians are ministers of God. But some have been given special callings, like pastors. But all Christians are ministers of God in the New Testament. And so the idea that a Christian who sings “secular” music cannot minister to God or the people of God is unsustainable. It is not in accordance with scriptures.
——
The foregoing leads us to the tendentious issue of whether a Christian can even do “secular” music. Must a Christian sing only gospel? Should a Christian perform only “Christian” songs – “songs that glorify God and edify his people”?

If we accept that music is a profession, and we must, that raises these same questions for other professions. Can a Christian do only “Christian” doctoring? Is there anything like “Christian lawyering”, or is there “Christian engineering”, or “Christian computing”? If we’re not ready to entertain these questions concerning other professions then we must lose the moral right to demand of Christian musicians to do only gospel. Will a dying Christian reject medical treatment from a non-Christian doctor in an ideological demand for “Christian doctoring”?

If we must insist Christian musicians do only gospel songs then we must extend the imperative to other arts as well. We must insist on Christian acting, Christian dance and drama, Christian fashion, Christian fine art, Christian writing… They are all creative endeavours, just like music. Should we then insist a Christian professional actor cannot participate in a drama presentation on a church stage because he performed secular dramas like Wole Soyinka’s Opera Wonyosi, or acted in Macbeth or Selma? Isn’t he equally violating God’s “altar”? Why the particularisation of musicians?

What the Church has done is place a burdensome limitation on talented young men and women who otherwise would conquer the world with their talent. On any given Sunday the vocal dexterity of the average choir member is incredulous. But it’s limited to church. These talented young men and women are living unfulfilled potentials. They cannot maximize their giftings. And when they insist on their talent paving their way in the world, there is a chorus of accusation from a puritanical mob who purport to defend the sanctity of church. Pejorative expressions like “sell out” are often employed, as if there was ever collective bargaining. It does sound like prejudice, or worse.

In the pursuit of “gospel only” policy the Church absented herself from the cultural space, but then turns around to complain about issues in that spatial dimension. The chief instigator of these controversies is none other than Lucifer himself. He understands a thing or two about music. And he understands talent management being the first notable musical talent. Some interpretations of Ezekiel 28:13 allude to that fact. The passage speaks of embedded tabrets (tambourines) and pipes in the physiology of Lucifer. Seemed Satan was a walking orchestra. Being the first notable managed talent he understands being a rebel. He rebelled. And he understands musicians losing control to fame. He lost control of himself, having become inflated with pride. He sought after worship like a star (He was). As it turns out creatures can’t handle worship. Only the Creator can. Unfortunately we worship our music stars and those among them who can’t barrier their core from the perils of creature-worship begin to malfunction. And that is now used as corroborative evidence against “secular” music by isolationists.

Truth is, many of these artistes being young are merely dealing with the challenges of growth and maturation – a rite of passage into adulthood. They get into experimentations, like we all did and do. Only theirs is amplified because they’re in public glare. And then there are the challenges of fame itself. Fame is lonesome and it has major consequences. If not well managed it generates distortions. Michael Jackson for example had an identity crisis. He seemed lost and searching for meaning and purpose. He suffered from anguish of soul. In seeking to ameliorate loneliness some resort to booze, drugs and sex. And we seem to accept these excesses as part of the package. They’re stars after all, they can do no wrong. Thus we are complicit in that which we condemn.

It is hard to minister to those you condemn. Yet Christ died for all. There ought to be specialized ministry to stars, those in the public glare and those battling with fame. If we can have specialized fellowships for over-40s, widows, singles and executives why not one for the stars! They need a confidential system. They need a spiritual figure they can confide in, someone who’s not judgmental. They need to be able to talk about their fears, their challenges, their struggles, without feeling condemned. And they need to know their secrets are safe. Perhaps our pastors should consider such mentoring programs.

Many of the great musical talents started out in church. Many were in the choir. Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, Tonex, Beyoncé, Fantasia, Chris Brown, Usher, Jessica Simpson, Diana Ross, R. Kelly, Kate Perry, John Legend, Aretha Franklin, Avril Lavigne, Faith Evans, Anthony Hamilton, Brandy, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Price, Little Richard, D Banj, Waje, Banky W, MI, Faze, Chidinma, Praiz, J. Martins, Tiwa Savage, P-Square, Sheyi Shay, Harry Song, Don Jazzy, Flavor, Masterkraft, Yemi Alade, Selebobo, Whizkid, Jesse Jagz, Wande Coal, Korede Bello… They all had their roots in church. Incidentally Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was the son of a reverend gentleman – Rev. Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti.

Now, here’s the irony. The Church discovers the talents but abandons the talents as they make way through the world. Satan then moves into the space abdicated by the Church and he soon destroys many employing concupiscence and other vices. He even introduces some to Satanism. And when he has wasted these young lives he sends their corpses back to church for burial!

The controversy over secular or non-secular music is so unnecessary. There are three genres of music introduced in scriptures – music focused on God (what we now call Gospel), martial music and social music. Martial music was employed by the army in the time of war. The psalms are God focused, and even when they talk about human troubles, struggles and inadequacies they still end up appealing to God. The end-all-and-be-all of the Psalms is God. The psalms are what we’ll call rap today. They even followed the production pattern of today’s rap music. After David had written the lyrics he’d call a producer – the “Chief Musician” who set the words to music. One such producer was Jeduthun aka Ethan (see opening notes of Psalm 39). David did all classes of music – worship, dance and instrumentals. He used to play soothing instrumentals for King Saul’s depression.

But then we have the musical compositions of Solomon too. He was a second-generation musician, philosopher and poet – kind of like an ancient Bob Dylan. He inherited his father’s lyrical skills. He wrote the Song of Solomon popularly known as Song of Songs. It’s a matrimonial love song, a bit explicit actually – “You’re so beautiful my darling, so beautiful, and your dove eyes are veiled by your hair as it flows and shimmers… Your smile is generous and full, expressive and strong and clean. Your lips are jewel red, your mouth elegant and inviting… The smooth, lithe lines of your neck command notice – all heads turn in awe and admiration! Your breasts are like fawns, twins of a gazelle, grazing among the first spring flowers” (SS. 4:1-5). Imagine a Christian artiste writing these lyrics today…

Of course the Song of Songs has figurative application. It can be used to illustrate the love of Christ for his bride, the Church. But the truth is, when Solomon wrote the song he had no figurativeness in mind. He just wrote a love song. He wrote it as a man, a mere man. He didn’t know, and couldn’t have known that the Church would emerge centuries down the line. The Church was God’s secret. It is an intercalation. Solomon didn’t write with the Church in view. It’s almost as if God is telling us, it’s okay to be human, to have feelings, to have emotions… And it’s okay to write about those feelings and put them in song. God is not against emotional expression in song.

Some of course would rather expunge Song of Songs from the Bible if they had their way. They struggle with it morally and try to explain it away, as if the language is not plain enough. When we try to morally sanitise the Word of God we run into absurdities of reinterpretation. God is the sanctifier. He is Jehovah Mekaddishkem – the God who sanctifies. Who will sanctify the words of the Sanctifier?

The Song of Songs is unlike any other book in scriptures, but it’s in the Bible. God put it there. It is one of the “practical” books, like Proverbs (another Solomon output) and the Book of Job which talks about trials; and the Book of Ecclesiastes, which is the philosophical musing of a human in a state of human-ness. It is replete with self second-guessing, frustrations and submission to the incomprehension of this animal called life. It highlights absurdities, like the man with no heir who keeps amassing wealth. To whom would he leave his wealth, Solomon wondered! In other words the Bible was written from two perspectives: there’s the perspective from above, and we find that in the prophets, the epistles and the like; and there is the perspective from below – the human dimension – Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Job. To the extent that both perspectives make up the Bible God is not against human expressiveness. Therefore in the tradition of the Psalms, a Christian artiste can sing gospel music. In the tradition of the Song of Songs he can sing about love, feelings and emotions. In the tradition of Proverbs, he can lace his songs with practical wisdom. And in the tradition of Ecclesiastes, he can philosophize in song, like Bob Dylan, or the man in black, the late Johnny Cash. And in the tradition of Job he can write about pain, suffering, difficulties and trials. And in the tradition of Heman and Jeduthun he can prophesy through song.

To imagine that a Christian can only do “gospel” is our self-imposed limitation. It is not backed by scriptures. Yes, Paul enjoins us to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and making melody in our hearts to God (Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16), but that is not an exclusive list. Try and imagine a man proposing to a woman and singing a chorus!
Now here’s another truth. Lucifer didn’t invent music, God did. Nowhere in scriptures is Lucifer credited with invention of music. Lucifer perverts music, just as he perverts everything else. He’s an unrepentant pervert. His corporate mission is to kill, to steal and to destroy (John 10:10). Music is not the problem. Perversion is the problem.

But what about the nudity in music videos and the explicit lyrics of some songs? Isn’t that the bane and essence of secular music, you ask? But there are many secular musicians who don’t do explicit lyrics, and they’re successful. Just like there are many people who don’t use four-letter words and are successful; just like there are many actors who don’t do nude scenes, and they’re successful, like Denzel Washington. It’s the personal choice of the musician what he wants to sing about. To then use someone’s explicitness to tar “secular” music in general is a rather illogical and desperate attempt to permute a conviction. There are many clean rap songs. And there are music without words. Think instrumentals and instrumental jazz. Doesn’t jazz belong to the “secular” spectrum? Can a Christian do jazz? If yes, our argument against secular music is inconsistent. And how do we classify music set to movies? Aren’t they secular? Yet Christians watch movies and listen to those music. How about classical music? Handel’s Messiah instrumentals? Is it gospel or secular? And what about the national anthem? Isn’t it “secular” music? It’s not gospel, yet it’s sung in churches. Now you see the absurdities of isolationism emerging.

This is not saying a Christian artiste can’t devote himself to gospel music. It’s his choice. And gospel has its place and role. If an artiste is naturally disposed to gospel or that’s what God has asked him or her to do, let him do it and let her do it. But those are proprietary decisions. They should not be extended into collective ethos.

Culture is a powerful thing. It has a huge leverage on society. Culture is zeitgeist. It is the general beliefs, ideas, and spirit of a time and place. Culture is highly propagated through media. When the Church abdicates the culturo-media space, we might as well pack our bags and go to yonder place. A Church that abdicates cultural influence is well nigh on its way to irrelevance and generational obsolescence. The Church needs to learn to manage talent. Perhaps it’s time to consider setting up a professionally managed and independent talent agency, lest we continue to lose our brilliant talents to Satan’s agenda, or keep tormenting our young ones with manufactured guilt.

It’s time we lay the debate over secular/gospel music to rest. It’s a storm in a teacup after all.

© Leke Alder | talk2me@lekealder.com

Win it like Buhari: 5 startup lessons to take away from Nigerian elections (An article by CNN)

March 28 was a historic date in Nigeria's history as it marked the first time the opposition defeated the ruling party in democratic elections in Africa's most populous country and biggest economy.

Muhammadu Buhari, a former military leader who had ruled Nigeria for a 20-month period in the early 1980s, campaigned as a born-again democrat and saw the tide of public opinion turn in his favor.

Here, CNN's African Start-Up examines Buhari's campaign strategy and reveals the key business lessons entrepreneurs can adapt for startup success.

If at first you don't succeed... keep going

This wasn't the first time Buhari had run for the highest political office in Nigeria -- in fact, it was his fourth attempt. He could have quit on several occasions, but didn't, and his persistence was rewarded at last month's polls.

Buhari's endurance and perseverance in the face of setbacks is a key lesson young entrepreneurs can take heed of, says Femi Longe, co-founder and programs director at CcHub, a tech innovation space in Lagos.

"The reality is that starting a business is everyday slog," explains Longe, who is an expert in social entrepreneurship. "A huge chunk of startups is just surviving to see the next day. You don't know when the big break will come."

Learn from mistakes and don't be afraid to re-brand

Another area for entrepreneurs to take into consideration is Buhari's readiness to learn from the previous unsuccessful bids and make changes to the way he communicated his message.

"He was willing to smile a bit more, was willing to dress in the outfits of the different tribes, he was willing this time to actually campaign extensively across the country to change the image that people had of him," says Longe. "There was a lot of work to make him more presentable."

Similarly, startups need to be flexible and be able to adapt their campaigns to meed the needs of their target markets. Longe explains: "At the end of the day it's about your customers, it's about your users. And you need to think about how does my business appeal to each of their individual needs and concerns while not losing my core essence."
 

Focus on setting the right agenda

Buhari has also been praised for reading the ground reality accurately and delivering a focused and consistent message. Lazarus Apir, program manager of Transition Monitoring Group, a not-for-profit organization that helped monitor and corroborate official results, explains that even in Buhari's failed attempts in previous elections, he showed an unwavering focus on his outlook for the country.

"Focus is very crucial," he says. "Buhari said security, he said corruption, he said infrastructure -- all of these problems have continued in Nigeria and today they are only at their worst.

"He has kept the focus of things that he is seeing. If anyone wants to build a business empire for themselves, it is very important that they maintain focus. There is a temptation is to be overly dynamic but then (entrepreneurs) lose focus."

Find the right team

Many experts have hailed Buhari's choice of Yemi Osinbajo as running mate as part of the election success story -- a cue entrepreneurs can take in their business plans, says Longe.

"The last time (Buhari) ran, he didn't have the appeal across the country. And this time he had an alliance that gives him appeal across the country. He has people that helped with improving the image of the areas where people had worries about his personality. He was able to work through all of them," he continues.

"We are not judging him as an individual but the collective capabilities of the team around him. The focus is not on one man but the team. Where the man himself has a weakness, the rest of the team can cover that and you need to have your A-players in charge."

Embrace social media and use it properly

Social media has globally become one of the most important tools for candidates during election campaigns -- and Nigeria's race was no exception. Cynthia Mbamalu, programs manager at Nigerian youth charity YIAGA, said platforms like Twitter and Facebook helped the Buhari campaign to reach population pockets that they could have otherwise missed.

"Social media provided the opportunity to connect with Nigerians, especially young people," she explains. "For the first time in a long while there were tweets targeted mainly at promoting the person of General Buhari and the party's vision for Nigeria."

Mbamalu says the main selling point for startups to incorporate social media into their ongoing strategies is that it allows businesses to enter a vibrant marketplace and engage with customers.

"Customer satisfaction is vital in every business endeavor; people are more open to a system that guarantees that their opinions are important. Social media provides the right amount of buzz a viable business idea may need."

But she adds: "Businesses need to understand intrigue, trends and interplay on social media to strategically carve its niche."

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/09/africa/startup-lessons-nigerian-election-buhari-campaign/index.html

A peep into Buhar's cabinet

I first wrote this piece on the 10th of January as a foreshadowing into how the cabinet of General Buhari and Prof. Osinbajo would look like if they won the presidential election and now that they have been declared winners of the election, I decided to publish it again as an indication of the high expectations that Nigerians have of the Buhari/Osinbajo government.

The general elections in Nigeria are almost here and various political calculations are being done. Political campaigns have kicked off and political actors are already performing their acts. We have seen some interesting developments on the political scene, especially with the emergence of certain candidates from various political parties but the most notable is the selection of Professor Yemi Osinbajo as the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). I mentioned in a previous post, that one of the most interesting revelations in the build-up to the forthcoming election is the nomination of Professor Yemi Osinbajo as the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Many Nigerians believe that the Buhari/Osinbajo combination is a winning combination that will capitalise on the disciplined deportment of Buhari with the brainpower of the cerebral Osinbajo to put Nigeria on the right track.

Going by the expectations of Nigerians from the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket, I decided to take a peep into their cabinet. So in an attempt to preempt who and who will make it into their cabinet, I decided to create my own possibilities and it is exciting to think of those who might likely get the nod of General Buhari to serve as his ministers. What would you expect from Governor Tunde Fashola if he is made a minister? What do you think will happen to the ministry/sector he is asked to oversee? Can you imagine the massive transformation that will take place in such sector? How about Dr. Kayode Fayemi? Do you think the sector he is put in charge of will ever remain the same? Think of what will happen to have Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Senator Borroffice Ajayi, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, Governor Aliyu Wammako, Bolaji Abdullahi, Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Garba Shehu, Prince Tony Momoh, Mr. Sam Nda Isaiah, etc to drive activities of government. These are persons who have demonstrated that they have what it takes to lift Nigeria out of the mire. And if the Buhari government is able to persuade committed and patriotic technocrats like Oby Ezekwesili, Dr. Willie Siyanbola and many others from all over the federation to join his government, Nigeria will, in the not too distant future, regain its lost glory and begin to compare favourably with the advanced countries.

Sincerely, I think the thought of what the Buhari/Osinbajo cabinet will look like is a tantalising one. It is one that many Nigerians cant wait to see materialise, that is if General Buhari does not have other plans. With an array of such qualified and dedicated ministers and advisers, Nigerians can expect better governance and better living standards.

My fellow Nigerians, who and who do you expect to make Buhari’s cabinet? Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with me on this page.

P.S. I want to add Dr. Chris Ngige to the list of members of Buhari's cabinet, since he lost his bid to return to the senate. So I expect him to be named the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, since the Igbos have probably schemed themselves out of top political positions in the forthcoming dispensation. With the likelihood of Governor Rochas Okorocha losing the gubernatorial election in Imo State, he may also join the cabinet. I am removing Prof Ajayi Borrofice from the list because he won his reelection bid to the senate (I sincerely thought he was going to lose; I apparently overestimated Governor Mimiko's political influence in Ondo State.) So who else would you love to see in the Buhari/Osinbajo cabinet?

Listen to President Jonathan's congratulatory call to Buhari

This is an audio recording apparently containing the conversation between President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari after it became clear that Buhari was going to be declared winner of the recently held presidential election in Nigeria.

Watch Pastor Sunday Adelaja's congratulatory message to all Nigerians on Buhari's election

Pastor Sunday Adelaja came out before the recently held presidential election in Nigeria and staked out his neck by declaring his support for the Buhari/Osinbajo candidacy. You can read his reasons here, here, here, here, here and here.

In these videos, he congratulates Nigerians and again gives reasons for supporting the APC candidates.

This is the second part of the message

Watch Buhari's first interview after being declared president-elect

This is President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari's first interview after his victory. The interview was conducted by the BBC.