AT LAST! Blatter resigns as FIFA president

Sep Blatter on Tuesday resigned as president of FIFA in a stunning capitulation to critics as a mounting corruption scandal engulfed world football’s governing body.

The 79-year-old Swiss official, FIFA president for 17 years and only reelected on Friday, calmly told a hastily arranged press conference that a special congress would be called as soon as possible to choose a successor.

“I felt compelled to stand for re-election, as I believed that this was the best thing for the organisation,” he told a hastily arranged press conference at the organisation’s Zurich headquarters.

“That election is over but FIFA’s challenges are not. FIFA needs a profound overhaul,” Blatter added.

Blatter did not mention the corruption storm that erupted less than a week ago, but went on: “While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football – the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA.


“Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress. I will continue to exercise my functions as FIFA President until that election.”

Blatter has defiantly held off resignation calls for many months amid controversies over the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup to Russia and Qatar and more recently over bribes allegedly taken by top soccer officials.

Swiss police arrested seven FIFA officials, including two vice presidents, at a Zurich hotel last Wednesday setting off the latest storm for Blatter.

The arrests were carried out on behalf of US prosecutors who accuse the seven, and eight other suspects, of involvement in $150 million of bribes.

Blatter had repeatedly pleaded his innocence and that of FIFA over the corruption.

“The executive committee includes representatives of confederations over whom we have no control, but for whose actions FIFA is held responsible. We need deep-rooted structural change,” he reaffirmed in his statement.

Blatter said he would remain in office as an interim leader until the election.

The special congress cannot be held until between December 2015 and March 2016, according to Domenico Scala, chairman of FIFA’s independent audit and compliance committee.

Critics were quick to welcome Blatter’s shock announcement, though some praised him.

“It was a difficult decision, a brave decision, and the right decision,” said UEFA president Michel Platini, a former ally who last week told the FIFA president to his face that he should leave.

English Football Association chief Greg Dyke, one of the fiercest criticis of the FIFA leader, said the resignation was “great for football.”

Prince Ali bin al Hussein, who challenged Blatter in last Friday’s vote, immediately announced that he will be a candidate to take over.

The Jordanian prince withdrew from the race after the first round of voting at the Zurich congress.

Blatter beat him by 133 votes to 73 in the first round, with rock solid support from Asia and Africa seeing him through.

Blatter has been with FIFA for 40 years, starting as a marketing official, becoming secretary general in 1978 and becoming president in 1998, taking over from Joao Havelange, whose long reign was also overshadowed by scandal.

The Swiss official took over an international federation facing financial difficulties and turned it into a multi-billion dollar operation.

In the four years between the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, FIFA made $5.7 billion (5.3 billion euros). The organisation has a cash mountain of $1.5 billion.

But since the first day, scandal has never been far from his office. There were allegations over the vote that elected him in 1998 and the collapse of the ISL sports marketing giant also triggered a crisis at FIFA.

The past four years have been his toughest however. The day after the December 2010 vote that awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups triggered widespread accusations of bribery.

Qatar has strongly denied any wrongdoing but one senior Qatari official, a FIFA vice president, was banned for life amid accusations that he gave bribes.

Swiss police investigating the award of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments and raided the FIFA headquarters last Wednesday when the arrests were being carried out at a luxury city hotel.

“It is my deep care for FIFA and its interests, which I hold very dear, that has led me to take this decision. I would like to thank those who have always supported me in a constructive and loyal manner as president of FIFA and who have done so much for the game that we all love,” he told the press conference.

“What matters to me more than anything is that when all of this is over, football is the winner.”

Blatter, stolid throughout the 10 minute appearance, then shook the hand of a member of his staff and calmly walked back to his office.

Questions for Festus Keyamo on president's powers to appoint ministers

I read a write-up by Mr. Festus Keyamo on the powers of the president to appoint ministers. And in this piece, I wrote my thoughts on the write-up. But for the sake of those who might not have read the write-up, I republished it so that they can understand the whole discourse.

Keyamo's argument

The long-held notion in Nigeria that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is under an obligation to appoint at least thirty-seven (37) Ministers into his cabinet is not correct after all – at least by a holistic appreciation of the spirit and letters of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

This notion has been taken for granted that no one has bothered to read the provisions of the Constitution over and over again. And of course, since it suits the politicians to promote this notion, none of them has ever dared to suggest otherwise. But, with the greatest sense of patriotism, I submit that the President can, indeed, appoint far less than thirty-seven (37) Ministers and have a very lean cabinet.

The whole idea of having at least thirty-seven (37) Ministers is derived from section 147(1), (2), (3) and section 302 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which states as follows:

147. MINISTERS OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

(1) There shall be such offices of Ministers of the Government of the Federation as may be established by the President.

(2) Any appointment to the office of Minister of the Government of the Federation shall, if the nomination of any person to such office is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the President.

(3) Any appointment under subsection (2) of this section by the President shall be in conformity with the provisions of section 14(3) of the Constitution:-

provided that in giving effect to the provisions aforesaid the President shall appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such State.

A cursory reading of the above section will lead to a quick conclusion that since we have thirty-six (36) States of the Federation, a Minister from each State would naturally mean that the President must appoint at least thirty-six (36) Ministers from the States. And if you add the Minister for the FCT that section 302 imposes on the President to appoint, then the conclusion would naturally be to have at least thirty-seven (37) Ministers of the Federation. However, I respectfully submit that this long-held notion is built on a faulty premise, a constitutional misunderstanding and a restrictive interpretation of section 147 as quoted above.

Firstly, the Constitution does not stipulate the time-frame within which the President shall appoint Ministers once he assumes office. If that is accepted then it means the President has the whole of the four-year tenure at his disposal to fulfil the Constitutional provision of appointing a Minister each from each State of the Federation.

Secondly, the Constitution does not state that the Ministers so appointed have a fixed term of office. In other words, they are appointed and removed at the pleasure of the President. They are not bound to spend four years in office with the President.

Thirdly, the Constitution does not state that ALL the Ministers from all the thirty-six (36) States and the FCT must be appointed at the same time. To buttress this point, most Presidents in the past have always sent list of Ministers in batches to the Senate for approval and nobody has raised an eyebrow about that. In fact, a close look at subsections (2) and (3) will show that the phrase “any appointment” is consistently used, and not “all appointments”. It means the appointments can be done piecemeal.

Fourthly, the Constitution does not state that all Ministers appointed from each State must enjoy equal tenure of office. The provisions of section 147 shall be satisfied if, during the tenure of that administration, at least a Minister is appointed from each State of the Federation – irrespective of the period of time they spend in office.

Lastly and most importantly, subsection (1) gives the President an absolute discretion to establish “such offices of Ministers of the Government of the Federation”. That subsection does not circumscribe the discretion of the President to create as many or as little portfolios as he deems fit and is not made subject to subsection (3).

The sum total of all I have said above is that,

(a) If we accept that the President can appoint and remove Ministers at will;

(b) If we accept that the Constitution did not state that all the Ministers from each State must be appointed at the same time;

(c) If we accept that the President is not given a time frame within which he must appoint Ministers upon assuming office;

then we must accept that the President can appoint far less than thirty-seven (37) Ministers in the first instance upon assuming office. But he must ensure that before the end of his tenure as President, he rotates or reshuffles his cabinet in such a way that each State must produce at least a Minister. Of course, this is not suggesting that for the sake of continuity in government, the President cannot appoint thirty-seven (37) or more Ministers from the inception. He can, of course, do that. It is his complete discretion to do so. But nobody should suggest that it is not his discretion to appoint far less than thirty-seven (37) Ministers and reshuffle his cabinet at mid-term or any time at all to accommodate all the States of the Federation.

In sum total, what section 147 of the Constitution merely stipulates is that during the term of office of a President, he must appoint a Minister each from each State of the Federation. The provisions of the section do not state that AT THE BEGINNING of his term of office, he must appoint a Minister each from each State of the Federation.

In conclusion, at this time when President, Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to cut down the size of his cabinet, he may consider drastically reducing the number of Ministers. A large cabinet is an unnecessary drain on our national resources.

I rest my case.

My thoughts/questions

While I commend Mr. Keyamo for this insightful exposition on the provisions of the constitution as regards the appointment of ministers, I want to express my thoughts on this matter and also ask him some questions. Before venturing further, I want to state it clearly that I agree with Barrister Keyamo on the need for President Buhari, and indeed future presidents, to run a lean government. I align myself with his position that the President does not have to appoint 37 ministers at once, even though I guess the writers or drafters of the constitution intended to give every part of country a sense of belonging because of the mutual suspicion with which the various sections relate with each other.

My questions for Mr. Keyamo are as follows:

• Hope there are no lacunae that can be exploited if the constitutional provisions on appointment of ministers are interpreted and implemented the in line with Mr. Keyamo's argument.
• What happens if a president fails to appoint a minister each from all the states of the federation before his tenure ends? Does the constitution make any provision for such an eventuality? Will he be tried in court after his term? Or is a refusal to appoint ministers from all states of the federation not a constitutional infraction?
• How will a court trial after a person's term in office assuage the feelings of those who felt marginalised during such a president's time in office? Or will those who feel marginalised go to court some months to the expiration of a president's tenure?
• At what point should they decide to go to court? Two years to the end of the president's tenure? One year? Six months?

My questions may seem improbable but I think I have raised some possibilities that may arise from following Mr. Keyamo's argument.

President Jonathan’s speech at handover ceremony (Full text)

REMARKS BY

HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCFR,

ON THE OCCASION OF THE PRESENTATION OF HAND OVER NOTES

TO THE PRESIDENT-ELECT,

MUHAMMADU BUHARI, GCFR

THURSDAY, 28TH MAY, 2015



PROTOCOLS

I welcome you all to this occasion of the formal presentation of the Hand-over notes of my Administration to the in-coming Administration of the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari.


This event and tomorrow’s inauguration of a new administration are truly historic as it is the first time in the history of our nation that we are witnessing the democratic and orderly transfer of power at the Federal level from one political party to another.


The Hand-over notes which we now present, contain the governance philosophy, strategies, policies, programmes and activities of my Administration for the period – 2011-2015. Also to be found in the notes are the objectives, targets and implementation strategies, achievements and challenges of our key policies, schemes, initiatives as well as the status of commitments and liabilities of the various MDAs.


As we hand over the affairs of the nation, it is appropriate to recall that at inception, in May 2011, we committed ourselves to consolidating national unity through democratization and good governance. Our assessment then, and our firm belief ever since, is that the unity of Nigeria, the security, well-being, greater freedoms and opportunities for all citizens must remain the primary objectives of government.


The Agenda for National Transformation which we did our best to implement consisted of clear and consistent governance strategies, policies, plans, programmes and projects, in all facets of our national life. Emphasis was placed on human and state security, democratization, sound economic management, as well as structural and institutional reforms.


Our foremost concern was the unity of Nigeria.In keeping with that concern, we engineered a process that began with a review of issues outstanding from previous Constitutional Conferences by the Belgore Committee. After that, we widened political consultations through a National Dialogue that was orchestrated through the Okurounmu Committee. These culminated in the all-inclusive National Conference which unanimously reaffirmed that Nigeria must remain united and indivisible.


The Conference also made resolutions and recommendations for serious constitutional, political and governance reforms, which we have forwarded to the National Assembly for appropriate legislative action. It is our hope that the incoming Government will accord the Report of the National Conference the very high priority that it deserves, as a genuine expression of the will of our people.


The recognition that the starting point for good governance is the legitimacy of the government itself informed our commitment to promoting free and fair elections.


It also motivated innovations in the management and conduct of elections which we undertook. Hopefully, in the years ahead, those innovations will be properly and fully implemented so that Nigerians will be even more assured of the integrity of the electoral system and the legitimacy of any government that it produces.


 To strengthen the social contract between the government and the governed, we institutionalized the rule of law as well as the independence of the legislature and the judiciary. We also promoted group and individual freedoms. As a result, there is vast expansion in democratic, social and economic space for all citizens.


11.Our nation and citizens faced many new challenges over the past four years but the greatest was the vastly increased menace of Boko Haram with their mindless terror, mass killings, utter ruthlessness, kidnapping of innocent children and other unspeakable acts of brutality.



  We should all remember that Boko Haram’s emergence predated our administration going as far back as 2002. The group however became extremely malignant with the killing of its leader, Mohammed Yusuf in July 2009.


  It therefore became an urgent task for us to effectively confront the great threat Boko Haram posed to the security and well-being of our people. To do so, we overhauled and virtually reinvented our security architecture to confront Boko Haram and its insurgency. We re-organized our security apparatus. We re-equipped and fully motivated our forces.


  Victory is now in sight and within our reach. However, the cost in blood of citizens and heroes; and the diversion of national treasure from urgent needs for development have been very high. While more than 500 women and children have been rescued from the clutches of Boko Haram thus far by our security forces, it remains my sincere hope and prayer that our beloved daughters from Chibok will soon be reunited with us.


  I wish to thank the Nigerian people for their resilience and patience. I also wish to pay very special and personal tribute to all the men and women of our valiant armed forces and security agencies. Their sacrifice and dedication have brought us thus far.


  While striving to overcome our national security challenges, we still gave necessary attention to economic development. Our goal was to achieve long-term economic growth and stability, improve the quality and quantum of infrastructure and enhance human capital development.


  Our financial system reforms included the Treasury Single Account [TSA] that unified the structure of government accounts for all MDAs and thereby brought order to cash flow management; and Government Integrated Financial Management Information System [GIFMIS] was introduced to plug leakages and waste of resources. The Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System [IPPIS] weeded out 60,450 ghost workers in 359 out of 425 MDAs, yielding N185.4 billion in savings to the Federal government.


Improved Revenue Mobilization was achieved through improvements in the laws and compliance measures. In 2013 alone, these measures resulted in a 69% rise in Federal tax revenues from N2.8 trillion to N4.8 trillion. Also, Waiver Policy and Trade Facilitation were reformed to create a more rational regime. Our emphasis shifted to granting waivers to specific sectors instead of individual companies and the Sovereign Wealth Fund was established to provide stabilization from external shocks, provide funding for critical infrastructure and savings for future generations.


  Our Financial Sector reforms addressed the issues of inefficiencies in the coordination and monitoring of the financial system. Our policies promoted transparency, better risk management, new banking models and payment systems. We established the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria as a resolution mechanism for toxic banking assets. We strengthened banking supervision and enhanced public confidence in Nigerian Banks.


Similarly, we undertook innovative reforms for job creation and repositioned the manufacturing, agriculture and housing sectors. Specifically, it was observed that over the years, job creation did not keep pace with economic growth. Thus unemployment, especially amongst the youth was assuming alarming dimensions.


  To address this, my administration made job creation a key consideration for all programmes in the Transformation Agenda. Emphasis was also shifted towards empowering youths to become entrepreneurs rather than job seekers, through such initiatives as Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOU-WIN), Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS), the SURE-P Technical Vocational Education and Training Programme (TVET) and the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP).


Manufacturing in Nigeria faces many challenges, including poor power supply, high cost of input, high cost of doing business, multiple taxation, poor infrastructure and lack of synergy with the labour market. To address these problems, we launched several programmes and initiatives including the National Industrial Revolution Plan and a new National Automobile Policy designed to boost domestic car production and expand existing capacity. Since then, five new private vehicle assembly plants have been established.


Agriculture is critical to national survival and yet the sector was besieged with many problems. By year 2010, Nigeria was the second largest importer of food in the world, spending about N1.3 trillion on the importation of fish, rice and sugar alone.


The reforms we introduced in agriculture dramatically increased local production of staple food and saved us vast amounts of money that we would have spent on the importation of food items.


To address the glaring inadequacy of critical national infrastructure, we focused on the Power Sector, Roads, Railways, Aviation, Ports and Harbours as well as on Water and Sanitation, Information and Communication Technology.


My government introduced the Power Sector Roadmap in 2010.Since then, we have privatized the generation and distribution aspects in a most transparent process. Obstacles to the private sector investments in power supply were removed and we developed cost effective electricity tariff to make the sector more attractive. It remains our hope that the successor companies to PHCN and also the private sector will step forward with the necessary investment to make the power reform work.


The major challenge in the road sector in Nigeria is the high cost of building roads and it continues to rise. The other challenge is the fact that because of regular use, roads are one of the fastest depreciating assets in developing countries.


To address this, Government has developed the required legal and regulatory framework and created opportunities for Private Public Partnership (PPP) in road construction and maintenance.


From Ore/Benin Road, Lagos/Ibadan Expressway to the Kano/Maiduguri dualisation projects, we made concerted efforts to address age-long problems of delays in construction, design defect, neglect and ineffective maintenance. The construction of the historic Second Niger Bridge has also commenced, and on completion, it will open new and far-reaching opportunities for greater trade and interaction among our people.


In the Aviation Sector, our government developed a Master Plan to institutionalise safety and security, and to develop infrastructure at the airports and local airlines. We embarked on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of 22 airports nationwide. Construction work on five new international terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu are also on-going.


There has been a revolution in rail transportation. We rehabilitated the old narrow gauge network and ensured that it has served our people steadily for three years running with new coaches and improved expanded services nationwide.


We are in the construction stages of a new national network for standard gauge speed-train services, with the new rail line segment, from Abuja to Kaduna, successfully completed. In addition, we have initiated the process for the construction of an ultramodern coastal rail line that will run from Lagos to Calabar, with a link to Onitsha.


We have also successfully completed the dredging of River Niger, from Warri in Delta State to Baro in Niger State, and completed construction works for the Onitsha River Port. Other River Ports at Baro, Lokoja and Oguta, are at advanced construction stages. Working with the states and development partners, we have facilitated the process towards the development of two new deep sea ports at Lekki in Lagos, and Ibaka in Akwa Ibom. We have also implemented reforms to streamline the clearing regime in existing ports, increasing cargo turnover time and easing business for all users.


In the oil and gas sector, our local content policy has continued to empower Nigerian companies, particularly in technical and engineering projects. The Gas Revolution Industrial Park in Delta State is unprecedented in the subsector, and will not only deliver Africa’s biggest industrial park, but all the accompanying benefits to local industry and job creation.


We recognized Human Capital as the most important agent for transformational development. Our reforms in this sector focused on Health, Education and Social Development and also on Women and Youth Empowerment and Social Safety Nets.


In the Health sector, the comprehensive National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP) of 2011 laid the foundation for widening access and improving the quality of healthcare with lower infant mortality rates and higher life expectancy for the populace.Our effective curtailment of the Ebola epidemic has continued to receive worldwide acclaim as an example in prompt and effective national disease management. On our watch, guinea-worm has been eradicated from Nigeria and we are on the verge of wiping out polio entirely.




In the Education sector, our objectives are clear and precise. They emphasise expansion of access and the upgrade of quality. I am proud that we have widened access by establishing 18 more Federal Universities and other specialized polytechnics. We strengthened TETFUND and used it to boldly address the problems of inadequate infrastructure in the existing institutions.


I am particularly proud of our efforts with regards to Early Childhood Education and Out-of-School Children. We provided modern hybrid Almajiri Education Programme in the North, attended to schooling needs of boys in the South-East and ensured the construction of special girls’ schools in 13 States of the Federation to improve girl-child education. We expanded opportunities for open and distance learning and provided scholarships at all levels to help improve access to quality education for bright and promising Nigerians.


We have promoted gender-mainstreaming with commensurate priority and opportunities for our womenfolk, beginning with ensuring that not less than 30 per cent of key Federal appointments go to women. Other initiatives that we have taken include: the National Gender Policy, Establishment of Gender Units in Federal MDAs, Women Empowerment Training Programmes, Micro-Credit for Women, Social Safety Net Programmes and the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Scheme.


My Administration has emphasized giving a free hand to our Anti-corruption agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). We preferred that they mature into strong institutions instead of being the images, the hammer and the anvil of a strong man. We must encourage them to abide by the rule of law and due process instead of resorting to dramatic or illegal actions orchestrated for cheap applause.


Beyond the very impressive records of enhanced convictions by statutory anti-corruption agencies like the EFCC and ICPC, our other strategy has been to fashion economic policies that deliver higher deterrence and frustrate concealment. In this regard, the Bureau of Public Procurement has played a central role and impacted strongly on the fight against corruption.


In Sports, we have improved our national performance in team and individual events. The disappointment of not qualifying to defend our African Football Championship was cushioned by a decent FIFA World Cup appearance, an Under-17 World Cup win in addition to other victories in other international football tournaments and the Paralympics. We have also encouraged excellence in other sports, apart from football, resulting in exceptional performance in international sporting events, especially in athletics.


Our foreign policy position remains strong. In October 2013, Nigeria was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the second time on our watch. Our country had only served in that capacity thrice before 2011, since independence in 1960. Our Administration also played a leading role in the resolution of security and political challenges in our sub-region, particularly in Niger, Cote D’Ivoire, Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso.


In addition, we increased engagement with Nigerians in the diaspora who contribute so much in remittances to their fatherland. Our Administration successfully encouraged more of them to invest in Nigeria and others to return home and join in the task of nation-building.


In summary, Your Excellency, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, our administration has done its best to intervene robustly and impact positively on key aspects of our national life.


There is no doubt that challenges still abound, but they are surmountable and overwhelming national transformation remains realisable, with continuity, commitment and consistency.


Nigeria is blessed with citizens that will always remain faithful, firmly committed to national unity, accelerated political, social and economic development.


As we hand over the reins of government, I believe that our nation is secure, our democracy is stable, and the future is bright. Let us all work together, and with greater resolve, continue to build a stronger and more prosperous nation.


May God Almighty continue to bless our dear country, Nigeria.


I thank you all.

My idea of Buhari's presidency by Levi Akorede

Nobody can achieve anything on earth except it be given unto him from above.

While I was a younger chap and I met people from overseas and listened to them talk about the "heavens" which they lived in, my naive and sincere judgement was always that these people were just exaggerating or just unnecessarily arrogant with what luck fate had bestowed on them. But now, I am in their position and I know more.

I have pondered on why the larger percentage of those who voted during the presidential election in Nigeria voted for the retired army general and I have been able to understand that more than ever before, the vast majority of Nigerian people have more hope and expectations from the man than any other person in the history of leadership in Nigeria. I was initially opposed to the candidature of the president-elect Mohammadu Buhari but eventually came to term with the fact that an old man like Buhari may be the way out of the confusion which was had visibly taken over the helms of affairs in Nigeria prior the election. Who could have gotten an overwhelming majority vote among the candidates that signified the intention to wrestle the presidency with Goodluck Jonathan? Kwankwanso, Atiku or who? The hope of the average Nigerian was tied to the apron of Baba Buhari.

The expectations of Nigerians are so vast and high concerning the person of Mohammadu Buhari. Someone asked why think Buhari can navigate us through this pestilential experience. My response was he can if he really wants to. The Bible makes no mistake in identifying how big a man with authority is. Buhari now has the authority to do and undo. Our hope of a better Nigeria is heaped on this person. He will make the difference. There abound in world history very many figures whom their countries brought to power for the sole purpose of rescuing the nations from both political and economic catastrophe. General Dwight Eisenhower of the United States was a military commander who became the president of the US. There was also Wiston Churchill of Great Britain. I have no doubt that Buhari will be ranked among these men of honor.

My idea of what the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari will be is a nation where the people will be proud to identify with the country just like America and Saudi Arabia. I see a country where university lecturers will teach all through the year without a threat of strike. A country where there will be an end to importation of matches, etc. A country who produces for herself. A country where the citizens' right is protected as enshrined in the constitution of the country. A country where money does not develop wings and escape through the airports and borders. A country where criminals are dully prosecuted. A country where you hide your head when you live with an undisclosed and illegal source of wealth. A country where there's the stoppage of the sole activity of irresponsible political class who steals the taxes paid by civil servants. A country where students can study on scholarships and grants. A country where I will ask myself what am I doing outside when my colleagues are doing well at home. A country where young unemployed graduates don't have to buy employment application forms, become professional scammers or armed robbers before they eat. A country devoid of ethnic militia, etc.

Buhari can achieve all these if you support the wind of change blowing across the country through this man. Muhammadu Buhari has nobody on earth to fear except the almighty God who will ask him the account of his actions and inactions on earth. I see Buhari Muhammadu putting Nigeria back where we belong in our big brother position among our fellow African nations. It's embarrassing to see other smaller countries talk down on Nigeria. I remember Chad telling the world some months ago that their military men don't run away like Nigerian Army.

Unto whom much is given, much is expected. Nigerians have vested hope and trust in Mohammadu Buhari. We voted outside religious beliefs, orientations and boundaries. God help GMB. I remain a loyal and honest Nigerian. Nigeria first, my party second. God bless Nigeria.

I'm Levi Akorede
05/15/2015
Dallas, Texas

Bring Sex Out of the Church Closet

It turns out God knows all about sex. In fact, He actually invented sex. I know, I know, you suspected humans though it up and had kept it hidden from God. Who would have thought God actually designed the whole thing and gave it to us to enjoy. Why didn’t I ever learn this in Sunday School? Not when I was a wee lad, but it would have been nice to hear about it in my teens when my sex drive took over my entire existence.

Even better, why didn’t an elder take me aside when I was about to get married and tell me sex is the greatest thing ever, and God actually wants us to do it? Maybe he could even have made a few suggestions for things to try. At the very least, he could have given me a bottle of lube and told me it would be a good idea to use it even if I thought it was unnecessary.

How about a prayer blessing our sex life before the pastor declared us man and wife and sent us off to consummate our marriage? Or, go all Pentecostal and have married couples come up, lay hands on us, and bless our sexuality. And, when the pastor told folks it was their duty to pray for our marriage, he could have said “marriage and sex life”.

Does any of that make you uncomfortable?

I’m not trying to be funny or shocking here. Think about how much better our sex lives and marriages would be if this were the norm in our churches. As an added bonus, I bet the kids in church would have a healthier and holier view of sex. Maybe they would see something worth holding out for, rather than thinking you can only enjoy sex beforeyou get married!

God is not shy about sex. The Bible is full of talk about sex. Among other things, God uses sex as a metaphor for worshipping other gods. What He says is unbelievably explicit in the original texts. Reading an accurate translation of some of those in church would get you tarred and feathered!

If God is all about sex, and has no problem openly discussing sex, why are we not the same way? Why are we all uptight and afraid of sex? It’s not from God! At best, we have believed the lies of men. Why ever we do it, the fact is we are not representing sex as God does.

Maybe I’m crazy, but I think God would like us to think about and treat sex the way He does. And maybe, just maybe, if we did that, we would have fewer sexual problems in the church.

Source: http://www.the-generous-husband.com/2015/04/26/bring-sex-out-of-the-church-closet/

“ONLY GOD CAN SAVE NIGERIA” - WHAT A MYTH! By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.

 

Despite the title of this article and the content thereof I wish to start by stating once again to those who might have one or two reasons to doubt it that: I am without any doubt a Pastor and a Christian. Sometimes when someone begins to question our religious status quo, the response one would often get would be like “this guy is either backslidden or is not a Christian at all”. I however intentionally titled this article “ONLY GOD CAN SAVE NIGERIA” - WHAT A MYTH! I want the title to catch the attention of the readers so they could question their reasoning.

Thanks to my hyper activeness on Facebook of late, I have come to be a little bit familiar with the mind set of my people. One of those mindsets is what I want to throw light into today. I hope this is not true, but facts abound to the affirmation that most Christians in my nation Nigeria and all around the world, would rather pray to God to come and fix their country than do something about it themselves. With all due respect, coupled with the fact that I am a Pastor myself, I probably understand where people who say such things are coming from, but for the sake of progress, I beg to disagree with such a stand.

ONLY GOD CAN SAVE NIGERIA? NO SIR. THAT IS A MYTH!!!

Even though God rules in the affairs of men, yet the earth is not God’s jurisdiction. He only rules in the affairs of men either by the invitation of man or to save man from some self-inflicted dangers. Otherwise God indeed has given the earth under to the control of man.

The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men. Ps. 115:16
From the scripture above we can see that the domain of God is primarily heaven. That is where he has limited himself to. He has chosen to make the heavens his jurisdiction while at the same time he himself makes it very clear that the earth has been given to man as man’s sphere of influence. The earth therefore is not God's jurisdiction. It is man’ jurisdiction. The earth is man’s domain. Man therefore is responsible for what transpires here.

SONS OF GOD WAKE UP!!!

I am however, not overly concerned about sons of men. My primary concern lies with sons of God. That is children of God who are supposed to know better. At least they go to church, they pray to God, they read the bible. But ironically the believers have done worse in exploring the earth than sons of men who are not even believers have done. It is clear looking at statistics of inventions, discoveries and fortune 500 companies, that it is not the believers that are managing the affairs of the earth. What a tragedy!!!

Why is this so? Is it because believers are a nation of mediocres? No, I personally don’t believe so. But I do know that every man produces only to the capacity of their philosophies of life or doctrines as we Christians call it. The doctrines that have been preached in our churches in Africa and globally has not been helpful for believers to dominate the earth. We have mainly been taught to just stay in the church, be faithful, serve the church, and serve the man of God. Make sure you make heaven, don’t sin, be holy and you won’t go to hell. Mission accomplished!!! Even though all these truths have their place, yet we have largely abandoned the second part of the gospel that is supposed to deal with man subduing and dominating the earth for God. According to Gen 1:26 NIV

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
From this scripture we can clearly see that the mandate of God to man, believers and unbelievers alike is that they should manage the earth for God. God is not supposed to fix the earth; he created man for that. This scripture is talking about managing, ruling the earth, as the sole duty of man.

Now let’s go back to the title of this article “ONLY GOD CAN SAVE NIGERIA” When you compare this statement to the word of God both in Genesis 1: 26 and Psalms 115:16, you see that as good as the intention of people who say things like this are, such a statement doesn’t hold any ground when it comes against the word of God. God is not coming to fix Nigeria or any nation. The most he could do is to raise up a man or a woman who would take responsibility to fix the nation.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? “Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8
God is short of responsible men which explains why he said “who shall I send and who would go for us?”

God is looking for sincere men he could send to politics to manage politics for him.
God is looking for sons to send to the world of business to manage it for him.
God is looking for godly people to send to the world of finances to subdue it for him.
God is looking for prepared men to send to the world of education to manage the place for him.
God is desperately looking for those he could send to the world of art and culture, to rule the place for him.
God is looking for gifted people to send to the world of entertainment, to reveal himself there.
God is desperately in search of sons and daughters he could send to the media world to reflect him there.
God is in desperate search for those sons he could send to the world of sports to rule and manage it for him.
And finally, God is in need of godly servants to send to the religious world to bring back his kingdom there.

The most frustrating thing about our doctrine in the modern church is that the unbelievers who have never been to church, the agnostics, those who are outrightly atheist, don’t have to fight with whether they are supposed to dominate the earth or not, they just go ahead and do it. While we Christians are bound hands and feet, sitting down in the pews instead of going out to explore the earth for the Son of God, king of kings and the Lord of Lords.

Permit me to say here that I am by no means castigating the heroic men and women of God who have served God faithfully and have brought the church to where it is today. While we thank God for them and their efforts, we must also know that our generation of believers has the responsibility to take the gospel a bit further. To conquer some more territories and to expand the influence of the kingdom to a higher horizon.

It reminds me of the story of Moses and Joshua- While Moses did a wonderful Job liberating the children of God from Egypt with signs and wonders, God had a stunning message for Joshua, when they got to the land of Promise. God said to Joshua, no more miracles, it is time to build.

12 Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year. Joshua 5:12
The same analogy I see with the body of Christ today. Our fathers of faith have done a great job delivering our nations from the clutches of idolatry and witchcraft through signs and wonders. Today however, a new generation must arise that will take their works further. This generation must rely less on signs and wonders but rely more on developing skills and building industries. This generation must spend less time waiting for manna from heaven, but spend more time in the fields building and producing. Even though this generation still believes in the miracle working power of God, they must no longer wait for God to bring water from the rocks, but rather construct dams, water systems, subdue the power of the ocean thereby give glory to God almighty. As it was in the days of Moses and Joshua so it is in our day. Therefore the messages coming from our altars must change. We must have a shift! “CHURCHSHIFT” is around the corner!! It is time for us to move on to our promised land!!! It’s time to begin to believe that with God on our side we can build a prosperous nation and continent.

The gospel that has been preached in our churches has not been fair to the African continent. It has left us in a beggarly state, waiting on God for things we could produce by and for ourselves. Our churches are full of people during work hours, morning, noon, evening, praying instead of being in the factories, libraries, laboratories, facilitating economic growth. We need a shift in our message and in our pulpit.

Some would disagree quoting Psalms 127:1-2
“Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.2 it is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, and to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.”
Well, it is true and I believe this scripture. God needs to bless the works of our hands, but you still need to do some work for God to bless it. You need to step out to build before God could bless what you are building. You need to guard the city before God could protect it for you. However, in our own case we no longer produce laborers, we would rather pray to God to send laborers to come and build our cities. We refuse to put guards on duty, we would rather pray for God’s protection. My brothers and sisters prayers and faith in God do not negate professionalism and dignity of labor. It is only the man that has done his best that qualifies to ask for God’s protection and blessings. This message must return to our pulpit.

Yet others might quote Dan. 4:17.
“This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men”.
We see that God rules in the affairs of men as a lesson to Nebuchadnezzar who tried to remove God all together from his affairs. We must not fall into this trap either just like many nations in the world today. They are saying they don’t need God and everything depends on them only. No, no, no, no!!! In such cases God would show up sooner or later to make them know that no one can bypass God. We should however not seek to abdicate our duties to God, asking God to come and do what we are supposed to do. We can’t ask God to come and fix our nation while we have not done our absolute best. This ought not to be so!!!

“Only God can save Nigeria”? Hmm, maybe…

…but not before we the citizens of this country have done our best to fix Nigeria. God indeed could show up, but we must first show good stewardship by taking good care of our land. We must prove to God that we have done all that depends on us. Then what we cannot do he would come and do for us.

“And we owe science to the combined energies of individual men of genius, rather than to any tendency to progress inherent in civilization”. Chauncey wright”

Chauncey wright is trying to tell us that nothing progresses by itself. In this, he concurs with the great English scientist Sir Isaac Newton that says there is no effect without a cause. If there is progress anywhere it is because there have been people who worked for it, not just prayed for it. The earth is not supposed to be developed and civilised by prayers alone. The earth is supposed to be civilised by hard work, labour and diligence.

Now don’t get me wrong prayer has its place but that is a topic for another day.

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

“PASTOR FACE YOUR CALLING, BUSINESS” By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.

In the last few months, I have been actively involved in the social political affairs of my native country, Nigeria. As a result, many of my well-wishers and friends have become very concerned, especially those who don’t really know me intimately. These folks are of the opinion that I am digressing from my main calling as a Pastor when I focus on writing the so-called political articles. As a consequence and also because of many other reasons, I felt prompted to begin to address the topic of ignorance in a series of articles. These concerns and questions that are sent to me on a regular basis, reveal to me that things are not as it should be in the body of Christ. I am of the opinion that this is either due to a lack of understanding of the Kingdom message or a poor understanding in general of biblical truth. I concluded that the above misunderstandings undergird most of the fears and concerns that I have become accustomed to in the past few months.

It is easy for anybody to call himself or herself a “Christian” but the truth is we respond from very different world-views. Our world-view determines the manner in which we engage the world. The comments and letters in response to my articles have revealed to me that the Gospel of the Kingdom has not been fully expanded upon to this generation of believers. Many use the word “Kingdom” flippantly. Even though we sing about it in our praise songs, we talk about it in our sermons, yet we seem to still not understand its reality in our daily lives. It is obvious that the prevalent Christian world-view is not a Kingdom world-view. It appears that the paradigm of the modern Church has mainly been based on some fragments of the truth rather than the comprehensive totality of understanding God and His Kingdom.

The title of this article is coined from a popular phrase that is often addressed to me namely: “Pastor Face Your Business” When people say this they mean that I must just stay behind the pulpit and preach. A Pastor dare not open his mouth to speak on issues regarding anything outside the four walls of the church. My concern is not the fact that other people don’t understand where I am coming from, even though Christians are supposed to be doing what I am doing. What alarms me most is the fact that, even when God has now raised up a voice to speak on these issues, many sincerely believe that I am in error or at worst that I am doing something utterly wrong. My response has been to deal with these comments based on my understanding that we all are sensitive to change, we don’t really like change. We tend to get irritated when we see somebody doing something that is unusual and unfamiliar to our thinking.

In this article, my aim is to make a case for the fact that I am actually embracing my business and calling when I speak about political issues and other issues outside the four walls of the Church.

I’m fulfilling my calling when I raise my voice high,
I’m fulfilling my calling when I raise my voice concerning injustice,
I’m fulfilling my calling when I raise my voice, no matter what is happening and against whom,
I’m fulfilling my calling when I raise my voice for the truth.
I’m fulfilling my calling when I seek to uphold righteousness in all spheres of life.

I’m Fulfilling my calling because that is the calling that Jesus gave us all, that is the calling he brought to the earth, that is the calling and the mandate that God the Father gave Jesus to bring to the earth and that is the calling that every Christian, in full-time ministry or not must dedicate themselves to. I will make my case based on the Holy Scriptures. God’s word says the following:
John 3:16…19-21 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 19 And this is the condemnation,
that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the
light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
The above verses are central to the whole Bible. Most “born-again” Christians are familiar (in the least) with the first part of this Scripture. Most believers know it by heart and can quote it easily, but still miss the message. Because in just a few verses down the line we see the full picture of what verse 16 was talking about. Let’s examine this Scripture step by step

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
In verse 16, we see the love of God for man and for the world at large. There is an apparent need to save the earth and the means God chose to do this is not by sending POWER. More so God didn’t choose to resolve the problem of the earth by sending PRAYERS. Whenever God wants to intervene in the affairs of the earth, he intervenes through light, illumination, knowledge, insight, understanding, wisdom.

The general instrument by which God interferes in the affairs of men is by the weapon of LIGHT. Light means knowledge in the Greek language it can also be translated as illumination, knowledge, insight, understanding and wisdom. That goes a long way to say that the most important mission of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth was to destroy ignorance by manifesting light.

We see it in the words of Jesus in verse 19
19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
...and this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men love darkness more than light because their deeds are evil.

From this passage God himself is referring to Jesus as light, illumination, knowledge, insight, understanding, wisdom. Jesus himself refers to himself as light, illumination, knowledge, insight, understanding, wisdom. That is the most potent power in this world. God himself and Jesus relied upon light to function on the earth, Jesus also functioned on the earth through the power of light. Light, illumination, knowledge, insight, understanding, wisdom. That is their real power on earth.

If God the Father and God the Son use light, knowledge, insight, understanding and wisdom to function on the earth, it means that is the greatest power in existence. It is no wonder then when it was time for God to intervene in the affairs of the universe in Genesis chapter 1, he relied on the same weapon- the power and force of light, illumination, knowledge, insight, understanding, wisdom. Light was the first thing that came into existence, first in the order of creation. The same thing happened in the New Testament in John chapter 1, God introduced himself to us as the light, illumination, knowledge, insight, understanding and wisdom. Whenever a nation or a group of people is devoid of light, catastrophe comes, calamity hits, there is danger everywhere.

19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John 3:19
This is the condemnation… or you could say this is the destruction, this is the calamity, this is the danger that the light has come into the world, but men have loved darkness rather than light. When I look at the Church today, not just in Africa but worldwide, it seems to me that we have come to love darkness even if we are called Church or some other religious names. We have come to love darkness of religion more than seeking for the knowledge of God. We have come to love darkness in the church rather than finding God in creation. We have come to love darkness of religion rather than striving to understand how the world is supposed to function. We claim to have the light in the Church yet we want to lock ourselves within the four walls of that same Church. If we indeed possess light we shall never be afraid to go and face darkness anywhere, anytime.

20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. John 3:20
That scripture states that it is the people of darkness who are supposed to be afraid of us, the carriers of light. Instead it is the Church hierarchy that is rather teaching congregants to be afraid of darkness, instead of teaching them to go with light to overcome darkness. We ourselves are behaving in the Church as if we are afraid of the light, it should not be so.

21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. John 3: 21
People who truly serve God embrace light, they fall in love with light, and they proclaim light, they fight with light. They actively look for darkness in order to chase darkness away, they run after darkness, they search for darkness in all its ramifications and destructive consequences. They do this in every sphere; personal, societal and national life, wherever darkness may be hidden. Why do they do this? They do it because light has come to the world and men loved darkness rather than light. Why should they even bother? They make it their business because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son (light) that whosoever believes in him (the word, light, illumination, knowledge, insight, understanding, wisdom) should not perish (or be destroyed) but have everlasting life.

Friends I would like to challenge you to do an experiment, in the privacy of your studies. Everywhere you see the name “Jesus” in the Bible, replace it with the word light and see what that does to you. Some other times replace it with the word light, illumination, knowledge, insight, understanding and wisdom.

The second experiment I would like to challenge you with is: anywhere you see the word “ignorance” or “lack of knowledge” to replace it with darkness or evil and see what that does to you too.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. Martin Luther King Jr.

Friends, the light has come to the earth. We now have no right any longer to be in any form of darkness, especially in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. What I am aiming to do with

these articles is to bring light wherever there is darkness.

If I see darkness in the Church I bring light to it,
If is see darkness in Christians, I bring light to them,
If I see darkness in men of God I bring light to them,
If I see darkness in politics I bring light to it,
If I see darkness in my nation, I bring light to her,
If I see darkness in the area of finances I bring light there.

That is the number one assignment of every believer, minister and Church.

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