Photos: 'Boy Alinko' weds!

Victor Oyebode, popularly known as Boy Alinko, finally exchanged marriage vows with his fianceé, Gbemisola Ogunfowora in Lagos on Saturday 20th December 2014.

See photos from the church service, which held at RCCG Peniel Assembly, Ikotun Lagos.

Photo of the day!

Disaster: Storm hits Brisbane Autralia, bringing hail stones with it

Heavy storm hit Brisbane Australia, bringing hail stones with it. A lot of damage was caused, but no life has been reported lost.

Photo source: BBC

10 COMMANDMENTS FOR WOMEN ON FOOD. Written by Beulah

You may ask what is my particular interest in the subject matter of food and women, I perceive that God didn't make a woman to be a cook because Adam as a bachelor was eating before Eve came, taking the fact that they ate fruits without having to cook, it appears to my mind that Eve took over that department of Adam's life when she came, she determined what was good and edible for Adam as they discovered all sorts of food available in the garden.

My conclusion is drawn from the fact that when she brought the forbidden food to Adam and said she had taken it and it was good for food, Adam did not argue, it seems she had passed the test of efficiency at determining what was good and edible for food over the time,so he took it hook line and sinker without hesitation.

Over the time, women have been entrusted with food affairs and to tell you the truth the whole of mankind owes the women folk sincere appreciation for taking care of our men and children, a strange trend that we now notice is a generation of lazy,not willing to learn or perhaps not taught women who are disasters in the kitchen arena.

My standing to write on the subject matter of cooking is premised on the fact that the kitchen is not a strange place to me, with all sense of modesty and humility, I am single and whole not wanting in that department,thanks to my sweet mother and encouraging father, he was a cook per excellence that his wife was always on her toes.

Do you know that simple matters can cause big troubles, have you heard that misunderstanding over food can break down marriages, when a woman begins to put boiled yam inside the freezer for her husband, such a man has entered the proverbial one chance.

Now back to the matter, first it was the use of household staffs ranging from maids to chefs and later with the advent of fast foods and all that, it appears that our generation is fast loosing the responsibility of making home made foods and a chunk of them have become noodle-lised (permit my usage).

Before you crucify me for not addressing men on the issue of food and longer throat, please wait for season two, I am only being courteous with the women first syndrome without any attempt to provoke good women out there who cook so well that men bite their fingers, let us make the following points clear:

1. If you don't know how to cook well, be candid with yourself and set into action to learn;

2. If a man allows you to cook for him, take it as a sign that he loves you not that he loves food, mama Basira's and Ose Oloun are doing well in town supplying the need of men;

3. The difference between home grown food from a beloved woman and a general market of wild cooking for hungry men is too wide to imagine;

4. The congenial atmosphere engendered by a wife who satisfies her man and builds his stomach infrastructure cannot be compared to anything;

5. It is still true that the way to a man's heart is his stomach, cook well till your man blesses you, God honours his prayers over you;

6. Never be carried away by his professed love for you, when the die is cast in marriage, the real man wants to eat good food on the dinning table;

7. Never assume that your husband will be the same like your father, they are two different people, learn to embrace his peculiar needs;

8. Good cooking is a true and tested way to bring your man home any day;

9. Whatever he likes to eat, if its not injurious to your health, try and make it;

10. Never, Never,Never give him just anything, it is wickedness, all that a man gains from his labour primarily is what he eats in his mouth.

Conclusively, to all ladies out there who are praying that their husbands will not like food, you had better start preparing,God knows how to answer such prayers the other way around.

Watch out for season 2 

*A or B*

A is for Jah
B rests with me
Nobody gets my A
Except it is God's will

You can read all you want
You can study all night
But except you know God's will
You will never get my A

My B is simple
Your money or your body
The B becomes yours
Only if you made a C

Tick tack says my watch
Right now make a choice
Which do you really want
A or B?

(Thanks for reading. How did it get to you- especially if you've schooled or are schooling in a Nigerian tertiary institution?)

RIP to the Munroes!

Photo source: Forbes

Tribal marks, my ID card- Obasanjo

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday collected his electronic National Identity Card from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), after spending over 10 minutes to activate the card as well as its inbuilt applications.

Obasanjo, who in his characteristic manner of throwing banters, noted that not many people know that he has three identity cards.

The former president listed his international passport, the National
Identity Card and his Owu tribal marks (six-line incisions on each side of his cheeks) as his means of identification.

Obasanjo, who spoke at his mansion on the Presidential Hill Top Estate, Abeokuta, Ogun State, when the management and officials of the NIMC brought the card to him, also asked how much of the functions inherent in the e-card would be beneficial to the people in his Ibogun village and at what cost to them.

He said,” Not many people know that I have three identity cards. The first is the international passport, the second is National Identity card and the third is my tribal marks. It is not funny that I’m collecting the National Identity card at a time that I’m unemployed and unemployable.

Nation

'Chibok girls have been married off,' says Boko Haram.

A man claiming to be Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, said the more than 200 girls kidnapped by the sect six months ago had been “married off” to its fighters, contradicting Nigerian government claims they would soon be freed, AFP reports on Saturday.

Nigeria’s military said it killed Shekau a year ago.

The insurgents usually give a copy of their videos to the French news agency about a day before they are posted online. The latest is likely to raise doubts about whether talks between a Boko Haram faction and the government in neighboring Chad will secure the girls’ release, Reuters says.

The man claiming to be Shekau also denied there was a ceasefire pending talks, and said his group was holding a German hostage kidnapped in Gombe in July.

Gunmen, widely assumed to be linked to Boko Haram, kidnapped the teacher from a technical college.

“We have married them off. They are in their marital homes,” AFP quoted Shekau as saying of the girls kidnapped from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, in April.

“Don’t you know the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls have converted to Islam? They have now memorized two chapters of the Koran.”

Shekau’s denial of the ceasefire appears supported by the violence that has occurred since the government announced it two weeks ago. It also raises doubts about the actual influence of Danladi Ahmadu, the man with whom the government is negotiating.

Nation

Total curfew imposed in Adamawa

Worried by the continued attacks on parts of Adamawa State, the government has imposed a curfew on the whole state.

The curfew announced on Saturday by the Secretary to the State Government Mr Ibrahim Welye is an extension of the existing curfew in some parts of the
state.

Welye said in a statement that the curfew would now commence from 9pm to 5am daily.

Those on essential services and with permit would allowed to carry out their duties during the curfew.

“All citizens and security operatives are please advised to comply strictly with these directives,” it stated.

NATION

Stalkers in the Vineyard

Like chameleon,
They take advantage of your oblivion;

Walking up to you
Like a friend who stands true;

Look closely and see them with daggers
They've been chosen to function as stalkers;

They praise you like a guru
Standing in your way as you aim for uhuru;

When your land seems green
They become hidden spikes eyes have never seen;

The man in-charge, they stand in call
Feeding him with your every flaw;

They crave for fame they merit not
Using you to pave the way for their lot;

Like dogs, they run after the bishop
Their tongues are tools in Lucifer's workshop;

Their heads always bowed like a humble chicken
Watching for the next one, whose spirit to weaken

They see themselves as part of the makers
But in the vineyard, they are mere stalkers

Your ministration, they size
Your commendation, they fry

They are holier than you and you
A mindset they coined as they grew

Look out for them because they daily approach
Your privacy it is, they daily encroach.

Mondayspeaks

Coordinated approach critical to financial education for entrepreneurs – Experts

Financial experts have said that a coordinated and integrated approach is critical in the provision of financial education for entrepreneurs.

The experts spoke at a roundtable recently organised by Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and Barclays Bank.

The experts noted that more and better synergies among all players in the financial environment are needed, and it is also important to shift mentalities and develop a real entrepreneurial culture.

The debate was organised to discuss how to deliver more efficient financial and entrepreneurial education and to identify alternative approaches of providing the right skills and services to entrepreneurs.

Among other things the debate revealed that entrepreneurs, who often lack the financial literacy skills required for the complex business decisions they face, need to better understand their financing needs and options, and to be aware of the support and services available to them.

In his opening remarks, Othmar Karas, MEP stressed that “Entrepreneurial spirit and basic economic knowledge needs to be already instilled in children and students. The earlier they learn about debt, savings and credit, the less likely they are to struggle in the future and the more likely they will become active and productive participants of the economy”.

Manos Schizas, Head of SMEs Affairs at ACCA said “The evidence on the effectiveness of financial literacy interventions is clear: success is elusive.

Source: Vanguard

UCH expresses concern over lassa fever in Ibadan

The University College Hospital
(UCH), Ibadan has expressed
concern over rising cases of Lassa
fever in the Oyo State capital and
its environs.

The coordinator of the teaching
hospital’s Response Team for
Outbreak of Diseases and
Emergency, Olusegun Fasina,
raised the alarm in an interview
with an online media outfit,
Witness Nigeria, at the weekend.

According to him, the number of
patients diagnosed with Lassa
fever had increased steadily in the
last two months.

He said the management was
particularly worried about the
development because the ailment
belonged to the same family of
hemorrhagic fever like the
dreaded Ebola disease virus (EVD),
which had raised global concern in
recent times due to the level of
fatality it had caused, especially in
some parts of West Africa.

“Within the last two months, we
have had about 80 samples
suspected of hemorrhagic fever.
Out of the 80, we are having close
to 27 being positive. That is about
35 to 40 per cent. That is very
high,” he said, while calling for
urgent action to stem the tide.

The response team’s spokesman
said though not all the cases were
from Ibadan, most of them were
based in the ancient town.

He explained that the UCH was
able to diagnose the sufferers
because it had state-of-the-art
equipment to detect complex cases of unresolved fever in less than 24 hours, as well as well-skilled personnel to manage the situation.

His words: “When the blood samples of suspected cases are
taken, we put them in a cooler
called ‘sample boxes’ to prevent
officials taking the samples for
isolation from being infected. We
label the cooler as ‘highly infectious’. The sample is processed
and within six hours, we have the
result.

“With that procedure that we have
in UCH, and the results we have
got so far, we can say there is an
increase in cases of Lassa fever in
Ibadan, and by extension, the
state.”

Being a referral hospital, UCH, he
said, only had access to cases
referred to it as well as those of
individuals who presented
themselves after administering
series of antibiotics to battle their
fever-like ailments without
improvement in their conditions.

That, Fasina added, raised higher
levels of fear on what would be
happening in lesser cities and
villages across the state where
victims may never be diagnosed
even after they might have died.

“Judging by what we have in
Ibadan, I imagine what will be
happening to my people in Saki,
Sepeteri and other places in their
category within the state.

Hemorrhagic fever genres are
easily contracted through animals,
particularly the domestic ones.

These people are farmers. All the
bats that they say we should not
eat in Ibadan are delicacies there.

You say we should not eat bush
meat, but they are eating rat like
anything there. And that increases
the risk of being infected,” the
medical microbiologist noted.

SUN

WHO officially declares Nigeria Ebola-free

Nigeria has been declared officially free of Ebola after six weeks with no new cases, the World Health Organisation says.

Africa’s most populous country won praise for its swift response after an infected Liberian diplomat brought the disease there in July.

The WHO officially declared Senegal Ebola-free on Friday.

The outbreak has killed more than
4,500 people in West Africa, mostly in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.

An estimated 70 per cent of those infected have died in those countries.

BBC

Rat-racing the Vicious Cycle of Poverty

There is only ONE difference btw a failure & a success- it is called the extra mile.

Spectators celebrate the success of others, shouting while burning their energy.

In the end, the successful ones smile to the bank, while the spectators spend time counting their expenses on a non-yielding venture.

By the break of dawn the names of the successful ones make headlines, while the spectators spend more money buying tabloids to complete the Vicious Cycle.

God said, 'My people perish because they lack knowledge.'

Most of us lack knowledge- a good example is a jobless fool who flashes an expensive gadget, maintained by begging for alms.

We mostly believe in impressing the people around us at the expense of our future.

Expensive shoes;
Expensive shirts;
Expensive suits;
Expensive watches;
Expensive phones;
Expensive perfumes;
Expensive belts; etc.

But your income is less than $2/day. Can you escape the Rat-racing in the Vicious Cycle of Poverty? Think again my friend!

A mentor said;

'Look them straight in the eyes and say the truth. The worst that will happen is stepping on their toes- be ready to apologise if they confront you, but those who will confront you, are the foolish ones in the audience.'

©Mondayspeaks

FG hopes to secure Chibok girls’ release by Tuesday

The Nigeria government hopes to secure the release of over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram militants latest by Tuesday, a senior source at the Presidency told Reuters on Saturday.

He, however, declined to comment on where the transfer would take place.

“I can confirm that the Federal Government is working hard to meet its own part of the agreement so that the release of the abductees can by effected either on Monday or latest Tuesday next week,” the source told Reuters on
telephone.

Source: Nation

Tortured

Our subconscious
A reservoir
Filled with impending memoir
Of abysmal tortures;

In a wink
It sprouts in a slink state
Giving room for the covered foolishness innate
To, our name, drag in the mud- those stink;

The hows and whys
Never once known
Our every move calculated like a raging cyclone
Dragged in the mire, we opt for cries;

In pains, candles at nights burn
Deep knowledge we crave
Into books we dug, our all, gave
Naive we were, that life is in turn;

Out of the cocoon
We run around like hawkers
Behind every gorilla, stealthily like stalkers
Our oblivion, widely spread with rune;

Tortured in the womb
Tortured at birth
Tortured all through as we journey on earth
Beyond, we’re tortured by crawlies beneath the tomb.

© Mondayspeaks

Alicia Keys stands in solidarity with mothers of Chibok girls

Photo by Dailymail

A heavily pregnant Alicia Keys joined a small group of protesters outside the Nigerian consulate in New York on Tuesday demanding the release of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram.

“Bring back our girls now,” shouted the small crowd led by the Grammy-winning 33-year-old New York RnB singer-songwriter, who wore jeans and wrapped her hair in a black scarf, on the sixth month anniversary of their abduction.

“Today is my son’s birthday, so I stand in solidarity with the mothers of the Chibok girls,” Keys told AFP of the northeastern Nigerian town where the girls were snatched on April 14.

The star, who has sold more than 30 million singles across the world and is expecting her second child in December, held up “#bring back our girls NOW” signs with the others.

“It is so atrocious and horrible, the fact they have been gone for six months and have not been found,” Keys said, adding that it was vital for people to keep up the pressure for their release.

“It is important now more than ever because it is that pivotal six months time,” she said. “It is too long.”

“Nigeria needs to find these girls,” she said. “We as an international community have to support them finding these girls.”

Keys, who recently set up a movement called “We Are Here” to fight for greater social justice, said the world must show solidarity.

“These girls represent so much. They represent girls who are kept from education, they represent girls who are treated as property, they represent girls who are raped and have to live in violence as a weapon of war,” she told AFP.

Reed more...

Another health worker tests positive for Ebola in US

CDC: ‘A second healthcare worker at Texas Presbyterian Hospital who provided care for the index patient has tested positive for Ebola’ – statement

Texas officials: ‘A second health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who provided care for the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States has tested positive for the disease’ – statement

CNN

Nigerian Soldiers returning from Liberia to be quarantined

About 850 Nigerian soldiers on peacekeeping mission in Liberia are to be quarantined for 28 days when they return to the country in March 2015.

There are two battalions of the Nigerian Army in Liberia. Investigations revealed that soldiers in one of the battalions were drawn from the 331 Artillery Regiment, Kontagora.

A source said on Sunday that the Army personnel were scheduled to return to the country in January but that their arrival would be delayed till March 2015.

According to the source, when they arrive in the country in March 2015, they will be quarantined in Gwagwalada, Abuja for 28 days before being allowed to go to their formations.

It was gathered that the soldiers returning from a similar mission in Sudan were not likely to be quarantined because Sudan had not recorded any Ebola case.

Read more...

EXTROVERTS

Dedicated to: All extroverts

Let's go!
Where to? I'm set
Outside no dey taya u
4 wia? Make I die inside this boring
house?
I be extrovert biko...

We keep our body up and alive by being with other people, spend most of our time with activities and lesser time personally. We think as we speak, to make conversations long and interesting.

Ever active in social situations, get updated easily without missing a single gist.

Being alone all day seems strange, let alone a 'house arrest' without any means of communication. That's "hell on earth."

We are outspoken, and spill out whatever idea lies in us without a second thought.

We have strong belief in ourselves, but could be very difficult to correct. We fight for our rights with all courage and try every possible means to win an argument, even with parents.

We easily express our feelings to anyone and even some of us speak in raw forms, not minding how coded some words should be kept.

So quick in voluntaries, even if we aren't capable, our trial means
a lot.

Whenever you see us out for a dance, take a keen look, and you'll notice some can't dance at all but would still try to move their bodies just to feel among. We believe we can do it!

Even with the little things we possess, we still show off as one with a lot. Being inferior is out of our dictionaries.

We make friends easily and tend to lose some easily without getting much hurt, unlike introverts that would stick to just one person and get hurt after losing such.

To Extroverts: Only if you know what you've got. Think deeply, you are capable of multitasking. Use what you have to bless others. Take note of great extroverts and develop your potentials.

If you are the talkative type, don't use it without manners. Many introverts really wish they have what you have.

To Introverts: We all are humans, forgive them whenever they act rude Or annoying. We are opposite in behaviours. Learn to understand human differences.

What if your soulmate is one?

Each one of us is a character, play your role and work towards perfection.

By: Oluwatosin Faith Kolawole

INTROVERTS

Dedicated to: All introverts

Lets go!
No...I think I'm okay this way
Aren't you bored?
No I'm not
I'm an introvert.

Our lifestyle seems boring to so many people. We love being alone and reminiscing, focusing on our own feelings, minds and affairs.

Deep thoughts keep creeping its way in and then we have lots of secret just because we have few friends around.

Sitting, eating, talking, playing, reading, singing alone has been our hobby ever since, even though it's never other people's kind of life.

We are reserved and would spend our time on a single activity rather than multitasking. We prefer being ourselves to social situations.

You would never see us come out to the dancing floor in a party and dance like others would do. We go deep thinking.

Yes! we are shy, but not always. We seem coded and some people think we are complicated, not until they have close intact with us.

When other friends keep playing around and catching fun, you won't find us there and even if some of us get to play along with them, we pull out when its getting too long.

Everyone is gone out to see one friend or the other, but we are still in the room, thinking of things that don't have topic or doing what we like doing when alone. We have just few close ones around that we tend to play so much as we can with and even feel free with them till they tell us we are stubborn.

Parents atimes misunderstand us and tend to flare up. But instead of explaining better, we have tears mixed up with our words and they flow uncontrollably all because we want to defend ourselves. How painful!

We are emotional and feel very bad when we get hurt. Only few of us learned how to control our feelings. So many things other people call fun are boring to us.

Even when we have a gorgeous look on us, we don't usually feel we are. We just stay stationed and watch other people move freely.

Some of us feel 'beautiful,' while some feel 'ugly.' We easily swing moods. We can decide to talk and play today, and in the next few minutes or hours, we are back to the cool headed style.

Not everyone of us is gentle- the truth is, 'most of us are gentle, while some of us are quiet'.

So many of us don't feel loved, and in that case, we go into reckless relationships- masturbate when alone, do cruel things and even hate ourselves.

Introverts are humans, extroverts should please love them no matter their level of being an introvert.

Many of us are that way because we aren't exposed to so many things, some because of challenges or depression and others are just that way, its their lifestyle.

To introverts: your life would be a complete mess to all and yourself if you do not have Jesus. I have Jesus and I have lots of specialities in me. So how on earth would I hate myself?

If you engage yourself in so many things, you won't feel it, even when you are alone. You can be a blessing to all even while being a reserved type. While writing this, I've been alone for over two hours and I'm safe even with writing. You are alone doesn't permit you to do bad things- have sex with your heart, think lustfully and the likes.

You want love? Jesus truly loves you, and when you have him, you won't feel rejected, being shy would get out of your dictionary.

Remember! You are special. Therefore there are treasures in you no one has. I love you all.

By: Oluwatosin Faith Kolawole

How To Curb Lassa Fever, By Health Minister

THE Federal Ministry of Health has warned that 29 million Nigerians are at risk of contracting Lassa fever.

Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said this during the commemoration of World Lassa Fever day, Saturday, in Abuja.

He pointed out that despite the discovery of Lassa fever in Nigeria in 1969, the disease has posed serious threat to public health, “especially with the rapid expansion of its frontiers, from an initial very few states to 26 states and the FCT.”

Chukwu, who was represented by the Minister of State in the ministry, Dr. Alhassan, said: “It is estimated that at least 29 million Nigerians, representing about 17 per cent of the nation’s present population, are at risk of contracting the disease. We should note that Lassa fever is of both regional and international importance. Over the years, outbreaks of Lassa of varying magnitude and severity have occurred in Nigeria, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. During these outbreaks, the case fatality can be as high as 50-80 per cent in untreated cases.”

The Minister pointed out that the country is confronted with outbreak of Lassa fever yearly in several parts of the country, with increasing magnitude and intensity. He said that in 2012, the outbreak occurred in 26 states of the federation, with a total of 1944 cases, 207 deaths including deaths of doctors and nurses, and a resulting case fatality rate of 10.65 per cent.

The outbreak, he said, necessitated a national review, which among others recommended the setting up of a National Lassa Fever Day to encourage Nigerians to take measures to prevent the disease and eventually eradicate it.

Chukwu noted that the epicentres of the disease have always been Edo, Nasarawa, Plateau, Ebonyi, Oyo, Taraba, Ondo, Lagos, and Benue States, but recent outbreaks have indicated that the geographical spread is expanding and that more states are at risk of the outbreak.Risk for Lassa fever, according to the Minister, remains inability of the public to recognise the disease and its means of transmission to others.

Associated factors for the spread, he said, include:

• poor environmental sanitation, which allows the proliferation of rats;
• poor personal hygiene;
• overcrowded condition in slums and squatter settlements; and
• bush burning.

Others are drying of foodstuff in the open and on the roadside.

Meanwhile, the Minister explained that Ebola Virus Disease, which currently ravages three countries in the West African region and constitutes threat to the world, has higher fatality rate than Lassa fever.

Dengue, another hemorrhagic fever within the category of the two diseases, Chukwu said, has a less fatality rate than Lassa and Ebola. “All the diseases cause bleeding,” he said.

Source: Guardian

Thunder struck and killed three teenagers dead in Ogun State

Thunder strike has killed three teenagers in Ogun State. The teenagers, Sunday Mulero, Dare Olaife and Sodiq Segun, were killed on October 10, 2014, at about 6pm at Ijale Ijaka Street in Ijoun, Ayetoro area of Ogun state.

The information made available to the Police Public Relations Officer of the command by the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Ayetoro Division revealed that they were playing outside their house when the thunder struck and killed them instantly.

The DPO with his police operatives, who responded to distress calls put to them, rushed down to the scene to possibly rescue the teenagers but they were confirmed dead immediately on arrival at the hospital.

The Commissioner of Police Ogun State, CP Ikemefuna Okoye, has described the incident as unfortunate. He sympathised with the families of the deceased and prayed for God’s mercies and protection over other members of the affected families.

The Police boss has advised the parents to warn their children to desist from playing under heavy rainfall or engage themselves in any dangerous activities.

Culled from Punch

Ebola: New case confirmed in Texas, as health care worker tests positive

A Texas health care worker who treated US Ebola victim Thomas Duncan before his death has tested positive for the virus, officials say.

“We knew a second case could be a reality, and we’ve been preparing for this possibility,” said Dr David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Duncan, who caught the virus in his native Liberia, died at a Dallas hospital on Wednesday.

The health worker has not been named.

Duncan tested positive in Dallas on September 30, 10 days after arriving on a flight from Monrovia via Brussels.

He became ill a few days after arriving in the US, but after going to hospital and telling medical staff he had been in Liberia, he was sent home with antibiotics.

He was later put into an isolation unit at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas but died despite being given an experimental drug.

It is not clear at which point the health worker, who has tested positive in a preliminary test, came into contact with Duncan.

The current Ebola outbreak, concentrated in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, has resulted in more than 8,300 confirmed and suspected cases, and at least 4,033 deaths.

Source BBC

Fire in UNILAG

Pastor Okotie lacks the moral right to question Pastor Oritsejafor-

The Christian Association of Nigeria has sais that Pastor Chris Okotie lacks the moral right to challenge Pastor Oritsejafor.

The association stated this in reaction to the demand by Okotie that Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor should resign as CAN President over the alleged involvement of his aircraft in the controversial $9.3m smuggled into South Africa by two Nigerians and an Israeli.

Okotie, on his church’s Facebook page, said;

"Considering the collateral damage Pastor Ayo’s close relationship with the President has done to the Christian community, it is fit and proper for the Pastor to resign immediately as CAN President to salvage what remains of the battered image of the association."

“This is without prejudice to the on-going investigation on the matter.
Denials of his culpability by the Federal Government, CAN officials and his own recent defense, does nothing to reduce the moral burden this whole saga places on his shoulders. As the titular leader of Christians in Nigeria, there’s now a serious crisis of confidence on his leadership and he ought to respond to it by resigning from his exalted position."

In responding to Okotie's submission, the Director of National Issues of the association, Mr. Sunny Oibe, told SUNDAY PUNCH that Okotie was looking for popularity through Oritsejafor. He said;

"Is Chris Okotie a Christian? How many wives has he? He should go and sort out himself. Even the government has exonerated Pastor Ayo of all the allegations. So, who is Okotie? Well, it is laughable if Chris Okotie should demand that Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor should resign as President of CAN."

"Chris Okotie should remove the log in his eyes before he begins to see a peck in somebody’s eyes. Pastor Ayo had a soaring integrity before he was elected the President of CAN. Who elected Chris Okotie to become the spokesperson of Christians in Nigeria?"

"CAN will not like to join issues with Okotie because doing that will amount to making him popular. He is looking for popularity which he doesn’t have through Pastor Ayo and he is not going to get it."

Culled from Punch