In its determination and resolve to foster a new mindset among Nigerians, the Mindshift Advocacy for Development Initiative has unveiled a new blue print to get Nigerians to think differently, believe differently and to act differently, so as to generate a mindset geared towards development. The event which was attended by dignitaries and the media held Thursday, October 17, 2019, at the prestigious Benue Hall of the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

In his address Mr. Joko Okupe, the Founder and Board of Trustee member of the Mindshift Advocacy for Development Initiative said that “the bane of Nigeria and by extension Africa’s problems is the mindset of Africans as individuals, communities and nations, about themselves and the mindset of the rest of the world about Africa. The wrong mindset of Nigerians and Africans in general which influences the way we do things, has created problems such as lack of visionary and purposeful leadership, bad governance standards, erosion and loss of good value systems, corruption, poor understanding of global issues and how it impacts their lives; unprecedented never-ending poverty, heavy debt burdens, over dependence on international aids, endless conflicts, inadequate education etc.” According to him, the Initiative was incorporated on November 28, 2016 as a non-partisan, non-governmental organization aimed at re-directing citizens’ mindsets from negative mindsets in private lives, societies and nations to positive mindsets that foster meaningful holistic personal, social and national development. The initiative also seeks to activate a radical and positive change in the mindset of the Nigerian youth – and by extension, African youth.

According to Mr. Okupe, the Mindshift Advocacy is actually focused on shifting mindsets from negative to positive. The movement is focused on redirecting the mindset of Nigerians from negative, unproductive and unprogressive mindsets to positive, productive and progressive mindsets. A destructive person has a destructive mindset and a destructive thinking pattern. There is so much capacity in the power of the mind that the way and manner that the mind is directed, determines the outcome of a man’s action. When you look at the great nations of the world, you will discover that their people have mindsets of greatness. The average Nigerian’s mindset is anti-progress and anti-development. How can we have progress and development when majority of our citizens have the wrong mindset? We cannot achieve any meaningful transformation without a re-orientation of the citizens’ mindsets.  Even when Government decides to run a campaign on changing attitudes, the success will depend on whether the mindsets of the citizens have changed or not. We cannot but pay attention to how people think. We must have that clear understanding. That essentially is the crux of the Mindshift Advocacy.

He stressed that every effort geared at re-orientating the citizens with a view to making them develop positive and progressive mindsets as individuals, society and at national levels, would put us on the road to meaningful and effective transformation of the continent for sustainable growth and development. This is why: “The changes we wish to make have more to do with how we think than what we actually do, because thinking patterns ultimately influence actions. We need to get our citizens to embrace positive mindsets that can impact thought and action for our progress and development. We must also lead by example by thinking and acting differently.”

He cited Mr. Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, who once said that Africa’s transformational change will first happen at the level of mindsets before it is translated into concrete actions. Okupe firmly believes that Africa’s journey of transformation starts with changing how people think. “It is vital for citizens of all ages and social classes to have the right mindset because they are the ones who would be actively involved in the day-to-day actions that bring about sustainable transformation.”

In order to achieve these, the initiative has in place well-articulated key focus areas toward its agenda. These areas are: family and society, government and politics, education, business and economy, media, arts and entertainment, innovation and technology, religion, culture, and health and wellness. Additionally, it will approach this systematically through social research, targeted issues campaigns, action-oriented initiatives, knowledge sharing, events, and public discourse platforms.

Fielding questions to reporters at the launch event on what methods Mindshift Advocacy will deploy to achieve its goal, Joko responded, “It is all a matter of approach and method. Our initiatives would be determined by research and insight. There is a reason or rationale behind every mindset. How much have we researched into why we behave the way we do?  Why do we think the way we do? We will make efforts to dig into the foundation to understand the issues and gain necessary insights before we develop initiatives.  A man whose mind is conditioned to darkness tends to acclimatise to the situation and live in it. People’s eyes can only be opened through enlightenment which will serve as an illumination to the thick, engulfing darkness and ignorance around us. Adequate exposure to realities will compel them to see and think differently. If we continue at the current pace, we are definitely on a suicide mission as a nation, though we may be fully aware of this”.

Earlier in her welcome address Mrs. Debo Onabowale, a core member of the Mindshift Advocacy for development Initiative said that “Mindshift Advocacy for Development Initiative is set to do a new thing in Nigeria by approaching the Nigerian problem from a different perspective. We believe that Nigerians, both leaders and followers, rich and poor, young and old need a different orientation to be able to chart a new direction and behaviour to propel peace and development.”

Somewhat curiously, there appears to be belief that illegal transmission of pay television signal is no crime. And if at all it is, perpetrators seem to believe that it a less severe form of theft than piracy of CDs, DVDs and books for which, understandably, there is a larger market.

My conviction that illegal transmission television signal is deemed harmless grew stronger last week, following media reports of a crackdown by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on three Port Harcourt-based cable television operators- CANTV, Metro Digital TV and Communication Trends Limited (CTL)-all of which have been redistributing content exclusive to MultiChoice, StarTimes and Bein Media, the Qatar-based broadcast giants, among others, without authorization.

 The three firms are members of the Association of Cable Operators of Nigeria (ACON), which claims to have the right to steal content and redistribute commercially.

To be clear, the alleged crime is no novelty. As a matter of fact, the trio have been at the game for years, according to their lawyers. CTL, for example, had its licence suspended in 2010 for pirating the signal of the defunct Hitv.

What, however, is new is the audacity to claim that their illegal activities benefit Nigerians in the low income brackets, who they claim cannot afford the tariff of MultiChoice, leading pay television service provider; and StarTimes.

To attract support for a clear economic crime dressed up as pro-people activity, the operators sought to invoke nationalistic fervor, serving the public a mish-mash of lies such as the well-worn allegation that MultiChoice seeks to crush competition (by frowning at the theft of its content) and claiming that they are licensed by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to redistribute content-without the owner’s authorization! More crudely, the pirate operators sought refuge in the recent anti-foreigner attacks in South Africa, hoping it would reboot local anger, thereby deflecting attention from their crime.

 Last Wednesday, one of the items on the order paper of the House of Representatives was a motion by Hon. Abdulganiyu Olododo. Titled “Increasing Trend of Copyright Piracy in Nigeria”, the motion invited attention to the relentless infringement of intellectual property rights thereby rendering creativity unattractive and impacting negatively on the socio-economic lives of Nigerians.

Olododo’s motion noted that copyright piracy is defying the efforts of government agencies, including the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), and threatening the country’s economic well-being.

This point has been studiously ignored by the operators who, according to reports, were billing subscribers between N3, 000 and N5, 000 monthly for content exclusively owned by others. Their template seemed to have appealed to the now defunct TStv, which briefly came to the market last year, falsely claiming to have rights to premium sporting, news/ general entertainment content and offering such as impossibly low rates. But before it rolled out, CNN, FOX Entertainment and Bein wrote to the NCC to state that there was no content redistribution agreements between them and TStv. Bein, in a recent letter to the NCC, restated that it has no content rights to operate in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Kenya among other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

But  ACON members, claimed they have been paying licence fees as well two per cent turnover to the NBC, whose code, they further claimed, bars a single operator from having exclusive rights to major sports content.

In a letter to the EFCC by their lawyers, the pirates claimed that the anti-graft commission has no business in the matter, as the crime alleged is not financial in nature. But Abdulrasheed Bawa, head of EFCC’s Port Harcourt Zonal Office, said the EFCC is empowered to deal with crimes that are financial and economic in nature.

Section 40 of the EFCC Act defines “economic crime” as “non-violent criminal and illicit activity committed with the objectives of earning wealth illegally”. According to the act, it includes any form of fraud, narcotic drug trafficking, money laundering, embezzlement, bribery, looting and theft of intellectual property and piracy among others.

The NCC also has a dim view of piracy. Section 51(1) of the Copyright Act defines broadcast piracy as the rebroadcast commercial scale, without authorization, of content protected by copyright.

How else the operators want their activities perceived other than theft eludes me. The NCC on 26 January 2018, according to nlpiw.com (website of the Nigerian Law Intellectual Property Watch), arrested one Idoni Joseph Osagie in Osogbo, Osun State. The commission stated that Osagie was caught with broadcast piracy equipment such as DStv and GOtv decoders, coaxial cables and signal boosters.

In September 2018, the NCC threatened two Kaduna-based cable television operators, ABG and QTV, with suspension for unlicensed broadcasting.

 Augustine Amodu, NCC’s Enforcement Director in Kaduna, said the Commission received letters from Aljazeera, Bein and Canal Plus among other international broadcasters that their content was being redistributed illegally.

In its letter summoning the two operators to its headquarters in Abuja, the NCC wrote: “After doing vigilant surveillance and investigation, we have found out that the original and rightful owner of the content you are transmitting is MultiChoice. But ABG has gone behind without getting due licensing from MultiChoice to continue to operate on the cable of MultiChoice. The only people with the exclusive license to broadcast English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, LaLiga among others is MultiChoice Nigeria. So, we are here to issue a very stern warning to you to desist from this illegal act or run the risk of been shut down.”

Also in Warri and Ughelli in Delta State, the NCC seized illegal broadcast equipment worth N36.1million in anti-piracy operations carried out between 13 and 16 March 2018. Similar operations, leading to arrests and prosecution, are routinely carried out by the NCC-relying on extant legislation.

Bizarrely, the operators busted in Port Harcourt believe that their clearly criminal enterprise deserves the support of Nigerians, who they hope would get red-eyed with rage at the reference to MultiChoice’s South African origins, hence the disingenuous use of the recent xenophobic attacks, cheap talk of monopoly and legless pro-people stance.

In any language, stealing, even with the desire to give to the less privileged, spells crime in bold letters. Cheap appeal to nationalism or patriotism cannot deodorize a fetid activity.

Mabadeje, a public affairs commentator, writes from Benin

A senior member of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), Prophet Emmanuel Soyemi has declared that the beginning of the end of all absurdities and corruption rocking the CCC at home and abroad has come.

Prophet Soyemi who earlier denied claims linking him with Celestial Proclaimers (CP), a group within the CCC, which earlier called on members of the church to rise up against a manipulative BoT member, says hes not fighting a personal fight with anyone but to uphold the spiritual ideals that the church stands for.

He also denied in a statement issued on Tuesday, the notion held in some quarters insinuating that he has been bought over, changed camp or forced to keep silent in recent times.

The statement signed and issued by Prophet Soyemi reads; “Celestial Church of Christ, why are your children suffering you unto death?  Why are the children you laboured upon failing you in the time of your need as if you are a great burden to them? Why are they discarding the morals you taught them like shits into the shit holes? Why are they so obsessed with vanities at the expense of realities?  Why are their ways unto death to make you suffer bereavement of children at this stage of your life?  Mother! Mother!! Mother!!! all your children except very few have chosen death instead of life.

“All the ways that leads to life which you taught them through the tenets you set before them, these have all rejected but have chosen the ways of foreign mothers which leads to death. Your children are hell bent in suffering you to death without showing remorse.

“What an irony of a good and caring mother’s life? Your children have turned to dangerous beasts and vipers, maiming, destroying and killing the innocent ones among them. They have vowed never to stop until they are gripped by the powerful hand of hades into everlasting agony and torments of all sorts. Mother, they have vowed. I, Prophet Emmanuel Soyemi saw all these by grace which is never by my righteousness though, but I was asked to sheathe my sword for peace to reign in the Church, hence, I kept my peace. I have to keep my peace because the Pastor and Spiritual head of our great Church and some elders that I can never claim I know more than them no matter any spiritual endowment on me, said I should do it. Reason I kept mute. However, of recent, there was a publication by the Celestial Proclaimers insinuating my being bought over, changed camp or forced to keep silent. To all of the insinuation lines, I said NO, nothing like it. I have to respect the Pastor and these elders especially the Pastor who is the spiritual head of this Church, not chosen by man but by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself through the Holy Spirit. How then can I be against the word of such a personality. I am not fighting a personal fight with anyone but to uphold what this Church stand for. I will through this medium crave the indulgence of those who felt otherwise to kindly bear with my silence for now.

“Haven said this, I will like to use this medium to inform Celestians as a whole that, seeking for peace in a situation like this is normal but the needful must be done before peace can come to us. It was in the light of this that I wrote a letter to the Pastor that a General Assembly meeting of the Church must be held not later than the last Friday of October (October 25, 2019), failure which what will follow might shake the Church to its foundation.

“I want to clearly state here that, “THE TIME TO PUT IN PLACE EFFECTIVE STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION OF THIS CHURCH IS NOW NOT LATER”. As it is now, our Church has no effective structure and Administration that is working, that is the fact except for the GRAND DECEIT MASTERS AND THEIR FOLLOWERS who are seeing the Church as their CASH COW and milking us of our Pastoral returns to the Headquarters. What they don’t understand is, they were and are sucking POISONED MILK and it will poison them all, AMEN. They shall not escape as God lives and His Spirit lives. They were growing fatter and bigger dishonestly feeding on our patrimony, time of recompense is nigh, they will soon burst into pieces for eternal condemnation. This is the word of the Most High God through His servant, the Prophet. If everyone in the Church has surrendered their sensibilities to be played and pried upon, I will NEVER. There is an information still circulating underground that the Cele treasure keeper and sole fund dispenser may have personally benefited his pocket with well over N100million of Cele fund both in Naira and hard currency. It is highly sickening that with the number of intellectuals in this great Church, one man wants to become the mister know-all, do-all and all in all lording it over everyone including the Pastor of the Church. “This person is using the unfortunate situation of the Pastor to deceive and manipulate him and undo the Church negatively.

“Are our sensibilities as members of this Church still intact and functional that a man will keep all Church records including the Church Fund Accounts worldwide in his office safe, same with all the court records involving the Church and the Pastor and using his personal lawyer thereby helping his personal legal counsel with our money. Are these things ideal? No, they are not. The Church is being ruled and ruined in his personal office, what kind of people are we?

“This is the same man that came out of the Pius-In-Council (sorry Pastor-In-Council) meeting held on Saturday August 3,2019 that some people were of serious misconception that the sum of N3million was spent from the Church fund towards the burial of Mama Shodeinde where he was Chairman.

“He stated that N3million was approved by the Pastor for the burial purpose. He claimed that in actual fact, N1million was spent because Mama’s family gave a cheque of N2million during outing and thanksgiving service at the International Headquarters of the Church. I did not know that this our calamitous finance guru can be this naive not to know that this is purely a classification matter under the Income and Expenditure Account. In as much N3million was approved and spent by your Committee on the burial, you have spent it. What you got by way of N2m was a gift that will come under your income pronto.  The N3million that you spent must show clearly under your expenditure fully. That was the way the postings should have appeared. The nearest Accounting classification the burial spending and whatever can be compared to is the Income and Expenditure though it was not 100%, however, it could not be classified or treated under the profit and loss Account, it was far from it.

“A poser is this, if I spent N3million on my birthday celebration and I received cash gifts totaling N2million from well-wishers, is it right to say I spent N1million on my birthday celebration? No, I spent N3million not N1million. Anything contrary to this is abracadabra financial reporting.

“But what our treasure handler didn’t tell us is, the family would still have given the N2m as offering at Ketu even if the burial committee used the contribution by members without going into the Church treasury. The N2m would have been addition to what was hitherto the balance in the treasury.

“Also, what he failed to reveal was that the money was used to help the business of one of his foot soldiers who was also part of the Committee by renting needless quantity of LED screens from him for number of days which the program lasted.

“The question I will ask is, “IS THIS THE WAY THE CHURCH FUND is being run? This is dangerous, it is time for everyone who cares about the progress of Celestial Church of Christ and her peace to stand up for what is RIGHT and TRUE in order to place the Church in a good stead and rock solid future. ENOUGH is ENOUGH of all these absurdities and corruptions in the Church if PEACE must reign. This can NEVER continue; it is as simple as that. It will be a BATTLE ROYALE to whatever and wherever level, hence, I AM PREPARED as the Boys Scout motto instructs “BE PREPARED”.

“At the said meeting of the Pius-in-council (sorry, Pastor-In-Council), the issue of the establishment of the Celestial International University, Imeko was raised and there was a request for N22million to submit the completed forms and all other attachments to the relevant authorities. Some members suggested that the Church should raise draft in that sum immediately. But our fund keeper said there is no money for it but people should start donating money towards that. What was wrong for the Church to pay that money immediately even if you will thereafter go cap in hand soliciting for donations from members. But the more members of his council suggested that the Church should raise the sum without delay, the more his argument against such suggestion became vocal and unyielding. The question is who are we using Celestial money to benefit if we cannot release money for such a gigantic purpose meant for the Church? And what money is it, N22million? A peanut. Then the Church fund must be for the purpose of the personal ego of the fund keeper and also the disposal of such fund at his whims and caprices. The Pastor was seated right there, but what can he do when the MANIPULATOR GENIUS was handling the session.  He is the pastor before the real Pastor and perhaps the reason for not releasing money for that purpose was that he was not the Chairman of the Education Committee handling the University project and since it was not him directly involved, then nothing happens fundswise from the Church fund. This is sad. I think the Church fund and the Church Administration has entered “ONE CHANCE METRO EXPRESS TRAIN”. I have written to the Pastor and Spiritual head of the Church to use his good office to call for a General Assembly meeting that would allow for resolving knotty issues that would lead to putting in place effective structure which will invariably bring about enduring peace and spiritual progress of the Church.

“The Pastor agreed that the meeting will hold when he return from his overseas trip in October as requested in my letter. The meeting, he promised will hold not later than the last Friday of October 2019. He gave his words before Most Superior Evangelist (Baba) T. Oshin that no-one will come to change his mind against the meeting holding. This was the reason I have kept quiet believing in the words of our Pastor. It was not that I, Prophet Emmanuel Soyemi had been bought over or silenced, NEVER. In my letter to the Pastor, I requested the Board of Trustee Treasurer to provide every member of Pastor-In-Council, the Audited Statement of Account of the Church at the next meeting of the Council slated for November 2019. There is no way someone will be collecting money on behalf of the Church all over the world and the Audited Statement of Account is not made available. It must be provided otherwise there will be painful and seriously hurting consequences on this matter. The members of the Pastor-In-Council represents all other shareholders in the Church, hence, such report is mandatory as obtainable elsewhere in the business world and other organisations, Churches inclusive. Also, in the letter regarding the General Assembly meeting, the letter advised that the meeting should consist of the following: All members of the Pastor -In-council; All members of the Board of trustees; Fifty members of the Shepherd Council; Twenty-five members of the Women Council; One hundred members of the Youth Council; Ten members of the Oshoffa Family.  However, eminent stakeholders in the Church are also free to be part of the meeting. If actually we cherish peace in this Church, then this meeting must hold and must never be averted. It must hold soonest as advised in the letter.

“There are enough absurdities going on in the Church that we must not leave to fester any longer, if we actually believe in this Church and love her. Youths are the future of any society, organisation even in the family settings, hence, Celestial Church is not an exception. However, no one is mentoring our youths in the right direction any longer. Elders are preoccupied with vanities even in the Holy place. Elders in our Church are dancing naked to the drums of absurdities, insanities, moral decadence, filthiness, financial and body corruption. Yet, they will be the first to go on the pulpit preaching heaven and claiming this Church will cleanse the world. Yes, God the Lord Jesus Christ made the promise that Celestial Church of Christ will cleanse the world and I believe it WILL be, however not with these our present generation of everything but honest and righteous. Philosophically asking, will a dirty rag effectively clean a car’s windscreen?  NO.  Whoever must clean another person has to be clean himself, else, he will do more damage to what he has chosen to clean. If the Lord should appear today, about 99.99% of us as Celestians will burn to ashes in hell fire. It is certain. Now, what we are doing is that we the elders are grooming our youths to be dangerous serpents to venomise this Church unto death and extinction. The Bible says, “As daughters look unto their mothers and as sons look unto their fathers……. “. The youths are carefully learning all our filthy ways and will grow in the Church to be better smooth operators of the trade than us their teachers. Clergies have turned to servants of the laites because of money.  And what money? Its stipends that are presently making the so called Clergies to be stooping and drooling before their laity masters because of N1000 or so.

“I watched a video of where sycophancy was played to high hell not heavens when a supposedly respected Clergy because of food placed before them at their after burial ceremony party at Agidingbi cannot control himself but said that the known Cele tyrant should carry go and continue his good works. What good work? Owo Abu l’afi n s’ Abu l’alejo (literally meaning, it is Abu’s money that is being used to entertain Abu). The treasure keeper is only giving you part of what he got from you in order to exert his larger than life disposition on you and leading you all pulling your noses. Abi? Lobatan. Can’t you all see your folly.  There was another one among the so called Clergies who did the introduction and called the treasure handler “baba wa ninu Oluwa. (our father in the Lord) Hmmm!!!, wonders will never end. This is the same man he was a sworn enemy with just few weeks back. All these accolades are just for things they are calculating to gain from Cele emperor. This is absolute insanity. All of you are destroying the Spiritual and humane essence of this great divine Church.

“I saw a spiritual mischief at the 2019 washing of the feet at km 35 along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where the treasure handler was the one distributing directly from the altar the holy communion items meant for different Parishes to the Shepherds. They were happy fighting to get it from a laity and shoving themselves around. It was absurd. The legacy you people are gifting the youths of now is that when they come of age, they will be using cutlasses to pieces themselves instead of shoving with hands in order to get these items even from a drunkard laity. We are collectively either by ignorance, poverty or greed killing this great Church gradually with the ills that are gathering like tornado storm to scatter the Church. All of us will account for all of our deeds and misdeeds against this Church. That is sure, no doubt about it.

“I don’t know why people think they should be and be seen everywhere. A stark illiterate will understand a fact that the laws of Nigeria does not cover anything outside of her territory, even our next neighbour the Republic of Benin. During the period of the Pastor Founder, Saint SBJ Oshoffa and the Pastor, Supreme head, Saint A A Bada, you can never see the name and photographs of the Trustees in our Order of Service not to talk of addressing themselves as Board of Trustees Worldwide. You can only find the names of the founding Trustees in the Constitution and were registered as Board of Trustees, Nigeria Diocese. This is nothing but traits of despots and ego flaunting. MADNESS is the names. I saw a letter flying around on the social media platform where they wanted to sell Celestial Church property to launder it for their selfish interest where the author was writing “Board of Trustees worldwide (BOTW). It was amazing, how the Spiritualness of the Church is being sacrificed on the altar of mundanity, absurdities, insanities, ego and utter corruption with ridiculous level of sycophancy. They will all be shamed, no matter how much they try to manipulate things in the mind of fools and hungry mumus in the Church. Who and who took the decision to sell the house? Was the Pastor-In-Council aware of this and when and where was the meeting held? The only body that is worldwide in Celestial Church is the Pastor-In-Council, NOT and NEVER the Board of Trustees. He wants to be everywhere. He wants to be the signatory to every and all Church Accounts at every nook and cranny of the World where Celestial Church is situated. How can only one person be in all area of Church operations and everywhere in the Church when you are neither a spirit nor God. His ambition is to rule the Church like his private empire by dictating and doing everything in a Church filled with large numbers of intellectuals and high calibre members. How? Even God at the time of creation of man never did it alone. In 1983, the Pastor Founder in his Easter Sermon at Makoko then, said God called others and implored them, “Let us create man in our own image (Genesis 1vs26). Papa said, “so that it does not seem as if He was the only one doing it, He called His aides”. Proverbs 8:22-31 said similar things in a different way.

“With the Holy Spirit of unpreceded proportion running in our Papa then, he was directed by the same Holy Spirit to appoint Pastor-In-Cancil so that he won’t be seen as the Alpha and Omega running the Church. Even his seat at the inner Altar was the only one directed to be placed there by the Holy Spirit but he said No, if I should do it that way my Lord, people will be seeing me as something extraordinary or a small god. That was the reason a second chair which seated Supreme Evangelist Bada then was brought to the inner Altar. See humility in its beauty. But now, every fool and idiot wanted to carry their filthy robes and bodies to seat in a place of holiness because the Church is governed by carnality through their master and lord temporal and by extension the pius-in-council. He wants to bamboozle everyone to submission by his own ideas alone, no more. Any idea that was not his was no idea and such idea should be killed at all costs, that was his tyranical objective. NO, SUCH WILL NEVER CONTINUE IN THIS CHURCH AGAIN, WE ARE ALL STAKEHOLDERS IN THIS DIVINE PROJECT CALLED CELESTIAL CHURCH OF CHRIST. WE ARE HEIRS OF THIS LEGACY NOT SLAVES IN OUR OWN FATHER’S HOUSE. THEREFORE, CELESTIANS, YOU HAVE SLUMBERED FOR TOO LONG, IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP AND UPROOT EVERY SEED OF TYRANNY AND CORRUPTION BEING SOWN BY SATAN IN THIS CHURCH. I kept quiet because the Pastor said it. If the Pastor should tell me to keep quiet and I did not listen, who will now tell me to do so? Am I waiting for God to come and tell me. The Pastor was chosen by God Himself, hence, he is God representative among us, we should all, therefore, respect his view. That is the way it is.

“However, if a group will come out to insinuate being bought over or silenced, I see as misrepresenting my person and also ridiculous and that is the reason I have to unbottle all that I have bottled since. It is a case of a “BOTTLED TIGER “. Before coming out with the piece, I tried as much as possible to get the Pastor number that he is using overseas but all to no avail, hence, I cannot help this situation of keeping quiet.

“The Pastor did a lot as a good father to calm down the tension by allowing the Spirit of God and that of his father not to do the bidding of the gang of usurpers that went to him. They tried as much as possible to cajole, force, even threatening that he will lose his seat if he refused them what they came to ask him to do. The Celegangsters wanted him to deny Prophet Soyemi and all the revelation he made. They had earlier boasted that they had the listening ears of the Pastor and if he refuses their plan, it will cost him his seat because the Mr Trustee know all and do all who is the only person with full details of court records will drop it and the worst will happen according to them. But when they brought their own Hamman plan against me, the Mordecai, the Pastor told them, “LET THERE BE PEACE. I CAN NOT DO THIS TO BABA SOYEMI. I CAN NOT ALLOW A SITUATION LIKE JOROTOM TO HAPPEN TO THIS MAN”. That frustrated them and their plans. They knew that, if the Pastor should come out with a negative declaration about anyone in this our Church, then, just know that 75% of those who had hitherto been relating with you will avoid you like plague. That was their plan.

“Haven failed in their initial plan, they came about with plan B. All should know that, desperate people will do desperate things to stay afloat. They are demonically desperate in their schemes. The plan B was for the treasure keeper to resign as the Church Treasurer and also make it known that he was ready to exit the Church and that he is no more a Celestian. But truly, was he at any time a Celestian? No, he is not and never one. The game plan will force the hand of the Pastor to send emissaries to him the treasure keeper because EVERYTHING ABOUT THE CHURCH IS WITH HIM. Nothing is left behind except the seat of the Pastor inside the inner altar. It was that bad for a Church as large as ours even worldwide. INSANITY. The Pastor did not beg him to rescind his decision but the foot soldiers he planted in the Pastor’s office did. Had it been the Pastor appealed to him to remain, the plan was to dictate fresh terms to the Pastor. Thank God, their plans fell flat on their faces.

“He cannot dare to resign the treasury post. I repeat, “MR TRUSTEE TREASURY GATE KEEPER CAN NOT DARE TO SHIFT HIS GLANCE FOR JUST A SECOND NOT TO TALK OF LEAVING IT COMPLETELY”. He cannot afford to do it because of the corruption that will be exposed and personal benefits he is getting through it. IJO NRU, AFA NSANRA (The congregation are getting leaner while the priest is getting fatter), that is the way it is.

“Celestial Church is at crossroads which the Spirit of God told me as “WILDERNESS OF CONFUSION “. The Bible says,” those who prays and seek for the peace of Jerusalem shall have peace and be comforted.  You can only pray and seek for the peace of Celestial Church of Christ when you see evil and speak up against it without fear or sentiments. Many people are keeping quiet today because of fear of being hated. Hated by who? hated by the enemies of the Church? Ooh!!! because you want to belong to the circle of the “we are the ones in government and ruling the Church”? You are DOOMED, because if a man hates you because of the truth, then rejoice. They did same to Jesus Christ. He told us, “if the world hated you because of the Truth, He said we should rejoice. He said the world hated Him also for the truth he spoke. He further said, the world will love its own but because you are not of the world, they will hate you.  A servant is not more than his master. John 15 vs 16-32.

“But when you refused to speak what is the truth now, the Lord will hate you after your demise, or do you think you will not die again? Then who will save you from God’s hatred at that point.

“Remember CCC Hymns 291, 276, 668 and 553.As for me, I believe in this Celestial Church of Christ, she is my life and Spirit and in Psalm 72 vs 14 that I stand for the deliverance of the Church and those who support the truth and speak against evil. STAND UP NOW AND BE COUNTED ON THE SIDE OF TRUTH

“A lot of atrocities I have seen released on social media platforms which may invariably ridicule the Church and the head of the Church before the general public. The public might start seeing any one dressed in white sutana worse than the way they had even wrongly been seeing us in the past. This is the time to help the Church and the Spiritual head of this divine and noble Church by recovering our legacy from hijackers of unparalleled demonic and profane disposition ruling and ruining everything spiritual and holy in the Church.

“I salute the courage of our dear Prophet David Oluwasegun Awonoussy that many people have sent the screen shots of write-ups to me. He is a man. However, I want you to understand though, I am convinced of your write-ups as direct truths, but the Pastor inclusion as part of your revelation should be stopped. This is the way I see it; these people were only using the Pastor situation which we all know to tell lies of unimaginable proportions to not deceive him in signing or agreeing to their selfish proposals. They don’t tell him the truths. The staff surrounding him that he supposes to rely on, tell him lies and when they read letters to him, they read lies. Haaa!!!, these people don’t fear God, reason they are prepared to eliminate anyone crossing their ways in achieving their desperate objectives. The Pastor had long told me one on one that he had sworn to Almighty God that he will not touch Celestial Church money except whatever he is given as salary or allowances. If you move closer to the Pastor, you will see a very kind man, a man of God and very honest to a fault that you will be weeping for his unfortunate situation. The very emotional thing about it was that he was not born that way.

“I will use this medium to invite you as a co-traveller in this journey of recovering this Church from these profane drunkards. I can see the Spirit of Celestial Prophet in you, bold and daring. Ninety-nine percent of our Church Prophets and Prophetesses had for long gone the way of Ballam. They are all interested in one material gain or the other. Prophets and Prophetesses in the Church have started giving awards to every rogue, thief, murderer, profane lord, tyrant, despot and carnalistic individuals alike. This is the new meaning of Prophets and Prophetesses in the Church. Also, they are all interested in killing cow and cows at their periodic meetings to eat or to offer to their Baal gods instead of divine prophecies. This is where we have found ourselves at the moment.

“The battle to recover Celestial Church of Christ from the demonic and profane hands have sprung to the next level which will bring about fusion of forces on the Lord’s side for this assignment. Thus, a new group is born, a new group is given to us and it shall be called “CELESTIAL POSITIVE FORCES (A. K. A TRUTH CRUSADERS)”. The group would join forces in uprooting every evil and sacrilegious tendencies permeating the Church. The group will dare anyone, everyone and anything that wrongly leads this Church in the direction of evil, unwholesomeness, unholiness, profanity and mundane. The group has the capacity and ability to work with others of same interest to battle and recover the Pastor authority back to him

“In this battle that is assuming international dimension, the group have the wherewithal and capacities to move round every country of the world to sensitise members and stop the usual returns from parishes to all the present Church Bank Accounts that are only being manipulated and controlled at the whims and caprices of the brute treasurer. The Treasurer of Board of Trustees by the Constitution of the Church (Blue Book) is only for Treasurer of the Nigerian Diocese of the Church not of the Church worldwide. Also BoT Treasurer can never be the Treasurer of the Pastor -In-Council. How come then that the BOT Treasurer was the one going round the world focusing on collecting the Church monies to the extent of being a Sole Signatory to one of the Church Accounts as was revealed by UK Diocese abracadabra.

“See CCC Constitution section 155 (i) -(vi) and section 163 (i)-(vi). The treasure keeper is devilishly helping himself with our own contributions to the Church fund in our usual services and sent as returns to Ketu. In the alternative, a new Account would be opened for the safe keep of such returns or the returns be sent direct to the Pastor’s personal Account if there is any. The returns we are talking about is even the Pastor’s share (see CCC Constitution, section 182. It was meant to take care of the Pastor and all the very senior Clergies around the Pastor and also staff working with the aforementioned and some other things. What the Holy Spirit revealed to me about this returns one early Friday morning at about 2.37am was that it was dictated to Papa SBJ Oshoffa in that manner so that the rich will not misdirect the founder to a way contrary to what was given to him from above. As revealed to me, if the head is sick, the whole body will be sick, hence, if the head of a Spiritual and divine “Church like Celestial Church is controlled, manipulated and subjected to whims and caprices of the rich, then there will be a monumental fall and deviation from the purpose of God for sending this Church to us. Remember, the rich tried all their possible best to mislead the founder in some of their so called meetings with him then. But his eyes will change when such mischief will affect the way the Lord had proposed the Church to move, his response will come out forcefully “A KO FI RAN MI BE” meaning I was not sent in that manner. Those of us who heard Papa saying this, do you think we members are moving in the direction that the Lord Jesus Christ purposed it. Are the same Rich who are generally controlled by the Spirit of money, that is the Spirit of pride which is of Satan not leading the Church in the ways contrary to the purpose of God with all that you are seeing before your own naked eyes?

“The Cele treasure keeper is pilfering our contributed sweat money to trample on us and yet you are all hailing your king. YOU ARE ALL DEAD WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT TO GUIDE YOU IN THE PRESENT SITUATION THIS CHURCH HAS BEEN DRAGGED INTO.

“It will NEVER continue this way henceforth; it is a promise from the Lord God of Hosts through the CELESTIAL POSITIVE FORCES (The Truth Crusaders).

Prophet Emmanuel Soyemi

Most Nigerians are suffering heart and kidney diseases for consuming wines and other alcoholic beverages made for extremely cold countries, it has been said.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) JAMEK Beverages James Iweh, who stated this, explained that a lot of the high-priced brands were tested in German laboratories and found to be too harsh for Nigerian residents.

Imeh spoke at the weekend at the opening of a new distribution outlet on Ago Palace Way in Okota, Lagos State.

The company chief executive said JAMEK was in the business to serve Nigerians quality drinks.

“Our wines are produced to soothe our weather because we make it in compliance with best recommendations. There are so many wines in Nigeria today that are too harsh because of the hot weather. But if you drink JAMEK wine, you will see how smooth it is because it won’t give you a headache or heartburn.

“Germany, where we produce our wine, is known for not compromising quality. Our wines may not be the same price with other wines in the market but we are after the quality of the product and not the quantity.

“Again, whenever I want to produce any wine, I get sample of different wines and take it to Germany and we analyse it, I can tell you today that there are some spirits that people drink in Nigeria that are made for countries whose whether are cold. If I want to produce any spirit, I will make sure it won’t harm your health by giving you heartburn or work against your kidney,” Imeh said.

An Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Wednesday convicted Chidera Ozirigbo, an internet fraudster, and ordered him to forfeit $1,980 recovered during investigation to the federal government.

Mr Ozirigbo was convicted after a plea bargain agreement applied on July 23 and filed July 24.

Justice Nkeonye Maha sentenced Mr Ozirigbo to six months imprisonment with an option to pay N100,000 bail.

The judge also sentenced the convict to six months imprisonment with an option of N200,000 to be paid to the federal government.

Justice Maha stated that both counts will run concurrently.

She ordered that Mr Ozirigbo’s Samsung Galaxy S8 and Hp laptop he used to perpetuate the crime, be sold and proceeds remitted to the federal government.

Justice Maha also ordered the convict to swear to an affidavit to be of good behaviour as failure to comply will attract judicial sanction to the defaulting party.

The EFCC alleged that Mr Ozirigbo sometime in May fraudulently impersonated an American, Anthony Bennet. to obtain $1,300 from one Evelyn Oker.

The anti-graft agency said that Mr Ozirigbo committed an offence contrary to Section 22 (2) b (II) of the Cyber Crimes, Prohibition, Prevention etc Act, 2015 and punishable under Section (22) (2) b (IV) of the same Act.

Counsel to EFCC, Hussaina Gambo, said that following surveillance carried out on intelligence report of cybercrimes and internet fraud activities in Imo, Mr Ozirigbo was arrested by operatives of the EFCC on May 28.

“Investigations carried out into the case by operatives of the EFCC revealed that the defendant assumed the identity of Bennet to fraudulently obtain money from people,” she said.

(NAN)

A 30-year-old suspected kidnapper, Samaila Abdullahi, has told officers of the Niger State Police Command and journalists that he became a kidnapper to raise money to pay the school fees of his five children.

The suspect, who is a herdsman, said his cattle herding business had not yielded the required returns to enable him meet his financial obligations.

Abdullahi made this confession in an interview with Northern City News in Minna on Tuesday.

“What I am getting from cattle rearing cannot pay the school fees of my five children. I don’t have anybody to help me; I lost my parents when I was very young and that was why I took to crime,” he said.

Asked whether his wife was aware of his illegal activity, Abdullahi stated, “My wife only knows that I am a herdsman and not a kidnapper; she will never forgive me.”

Trouble began for the suspect, who resides in the Fulani Camp, Egabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, after one Alhaji Yahaya Hamza of the Fulani Camp in the Karaye Local Government of Kano State was kidnapped on August 31, 2019.

The victim was said to be on his way to Kano when the suspect, who is an acquaintance, convinced him to pass the night in Ishau village.

It was gathered that the suspect connived with two others now at large to hold Hamza hostage and rob him of N15,000 and other valuables totalling N16,500.

The gang also contacted the victim’s family and demanded the payment of N7m as ransom before his release.

Men attached to a police mobile unit, acting on a tip-off, apprehended the suspect at Ishau village in the Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Muhammad Abubakar, confirmed the incident and said the suspect had confessed to the crime and would soon appear in court.

Researchers in the United Kingdom (UK) said eating chicken could put consumers at a higher risk of a rare form of blood cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and prostate cancer in men.

The researchers from Oxford University in London published their findings in the ‘Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health’.

The findings showed that poultry intake was positively associated with risk for malignant melanoma, prostate cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Melanoma, also known as malignant melanoma, is a type of cancer that develops from the pigment-containing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye. On its part, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is cancer that originates in the lymphatic system, the disease-fighting network spread throughout the body. In non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, tumours develop from lymphocytes — a type of white blood cell. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is more common than the other general type of lymphoma

The study involved tracking 475,000 middle-aged Britons over a period of eight years between 2006 and 2014.

Their diets were analysed alongside the diseases and illnesses they suffered and during the period, around 23,000 of them developed cancer.

The team said that the research carried out was an ‘association study,’ meaning that it only shows the correlation between eating chicken and the certain types of cancers linked with it, rather than investigating the reasons why.

“There are a number of factors that could cause this link,” the researchers said.

It could mean that the meat itself contains a carcinogen, but it could even come down to how the meat was cooked.

The ‘Daily Mail’ reported that up until now, chicken has been widely regarded as a healthy alternative to red meat, known to raise health risks including Bosom , prostate and colorectal cancer because of how the blood from the meat product is digested.

Biodun Fatoyinbo, senior pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), has tackled Busola Dakolo, celebrity photographer, with respect to the rape charge made against him.

The cleric also disclosed that he is yet to receive any court document as being reported in the news.

Busola, wife of Timi Dakolo, Nigerian singer, had accused Fatoyinbo of raping her on two occasions when she was a teenager.

In a summon document issued by the federal high court sitting in Abuja on September 6, and seen by TheCable on Monday, the cleric was asked to appear in court within 14 days.

The document also carries a vivid description of the charges levelled against the COZA pastor.

One of the claims she made in the suit was that Fatoyinbo “forcefully pushed her unto a couch close to the front door of her house, pinned her to the couch, undressed her, caressed her body, fondled her breasts, exposed his genitals to her glare, forcing a bottle of soda (Krest) down her throat thereby making her breathing difficult.”

Busola through Pelumi Olajengbesi & Co., her lawyer, is seeking the order of the court to compel Fatoyinbo to publish a clearly worded apology to her on the front page of at least two national newspapers and two national televisions for seven days running consecutively, among others.

The COZA pastor, however, took to his Instagram page on Monday evening to hit back at her, saying she should stop telling lies.

“I normally would not respond to news. But will do so only this time. Allow me to respond in Pidgin English: ‘Stop lying up an dan,’” he wrote.

“We have heard the latest report. We have not received any court document and if we do, we would respond accordingly because we have utmost respect for the law.”

Nigeria’s leading financial institution, Zenith Bank Plc, is set to light up the social and entertainment scene this month with the announcement of the Bank’s “Aspire Music Festival”.

Dubbed as the most anticipated entertainment event of the year, the music festival holds on Saturday, September 21, 2019 by 8.00pm at the Harbour Point Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The breathtaking festival promises to be a night to remember, as it will feature captivating and thrilling musical performances by some of Nigeria’s biggest artistes including Olamide, Flavour, Phyno, Niniola, Mayorkun and Rema.

The Aspire Musical Festival, which is a must attend event for music lovers, tourists and fun seekers, is one of a series of events lined up by Zenith Bank to usher in “Style by Zenith 2.0”, the bank’s annual lifestyle fair which will take place towards the end of the year.

Attendance at the music festival is exclusively reserved for Zenith Bank customers. However, non-Zenith customers can still participate by simply opening a Zenith Bank account and registering to attend at www.zenithbank.com/style.

Zenith Bank Plc is recognized as one of the most innovative financial institutions in Nigeria and was voted the most customer-focused bank in Nigeria for the Retail and SME segments in the 2018 KPMG Annual Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey (BICSS).