The above was the question asked by Britons and the rest of the world in the afternoon of May 22, 2013. Close to the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, Southeast London, two young men of British-Nigerian descent, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, had attacked a 25-year old British Army soldier, Fusilier Lee Rigby and killed him. Rigby was of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. It was a case of religious extremism. The soldier had been on off-duty and was walking along Wellington Street. His attackers mowed him down with a car, ran towards him and, like Jack the Ripper, stabbed him multiple times with knives and cleaver. A postmortem later reveal that Rigby died of “"multiple incised wounds". The two Nigerians then dragged Rigby’s lifeless body to the main road and stood by, unperturbed until the arrival of the police. They proudly proclaimed to passersby that Rigby’s killing was to avenge the killing of Muslims by the British military. In his book, Christianity, Islam and Orisa religion: Three traditions in comparison and interaction (2016), respected Africanist of the University of Cambridge, late Prof JDY Peel, tried to dissect how the two London-born, Christian Yoruba-background boys, who converted to Islam some years before, could engage in such horrendous act. Upon being charged in court a week after, Adebolajo brandished a Quran and shouted Allahu akbar!

The two young men’s Yoruba people back home were horrified because such religious intolerance and extremism do not represent them. The question the world asked as both were found guilty on December 19, 2013 and sentenced to life imprisonment was, what has God got to do with snuffing life out of God’s creation? 

Nigerians asked that same question last week from Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, Nigeria’s First Lady and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. Their question is, what has God got to do with suborning Him to provide solutions to problems He gave man enough brain to dissect? A National Prayer Forum (NPF) is the vehicle for this heavenly search for the face of God. According to the DG of the National Prayer Forum, Segun Afolorunikan, in a statement widely published last Monday, Nigerian Christians will, through the duo, meet at the National Ecumenical Centre “for a week of intense prayer, with prayer warriors from various denominations focusing their efforts on the nation’s adversities.”

While this piece was going to bed yesterday, a statement was issued by Mrs. Tinubu’s office by her spokesperson, Busola Kukoyi which denied that she is organising any national prayer. It read in part: “Her Excellency, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, CON, is not organising a national prayer… a Christian and strong advocate of prayer and praying for Nigeria, (she) believes that prayer is an act that must be done willingly, conscientiously, and sincerely. She also believes that praying for Nigeria is the responsibility of every Nigerian, irrespective of religious belief, political affiliation, tribe, or language.”

That statement is very curious. It smacks of the usual about-turn of politically exposed persons when faced with a boomerang of their ill-thought-out decisions. When this happens, they laden the hapless press with the charge of “misrepresentation of facts” and urging them “to always cross-check their facts.” The truth is, it is either the First Lady’s office is suffering from extreme inefficiency or there is a huge pall of subterfuge surrounding this disclaimer. The initial statement claiming Mrs. Tinubu and Ribadu would be organizing a national prayer was widely published last Monday. It took the office one whole week to distance itself from it! So, I want to go ahead with this piece, believing that the rebuttal from Mrs. Tinubu does not mirror her well-known tendency to demystify and shroud critical national issues with a blanket of religion. If fraud or misrepresentation was behind Afolorunikan’s earlier release, we wait to have the First Lady sue him. We are waiting, Your Excellency.

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, provoked very critical issues surrounding this matter. Drilling down into religious practices in Nigeria and churches’ relations with the Nigerian state, Obi made mess of Tinubu and Ribadu’s spiked fascination with the hubris of development, rather than its science.

Contrariwise, in a comment deploring the Nigerian state’s unholy interface in religion, Obi called for reforms to Nigeria’s religious and political culture. If one could squeeze sense out of his intervention, Obi simply counsels that the Nigerian state must de-couple the centuries-old alliance between it and the church (and by that very fact, Islam). “We live largely in a very unproductive society, that’s why the only thing that is attractive here is politics and church. We need to dismantle it and we’re gonna turn night vigil into night shifts so people can be productive,” he said.

For decades now, religion has received the back of the tongue of Africans. It is accused of complicity in the continent’s underdevelopment. Some even say that religion’s total capture of the mind of the African is akin to the owner of a farm plantation who, aiming to hinder productivity and ensure  barrenness and stagnation, gives his alagbaro (labourer) palm trees-laden farm to cultivate (afún ni je mó fé á yó tíí fún ni l'óko ìdí òpe ro).

Christianity made its first-phase incursion into Nigeria through Warri and Benin in the 15th century. This made the two cities the first to witness Christian missionary’s presence in Nigeria. Islam, on the reverse, arrived the country between 1000A.D and 1100 A.D., some five to six hundred years before Christianity. Since then, the two religions have acted like the proverbial sword out of its scabbard. There is no doubting that both religions have helped tremendously over centuries to tame the sub-human tendencies of the traditional African religion which they met. However, they left residue of evil practices that manifest in the values, institutions and world views which are at cross-purposes with those of the indigenous religion they met. To explain their twin good and persistent evil, the Yoruba compare them to, “Idà ti jáde l’ákò, ó sì ní b’óhun ò m’èjè, òhun ò padà s’ákò.” It simply translates to mean that the sword, out of the scabbard, has sworn that unless it guzzles blood, its return into its sheathe isn’t certain.

Rich historical records have shown us that, at the beginning of the 20th century, traditional religion boasted of more followers than converts to Islam and Christianity. However, the two imported religions flourished during this century. It was the era of technological advancement which thoroughly overwhelmed traditional Africa. It was the century of the making of automobiles and airplanes which made nonsense of Africa’s perceived crude metaphysics. Indigenous churches sprang up everywhere with mission bodies evangelizing the “dark continent.” They condemned Africa’s religion as occult, its education as Dark Age, its culture Stone Age, while founding schools and hospitals to replace ancient, adjudged crude traditional healing methods. Agricultural implements also replaced modern methods of farming. This newness and ‘wizardry’ of the white colonialists completely took Africa by storm and the continent progressively began to buckle at its feet.

Obi’s madness at how lowly religion has sunk in Nigeria and Oluremi Tinubu/Ribadu’s denied decision to weaponize it in defence of the Tinubu government’s lackluster performance must be put in proper contexts. There is no doubting the fact that Nigeria has become a very fertile soil for religion. The 21st century has also marked the collapse of virtually all the values preached for centuries by both Islam and Christianity. Covid-19 and the perceived insensitivity of western religion have equally upped the disdain for western religions. Despite reliance on western medicine for cure, Africans went back to their roots for salvage from the brutal claws of the virus. Nigerians believe that, though their forebears sacrificed all for religion, many of them dying in the process, when it was time for the religions to come to the rescue of the congregants, the greed and acquisitive tendencies of religious barons came to the fore. Churches even demanded tithes and offerings from congregants when it was obvious that they had no place of work to go. Traditional medicine, with its barks and roots, as well as the constitution of the black man, saved so many Africans from the rampaging pandemic, thus reducing the mortality of Covid on the people.

Immediately the pandemic ceased its anger, churches and mosque attendance reduced. Rebellion against centuries-old orthodoxy of religion began to flourish. However, the hunger and poverty occasioned by bad leadership in Africa made Nigerians to scamper back to religion to save them. Hunger and lack are increasing church/Islam activities which include evangelistic outreaches, crusades, conferences, retreats, conventions, pilgrimages and night vigils. Religious fraudsters are  more on the prowl. General Overseers are prospering from the naivety of congregants and are tweaking their baits of prosperity teachings. On the flipside, the lives of the worshippers are not getting better. There are also little corresponding spiritualities and moral growth noticeable in the lives of the people.

While churches and mosques, as well as their leaders, are going home with loots from naïve congregants, there is a spike in cases of immorality. Recently, the RCCG suspended its pastors for homosexuality. If it cares to dig in, it will find out that lesbianism, rape, incest, theft and armed robbery abound among its clergy and laity. This can be replicated in many other churches. Among those who profess Islamic faith, you will find rabid terrorism supporters. A case in point is a former minister who publicly confessed sympathy for Al-Qaeda. Nothing happened to him. How do you, in the name of religion, support bloodshed?

It may be apt to say that, the more western religion is upon our people’s heads, the more immoral and amoral they become. It must be said that, in all the ills above, Christianity seems to be the greatest culprit, far more than Islam. Miracles have become a fetish that Christian taskmasters use to hypnotize their captives. The more absent the leadership is in the lives of Nigerians, the stronger the religionists step in to offer hope. This hope is however most times fraudulent. They manipulate the people’s vulnerability and impatience for a turn-around in their pain. For a deteriorating healthcare, faith healing entrepreneurs canvass vigils in church. This, most times, leads to deaths. You only need to listen to the narrative of how, in her last days, Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Dora Akunyili fell prey to these charlatans who capitalized on her religious vulnerability to make her abandon orthodox medical remedy for supposed faith healing.

Miracles in Nigeria have become synonymous with baits on a rat trap. So also the “sowing seed,” “tithes,” “first fruit” and “offering” shibboleths that have become objects of exploitation by religious Smart Alecs. One of the fora where they are marketed is vigil. Publicity is then given to the “showers of miracles” through early morning street preaching, radio, posters, televisions and newspapers. These have been on the upswing in the 21st century. The impression you get from all this is that miracle is functional and could be offered only by these church miracle marketers. When the young ones entered the fray, with the spate of joblessness and hopelessness in the country today, the hypocrisy behind miracles is further revealed. It has led to a rash of manipulated miracles and miracle-for-cash evangelism. In some situations, noticeable among Pentecostals, some pastors are apprehended patronizing native doctors. There, human parts sacrifice, in exchange for accuracy of prophecies and obtaining power to grow large following are advertized. 

Frustrations with religions in Nigeria are leading many Africans back to Traditional African Religion (ATR). Some researchers have submitted that, Islam and Christianity have constituted a threat and a disruptive force to African tradition and custom for centuries. But that was until now when the scales on the people’s eyes have begun to fall. While at its incursion, Islam and Christianity suppressed ATR, virtually strangulating it, the table is turning today. The people’s cry for help to ATR today is almost similar to the one made to Osetura, the Chief Priest in Hubert Ogunde’s Aye. Osetura always fights against evil forces and always triumphs against their machinations. “Osetura, Olóyè awo, e má fi wá sílè fún’yà je” the people cried. What we witness today is that, in Islam for example, traditional beliefs and practice of magic and medicine have wriggled themselves into Islam. Christianity too is heavily mopping up many traditions, culture and the so-called unscience of ancient Africa. For example, return to herbs as medical remedies has increased rapidly while in dispensation of justice, deities’ speedy mediation is of greater preference to the snail speed justice of western religion.

Apart from religionists, governments and politicians also exploit religion to their advantage. Aware that religion blinds the people’s ability to reason critically, they use affiliation with particular religions to recruit rabid supporters. This was what happened in the build-up to the 2023 elections. In that election, peering of religion membership in political party tickets became top issue of consideration by the electorate, rather than what the candidates were able to do for the people if elected.

In the last 18 months in Nigeria, hopelessness has pushed Nigerians more into unorthodox practices. Government daily manifests its incapacity to offer neither succor nor redemption to the people. Frustration and despondency grip the people despite federal spin doctors’ spirited attempts to cobble together tissues of what they call nascent hope. It is getting clearer that government’s absence from the lives of the people may be for far longer time to come. So, when Afolorunikan announced a national prayer that would feature the First Lady and Ribadu, what the people saw was another plan to use religion to hoodwink them. Only a few days ago, the military apprised Nigerians of the coming together of another terrorist group in Kebbi and Sokoto states called the Lukarawas. To the people, a national prayer to ward off hunger and insecurity was government’s back-door acceptance that it was helpless to bring hope in these regards. It was tantamount to accepting that everyone is for themselves and God is for us all. The NSA’s presence at a prayer session supplicating to God for the security of Nigeria would have been akin to him throwing his hands up in resignation. Biblical King Saul did same when he, at nocturne, crawled to consult the Witch of Endor. For Ribadu to have shipped responsibility back to God, same responsibility that people gave him because they thought he and his boss were capable of confronting them, and thus resigning to fate as this, the hopelessness of the people would have hit a higher Fahrenheit.

Obi’s last week intervention on religion no doubt riled some regime backers and religion apostles. Speaking on a podcast, he argued that there is the need for Nigerians to shift focus from religion to productivity. “It’s attractive, politics and church, but it has to be dismantled. We are going to turn night vigil into night shift so that people can be productive.” Obi used the two symbols of “night vigil” and “night shifts” to express growing frustration and concerns with how church Basilicas worth billions of Naira are springing up to replace empty factories and warehouses in Nigeria, and the irony the Basilicas pose as where jobless people go to plead with God to give them jobs. If you drill down into his submission however, it will seem to have brilliantly articulated the frustration of Nigerians with the alliance of politicians and religious barons. It also in a way responded to the idiotic call for prayers in Abuja to combat Nigerian government’s inability to find solutions to the people’s travails in its hands. Church and government have continually kept the people in the dark about their bondage using religion as the bait.

Apart from state funds that will be filtered into the bottomless pit of this rat race, with some Smart Alec smiling to the bank with Nigerian scarce resources, Mrs. Tinubu/Ribadu’s gimmick would seem to have been, de-escalate mounting tensions against the man in Aso Rock and get the people into amorphous task of holding God responsible for their woes. The end of the prayer nonsense would have been nothing. Now that the angst of the people towards a so-called national prayer has pushed it into the trash receptacle, Madam Tinubu should get her husband to do more than encircling the perquisites of office and bear full responsibility for the stasis across Nigeria.

The truth is, we may not like Obi’s bold articulation of the danger that the hurriedly quashed Remi Tinubu and Ribadu’s gathering posed to Nigeria’s quest for mental emancipation from the chokehold of religion. Religious entrepreneurs and their Man Fridays may not like his call for “dismantling of churches” whose euphemism is, breaking of the walls of ignorance surrounding religion. The truth however is that we must rethink this unholy alliance if we must build a productive society. No society advances by gathering to pray against its problems. Its leaders tackle them by thinking out of the box.

For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth; To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death ~ Psalms 102:19-20.

Introduction

The realities which surround living in this world make the ministry of deliverance a very major feature of the messianic assignment and an essential element in the gospel program (Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 4:18). That is a truth we all must allow to settle down pretty well in our belief systems.

For the avoidance of any ambiguity, bondage depicts a state of slavery or involuntary servitude. And, a captive is someone who is being restrained, kept in a certain confinement and tucked away from the full liberty of the sons of God (Romans 8:19).

Undoubtedly, spiritual bondage is more intense than physical bondage. When a person is being restrained or is in prison in the natural sense, he knows his exact environment, surroundings, limitations, expectations, etcetera. But, in the spiritual sense, the details are somewhat different.

In spiritual imprisonment, we cannot see the jailers (or prison guards) that monitor the captives. We cannot see the confinement area that regulates their mobility. We cannot see the heavy chains holding them down, yet they feel the intense impact of it all nonetheless.

A closer study of Acts 16:23-27 in the context of Bible deliverance easily compares and contrasts physical and spiritual bondages.

First of all, the prisoners — Paul and Silas — were flogged. The jailer beat them, and continued to do so until they were weak. This is how it is with people who are held in satanic captivity.

Thereafter, the jailer cast them into the inner prison so he could have a stronger hold on them. Satan often places a demonic presence (or a “jailer”) over his captives.

The jailer's job is to keep the prisoners tight in captivity, and to prevent escape (Isaiah 14:17). Thus, after the jailer had put Paul and Silas into the more secure room within the prison, he also bound their feet to the floor of the cell. They were then limited only to movement within their space in captivity.

Similarly, a spiritual captive cannot exercise his liberty to be himself, enjoy his rights as a normal human being, or access the fullness of the superabundant life because of the various spiritual restraints around him (John 10:10).

However, in His characteristic mercy, our God is ever eager to set the captives free from every form of satanic captivity (John 8:36). He constantly looks down from heaven, pities them in their plight, and exercises His prerogative of mercy to set them free (Psalm 18:2-8, 13-19).

The Most High God is the real “All-In-All”: the Judge, the Lawgiver and the King (Isaiah 33:22). He has all it takes to deliver the captives: “The LORD looseth the prisoners” (Psalms 146:7).

Though He’s the God of peace, yet He readily goes to war whenever necessary, bruising Satan under our feet, to deliver His covenant children (Romans 16:20). He even commissioned and authorized all believers to be involved in this all-important task of casting out devils wherever they’re found (Mark 16:17).

Understanding Satan’s Method of Operation

Basically, man is a tri-partite being. He is a spirit, possesses a soul and lives in the body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). On the other hand, demons are spiritual aggressors, and they always seek out avenues to gain advantage over people to oppress or initiate bondages.

Especially when our guards are down, or when we are spiritually asleep, the enemy may gain advantage through several channels: generational flows, acquisitions, inheritance, environment, association, evil habits, some terrifying experiences, curses or our acts of ungodliness.

Demonic oppression can affect our spirits, souls and bodies in varying degrees. These attacks can result in sicknesses and diseases in the human body. That was the case with the woman who had the issue of blood and the woman who was bent over for eighteen years as recorded in the gospels (Mark 5:25-34; Luke 13:10-17).

In the same way, when the soul — the centre of human intellect, mind, will and emotions — comes under demonic attacks, it can result in bad tempers, depression, hallucinations, mental illnesses, bi-polar tendencies, roving suicidal thoughts, fear, drugs and alcoholic addictions.

In addition to these, inexplicable troubles in serving God, chronic unbelief, witchcraft spiritism and satanism are also common demonic works in the soul’s arena. Albeit, demons cannot get into the spirits of truly born-again Christians.

Our spirits cannot be possessed because they’re the candles of the Lord (Proverbs 20:27). However, demons may oppress our spirits, wherever opportunities arise, by surrounding them like a glass jar surrounds its contents, thus preventing the contents of the jar from fulfilling purpose.

Satan often targets the human mind as his major area of attack. He constantly looks out for loopholes to saturate our surroundings with his aides — the demonic/evil spirits — who receive and carry out his orders.

Moreover, Satan cannot read our minds, only our actions! He carefully studies our personalities, character, weaknesses and strengths to know what to do with us. Unfortunately, in many cases, he knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows the exact buttons to push and when.

The Works of Deliverance And Opening of Prison Doors

Bible deliverance is a spiritual art of being liberated, released or freed from satanic bondages, captivities and the snare of the fowler (Psalms 91:3). It is usually administered through prayers of authority to cast out the demons and to get rid of their grips.

True deliverance occurs when we submit ourselves to God’s plan, and resist the devil till he flees. Albeit, the root of the problem has to be addressed by the Word under the unction of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 10:27). Until the root is discovered, addressed and dealt with, the deliverance will remain superficial. The axe must be laid to the root of the demonic trees (Luke 3:9).

It may be helpful at this point to list some types of evil spirits that were referred to in the Bible: familiar spirit (Leviticus 19:31); lying spirit (2 Chronicles 18:22); spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:3); seducing spirit (1 Timothy 4:1); dumb spirit (Mark 9:17); foul spirit (Mark 9:25); spirit of infirmity (Luke 13:11); spirit of divination (Acts 16:16); spirit of bondage (Romans 8:15); spirit of the world (1 Corinthians 2:12); spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7) and spirit of the antichrist (1 John 4:3).

The only weapons that Paul and Silas used in their captivity were prayers and praises unto God! They were bound and immobile but their spirits soared in prayers and praise.

Thereafter, the prison doors were forcefully opened by God’s all-surpassing power. There was a violent earthquake, the prison foundation was shaken and deliverance took place!

See, spiritual earthquakes often occur to shake the foundations of hell at the points of deliverance. Afterwards, the prison doors are open, and the chains are loosed. Never forget: though the prison doors were opened, the prisoners still had to be freed of their chains.

Friends, this is total deliverance, and it’s your portion today, in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Deliverance has come! The doors are opened, the chains are broken, the captives can now freely walk out of the prisons, regardless of what they are! You won’t miss it. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

SMS/WhatsApp: +234 802 318 4987

I went to buy blank videotapes in a van with Christian VideoNet emblazoned on both sides. Immediately I came out of the van, an Indian man engaged me in friendly conversation.  Soon he was talking to me about “Our Lord.” 

 My immediate reaction was: “Which Lord is this man talking about? What makes him think that my Lord is his Lord?”  My thinking was that, whatever Lord this friendly Indian man was talking about; it cannot be my Lord Jesus Christ. 

My new Indian friend kept on chatting and he was smiling curiously at me.  And then it hit me. When I think Indian, I think Hindu.  But this Indian man was not a Hindu. That was what he had been trying to communicate to me.  This Indian man was a Christian.

Forgive me for having such a one-track mind.  On an earlier occasion, I had met another Indian man.  He was not Christian, but I soon got the impression that he was in the marketplace for a new religion. 

He did not wait for me to witness to him.  Seeing the sign on the van, he wanted me to tell him about Christianity.  But then he had some vital questions he wanted cleared up right at the beginning. 

 “Your religion,” he asked, “does it allow you to drink alcohol?” 

“Yes,” I replied expansively, “we even drink wine in church.” 

“Wonderful, wonderful,” said my Indian friend, brightening up.  Then he asked: “How many gods do you have?” 

I was a bit slow on the uptake and did not quite understand what he meant. 

“What do you mean how many gods do I have?” I asked incredulously. 

“Yes, yes.” The man replied, without any hint of mischief.  “How many gods do you have?” 

“I have only one God,” I said marvelling at him. 

And then I understood why.  He was shopping for another god.  This man was quite simply a “god collector.” 

“Only one?” he asked in disbelief.  “You have only one God?” 

“Well, yes,” I replied, now defensive.  “I have only one God.” 

The man shook his head in a way that said eloquently: “Forget it.”  What is the point of a religion where you only have one God?  That is simply too risky.  What if he happens to be busy at any given time? 

Dear reader, how many gods do you have?  Do you even know all of them?  I know what you will say to me: “How can I have any other God?  I am a Christian.”  But if the possibility of having other gods did not exist, do you think that God would tell us not to have any other gods before him? 

The truth is that many of us Christians have other gods before God.  Many of us don’t even realise that we serve other gods.  But our predicament is similar to that of the biblical nation of Israel:

 They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods– according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away. (2 Kings 17:33).

He is the God who took us out of the land of Egypt.  He parted the Red Sea and we walked through on dry ground.  600 Egyptian chariots and horses chased us when God delivered us from Egypt and Pharaoh.  And yet all of them ended up at the bottom of the Red Sea.  So why would we trust in the same horses and chariots which brought the Egyptians to grief after such a glorious experience?  Why indeed!

The message should be clear.  God saves by faith alone.  He who has Jesus has all the protection he needs.  He does not need chariots and horses.

I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. (Hosea 1:7).

Nevertheless, the Bible records that Solomon had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen.

 My nephew had some vital questions to ask me. 

“Uncle Femi,” he said, “does God not like his children to save money?” 

 He had been having some difficulty with the Holy Spirit.  Every time he built up a tidy nest egg, the Lord would bring a project to wipe it all off.  He was becoming frustrated.  He did not seem to have any money put away for the rainy day. 

“God does not like his children to rely on money,” I told him.  “He wants his children to depend solely on him.” 

You can put burglar-proofing on your door but don’t rely on it.  They can be cut like paper.  You can buy life insurance policies, but don’t put your hope in them.  The insurance company itself can collapse.  Definitely, you can not have a godfather.  Neither can you have a sugar daddy.  And you can never go to Egypt for help (Isaiah 31:1). 

So tell me please how can we fight Goliath if we have no weapons?  Don’t even bother putting on the armour of Saul.  The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.  How would we kill Goliath?  Not by power or by might but by My Spirit says the Lord. 

How would I pay my school fees?  How would I meet my life partner?  How would I get my promotion?  Not by power or by might.

But faith is a big problem for most Christians.  It is so unreal.  We want a God that we can see: one we can touch.  And so we make a calf and say this is the God that brought us out of Egypt.  But we just made the calf, so how can it be God?  Or, we want a king like everyone else.  But is God not our king?  No.  We want a king that is flesh and blood.

And so we not only weary men, we weary God as well.  We provoke the Holy One of Israel to anger.  God says: “Samuel, tell them what a king will do to them. Tell them that a king will sell them and their children into slavery.” 

But we are not impressed. It does not matter. We still want a king. Everybody has one, and we would like to be like everybody else. 

The man who looks unto the hills is the man who does not know God. The man who looks unto the hills is the man who does not know where his help is going to come from. He has many gods and he has so many helpers.  Therefore, he is unsure which of them would be so kind as to help him at any given time. Some of them may be busy; or otherwise engaged.  But the man that has God knows that his salvation comes from the only true God.   

Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains; truly, in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel. (Jeremiah 3:23).

Even the Psalmist who was initially looking to the hills soon realised the error of his ways:

My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (Psalms 121:2).

Not from the Lord who is the Governor of Central Bank.  Not from the Lord who is Managing Director of First Bank.  But from the Lord of all Lords and the King of Kings.  The Lord who made heaven and earth. CONTINUED.

The Manufacturers Power Development Company Limited, a firm founded under the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, has said that current energy costs in the country are unsustainable for manufacturing firms, especially those receiving electricity in the Band A category.

To tackle this, the firm revealed that it now provides 10 companies with sustainable energy solutions as part of its effort to bridge the energy gap nationwide.

The acting Managing Director of MPDCL, Oweh Mba-Sam, who disclosed this in Lagos, said working with the 10 companies was the first stage of a broader project aimed at reducing power costs and enhancing energy efficiency for manufacturers.

“If you are on Band A, you know what the cost of power is. Then if you are manufacturing and you are on Band A, you are in serious trouble. And the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria cannot have a power company while members are groaning with Band A,” Mba-Sam asserted, highlighting the urgent need for alternative solutions.

He revealed the MPDCL is leading an initiative to encourage manufacturers to embrace renewable energy, particularly solar to tackle the energy challenge.

The company said it is advocating a “Power as a Service” model, which allows manufacturers to install energy equipment at no initial capital cost, with companies only required to pay an agreed tariff lower than current grid rates.

“You sign it, and it is installed for you and will be there for 20 years or 15 years depending on the agreement,” Mba-Sam explained.

This model, he added, is critical in helping companies avoid the exorbitant costs associated with getting power from the national grid.

The first phase of the MPDCL project already supports ten companies, each receiving a minimum of 1 MW, representing about 10 MW in total.

Mba-Sam explained that MPDCL’s goal is to systematically bridge Nigeria’s energy gap, aiming to expand the model to more companies across the country.

“The strongest challenging point is finance. Once you get finance, you can do almost everything you want to do. So first we sought finance offshore as single digits. Right now we have 10 companies on our list with a minimum of 1 MW per company. That’s a lot. That’s about 10 MW of the line.

“Our idea is to continue this process until we see the gap start closing until it evaporates,” he added.

President of MAN, Francis Meshioye, further emphasised that the MPDCL’s efforts align with the broader goals of the upcoming Manufacturers Energy Security Summit scheduled for November 19-21 in Lagos.

Meshioye disclosed the summit will bring together industry leaders, policymakers, and energy experts to discuss sustainable energy solutions for industrial growth.

“It is important that we address these challenges frontally,” Meshioye said, noting that the summit will serve as a platform for collaboration between public and private stakeholders.

“By addressing energy security, we can unlock the full potential of our industries,” he added.

Meshioye also called for government support in the form of policy frameworks that can ease access to renewable energy and support energy infrastructure development.

He noted that with Nigeria’s energy supply remaining unreliable and costly, these issues have posed barriers to the competitiveness and growth of local industries.

The summit will focus on various topics, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, and smart manufacturing, with speakers from across the globe expected to share insights on best practices and emerging technologies.

MAN said it will continue to call for government intervention regarding the tariffs which rose by 250 per cent following the Federal Government’s policy to increase tariffs for Band A customers from N68/kWh to approximately N224–N225/kWh.

Punch

Canada has announced that it will no longer automatically grant 10-year multiple-entry visas to tourists.

The new guidelines, released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), empower immigration officers to issue visas with shorter durations based on individual assessments, moving away from a default extended validity period.

According to the IRCC, the change is part of a broader strategy to manage temporary immigration levels, address housing shortages, and control the rising cost of living.

Under this revised policy, frequent visitors to Canada may face increased application costs and shorter-term visas, potentially affecting those who regularly travel for work or leisure.

Previous Policy

Previously, Canada offered two types of tourist visas: multiple-entry and single-entry.

All applicants were automatically considered for a multiple-entry visa, allowing multiple visits over a period of up to 10 years or until one month before the passport’s expiration date.

Single-entry visas, which allowed only one entry into Canada, were reserved for specific situations, such as official visits or single-event participation.

What’s New?

With the updated guidance, maximum-validity multiple-entry visas are no longer standard.

Immigration officers now have greater discretion in determining whether to issue a single-entry or multiple-entry visa and will assess each application individually.

This approach allows for varied durations tailored to the specific needs of travelers.

“Guidance has been updated to indicate that multiple-entry visas issued to maximum validity are no longer considered to be the standard document. Officers may exercise their judgment in deciding whether to issue a single or multiple-entry visa and in determining the validity period,” the IRCC stated.

Visa Application Costs

The application fee for a Canadian visitor visa remains CAD 100 per person, with no cost difference between single-entry and multiple-entry visas.

Broader Immigration Strategy

This visa policy adjustment aligns with Canada’s recent initiatives to balance immigration levels and address infrastructure challenges.

Other measures include lowering the target for permanent resident admissions from 500,000 to 395,000 in 2025, with further reductions planned for 2026 and 2027.

Canada’s new approach reflects a cautious strategy to manage immigration sustainably, aiming to adapt to the country’s evolving economic and social needs.

Vanguard

Franklin Nwadialo, a newly elected chairman of Ogbaru LGA in Anambra state, has been arrested in Texas, United States (US), for allegedly running a $3.3 million romance scam.

The US department of justice said in a statement that Nwadialo is facing a 14-count charge and risks a 20-year sentence if found guilty.

The federal bureau of investigation (FBI) reportedly arrested the 40-year-old LGA chairman on arrival in Texas.

He would be transferred to the Western District of Washington for arraignment.

“According to the indictment, Nwadialo used various versions of the name ‘Giovanni’ when he met his victims online on websites such as Match, Zoosk, and Christian Café,” the statement reads.

“Nwadialo used false images for his profile and typically told the victims that he was in the military and deployed overseas so he could not meet the victims in person.

“Using these personas, Nwadialo invented many reasons he needed the victims to send him money.

“In one such case in 2020, he indicated he had been fined by the military for revealing his location to the victim. He asked the victim to help him pay the $150,000 fine. In all, that victim was defrauded of at least $2.4 million.”

The US department of justice cited another instance where the accused contacted a second victim in 2019 to help move funds from US accounts to accounts controlled by him and his co-schemers.

“In this instance, Nwadialo represented that he needed the help moving money in connection with his father’s death. The victim transferred at least $330,000 to the accounts controlled by the defendant,” the department stated.

“A third victim was defrauded by Nwadialo when he told her that he was investing money for her.

“He claimed that a check she received from another victim was proceeds from her investments, and he had her “reinvest” the money in a specific cryptocurrency account that he controlled. The victim transferred at least $270,000 at Nwadialo’s direction.

“Finally, in August 2020, Nwadialo defrauded another victim who he met on an online dating site and caused this victim to transfer at least $310,000 by claiming he needed financial assistance, including help paying for his father’s funeral or his son’s school tuition.

“The 14 counts of wire fraud relate to the communications with Nwadialo and the wiring of funds from victims to the defendant and his co-schemers.”

The case is being prosecuted by Sok Jiang, an assistant United States attorney.

The Cable

After Hamas rejection of hostage deal, US asked Qatar to expel the group

The U.S. has told Qatar that the presence of Hamas in Doha is no longer acceptable in the weeks since the Palestinian militant group rejected the latest proposal to achieve a ceasefire and a hostage deal, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday.

The tiny Gulf state Qatar, alongside the U.S. and Egypt, has played a major role in rounds of so-far fruitless talks to broker a ceasefire to the year-long war in Gaza. The latest round of talks in mid-October failed to produce a deal, with Hamas rejecting a short-term ceasefire proposal.

"After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner. We made that clear to Qatar following Hamas's rejection weeks ago of another hostage release proposal," the senior official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Qatar then made the demand to Hamas leaders about 10 days ago, the official said. Washington has been in touch with Qatar over when to close the group's political office, and it told Doha that now was the time.

Three Hamas officials denied Qatar had told Hamas leaders they were no longer welcome in the country. The spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was unclear if the Qataris provided a specific deadline to the Hamas leaders to leave the country.

President Joe Biden's administration has been preparing to make a final push to end Israeli assaults in Gaza and Lebanon. Republican Donald Trump's election this week as the next U.S. president has significantly diminished Biden's leverage during his last weeks in office.

In previous rounds of ceasefire talks, disagreements over new demands that Israel introduced about future military presence in Gaza obstructed a deal, even after Hamas accepted a version of a ceasefire proposal that Biden unveiled in May.

Hamas at the time viewed Israel as having moved the goal post for a deal "last-minute," and worried any concessions it made would be met by more demands, a source close to the talks told Reuters in August.

Last November, this negotiation track in Doha led to a seven-day truce in Gaza, permitting the release of dozens of hostages held there in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Humanitarian aid also flowed into the shattered coastal strip but hostilities swiftly resumed and have continued ever since.

"END HOSPITALITY TO HAMAS"

Qatar, an influential Gulf state designated as a major non-NATO ally by Washington, has hosted Hamas' political leaders since 2012 as part of an agreement with the U.S.

Following last year's Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 250 others, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told leaders in Qatar and elsewhere in the region that there could be "no more business as usual" with Hamas.

Qataris told Blinken they were open to reconsidering the presence of Hamas in the country when the time comes.

Israel's retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, reduced the enclave to a wasteland and unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe.

Doha has come under criticism from U.S. lawmakers over its ties with the group.

On Friday, 14 Republican U.S. senators wrote a letter to the Department of State asking Washington to immediately freeze the assets of Hamas officials living in Qatar, extradite several senior Hamas officials living in Qatar and ask Qatar "to end its hospitality to Hamas’ senior leadership."

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said repeatedly over the last year that the Hamas office exists in Doha to allow negotiations with the group and that as long as the channel remained useful Qatar would allow the Hamas office to remain open.

It is unclear how many Hamas officials live in Doha, but they include several leaders touted as possible replacements for leader Yahya Sinwar, whom Israeli forces killed in Gaza last month.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Biden allows deployment of US military ‘contractors’ to Ukraine – media

The administration of outgoing President Joe Biden has lifted a de facto ban on deploying US defense contractors in Ukraine to repair American-made armaments, Reuters and CNN reported on Friday, citing anonymous Pentagon officials.

This reversal of previous US policy comes just as vocal Ukraine conflict skeptic Donald Trump won the popular vote and secured his second term in the White House. While it is unclear whether Trump would have continued the prior policy, he has repeatedly promised not to put American lives at risk and to rapidly conclude the conflict once in office again.

The potential American presence on the ground will be “small” and located “far” from the front lines, and they are not expected to engage in combat, Reuters wrote on Friday, citing an anonymous US official. As the US and its NATO partners have provided Kiev with increasingly sophisticated American-made armaments, such as F-16 fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems, restrictions have slowed repairs and proven increasingly challenging. Much of the equipment has been damaged beyond repair by Kiev’s own specialists.

The policy change aligns the Pentagon more closely with the US State Department and USAID, which already have contractors in Ukraine, according to another official.

“These contractors will help the Ukrainian Armed Forces rapidly repair and maintain US-provided equipment as needed so it can quickly return to the front lines,” CNN wrote on Friday, citing a defense official. Specifically, F-16 jets and Patriot batteries “require specific technical expertise to maintain,” they said.

Allowing US contractors to work in Ukraine will provide a faster alternative to the current method of transporting equipment to NATO countries like Poland and Romania for repairs, CNN noted.

Meanwhile the risks of being killed by Russian strikes will fall on the companies bidding for the Pentagon contracts.

“Each US contractor, organization, or company will be responsible for the safety and security of their employees and will be required to include risk mitigation plans as part of their bids,” CNN cited a defense official as saying.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously stated that Moscow is aware of the “direct involvement of NATO troops in this conflict.” He pointed out that several high-tech systems the US and its allies have provided to Kiev, such as ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles, require the involvement of Western officers to operate them.

The Russian Defense Ministry regularly reports airstrikes on repair facilities in Ukraine. This week alone, the Russian military carried out at least 38 strikes on Kiev’s military-industrial complex facilities, as well as supporting energy and military infrastructure, according to the latest report on Friday.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Bloggers report Russian forces moving closer to Ukrainian frontline town

Military bloggers on Friday reported that Russian forces were moving closer to capturing a major town on the eastern front in the war in Ukraine as part of their drive westward to capture all of the Donbas region.

Bloggers on both sides reported that Russian forces had entered the village of Sontsivka and were advancing from the northwest on the city of Kurakhove.

Ukrainian authorities made no acknowledgement that the village had fallen into Russian hands, while noting that fighting on the eastern front was heaviest around Kurakhove and Pokrovsk, a major logistics centre to the northwest.

"The Kurakhove direction and the Pokrovsk direction are the most challenging right now," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. "The military command and brigade command are working on strengthening positions."

Ukraine's General Staff made no mention of the village, saying that Ukrainian forces had repelled 18 of 32 Russian attacks near Kurakhove and 19 assaults near Pokrovsk.

The popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState showed Sontsivka to be in a grey area, with control uncertain.

A Ukrainian officer, identifying himself as Alex, said Russian troops had penetrated Ukrainian defences and secured a foothold in the village. A Russian blogger, identifying himself as Blue Z Beard, issued a similar report, saying the advance would eventually lead to the encirclement of Kurakhove.

After initially failing to advance on the capital Kyiv after their February 2022 invasion, Russian forces have focused on securing control of Donbas, made up of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Russia now controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory. Its military has steadily reported the capture of a string of villages in recent weeks while pushing towards Pokrovsk.

In September, Moscow's forces advanced at their fastest rate since March 2022, according to open source data, despite Ukraine seizing a part of Russia's southern Kursk region.

RT/Reuters

“If they go about solving the problem this way, how many more problems will they have created by the time they are through” -James Baldwin, 1924-1987, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p201, available online.

By any objective measure known to adults globally, what we have on our hands with regard to fuel problem is a fiasco. You cannot ask any of those in control of our fate in this regard a straight question and receive a reliable answer. Two Presidents, the Minister of Petroleum, the Minister of State for Petroleum, the Minister of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the Debt Management Office, DMO, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Aliko Dangote, all the regulatory commissions and agencies of government. The conspiracy of falsehood started since the Dangote Refinery was nearing, but still far from, completion in March 2023.

As many Nigerian observers will recollect, President Buhari commissioned the Dangote Refinery using the language that gave the impression that fuel production would start within a few months. We now know the truth. Buhari and Dangote just wanted the former President to be the one to have his name on the refinery plaque instead of his successor. Among the promises made or implied were the following: The refinery would end fuel scarcity and queues at filling stations; it would crash the price of petrol which was about N180 per litre at the time and create 150,000 jobs-directly or indirectly. The impression was also given that Nigeria’s four refineries would be resuscitated to complement the Dangote Refinery supply; and, government would no longer dictate fuel price. It all sounded great then; but my Fellow Nigerians have failed to understand one abiding truth.

“Every government is run by liars; and nothing they say should be believed” – I. F. Stone, 1907-1989, VBQ p80.

Of all the entries in my book of quotations, this I perhaps the one most frequently used; and for easily demonstrable reasons. In Nigeria and elsewhere in the world, the totally honest politician is almost impossible to find. Since politicians run for office, the electorate in every country is condemned to choosing between all the available dissemblers running for office. That, however, is in even a so-called democracy. In totalitarian regimes, the people are destined to accepting the falsehood published by their captors. Nigerian politicians are not the worst by any means; in fact they are better than those in Cameroon or Afghanistan. When it comes to peddling untruths, they are ranking amateurs. That is why what they say is so often easy to disprove – as in the issue of petroleum resources and fuel. Everything that was said by virtually everybody in government and the private sector providers had turned out to be false.

WAS DANGOTE REFINERY ESTABLISHED TO STOP IMPORTATION?

“I am beginning to wonder how many fools it takes to make the term ‘My Fellow Citizens'” – Honore de Balzac, 1799-1850, in LOST ILLUSIONS.

Most of the 220 million Nigerians alive today are not in any way better than their forefathers. Ask anybody if there was free education in the old Western Region?

And, ninety-nine per cent of the time, the answer would be “yes”. I thought so too until August 1964 when I took my Economics la Course at the university in the US. The lecturer would usually start his first class by telling a story which I will repeat below. A young prince, 12, became king when his father, just 40, suddenly died. Not wanting to make terrible mistakes in governance, the monarch gathered all the leading experts in every field – including economics – and instructed them to summarise the ideas, principles, laws etc in their fields. All returned three months after with truckloads of documents; which overwhelmed the poor youth. He asked for further reductions. They returned with twenty four pages of Executive Summary. Finally, like all those with absolute power; he ordered that the ideas be reduced to one sentence. The economists quickly put their heads together and the leader raised his hand; after being recognised he pronounced: “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” For that matter, there is no such thing as free education, free health service and there should be no free ride on highways. I raised my hand out of ignorance to state categorically that “there is free education in the Western Region of Nigeria, Sir.” Dr Cohen looked up; and said:

“You are the third Nigerian who would repeat that statement in my class. How many more fools are there in your country; who cannot distinguish between ‘free and public education?’ What is practised in Nigeria is public education, just like several countries in the world. The taxpayers are paying for that gimmick.” I would have gladly crawled into a hole if one had opened up. I learnt a simple economic principle the hard way. Later, in the third year, I received another knock on the head to drive home a truth which has escaped many Nigerians today. The professor teaching Business and Economy, when opening the section on ‘Entrepreneurship’, would kick off by announcing that the capitalist investor is motivated primarily by his desire to make as much money as possible.

He does not start a business for any other reason. That is why it was at first amusing, and later alarming, to me when several self-deluded Nigerians, including President Buhari, the CBN Governor, financial/economic analysts and commentators, assumed that the Dangote Refinery was being established to stop fuel importation, to create jobs and to grow the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, of Nigeria. Starting with that fallacy, they quickly jumped to the fatal conclusion that Dangote must be given 100 per cent support to achieve his objectives; apparently without regard to the individual and collective interests of “Fellow Nigerians”. Well, the Dangote Refinery is here. Why then are we paying N1, 200/litre for petrol which we fetched for N180/litre before it was established? I must have been one of the few Nigerians who knew right from the beginning that Nigerians were being taken for an unpleasant ride. For reasons I don’t now want to disclose, it is my candid view that the establishment of Dangote Refinery is not the salvation we expected. Most certainly, it will not crash fuel price as expected.

WHERE IS GOVERNMENT IN ALL THESE?

“Leadership is always mysterious. Leadership can be summed up in two words: Intelligence and integrity, or to use two synonyms: Competence and character” – John Brademas, US Congressman, VBQ p125.

Think of anyone in top government positions – Presidency, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, National Assembly, CBN and the Departments and Agencies – who had an official role to play in getting Dangote, the four refineries and Nigerians into this quagmire. Think again of the words – intelligence, integrity, competence and character. Then, ask yourself: Which of these attributes can be applied to any of them? All of a sudden, it becomes clear why our present predicament is inevitable; and the self-delusion, which one of their yes-men call “optimism”, is totally not in the national or personal interest. They should have known that the Dangote Refinery would not alone solve Nigeria’s fuel problems; that the four refineries were septic tanks into which they were throwing public funds without the scantiest hope of returns. Yet, they granted Dangote all sorts of concessions; promoted the idea that, once started, it would crash fuel prices and stop imports. The tissue of lies has been exposed because all lies have an expiry date; and the time is up for these ones.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the GMD-NNPCL promised Nigerians that the Port-Harcourt and Warri refineries would begin fuel supplies by December last year. Ten months after, there has been no fuel from the two.

In July, the National Assembly was told that crude oil production would reach two million barrels per day, mbpd, and Nigeria would be exporting fuel by December. Who, in his right senses, now believes the two? More to the point: Why are they still in office?

Vanguard

A severely sick Chinese man was pushed to a local bank branch on a hospital bed by his family in order to confirm his identity for a money transfer.

A video that has been doing the rounds on Chinese social media shows a woman struggling to push a man on a hospital bed in a Shandong Province bank after being told that the only way to access his account was to confirm his identity in person. Despite explaining to the bank manager that the account holder was hospitalized because of severe health problems, the family was told that the only way to access their account was to bring them there in person. The man was so sick that he could not move on his own, but even evidence of his hospitalization failed to convince the bank staff, so they had no choice but to figure out a way to bring him in for identity confirmation.

The Shandong bank told the family that they could bring the account holder in an ambulance, but the hospital clearly told them that their ambulances were only available for health-related emergencies, and they certainly couldn’t afford a private ambulance, so the only available solution was to just push the hospital bed he was lying in all the way to the bank.

The sick man’s relatives reportedly needed money to pay for his treatment, but ironically, the only way to access that money was to endanger his life by taking him out of the hospital. A young woman believed to be the elderly man’s daughter can be seen struggling to push his hospital bed all the way to a bank clerk’s counter while trying not to hit anything.

The spectacle sparked a heated online debate, with most social media users claiming that the bank could have made an exception based on the evidence of hospitalization presented by the man’s family, and others calling it an embarrassment for Chinese society that such things can occur without any repercussions.

Oddity Central