Governing by prayers

"Prayers Answereth all things" is a popular mantra in Nigeria. The average Nigerian will pray about 5 times a day. The Christians will in the least pray in the morning when they get up, at night before they go to bed and once every mealtime. Muslims observe the Salat or five daily prayers. The anointed Pentecostal will even say a short prayer to enable him have the strength to say the main prayers. To say Nigerians are very prayerful people will be stating the obvious.

The main beneficiary of the prayerful Nigerian is the Nigerian Government. Nigerians will rather put their faith in prayers than hold their government accountable. The Nigerian has a prayer to counter almost every failing of the government. For bad roads, we pray for journey mercies. For poor security, we cover ourselves, houses and properties with the mighty Blood of Jesus. For unemployment, we pray for breakthrough. For our bad schools, we pray for exam success. For poor healthcare, we pray for divine healing. For anything we missed, we pray for our country Nigeria.

These days our prayer warriors and marabouts have taken on the roles of commissioners and ministers. We depend on them to fill in the gaps when government officials siphon project monies to Swiss bank accounts. This however amounts to double taxation, as prayers do not come cheap in Nigeria. Prayers for breakthrough and prosperity can cost as much as 10% of your meagre income in the form of tithes. If you require spiritual healing and insurance from your neighbourhood native doctor, you will have to factor in the going rate for a black he-goat, white cockerel, kolanuts, alligator pepper and a bottle of Hennessey or black Label. No modern native doctor worth his salt will accept aromatic schnapps or ogogoro. Everybody has gone foreign these days.

No matter how much Nigerians pray, it looks like they know there is a limit to divine intervention. Have you ever heard anybody pray, “God, please let there be electricity in my house for the next three days”? Electricity seems to be the yoke that breaks the prayer camel’s back. Even the greatest of prayer warriors and miracle workers have still not been able to invoke the first prayer “Let there be light”. Generator and candle sellers do not need to do prayer and fasting because they know that no prayers fashioned against their business shall prosper until the government does the right this and Lights Up Nigeria.

Baba Iyabo cutting Banana

Nigeria's best known farmer General Olusegun Obasanjo cutting bananas on his recent visit to Rivers state

People must be scared of Baba when he is holding a machete as the man in white next to Governor Amechi is dragging his agbada and the woman next to him is using style to dodge herself and tap current.

Native doctor’s charm kills pastor, one other accused of witchcraft

By SUZAN EDEH

BAUCHI — An unholy alliance between a family and a native doctor has allegedly claimed the lives of two people in Zwall village of Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

The family of Adamu Goni and a native doctor (names withheld)  agreed to administer charms on four members of the family, including a pastor, over their alleged involvement in witchcraft.

The family, it was learnt, had been worried over calamities befalling its members, so it sought solutions from a native doctor.

The startling revelations were made inside the shrine of the native doctor, a development that almost prompted angry youths to lynch him.

Trouble started when the native doctor administered his charms on four  members of the family who were suspected to be involved in witchcraft activities.

The purpose of the charm was to  compel them to confess their involvement or not.

It was gathered that of the four that were administered with the charm, the spell affected two who, however, still refused to confess their involvement in witchcraft, a situation that subsequently led to their death.

A security source in Bauchi said two members of the family lost their lives as a result of the charm given to them by the native doctor.

He said: “Two members of the family including a pastor of an ECWA Church who refused to admit to witchcraft involvement died after the native doctor administered the charm on them.

“Eight  suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident and are helping the police with valuable information.

“The native doctor was also arrested by a police detective who disguised as someone needing spiritual help.”

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/02/native-doctors-charm-kills-pastor-one-accused-witchcraft/#sthash.6ESSgv0g.dpuf

I am innocent of the murder of my girlfriend 23 years ago – Convict Adepetu - Vanguard

By OLAYINKA AJAYI

Following the circumstances surrounding the death of Miss Ranti Moradeyo , the late girl friend of Olushola Adepetu, which led to life imprisonment of Adepetu,  family members of the convict are yet to come to terms with the incarceration of their son 23years after,  as the circumstantial evidence used by the trial judge of the High Court in Oyo State was alleged  to have been inconclusive and not well investigated by the police, whereas the family of the deceased believes justice has been done.

*Olushola Adepetu…I can’t ask for forgiveness for an offence I didn’t commit

In an encounter with the coordinator for Centre for Justice, Mercy and Reconciliation, CJMR, a Christian prison ministry based in Ibadan, Pastor Hezekiah Olujobi, whose NGO is championing the cause of Adepetu’s freedom, he lamented how injustice in Oyo State for a while has caused the convict to remain in prison for this long.

“I strongly believe that there is injustice in this case. If someone is claiming that he is innocent of a crime for over 23years and nobody cares to listen to his own side of the story, I think such person will be drowned in the ocean of injustice.

Olushola Adepetu’s cry over his innocence was what drew my attention. I know as a lay man that there are lots of questions surrounding the judgment which I have been trying to probe, after all the essence of publishing law reports is to show public how justice is being done”, Olujobi stated.

The pastor added, “When you write a letter for prerogative of mercy, you must agree that you committed the offense and you should be pardoned,  but Olushola  insists he cannot ask for forgiveness for what he has not done, stressing that he is a victim of injustice”.

The coordinator of CJMR went on, “Going through the judgment even as a lay man, there are so many unanswered questions. When you ask an accused person to write a letter indicating that he should agree he had committed a crime he knew nothing about because he wants to gain his freedom and he insists he will never do such a thing; that means he knows what he is saying. I have known him since 2007; he insists he did not commit the crime”. He said elder statesman, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, intervened on the issue when he wrote an appeal letter to Oyo State governor on behalf of Adepetu praying for prerogative of mercy in 2009.

“Alhaji Jakande, a former governor of Lagos State, wrote a letter to erstwhile Oyo State Governor Otunba Alao Akala in respect of Adepetu. We are aware of Jakande’s letter to Governor Ajimobi as well”, Olujobi stated.

“My interaction with the Attorney General of Oyo State, however, revealed that he had a pre-conceived notion that Olushola Adepetu forged the letter of Alhaji Jakande and that he cut the breast of the late girlfriend for ritual purposes. I was so shocked hearing that because he never told me that Alhaji Jakande was intervening on his matter and he never told me that any part of the body of the deceased was missing.

“I told the Attorney General that I would carry out my investigation and, without Olushola Adepetu’s knowledge, we went to Lagos to confirm the authenticity of the letter from Alhaji Jakande. Baba told us that he was the author of the letter and he wrote another letter through us to the governor and the Attorney General.

Then we attached our report to the letter and forwarded it to the Attorney General and the governor which was the clearance of the first allegation. On the second allegation, I went to the court registry to obtain the Certified True Copy of the case file which contained the police and doctor’s reports which never said anything about any part of the deceased missing and the police that evacuated the corpse of the deceased never said that any part of the deceased was missing as well.

“After we submitted our findings, eight people were commuted from death-row to life imprisonment in October 2013 and they did not attend to Olushola Adepetu’s case. Also on January 1, 2014, five out of those committed murder with evidence were pardoned and their case files had not even gone to the Court of Appeal. It clearly shows that there is political interest in state pardon. I am not against their being pardoned, but if some people committed an offense with strong evidence five years ago and they were pardoned, why can’t someone that had been imprisoned of a crime without concrete evidence for 23years be pardoned?

“My findings show that the governor and the Attorney-General are not the problem; they were only acting on information presented to them. If they have been misinformed, it is my duty to let the public see the facts of the matter and it is evident that the governor sometimes can be misled. In 1979, Chief Bola Ige, as the Oyo State governor then, was misled to sign the execution of two brothers when their judgment was yet to come out from the Court of Appeal.

When the judgment came, they were discharged and acquitted; meanwhile they had been executed. Where there is proven perversion of injustice, it is my duty to speak out”.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/02/innocent-murder-girlfriend-23-years-ago-convict-adepetu/#sthash.K0oGoHmM.dpuf

How Nigeria loses out on the Value Added on petroleum products

Riches are not in resources but in the value added to resources. 

 Nigeria's main export is crude oil and she exports about 2.5m barrels a day. This sells in February 2014 for US$102 a barrel which is about GB£63

If we make a very basic assumption that all Nigeria’s Crude is exported to the United Kingdom in a given year.

From a barrel of Bonny light crude after refining you can get a 73 litres of Petrol, 40 litres of diesel amongst others. In the UK the current average price of Petrol and Diesel is about GB£1.30 so the selling price on a barrel for both is £147 (113 x £1.30) of which £90 (61%) is Tax accrued to the UK Government In the course of a year assuming all remain equal and the Nigerian government receives all the proceeds for oil. Nigeria will receive £58bn (2.5m x £63 x 365) a year from crude oil and the UK government will receive £82bn (2.5m x £90 x 365) from as revenue in Taxes the same oil that Nigeria produces. 

 I understand this is a very crude calculation and it does not take into account production costs, costs of sales, fluctuating prices etc but it does illustrate that when it comes to petroleum products, the real profits are in the refined products and ultimately government taxes

Nigerians and that Anti-gay legislation

You will notice that majority of Nigerians who are against the anti-gay legislation live outside Nigeria while majority of those who are for it live in Nigeria. It's not a coincidence. We are all Nigerians and still have our own private misconceptions about homosexuality based on religion and culture. However living in countries where it is allowed has shown that it doesn't change the price of garri in the market. It has not affected my own life in any way. The fact that 2 men or 2 women can have the same rights as me has not affected my own life in any way. I have worked with many gay people and come to understand that the one thing that is different between us is who we decide to share our bed with.




For many Nigerians who are ignorant, gays actually do eat, sleep, breath, cry and laugh like the rest of us. I guess the point am trying to make is that you don't have to even like or approve of the homosexual lifestyle for you to think its wrong for it to be criminalised. If we believe this is against our religion, let us leave it to God to judge. If your church accepts gays and you don't like it, change your church. If you see gays on Tv and you don't like it, change channels. If a gay is your boss at work and you hate it, change jobs. If gays move into your street and you don't like it, change houses. If your culture starts accepting gays and you hate it, change your name from Tayo to Tyrone. It's all about choice.



Being against the anti-gay legislation does not make you gay. It shows you are tolerant and can accept people who are different from you. If Nigerians could be more tolerant of each other, our society will be a peaceful and progressive one.

Proudly African

In spite of all adversity, there has never been a better time to be a Black African. All African countries are now self governing and marching steadily towards self sustaining. More of our countries are democratic than at any other time in history. Infant mortality and other childhood diseases are on the decline. Our economies are growing and there is a growing middle class. There are more educated Africans than at any other time in history. At this defining moment in history, there is an African as the president of the world’s only super power. Today we had the biggest gathering of world leaders come to together in Africa to pay tribute to the greatest Black African that ever lived. The glass is definitely half full. Viva Mandela  #ProudlyAfrican

By Ike Onwubuya