Nigeria living on borrowed money?

Nigeria is Living on Borrowed Money, May Collapse Soon- Ex Gov Obi
Former Anambra Governor Peter Obi has decried the level of hunger and poverty in the country.

According to the ex governor, the country’s economy will collapse in no time if nothing is done to arrest the situation.

He also called on youth nationwide to show more concern to creativity to enable them realize their dreams and warned them to stop emulating the Nigerian leaders.

“Our leaders are doing things wrong, we should not follow them to celebrate what is wrong. What we have in Nigeria is that we are celebrating what is wrong. And I am of the opinion that we should stop celebrating what is wrong and start doing things right so that this country can grow.
“People are hungry and we should join hands together to question our leaders to tell us what is happening in this country and making sure that the right thing are done”.

“Our leaders should cut the cost of governance and show more concern to how to improve the standard of living of all Nigerians.

“All of us, from 1960 when we gained independence, if we had done the right thing from then, it is not the question of PDP or APC. We have lived wrongly, we have done the wrong things and that is why the country is not growing.

“If we don’t do anything now the country will collapse. Nigeria is living on a borrowed money. So, you see things are difficult in Nigeria and we need to change our society so that things will get better,” he added.
Ref:punch

Federal to build $1billion ICT company,

FG To Build $1bn ICT Company – Osinbajo
By King Abdalla, Abuja
The federal government on Tuesday in Abuja said it would build a one billion dollar ICT company to boost indigenous technology.
The acting president, Prof.  Yemi Osinbajo made this known in his opening address at the 2017 Digital Africa Conference and Exhibition.
The theme of the event is “the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Getting Africa Ready“.
According to him, such feat will make Nigeria no longer a dumping ground for ICT products and services.
“ The Nigerian government is committed to encourage the growth of indigenous ICT companies to world standards by proving policies that will help them thrive.
“With the mantra of change, the Nigerian political milieu will  be recalibrated for the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
“So that both the executive and legislative will be more responsive and responsible in addressing the major global challenges staring us in the face,“ he said.
The acting president, who was represented the Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu said that the event was to  seek ways of leapfrogging development.
The Minister of Communication, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr Sunday Echono, said the  government was preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution predicted to happen globally in the very near future.
According to him, the Federal Government has conceived a National ICT Park and Exhibition Centre in the Federal Capital Territory.
“The establishment of the centre will encourage investment in ICT sector and complement the proposed University of ICT which will also produce required skilled manpower for Africa to partake in inevitable Fourth Industrial Revolution.’’

Awka -Etiti Monarch declares interest in gubernatorial election

Monach joins race to contest Anambra Gubernatorial elections

Ahead of the Gubernatorial elections in Anambra State, the traditional ruler of Awka-Etiti in Idemili-South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Igwe Angus Ojukwu, has indicated his interest to contest the November 18 governorship race in the state.

Ojukwu said he would contest the poll on the platform of the Mega Progressive Peoples Party.

He described the administration of Governor Willie Obiano as visionless, adding that that informed his ambition to aspire to take over from Obiano.

He said, “Governor Willie Obiano’s administration has not improved the welfare of the average person in the state, thus the need for change.

“My objective is to bring light to Anambra State. It is time for light to shine in our state. This is what the present administration has not been able to do. I am poised to do it,” he added.

Declaring his ambition during a ceremony he organised in his country house in Awka-Etiti, in the presence of the State Executive Council of the MPPP led by Simon Anidike, party faithful, town folks and well-wishers, Ojukwu reeled out a 10-point agenda which, he said, would form his blueprint for the governance of Anambra State, if elected.

The 10-point agenda include free and compulsory primary and secondary education, free maternal/child care, electricity for all, potable water for all, adequate security network, industrialisation, infrastructural development, employment generation, agriculture and investment.

He asked the people of the state to support him, stating that only the MPPP had what it takes to take Anambra State to the land of glory.

“We have a people-friendly manifesto and programmes which if implemented, would benefit the state more than what any other government, past or present, has offered.

“The APC cannot win the governorship election in Anambra State. The PDP has not yet put its house in order as to stand for and win the forthcoming election in Anambra. APGA is already dead by reason of the leadership crisis rocking it. By the time I take over after the November 2017 election, APGA will be completely dead because its grip is limited to Anambra.”

Ojukwu, who was the immediate past Assistant National Secretary of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, said if elected under the umbrella of the MPPP, he would sustain the tempo of security in Anambra and go further to improve it.

In his remarks, the Anambra State Chairman of the party, Anidike, told the gathering that Ojukwu was qualified and well-equipped to govern Anambra State.

Our correspondent learnt that Ojukwu, whose status as the monarch of Awka Etiti, is still contentious, is the son of the late traditional ruler of the community.

Source:punch

By-election to be conducted

INEC fixes July 8 for by-election to replace Adeleke

The Independent National Electoral Commission has scheduled July 8 for the conduct of the by - election to fill the Osun - West senatorial district ’ s vacant seat at the upper legislative chamber .
This was contained in a notice dated Monday , June 5 , 2017 and signed by the Administrative Secretary of INEC in Osun State , Mr E . A . Ademusire .
The notice read , “ Consequent upon the provisions of the enabling statutes that a by - election to fill the declared vacant seat by the National Assembly be conducted within 30 days upon the declaration , take notice that by the directives of the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission , a by - election for the Osun - West senatorial seat will hold on Saturday , July 8, 2017 . ”
The notice came just as politicians from various political parties also intensified preparations ahead of the election .
A former governorship aspirant on the platform of the Labour Party , Mr Wale Alakinde , has announced that he is interested in the race to pick the PDP ticket for the senatorial district .
Alakinde , while speaking at a press conference , said he was being pushed forward by the Ede community where Adeleke hailed from to continue the liberation struggle from where Adeleke stopped .
He hailed Adeleke’ s performance and his leadership style, adding that like Adeleke, he would also help his constituents apart from performing his legislative duties effectively .
The former governorship aspirant , who is also a chartered accountant , said the Adeleke family was not interested in allowing any of the deceased ’ s siblings to contest the by - election despite the entreaties by the All Progressives Congress .
He said , “I want to contest the Osun - West senatorial district by -election , which has been tentatively scheduled to hold on July 8 . I am not a new entrant in politics and I am confident of winning the race .
“ I am in the race to deliver Osun people from the shackles of the APC government . That was what Senator Isiaka Adeleke was doing before his mysterious death and my people believe that somebody must take over the mantle from the late senator . I am being pushed forward by the Ede community .
“ The Adeleke family is not interested in sending any of their family members to contest despite the pleas from the APC. His death was a mysterious one . What is two years at the senate compared to the life of their brother?”
Alakinde , who belongs to the Soji Adagunodo - led PDP in the state , said the crisis rocking the party would not have any negative impact on his aspiration , saying the two factions would unite to support a candidate during the election .

Arrest Nnamdi Kanu -Kogi group demands for including Kogi and Benue as Biafrans

Arrest Nnamdi Kanu - Kogi group demands

- Ujache Igala Association (UIA) has called for the arrest of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu'

- The group says Kanu should be prosecuted for including Kogi and Benue as part of Biafra

- UIA has threatened to take to the streets if Kanu is not arrested in a fortnight's time

Following the move by the IPOB to map Kogi and Benue states as part of Biafra territory, a call has been made for the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu.

The call for Kanu's arrest was made by a Kogi Socio-cultural group named the Ujache Igala Association.

The group which gave the police a deadline of two weeks to arrest Kanu, said the IPOB's claim to territory was "utter madness".

Chief Goodman Akwu, the group's national chairman, in a statement made on Monday, June 5, stressed that there is no logical reason why Kogi and Benue should be mapped as part of Biafra.

Akwu said the IPOB and other pro-Biafra agitators that agreed to the mapping are but pushing their dreams too far.

“It is high time the government overcame its insouciance and nipped this audacity of seditious act on time,” the group said.

The group warned against a repeat of civil war which happened between 1967 and 1970 “when most of those class of Nnamdi Kanu and his co-travellers have not yet been born,” saying the elderly ones in Igbo land who saw it all and escaped by the whiskers were not fair to the younger generations for not telling them the truth, hence, the zone was gradually being receded into anarchy.

IPOB says Nnamdi Kanu is not Afraid of goin to prison a second time

According to Daily Post, the group demanded from Biafra agitators to explain how they arrived at making Kogi and Benue state part of Biafra geographical area, while reminding them of Kogi and Benue people’s historical antecedents of warfare.

The group pointed that democratic regime and freedom of expression did not support secession under any guise as it were, explaining that the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu had breached the bail conditions that left him off the hook.

It added that IPOB leader’s dual citizenship still subsisted despite court decision, saying that if anything happened, he would leave the country.

The group called on the Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris to arrest the IPOB leader for prosecution within two weeks, failure with which they would take to streets in peaceful protests.

In a similar vein, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has warned that it will be a big mistake on the part of the federal government and security operatives to re-arrest Nnamdi Kanu because arresting him again will draw the attention of the world leaders.

The pro-Biafra group in a statement by its media and publicity secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful on Sunday, June 4, said Nnamdi Kanu is not afraid of going to prison a second time.

The group, according to the Punch, said there was need to make the clarification, especially for those who were calling for the re-arrest of Kanu for allegedly flouting his bail conditions.

IPOB alleged that the calls for the rearrest of its leader followed the sit-at-home protest declared by Kanu, which it said was a success.

It said: “Arresting Mazi Nnamdi Kanu again cannot stop the agitation rather it will be a very big mistake on the side of Federal Government and her security operatives because when the security operatives arrested him on his arrival from London in his hotel room in Lagos it sparked protests and rallies across the world.

“Arresting him again will draw the attention of the world leaders and other relevant world organizations closer to the quest for Biafra independence."

Pope 's silence on Venezuelan crisis mounts criticism.

Mounting criticism of Pope’s silence on Venezuelan crisis
By Phil Lawler

“As Venezuela burns, many Latin Americans ask: ‘Where is Pope Francis?’” The headline on a Catholic World Report essay by Samuel Gregg more or less speaks for itself. And Sando Magister of L’Espresso raised essentially the same question a week ago.

The Catholic bishops of Venezuela have been relentless in their criticism of the government led by President Nicolas Maduro. That government has led the country into a disastrous economic collapse, characterized by raging hyperinflation and severe shortages of food and medicine. Then, rather than acceding to popular demands for new elections, the Maduro regime (through the president’s allies on the country’s highest court) has suspended the nation’s parliament, effectively silencing political opponents. When that move prompted massive public demonstrations, the Maduro government sent troops to break up the protests—not gently. The death toll is rising, thousands of families are going hungry, and the regime is refusing to budge. The Venezuelan bishops have warned that their country is becoming “a totalitarian, militarist, violence, oppressive, police-state system.”

But from Rome—where Pope Francis last year accepted a plea for Vatican mediation in the country’s political crisis—the few public statements on the Venezuelan situation have been remarkably placid, betraying no sense of urgency about the developments there. In April, Pope Francis told reporters that he was still hoping that dialogue would resolve the problems in Venezuela, but “part of the opposition does not want this.” He did not mention the government’s responsibility for the breakdown in talks. In a letter to the Venezuelan bishops the Pope sounded the same forlorn hope: “I am convinced that the serious problems of Venezuela can be solved if there is the will to build bridges, if you want to talk seriously and adhere to agreements reached.”

Meanwhile Maduro is acting the demagogue, doing his best to whip up public sentiment against the bishops, blaming them for the country’s unrest. Gangs of his supporters have threatened bishops, vandalized cathedrals, intimidated priests. Perversely, Maduro has used the Pope’s public statements against his own country’s bishops, claiming that the prelates are out of touch with Rome.

On the subject of unrest in Venezuela, Gregg notes in his Catholic World Report analysis, the Pontiff’s reluctance to take a strong stand may have been influenced by his own political preferences. “It’s very hard for the pope to blame Venezuela’s problems on the tyranny of Mammon, financial speculation, free trade agreements, arms-dealers, nefarious “neoliberals,” or any of his usual list of suspects.” Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, have styled themselves as leaders of “popular movements,” of the sort Francis had championed. In their fiery rhetoric the Venezuelan leaders insisted that they were working for the welfare of the people against the entrenched power of elites—again matching the Pope’s calls for radical social change. Gregg remarked:

Put another way: if Pope Francis was to criticize the Maduro regime’s populist roots, ideology and rhetoric, it would call into question the wisdom of seeing Latin American populism as an essentially positive force. That may be a step which Francis is unwilling to take.

“The fact is that between Pope Francis and the Venezuelan bishops, concerning the crisis that is ravaging the country, there is an abyss,” writes Vatican journalist Sandro Magister. He quotes another essay in the Italian daily Il Foglio, by the political scientist Loris Zannatta:

Reality, Bergoglio repeats, is greater than ideas. And yet, seeing his silence on the social drama in Venezuela, or in the country that with Chávez had set itself up as a model of anti-liberalism by invoking the stereotypes dear to the Pope, the thought arises that he too, like many, prefers his ideas to reality.

By the way, if Pope Francis can be legitimately criticized for failing to denounce the repressive Maduro regime, the same could be said about President Trump. “Venezuela is a mess,” the president told reporters last month. True enough. But a quick look at a map suggests that the Venezuelan “mess” could have an enormous impact on the United States. The chaos in that country will inevitably spill over into neighboring lands. And it’s only a matter of time before Venezuelan refugees, fleeing from a country where they are starved and oppressed, begin the trek north toward the Rio Grande and beyond.

Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.

Black Pope is just a symbol of the zeitgeist

Don’t worry: The Black Pope is just a symbol of the zeitgeist.

By Dr. Jeff Mirus

I have added the head of the Society of Jesus to my list of alleged persons who cannot possibly be real. It was not enough that Fr. Arturo Sosa Abascal insisted in February that we must discern the meaning of Christ’s teachings for ourselves, and that the Holy Spirit might lead us to an understanding which differs from the teachings of the Catholic Church. Now the Black Pope has said that Christians “have formed symbolic figures such as the devil to express evil”, which may simply be a product of one’s social environment. Formerly I had thought the Superior General of the Jesuits was called the “Black Pope” because of the color of his habit. But what could be more obvious than that the “Black Pope” is actually another one of our symbols of evil?

Either way, Fr. Sosa Abascal seems to have forgotten, as Our Lord told Peter, that Satan desires to sift him like wheat (Lk 22:31). How else are we to explain his consistent efforts to undermine Church teaching, and even the words of Christ, by treating them as culturally-conditioned statements containing only a kernel of wisdom, to be discerned and reinterpreted according to our own cultural insights? This mode of argument is classic Modernism. The Modernist contention is that the various points in the Revelation of Jesus Christ do not mean what the Church has historically held them to mean, for we always perceive divine reality through the lens of our own human culture. Rather, in each age, the Holy Spirit guides us to a new appropriation of the words of Christ, enabling us to grasp and express Christian doctrine and morality in accordance with our own cultural values.

Not surprisingly, Modernism has the immediate effect of baptizing the evils characteristic of current human culture and proclaiming them to be good. For the Modernist, the key to understanding God’s self-revelation is not Scripture, Tradition or the Magisterium of the Church but the zeitgeist. It is hard to imagine a more convenient ideology for anyone who prefers to “go with the flow” rather than swim against the currents of this world. But as G. K. Chesterton pointed out, it is only the dead who do nothing but drift downstream.

It seems likely, then, that Fr. Sosa Abascal is not a real flesh-and-blood person but a symbol of the spirit of the age. That worldly spirit always resists Divine Revelation precisely because the truths God reveals always transcend human culture. To the worldly, this is unacceptable. It means that human culture, including the mental culture of worldly academic theologians, can never have the last word.

We are made for Revelation

To be fair, we should recognize that God does disclose Himself to us through the medium of our humanity. It is part of the special nature of Revelation that God uses various human forms to acquaint us with what is beyond the human. He formed Jewish culture over a long period of time for this precise purpose. Far more dramatically, God Himself actually took on a human nature so that by knowing Jesus Christ in the flesh we could know the Father. There can be no question that what is revealed by God is revealed Incarnationally. It is fitting, then, that our appropriation of God’s revelation is also an incarnational process—or as we might more often say now, a sacramental process.

This continues in the mission of the Church. Like God, the Church takes advantage of our all too human mental and psychological habits to teach us to see beyond them to Himself. But the object of the exercise is the transformation of our lives in Christ, which includes the transformation of our minds by the immutable truths which God has revealed. These revealed truths do not vary, and neither does God Himself. Far too many modern theologians confuse the means of communication with the results of that communication. They also forget that the human person is capable of transcending culture and even, in a sense, of transcending his very self. The human soul has this capacity, exercised through the operations of the intellect and will.

We see this in Scripture, which is filled with references to our minds, which can be anchored either in worldly or in heavenly realities. God created us with rational souls, unlike the animals which depend entirely on their senses, which of course makes them completely culture-bound. In contrast, it is the human genius to be able to transcend human culture even while heavily influenced by it: To conceive of new ways of thinking about things, to probe metaphysical realities, to meditate on the works and the will of God, and to yearn for heavenly glory.

In other words, we are not at all doomed to refashion our conceptions of good and evil like secularists do, depending entirely on cultural shifts, as if we were not made in the image and likeness of God. Instead, it is precisely these transcendent qualities of the soul—I mean all the qualities of intellect and will—which enable us to perceive the difference between good and evil, and to act accordingly. Yet there has never been a Modernist theologian who did not seek to change Catholic morality to accommodate the fashionable sins of the dominant secular culture in which he lived. It is not surprising that Pope St. Pius X called Modernism “the synthesis of all heresies”.

Change and renewal

Changing our minds with each cultural shift is a flat denial of our own transcendence. Instead, we are called to live in union with God through the very renewal of our minds. St. Paul wrote extensively on this theme. He urged us not to lose heart, for “though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day” (2 Cor 4:16). In fact, the Holy Spirit may well have been been thinking of many of our contemporary theologians, or even of Fr. Sosa Abascal in particular, when He inspired the Apostle to the Gentiles to warn the Colossians: “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Col 3:9-10).

The life to which we are called is not a life of worldly culture but a life transformed in Christ. Let us turn to St. Paul a third time:

Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart; they have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness. You did not so learn Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. [Eph 4:17-24]

There is little more that needs to be said. There is no future in allowing ourselves to be misled by the Superior General of the Jesuits into abandoning Christ. Surely it is far better to see the Black Pope, rather than the devil himself, as a shadowy symbol. Our Lord testified repeatedly to Satan’s existence: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven,” He said, and so “I have given you authority…over all the power of the enemy” (Lk 10:18-20). That is what makes this whole discussion so astonishing. For we know that Satan merely wants to be thought a symbol in order to cloak his reality. But it seems utterly impossible that Fr. Sosa Abascal can be real at all.

Jeffrey Mirus holds a Ph.D. in intellectual history from Princeton University. A co-founder of Christendom College, he also pioneered Catholic Internet services. He is the founder of Trinity Communications and CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.

Msgr.Hilary Nanman Dechelem appointed Bishop of Bauchi

BREAKING: Another Major Breakthrough As Msgr Hilary Nanman Dechelem Appointed Bishop Of Bauchi

Holiness, Pope Francis Jorge Mario Bergoglio has today, Wednesday 31st May, appointed as bishop of Bauchi diocese, Rev Fr. Hilary Nanman Dechelem C.M.F.

In a Press Release sent to TM News, the Pope had in his confirmation of names sent by different dioceses, named Rev. Fr. Hilary Nanman Dechelem as a new Bishop to head Bauchi State.

According to Secretary General, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Ralph Madu, the date for his ordination as Bishop-elect is yet to be announced.

Rev. Fr, Dechelem before his appointment was the parish priest of Church of Immaculate Conception Upper hill, Makurdi.

Born June 3, 1966 in the former Benue Plateau State. He is a native of Moeda--Kwalla from Kwampan Local Government Area of Plateau State. Attended Primary School in L.E.A School Kabala, St Catherine's Makurdi and Central Primary School, Awe, Nassarawa State respectively.

Attended Secondary Education at St Peters College Toto, St John Bosco, Doma and Government Secondary School Obi all in Nassarawa State.

Was admitted by the Claretian Missionaries in 1986 at Nekede Owerri for Postulancy. Had first Religious Profession on 8th September 1988 at Utonkon, Benue State and Final Religious Profession on 13th September1993 at Maryland, Nekede, Owerri.

Ordained priest on July 1, 1995 at Kwa Parish in the Archdiocese of Jos, the Bishop-elect had Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Claretian Institute of Philosophy in 1990 (Affiliate of the Pontifical Urban University, Rome).,

Master's degree in Theology from Spiritan International School of Theology, Attakwu, Enugu 1995 (Affiliate of Duquesne University Pittsburg Pennsylvania, USA), Master’s Degree in Christian Spirituality from Creighton University Omaha, Nebraska, USA 2014, Certificate Course in Spiritual Direction from Creighton University 2014.

Studied Masters in Business Administration/Project Management Technology at Federal University of Technology. Owerri, Imo State 2002. Ongoing (student) Doctorate Degree in Policy Analysis and Public Administration at Federal University of ABUJA.

He worked as a Bursar and part time lecturer from 1995-1999 at the Claratian Institute of Philosophy Nekede. Elected in the Provincial Council as Consultor/Prefect of Economy 1999-2005.

Consultor/Prefect of Spirituality, 2005-2010. Member of the General Economic Council of the Claretian Congregation in Rome (GEC 2003-2006).

Parish Priest Maria Goretti Parish Ikenegbu, Owerri Archdiocese 2005-2010. Parish Priest St John Mary Vianney Parish Kwande, Shendam Diocese, and Vicar for Religious 2010-2017.

 - Dr Raymond fears that President Muhammadu Buhari might die before he completes his first term - Raymond asks Nigerian pastors who claim to have magical powers to heal the president Ijabla Raymond, a medical doctor and a humanist says he fears that President Muhammadu Buhari might die from his health condition before he completes his first term in office. NAIJ.com gathered that Raymond in a post on his Facebook page asks why Adeboye, Kumuyi, Oyedepo, Oyakhilome and all the other Nigerian pastors who claim to have magical powers not healing the present

Visit of the Pontiff to a Roman Parish

Pope Francis: contemplate the ‘two faces of Jesus,’ crucified and transfigured

Pope Francis visited the Roman parish of St. Magdalene of Canossa on the afternoon of March 12. After hearing confessions and meeting with local priests and various groups of parishioners, he celebrated Mass.
In his well rendered homily, the Pope preached that “Jesus was made sin, He was made God’s malediction for us: in the Passion the blessed Son became the accursed, because He took our sins upon Himself. Let us think of this—so much love! So much love!”
“And let us think also of the beauty of the transfigured face of Jesus that we will see in heaven,” he continued. “And may this contemplation of the two faces of Jesus—the transfigured and the one made sin, accursed—encourage us to go ahead on the path of life, on the path of Christian life.”
ref. catholicculture.org.