Curator

http://ift.tt/2nQBzK6 Dr. Francis Akin-John Wrong motives of being a minister and being in the ministry are: Seeking fame, financial lucre, respect and honour, self-importance and self-worth or to prove a point to others. Once you have any of these motives, you cannot really become an able minister. Right motives of being a minister are: the clear call of the Lord; readiness to serve; doing the Lord’s will; fulfilling your purpose; desiring to add value to others and contributing your own quota to Kingdom expansion. I Cor. 16: 15. It is your motive that will continually motivate you. It is your motive that will determine whether God will be with you or not. It is your motive that will determine your reward with God. Check and re-check your motives to see that they are the right ones. • Mandate for Ministry of the Effective Minister Matt. 28:19-20; Acts.1: 8; I Cor. 7:20. No one can become an effective minister without a clear mandate from the Lord. There can be no ministry witho...

http://ift.tt/2qGG5eu Ukachi What Is Grace? One definition of grace is, “An unmerited favour and the love of God for man.” Another definition says grace is, “God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.” These definitions show us that grace is supernatural. It is the supernatural love of God for man. God loves us, even when we don’t deserve it or at Christ’s expense. This was why He sent Jesus to the cross to die for us. The truth is that the more you think about grace, the more you realise that God’s grace is incomprehensible. We don’t deserve it; it is so generous and overwhelming! John Newton, the hymn writer says grace is so amazing. For me, grace means God’s willingness to help man, whenever he is in need. The other day, I meditated on what Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:22, and which he repeated in Galatians 6:18, “Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” Note that the ‘spirit’ referred to here is written with a small ‘s’, that means, our own spirit. The...

http://ift.tt/2re9I8r Ekhaguere (left) with fans Live theatre lovers would, on Saturday, June 24, be treated to the performance of a play, Unstable at MUSON Centre. It is written by Dickson Ekhaguere, the 2015 Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) award winner. Set on the cultural splendour of a fictional Benin Kingdom, the play tells the story of a powerful king (Ido) who rescues an outcast (Esewi) from a bloodthirsty mob. King Ido finds himself enthralled in Esewi’s beauty, who the villagers, for her adulterous lifestyle, holds as an outcast, but Ido marries her nevertheless. The marriage inevitably brings king Ido in direct conflict with a powerful rival king (Ediae) aside creating a series of tumultuous events capable of plunging his kingdom into chaos. Directing Unstable is multi award-winning Mr. Ben Tomoloju, and it features an array of iconic thespians, including, Tina Mba, Bassey Okon, Ropo Ewenla, Segun Dada, Olu Okekanye, William Ekpo, Friday Francis, and Inna Eri...

http://ift.tt/2rYBkeZ Rita Lori-Ogbebor Igba of Warri Kingdom, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, in this interview with SEYE OLUMIDE, spoke on her impressions of the country’s democratic experiment. How would you describe Nigeria after 18 years of democratic rule? The truth is that what we call democracy in the country today is a complete distortion of the true, workable and effective democratic government, which the founding fathers of this nation gave to us in the First Republic.  This current democracy separates governance from the governed.   So, I would say that we are currently practicing a democracy that contradicts the ideals of those who knew, understood and appreciated the principle of democratic government. Nigeria’s founding fathers provided the structure for elective government, and I commend their efforts because they understood the morality of democracy, implemented the values and also ensured it worked throughout the regions, and there was really no cause f...

http://ift.tt/2rdASfQ Etisalat is Nigeria’s fourth GSM mobile company in terms of size with a customer base of about 18 million subscribers and a workforce of about 2,000; several more companies depend on them as dealers and contractors. The telecoms industry is under the weight of bank debt, largely on account of its foreign currency loans. Over the past few years many previously active telecommunications firms, especially CDMA operators and small landline operators, have closed shop or have been acquired on account of bad loans, but none is as big as Etisalat, which is under threat from a consortium of 13 banks from which it borrowed $1.2 billion four years ago. Etisalat is Nigeria’s fourth GSM mobile company in terms of size with a customer base of about 18 million subscribers and a workforce of about 2,000; several more companies depend on them as dealers and contractors. The telecom business is largely foreign input – dependent because its infrastructure and expertise are lar...

http://ift.tt/2rYQT6x Kalu Chudi • Deficit Not A Curse, But Opportunity To Invest The huge housing deficit in Nigeria requires the synergy of the private sector, government and individuals to solve. The Chief Executive Officer of Africa Property Investment Forum (AFPING), Mr. Kalu Chudi, in this interview with OMIKO AWA explains how government and the private sector can fill the gaps. The private sector has been playing major roles in the provision of housing, in which ways could government support the initiative? Government should take a major step in the provision of houses for the people, as it is done abroad. It must come up with policies that could make individuals build their own houses with ease. Mark Zuckerberg is one of the powerful people in the world because his government made things easy for him to do his work. Government should not only regulate, checkmate activities in the sector, but encourage stakeholders. In the United States, you need not to have the whole mon...

http://ift.tt/2pvTty6 Cross River State governor, Senator Ben Ayade Ita-Giwa, Community Call For Probe There appears no end in sight to the woes besetting the people of Bakassi, who were uprooted from their ancestral homes via an International Court of Justice (ICJ) verdict of 2002.In April, the people, who have been living as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in different locations in Cross River State, had several of their shanties gutted in Ata Ema, Dayspring Island, in the new Bakassi Local Council. Shortly after the fire incident, relief materials, including building materials, drugs, foodstuffs and toiletries, were donated by the Federal Government, to cushion the effect of the inferno. Shockingly, the relief materials found their way into the hands, and eventually the homes of some well-placed political figures in the state, as well as market stalls, while the IDPs continue to wallow in abject conditions. The Federal Government, through the National Commission for...

http://ift.tt/2qnTYz9 Netball tournament in Lagos Team Gladiators on Democracy Day emerged winners of the third Charity Mixed Netball Tournament held at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium. The event, which featured Team Alphas, Blazing Bullets, and So United featured members of a group known as Bringing Netball Back (BNB) and other invited players. The contest saw the Gladiators prevailing 10 to 7 over the Alphas to be crowned champions at the end of the competition. Speaking at the occasion, President of BNB, Bimbo Smith, who expressed the desire to drive netball in the country until the eventual emergence of a national team, praised the sponsors that made the event possible. According to her, the versatility and athleticism required of netball players was evident and appreciated by players and spectators unfamiliar with the sport. Dignitaries present at the one-day championship were the supporter of the event, Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor ...

http://ift.tt/2rP6EiY Wale Adenuga Jnr As part of the ongoing promotional activities surrounding the repackaged Papa Ajasco Reloaded television comedy, Wale Adenuga Productions (WAP) has released some exclusive behind-the-scenes pictures and videos to whet the audience’s appetite for the soon-to-be-released programme. Wale Adenuga Jnr., the Managing Director of WAP, said: “With Papa Ajasco Reloaded, we have been able to make a good programme even better, while retaining the same essence that has made viewers of all ages fall in love with Papa Ajasco & Company for several decades. “We have been getting very positive responses from test audiences and we really look forward to sharing the new Papa Ajasco Reloaded television comedy with current and new viewers across the globe.” The upcoming Season One of Papa Ajasco Reloaded, titled “Mr. & Mrs. Talented,” has several guest stars, including Frank Donga, Eniola Badmus, Ijebu, Ese Eriata, Akpan & Oduma, Ronke Oshodi-O...

http://ift.tt/2quTENS ACCESS Bank has extended its Womenpreneur Business Workshop to Kaduna State in a bid to empower more female entrepreneurs across Nigeria. In a statement, the bank said: “To give the women in Kaduna a professional business capacity-building experience, Access Bank’s W Academy partnered with the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), the Entrepreneurship arm of Lagos Business School to drive this workshop. In its fifth edition, the Womenpreneur Business Workshop is one of the flagship trainings of the W Academy under the Bank’s W Initiative, designed to address the lack of access to entrepreneurial skills, finance, networking, and management skills; which are the key barriers to women’s economic inclusion.” Speaking on the purpose of the workshop, Group Head, Inclusive Banking of Access Bank Plc, Mrs. Ope Wemi-Jones said, “Since 2006, the bank has continued in its commitment to drive women’s economic empowerment in the nation. The Womenpreneur Business Workshop i...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Ochereome Nnanna IF you ask the typical Nigerian what he understands by corruption, he will tell you it has to do with people who loot the public treasury. Therefore, a leader who fights corruption is that superman who exposes treasury looters, recovers the looted funds and sends culprits to jail. This definition is so narrow and unhelpful in grasping the essence of corruption that it bears very little resemblance with what the English man had in mind while coining the word. By the time you are so corrupt as to loot the public treasury you are now a thief operating at the tertiary level of corruption. This was what former President Goodluck Jonathan was trying to say, but it was deliberately twisted out of context by the propaganda machine of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to: “stealing is not corruption”. It is, therefore, not surprising that President Muhammadu Buhari, who is a great acolyte of this school of thought, only sees the fight against corru...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Josef Omorotionmwan NOBODY  wants to truncate our happiness but we must know what we are happy about. Nigerians are today basking in the euphoria of what they call the 2017 Budget, which for all intents and purposes, may still be sometime away. In the language of budgeting and financial accounting, what we have today are Budget Estimates, not an approved budget and in the legislative domain, what is before them is an Appropriation Bill, not an Appropriation Act. The journey of a Bill does not end until the President appends his signature on the Bill passed by the National Assembly. Even with all the bright prospects of early presidential assent to this Bill, we know from past experience, that it is not unusual for the President to have some reservations on the National Assembly-passed version of a Bill; in which case, what we are seeing now may be the beginning of a long-drawn tug-of-war. In any case, why should we be happy that the legislators have done...

http://ift.tt/2r3TX04 Availability of safe blood means life for countless pregnant women and young children in Nigeria. Ensuring that clean safe blood is available in each hospital means life for so many. Every year, Nigeria loses an estimate of 59,000 women to predictable and easily prevented deaths. Each week, 1,131 women die in childbirth. In the last seven days, 1,131 Nigerian families have lost mothers, friends, sisters and daughters to pregnancy.  Every week, more children are forced to grow up without mothers, and are subjected to the difficulties that entails. These children are more likely to die before their fifth birthday. The horror of maternal mortality affects the family, the community and country as a whole; and it is high time we found a sustainable solution. Availability of safe blood means life for countless pregnant women and young children in Nigeria. Ensuring that clean safe blood is available in each hospital means life for so many. Of the 59,000 victims ...

http://ift.tt/2qu1eJK The award was in recognition of Remita’s continued leadership and innovation of the financial technology space through the facilitation of secure and seamless financial transactions. The developer of Remita software for online payment, SystemSpecs, has won the most innovative e-payment company at the BusinessDay top 25 most innovative companies and institutions award. The award was in recognition of Remita’s continued leadership and innovation of the financial technology space through the facilitation of secure and seamless financial transactions. Chief Commercial Officer, SystemSpecs, David Okeme noted that the recognition was pivotal to the role of Remita in driving transformation of payment system in Nigeria and Africa. His words: “Coming after the unveiling of the beta version of our Remita App, this recognition reinforces our commitment to transforming how payments are made and received in Nigeria and across the African continent. “Remita, a loca...

http://ift.tt/2r3YxLL The World Health Organization has recommended a minimum of 1% of a country’s population to participate in blood donations. However, In Nigeria, we are not able to even meet this minimum requirement. CLINICAL SCENARIO 1 : A 36-year-old pregnant woman was brought into the emergency room because she slumped in the supermarket. Luckily, a good Samaritan was able to get her to the nearest hospital on time. On examination, the woman was pregnant with twins and due to her markedly elevated blood pressure, the doctors had to do an emergency C-section on her to deliver her babies. During childbirth, the lady lost a lot of blood and needed emergency blood transfusion. Unfortunately, her match wasn’t found quickly enough. She died from severe Post-Partum Haemorrhage. CLINICAL SCENARIO 2 : A young boy was brought to the hospital because of a severe head injury he sustained while playing in school. While the doctors were examining the little boy, he went into haemorrhagic...

http://ift.tt/2qtTU0A CIPM's President, Anthony Arabome The Delta State chapter of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) has sought improved accountability in the public sector. In a communiqué issued at the end of its 2017 annual lecture held in Asaba, the state CIPM said that: “accountability must be encouraged in the public sector,” adding that people must be accountable, answerable, responsible and trust worthy. “If we want to drive performance in the public sector, we must keep up with the staff, we must not lose sight of where we are heading and we must get our house in order,” it said. It added that “issues of performance must start with us, change is necessary in the public service and we must be ready for change. The communiqué signed by the state Chairman of the CIPM, Barry Pere-Gbe said that to make things work in the public sector, performance must be pushed, pulled or lifted, adding that people should be deployed to areas of need to achieve resul...