2015: Nigerian Cleric Says Bombings’ll Stop Moment Jonathan Declines To Contest

The President of the Ondo State Unification of Cherubim and Seraphim, Primate Ademisokun Turton, has said that the killings by the dreaded Boko Haram religious sect will come to an end if President Goodluck Jonathan speaks out on his 2015 ambition.
Primate Turton said in Akure at the inauguration of the Unification of the Churches in the state that the insecurity in the country will come to an end ”the moment President Goodluck Jonathan make it public that he is not re-contesting in 2015.
According to him, “amnesty or no amnesty, the activities of the sect will continue until our President speaks out on his political ambition come 2015.
The religious leader who heads the Success Cathedral of the Church in Akure, Ondo state alleged that Northern leaders are behind the insecurity in the Country believing that they can make it a campaign issue.
He said that it is part of the plan of the North to regain power in 2015 adding that he was against the granting of Amnesty to the faceless group who are bent on breaking up the country.
Describing the activities of the dreaded religious as political, the President of the churches said that “in the first instant how can amnesty be given to faceless sect of people whose purpose of fighting is unknown

70 Catholic Churches Burnt In Benue Crises – official

The Catholic Church in Benue says 70 of its Churches have been destroyed in the crises that rocked Benue in the past few months.
Rev. Felix Apine, Coordinator, Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), an outreach arm of the Church, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Makurdi that the destroyed Churches were outreach arms of the Diocese.
“Thirty Churches, mostly outreach stations in Gwer West Local Government were either burnt or completely destroyed, while the parishioners had fled to other villages for safety. The remaining 40 are in Guma Local Government Area,’’ he said.
The cleric said that primary and secondary schools belonging to the Diocese in the affected areas had also been destroyed.
The Secretary to the Catholic Bishop of Makurdi Diocese, Rev. Fr. Moses Mbachie, who also spoke to NAN, confirmed that “more than 70 Churches” had been destroyed and described the situation as “very sad’’.
The Director, Information and Communication of the Diocese, Rev. Dr Moses Iorapuu, also spoke on the issue and said that the development was indeed saddening.
“The situation is very bad; in fact, you can go to the affected parishes to physically ascertain the damage yourself,’’ he said.
Archbishop Yiman Orkwar, Benue Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), who also confirmed the destruction of Churches and schools, however, said that CAN was still taking inventory of the total number of Churches destroyed.
Reacting to the claims, Mr Daniel Ezeala, Public Relations Officer, Benue Police Command said that the command was not aware of such destruction.
Ezeala told NAN that the command had not been informed of such destruction and alleged that people were just coming up with “all kinds of speculations about things that never happened.”
NAN reports that the state had been turned into a theatre of various types of crises allegedly between herdsmen and Tiv farmers mostly in the hinterlands.

Cleric Warns Against Taxation of churches In Nigeria

Founder of Cherubim Seraphim, Success Gate Inc, Akure, Ondo State, Primate Ademisokun Turton has cautioned against the imposition of taxes on churches by the Federal Government, arguing that such move will have adverse effects on the citizenry who are members of the Church.
He said this during the inauguration of newly elected officers of the Ondo State chapter of the Cherubim & Seraphim Unification Church executive in Akure.
Turton said: “Imposing taxes on churches would worsen the socio-economic crisis which Nigeria is going through. The truth of the matter is that church members are already paying income tax. Rather impose tax on the churches, government should consider giving subventions to churches.”
He noted that the dreaded Boko Haram sect’s current violent campaign will not cease until there is a strong indication that a northerner will succeed President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
“I am not surprised that the Boko Haram sect has rejected the amnesty offer from the Federal Government. It is now clear that their agitation is political. What they want is either Nigeria breaks or they rule it.
“It (Boko Haram) is a problem created by northern elite. It is the political class in the North that are using the Boko Haram people to foment trouble. The rejection of amnesty showed that they have realised that creating more trouble is the only way they can rule Nigeria.
“If President Jonathan will contest for a second term in office then there cannot be an end to Boko Haram,” the cleric stated.
The primate recalled that crises have contributed to the emergence of Nigerian leaders since 1999.
The cleric therefore appealed to “the Federal Government to compensate all victims of Boko Haram attacks by giving their families handsome financial largesse and erect monuments in their honour

CAN Tasks Northern Leaders On Peace Process

Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has called on Northern leaders to be actively involved in the drive for enduring peace in the northern part of the country.
National President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, made the call in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the inauguration of the new leadership of the South-South chapter of the body.
He said peace would be achieved when the Northern leaders take up the responsibility of identifying members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, for dialogue.
According to him, they should emulate leaders in the Niger Delta region, who headed to the creeks for peace meetings with the ex-militants before lasting peace was achieved in the region.
He said President Goodluck Jonathan, who was Vice President then under late President Umaru Yar’Adua, left the comfort of his office in Abuja to hold peace parley with the ex-militants.
He said: “No Federal Government committee was set up before amnesty was granted to the ex-militants in the region,” adding that the leaders of the region, including himself, became actively involved in the peace process.
Earlier in his remarks, new Chairman of CAN, South-South, Most Rev. God-Dowell Avwomakpa, said the body would engage in aggressive evangelism in the region, adding that all steps should be geared towards the promotion of harmonious living.

Why Boko Haram Rejected Amnesty Offer – NSCIA

The Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) Friday said that the  rationale behind the rejection of amnesty offered  by the Federal Government to the dreaded Boko Haram sect  was  to increase their bargaining power with the government.
The  NSCIA  however, warned the  Federal Government  against abdicating  its responsibility of protecting the citizens, saying , security of lives and property was the primary responsibility of the government.
Addressing newsmen in Abeokuta after observing   Jumat  service at Kobiti Central Mosque, the  newly appointed Secretary-General of NSCIA, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, said,  “no amnesty has been offered to these people. When it is offered, it’s normal that when you have people in conflict, when you start to settle the matter, you will not expect everybody to say yes. You have two parties and one says look let us solve it, definitely the other will say no, at least to increase their bargaining power.
“ I think that is normal. The right thing to do is for us to continue working towards a goal of peaceful dialogue. I’m happy to note yesterday that the minister for special duties, acting as the chairman of the new committee, has  started interacting. Because we have been saying it; these people exist.”
“ Government cannot say they are ghosts because many of them are in government custody. So, if they are in government custody and they are not ghosts by the time we put them in prison, how can we now say they are ghosts because we don’t want to talk to them? I think the issue is that some of them are in government custody; let’s start from there.
“ Let’s scholars also interact with them, because that is the problem with us. America is coming all the way from where it is to come here and interact with these people, to have first-hand information with a view to increasing their own knowledge and scholarship about what is going on. Our own scholars are not allowed to interact with them. At the end of the day, if you want to know about Boko Haram, you’ll now go to Britain, America.
“ Even for the sake of scholarship, Islamic scholars should be given access to those of them who are in custody. And I think our security agencies should also be accurate. They should not give a story today and another story tomorrow. If you say somebody is the mastermind of it, we want to believe because we want to believe that you have your facts.
“But if you go to court and you now charge the person for another offence, other than the one that you have publicized in the media, we could start to have our fears. That is why security agencies are creating undue attraction to those who are committing evil. If we don’t want to make up stories against them, if we say it as it is, then it will be possible for the society to come together and deal with criminals among us,” Oloyede, a former Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin said.

Oritsajafor Gets Second Term As Nigerian Christians' President

The first Pentecostal cleric to be elected National President of the Christian Association, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor was Thursday night re-elected to pilot the affairs of the umbrella body of Christians in the country for a second term.
Declaring results of the CAN presidential elections at National Christian Centre, Abuja, the returning officer of a 5-member electoral committee, the executive Secretary of Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Mr. Kennedy Opara said incumbent president, Pastor Oritsejafor scored 80 votes while his only opponent, Rev. Oyekunle polled four ballots.
The 82 accredited delegates, aside from the two contestants, drawn from blocks out of the five that make up CAN had overwhelmingly opted for the Open Ballot system as they freely raised their hands in the full view of everybody to show the openness of the exercise.

 

This electoral victory marking the second of a 3-pronged exercise which was preceded by an award of “A True Servant of God” by Christian Elders Forum of Northern States, NOSCEF will however, be subject to ratification of the General Assembly of CAN scheduled for July 9, this year.
At the first election through an electoral college, the CAN helmsman despite recent spate of criticisms by even Christian leaders who are uncomfortable with his audacity and courage, polled 11 votes to his opponent’s one to pave the way for Thursday’s election at NEC meeting of CAN.
In what appeared to be an acceptance speech, the fearless and charismatic president thanked members of NEC who have given him another mandate to pilot the affairs of CAN for another term, promising that with their continued support, “together we will build a Church that will transform the nation.”
He again expressed concern about the menace of Fulani headsmen who he said are a part of an agenda to Islamise the nation, noting that essentially, cattle rearers are illiterates who have been schooled in the art of using sophisticated weapons including AK 47 and others.
He blamed greedy traditional rulers in parts of the South who collect cattle gifts and huge sums of money in exchange for farmlands in their domains which the Fulani use as bases for their nefarious activities including raping women, killing innocent indigenes while the traditional rulers look the other way.
Urging Christians to be extra vigilant about the activities of Fulani herdsmen, Oritsejafor said Christians are not against cattle rearing but Nigerians can no longer continue to accept crude methods of grazing cattle.
According to him, European and American citizens eat beef just as other nations of the world do, “but  where in those nations do you find cattle on the highway? He maintained that their respective state governments should provide modern grazing grounds for their cattle rearers where they would stay and give their children proper education.
”They should take the cows back to where they  came from while grazing their cattle in modern grazing grounds in their homesteads. If they want to be carrying assault weapons, they are at liberty to use same on themselves

Lenny Leblanc: A Singer Who Is Successful In Both Secular And Gospel Music

Lenny Leblanc Performing

A successful songwriter and singer, it was nearly impossible to turn on the radio in the late 70’s without hearing Lenny LeBlanc’s hit ballad, “Falling.” He was an integral part of the phenomenon that became know as Muscle Shoals Music.  Even though there were plenty of friends and other career distractions, he knew where he wanted music to take him, and he possessed the drive to make it happen.
A self-taught musician, Lenny describes his childhood as “somewhere between dirt poor and middle class.” His first real experience with music came with the discovery of an old upright piano in his aunt’s dark basement. That initial encounter with an old instrument awakened the gift inside of him.  LeBlanc says, “I remember laying in my bed at night wishing for a piano.”
From the first invitation to join a garage band for the upcoming middle-school talent show where Lenny confesses, “I was so petrified, I kept my hands in my pockets and stood facing the band because I couldn’t look at the audience,” to session work for The Temptations (House Party) and Hank Williams Jr. (Bocephus), LeBlanc’s resume soon glittered with stars:  Joan Baez, Andy Williams, Etta James, Carl Perkins, Mac Davis, Roy Orbison, the Supremes, and more.
After signing to Atlantic Records as part of the duo LeBlanc & Carr success came quickly with the release of the romantic ballad “Falling”,  which was  named one of Billboard’s all time favorite Top 40 hits.  After numerous television guest spots, including American Bandstand, and The Midnight Special, a national tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd was on the books. In 1977 tragedy hit the Skynyrd band; the infamous plane crash put LeBlanc’s tour plans on hold.
He says, “After the crash I eventually began touring again and recorded one solo record, this time with Capitol. Over time I became frustrated and disenchanted with the whole thing.”  However, LeBlanc continued to write new songs with his Muscle Shoals friends and he was convinced the next big success was just ahead.
And then the phone rang.
LeBlanc says, “It was one of my friends, a Vietnam vet. This guy had been like a brother to me growing up and by this time he had become a drug smuggler.
He said, “Lenny, I’ve been saved. I’m going to heaven and I want you to be there with me.” His friend’s words shook LeBlanc to his foundation. “I really knew this guy, and I could hear it in his voice.  Something profound was going on, and I knew it was going to change me.”

Lenny Leblanc

LeBlanc’s friend sent him a Bible.  “I knew nothing about God, I didn’t know a Methodist from a Baptist.  I didn’t know how to talk to God, but I started asking Him if He was real; and He started revealing himself to me.” LeBlanc says,
“Finding Jesus was like a signpost in my life.  Whatever storm comes, I can look back and never refute what happened to me.  That’s the Rock I cling to.”
The career engine LeBlanc had built so carefully suddenly came to a full stop.  So did his income.  He lost nearly everything except his house.  He did skilled carpentry work to earn a modest living and along the way began building and designing handmade furniture.  Even now, his second art form after music is the creation of high-end pieces he designs, creates and sometimes sells.
While he loved being part of the church he attended, he was still a songwriter at heart.  He felt no real connection to much of the church music of that decade.  “I had this desire to pen songs that were relevant,” says LeBlanc, “and wanted to write something more vertical than what was being sung in the church during the eighties… that’s where my roots in worship started.
LeBlanc’s name appears on dozens of beloved songs of the church, including the highly successful, “Above All” and “There Is None Like You.”  His voice and his compositions are featured on dozens of classic worship recordings for Maranatha and Integrity.
He currently lives in Florence, Alabama with his wife Sherrie and daughter Hanna. Lenny continues to write pop and country songs, including hits like “Treat Her Right” for Sawyer Brown and “You First” with two time CMA Musician of the Year, Mac McAnally. He still travels nationally and internationally as a Christian artist and serves as worship leader at Faith Church in Florence, Alabama.
His newest project, “Love Like No Other,” releasing through in:ciite and Word Distribution includes a newly-recorded version of “Falling,” as well as nine newly penned worship songs.
Looking back over his career and his personal walk, Lenny grins, “It’s amazing what God has done with a life like mine.”