NATHANIEL BASSEY: "OLOWOGBOGBORO" BROKE AND STILL BREAKING RANKS

Have you ever wondered why it is so easy to promote evil or immorality, yet so difficult to share and promote morality and any good form of experiences or things, tangibles and intangibles?

For the past couple of weeks, I have been holding back not to write anything about the ‘’hallelujah challenge’’ by Nathaniel Bassey which trended so awesomely in a magical way all through the month of June.

Before you start getting it twisted, let me clear the air. First of all, I’m  not a member of Nathaniel Bassey’s family or a member  of his church  neither am  a personal friend of his or even a friend to his friend. It would also interest you to know that I didn’t even take part in the challenge until three days before it ended.

And guess what? I wish took part in it all through the month and not just for three days .

Nevertheless, I didn’t miss out on the blessings of the month neither did I miss out on the blessings of the midnight praise because I was involved in my own daily/nightly prayers and praise sessions as organized by my local church. Yes! I am a Christian. Just in case you didn’t know.

So the month of June was indeed a month of daily mighty praise of God from millions of people across the globe. Believe it or not, many testified and are still testifying about the wonders  that came out of all the praise challenge(s.)

Now with that out of the way, dear reader, let’s move on.

Every move of God normally moves people forward and I believe that just concluded hallelujah challenge and all other challenges of night praise, prayer and worship which no doubts were moves of God moved a lot of people, individuals, families and businesses forward.

And so it was disheartening to see posts and comments on the posts on social media from individuals including Christians who were condemning the hallelujah challenge by Nathaniel Bassey claiming it was just a strategic PR for his next album or song. Phew! How condescending can people get when they see good things. When a few of these negative posts and comments were attacked by those who saw it as “uncalled for” the posters and communicators of course quickly moved to try in defending themselves.

That’s by the way though, even though it was what gave rise to this write up.

After seeing such comments the one thing I could ‘deduce’ from all such comments was sheer “envy”.

Yes I say envy or else how can you  find it so easy to ‘okay ’ programs and reality shows that promote all kinds of immorality including sex and nudity but shout when people spend their data praising God for just one hour or more every night for just a month? Yet we complain about how decayed the society has now become; including  politicians stealing public funds on a daily basis while robbers, kidnappers and ritualists are carrying out their activities all around the place at their various levels unperturbed, not leaving out the rapists, perverts and peadophites whose victims are also getting on high by the day.

So it’s okay when 90% of men go online on a daily basis to watch pornography for hours on social media and data is used for all these.

Some “enjoyers” of the bad news are quick to Google on the latest couples who are breaking up, who is cheating on their spouses, how one person was disgraced or who was rich and now broke and many more.

People or should I resound that “man” is naturally wicked and that it takes a lot of discipline to push down and suppress the spirit of envy and thereafter wish good for others?

Alas! It’s not always so with many individuals as the quest for always wanting to remain ahead of a friend or next person, seeks for ways to continuously put down every one of perceived their “competitor”.

Why am I not surprised at the negative remarks from many especially the co-Christians?

Imagine a Pastor or Christian artist/minister who’s been in the ministry for a couple of “donkey” years and yet still struggling, only for this “small boy” or “rookie” Nathaniel Bassey to come from "nowhere" and take all the “shine” with a small idea as “Halleluyah Challenge”. Kai! What a “whipping”!! I can only imagine how many of the “bad belles” bit and are still biting their fingers with expressions and thoughts such as “if only I had thought of this strategy and acted upon it earlier”.

Well deal with it dear, move on, join the challenge next time, ask God for your own “one small idea” and be rest assured that without any grudges against those whose bread have been “buttered”, your own bread will also be “buttered”. Just be patient and think positive.

Enough said already and you may be wondering why I’m just writing about that “Halleluyah challenge” when it’s been many weeks over. Yes it’s because many are still talking about it and testimonies are still coming out.

When next any such praise challenges come up, I will take full part in it even as I know millions of participants from across the world are gearing up for the next challenge. Nathaniel Bassey broke ranks with his Halleluyah challenge and it was a good ‘rank breaking’ let others follow in his step perhaps it could become a leeway in sanitizing what we do on social media with our data.

Carry on Nathaniel Bassey and by the way ‘Olowogbogboro’ is really trending already and of course, Gods culture is on the verge of taking over ‘pop culture’.

Olowogbogboro is truly turning things around!

STELLA ENE-INYANG

GENDER-EQUALITY BILL RAISES CONCERNS

Concerns have been raised over a public hearing which may soon be held for a recently proposed  bill on gender equality before it is passed by the lawmakers.

According  to reports, Florian  Plaucheur of the BBC writes that  a prominent Muslim cleric, Sheikh Isyaka Rabiu in Nigeria has warned Muslim lawmakers that they will be condemned as "unbelievers" if they back a new gender equality bill claiming that the bill which proposes that men and women inherit an equal share, violates the Koran.

For a long time now, gender activists have been pushing for the bill to end discrimination against women in a country with roughly the same number of Christians and Muslims.

On the other hand however, Reverend Musa Asake, the secretary of the West African state's main Christian group, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), told the BBC's Hausa service that he did not find anything wrong with the bill because in "Christianity inheritance is shared equally between male and female".

It will be recalled that the senate has already rejected an earlier version of the bill in March, saying that it was incompatible with Nigerian culture and religious beliefs.

The BBC's Muhammad Kabir Muhammad in the capital, Abuja, says the new bill has been sponsored by a female senator, and is a watered-down version of the rejected Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill.

Nevertheless, the report says that, the bill is still facing strong resistance from Muslim groups, including the influential Tijjaniya Brotherhood of which Sheikh Rabiu is a leader.

Sheikh told the BBC that whoever approves of the bill “is an unbeliever, not Muslim" and went ahead to appeal to all muslim senators never to the bill’s passage into law and added that if it is passed “we are going to tell all Nigerian Muslims not to accept it”.

Gender rights activists say the bill will help eliminate discrimination against women even as Muslim Senator Ubali Shitu said the bill still needed to go through various stages before it would be voted on.

Lawmakers would only approve "those aspects that are beneficial and throw out those that we deem harmful" said Ubali.

Human rights activist Bukky Shonibare had called the rejection of the bill in March a sad day for Nigerian women and said it showed "how backward we are".

BENSON IDAHOSA: HE WAS NOT JUST MY HUSBAND - WIFE, MARGARET IDAHOSA

Memories of my growing up days in then  Bendel state, made up of what is now known as Edo and Delta states flooded my mind as I read an interview of Archbishop Margret Benson Idahosa, wife of the late Founder of the Church of God Mission Incorporated in Benin city, which has now got several branches all over the country and I suppose outside the country as well.

Benin city was like the very hub of the state then and the only bubbling church where you would find westernised Pentecostal form of worship was the Church of God Mission with the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa who made Christianity feel funky and fun.

  

Every Sunday evening you could not help  but recognise that very husky voice whenever the montage of the church programme something 'hour' can't vividly remember the exact name of the programme but it had to do with 'hour' *I stand to be corrected though*. Nevertheless, I will for a very long time remember his words after the montage as it echoed from his deep voice "and they that God has given us, they are for signs and wonders" and IWO (Idahosa World Outreach) logo would thereafter be flashed around. Hmmm! That man led a lot of people to Christ and Christianity was well planted in that city by the likes of him.

Sadly in March 1998, news of the death of the highly loved flambouyant Bishop hit the airwaves and 'ear waves' leaving a lot of people speechless and despondent to the extent that rumours that he rose again after a few days showed how much people loved him and wanted him back.

And so it was with strong nostalgia that I read this interview below as culled from the Church Times. In the interview Archbishop Margaret Benson Idahosa disclosed how the late founder of the Church died, leaving her and their four lovely children behind.

Excerpts:

You once said you thought you were finished when your husband died. How exactly did you mean?

I knew late Archbishop Benson Idahosa when I was young and we were friends for eight years before we got married. He was not only my husband, he was my brother, my friend and a confidant. In addition to these, he was my Bishop and Archbishop.

When he died I was in a confused state and honestly I didn't know where to begin and what the future held for me. I thought to myself after the burial I would just recline to myself.

By then my children were all abroad and I said I would be staying with them one after the other and then come over to Benin to see how the ministry was being run. But God who knows the heart of man directed my path to where I am today.

When my husband was alive I was with him and the best I could do was to encourage him and pray for him. I was a great supporter of his vision. So when he died I just wanted to remain in my cocoon. But God had a different plan for me.

You were 55 years when he died. How easy was it for church members to accept you then?

As a matter of fact when I was called the day I was ordained a bishop; I thought they called me just to pray for me. I came out and the archbishop who ordained me said he did not confer with flesh and blood but that the Holy Spirit had directed him to ordain me as a bishop. When he made that declaration there was a thunderous response from the audience.

Before then I must confess that my mind was not in ministry. But to my greatest surprise there was a great acceptance of the ordination. Honestly, I was not looking forward to it and after a while I had to pray and God spoke to me and said He had called me and He would give me the enablement and the strength to do the task that has been set before me. And I said okay; God it is a deal. And I said let us try. If I'm successful fine and if I do not then God would understand.

Before my husband’s funeral ceremony, God has spoken with a lot of people about who succeeds him. I recall that when my husband was alive he used to travel a lot and there were times he took people out for lunch in some of the countries he went to and those people were used to asking him questions. One of the questions by one of his friends was whether he was preparing somebody to take over from him and he said he was not preparing anybody because the anointing breaks the yoke and that anybody who had the anointing would definitely be put in place. But he said I think my wife will fit into my shoes. Somebody brought the video and we watched it.There was a general acceptance of my person when I was ordained and God has been helping us in the ministry.

What were the things that you did to equip yourself with the task ahead?

What I did was to give the ministry’s constitution to men with experience. I wanted them to help me interpret it because people were giving different interpretations and when they did it I was comfortable that I was not usurping anybody's position. And I called all the pastors of the church and said, Our Daddy has gone, do we want this ministry to go on or it should die with him and majority of them said they wanted the ministry to go on. That was how we started working.

What were the initial challenges concerning the issue of remarriage when your husband died?

There were challenges in this area and I told God that I wanted him to direct my affairs and my life. And I think God heard and He gave me the ability to do what I'm doing now. I had a husband and I enjoyed him and I think there was nobody else that could match up to him. I told God that I want Him to take the desire for another man from me. I never wanted to think about remarriage. God gave me so much to do that after a hard day's work I just go to bed and sleep. I don't have a desire to marry. To be married to who?

Let us look back to the time you married your late husband. Was he already in ministry when you met him?

I met him already called into the ministry. There was a book he wrote called, Fire in his bones. Everything about his life is in that book. And those are the things I know about him. And he kept saying to me that I should focus my attention on God. He said when he gave his life to Christ a lot of things happened and that God showed him some visions. In one of the visions God showed him a big dry tree with branches that had no leaves but it had branches and God put him under the tree. When he lifted up his eyes he saw an old woman carrying a huge load and he got up from under the tree to help that woman to where she was going and there was a tiny leaf on the tree after he had rendered the help and he opened his eyes. He saw another person and he helped the person and there was another leaf on the tree. The more he helped, the more the tree had leaves. And God told him that the more he helped people the more he will get protection and shade.

Benin is said to be a peculiar place. What does it take being in ministry here?

When you are called of God, He gives you the boldness you need to withstand anything. When God called him, for 14 days he went round Benin City praying and asking God to take the city for the gospel. Benin was so bad that if a native doctor told you that you would die by 2 o’clock there is nothing you can do about it except you run to Christ because that thing will surely happen.When my husband finished the 14 days marathon prayer round the city he started a small fellowship with students all over the place.

What were his dreams that he could not accomplish before he died?

I don't think there was anything he wanted to do that he didn't do. He died in March. In February he called me and said, ‘Margaret, I think I have done everything God had asked me to do’. And I said it is because we were still in February and that because he had not traveled. I said he needed to travel and if he did that he would come back with a fresh idea. And he said he would travel in March and that he would be by himself and will not interact with anybody.

I was abroad when he died. I was planning to travel that night to Nigeria when the report came that he had gone home. That, to me was a great shock. Before he died, he had preached a message titled The benefit of death and he preached so hard and made death so useless. He made it clear to us that he had finished the work God gave him in that message.

He is referred to as father of Pentecostalism in Nigeria. What do you make of what is going on in PFN now?

When he came on the scene, ministry work was not a joke. It was hard. It was difficult. Even the orthodox churches waged war but he stood his ground. He cleared the land for all of us. Many years ago it was a taboo for women to hold the microphone not to talk of preaching in the church but he encouraged us to move in the spirit of God. He encouraged us to preach and do the work. That was the last message he preached to the women.

He preached also at the Bible School before he went to lunch with a team from Oral Roberts University. He gave instruction to all the members of the team and they were all glued to him! After a while a gentle breeze was blowing and everybody set their gaze on him. He was saying thank you Jesus and those on the table thought he was praying and they all closed their eyes and started saying thank you Jesus along with him but suddenly they did not hear anything again and one of the team members opened his eyes and found out that archbishop was gone.

They tried all they could to revive him but he was gone. He was not sick. He never had high blood pressure. He was never down. Each time we came back from foreign trips doctors were always there to take our blood pressure. I was the one that was the sick one. Even the doctors were surprised that he died because he was not sick at all.

How did the children receive the news?

All the children were in school when he died. I was in America and the children were in London. One of our friends told our eldest child that I was on the way to meet him. We met and we held hands and cried at the airport in London. We didn't mind who was looking at us. My first daughter was in law school in Britain then. I called her and said she should tell her lecturer that her father had just died and that she should come. My two daughters in America also had to come and they all cried. I believe everything that God asked him to do he did. He said he had done all what God wanted him to do.

How do you feel being the first ordained female archbishop in Africa?

I don't know how it came. For many years I belong to different Christian bodies but in the last 10 years I have been functioning in the position of archbishop and the bodies that I belong to said it was time to recognize me. I don't feel any difference but I feel the responsibility. And I have asked God to give me the ability to perform and do what I'm called to do and see and hear the hurt of those around me.