The former National Deputy Chairman (Southwest) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olabode George has called on the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) to urgently wade into the crises rocking its Rivers and Edo chapters.

The elder statesman lamented that the crisis is assuming an ugly dimension that needs the urgent intervention of the party leaders.

Speaking during a television programme, George said the opposition party’s chances of winning elections in the two states would be undermined if its leaders failed to resolve the lingering disputes in the affected chapters.

Acknowledging the fact that intra-party disputes were not alien to politics, he disagreed with those calling on the party to wield a big stick against some individuals.

He added that disciplining anybody now will not bring the needed solution, but may fuel the crises to consume the party.

Asked if he was not bothered over the political disagreement, George said, “I agree with you and as I follow the gladiators’ utterances, I’m wondering what the BoT is doing regarding the disputes in Edo and Rivers chapters.

“This is a time to forget all the various divides and go to talk to warring factions to resolve the issues. We can resolve our issues.

“While I agree that there will be disagreements here and there in any party, and this happens all over the world; this party is not the private property of any individual for God’s sake. Let the leaders in the BoT rise above those utterances and do the needful. The way it is going is getting disturbing.”

George, who said the fights were capable of hurting the party’s reputation in the eyes of the electorates, said party leaders should do all within their powers to rescue the situation.

“What will the electorate think about us? We want to convince the electorates that though there will be crises, we have the capacity, knowledge and ability to amicably resolve our issues. Let the BoT get up. This is the time they can show that they mean well for the party. It is so disturbing with the level of the crises.

“Unfortunately, the judiciary that should be independent has been dragged into the fiefdom. Now, we have verdicts and counter-verdicts from the courts,” he added.

[Naijanews]

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday, shared a remarkable story about his birth, revealing that his mother carried his pregnancy for 12 months due to the influence of witches and wizards.

Obasanjo made this revelation during a drama presentation titled: “Aremu Omo Asabi,” held to commemorate 66 years since the passing of his mother, Bernice Obasanjo.

The event took place at the main auditorium of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Obasanjo, in a statement by his media assistant, Kehinde Akinyemi, recounted the difficulties his mother faced before his birth, attributing the delay to supernatural forces.

He however expressed gratitude for God’s intervention, which eventually led to his birth.

“I was told I was in my mother’s womb for 12 months, and since I was born, I have not been left for once. She had nine children, but two of us survived, myself and my sister,” Obasanjo shared.

He also noted the challenges his family faced, emphasising that he was the only child who received education due to his father’s belief that educating a female child was unnecessary.

Obasanjo lamented that his mother did not live to see his accomplishments and enjoy the fruits of her labour.

He vowed to support the drama troupe’s ambition to set a Guinness World Record for the longest open drama performance.

Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun who was represented at the event by his deputy, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, praised Obasanjo’s mother, describing her as a foundational figure whose influence persists through her children.

“Mothers will forever be the bedrock upon which the foundation of any society is built,” she said.

She highlighted the sacrifices mothers make and the lasting spirit they impart to their children.

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Salu Hundeyin, commended Obasanjo for honouring his mother 66 years after her passing.

He stressed the importance of treating mothers with respect and recognising their critical role in both divine and human contexts.

The event underscored the vital role of mothers and the enduring impact of their sacrifices, and also served as a call to action for society to support and honour mothers, ensuring that their dreams for their children are realised through access to quality education, healthcare, and opportunities.

The musical drama, ‘Aremu Omo Asabi,’ performed in celebration of Bernice Obasanjo’s life, was not just a historical recount but also a poignant reminder of the strength and resilience of mothers.

Governor Abiodun highlighted the current administration’s commitment to policies that support mothers and their aspirations for their children’s futures.

“This tribute is also a call to action for all of us to honour and support mothers in every way possible. It reminds us of our collective responsibility to create an enabling environment where every mother’s hope for their children can flourish,” Abiodun stated.

[Leadership]

There is nothing wrong with a peaceful demonstration and a lawful legitimate protest.

What is unacceptable is a premeditated attempt by a group of faceless individuals who are on the payroll of subversive elements to destabilise the country and incite people to violence and carnage.

That is what this so-called #nationwidestrike that they have labelled as the #endbadgovernanceprotest is all about.

Worse still there is a covert and subterranean attempt to provoke the security forces to open mutiny and rebellion against constituted authority and thereby truncuate our democracy.

Those that are behind it are attempting to take advantage of the undoubtedly enormous economic challenges in the land to create panic, fear, chaos and mass unrest with a view to provoking anarchy, mayhem and armed insurrection.

This is unacceptable and no responsible Government will sit back and allow it to happen.

I urge those that are behind this surreptitious, subterranean and sinister subterfuge to have a rethink and not spark off a reaction from the security forces that they will later regret.

We do not want or need a nationwide #endsars-like round of protests and neither can we afford the attendant violence, strife, division, damage to property and bloodshed that comes with it.

The way forward is to put off the protest, exercise patience, enter dialogue with the Federal Government and express our collective concerns in a lawful, restrained, responsible and legitimate manner.

Anything outside of that will be dangerous and counter-productive.

(FFK)

Former Nigeria international, Victor Ikpeba has heaped plaudits on the Super Falcons despite the team’s defeat to Brazil.

Gabi Nunez’s first half goal separated both teams on the night.

The Super Falcons put up a spirited display and were denied by Brazil goalkeeper Lorena thrice in the opening 25 minutes.

Ikpeba commended the players for giving everything against the Brazilians.

“You just must commend the girls, they gave everything, they played with their heart, with determination, with passion,” saluted 1997 African Footballer of the Year Ikpeba.

“They had their moments in the first half, but unfortunately they didn’t make the most of them.

They probably lacked the quality in attack, but they have everything to be proud of.

“The Super Eagles must learn from how they fight for each other.”

Randy Waldrum’s side will take on Spain in their second Group C game in Nantes on Sunday

[DailyPost]

The economy is growing faster and government’s financial position becoming better as ongoing reforms continue to address fundamental pillars for sustainable development.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, yesterday gave a full overview of the national economic data, with significant improvements in fiscal and monetary positions. 

Speaking at the newly introduced quarterly media briefing yesterday in Abuja, Edun highlighted that the economy grew faster in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 2023.

According to him, economic activity in the first quarter of 2024 was not only faster than first quarter of 2023, but it was also the second fastest first-quarter growth in the last six years.

He noted that the economic growth was broad-based across several sectors including agriculture, industries and services, with agricultural growth recovering from negative in the first quarter of 2023 to a modest growth in the first quarter of 2024.

He pointed out that the industrial sector grew seven times faster in first quarter 2024 than in first quarter 2023.

He attributed this positive economic performance to the government’s well-coordinated fiscal and monetary policies.

Edun explained that aggregate federal government revenue in the first half of 2024 was more than double of the corresponding period in 2023.

He attributed the revenue growth to the reconfiguration and improvement in government finances, with oil revenue as a percentage of gross revenue increasing from 11 per cent in the first half of 2023 to 30 per cent in the first half of 2024.

The finance minister also highlighted the strong performance of non-oil revenue, which not only surpassed the revenue in the first half of 2023 but was also 30 per cent above the 2024 budget target, without any increases in taxes.

He emphasised the government’s commitment to further improving revenue through increased oil production and sales, as well as enhancing the fiscal policy landscape to attract more investment into the sector.

He pointed out that Nigeria’s debt burden has reduced in dollar terms, and the government’s fiscal deficit has improved, as the country’s economic reforms continue to yield positive results.

“Our debt has fallen in dollar terms from $108 billion to $91 billion. Not only that, the government has diligently serviced all its loans and obligations with no recourse to ways and means financing. The government has met all its obligations,” Edun said.

He noted that the government is not relying on ways and means borrowing, which can be inflationary, and has paid back the previous N7.3 trillion obligation within a year of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

He highlighted the improving debt service-to-revenue ratio, which has declined from 97 per cent in the first half of 2023 to 68 per cent in 2024, indicating the government’s strong position in managing its debt obligations.

On the budget, Edun said that the 2024 budget deficit has moved in the right direction, with a target of 4.1 per cent of GDP, an improvement from the 6.1 per cent deficit recorded in 2023.

“On an annualized basis, we are at 4.4 per cent, so you can see we are effectively very, very close to the budgetary target,” Edun said.

He noted government’s efforts to attract foreign inflows, including the implementation of the national single window project, which is expected to generate $2.7 billion per annum in economic benefits.

He added that the government’s accelerated stabilisation and advancement plan has already attracted $500 million in investment in the gas sector, with $7 billion more on the sidelines waiting to come in.

According to him, to address the high cost of living, the government has implemented several initiatives and interventions, including a strategic input programme to increase the supply of food, a pivot to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fuel for mass transit vehicles, and providing lower-cost financing for the manufacturing industry and production.

He expressed optimism that inflation, despite being “quite sticky at the moment,” will moderate soon due to the government’s commitments and actions.

“Clearly, as part of the reform program, on the monetary side, monetary policy has been tightened. CBN has been proactive in adjusting the monetary policy rate to address inflation head-on, which is in line with its legal mandate,” Edun said.

Addressing the concerns about social unrest, Edun acknowledged the right to protest and freedom of speech in a democracy, but urged Nigerians to give the government more time to push through the necessary reforms that have come at a cost.

He emphasized the government’s plans to provide long-term, low-interest mortgages to ordinary Nigerians to help alleviate the high cost of living.

[TheNation]

The reinstated Deputy Governor of Edo, Philip Shaibu, said had his principal, Godwin Obaseki, been reasonable and spoken to him well, he (Shaibu) would have dropped his governorship ambition and allow the governor have his way in order to preserve their relationship.

Shaibu, who described Obaseki as a dictator, said he became more resolved to pursue his governorship ambition after Obaseki threatened he would destroy him if he did not back down.

He maintained that he won the Edo State Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship primary because he had 381 delegates, who would have voted for him had not not been shut out of the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin where the exercise took place on February 22.

Shaibu, who has now defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress, spoke on Wednesday when he paid a courtesy visit to the APC National Working Committee in Abuja.

 He said he felt betrayed by Obaseki despite all his sacrifices and loyalty to him.

He said, “The truth is that the issues were all political. I declared to contest for the governor of Edo State. That is where the fight started.”

Looking pensive, the deputy governor told journalists that he did everything humanly possible to pacify his boss to no avail.

“He (Obaseki) said, ‘You cannot contest because I have my plans’. The next thing was that he would destroy me if I continued. For me, no man can destroy the plan of God. As an activist, that day I made up my mind that I was going to contest. As of the time our conversation was on, I was still consulting. I went into the race and I won it because I played high-powered politics. They are not politicians. They rode on our back to where they are. In the politics I played, I actually had 400 out of the 572 delegates.

“A week to the primary, I lost some and had 381. So I brought those 381 on the day of the primary but they were refused accreditation. They took the accreditation tags and gave to their appointees to go and do Aso Ebi reception at the stadium they call primaries. Now, the court has ruled that the delegates I had were the authentic delegates and the ones they brought were fake. So as it is, they have boxed themselves into a corner where I don’t want to go because it is a legal issue.

“We are in court and by the grace of God, I had already been vindicated by two judgments. What is critical is that I want to prove internal democracy must be respected and allowed to play. You can lobby, you can talk to people and people will understand. If the governor had shown leadership, maybe I wouldn’t have contested because I am not a desperate person. My ambition is not inordinate. I have an ambition to fix the state. If somebody else can agree that we collectively fix it, I will follow. But the governor wanted to behave like a military dictator. And for me, we fought. I have captained people that have fought for this democracy. I started from the youth wing. I am sure I am one of the top people you will mention for this democracy that we now have. And for me, I cannot watch this democracy be derailed and allow dictatorship to take control.”

He described as false the claim that he went away with 22 official vehicles after his impeachment.

According to the accountant-turned-politician, the governor bought only one official car for his convoy in the seven and a half years of their administration.

Shaibu said, “The easiest way to have a disagreement is money. Even my official entitlements, most of them I didn’t even apply for them. That is, anything that has to do with going to meet the governor to apply for anything, including my personal or official entitlement. I confined myself within the official salary that came to me. “Recently, I saw an advert that I should return 22 vehicles. Only one vehicle in the seven and a half years that the governor bought for my convoy. Only one. Every vehicle you see in my convoy, some of them, especially the Landcruiser I used for three years with a coat of arm and flag as staff car, the Prado I used as back-up for three years, was the same that I used as the Majority Leader of the Edo State House of Assembly.

“It was the third year of his first term that the governor eventually bought a Landcruiser jeep. Even when they were bringing the jeep, it had an accident on the way. We had to change the wheels and it took two weeks for us to fix it. I never made it an issue, because for me, anything that will bring trouble I was able to manage it. I am happy that I gave everything and I was never found wanting. I was not impeached because I stole money, I was not corrupt, or because of incompetence.

“Today, the court has also told us that what they said was gross misconduct was never a misconduct. They said I gave out government secrets. I have worked diligently with this man. I was asked to perform his duty as acting governor and I was able to organise the security system. I have not done anything wrong to warrant impeachment.”

When asked if he could ever forgive Obaseki for treating him as an outcast, Shaibu hesitated before nodding.

He said, “The only person that is perfect is the Almighty God. None of us created by God is perfect. One of the greatest commandments in the world is ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ If all of us can actually take to that commandment, there will be peace in the world. But I have just discovered that there is no perfect relationship with what has happened between the governor and me.

“From my own end, I gave everything. I gave all to have him succeed. Because, for me, it is about the state and the state in everything. So, I gave everything even my official earnings. I forfeited lots of my official entitlement. Why? It is because I didn’t want any trouble or disagreement.”

[Punch]

EXPRESSION of shock and incredulity were reactions from a number of persons and organisations across the world who were invited to the International Conference for the Eradication of Colonialism. The general question that followed was: “Are there still colonies in the world?” Indeed, there are 61 territories and peoples who list themselves as colonies or what the United Nations, UN, classify as Non-Self Governing Territories.

However, the UN officially recognises only 17 such territories. These are American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, French Polynesia, Gibraltar, Guam, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands and Western Sahara.  The 17th territory is called Falkland Islands by Britain and, Malvinas, by Argentina.

The world body said these are “territories whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government”. It also states that since its 1945 establishment, “… more than 80 former colonies comprising some 750 million people have gained independence”, increasing its original 51 Member-States to 193. So its desire is to extricate more peoples from colonialism.

The UN does not list Puerto Rico, a territory with a 2021 population of 3.264 million people as a Non-Self Governing Territory. It however made public the June 20, 2022 decision of its 29-Member UN Special Committee on Decolonisation. The UN body stated that it reaffirmed “ the inalienable right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and independence and calling again upon the United States to assume its responsibility to promote a process to those ends.” It also stated that it supports “a process enabling the Puerto Rican people to take decisions in a sovereign manner, to address their urgent economic and social needs, including unemployment, marginalisation, insolvency and poverty and… urged the United States Government to complete the return of all lands occupied by its military forces in the territory to the people of Puerto Rico.”

The ever growing challenges in the world, including endless wars, dictatorship, ideological contestations, hunger, insecurity and climate change, have combined to relegate the issue of continued colonialism to the background. This has been so much that many have actually forgotten that there are still colonies and peoples who want to be free.

But the colonised have not forgotten. The countries administering them have not. So has not the UN which has a new 2030 deadline to rid the earth of this human scourge. However, the challenge of the UN is that after 64 years of fighting colonialism, it seems to have become battle-weary. Its deadlines are becoming mere dates on the calendar, and increasingly, the colonised feel abandoned and forgotten. Also, the powerful countries that run these territories do not seem to be in a hurry to change the circumstances of the territories.

But the issue will not go away and the territories erupt like active volcanoes. The latest eruption was on May 13, 2024 when mass protests and violent confrontations broke out in New Caledonia which is administered by France. Located in the Pacific, officially, ten persons were killed, more than 300 injured and over 1,520 arrested. France declared a state of emergency in the colony, blocked the social media and poured in its military. But the unrest went on for about ten weeks. In those weeks, over one billion Euro damage was incurred. Nine hundred businesses, 200 houses, 600 vehicles and 85 per cent of grocery network, were destroyed.

In order to help remake the world and end colonialism, the African Think Tank, the Society for International Relations Awareness, SIRA, decided to hold an International Conference to Eradicate Colonialism. The Conference, holding in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, from August 12-13 at the Top Rank Hotel, Utako, aims to bring all actors together, work out modalities that can assist the UN in its quest to finish the task of decolonising the earth and, making the world a liveable place for all humans irrespective of size, colour, belief or might.

SIRA said the conference, with the theme: ‘The Forgotten Peoples: International Conference to Decolonize the World’, is also in furtherance of the UN General Assembly’s “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples”(General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) of 14th December, 1960). This Declaration acknowledges that “all peoples have an inalienable right to complete freedom, the exercise of their sovereignty and the integrity of their national territory”. It also solemnly proclaims “the necessity of bringing to a speedy and unconditional end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations”.

SIRA stated that representatives of Non-Self-Governing Territories have been invited to state their case, while countries administering and superintending these territories, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Morocco and Indonesia have been invited to make statements at the conference. Also, representatives of social organisations, human rights, peace and development movements have been invited.

The conference Chair is Ibrahim Gambari, former UNESCO President, ex-Nigeria Foreign Affairs Minister, last Chair of the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid and, erstwhile UN Special Envoy on Cyprus, Zimbabwe and Myanmar.

The Opening Address is to be delivered by Oscar Lopez Riveria, Leader of the Puerto Rico Independence Movement who spent 38 years in prison.

The Keynote Address is to be delivered by Ambassador Oubi Bachir, Representative of the POLISARIO Liberation Movement in Switzerland and to the UN and International Organisations in Geneva. He is also the former Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Nigeria.

Speakers include Alfredo Miranda, Ambassador of Mexico in Nigeria; Senator Shehu Sani and Dr Olushola John Magbadelo, the Lead Director, Centre for African and Asian Studies who speaks on ‘The Imminent Dangers Of Re-colonization Of Post-Colonial African States’. Dr Tamuno Clinton Jaja is to examine the ‘Trial and Deportation of King Jaja of Opobo by colonial Britain’.

International Human Rights Lawyer and former President of the West Africa Bar Association, Mr Femi Falana, will be speaking on the legal implications of continued colonialism in the world.

SIRA states that its objectives are to build consensus around a Programme of Action: “Apart from making declarations, how far and how well has the UN itself been undertaking its assignment to ensure that the territories reach the stage of full independence? What concrete steps would the administering powers be required to take to ensure that these territories become fully and truly independent? What must the rest of the international community do to ensure and assist the attainment of full independence for these non-self-governing territories?”

Humanity needs to move forward by eradicating colonialism. If the quite complex decolonisation process in Apartheid South Africa could be negotiated, so can the processes in other colonies. As the President of SIRA, I welcome lovers of freedom to the Abuja 2024 Conference.

Amid growing tensions and economic challenges, former Minister of Aviation Femi Fani-Kayode has issued a strong warning against a planned nationwide protest under the banner of #Endbadgovernanceprotest, labelling it a premeditated attempt to destabilize the country.

“There is nothing wrong with a peaceful demonstration and a lawful, legitimate protest. What is unacceptable is a premeditated attempt by a group of faceless individuals who are on the payroll of subversive elements to destabilize the country and incite people to violence and carnage,” Fani-Kayode stated.

He expressed concern that the protest, branded as a #nationwidestrike, is an orchestrated effort to provoke the security forces into mutiny and rebellion against the government, thereby threatening the nation’s democracy.

“Those behind it are attempting to take advantage of the undoubtedly enormous economic challenges in the land to create panic, fear, chaos, and mass unrest with a view to provoking anarchy, mayhem, and armed insurrection,” Fani-Kayode continued. “This is unacceptable, and no responsible government will sit back and allow it to happen.”

Fani-Kayode urged the organizers to reconsider their plans and avoid provoking a reaction from the security forces that they might later regret. He cautioned against the risk of igniting a repeat of the #EndSARS protests, which were marked by widespread violence, division, and significant property damage.

“We do not want or need a nationwide #EndSARS-like round of protests, and neither can we afford the attendant violence, strife, division, damage to property, and bloodshed that comes with it,” he said.

Fani-Kayode called for patience and dialogue with the Federal Government as a way forward, advocating for the expression of collective concerns in a lawful, restrained, responsible, and legitimate manner.

“Anything outside of that will be dangerous and counter-productive,” he concluded.

[Vanguard]

President Bola Tinubu says he does not answer to any cabal or moneybag. 

While meeting a delegation of Islamic leaders at the Aso Rock villa on Thursday, Tinubu said he bankrolled his electioneering campaign.

“I have no cabal. I have no sponsors. The money I spent on the elections was my personal fortune,” the president said.

“At some point, the odds were against me; banks were locked. But Allah, the Almighty God, said I will be the President. Mine is to now follow the leading and teaching of the Almighty God.

“One of the most potent elements of defence is a good conscience. It is also a defence against corruption.

“What should be uppermost in our minds is the future of our children. We have a lot to teach them on what it takes to be a good citizen and what it takes to be a responsible citizen.”

Tinubu said the planned nationwide protest could degenerate into violence and set the country backwards, adding that its sponsors do not love the country.

“The sponsors of protests do not love our country. They have no love for the nation. They do not understand citizenship. They have alternative passports. They are in different parts of the world holding meetings virtually,” he said.

“We do not want to turn Nigeria into Sudan. We are talking about hunger, not burials.

“We have to be careful. We should be careful with premature politics; politics of hate, and anger.

“We are reworking the social welfare scheme to reach the ward level, which is the closest to our people. We are going to ensure that we re-establish connection with the wards, again, so that we can give allowances to the poor and the vulnerable.

“The student loans will pay for school fees. There will be monetary support for the education of our children.”

Bala Lau, a sheikh and leader of the delegation, said they would keep praying for peace in the country.

[TheCable]

The title of this piece should not be strange to those who avidly follow my reflections on religion, African theology and its role in my spiritual maturation. In my estimation, Dr Stephen Lawani plays a significant role—as one of the many critical interlocutors on matters religious and spiritual in Nigeria and beyond. I am very pleased to be able to keep paying homage to someone whose spiritual commitment has never been in doubt; someone who embodies the purity of the search for spiritual enlightenment. It is also delightful to celebrate Dr Lawani’s octogenarian arrival. Being eighty only tells me that I now have to contend with the spiritual and existential wisdom of a man who never stops learning, and who never stops searching for meaning. 

The trajectory of Dr Lawani’s unraveling is beautiful. It is that of a man who Providence gave a hint of the path to enlightenment, and he caught the break and flowed with it. Being a librarian is not considered to be lucrative in Nigeria. A fortuitous appointment to library services as a secondary school boy at Christ School, Ekiti led to not only the abandonment of a future as a theoretical chemist, but a “lukewarm” choice in librarianship after a first degree in Chemistry. Dr. Lawani most likely would not have known that deciding to be a librarian would eventually open up a purposeful pathway through life in ways that opened several fundamental portals that humans get to peep through when they are as blessed as Dr Lawani. From librarianship to a doctorate in library and information science to a distinguished career at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the World Bank, Washington D.C., and then on to a lifetime recognition as a foundational bibliometrician and an author of significant renown. And then on to many other great things. 

When retirement happened in 2006, Dr Lawani was ready, but definitely not tired, to take up things he considered of “lasting value.” And what could be more of value than spirituality and the search for meaning about God and existence, especially existence in a deeply divided and deeply dysfunctional country like Nigeria? It takes fundamental courage to write about God; indeed, to set out to articulate conceptions and debunk misconceptions about God comes from a place of earnest spiritual boldness. This is because “God” is a concept that excites paradoxical effects and emotions. On the one hand, it is a loaded word that is buried under multiple layers of philosophical assumptions, theological reinventions, eschatological anxieties, religious differentiation and socio-cultural interpretations. And yet, the idea is all the more complicated because it references the mysterious, the unknown, the mystical or the ineffable. Second, history is littered with the tales and horrors of many battles fought in the name of God, or many who have died defending the integrity of the idea of the Almighty. 

There is no other author I know in Nigeria who has invested time, energies, emotion and conviction in the urgency of articulating the critical intersection between spirituality, enlightenment and God. All the religions that speak about God as the supreme being also considers God to be a mystery, “an eternal mystery” as Stephen Lampe (Dr Lawani’s pseudonym) says in his 2014 brilliant book, Thinking about God. And he was courageous enough to plunge into this mystery of God with a determination that is meant to unravel pathways for humans to live meaningful and purposeful lives that will not only help them come to a deeper sense of who they are and why they are alive, but would also impact their relationship with others according to the spiritual laws of justice. Lampe is right, as he argues in the book, that misconceptions about God in a plural society like Nigeria has grave consequences. And we need not look farther than the very divisive role religion has played in deepening the postcolonial predicaments in Nigeria. But Stephen Lampe is theoretically and theologically relentless; there is a further conclusion that follows correcting the misconceptions about God. If there are wrong conceptions about God, it implies that there must be a right one. And it is that right conception that is the focus of Lampe. Since he is coming from the Grail Message theological perspective, we need not look further for where that right conception could be found. And in his latest theological offering—The Spirit of Truth brings the Everlasting Testament—Stephen Lampe presses home his most fundamental conclusion: the right conception of God presented by the Grail Message is encoded in an “everlasting testament” that encompasses and ultimately transcends Christianity, Judaism and Islam. 

This everlasting testament is the result of a “progressive revelation” of the Spirit of Truth, mentioned in the Bible, that is now emerging as the third phase of a spiritual chronology. The first phase he calls the age of the Father (corresponding to the Old Testament). The second phase is the age of the Son (the New Testament). The last and final age is that of the Spirit of Truth that clarifies, sums and transcends the other ages. And this new revelation conjoins the divine justice of the old testament and the divine love of the new testament with the divine purity of the Spirit of truth into a final blueprint of divine perfection.   

Three significant points keep bringing me back to Stephen Lampe. The first is his commitment to a rational understanding of spirituality. This derives essentially from the core method by which the writer of In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message, Abd-ru-shin, offers the message to the world—via a rational acceptance rather than a proselytizing compulsion; its theological claims must be reflected upon and logically accepted. The second is his insistence that Nigeria’s problems are essentially spiritual. From this perspective, it is therefore easy to see what religious fundamentalism, mobilization and ignorance have done to further fragment Nigeria, and still be able to argue, as Stephen Lampe does, that the religious is different from the spiritual. And that as humans, we are first spiritual beings whose attempt at creating a good tradition of governance can become successful only if we reject wrong theologies and spiritualities, and focus on what he calls “the primordial laws of creation.” There is a lot for me to accept in this understanding of the relationship between religion, spirituality and the predicament of, say, the Nigerian state and its citizens. I am a Christian and I hold strongly the claim that God rules in the affairs of humans.  

And this brings me to the third reason that Stephen Lampe keeps drawing me back to his theological arguments. This reason draws on the two previous ones: it is the intellectual undercurrent of my own commitment to Christianity. When I started my journey into Christianity, it was more intellectual than emotional. In other words, I am more of an intellectually-minded Christian whose faith is rooted more in the knowledge and experience of the faithfulness of God. My experiences in secondary school reinforces the basis of my intellectual inquiry into Christianity, especially in relations to human mystical experiences. And this is centered around the questions: How can we know Christ outside of his historical manifestations? How can Christians come into an intimate union with Christ? How does knowing Christ mediate my life and temporality as a Nigerian living in a postcolonial context of underdevelopment, fear and poverty? 

My response to Christianity as a source of spiritual enlightenment therefore parallels Stephen Lampe’s continual probing of spiritualities for the right understanding of God. In my search for spiritual enlightenment, I was forced to confront the dilemma opened up by a sense of spiritual puritanism that Christianity preaches and the open-mindedness that derives from the spiritual possibilities inherent in non-Christian practices, like the Ifa corpus. And this is why I find Stephen Lampe even more intriguing. In both Thinking About God and The Spirit of Truth brings the Everlasting Testament, the thesis that Stephen Lampe builds ultimately inserts the Grail Message itself into the absolutist and binary thinking of other Abrahamic religions. It is this same absolutism that I struggled against while keeping agnosticism at bay in my search for spiritual understanding and enlightenment. And the unseemly solution I found to resolve my spiritual puritanism and intellectual open-mindedness, what I am certain will fall short of Dr Lawani’s enlightenment framework, is to hold on to my faith in Christianity while deeply and respectfully relating with other religious and spiritual formations without undermining their validity as established conceptions about God and belief systems. 

This “solution” certainly requires serious theological finetuning. I have always been suspicious of theological absolutism on the basis that God cannot be summed by just one religious’ framework. And my suspicion of such absolutism is even more enhanced given the entanglement of religions in Nigeria’s national project. How can Nigeria achieve a civic nationalist space if religions eschew open-minded and ecumenical relationship with one another? How can the Grail Message step into the breach as a spiritual panacea to Nigeria’s myriad postcolonial predicaments if it excludes other religious and spiritual forms as “false”? I know I am posing formidable queries to an even more formidable octogenarian whose many more years in search of spiritual enlightenment I can always count on to sharpen my own understanding of the place and role of God in human affairs.