A false prophet does not really believe the word of God. He merely pretends that the word of God is important and symbolic.
Mike Ozekhome
INTRODUCTION
Nigeria is crawling with prophets, seers, evangelists, soothsayers, pastors, reverend fathers, bishops, archbishops, imams, alfas, scholars, etc. A prophet is defined as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the word of God. Synonyms are seers, soothsayers, fortune tellers, clairvoyants, prognosticators, prophesiers, diviners, forecasters, astrologers, oracles, predictors, etc.
Before Mbaka’s 2019 prophetic stones
However, Nigeria is awash with many fake prophets that daily assail our sensibilities and set Nigerians on tenterhooks. The Bible saw this ahead, in Matthew 7: 15-23, when it warns: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Our major problem is deciphering true prophets from fake ones, even while conceding there are genuine men and women of God that serve in the Body of Christ. It is to the Bible we have to look for solution. Who are those false prophets that Christ warned us about? At times, we erroneously evaluate men and women of God from wrong prisms. Many according to the size of their ministries, their deep pockets, fame, reach, popularity, their endowment, or certain worldly and terrestrial gifts, instead of celestial wealth. The false prophets distract devotees with and compel people to look in the wrong direction for miracles of God, including so-called revelations. These false prophets hypnotise people by reinterpreting, mostly incorrectly, what God has already revealed to us in the holy books. They will convince you that the Holy Bible is full of secret mysteries and hidden mystic codes, which only they have the “open-sesame” key to open or decipher. But the true secret is that there is actually no secret (Isa. 45:19, 2 Pet. 1:19-20). God always means what He says and says what He means. He is unchanging, omniscient, omnipotent, eternal.( See Prov. 30:5-6 and Rev. 22:6). A false prophet does not really believe the word of God. He merely pretends that the word of God is important and symbolic. He is a pretender, a fraud, an impostor, a fake, an impersonator, counterfeiter, deceiver and smart trickster.
To be continued.
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Buhari, IGP and African sit-tightism
Africans like to sit tight in power. No matter what. To them, power (even though ephemeral) is an aphrodisiac, an inebriating liquor. Some Nigerians cannot understand why President Buhari insists on keeping IGP Ibrahim Idris even after the expiration of his tenure by effluxion, in accordance with constitutional provisions and Civil Service Rules. But, many others perfectly understand. They believe it is to make him the engine room to perpetrate fraud during the February 2019 presidential election. They point to the Edo, Ekiti and Osun states governorship elections, all of which turned out to have been exercised under a fascist police state.
THE FACTS:
By January 3, 2019, Idris would have completed his 35 years service as a public servant (police officer). He is, therefore, deemed to have retired automatically. By January 15, he would have attained the statutory mandatory
retirement age of 60 years. Thus, both by biological age and longevity of service, Idris has come full circle to retirement.
THE LAW:
By Civil Service Rules, an officer shall compulsorily retire from service if he has spent 35 years in service, or if he has turned 60 years, “whichever comes first”. 3rd of January, 2019, comes first. To wait till January 15 is already unconstitutional because the law says “whichever comes first”, not both.
Under section 215 (1) (a) of the 1999 constitution, which PMB and Idris swore to defend, an IGP can only be appointed from the corps of serving police officers, not from retired ones. The section provides laconically: “There shall be an Inspector-General of Police who, subject to section 216 (2) of the Constitution shall be appointed by the president on the advice of the Nigeria Police Council from among serving members of the Nigeria Police Force”. This section is too clear to admit of any ambiguity. It says “from among serving members of the Nigeria Police Force”. The said section 216 (2) above referred to provides that the NPF shall be under the command of the IGP, whilst Police in states shall be under a Commissioner of Police. From January 3, 2019, Idris by effluxion of time, automatically ceased to be a “serving member of the Nigeria Police Force”. Wearing the uniform of a police officer from that day is patently unconstitutional, illegal and unlawful. It amounts to impersonation and passing off. This is a serious constitutional and statutory matter. It is not one for sentiments, emotion, political brinkmanship, or lachrymal effusion. Mr. President, sir, let IGP Idris go. There are equally other competent Nigerians. After all, he was only a Commissioner of Police in Kano State during the 2015 presidential election in which PMB “won” a landslide, nay, moon slide, of the votes. To pave way for Idris’s emergence as IGP, 21 serving officers, ranging from CPs, AIGs, DIGs, to IGP, had to be prematurely retired. In one fell swoop! A whole of seven DIGs included. Nigeria, we hail thee.
Thought for the week
“The government should do its job. The government’s job is, in fact, to run the country, to manage the country, to govern the country. And governance is an important thing, not application where
it suits one so, to micro control where it suits them on the other hand.”
(Ratan Tata)
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INEC, Zakari and incredible election
There has been much hoopla about Mrs. Amina Zakari being made the head of the sensitive collation centre, a department that deals with collation of results in the forthcoming presidential election. Nigerians have pointed out the clear and present danger of allowing Zakari to be present near the counting or collation centre, she being a niece or cousin of Mr. President. She, however, denies any blood consanguinity. But Nigerians insist that PMB had his early childhood in Zakari’s father’s house. She is accused of being the major link between INEC and the Presidency.
Judges do recuse themselves in cases where they have filial, consanguinous or pecuniary interest. How can a cockroach win a battle in the presence of lizards? How can Amina ever watch her uncle being pronounced loser in an election, whose results she collates. Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, swears that Zakari is a blood relation of PMB, notwithstanding her denial. He maintains that “Buhari’s sister who was married to a prominent Emir in Kazaure, in the present Jigawa State, gave birth to Amina”.
Perception is reality. Whether or not Amina is truly a blood relation of PMB, she should be posted to a less controversial seat. After all, Nigerians had heaved a sigh of relief when she was posted to the health sector unit of INEC, she, being a pharmacist by profession.
In a December 27, 2018, article, Mohammed Haruna, an ex-ace columnist with Daily Trust and a current INEC commissioner, had written that PMB’s biological sister was once married to Amina’s father. That makes Amina Buhari’s niece. By Oxford English Dictionary’s definition, a niece is “a daughter of one’s brother or sister, or one’s brother-in- law or sister-in-law”. Amina’s father, being Buhari’s brother-in-law, makes Amina Buhari’s niece.
It has also been contended that at some point, Buhari who had lost his father at a youthful age, came under Amina’s father’s guardianship, i.e, the late Alhaji Hussaini Adamu, who was Emir of Kazaure, a nieghbourly town. Buhari, wrote Yakubu Mohammed, as PTF chairman, gave Amina a consultancy contract with Afri-Projects Consortium (APC), “the sole manager of PTF projects”. She was also said to have been nominated to INEC by PMB, when liberal GEJ asked for a name.
Similarly, Amina’s biological brother, Alhaji Sulaiman Adamu, is said to be Buhari’s Minister of Water Resources. Concluded Haruna, “Amina’s brother, the Emir of Kazaure, whom I interviewed and interacted with in 1999, was Executive Secretary of PTF. Buhari gave him the job. Ambassador Kazaure, Buhari’s chief of protocol, is also a relative of Amina’s. Finally, as most people know by now, Amina’s mother is from Daura, Buhari’s home town. So, her ties with Buhari are pretty strong”.
Premium Times has since joined in the fray. It says the relationship between Buhari and Amina is that of a step-uncle and a step-niece. Mrs. Zakari, it wrote, is a princess of Kazaure Emirate, Jigawa State. “She was born in 1960 to the family of the late Emir of Kazaure, Hussaini Adamu, also the father of the current Emir, Najib Adamu, and the current Minister of Water Resources, Sulaiman Adamu… Mr. Buhari’s elder sister was married to the late Emir, the father of Mrs Zakari… and spent part of his childhood in the palace, where her sister was married… the Elder Buhari raised Mrs Zakari, as well his younger brother, the Water Resources Minister…”, Premium Times squealed.
Whichever way one looks at it, as we say in African cosmology and cosmogony, “blood is thicker than water”. Mrs. Amina Zakari cannot be trusted with a sensitive post as one involving, or even remotely connected with, collation or counting of results. Even if she were Angel Gabriel or Archangel Michael, she would bow to the flaming arrows of nepotism, favouritism and consanguinity. INEC should move her immediately to another seat. And heavens will not fall. Otherwise, as a writer satirically and sarcastically wrote, INEC should rather simply hand over the Certificate of Return to PMB and share the N189.2 billion to the about 180 million Nigerians, at the rate of about N1 billion per Nigerian. Then, everyone becomes a billionaire, and those who want to govern forever can go ahead!