Leke Adeboye, the son of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, slammed erring pastors of the church, calling them ‘goats’ for preaching their sermons after the G.O. had finished speaking and preaching.

This generated outrage on social media as many condemned the statement while some others called for his suspension.

Usually, first Sunday of every month, parishes of the RCCG are linked up with the National Headquarters of the church, where the G.O. would deliver a sermon – expected to be the only sermon of the day. Meanwhile, some parish pastors often do a follow-up preaching after the G.O’s.

Reacting to such a move, Pastor Leke took to his Instagram account and referred to the RCCG pastors who preached their messages after the G.O. had preached his sermon as ‘goats’.

“Why would you go and preach another sermon after Daddy G.O. had just finished speaking and preaching.

“You are not a son, you are a goat, sir. Next Thanksgiving Service, just do an altar call, then thanksgiving,” Leke posted.

Tweeps bemoaned this statement, called it rude and others demanded his suspension by the RCCG.

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“#rccg should suspend Leke Adeboye for calling ordained pastors #GOAT. What a gut,” @ollynetworker said.

“That’s very rude of you, Leke Adeboye! You are the goat here,” @Joanna8214 tweeted.

@TomisinAmokeoja said, “Two wrongs don’t make a right, Leke Adeboye calling pastors goat was way overboard. Really leaves much to be desired. Always been controversial though. I wonder how he would have reacted if he was the G.O.”

A tweep, @CeciliaOkoroma, said that such a statement was not nice and unexpected from a man of God.

­”This is simply not too nice a statement from ‘man of God’ and in particular, son of G.O RCCG,” she tweeted.

PUNCH.

The indiscriminate sale of sharp cutlasses‎ in traffic at some bus stops and junctions in parts of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, is causing panic among residents, motorists and passengers.

It was discovered that the presence of menacing-looking hawkers clutching handfuls of sharp cutlasses is fast becoming a common sight during peak traffic hours at some bus stops in the FCT.

The development is more prevalent at junctions in the outskirts of the FCT, particularly along the Kubwa expressway.

The uneasy feel associated with the development is heightened by the fact that, in most cases, the hawkers selling the cutlasses are able-bodied young men.

Some residents, motorists, and passengers who expressed concerns at the development said they usually feel frightened and unsafe at the sight of the cutlass-wielding youths who hawk the implements.

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A civil servant, Emeka Onyekwere, who spoke concerning the development wondered whether the FCT authorities and the security agencies are aware of the development.

“I was afraid the first time I saw youths wielding cutlasses in the traffic, I ‎thought they were bandits or hoodlums who were attacking unarmed motorists and passengers. It was quite shocking because I never expected that cutlasses would be openly hawked in traffic. I wonder if the (FCT) authorities and the security agencies are aware of this,” Onyekwere said.

One of the hawkers, who identified himself as Abdullahi, noted that it would come in handy ‎if there was a need to defend the household in the event of an attack.

“You need one in the house,” Abdullahi said, adding that the cutlass has very strong and sharp steel.

A closer examination shows that the cutlasses could indeed pass for swords, and ‎appears to be specially made for combat.

“You can also use it to cut grass and kill snake around the house,” Abdullahi added when asked if the machetes are only meant for ‘self-defence’.

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However, he admitted that some motorists and passengers whom he approached with the weird wares complained about the cutlasses.

“People usually complain about the cutlasses. Sometimes when I approach a vehicle to display the cutlasses to people inside the car they will tell me not to come closer. I notice that some people are scared when they see the cutlasses but I don’t know why they will be afraid. We are just selling goods just like other hawkers here,” Abdullahi said. ‎

Motorists and passengers who are alarmed at the sight of cutlass-wielding youths in the traffic are not the only ones that are worried over the indiscriminate, uncontrolled sale of the materials.

Interestingly, some other traffic hawkers, and roadside traders at bus stops, are also uncomfortable with the public parade of the ‘arms’.

A fruit-seller at the Phase 4 Junction on the Kubwa expressway, who simply identified herself as ‎Mrs. Justina, said the presence of the cutlass-hawkers is a major cause for concern for other traders.

Justina explained that the hawking of machetes in the traffic at the junction was a relatively recent development.

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“It was not so long ago that they started coming with the cutlasses to this junction. At first, some of us complained and told them to leave and at that time they were being very careful because people said the police will be brought to arrest them. But nothing like that happened and they are now operating freely,” Justina said.

While the other traders have learnt to mind their own business, Justina noted that they are still afraid of the cutlass-hawkers. On a particular occasion, according to her, one of them inflicted machete cuts on another hawker over an argument. “Whenever you have a misunderstanding with them, they will threaten you with the machete,” she added. ‎
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As further observed by Justina, “nearly all the young men ‎that are hawking the cutlasses are from a particular part of the country“, a fact which, according to her, makes the development even more worrisome.

(The ICIR)

By Tunde Odesola

Ever since I was a kid, the printed word held an amazing fascination for me than both the television and the cinema. In the last three years, you can hardly catch me seated before the mega screen of the cinema or the screen of the television. This isn’t to say I’ve grown to dislike the TV or the cinema. Nor is it because I now love news, sports, geographic documentaries, comedy, crime investigation and music less than I used to. It’s because globalisation is pushing Man to the cul de sac of hurtful individualism. Gone are the days when family members sit together to enjoy soaps on TV or series on radio or blockbusters at the cinema – no thanks to the emergence of phones, tablets, iPads etc as purveyors of digital video and audio services from online retailers such as Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Roku etc.

These new mass media dominators are eclipsing traditional print and electronic media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio and outdoor advertising. Today, there’s no radio station in the world I can’t access on my phone in real time. Today, my phone not only serves as a tool for wellness, calling, texting, buying and selling, travelling, research etc, I also have the full complement of all the stations on Xfinity live on it, availing me the opportunity of watching live football games, among many other amazing programmes.

Last week, I was browsing in the social media sea of my weather-beaten phone when a video sailed in onboard the ship called WhatsApp. Though the video wasn’t a documentary by National Geo Wild, it was, nonetheless, from the animal kingdom. In the video, a huge dinosaur was seen before a mirror in a cozy apartment. Dinosaur is a big word, you know. But most great things come in small packs. Because of my love for the printed word and for simplicity, I looked up the word ‘dinosaur’ in the dictionary to see if it has a short form and ‘dino’ popped up. Wow! So, the word ‘dino’ is the short form of dinosaur, I thought to myself as I suppressed a burst of laughter.

The dino in the luxurious apartment that looked like a hotel must have strayed in from the wild because it was clearly a misfit in the habitat. Strangely, when it opened its mouth, it began to sing like a human being. This stupid dino must have been overawed by mistakenly finding itself in a human environment and couldn’t help exhibiting the animalistic traits in it. With crooked fingers, the dino tried futilely to video itself in its new-found human environment, using a phone. It attempted to focus the camera of the phone it was holding on itself in a bid to show its face to the human world. But its wish won’t just materialise; the camera won’t lighten up the face of the animal. The pudgy fingers failed to capture the monster’s face on the phone’s camera. Or maybe the camera sensed rightly that the hand holding it was a beast’s, not a human’s – hence, in protest, it blurred the face of the dino into an evil mask unworthy to be shown to humanity. The animal also sang a song of sorrow in the background.

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That was when I remembered the late Fuji maestro, Chief Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, in his 1981 evergreen album, ‘Suuru Baba Iwa’, which contains the classic song about the gorilla that wanted to become a human being. In Barrister’s tale, the gorilla failed to remain in isolation for seven days as God instructed it, jumping out to celebrate anticipatory victory on the sixth day of a seven-day miracle. Just like the gorilla in Barrister’s song failed to become a human being as a result of impatience, the dino in the WhatApp video fell short of exhibiting humanistic ideals because of insane greed as captured in the brainless song of lamentation that it sang.

This is the Yoruba song the dino broke into, “Bami gbe o (4x)/Bukata mi, enu mi ti fe, bami gbe(2x)” Translation: “Help me bear them (4x)/My financial commitments are enormous, help me bear them (2x).”

For believers in Darwin’s theory of evolution, the video could earn them bragging rights because it showed the dino replicating human’s manipulative trait. After the first few lines of its supplication to God for assistance in its financial obligations, the dino, in subsequent lines, revealed the real intention why it shot the video – to bask in the opulence of ill-gotten wealth. Knowing full well that children resonate with the masses, the dinosaur cleverly began by begging God for assistance in the payment of its children’s school fees and the payment of its staff salaries. Then it went ahead to the raison d’etre of the video, listing its houses in Dubai, USA and London as some of the financial obligations God should help it bear.

The madness is surely not in its early stages, it seems advanced. The madness gripped the dino by the scruff, seized its soul as it listed the cars in its garage to include Lamborghini, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, begging God to sustain its ostentatious and greedy lifestyle. As the foolish dino was singing about its perishable earthly possessions, it simultaneously showed off the apartment’s elegant interior, videoing the mirror, kitchen, television, trash can, carpet, chairs, lamps, stools, table, drinks, curtains, ashtrays, neighbourhood etc.

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How much low can it sink? To think that this dino has no record of inheritance or industry to justify its profligate status highlights the degeneration in the zoo called Najria. To think that this dino was only a fledgling a few years ago and now shamelessly flaunts thousands of hectares of grassland with edible fruits, nuts, vegetables and game for gluttonous consumption show that some animals are shameless thieves, and this fact tears the heart asunder. To think that the dinosaur, who later became one of the leaders in the animal farm, could think and act worse than a maggot is quite disturbing.

I wish human beings can seize this dino and drag it to the psychiatrist for a comprehensive mental evaluation because it needs help urgently. Dinos are extinct creatures, we must keep this last dino alive to teach future generations our story of greed, stupidity, laziness, bigotry, gluttony, avarice, wickedness, deceit and corruption.

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I just can’t stop pinching myself and asking, “How did this dino stray into humanity? How?”

Tunde Odesola is a seasoned journalist and a columnist with Punch newspapers

Email: [email protected]