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I Am A Chosen: CAN Fumes Over Exam Malpractice Testimony

Published

12 months ago

September 21, 2024

The viral video of a suspected member of The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministry in Lagos has sparked outrage after the woman celebrated receiving divine assistance during a Federal Government examination and how she shared her answers with another candidate.

During the testimony, the unnamed member claimed an old man appeared to her in the examination hall and gave her answers to some questions.

The woman said the exercise was one of the promotional examinations of the military (Army, Navy, and Air Force) and that there were about 50 questions, of which 40 bordered on career and 10 related to current affairs.

“We all had written our career questions. It then came to these very 10 questions, which asked, ‘Mention 10 Francophone countries and their capitals.

“Brethren, nobody knew this question. So, all I did was to raise the question paper and declare to it: ‘I am a Chosen! I am a chosen!! I am a chosen!!! This question, who are you? Where is the God of my pastor power?’

“Then, suddenly, an old man appeared by my right-hand side in white apparel. He told me, ‘My daughter, begin to write.’ And I began to write,” she recounted.

She claimed that some of the invigilators, who suspected something was amiss, pulled off her apron, which made “the angel” disappear.

The action, she added, made her angry.

“But when they returned the apron and I wore it back, the old man appeared again and began to tell the rest of the answers. I completed 10 good questions. I wrote them correctly and accurately. To me, it was like a dream.

“Brethren, when I finished writing my questions, a sister who sat by my side was a Mountain of Fire member because of the logo on her clothing. As I took up the answer sheet and was cross-checking my write-up, I signaled to the woman, saying, ‘Sister, do anything you can do humanly possible.

“Any moment from now, I am going to submit my questions.’ While I was cross-checking, the sister quietly copied. And immediately she finished, brethren, I stood up and submitted my questions. Everybody in the hall was looking at me. That was how only two of us out of 102 were able to do this,” she added.

The church then erupted in celebration as she ended her testimony.

The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Lagos chapter, Bishop Stephen Adegbite, expressed shock that the church allowed the testimony, which he described as a fabrication.

He said God would not work supernatural miracles that way, adding that there were no shortcuts to academic success other than hard work and belief in God.

He noted that the Christian body would be meeting next Friday to address the controversies raised by the woman’s testimony and several other “unacceptable comments made by Pentecostal pastors on social media.”

“She is entitled to her opinion as she is the owner of her mouth. But for anyone to say such, we must verify that. We must see the people in the hall, and they must testify against her that that was never the situation.

“But looking at it ordinarily, that is a foolish talk, and nobody should accept that. There are testimonies you don’t allow to be given in the church. And that is why before people give their testimonies, you should invite them and know what they want to talk about.

“If it is something that is good for public consumption, you should allow it to go. But if you know that the story they are telling can only be told to monkeys, you should ask the person to go and face the monkeys and say that, not in the church. So, that type of testimony should be served to the monkeys and not to human beings,” the Lagos State CAN chairman declared.

When asked his thought on such miracles, he said, “God doesn’t act that way. I have a Ph.D. Which God of Chosen will appear to you and give you answers to your examination questions?

“The God of Chosen will give you strength to read your books and go for the exams. There is no shortcut to success in life other than hard work and belief in God.”

There have been other trending videos of members of the church sharing testimonies that social media users considered wild.

In one, a member of the church narrated how a lion miraculously saved him from kidnappers. In another video, another testifier recounted how bullets did not penetrate his head.

The CAN chairman insisted that the testimonies were all fallacies.

“Anybody that wants to prove such a thing should bring a gun to the church. Let the person stand and let us release the bullets. We will see whether the bullets will enter or not. They are all blatant lies from the pit of hell,” he declared.

“We will be meeting probably next Friday. It is going to be a CAN general meeting in Lagos, and we are going to address it. We will speak about the madness going on among Pentecostal pastors,” he added.

Reacting in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, the Head of Public Relations and Media for the church, Pastor Chidi Louis, said the testimony videos were doctored to tarnish the image of the church because some of the incidents happened in the testifiers’ dreams.

He said the church allowed members to share their testimonies the way they wanted without gagging them because it believed that such narrations should not be censored.

“There is no need for us to begin to doubt someone’s testimony. If anybody comes and says he wants to give a testimony, we give that person the opportunity; we don’t guide people on what to say or how to say it. They are free to say it as they like,” Louis stated, adding that the church was unperturbed by social media trolls.

News

SUBEB Urges LG Chairmen To Sack Absentee Teachers In Bauchi

Published

1 hour ago

September 5, 2025

Editor

The Bauchi State Universal Basic Education (BASUBEB) has called on all the 20 Local Government Chairmen in the state to sack absentee teachers.

Alh. Adamu Mohammed, the Executive Chairman, BASUBEB, made the call on Friday during the official flag off ceremony of the 2025/2026 state wide enrolment campaign in Kirfi Local Government Area of the state.

Mohammed, who said that the move would serve as a deterrent and make others to be up and doing, added that the chairmen only need to inform SUBEB about the decision.

He also expressed the commitment of the Board to reward teachers who are diligent, committed, punctual and dedicated to service so as to encourage them.

The SUBEB boss who lamented the lack of enrolment of school aged children in schools across the state, said the development is detrimental to the future of the children.

According to him, the state government was doing everything possible to improve the quality of education at the Basic level, saying that members of the communities were not supportive of the efforts by not sending their children to school.

He also stressed that Girl child education is important to the development and growth of the society, calling on parents to send their girl children to School.

“I want to call on all the Local Government Chairmen in the state to take responsibility of supervising and monitoring schools in their respective areas because SUBEB can’t be everywhere at the same time.

“The Board will not rest in its oars until Basic education becomes the envy of others in line with what UNICEF and UBEC set as guidelines,” he said.

Also speaking, Dr Mohammed Lawal, the state’s Commissioner for Education, said the aim of the enrolment campaign is to mobilise traditional institutions to support enrolment drive in the state by sensitising parents and guardians on the need to send their children to school.

He added that the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) would also support whatever the traditional institutions are doing to achieve greater enrolment as well as continuity in education.

Earlier, Dr Nuzhat Rafique, the Chief of Field Office, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bauchi, recalled how the number of out-of-school children was reduced from 1.5 million to 500,000 through the effort of the governor with support from traditional, religious leaders, communities and parents.

“This is a huge progress but still, having 500,000 children out of school is one of the main goals for us to bring them also into schools.

“Education is the right of every child. No child should be out of school and that is my humble request that as the government is putting in policies, steps and strategies to bring these children back to school, everybody should key into it.”

While assuring UNICEF’s commitment and support to the development of basic education in the state, she called on all stakeholders to work together and ensure that every child is back to school.

News

UNILAG Honours Bayelsa Gov, Diri

Published

1 hour ago

September 5, 2025

Editor

The University of Lagos has completed a book project on the leadership qualities and governance style of Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri.

The Managing Director of the UNILAG Consult, Prof John Oyefara, who disclosed this on Thursday during a courtesy visit to Government House, Yenagoa, said the institution has also proposed a public lecture as well as endowing a Professorial Chair in the Department of Political Science in his honour.

UNILAG Consult was established in 1983 and incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act in 2013. It serves as the consultancy arm of the institution, providing research-driven, cross-sectoral technical services via access to the university’s academic expertise and facilities.

Diri’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, in a statement on Friday, quoted Oyefara as saying that the university had a track record of assessing the performance of various leaders in Nigeria and that the book titled “Leadership Chronicles of Governor Douye Diri” focuses on his exemplary leadership and achievements.

He said, “At the University of Lagos, we have a tradition of assessing leaders in Nigeria. We use our own templates and standards that are global to measure the leadership in Nigeria.

“We identified Your Excellency to be a leading star in Nigeria, based on leadership and governance. We decided to put together all your achievements. The purpose of our visit was to inform you about our project in three thematic areas. One, is on the publication of the book we have been able to put together about His Excellency’s achievements in the state.

“We also propose a public lecture where renowned leaders in Africa will deliver a lecture on leadership and governance to exemplify the achievements of the governor. The third one is for the Department of Political Science in the University of Lagos to see the possibility of endowing a professorial chair in the name of His Excellency.”

The Lead Editor of the project, Prof Hope Eghagha, also stated that the idea was an independent assessment of the governor’s performance in office, either in infrastructure or human capacity development, through interviews that were conducted.

Responding, Diri said he was pleasantly surprised by the gesture of the institution. He welcomed the idea of documenting his achievements, saying he had been nursing the idea of establishing a leadership institute to groom those with an interest in politics and political offices.

The governor said, “It is really interesting when people, without your prompting, decide to do a thing for the purpose of posterity. A lot of the time, we do not document these events and activities, as we look at them as not too important. But they are.

“I have toyed with the idea that if I had the resources, could I establish a leadership institution in Bayelsa State so that before anyone thinks of becoming a councillor, council chairman, commissioner, special adviser or even governor, he knows what he is coming to do in office?

“If you are not prepared for it, then we are bound to fail as a country and as a state. So, I have been pleasantly surprised by the University of Lagos, and I think it is a good thing. Let me also state that the success in Bayelsa is not all about me. It is actually about our team. We have a dedicated team of commissioners, special advisers, technical advisers, and everybody contributing their quota to the whole.

“That is why if anyone says we have done well in infrastructure, it is because down the ladder, those who have been vested with that authority have implemented our policies, projects and programmes to the best of what we expected to be.”

Diri approved the proposals from the delegation and thanked them for recognising him in the midst of others.

Serving as Bayelsa State’s helmsman since his Supreme Court-affirmed inauguration in February 2020, Diri has become noted for his inclusive leadership and development-oriented governance.

Against this backdrop, UNILAG’s decision to document Diri’s leadership style and legacy through a dedicated book, alongside a public lecture series and a named professorial chair, marks a rare scholarly honour reflecting both institutional respect for governance excellence and encouragement of lasting academic inquiry.

News

Lagos Begins Comprehensive Assessment Of Public Primary Schools

Published

2 hours ago

September 5, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Government has commenced its maiden NEEDS Assessment Project for all public primary schools across the state.

According to a statement on Friday by the Deputy Director, Information, LASUBEB, Abe Adunola, the initiative, spearheaded by the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, was unveiled on Thursday during a stakeholders’ engagement session.

The NEEDS Assessment Project is an evidence-gathering exercise designed to identify gaps in infrastructure, teaching capacity, and learning resources in public schools. It provides government with data to plan targeted interventions and allocate resources more effectively.

According to the board, the project will cover 1,238 public primary schools, vocational centres, inclusive units, and Local Government Education Authorities.

Board member of LASUBEB, Owolabi Falana, said the exercise was a major step in strengthening the foundation of basic education in Lagos.

Delivering the keynote address on behalf of the Deputy Chief of Staff, the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Project Implementation and Monitoring, Mr. Olusegun Sanwo-Olu, noted that the initiative reflected the state government’s resolve to drive education reform with data-driven interventions.

“This project is about clarity and intentionality. By understanding the realities in our schools, we are laying a solid foundation for smart planning, equitable resource allocation, and sustainable reforms. It is a bold step that will ultimately improve the quality of teaching, enhance learning outcomes, and prepare Lagos children to thrive in this fast-changing world,” he said.

LASUBEB Chairman, Dr. Hakeem Shittu, described the initiative as the first in a series of continuous exercises aimed at transforming Lagos public schools.

“This maiden edition of the Needs Assessment Project is only the beginning. It will be sustained as a continuous initiative to ensure our schools, teachers, and learners are never left behind,” he affirmed.

Highlighting the project’s benefits, Shittu explained that the assessment would lead to safer classrooms, improved facilities, empowered teachers, and better learning outcomes for pupils.

“The future of Lagos depends on how much we invest in our children today. This initiative gives us the clarity and direction to act decisively,” he said.

He further stressed that the project was not only about identifying gaps but also about developing practical solutions that would create conducive learning environments, improve teachers’ working conditions, and strengthen administrative capacity across schools.

Shittu also commended the contributions of teachers, administrators, and Local Government Education Authorities, while emphasising collaboration with the Project Implementation and Monitoring Unit for credible data collection.

He urged teachers, parents, and community leaders to support the exercise.

“The success of this project depends on our collective effort. Together, we can build a school system that empowers our children with the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to compete globally,” he said.

The initiative comes against the backdrop of several education reforms introduced in Lagos in recent years. Through the EKOEXCEL programme launched in 2019, the state government deployed digital learning devices and retrained teachers to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes in public schools.

The state has also embarked on school rehabilitation projects, the construction of new classrooms, and the expansion of inclusive education centres to accommodate children with special needs.

Despite these efforts, public primary schools in Lagos have faced challenges of overcrowded classrooms, poor infrastructure, and uneven access to quality teaching.

Education experts have long called for systematic assessments to guide interventions, making the NEEDS project the first coordinated attempt to collect comprehensive data for policy decisions in the state’s basic education sector.