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Opinion: Unravelling The Puzzles Of Earthly Life-By Aare Kola Oyefeso

Published

6 years ago

April 19, 2020

Editor

By Aare Kola Oyefeso

In the penultimate message i hinted on reincarnation and entreated us to attempt to solve the riddle of Abiku/Ogbanje. We were to individually make recourse to the forebears to shed some light on the issue, if need be.

Rather than being part of the inquisition, few response i got was that some scriptures didn’t support the idea, while some would rather i explain the mystery.

With this mindset, we would prefer information on it from someone else. Thus,we miss the vital point that information and knowledge are not synonymous. Information is an experience of the other person that we are trying hard to believe, while knowledge comes from direct experience. It elevates us beyond the level of assumption, which belief is.

Whatever information we receive is not our experience and so, it is possible for us to be swayed by any other person on the same subject particularly, if such is sweet-mouthed. Because of this uncertainty, we are encouraged to do our own findings by experiencing what we are trying to understand and with direct experience, the whole world wouldn’t be able to change our perception of what we have experienced.

Man really knows not for being told. For a man to truly know he must be part of what he knows. Further to this, nothing or no word in the physical world can adequately explain some of the earthly phenomena talkless the inner world.

In 1 Corrinthians 2 vs 9 it is written; “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard and neither enter into the heart of man what the Lord has prepared for those who love Him”

The chapter plainly states how limited the spoken words are about inner spiritual occurence. Without attempting to be vulgar, someone who never had experience of sex, what can anyone use to relate the experience to the fellow. Similarly, to someone who has been blind from birth, how do we explain color to such.

The purpose of all these similes is for us to make attempt to elevate ourselves beyond information and go for direct experience, as only experience yields us true knowledge.

In the meantime, those who seek information on Abiku or Ogbanje are not alone. From time immemorial, there comes a time for every right thinking person, when the transient nature of worldly existence, with its manifold sufferings and sorrows capture our attention and we are compelled to seek answers to them. Least of them is Abiku or Ogbanje.

The truth is, mere reasoning and speculations have not helped much. It is obvious that our thought faculty can not supply us a satisfactory answer, when faced with perplexing questions about life.

Countless posers about the phenomenal world have baffled minds as profound as that of Socrates,of Galileo, Aristotle,Alexander the Great, a host of others that had transversed the world. In this part of the world the list included the Sage-Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who stood tall,head and shoulders above his peers, by devoting all his life to making life more abundant for his people. Yet,at the twilight of his lifespan, he was seeking for a book on life after death.

As we go on, attempt shall be made to explain Abiku or Ogbanje. They both pale among tougher questions of life such as;

How and why was the world created?

Why is the world so imperfect and open to criticism and abuse?

Where is so much misery and poverty across the land?

If God is good and all mercy,where did evil come from?

Why do we frequently have wars among Nations?

Is there a Satan?

Is everything managed by God?

Has man any say in his destiny?

Is there a soul and what happens to it before and after death?

Is this our present life, the beginning of our sojourning in this material world?

Is death the end of it all?

Or is there life after death?

Added to these are puzzles of free will, fate, predestination, volition and other knotty and complex questions that confound us daily, at the dawn of consciousness.

Furthermore, the concepts of God presented to man have been so contradictory and ill-defined. Due to these half-baked ideas,many rational individuals are beginning to revolt in disgust.

Sterile rituals, ceremonial prayers,parroting of scriptures, trekking to holy places and holy baths have ceased to satisfy our pining for Truth and Reality. To the man who uses a bit of intelligence, superficial worship has never appealed to him.

How can he,when Christ taught over 2000 years past in John 4 vs 20 on quote;

“Our Fathers worshipped in this mountain, ye think Jerusalem is where to worship. Woman, the hour cometh when you need not go to any mountain, even to Jerusalem, for the true worshippers shall worship God in Spirit and in Truth”

Despite this exhortation, have we stopped going to those “holy” places when affixing of JP to our names is deemed a religious achievement, only in Nigeria though.

The crux of the matter as emphasized by Jesus is the ability to worship God in Spirit. In Truth could easily be realized through MORALITY.

This worship in Spirit is a different kettle of fish. It represents the only way for Redemption. In effect, any worship beside the worship of the Lord in Spirit is superficial, a scratch on the surface that takes us to no where.

The Bible contains a lot of spiritual gems and it takes highly evolved souls to identify them. To correlate the essence of worship in Spirit, the Messiah again declared in 1 Corrinthians 3 vs 16 -17 that;

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy and that’s what you are”

We read this in the Bible but it seems we don’t really believe what Jesus said. If we did, we wouldn’t appreciate any man made temple than the temple of God Himself-The human body. In defence of man made temples, we are ready to kill humans- the temple of God for desecrating our brick and mortar temples.

In another vein, Jesus said; “Pull down this temple in three days I will put it up, but defile not your body, for ye are the temple of the living God”

This underscores how sacred the temple of God- the body of man that we regard less than we do the stones,sand and cement we mixed together and refer to as Churches, Mosques, Gurdwara, Sanghats and by other names in different climates.

Also in concurrence, we read in Psalm 139, that; “Man is fearfully and wonderfully made” It is either we equally don’t believe this statement or we haven’t really considered its true meaning. If we had, we would have inquired as to how man has been fearfully and wonderfully made.

Yet, without understanding the truth of this statement, we wouldn’t be able to know how to truly worship the Lord in Spirit. The Bible is replete with lessons on worshipping in Spirit. Chiefly among them would be found in Matthew 6 vs 22 on quote;

“Your eye is the lamp of the body, let your eye be single and your body will be full of light”

How do we make our eye single? We will continue with this in the next series.

For now, it is meet i make it unequivocal that not until we understand and practice how to make our eye single, all our penances, holy birth,night vigils, payment of tithe and all our other external rituals and ceremonies will not avail. They all sum up to the pouring of water off a duck’s back and we wouldn’t fare better than the average social reformers.

Aare Kola Oyefeso., a businessman, writes from Lagos

Headline

Israeli Ambassador Accuses Iran of Spreading Terror, Sponsoring Extremist Activities in Nigeria

Published

1 day ago

March 6, 2026

Eric

Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, has accused Iran of sponsoring extremist activities in Nigeria and other parts of the world, alleging that Tehran supports groups aimed at destabilising countries while pursuing its hostility against Israel.

Freeman made the remarks on Friday while speaking during an interview on The Morning Show on Arise News.

The envoy claimed that Iran is the only country within the United Nations that openly expresses a desire to destroy another sovereign state, referring to repeated threats against Israel.

According to him, the Iranian government has, over several decades, supported militant groups and terror organisations around the world in pursuit of that objective.

Freeman alleged that Iran has backed groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, adding that Tehran was also behind the October 7 attack carried out by Hamas against Israel.

He further claimed that Iranian activities aimed at spreading instability have been observed across several regions, including Europe, Australia, and parts of Africa.

Speaking specifically about Nigeria, the Israeli ambassador alleged that the Islamic Movement of Nigeria receives backing from the Iranian government.

According to Freeman, statements of support from Iran’s leadership, including posts by Ali Khamenei on social media, have openly indicated such ties.

He said: “The issue here is about Iran. Iran is the only country in the world, in the United Nations, who expressly desires to wipe another country off the face of the earth. Iran has stated its very policy is to destroy Israel. Is to wipe Israel off the map is to make sure they kill every single person and no regime, no country that has an express desire to destroy Israel, and it’s not only an expressed desire.

“We’ve seen over 47 years, they’ve taken all the actions they can in order for that to happen. We’ve seen them sponsor terror organizations. They were behind October the seventh massacre of Hamas. We’ve seen them sponsoring Hezbollah. We’ve seen them acting in Europe. We’ve seen them acting in Australia. We’ve seen them acting in Nigeria.

“We’ve seen these people acting all across the world in order to spread disturbance for them to try and carry out their aim of destroying Israel, and Israel will not allow another country to have nuclear weapons when they’ve expressly stated they want those weapons to destroy Israel”.

“I think that it is well documented. We know that there are certain movements, for example, the Islamic movement of Nigeria is sponsored and is backed by the Iranian regime. This is not me saying this, we’ve seen that documented by the Iranian regime.

The Supreme Leader posted on X his support and his backing there. So that’s very open. And there are other areas as well that Iran is working for, destabilizing, not only Nigeria, but all of West Africa.”

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Why Nigerians Must Reject INEC’s Revised Timetable – ADC

Published

7 days ago

February 28, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), during the week, released a fresh elections timetable, with major amendments to accommodate the just passed and signed Electoral Act 2026 by the National Assembly and President Bola Tinubu respectively.

Following the repeal of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the enactment of the Electoral Act, 2026, which introduced adjustments to statutory timelines governing pre-election and electoral activities, the Commission has reviewed and realigned the Schedule to ensure full compliance with the new legal framework.

Accordingly, the Commission has resolved as follows:

Presidential and National Assembly Elections will now hold on Saturday, 16th January 2027 as against the earlier stated February 20, 2027
Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections will now hold on Saturday, 6th February 2027 as against the former date of March 6, 2027

Also in accordance with the approved Schedule of Activities, the electoral bidy noted in the revised timetable that:

Conduct of Party Primaries, including resolution of disputes arising from primaries, will commence on 23rd April 2026 and end on 30th May 2026.

Presidential and National Assembly campaigns will commence on 19th August 2026.

Governorship and State Houses of Assembly campaigns will commence on 9th September 2026.

As provided by law, campaigns shall end 24 hours before Election Day. Political parties are strongly advised to adhere strictly to these timelines. The Commission will enforce compliance with the law.

But in a swift reaction, the opposition coalition, African Democratic Congress (ADC), rejected the revised 2026–2027 general election timetable, describing it as a politically biased schedule designed to favour the re-election agenda of President Bola Tinubu, and calling on all Nigerians to speak up enmasse to reject the revised timetable.

The ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Friday argued that the new deadlines and compliance requirements under the Electoral Act 2026 create near-impossible hurdles for opposition parties seeking to field candidates.

On February 13, INEC initially scheduled the 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections for February 20, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections were fixed for March 6, 2027.

The timetable, however, faced objections from some Muslim stakeholders who noted that the dates coincided with the 2027 Ramadan period.

Following the concerns, the National Assembly amended Clause 28 of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, reducing the required election notice period from 360 to 300 days, allowing INEC to adjust the election dates.

Subsequently, INEC released a revised schedule on Thursday, signed by its Chairman, Joash Amupitan, moving the Presidential and National Assembly elections to January 16, 2027, and the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections to February 6, 2027.

Reacting, the ADC said the requirement that political parties submit a comprehensive digital membership register by April 2, 2026, effectively bars opposition parties from participating.

The party stated: “The African Democratic Congress rejects the updated 2026–2027 electoral timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission. What has been presented as a routine administrative schedule of the upcoming general elections is, in fact, a political instrument carefully structured to narrow democratic space and strengthen the incumbent administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“According to the timetable, party primaries are to be conducted between April 23 and May 30, 2026, just 55 to 92 days from today. However, more significant is that, pursuant to Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties are required to submit their digital membership registers to INEC not later than April 2, 2026.

“That is only about 34 days away. Section 77(7) further provides that any party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated time shall not be eligible to field a candidate. These are not routine administrative rules but are deliberately constructed barriers designed to exclude the opposition from participating in the election.”

The party further noted that Section 77(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 requires the digital register of members to contain name, sex, date of birth, address, state, local government, ward, polling unit, National Identification Number (NIN) and photograph in both hard and soft copies, while Section 77(6) prohibits the use of any pre-existing register that does not contain the specified information. It warned that failure to meet these requirements would lead to disqualification.

The ADC questioned the fairness of the digital membership requirement, noting that the ruling All Progressives Congress began its registration process in February 2025, long before the requirement became mandatory.

“It is not a product of foresight but insider advantage. They knew what was coming. They therefore had one full year to carry out an exercise that other political parties are expected to complete in one month, during which they must collect, process, collate and transmit large volumes of digital data to INEC under the threat of exclusion. This is practically impossible.

“Democratic competition is based on a level playing field that does not give any contestant an undue advantage. A system where one party exploits incumbency to gain a one-year head start on a requirement that other parties only became aware of when it was nearly too late is a rigged system.”

The ADC said it has joined other opposition parties in rejecting the Electoral Act 2026, adding that the INEC timetable is equally rejected as it appears designed to serve what it described as a self-succession agenda.

“Let it be clear that ADC will not take any action that appears to confer legitimacy on a fraudulent system. We are reviewing our options and will make our position known in the coming days,” the party said.

The party also called on civil society organisations, democratic stakeholders and Nigerians to scrutinise the timetable and demand fairness, stressing that democracy cannot survive when electoral rules are structured to produce predetermined outcomes.

The party has consistently accused the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) of scheming to silence the opposition as the 2027 General Elections draw closer, citing his manipulation of state governors and Assembly members from jumping ship, and settling with the ruling party.

Presently, the president’s party has a total of 31 out of 36 states governors, more than majority of the national and states Houses of Assembly.

A frontline publisher and chieftain of the ADC, Chief Dele Momodu, has warned that Tinubu is gradually transforming into full-blown dictatorship, stressing that his second term in office would turn state governors into ‘total slaves’.

Headline

Second Term for Tinubu Will Turn Governors into Total Slaves, Dele Momodu Warns

Published

1 week ago

February 28, 2026

Eric

Chairman, Ovation Media Group, and former presidential aspirant, Aare Dele Momodu, has expressed strong concern over what he described as growing political support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu among state governors across the country.

Speaking during an interview on News Central TV, Momodu said he was shocked by the level of backing the president is reportedly receiving, warning that Nigeria’s democracy could face serious risks if the current political trend continues.

The media entrepreneur cautioned that allowing Tinubu to secure a second term in 2027 could, in his view, lead to excessive concentration of power. He particularly criticized what he described as a growing wave of opposition figures aligning with the ruling All Progressives Congress> (APC).

Momodu referenced reports of opposition governors, including Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, allegedly moving closer to the ruling party, describing the development as politically troubling.

According to him, some governors are allegedly competing to demonstrate loyalty to the president ahead of future elections.

“The governors are fighting to ensure Tinubu wins a second term, fighting to be the biggest thug for him. If a man in his first term can capture the bodies and souls of Nigerians this way, imagine what he would do with a second term. It will be a full-blown dictatorship, and the governors will regret it as they become total slaves to him,” Momodu said.

He concluded by urging Nigerians to remain vigilant and actively protect democratic institutions, warning that unchecked consolidation of political power could threaten the nation’s democracy and future stability.

Gistmania