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In Quest Of True Religion ( 1)- Aare Kola Oyefeso

Published

6 years ago

May 24, 2020

Editor

By Aare Kola Oyefeso

A baby is adjudged to
have become a “true” living human only upon inhaling what is known by the Alchemist as *Vital Life Force or Ether, also referred to as Nous* upon exiting the mother’s womb.In the womb,the baby survives on the mother. With that first time experience,the baby cries piteously in reaction to the uncongenial environment it has suddenly found itself. While the soul agonizes its arrival into an inhamonious domain,the mother,father and relations of the baby rejoice at the new addition into the family.

The moment the baby is able to see, it rolls its eyes from one end to the other, marveling at the huge and variegated manifestations that present themselves before its eyes.

As the baby continues to grow, it thinks everything it sees has been brought about by the parents.When he grows and becomes a thinking child, it dawns on him the parents couldn’t have created everything he has been seeing.This is because he could now discern other children and their parents laying claim to other houses and other things different from those of his own parents.

The next thing the child is confronted with is,who created all these? Since it is obvious they weren’t created by his parents and neither by other people in the Community they live, he started imagining a Creator somewhere.

It is in the midst of such bewilderment that the parents enroll him in school and he is taken to Church every Sunday, if the parents are Christians. If the child is born into a Muslim family, he may be enrolled for Arabic lessons. Similarly, if the parents are Traditionalists or idol worshippers, the child may not have the choice initially, other than willy nilly toe the way of the parents.

*All these to a large extent account for our life patterning ie; The family we are born into, our earthly schooling and the environment in which, we are brought up-all will to a large extent, condition the choices we would be making during our lifetime.This makes the realist to insist the freewill of man is conditioned and that we are not truly free in the real sense. More so, the setting of a totally freed individual and an omniscient God doesn’t gel*

How could it? *Omniscience implies all-knowing. A Perfect God surely must be omniscient. That is, a Perfect God must know the three periods of time, being the past,the present and the future conjointly, for Him to be deemed as an Omniscient Lord. If He doesn’t, hardly does He qualify to be called a Perfect Being*

Where do we place our fabled free will in all these, if the Lord knows already the choices we are going to make and what will happen before it happens? To the fickle minded, one can be accused of schism, but should one be blamed for using the boon of better brain than that of the lower species? Psychologists have confirmed man is using less than 10% of his brain’s faculty and the ideal man is the homosapiens who uses his brain to the fullest. Indubitably,the true homosapiens is yet to be born.

This matter of freewill shall be taken up extensively in future series.

In the meantime, it is safe to say that a good number of us, settled for religion in our quest for the reason behind it all. Invariably, we have equally being luring our children into our religions as our parents did to us, hoping that religion will answer those questions we ourselves as parents haven’t been able to find solutions to. This is more or less “forcing” our beliefs on our offsprings, in the name of keeping them on good tracks and the path of rectitude. Thumb up for the parents!!!

We must give big kudos to religion and the humanity that have embraced one religion or the other.This is for the good reason that religion has made us not to wake up and just hit the road, without remembering the Giver of Life, as we pray to Him daily. The reverse is the case with the beings of the lower species. They are not given the grace to acknowledge,talkless suplicate to the Force behind all manifestations and which Power, we regard,adore and worship as God, Allah, Chineke, Eledumare et al.

This underscores the sine-qua-non of all Religions. The word Religion itself was an adaptation of the Latin word-Religare. The meaning of religare is to rebind or to rejoin. That is, religion at inception, was a means of rejoining us with the Creator.

Building on this, Religion could be described as a set of beliefs, passionately held by a group of people and often involves actions, rituals and rites. These beliefs according to some religious sects, are often linked to supernatural beings such as God, or a number of imaginary lesser gods or spirits.

Religion in the real sense was established essentially for two purposes. *The first is to enable us live a life of true human beings through the observation of religious injunctions and chiefly among them, is for us to love our neighbors as we do ourselves. Virtually all religions lay emphasis on the importance of Love. Whether the religions’ practitioners being the Priestly class are themselves fulfilling this basic religious concept of Love,is a different kettle of fish altogether*

*The other motive of religion is to serve as a catalyst to unite us with our Creator, while we are still living and as Christ said; The Kingdom of God is at hand. Another Saint was sarcastic about it he said*;

*Reliance on salvation after death is the finest form of self deception humans practice on themselves through of course the Priestly Class. If there is no salvation while alive, it won’t come after death*

He continued; *An illiterate can not be a scholar at death and similarly, a man who lived his life on crime while in the world can not turn to Saint at death,irrespective of prayers offered them both during burial*. *Whatever we intend to be after life, we must be practicing it while living, because the so called death is just a change of appearance*

*What really happens at death,is a separation of the soul and mind from the body and the body merely undergoes a process of metamorphosis in the sense that all the five (5) elements the body is made of, being earth,water,fire,ether and air return to their kindred elements, through cremation or lowering into the soil*

*The mind itself doesn’t belong to the earthly plane per se, but the causal plane where it must return to with all the impressions of the previous lives. Ditto the soul- deathless because it is of Divinity, the soul will reach back to the bosom of the Creator, provided it is free of sins and shorn of attachment for the earthly field. If it is not, certainly, the soul can not merit the bosom of the Creator and as Christ admonished, no re-admission to the unsullied state of the Supreme Lord, without the wedding garment*

*Whether any of the religions we have in the world today is still able to fulfill the latter purpose and for which all religions were at the outset set up to promote, is for the readers to judge by themselves, as we spread out facts on all the main religions of the world, because of the unfettered freedom that one is not under any oath as the Priests are,to defend their religions with all the imperfections. We are thus in a no-holds-barred voyage irrespective of whose ox is gored*

In the world today there are countless number of religious movements, but research has shown all of them are offshoots of the 12 main worldly religions. These prime religions in alphabetical order are;

Baha’i
Buddhism
Christianity
Confucianism
Hinduism
Islam
Jainism
Judaism
Shinto
Sikhism
Taoism
&
Zoroastrianism

Of the twelve (12) religions,three viz; Christianity, Judaism and Islam are mainly known to the people of the West. They are regarded as Abraham religions because their founders or major figures descended from Abraham. The expanse world was barely known then hence; People took what was happening in their divides as the be-all-and-end-all. They couldn’t imagine life happening else where.

*Because of this limitations, little did the writers of the Bible, Quran,Vedas, Adi Granth and other scriptures acknowledge that life existed long before their religions and that the Word of God was taught elsewhere as the only way to God*

*Jesus acknowledged this when He said; I have not come to erase the laws,but for the fulfilment of them. Who gave those laws to the world before Jesus?*

We must nonetheless, acknowledge the tremendous advantage of Religion because without it,the world might have run out of control. *Irrespective of the perversions introduced into different religions by the challatants and latter day Pastors, that have turned religion to merchandise, it was essentially through religion that the world’s populace have come to know what is right and wrong. What is immoral and what is righteous. After all, we are not all morally inclined*

Unquestionably, parents have tried in their own way to guide their children along the righteous path, but since children can not live with their parents all the days of their lives,religions took over from the parents and have continued to guide the conduct of man through countless homilies. Thus; It would be unfair to say religion has not positively impacted on our lives’ patterning.

This discourse is aimed at examining the impact of religion in shaping our lives in the earthly field and also to what extent religions are faring in uniting us with the Creator.

We are to assess and determine by ourselves which of the religions we know of anywhere in the world still teach or have idea of the primeval lofty aim of religion which is, uniting us with our Creator.

We must however make it clear that the facts contained in this discourse are far from being exhaustive and neither all inclusive. *Albeit; If we spend our lives inquiring about the true religion it is a life well spent instead of being led astray. This is provided we continue to practice Love all along our search*

*Readers are therefore encouraged to expand on this review and form their own opinions. To rely on the opinion of someone else presents us as slothful. Surely humans are not born to vegetate. Ipso facto,slummocking is not true living*

We will be evaluating from next week the extent some of the religions go if at all, in uniting us with the Creator, but the takeaway this week is;

*Religion is a necessity. Without religion, man is scarcely better than a wood that has no feelings. Nonetheless; If we are displeased with the mode of worship, or antics of the latter day Pastors that have turned religion into instrument of commerce and to oppress their followers to no ends,the fault is not with the religions and neither the Pastors, but the gullible followers who sheepishly follow religious leaders, who themselves are veritable victims of the mind. It all sums to the blind leading the blind

*Ramadan Kareem to the Muslims!!!

Aare Oyefeso, a businessman, writes from Lagos

Headline

Parties’ Deregistration: ADC, Not NDC, is the Target

Published

1 day ago

June 29, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

As the 2027 presidential election draws closer, intrigues, manipulations and maneuvers have continued to be the order of the day as political parties engage in one gimmick or another to outdo and undo one another.

While some are playing politics of numbers and conviction, others are engaging tendencies that tend to question the status quo and established principles under which genuine democracy is formed. As a matter of fact, fingers have been pointed at the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal government as the brain behind all machinations that have attempted to derail multi-party democracy, and institute a one-party state, which is alien to the Nigerian democratic roots. This is as a result of the constant imbroglio that has consistently engulf almost all the major political parties in the country.

Fresh facts have however, emerged to prove that every act of frustration thrown at the opposition has been indirectly aimed at the main opposition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

According to reliable sources, the recent deregistration of parties, especially the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), was actually targeted at the ADC.

Recall that the Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, on June, 26, set aside its earlier judgement directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the NDC as a political party. A ruling that put a question mark on the eligibility of the party presenting candidates in the forthcoming 2027 elections

The presiding judge, Isah Dashen, held that all relevant parties must be heard before any substantive decision can be made in the matter.

The court upheld the application filed by a certain organization, the Peace Movement Party (PMP), ruling that the party was a necessary party to the suit.

According to the judge, the earlier judgement was constitutionally defective as it was delivered without hearing from all interested parties.

He declared that such an omission rendered the entire process null and void.

Mr Dashen further ruled that the status quo be restored to what it was before the December 10, 2025 judgement, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

He also observed that certain material facts were suppressed in the earlier proceedings, which justified the decision to set aside the judgment.

Consequently, the court ordered that the substantive suit should begin afresh, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PMP and the NDC as parties to the case.

According to NAN’s reports, the applicant’s lawyer, Chikezie Ekeocha, told journalists that the PMP approached the court after discovering that NDC’s registration was based on a logo it had previously submitted to INEC before the commencement of the suit.

According to Mr Ekeocha, the court agreed that the applicant’s rights had been affected and consequently vacated the earlier judgement.

“The court has ordered all parties to return to the position they occupied before the judgment of 10 December 2025, and directed the claimants to join all necessary parties to ensure the issues in dispute are effectually and completely determined,” he said.

He explained that the implication of the ruling is that every action taken by INEC in compliance with the now-vacated judgment stands reversed.

“The recognition of the NDC, the issuance of its certificate of registration, its inclusion in INEC’s records, and any appearance on ballot papers arising from that judgement must be withdrawn pending the final determination of the substantive suit,” Mr Ekeocha stated.

He, however, clarified that the substantive case remains before the court and has not been decided.

“The matter has not been concluded. The court merely set aside its previous judgment and directed that the party whose interests were affected be joined so that all sides can be heard before a fresh decision is reached.”

Mr Ekeocha also dismissed suggestions that the court merely ordered parties to maintain the status quo, insisting that the ruling specifically directed a restoration of the position that existed before the 10 December 2025 judgement.

The ruling effectively returns the dispute over the registration of the NDC to the Federal High Court for a fresh hearing, with all relevant parties expected to participate before a new determination is made.

It would also be recalled that a few weeks earlier, the Federal High Court in Abuja, had ordered the deregistration of five political parties including the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The others are Action People’s Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and Accord Party.

However, on June 16, the Court of Appeal in Abuja halted the enforcement of the judgement, ruling that it violated its earlier ruling staying proceedings before the Federal High Court.

While INEC awaits the release of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment to deregister the NDC, the NDC has reacted, rejecting the judgment as travesty of justice.

Lending credence to the notion that the President Tinubu-led administration is basically targeting the establishment of the ADC as a party, and the candidature of its presidential flagbearer, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who is also the presidential candidate of the ADC, has stated categorically that there are plots to prevent the party from participating in the 2027 general election.

Atiku’s position is stated in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu on Monday, notifying the public that he had received credible information suggesting that political and legal manoeuvres were being deployed against the ADC, stressing that the persecution that has been thrown towards the NDC was a clear distraction as the main target is the ADC.

Atiku alleged that anti-democratic elements within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were working to ensure that the ADC is excluded from the ballot.

“We are fully aware of their plots. While they seek to sow confusion within the opposition, we know their real target is the ADC because it represents the most credible alternative,” he said.

Atiku called on Nigerians to reject any attempt to determine which opposition parties participate in the election.

“We therefore call on all Nigerians — not just ADC members and supporters — to rise in defense of democracy and reject any attempt by the ruling party to cherry-pick which opposition parties are permitted to participate in the next general election,” he said.

“Our message to the APC and the hooded men plotting in dark chambers is simple: you may conspire, but you will not succeed.

“If the APC is truly confident in its popularity, why is it so terrified of the ADC?”

He said he hoped the information available to him would not materialise but argued that recent political developments made such concerns difficult to dismiss.

“The pattern has become all too familiar. First, institutions that ought to be neutral are drawn into partisan contests,” he said.

“Then, frivolous litigations suddenly gain unusual momentum. Administrative powers are selectively deployed.

“Political pressure is mounted behind closed doors. Before long, democracy itself becomes the casualty.”

Atiku alleged that the ruling party has focused more on weakening the opposition than addressing the country’s economic and security challenges.

“The obsession with silencing the opposition has become so consuming that governance itself has taken a back seat,” he said.

“At a time when Nigerians are battling hunger, inflation, unemployment, insecurity, and collapsing purchasing power, those entrusted with public office appear preoccupied with political survival rather than national survival.”

Nigerians recall that ever since the official rejuvenation of the ADC in June/July of 2025, where the duo of Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola emerged as the party’s chairman and secretary respectively, the party has not known moments of peaceful coexistence as litigations from corners unknown have sprang up in a bid to destabilize the party and deprive it of the opportunity of featuring on the ballot paper come 2027.

ADC, as a child of circumstance emerged from the rumbles of the litigation-ridden former main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where two factions have consistently remelained at loggerheads over leadership. While the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who is working assiduously to ensure the reelection of Bola Tinubu, leads one faction, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who became a defacto head, leads the other faction. In all, PDP appeared to have no direction, forcing many of its members to jump ship, thereby birthing the ADC, and to a large extent, the NDC, which is presenting Peter Obi as the presidential candidate, with former Kano governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, as his running mate.

Sources also informed The Boss that the hasty reading and passage of the Electoral Act 2026 by the Godswill Akpabio-led National Assembly, with many great areas left unattended to, were also part of the grand design to deprive the ADC the constitutional rights of presenting candidates for the 2027 elections.

But both the ADC and the NDC has vowed that they would follow every process to ensure that the crackdown on opposition parties by the Tinubu administration comes to an abrupt end.

But beyond the intrigues, Nigerians are gearing up to participate fully in the forthcoming election with cross sections of the population either hailing Tinubu for his policies or knocking him for the untold hardship in the land.

Headline

South Africa Nothing Without Africa – MTN Boss, Mcebisi Jonas

Published

3 days ago

June 27, 2026

Eric

The MTN Group Chairman, Mcebisi Jonas, has condemned the ongoing anti-foreigner sentiment in South Africa, describing it as a symptom of State failure being cynically exploited by politicians with no interest in genuine solutions.

The speech is seen as one of the most substantive interventions by a senior business figure into xenophobic crisis currently plaguing South Africa.

Delivered during the funeral service of Zimbabwean-born activist and public servant, Thokozani Damasane, Jonas’ words have sparked a wave of discussion across South African civil society.

“I was thinking, what is home to Damasane?” he said. “Because I understand, and I understood very early in life, that home is where humanity is. Home is about humanness. It is about the good of humanity and striving for the good of humanity.”

Thokozani Damasane was born and educated in Zimbabwe before relocating to South Africa during the post-apartheid transition period. Jonas described him as arriving “as an outcast” into a country still finding its post-liberation footing – and choosing, nonetheless, to commit himself entirely to its struggles and its people.

“He immersed himself deeply into the struggles, into the pains of South Africans, and he became one of us,” Jonas said.

“In Damasane’s strength, our strength as South Africa and South Africans is reflected. And in his weaknesses, our own weaknesses are reflected.”

Speaking further, Jonas blamed the state for the failure being witnessed, emphasising that if foreigners leave South Africa today, the country’s problems will still persist.

“Foreigners can leave tomorrow – inequality will be with us,” he told the congregation.

“Foreigners will leave tomorrow – unemployment will be with us. Foreigners will leave tomorrow – our police will remain corrupt. Foreigners will leave tomorrow – our politicians will still be concerned with one thing: being elected and re-elected.

“The problem is the failure of the state. The State doesn’t manage immigration. It doesn’t manage its borders. It doesn’t enforce
law enforcement. It doesn’t manage education. What are you expecting?”

Jonas argued that this failure created fertile ground for political manipulation. “When people feel the burn, they become vulnerable to politicians whose sole purpose is to be elected and re-elected. Some of them have no credibility whatsoever. But they lead marches and tell our people that the problem is not us – it is foreigners.”

Jonas recounted a conversation he had witnessed between Damasane and a young man who had challenged the right of foreigners to be in South Africa. Damasane’s response, Jonas said, had stayed with him ever since.

“Damasane said to this guy: Just wait fifteen or twenty years. You will also want to leave your country.”

Jonas told mourners those words now carry a weight Damasane may not have anticipated. “As I stand up today, I look at South Africa. The level of oppression and inequality, the level of exclusion of our people, the level of corruption, the betrayal of the dream of liberation – those words of Damasane ring very loud in my ears.”

South Africa is nothing without Africa

Jonas closed with a call for what he described as a return to “national consciousness” – one rooted in continental solidarity and economic interdependence rather than ethnic exclusion.

“We are a nation embedded in Africa,” he said. “And without Africa, our growth as a country – economically – our fortune is intertwined with the growth of Africa. South Africa is nothing without Africa. And Africa is nothing without South Africa.”

He also reframed the question of legacy and identity for Damasane’s children, who were present. “Sometimes this thing called meritocracy is measured in wealth. No. It is values, it is principles, it is integrity. And your father had all of that.”

“We cannot judge people by their origin,” he told mourners. “We cannot determine the legal status of people by their origin.”

Headline

NDC Rejects Court Ruling on Party’s Registration, Heads to Appeal Court

Published

3 days ago

June 27, 2026

Eric

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), on Friday, vowed to challenge the judgment nullifying its registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), insisting that it would exercise its constitutional right of appeal.

Reacting to the ruling on Thursday, the party’s spokesman, Osa Director, said the NDC was still awaiting the certified copy of the judgment before making a comprehensive statement on the court’s decision.

He, however, confirmed that the party had resolved to head to the appellate court.

“We are still waiting to obtain a copy of the judgment. After reading the comprehensive judgment, we will make a detailed statement,” he said.

The spokesman added: “For now, what is certain is that we will exercise our right of appeal.”

Insisting that the party would challenge the ruling, he said: “It is our constitutional right to appeal, and we intend to exercise that right.”

When asked specifically whether the NDC would appeal the judgment voiding its registration, the spokesman replied: “Yes, the party will appeal the case.”

The party’s reaction came shortly after a Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State, in a judgement that nullified its registration by INEC, a development that could have significant implications for the NDC’s participation in the country’s political process ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The NDC, however, maintained that it would refrain from making further comments on the substance of the judgment until it had studied the full text of the court’s decision.

The party’s planned appeal is expected to set the stage for a fresh legal battle over its status and continued existence as a registered political party.