haracter matters in politics. While politics is the only human endeavor which requires no qualifications for it has become a calling and a vocation for all and sundry, paradoxically, it is the most potent field that affects virtually every citizen; irrespective of whether one is pro-active, political junkie or apolitical. When the issues and matters of who gets what, where, when and how are being taken, it is dangerous to be ignorant. In God's plan for divine leadership, which also exerts great influence on secular affairs, the Creator of the heavens and the universe weigh character. The Twin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were highly "civilized" and rich; in fact, the Bible described the Sodomites and Gomorites as "well fed and sleek." Ezekiel 16:49 identified four basic ailments with the people of Sodom and their spoilt-rotten friends in Gomorrah namely: they were gluttonous; they oppressed the poor and needy; too much comfort destroyed them and laziness was their lot. Of all their sins, they heaped all up with sexual depravity and perversion. We emphasize more o the latter sins today without bordering about the four cardinal rots that destroyed the Twin Sinful Cities. Perhaps, their affluence and richness entered into their heads and they thought living life of sexual perversion and immoralities were de rigueur. The Good Lord didn't think so and He wiped them off the face of the earth by "raining down burning sulfur�and thus overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities-and also the vegetation in the land" (Genesis 19:24-25).
We read of how Esau lost his birthright, because of his love for his appetite which became his god, but the human flaw which turned one's belly into a god is the evidence of moral flaw. He cavorted with the pagan women of Canaan and lived it up, making his parents sick to their stomachs. He heaped up more sin than being held hostage by the demon of bowel, but also of sexual immorality. Ruben could not walk into his destiny, but for his moral flaw of sexual deviance and immorality which earned him a generational curse from his father (Gen. 49:1-4). No wonder, no king in Israel was ever recorded as descendant of Ruben, even as the first son. Samson became a perennial train wreck and missed his destiny on account of immoral character; David nearly missed it on the same account thus recording his only blemish in history and his son, Solomon ended on this sour note at the dusk of his life: "The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD's command." (I Kings 11:9-10). No one would have known how the enviable life of Joseph would have panned out, if he had succumbed to the fleeting pleasure of Potiphar's dalliance. These are not just stories of amusement and characterization of yesterday's men and characters of distant past, but reminders of the inevitable flaws of fallen men and women of yore living precariously on the edge of our eternal destinies.
Nigerians have been serially ruled, abused, dehumanized and scolded; beaten and whipped by base characters and nonentities who should have nothing to do with human management. Because we have suffered so much degradation from deranged, psychopathic and schizoid characters as a people, we have numbed to moral uprightness in our public characters thus succumbing to what former President George Bush referred to as 'the bigotry of low expectations." A governor left his state the other day to sleep with a call girl in a Lagos brothel arranged for him by his protocol boys and everyone thought it was no big deal. A national leader slept with his son's wife the other day and he still appears in public as a great man and an enforcer. A state governor sent $15,000 to a lady the other day to procure abortion and the so-called Nigerian mainstream press wouldn't touch the story, because it was considered as a Gonzo News. Yet, such "junk" news and stories are the drivers of public stealing and corruption in Nigeria.
As the people of Ondo State prepare to vote for a governor this year, the issue of character should take a front burner. As we take a cursory appraisal of all those offering themselves to the people of my state, it is apposite to look at the characters of these governor wannabes. I once asked the Lord why He rejected a friend of mine who I was his best man at his wedding twenty years ago now asking the good people of Ondo State to vote for him as governor. "He lacks moral character to preside over my people," the Good Lord told me. Here is someone who abandoned his wife and family for nearly a year; took a permanent suite at a hotel where he was cavorting with strange women; young girls and poor kids from poor homes vulnerable to sexual exploitation to a predatory commissioner who had stolen his Oga's money. Now the man is offering himself as a new kind of leader to Ondo State people. Only in Nigeria! Then there is another one who can't pay the salaries of his workers, but now is being referred to as honorable and he too wants to be governor. Our people must have been so terribly inured to "bigotry of low expectations" that we can tolerate anything from those aspiring to lead us. Then there is another who desperately wants a redo after he lost the other time and wagers between the failed past and his uncertain future, as if political office is a crash program. A deeply divided man with a conflicting mind, unsure of his mindset whose mind has to be made for him by external enforcers is no good material for the governorship seat of Ondo State. Here is how the Word of God describes such a mind: "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do" (James 1: 5-8).
Another candidate came from a long distance to display his wealth, because of lure for political power when he has never lifted a finger to help the masses. Our people will not be taken for a ride this year. Those who change political parties like their dross and panties are political chameleons that do not deserve the votes of our people. Character matters in the exercise of political leadership. In His dealing with the Israelites, the Lord God Almighty told the people that the sin that brought the downfall of the nation was caused by their rulers. Nigerians were once ruled by military gangsters, thugs, despots, murderers, rapists, drug runners, sexual perverts, thieves and morally-debased characters holding the rest of us hostage. We fought tooth and nail throughout much of the last decade of the 20th Century to get rid of such base characters. Many of us went to jail, some were killed and assassinated and many more paid with numerous deprivations and sacrifices to liberate our people from the clutches of soldiers of fortunes and idiots. Our fight was just and our principles were right and we triumphed in the end. The father of Mrs. Jumoke Ajasin-Anifowose was one of the foremost leaders of the anti-military squad created by the few lion-hearted ones among us in the Last Century. Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin stood with the Nigerian masses. He bearded the military lion in its den and refused to be intimidated by the military ogres. As the leader of the National Democratic Coalition-NADECO-Papa Adekunle Ajasin, the Lion of Owo looked the late Nigerian military dictator; Sani Abacha in the eye and told the psychopath to his face: Respect the voting will of the Nigerian people and sovereign wish of the Lord and restore MKO Abiola's mandate. At a grave risk to his personal life and at his old age, Papa Ajasin put all he had on the line, even when the then Military Administrator Anthony Ibe Onyeayugbulem invaded his country home at Owo and spat at old age, Papa was immovable. Such sacrifice was not for nothing. All those who are saying tongue-in-cheeks it was time to let another womb have it are poor students of history. In public service, some families are noted for their sacrifices and are always revere for their public spiritedness. Here in the United States, the Kennedys, Bushes and Roosevelt's are commended for their histories of public service and are often courted and respected. In South Africa, the name Mandela still commands political respect, because of the sacrifices of heroes past. The Nehru's and Gandhi's of India are revered and memorialized, because of their histories of public service and meritorious public good. Nigeria shouldn't be different.
Public service is not and should not be turned into avenue to know how much one has been able to steal from public service in Nigeria, but a veritable avenue to voters to ask each candidate: What have you done for my community? Where were you when others gave their future, comfort, safety, freedom and even lives for the public good? What was the contribution of your parent and entire families to the democratic freedom and the opportunities to elect our leaders that we are enjoying today? Ask those who come to you in Ondo State this year asking you for your vote these important questions. It is very important. Don't just vote for any charlatan who has stolen so much from public service; slept with all the women in the State, lack moral character, has no iota of moral principles; moves from one political party to the other and has no personal altruistic story to tell in the next governorship election in Ondo State this year. Subject the candidates to thorough examination and scrutiny; ask them how and from where they got the money they are boasting to spend in the forthcoming Ondo Governorship Election! At the appropriate time, we shall open all the cans for the good people of Ondo State, so our people can make well informed decision and matured opinion about each of the candidates offering themselves for governorship.
The people of Ondo State are not known to capitulate to carpet beggars as our leaders. This year 2016, the outcome of the Ondo State Governorship Election will NOT be decided by outside forces and external intruders; the political party platforms the candidates belong to will not matter and the support of so-called political juggernauts and kingmakers will not factor into the election, for as the Sovereign Lord God Almighty lives who is totally in control and absolutely in charge of the heavens and the earth; Mrs. Olajumoke Ajasin-Anifowose is the one destined to become the next Governor of Ondo State. Hear what the Sovereign Lord God told us to tell those who are running from pillar to post to curry the political favors and supports of mere mortals like them: These are the words the Lord God Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and earth and Ondo State say I should tell all the governorship candidates in Ondo State who think their APC or PDP self-proclaimed enforcers and kingmakers will make them governor this year as found in the Book of Habakkuk 1:11: "Then they sweep past like the wind and go on-- guilty people, whose own strength is their god." As I have disclosed in this column previously and reiterating same again, the outcome of the Governorship Election in Ondo State this year will shock many. As the Sovereign Lord God Almighty says in Isaiah 55: 8-9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.�" Those who pay perennial visits to Ikoyi, nocturnal voyages to Ila and are basking in their somnambulistic Aso connections will be taken aback this year in Ondo State. Both the governorship candidates of the PDP nor APC will not win the forthcoming 2016 Ondo State Governorship Election as the Sovereign Lord God Almighty lives and His Glory fills the heavens and the earth.
THE THIRD FORCE EMERGES IN EDO STATE 2016
I telegraphed it here in this column few weeks ago who would become the next Governor of Edo State. I disclosed that a young dark horse will emerge from the shadows and dazzle everyone and coast home to political victory to the consternation of all political bookmakers. The young man's name is Mr. Linus Idahosa. None of the so-called political juggernauts being bandied about in the Nigerian Press will step into the political shoes of outgoing Governor Adams Oshiomole in Edo State. Thank you Lord God Almighty for You have chosen to hide your mysteries and ways from the so-called smart and self-assured men and women of the world and have chosen to reveal them to unlikely and lowly of your children. Hear what the King of kings and Lord of lords says in I Samuel 16:7: "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
It is not in all political situations in human affairs that the Lord God Almighty is always involved on earth. Many people in the world do not realize this spiritual truth. As I explained in this column in the past, there are three known domains of human operations namely: the natural visual human life which is the corporeal earthly realm; the super-natural non-corporeal realm inhabited by Satan and his demons and the last and most powerful realm of all: the spiritual world inhabited by the Lord God Almighty and the angelic beings. This is the realm those of us who have seen the Lord God Almighty and are truthfully called by Him and have seen Him experientially operate as Apostle Paul disclosed in Ephesians 2:6: "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus," Not that we are going to be seated with Him in the future; we are already seated with Him, Hallelujah! Only those who are connected with this realm and vouchsafe its modus operandi and the heavenly organogram will understand what we are talking about here. This what those of us who operate in this spiritual realm by the Eternal Grace of the Father can confidently do that is not available to any other human being on the surface of the earth and in the supernatural domain inhabited by satan, his fallen angels and their human agents "�a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,�" (I Corinthians 2: 14-15). Here is one out of several examples the way that spiritual realm operates in human affairs.
A prominent man of Kogi State called me in Chicago from his base in Kaduna last year. He complained of his political woes and told me ad nauseam the many prophecies that have been revealed concerning his political life. I told him to give me seven days to find out from Daddy what he should do. After the seven days of "consultation" I told him to leave Kaduna State immediately and begin to prepare to become the next Governor of Kogi State after Gov Idris Wada. He said he wanted to become a Senator; I told him that was not the instruction I received from the spiritual realm. I told him he's from Okenne and it had been decreed that an Ebira person would become the next governor of Kogi State. He complained and gave excuses that the late Prince Abubakar Audu had the financial war chest and political mobilization that were unequaled and unrivalled in Kogi State. I laughed and asked him; who told you that Prince Abubakar Audu would return as Governor of Kogi State? This was a year before the election and as he began to argue with me again, I discontinued the conversation. Of course, we all knew what happened and the concatenation of events that followed which brought Yahaya Bello, the current man and an Ebira man into Lugard House. The day Bello was sworn in, this man called me and said he would be there next time, I told him it was all over and he would never, never become governor of Kogi Stae again.
In Edo State, something earth-shaking will occur this year. The political climate in Edo State will be completely altered forever. Just as there will be seismic change in neighboring Ondo State; political junkies and bookmakers will be taken aback. None of the PDP and APC Candidates parading themselves on the pages of newspapers will govern Edo State this year 2016, because "The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned� (Ecclesiastes 9:11) and "Not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6).
The candidates of the PDP and APC including their supporters will fight and kill themselves silly in Edo State this year. They will burn houses and set ablaze their properties and the falcon will not be able to hear the falconer. There will squabbles, skirmishes, betrayals, backstabbing of imaginable proportions and out of the killing fields and general state of despair among Edo State voters, there will palpable dislike and disenchantment with the two political parties of PDP and APC. This year, the so-called political godfathers will be put to shame and out of these political ruins and higgledy- piggledy, a Third Force will emerge. A new registered political party known as the Young Democratic Party of Nigeria (YPD) will field Mr. Linus Idahosa as its governorship candidate. The two mainstream parties of PDP and APC would think it is a joke. Mr. Idahosa, against all odds and to the bemusement of self-styled political godfathers in Edo State will become the next Governor of Edo State.
THE END OF THE ROAD FOR DAVID BONAVENTURE ALECHENU MARK IN BENUE POLITICS The D-Day has finally come for the man who has taken all and has returned nothing, absolutely zilch back to the Nigerian state and the Nigerian people. Right from the 1970s when he headed the Task Force on Abandoned Properties, one of the most sordid and cruelest moments in Nigeria's history after the fratricidal duel of 1966-1970; Mr. David Mark has become like the Biblical hell, which is expanding daily and cannot be satisfied. In his chequered timeline, David has been cheating and cheating, including even telling a lie about his official age. Now he is raising alarm that his life is being threatened by his political opponents. I read that Mr. Mark sent an SOS to the Inspector General of Police alleging threats to his life as the re-run election in Benue State closes in. Come to think of it; who could be after the life of a man who himself is a life-taker? Here is someone who goes about with political thugs and assassins intimidating his opponents. Mr. Mark has never won any election in Benue State since he returned from political exile after he narrowly escaped from the icy clutches of late Sani Abacha in the 1990s. Those he continues to intimidate and oppress were those that stayed behind to confront the Madman of Nigeria while David Mark was running his mouth wide in exile. He put the trios of Ray Ekpu, Yakubu Muhammad and Dan Agbese in trouble with his interview in the defunct Newswatch magazine and disappeared like fart into thin air during our democratic struggles. David ran away; Bonaventure picked race; Alechenu disappeared and Mark was nowhere to be found.
An abettor of democratic values and promoter of tyranny; a retrogressive, selfish and self-absorbed egotist; Mark continues to take, take and take without giving anything back in return. He once said tongue-in-cheeks when he was Minister of Communications during the disastrous years known as the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Dictatorship that telephone was a privilege and preserved of the elites and no poor Nigerian should own one. He was among the hard-assed ass... who aborted Hope '93 only to return in 1999 to become a beneficiary. He was among the pernicious principalities that caused Goodluck Jonathan to lose his political compass and the young man not to know his left from his right up to the 2015 Presidential Election in the PDP as every move by Alechenu has never been about the public good, but about self. David has stolen enough; it is time for Mark to step aside and the good people of Benue State should make it happen on Saturday. Mark my words; David Bonaventure Alechenu Mark will not return to the hallowed chambers of the Nigerian National Assembly on Saturday February 20, 2016 as the Sovereign Lord God Almighty lives and His Glory fills the heavens and the earth, Amen.
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