A new beginning

                                                            Every 31^st of December, people troops out of churches and mosques greeting and hugging each other and indeed complementing each other after appreciating God for the gift of life, they have in their mind the belief that old things have passed away and indeed new things are up to life, I reminisce about the past and tried to figure out what the difference is between the old ways and this new beginning, though, the Dictionary defines new beginning as recently starting something that is different from what has been existing in the past, but I felt something different, looking at the difference between yesterday and today which made me realize that the only difference that exists is alphabetical, it is the spelling that differentiate the two, we slept and woke up yesterday and the cycle will continue today with all other things being equal.

Aside the spelling, another thing that differentiates the old times and the new beginning is the mindset, what lives in our heart, what idea did we used yesterday and plan do we have for the future, certainly, the plan and idea used yesterday, if not completely different must have a slight modification, this which confirms the difference between the old times and the new beginning.

After appreciating God for the gift of life bestowed on us in the years past, we need to gather effort in forging ahead in the new year, we need to dust the old ideas, polish the ideas that failed while setting out last year and project a scale of preference for the activities that has been or that would be lined up for the new year.

Starting new year or new project means starting afresh, though some part of us may seemed rigid but the fact remains that the effort must be put in place to make sure that this time around, a strong difference is noticed in all our activities, one should have in himself a bunch of fears, you need to be reminded that the future may not be as appealing as the past, that new year will be a field full of thorns that if necessary care is not taken would leave on one a lasting wound that may discourage one from moving ahead, these pre-thought happening that have been put in place was not to restrain you from stepping forward but they are just there to remind you that today may be better than tomorrow and vice versa.

When Adeolu, an average student that just finished his secondary school was leaving home for university, his parents told him that perfection is a child of repetition that if he could change his mindset from average to exceptional and master everything that have been taught in class, read it and repeat it consistently he would frenetically rise from being trial in class to being what any student could have dreamt of, days passed and with great effort, at the end of the first session in school, Adeolu made 4.90 out of the maximum of 5.0 cumulative point average, another student that finished her secondary school in flying colour, she has the ability and prowess to excel in university after getting admission but because of her prowess forget to draw plan out for her new endeavor, she thought she could main her usual stand as always but the story changed not because she is not as brilliant as before but this happened because the plan for the new beginning was not in place.

It is necessary to be happy when starting something new but planning well will make one happier as you move through the endeavor.

Onalaja, Oluwakemi and Dele
| credits: Olaleye Aluko

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Doctor sells week-old baby to couple for N300,000

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The police in Lagos have arrested a trado-medical doctor ─ Olawale Onalaja ─ for allegedly selling a week-old baby to a couple for N300,000 in the Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the couple, Dele and Oluwakemi Ayangbile, who had also been arrested by the police, allegedly paid the sum to the native doctor before taking the baby to their apartment in the Mile 12 area.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the mother of the baby, 29-year-old Idiat Babatunde, was a student of a polytechnic in Osun State, and was preparing for her convocation when she was delivered of the baby on Saturday, September 5.

It was gathered that after the delivery, Idiat, who had a quarrel with her husband, Akinola Babatunde, had taken the baby to Onalaja, said to be a family friend, on September 13, and requested that he kept the child for her, while she travelled to school.

Our correspondent learnt that Onalaja, who lived in Ikola Odunsi Street in Iyana Ipaja, however, invited the Ayangbiles and sold the baby to them for N300,000.

It was learnt that when Idiat returned from school, Onalaja lied that the baby was in custody of a government-owned orphanage where he would be properly taken care of.

Our correspondent gathered that the buyers, the Ayangbiles, took the week-old baby to their rented apartment. But their suspicious landlord was said to have reported the matter at the Ketu Police Division after the baby had been with the couple for three days.

Our correspondent learnt that the police thereafter arrested the Ayangbiles, and also picked up Onalaja.

The wife, Oluwakemi, said she had been barren since 2009 when she got married, adding that Onalaja, who was a family friend, had earlier advised her to adopt a child.

She said, “I have known the traditional doctor since 2013. I got married in 2009 and I used to have miscarriages. It was while looking for treatment that I met him. In 2014, he advised that I should adopt a baby, but I did not agree.

“Two Mondays ago, he called me on the telephone and said I should meet him. He told me that he had a baby at hand to give us, adding that he would obtain all the necessary papers. I then discussed it with my husband and he said we should go for the baby since Onalaja was going to get the papers. He did not tell us that the baby’s mother was not aware of the transaction.

“I paid him N300,000, and brought the baby home. But after three days, the police came to arrest my husband and I. We have been barren for six years, and we need a child. We mean no harm to the baby.”

Onalaja, however, told our correspondent he collected only N156,000 from the couple, which was the sum to process papers from the government ministry in Alausa.

He said, “The agreement between the mother of the baby and I was that I would take the baby to an orphanage. The mother agreed to collect the baby back after three months in government’s custody.

“It is true that I collected N156,000 from Kemi and gave the baby to her. I wanted to take the baby to Alausa to register in an orphanage. But I was called on the telephone that the couple was arrested by the police. That was how I was also arrested. I do not sell babies. The mother is known to me.”

The mother of the baby, Idiat, said she had a quarrel with her husband, who was away in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and she gave the baby to Onalaja, so she could concentrate on her academics.

She said, “I had a quarrel with my husband, and so he was not at home when the baby was born.

“I gave the baby to Onalaja a week after while I went to school. It was when I returned that I realised that my baby had been sold. But I am happy to be reunited with him.”

A police source, however, told our correspondent that the mother of the baby knew about the sale of the baby.

The Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said the baby had been reunited with the parents, while the suspects would be charged to court.

The CP added that the command would not condone any act of criminalities in the state.

He said, “The couple, who were the beneficiaries of the baby, was arrested alongside the self-styled doctor. The police have recovered the baby and identified the parents.

“Although the baby has been returned to the mother, he is still under the watch of the Family Support Unit of the command.

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Deadly blast hits Yemen mosque at start of Muslim holiday

At least one blast tore through a mosque in Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa Thursday, witnesses said, targeting Shiite worshippers during prayers at the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and leaving at least 25 dead.
The attack happened in the Balili mosque near a police academy in Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthi Shiite rebels, according to witnesses. Some reports said there had been two explosions, both by suicide bombers.

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At least 25 people were killed, medics told the AFP news agency, with dozens more wounded.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Yemeni capital has been shaken by a string of bombings of Shiite mosques in recent months claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.
The radical Sunni Muslim group considers Shiites to be heretics and has also claimed bombings of mosques in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have seized several regions of Yemen including Sanaa which they overran a year ago.
Pro-government forces backed by Saudi-led air strikes have recently managed to wrest back some southern provinces, including Yemen’s second city of Aden.
The Islamic State group and the Yemen-based branch of its jihadist rival Al-Qaeda have exploited the turmoil to boost their activities in the impoverished country.
The bombing came as Muslims around the world celebrated Eid al-Adha – the feast of sacrifice – which Muslims mark by prayers in congregation at mosques.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

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FG won’t give up anti-corruption war –Osinbajo

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the Federal Government will not relent in its anti-corruption battle.

He said the anti-corruption crusade embarked upon by President Muhammadu Buhari was not meant to intimidate anybody in the country as being insinuated in some quarters.

Osinbajo, who stated this in a chat with some journalists on Friday at a burial ceremony of a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, the late Mrs. Janet Oladoye, in Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State, accused the Peoples Democratic Party of trying to prevent the anti-corruption war.

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The Vice-President, who was welcomed at the event by a large crowd of residents of the town and members of the APC from the 18 local government area of the state amid tight security, explained that the anti-corruption crusade was not designed to intimidate any politician.

According to him, the list of the people who have been arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission so far shows that the anti-corruption war is not a witch-hunt.

He, however, said that anyone found guilty of corruption would be made to face the wrath of the law irrespective of his status.

Suspect selling properties to return N103m loot — ICPC

ICPC Chairman, Ekpo Nta

The Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Mr. Ekpo Nta, on Thursday, said a Federal Pay Officer who allegedly diverted N103m meant for three Federal Government colleges had been selling off his properties to pay back the loot.

The ICPC Chairman said while the commission had recovered N53m from the suspect, he would remain in the commission’s custody till the recovery of the balance.

Nta said this at the 2nd Annual Colloquium organised by the law office of Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, in Abuja on Wednesday, according to an email sent by the Resident Consultant, ICPC, Mr. Folu Olamiti, to SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday.

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The ICPC boss said the commission had recorded successes in the fight against corruption, starting with the recovery of assets seized from officials of government who he said were being investigated for living above their means.

He said although the law provided that anyone whose assets were seized had the right to challenge the seizure within one year. He stressed that nobody had attempted doing so to prove his innocence.

Nta said, “We just returned close to N1bn to the Federal Ministry of Environment and N53m to three colleges in Ogun State.

“An official in the ministry took the money and lodged it into a dedicated account. We tracked it and recovered the money. The N53m we just returned to the schools was recovered from a Federal Pay Officer in Ogun State.

“The man is currently in custody and we will keep him there so that we will be able to recover the entire N103m that he took. He has been disposing of his properties to ensure that he pays up.

“The sum of N103m taken by the Federal Pay Officer was meant for feeding of students in those schools. These are what we have been doing to return integrity to the society.”

The ICPC boss had handed over the sum of N924m diverted from the account of the Federal Ministry of Environment to the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mrs. Nana Nebe, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

Same day, Nta also handed over the sum of N56.2m to three Federal Government Colleges – the Federal Government College, Odogbolu; Federal Government Girls College, Sagamu; and Federal Science Technical College, Ijebu Mushin.

Plug revenue leakages, Sanusi tells Buhari

Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi

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The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammad Sanusi, on Thursday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to plug revenue leakages in the country if he must make headway in its anti-corruption crusade.

Sanusi, who maintained that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation had been a drain pipe to the Nigerian economy for a long time, spoke in Lagos at ‘the Federal Government Budget Symposium’ organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

The emir was the royal father of the day at the event titled “Come Nigeria – The nation’s fiscal challenges and way forward for the new administration.’

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He said, “No matter how good your budget is, if you cannot do simple things like track your oil revenue, you cannot meet the basic government’s obligations to the citizens”

“Before the government goes borrowing, they need to find out why revenue is so low, given that our GDP is supposed to be high”. he said.

He also faulted the NNPC’s swap of crude oil, saying that the country had always been on the losing side in the deal.

“Nobody does swaps unless country like Iran when it is under economic sanctions and can’t sell its oil at the international market or may be your crude is of very low quality,” he said.

The emir added that country was not actually subsidising the price of petroleum products, it was only hedging it, adding that the oil subsidy was structured in a way that could give a lot of room for manipulation.

“Anybody who knows economics knows what subsidy and hedging are. We don’t have subsidy, we have hedge,” he added.

According him, there was no way the country could win with this hedging.

He wondered how the country’s Gross Domestic Product was said to have gone up after the rebasing of the country when production did not in any way increase.

Earlier, the President, ICAN, Samuel Deru, had stated that the ratio of recurrent to capital expenditure at 70:30 was scandalously disproportional.

“As a professional body, we strongly believe that the nation’s economy needs surgical and drastic reforms beyond cosmetic privatization of government companies. And this should be begin with plugging of all revenue leakages, revisiting and redefining of our priorities as a nation, slashing of cost of governance (e.g. by reducing Ministries, Departments and Agencies), investing more in capital goods, enforcing fiscal discipline and above all, leveraging our huge natural and human resource endowments to reposition the nation on the path to sustained growth and development,” he said.

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Footballers use charms to win matches – Taribo

Former Super Eagles defender Taribo West is revelling in his pastoral duties after a hard life growing up, writes ’TANA AIYEJINA

These days Taribo West is home alone in his Opebi, Lagos mansion, away from the glamour and limelight he once enjoyed as a superstar footballer.

He no longer wears the flashy and oftentimes crazy hairstyles that stood him out in the pack. Baldness has set in and he is now clean-shaven. He is no longer “fearfully made” as he was once described by a comedian, because of his looks.

In his footballing days, Taribo was truly fearsome, an attacker’s nightmare. He had the crunchy tackles and would kick you on and off the ball, and force you into intimidation with his looks, gestures and power.

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Today, he is a far cry from that personality. What you have now is the born again Taribo West; the pastor and founder of Shelter in The Storm Miracle Ministries of All Nations.

“I spend most of my time at home meditating. All I want to do is to keep spreading the gospel. In my own little way, I have been into evangelisation visiting places like Ughelli and within the Orile community, Ajegunle and so on. God has been kind during these visits to preach the gospel to people who are yet to receive Christ. We believe He will take us globally very soon,” Taribo said.

Fascinatingly, the Rivers-born preacher prefers taking the gospel mostly to the ghettos. It might not be unconnected with his childhood. Born in Port Harcourt, he grew up in Shomolu, a neighbourhood in Lagos, where he was involved in gang fighting but with a reputation as a footballer of note in the area.

Taribo lived life on the streets and witnessed attacks, robberies, fighting and all manner of vices on a daily basis. But he had a rethink of his dangerous lifestyle after he watched his best friend stabbed — by a rival gang— and bled to death.

Afterwards he devoted more of his time to playing football. After a stint with Port Harcourt side Sharks, he moved to Julius Berger in 1992 and spent just a season with the Bridge Boys, before sealing a dream move to French side, Auxerre.

Perhaps his childhood experiences informed his decision to reach out to the youths in such areas.

“Your background experience counts. We turn to God to give us direction. I’m happy how far He has taken us.

“The gospel is for the poor, rich and noble. Part of the gift God gave me is to reach out to the downtrodden. It is good if you can reach out to the downtrodden, preach the gospel to them and try to meet some of their needs through humanitarian services. I’m grateful to God for using me to spread the gospel across to these people,” he said.

On getting to Europe, Taribo would find himself entangled in another life of charms and superstitious beliefs.

A move from Auxerre to Milan saw him playing for rivals AC and Inter — one of few players to achieve the feat — in a three-year stint in Italy.

With a new-found life of affluence, the big defender paid huge sums of money for him to be supplied charms to win games, protect him from career-threatening injuries and also to be foretold the results of matches before they were played.

The 1998 UEFA Cup winner used to burn candles and hold a magical stone from Israel before games but he is bewildered that people are reluctant to publicly identify themselves with the practice, saying players and officials are deeply involved in the act.

Taribo said, “Of course yes (I was involved). I don’t know why people decline to talk about their involvement with charms. Football has to do with a lot of powers. When there are big events, you look at the stadium, you see people, fans invoking all kinds of things; magicians are there, voodooists are there.

“In my playing days, when I was ignorant, I used to get some mallams and babalawos (traditional doctors) to make charms for us, which we took to (national) camp. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

“In some clubs, before every game, the president or leader of the club will give you a lucky charm to play with. They will tell you to put it in your boots or socks and play. It’s their superstitious belief; that it can help them win matches.

“There are some coaches who are connected to African magicians and soothsayers from Senegal, Burkina Faso, Zaire or even Nigeria. These people are consulted to give these coaches results of games even before the matches are played.

“These people see strange things and they can tell you with their magic and charms, what the outcome of a match will be. People believe and use it. It works for those who believe in it. I saw it, I experienced it, I was with players that used it and I used it. So, why are people denying it? There are charms and rituals in football. It still exists.”

When Patience Ikemefuna, an evangelist who lives in America paid Taribo a visit in Milan, it marked a new phase in the 1996 Olympic Games gold medallist’s life.

Ikemefuna was perplexed when she discovered that Taribo was deeply involved in occultism. There were charms in his wardrobe and other parts of his apartment. Even though her host resisted initially, she convinced him and after several praying sessions, Taribo gave his life to Christ.

Today, even though they are not biologically related, he refers to Ikemefuna as “my sister.”

“God used her to change my life and ever since, my life has never been the same. I’m grateful to her. When I had an encounter with God and I became born again, I discovered that these powers were powerless. It was an avenue to collect money from us. There are lots of voodoo practices in football. If you are not with God, you have to be with the devil; with the devil they come with everything,” he added.

What is the difference between life in Christ and one filled with charms?

“You can’t compare,” he said. “When I was living that ignorant life, I was in darkness. In the darkness, the devil can give you what God can also give you, but he will give you without joy and peace. Eventually, you will end up in sorrow. But when you experience the joy of Christ, it adds no sorrow.

“The joy of the Lord is not only my strength; it gives me everything I need in life. The love of Christ comes with freedom, success, favour, expansion and a better life. When you have all these, you have everlasting peace. That is why I am comfortable today and I’m happy how God has seen me thus far.”

But being a pastor doesn’t mean he is free from temptations. In fact he realises that there are even tougher battles to fight as a cleric.

“Temptation is permanent; it’s there every hour, every day but if you begin to study the Bible, there are principles that God has laid down for us. If you follow this, the devil will not keep you.

“From my house to the bus stop, I may see a young girl not properly brought up, dressed half- naked walking on the streets. You will see temptation right there. But you have to pray for God’s grace to overcome the temptation.”

After a career that has seen him play football in Nigeria, France, Italy, England, Germany, Yugoslavia, UAE and Iran, Taribo has seen it all and aptly names his church a shelter.

He added, “We told ourselves to fast and ask God for a name for the ministry. In the process, a sister came up and said a voice told her that we should call the ministry Shelter in The Storm Miracle Ministries. That’s how we got the name.

“During my journeys, God created a shelter for me and transferred me into that fold. There are lots of natural disasters everywhere in the world in these last days. There are crisis in Asia; there is terrorism and sectarian groups springing up. People are migrating from all over the world to Europe because of fear. In the midst of all these, God has created for everyone a shelter, where everything in your life will be restored again.”

Even though he is no longer actively involved in the game, which gave him the good life and saw him resident in some of the world’s biggest cities, the Super Eagles — with whom he played two World Cups and two Africa Cup of Nations — is still very dear to Pastor Taribo West.

“We need to pray for the team and I have taken it as an assignment to pray for the team. The national team is part of my body, it’s my family.”