DOCTOR Elijah Awosope is the president of Growth Leaders Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society, a group committed to the welfare of gospel ministers. In an interview with SAM EYOBOKA, he speaks on the group’s activities.

IT did not start yesterday. It has been a long running battle between Ogogoro sellers in Benue State and the state government which has passed a law forbidding the selling of illicit gin alias Ogogoro in any part of Benue State.

THE association of the rainbow with new beginnings, with promises, with visions of peace and prosperity is widely held. A quilt on the other hand, is many patches of many different colours that are worked into a harmonious design.

PARTICIPANTS at the 10th general synod of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), including the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Anglican Primate, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, his immediate predecessor, Most Rev. Peter Akinola and former Information Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana had proposed two appro-aches to tackle the growing trend of insecurity in the country.

General Secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Rev. Supo Ayokunle has called on the Federal Gover-nment to ensure security of lives and property in every part of the country, as Lagos Baptist Church ordained 18 pastors into the mission.

A pastor of an American-based Westside Presbyterian Church and president of Beautiful Handicap Centre based in Plateau State, Dr. Ronald Rice has donated 50 wheelchairs to Jigawa State Government in an effort to bring succour to physically challenged persons in the state, just as he declared the state as the only disabled friendly state in the country.

IN line with the Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s vision of taking the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, to every nook and cranny of the world, eminent members of the church gathered at Ibafo area of Ogun State last Sunday for the inaugur-ation of another provincial head-quarters.

THIRTY-ONE female prisoners and 142 ladies awaiting trial who are squeezed into the 105-capacity Kirikiri Female Prisons had every reason to be excited last Saturday when a modern multi-purpose hall built by Amazing Grace Pentecostal Church for the comfort of the inmates was commissioned.

When King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Israel’s Southern Kingdom, Judah’s defeat became the final blow to the glory days of Isrealites’ history. Already, the northern kingdom had fallen to Assyria over a century earlier. The days of Saul, David and Solomon were long past.

Behind the boisterous exterior is a man deprived of all essentials of life while growing up-food, shelter, clothings, education-except life which is the prerogative of nature. Life for Bishop John Adebayo Alagbala Osa-Oni,presiding head of Vineyard Church International Incorporated, Lagos, was such a burden that he thought of committing suicide.

MOVED by the growing incidents of poverty-induced despair in the country, charismatic motivational speaker and the senior pastor of House on the Rock, Pastor Paul Adefarasin, known for his message of hope, healing and empowerment, attempted recently to preach healing to depressed Nigerians.

EDO State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the president of The Apostolic Church, TAC, Pastor Gabriel Olutola may have inadvertently flagged off another national deba-te on how best to develop the much needed human capacity who would galvanise the nation’s abundant resources for the development of Nigeria. The twosome, recently at the official commissioning of the Samuel Adegboyega University, Ogwa, Edo State, espoused the benefits studying in the rural setting, almost concluding that products of rural schools are better grounded and therefore would be more useful to the society than their counterparts in urban schools.

No doubt, the terminology, “True Federalism”, even on its own, connotes an atmosphere of agitation, as it simply implies that “Federalism” as defined ordinarily is being corrupted in its application in the immediate environment. We are here, talking of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the dynamics of achieving the equitable distribution of the common wealth in all its ramifications, as it affects the Urhobo nation.

Saturday, August 13 is a day the people of Igbesa in Ogun State and its environs will not forget in a jiffy as hundreds of people including royal fathers from within and outside the state trooped into The Apostolic Faith Campground to witness this year’s camp meeting concert by the church choir and orchestra.

The bishop, awarded one of the 50 outstanding wom-en in the country during Ni-geria’s 50th independence anniversary, also called on the Federal Government to tread softly on the contro-versial Islamic Banking, arguing that constitution-ally, Nigeria is a secular state and should not be seen to be promoting a sectional or religious endeavours to the detriment of other sect-ions or religions.