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Nigeria Not Fulani Republic -Oyedepo
Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church has once again poured out his heart over the ongoing killings in some parts of the country.
The fiery preacher lamented how people now value cows more than human lives.
Speaking during one of the church’s programmes monitored by our reporter, he fired at the killers and their sponsors, stating that among other things, self-defence is the right of every Nigerian.
His speech below…
“We are on the verge of an outburst. This Islamists are not relenting. And cursed be anyone from any quarters backing these wanton killings in Nigeria. Cursed be their roots and their generations.
Not one herdsman has been accosted. Even when they were brutal enough to announce. They are poised for war but it will be in their own house. Everybody, whether in government or out of government, any demonic agent that’s after the destruction of this nation, the Lord God destroy them and their household.
Eleven villages were sacked in Plateau and by now since this their callous acts started, 52 villages are empty….when there is no war! Cursed be all forces behind this wanton killings!
If I be a man of God, let the fire of divine vengeance fall upon their head! Join in this warfare prayer, they won’t know where the war is coming from but they won’t wake up in the morning…and the Christians are their targets. In the name of Jesus, divine vengeance will target them and bring them down.
We are told from the News that ISIS has found their way to Nigeria. Whatever channel they came from, they will return from that same channel. The Angels of God will fight all the enemies of this nation. War shall not break out in Nigeria, it will break out in their own houses and take them off one by one. Curse these operators and their backers, curse them in the name of the Lord.
Nigeria is not a Fulani republic, let every devil be concerned. I will never become one. We didn’t sign a deal to live together as a Fulani Republic. Everybody that carries that thought and wants to implement it, the power of God will bring them down. Now in Nigeria, cows are more valuable than human lives. Authority claims they haven’t found anybody to claim responsibility when it was announced.
By the blood of Jesus, every manipulator behind this killing, the Lord brings them down!
Do you pray for witches or against witches?
Do you pray for armed robbers or against armed robbers?
Know what to pray against.
The present system must be prayed against…and God will bring them down.
Is cattle business government business?
If everybody whose shop is robbed goes about killing people, will it be taken?
Don’t let anybody take you for a ride. Self Defence is entrenched in the constitution. Give it what it takes to show that you’re not a dummy.
I am ordained a shepherd over a generation. I have a commitment to please God. Don’t let any devil take you for a ride.
Somebody announced that ‘we killed them and we will still kill them’ and they have not picked them up. What?!!!! Can’t you tell who is behind it?
Well, we are set. We are set. We will engage the full force of our spiritual authority.
The saints Must be preserved. The atrocities in Benue, vengeance will answer. The atrocities in Plateau, in Adamawa, Southern Kaduna, judgement will answer…but if you think you will proceed any further, except God has left Heaven, we are in it together.
Curse be every agent of the devil out to destabilize our country. Curse be every agent of the devil out to slaughter the saints. You went to Church and killed people and they have not found anyone?
Some will not wake up tomorrow morning. Many of them will not wake up tomorrow morning’.
This morning, the Bishop of one of the largest churches in Nigeria continued his onslaught.
‘I saw children sliced. The United Nations Youth have just written to ask for immediate intervention in this genocide. You don’t know the meaning?
Now wait a minute! All the security apparatus in Plateau, even the commissioner has just been removed and a Muslim put there. They are bent on genocide. They are bent on destruction of lives. Some fellows came and were cursing Elisha. He cursed them in the name of the Lord and two she bears came out of the wood and destroyed them. Lord destroy the destroyers. Trouble these troublers, let their hiding places be unveiled. Let your judgement catch up with them.
Let your curse locate them.
We occupy a strategic position in the kingdom in this nation. Let the Almighty God destroy the destroyers, destroy their household, destroy their generation. Let them be out of existence. Remove their remembrance from the earth. In the name of Jesus.
Curse them in the spirit.
The GOC is Muslim. The new Commissioner of Police posted yesterday is Muslim. Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of administration is Muslim, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of State C.I.D is Muslim. They are bent! These demonic devilish people are bent. Now in the name of Jesus, the curse of the Lord catches up with them. We are not strangers in Nigeria. You are strangers! You don’t dare a people like this! Father, honour the words of your prophet and let judgement catch up with them. Let their roots dry up. Let the blood of these innocent children, pregnant women, let the blood of these innocent believers, Christians in their homeland been slaughtered by these wicked men, let the blood of these individuals be avenged upon them.
Nigeria shall not become Syria. Any devil planning it, the God that I serve will hit at them. Now, God is angry with the wicked everyday.
Any pastor, any believer that is happy with the wicked is an ungodly man. Any man! I don’t care the office you hold. You are not angry with what God is angry with means you are a bastard!
Jesus, every sellout in your body, let it be met with judgement.
Christians are complaining of being killed by Muslims and Muslim security officers are sent to referee it. What an insensitive devil!
Christians are complaining about the assassination of Christians and then Muslims are now sent to go and oversee without a Christian input. Insensitive devils!
My spirit is angry, the calling on my life is angry.
You shall not make away with it!
You don’t need permission to hit back at a robber, Christians come awake! You are not dummies, come awake!
Government is not by a group of people, it is government for the people, by the people. Let there be no sympathizer with these wicked people in this church or else the curses we release will touch them.
If your baby is slaughtered, sliced, will you be hanging around like that?
These wicked men are trying to test the ground to see how many places they can get to. You dare any further, you will be resisted with the forces of vengeance.
Let all media people carry it. This is the voice of the Lord for the hour. The anger of the Lord is against the wicked and it shall land on their heads,’ Bishop Oyedepo concluded.
President Bola Tinubu has ordered a security outreach to the hotbeds of recent killings in Plateau, Benue and Borno States, to restore peace to areas wracked by mass killings and bomb attacks.
National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, disclosed this to State House correspondents after a four-hour security briefing with the President at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.
“We listened and we took instructions from him. We got new directives…to go meet with the political authorities there,” Ribadu told reporters, adding that Tinubu directed them to engage state-level authorities in the worst-hit regions.
Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Mohammed Mohammed; Chief Defence Intelligence of the Nigerian Army, Gen. Emmanuel Undianeye; Director-General, Department of State Services, Oluwatosin Ajayi and Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, appeared for the briefing.
The Tide’s source reports that in Plateau State, inter-communal violence between predominantly Christian farmers and nomadic herders spiralled into gory slaughter when gunmen stormed Zikke village in Bassa Local Government early on April 14, killing at least 51 people and razing homes in a single night.
In Benue, at least 56 people were killed in Logo and Gbagir after twin assaults blamed on armed herders.
Meanwhile, in Borno State, eight passengers perished and scores were injured when an improvised explosive device ripped through a bus on the Damboa–Maiduguri highway on April 12.
Ribadu explained that after an extensive briefing, intelligence chiefs received fresh instructions to restore peace, security and stability across Nigeria.
“In particular, Tinubu had ordered immediate outreach to the political authorities in Plateau, Benue and Borno States, and the defence team had gone round those States to carry out his directives and report back.
“We gave him an update on what has been the case and what is going on, and even when he was out there, before coming back, he was constantly in touch. He was giving directives. He was following developments, and we, in charge of the security, got the opportunity today to come and brief him properly for hours. And it was exhaustive.
“We listened and we took instructions from him. We got new directives. The fact is, Mr. President is insisting and working so hard to ensure that we have peace, security and stability in our country. We gave him an update on what is going on, and we also assured him that work is ongoing and continues.
“We also carried out his instructions. We went round, the chiefs were all out where we had these incidents of insecurity in Plateau State, Benue State, even Borno, these particular three states, and we gave him feedback, because he directed us to go meet with the political authorities there,” the NSA explained.
Ribadu described Tinubu as “worried and concerned,” and said he directed that all security arms be deployed around the clock.
The government, he added, believes these steps have already produced measurable improvements, even if the situation is not yet 100 per cent safe and secure.
“He’s so worried and concerned, he insisted that enough is enough, and we are working and to ensure that we restore peace and security and all of us are there. The armed forces are there, the Civil Police, intelligence communities, they are there.
“They are working there 24 hours, and we feel that we have done enough to believe that we are on the right course, and we’ll be able to be on top of things,” Ribadu stated.
The NSA emphasised that combating insecurity was not solely a Federal Government responsibility.
He stated, “The issue of insecurity often is not just for the government. It involves the subunits. They are the ones who are directly with the people, especially if some of the challenges are more or less bordering on community problems.
“Not entirely everything is that, but of course it also plays a significant role. You need to work with the communities, the local governments, and the governors, especially the governors.
“The President will continue to direct that. We should be doing that, and that’s what we are able to. We are very happy and very satisfied with the instructions and directives given by Mr. President this evening.”
In Borno State, the NSA noted that while violence had surged in recent months, the insurgents refused to accept defeat.
He warned that most recent casualties there resulted from improvised explosive devices—”cowardly” IED attacks targeting civilians—and from opportunistic raids that follow any lull in fighting.
“We are getting the cooperation of the leadership at the state level, and everybody. It’s not 100 per cent…but we are going there.
“When you are having peace and you are beginning to get used to it, if one bad incident happens, you forget the periods that you enjoyed peacefully,” he added.
He paid tribute to the “many who do not sleep, who walk throughout, who do not go for any break or holiday”—the soldiers, police and intelligence officers whose sacrifices have created the fragile calm Nigerians now experience.
“They will continue to be there,” he said, adding, “Things have changed in this country…we are on the right track and we will not relent. We will not sit down; we will not stop until we are able to achieve results.”
A Federal Government agency – the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, has decried the low patronage of Nigerian-made products by Nigerians.
The agency identified some challenges leading to the low patronage of the local products as affordability and public perception, among others.
Speaking during a stakeholders meeting organised by the agency in Akure, Ondo State capital, yesterday, the Deputy Director of Engineering at NASENI, Mr Joseph Alasoluyi, said Nigerians preferred buying foreign goods compared to local goods.
Alasoluyi, however disclosed that the agency had trained over 50 participants in the production of hand-made products, in a bid to ensure Nigeria-made products are patronised.
He explained that NASENI was set up to promote science, technology, and engineering as a foundation for Nigeria’s development and currently operates 12 institutes nationwide to achieve its objectives.
According to him, the aim of President Bola Tinubu, who is also the overall chairman of NASENI, was to ensure high production and patronage of “our local products thereby creating employment opportunities for many.”
He said, “The idea of this programme is to interface to ensure we produce products using our indigenous technology. This is what NASENI is out for, to ensure that homegrown technologies are encouraged.
“We are out there to ensure we integrate efforts to ensure that local technology is used to develop products within the resources we have.
“ The NASENI’s ‘3 Cs’ – Creation, Collaboration, and Commercialisation – that define NASENI’s strategic mandate: Creating innovations through research, Collaborating with partners to develop and refine products, and Commercialising these solutions to benefit the economy.
“Our achievements include the development of solar irrigation systems, CNG conversion centres, building machines capable of producing up to 1,000 blocks per hour, 10-inch tablets, locally made laptops, and electric tricycles (Keke Napep) set for market launch.”
In his remarks, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Prof. Samuel Oluyamo, blamed the Federal Government for not properly funding research in the varsities, also noting that many research outputs were left halfway due to lack of funding and weak linkages between research institutions and industry.
Oluyamo also queried the Federal Government’s commitment to funding research and development, saying many academic innovations remained on the shelve due to a lack of support for commercialisation and poor infrastructure.
“Until we upscale research into mass production, technological growth will remain elusive. The government is not funding research in the universities enough. Thank God for TETfund that is trying in this regime. The major interest in beefing up research in universities and research institutions is really not there,” he said.
The Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha, has said that Nigeria is in advanced discussions with JP Morgan to re-enter the Government Bond Index and renew investors’ confidence.
Oniha disclosed this on Wednesday at a Nigerian Investors’ Forum on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.
The DMO boss explained that Nigeria has enjoyed favourable credit assessment among rating agencies in recent times on the back of the sweeping reforms initiated by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Fitch Ratings recently upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings of seven Nigerian banks and two bank holding companies to ‘B’ from ‘B-‘, noting that the outlooks are Stable.
The affected issuers are Access Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, First HoldCo Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, Fidelity Bank Plc and Bank of Industry Limited.
The upgrades of the Long-Term IDRs of the banks followed the recent sovereign upgrade and reflect Fitch’s view that Nigeria’s sovereign credit profile has become less of a constraint on the issuers’ standalone creditworthiness, the rating agency said.
Fitch also upgraded Nigeria’s Long-Term IDRs to ‘B’ from ‘B-‘ on 11 April, a decision that reflected increased confidence in the government’s broad commitment to policy reforms implemented since its move to orthodox economic policies in June 2023, including exchange rate liberalisation, monetary policy tightening and steps to end deficit monetisation and remove fuel subsidies.
“These have improved policy coherence and credibility and reduced economic distortions and near-term risks to macroeconomic stability, enhancing resilience in the context of persistent domestic challenges and heightened external risks,” Fitch said.
Nigeria was removed from the JP Morgan index in 2015 ostensibly due to its deviation from orthodox monetary policies and influence of capital control in its management of foreign exchange.
Principally due to reduction in oil revenues at the time, Nigeria introduced currency restrictions to defend the naira after it failed to halt a dangerous slide with burning of dollar reserves. The bank had earlier warned Nigeria to restore liquidity to its currency market in a way that allowed foreign investors tracking the index to conduct transactions with minimal hurdles.
“Foreign investors who track the GBI-EM series continue to face challenges and uncertainty while transacting in the naira due to the lack of a fully functional two-way FX market and limited transparency,” the bank said in a 2015 note.
Nigeria was listed in JP Morgan’s emerging government bond index in October 2012, after the Central Bank removed a requirement that foreign investors hold government bonds for a minimum of one year before exiting.
The JP Morgan Government Bond Index reflects investor confidence and opens doors to billions of investment flows, making Nigeria’s proposed re-entry a positive signal to the market and investors.
Oniha explained that talks with JP Morgan were ongoing and had gained momentum in recent times due to the stability created by the FX market reforms.
“With all the reforms that have taken place, particularly around FX, we have started engaging JP Morgan again to get back into the index. We think we are eligible now,” the DMO DG said.