CHIEF COMMANDER EBENEZER OBEY - AWON ENIYAN LASON

Ibori Goes To Jail in UK by Aregbesola

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has said the the conviction of former governor of Delta State, James Ibori who was sentenced to a 13 year jail term by a Southwark Crown Court in London was first phase of his trial as he will face another trial when he returns to Nigeria after his jail term.

The Commission said in a statement that it expects "Ibori to serve his term in the UK and return to Nigeria to face other criminal charges pending in courts, arising from his eight year rule of Delta State".

The EFCC stressed that the offences for which Ibori was jailed in London is only a fraction of the array of criminal infractions committed by the former governor.

While restating its commitment and determination to bring Ibori and other alleged corrupt politically exposed persons and corporate titans to book in Nigeria , no matter how long it takes; the commission said it welcomed the conviction which is the icing on a tortuous investigative and legal odyssey for all actors involved in the Ibori saga.

"It is reassuring that sentencing of Ibori was based on the foundation of the case built by the EFCC in 2007 which unfortunately was thrown out by the Federal High court, Asaba for lack of merit.

"The same fate has lately befallen other EFCC cases, notably the Erastus Akingbola, Ndudil Elumelu , Dimeji Bankole and Gbenga Daniel matters. They were all thrown out by the courts purely on technical grounds without consideration of the substantive issues".

EFCC said the fact that a case which supposedly lacked merit in Nigeria could fetch a 13 year jail term in the UK after a landmark guilty plea, brings to fore the need for a reassessment of the nation’s justice delivery process. We must strengthen our judicial institutions if we are to make any headway in the anti- graft efforts.

"More interesting to the Commission in the Ibori conviction, is the opportunity for the repatriation of the array of properties and assets amassed overseas by the convict.

"Once again, his fate has proven that there is no safe haven abroad for politically exposed persons who looted state funds entrusted in their care" the anti-graft body stated.

2fACE IDIBIA WELCOMES NEW BABY

2Face Idibia’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of two of his children, Pero Adeniyi has delivered her third child, a baby boy  for the pop icon.

U.S based Pero had her second son in the early hours of Sunday, April 8, 2012 in Washington DC.


Tuface, his baby & Pero
Pero Adeniyi, daughter of POATSON boss Jide Adeniyi was pregnant and was expected to put to bed in March. Adeniyi, who was formerly married to Tunde Borokini, already has two kids for Idibia– Rose and Justin.

Meanwhile, 2Face who recently got engaged to Annie Macaulay returned from the US where he spent the past few weeks with his fiancé working on his album.

Congratulatory messages from friends and fans of the African Queen crooner have since flooded their Tweeter accounts; ‘Big congrats to my paddy Pero and @real2faceidibia. Easter baby. It’s a boy’, R70 boss and Idibia friend Ayo Shonaiya tweeted.

The new born is the ex-couple’s third child together and 2Face Idibia’s sixth child.

What is Happening To The Nigerian Entertainment Fund

Nigerian Entertainment industry: Gold Mine amidst Pebbles

By Yemi Olakitan

     The huge potentials in Nigerian entrainment sector are no news to many people all over the world; the opportunities for growth and economic prosperity are enormous. From the music industry, to the movie sector and even in the comedy scene, Nigerian entertainment offers opportunities for unlimited wealth, job creation, investments and poverty eradication. It has been described as a goldmine that has not been fully tapped by the Federal Government. With little government support and poor infrastructure in Nigeria, the Nigerian creative artistes have been able to create a very dynamic industry and the prospects for expansion is immense.

         In the music scene, Nigerian music is well known all over the world. Artistes such as Fela Anikulapo Kuti, King Sunny Ade, and Ebenezer Obey have exported Nigeria music far and near the developed nations. Today, particularly in Hip Pop music, Nigerian artistes are breaking new international frontiers. They are entering new collaborations with global superstars for example; D’banj and Kanye West are in alliance, Psquare recently released a video with Akon, 2 Face and R.Kelly are also reportedly working together. Not too long ago, Fela was on Broadway. The play ‘Fela’ is still being performed in theatres all over the United States. Our artists are daily gaining popularity in Europe and the America and our movies are been shown in every corner of the world.  Asa has gained national prominence in France and she is considered as one of the finest musical acts in that country, not to mention Sade Adu, Ceel and many others.

     The release of the movie Ije directed by Chineze Anyene saw Nigerian movies wining prizes in film festivals around the world. The success of Figurine is another example of Nigeria’s success in the entertainment world. Figurine, the movie was reported to have generated over 12 million naira in box office revenue with major reviews in international media. Nigerian movies and artistes are increasingly becoming popular around the world. It has been said that Nollywood releases more movies in a year than both Bollywood and Hollywood combined. The industry is rated as the number 3^rd in global film making after the American and the Indian movie sectors.  According to a UNESCO report, the Nigerian movie industry has overtaken Hollywood and closed the gap on Indian to be the global leader in the number of movies released each year. It is the third largest movie industry in the world. The movie industry in Nigeria creates jobs for about 200,000 Nigerians and provides up to I million indirect jobs for Nigerians. The entertainment industry in Nigeria holds huge promise of millions of fortune for possible foreign investments for the benefit of the Nigerian people and yet many problems limit its advancement.  It seems that in the coming generation of the world will have to look up to Nigeria as the next haven of the creative and entertainment enadeavour. It is clearly evident that our industry is among the most dynamic in the world today with growth potentials that we cannot adequately enumerate as at yet.

                However, as lucrative as the sector may look, it still has many challenges that hold it back and these challenges may scuttle any roughrider investor who does not take calculated steps before stepping into the sector. Some of them are the lack of copyrights, intellectual property rights, a loose and uncoordinated market system, an undefined distribution channel, poor government support and lack of infrastructure. These are some of the problems that confront the entertainment sector in Nigeria.  

        In a chat with iconic King Sunny Ade, he said that piracy remained one of the hardest problems in Nigerian entertainment. He mentioned that this was responsible for the disappearance of foreign record companies such EMI and Decca from the Nigerian music scene. According to him, this record companies could not cope with high level of piracy in Nigeria and the government inability to reduce piracy in Nigerian creative industries.  Speaking further, KSA consider piracy as one of the reasons why people do not want to invest money into entertainment and why foreign investment continues to elude Nigeria in that sector. ‘‘Nigeria only has record labels and not record companies and this does not help the sector. We need record companies and not labels. Record companies take care of the album from the studio to distribution, to media and promotion. They ensure that the artistes get their royalties. Today, we no longer have that. All we have are individuals trying to do it by themselves.’’

   ‘‘I released an album tagged the Grace of God by 28^th of December, but it was already all over the streets by 24^th of December. The pirates flooded the market with their own products. My fans invite me and pay for my performance, that is why I am still on the scene otherwise pirates are having a filled day.’’

        Legendary actress, jokes Silva also pointed out that one reason why Hollywood is ahead of Nollywood is that Hollywood has so many structures that are not available to us here in Nigeria. For instance, when they release a movie, it goes to about 3,000 cinemas simultaneously. We cannot do that yet. Our distribution system at the moment is so informal that it is difficult for any serious investor to take us serious. At the moment, how many cinema screens do we have? Lets say Silverbird has about six, the palms has about six, may be about 20 all over the country compared to thousands that other industries such as Hollywood or the Indian Bollywood have. If you take video as our first window of opportunity and our distribution system is so porous, then pirates will have a filled day. So, until we have a well-regulated, worldwide distribution network, we will remain number 3^rd.

    Speaking further, she said that epileptic electricity supply in the country is a major problem in Nollywood.  ‘ The producers usually brings a generator along in order to shoot a scene and he will position it far away so that its noise does not interfere with the recording. However, the neighbours also do not have lights and they are also on generators and they are not part of your production team. You cannot go and meet them and say, please can you turn off your generators because I am shooting a movie. It does not concern them.  We need dedicated studios and zones where we can shoot our movies without that kind of limitations.’’ She said.

  Even comedians complain about piracy. Their CDs are massively pirated and distributed without gains for their pockets. In a chat with ace comedian Julius Agwu, he said, piracy is the first problem of the industry. He lamented that new comedians are coming out everywhere and they use your jokes. I work hard to get my jokes, I am in my observatory tower, in my toilet, bedroom, kitchen and I observe what is going on and I create my jokes.’’ He said.

     It is very encouraging that the federal Government under President Goodluck Jonathan in response to these problems released US$200 million as the Entertainment industry Fund. Many artistes have however, complained about their inability to access the fund. However, those within the industry have now started lamenting their inability to access the fund. The frustration comes from the hurdles placed by the bank, which has made it difficult for any of the artistes to gain access to the fund, which was meant to be a loan facility. Part of the hurdles is said to be the requirement of collateral that are in most times too huge and beyond the reach of the loan seekers, many of whom are producers of movies in the country. Apart from this, there are serious bureaucratic bottlenecks hindering the effective utilization of the loan. As a result, nobody within the sector has been able to gain access to the loan.

   The Nigerian Entertainment Fund is being managed by Nigerian Export and Import Bank, NEXIM, which has since released guidelines for the operation of the Nigerian creative and entertainment Stimulation Loan Scheme. NCEILS as the bank refers to it.   According to the guidelines released by NEXIM, ‘

‘Applicant shall forward the completed application form, supported with a copy of the project’s brief/feasibility study and certified true copies of the following documents: 1) Company’s Incorporation Documents – (Certificate, Memorandum and Article of Association, Forms CAC2 and CAC7) 2) Audited Statement(s) of Account / Statement of Affairs /Cash flows 3) Budget(s), Bills of Quantity, Pro-forma Invoice(s), etc, where applicable 4) Completion Bond, where applicable 5 Proprietary Rights / Syndicated Rights, where applicable 6) Collateral security / Intellectual Property Assets that are properly patented, trademarked, copyrighted, etc to be pledged/assigned 7) Executed Contracts/Agreements (rental/lease, Retail/Sales Agency, Cast

/Crew, etc 8) Any other document that may be required by NEXIM.’’

         In a chat with arts critic Tajudeen Sowole, he said, most Nigerian artistes cannot meet up with these stringent requirements since the Nigerian entertainment industry is largely underfunded, uncoordinated and poorly regulated. For several years. Nigerian artistes have continued to complain about their inability to access the fund.  According to Sowole, only the very big Nigerian entertainment industrialists will be able to access the fund because of the conditions attached. Perhaps, the Nigerian government should move a step forward by setting up a Nigerian Entertainment Council that would be responsible for the regulation and control of the industry so that the problems of piracy, uncoordinated distribution system could be eradicated. The present situation where piracy reigns and Nigerians entertainers cannot maximize the benefits of their creative investments as a result of poor distribution channels will   not enable them access the fund. Otherwise, the Fund will remain a mere campaign gimmick by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan as some have opined in the sector.

Evolutions of Advertising Institutions in Nigeria

Evolutions of Advertising Institutions in Nigeria

Written by Yemi Olakitan

 

        Advertising can be described as a form of commercial mass communication designed to promote the sale of a product or service, or a message on behalf of an institution, organization, or candidate for political office.”  Advertising is as old as mankind. The desire to advertise seems to be the urge of every man. Men and women are born with the desire to let others know what they have to sell or give in order to obtain some personal gain. Therefore advertising is innate.  Advertising has been around for almost 2500 years. In Biblical history, we can safely say that the first advertising began when the serpent advertised the qualities of the forbidden fruit to Eve and she subsequently advertised the same fruit to her husband, Adam. It appears that advertising has been with man for many years, although the strategies of advertising as always been different from culture to culture. The earliest form of advertising in Nigeria could be said to be town crying. Other methods include signs and drawings on caves and mountains.

     In the early days of advertising practice in Nigeria, Advertising was uncoordinated and unregulated. Many advertisers worked very hard to put in place codes of conduct but the law did not back them up. They were merely voluntary and ineffective since there were no laws to back them. Some of these efforts included the establishment of Association of Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria, AAPN and Advertising Council of Nigerian, ACON in 1977. These self-regulatory and voluntary associations could not achieve because the instruments of law did not empower them to regulate advertising at the time. Therefore advertising remained unorganized. The underdeveloped nature is clearly demonstrated because the majority of consumer products and services advertised in Nigeria were of foreign origin and mostly non-essential.  The products advertised often targeted the elites because the Nigerian masses could not afford them.  Financial advertisements were the most dominant products and services of Nigerian origin because they promoted more products and services that the average Nigerian could not afford.

    Nevertheless, advertising soon become very international, since producers and companies try to sell their products on a globalized market in almost every corner of the world. It is therefore not surprising to see a big sign for Coca Cola in third world countries, such as Nigeria.  In the 19th century new technologies were developed and brand-new methods invented. As a result a surplus of production was formed. Warehouses of many factories were overflowing. In this way, it was necessary to create useful advertisements, which would cover all large spaces, utilizing a large variety of mass media sources.

   The federal Government through the advertising practitioners registration Decree number 55.of 1988 established the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON. Former Minister of information and culture, Prince Tony Momoh, officially inaugurated the council in November 14, 1989. This marked the birth of APCON as a principal actor in Nigeria’s advertising scene and also established advertising as a profession.

   Decree 55 of 1988 empowered APCON to regulate and control advertising in all its ramifications. The Council is charged with responsibilities of determining who are advertising practitioners, determining what standards of knowledge and skills such persons needed to attain to become registered as a practitioner and reviewing such standards from time to time, securing the establishment and maintenance of a register of persons entitled to practice as advertising practitioners and the publication from time to time of a list of such persons. APCON was also empowered to conduct examinations in the profession and to award certificates or Diplomas to successful candidates and prescribing fee to be paid in respect of such.

   The APCON decree goes on to define the membership of the council, its powers, its financial positions and relationship with the government It makes ample provision for discipline and defines the rights and privileges of registered person as well as codes of conduct for the practice of advertising in Nigeria. However, the decree was amended in the Decree number 92 of 1992, which in turn was amended by the Advertising Practitioners Council Decree number 116 of 1993.       At the moment, APCON regulates the advertising industry through sectional associations, which are recognized by the council. These sectional associations have played major roles in the development of advertising in Nigeria over the years.

  One of such association is the AAPN, which is a self-regulatory body that was legally incorporated by advertising agencies in the country. It was established in 1972 as an organization that stands for discipline, honest and responsible advertising.  The AAPN has clear-cut aims and objectives, membership guidelines as well as codes that governs its corporate membership. It is however a voluntary association and a good number of agencies operate outside its fold.

   The Advertisers Association of Nigeria was established in October 1992 as a rally point for the big time advertisers in the country. ADVAN aims to bring together advertisers and clients within the Nigerian business community with a view to forming one united fronts in dealing with other interests in the sector. ADVAN has an executive council as well as a secretariat and it is recognized by APCON.

   The Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN is a union of owners of newspapers, magazine and other related publications in Nigeria. The association seeks to promote the interest of the newspapers industry in Nigeria. The association makes rules that affects its members in the area of commission on adverts placements by advertising agencies and also perform other functions such as the establishment of rules and regulations by which advertisers may deal with their members and the settlement of accounts by advertising agencies in Nigeria. NPAN has organized management structure and a functional secretariat.

          The Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria, BON was created as part of efforts aimed at regulating broadcasting in Nigeria. Efforts made at forming the Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON) dates back to 1973. By then, there was a need for an organization under which broadcasting media in Nigeria would interact with one another. Apart from serving as an organ through which television and radio organizations would speak with one voice, such organization would be used as a rallying point for coverage of major, national and international events. In particular, there was the need for effective co-ordination of broadcast media for the 1973 "All African Games" held in Nigeria. The World Festival of Black African Arts and Culture (FESTAC) also provided the platform through which BON was revived and given a new lease of life in 1977.  After FESTAC '77, the fledgling organization went into hibernation for about seven years. Unlike earlier seeds which germinated and withered away, the real seed that has grown into what is today known as BON, was planted by Prince Tony Momoh, the then Minister of Information in 1987. While addressing a workshop on the role of broadcasting in the transition to the aborted Third Republic in Abuja, Prince Tony Momoh threw a challenge to broadcasters to resuscitate BON. A six-man committee was mandated to resuscitate the ailing BON; the new BON was then born on 11th August 1988 in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

  Prior to the resuscitation of BON, There were some broadcasting media groups such as:  Chief Executives of Federal and State Owned Radio Organizations
- Television Organizations of Nigeria (TON)
- State Owned Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (SOBON)

The objectives of the New BON as at today are as follows: To serve as a meeting point for all Radio and Television Stations including cable and satellite operations in Nigeria, to serve as an advisory body to the Federal and State Governments on broadcasting matters and to encourage and sustain greater co-operation and collaboration among the broadcasting organizations, to seek and utilize available resources for manpower training, research and development, and set training standards, to set, regulate and monitor professional standards and ethics of its members. The Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria, OAAN is the official body of various outdoor advertising companies operating in Nigeria. The organization reserves the right to oversee all corporate entitles that involved in the practice of outdoor advertising in Nigeria, such corporate entities must be fully register to do business in Nigeria.

Historically, Afromedia Nigeria limited, which was registered precisely on The 28th October 1959, was one of the earliest outdoor agencies. It later changed its name to Lintas Nigeria limited. Outdoor started in earnest. In 1963. Mr. Kelly of Afromedia spearheaded the development of outdoor industry by bringing clients that patronized outdoor intensively together to form an association with the outdoors companies Afro-media and Railways with the name, Outdoors Advertising Contractors of Nigeria (OACAN). However, during this period, there were other outdoors companies, like Railway Advertisement Service, Nigeria Advertising Service (NAS), Wilmer Publicity, Gilbertson Advertising Limited, Nigeria Commercial and Industries Enterprise Publicity Associates of Nigeria limited. While Outdoor Advertisement Contractor of Nigeria came into being in 1954, the name was changed to Outdoor Adverting Association of Nigeria (OAAN) in 1986 to reflect both in outlook and practice the practice of advertising in Nigeria. . Outdoors is the oldest advertising medium in Nigeria, though the print media was few years ahead of outdoors. The Lagos state Signage and Advertising Agency, LASAA is another of the latest advertising institutions in Nigeria. LASAA is one of the state agencies tasked with beautifying the state, the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA), is responsible for sanitizing the outdoor environment and making sure that hoardings and signage do not clutter the Lagos state environment.

The D'banj and Don Jazzy squabble

                             D'banj

D’Banj’s decision to change his name on Twitter is generating diverse reactions, JAYNE AUGOYE reports

In what appears to be a response to the crack between him and his former label mate, Don Jazzy, Koko Master act, D’Banj,  sprang a surprise over the weekend. He changed his Twitter handle from Dapo D’banj Oyebanjo to Daniel D’banj Banjo.

Also, his Twitter bio, which formerly read Mo’Hits Records/Good Music has been adjusted and now reads DB/Good Music/ IDJ. With this,  D’Banj becomes the second Nigerian artiste to perform a structural adjustment operation on their names – coming after gospel singer formerly called Kenny Saint Brown, now Kenny Saint Best.

Since the news of MoHit’s split became popular, the major parties, D’banj and Don Jazzy, have come under scrutiny by fans and critics alike.  Little wonder that when D’banj allegedly un-followed his one time buddy – Don Jazzy – on Twitter, it did not go unnoticed by prying eyes.

The story, however, got a new twist on Tuesday, when D’Banj’s updated his Twitter account’s name to ‘D’Banj Kokomaster.

Interestingly, of both artistes, Don Jazzy appears to have curried the most sympathy. This may not be unconnected with the fact that he is more active on Twitter than ‘Daniel’. Don Jazzy has 245,972 followers while Dbanj has 193,098 Twitter followers as of Tuesday.

And so when he inferred that they had agreed to go their separate ways in a tweet posted on March 17, which partly read “It is with a heavy heart that I announce the end of a long era and the beginning of a new one. Some of the rumours you have all heard recently are sad but true. And to end the old era I will be donating the proceeds of my production catalogue from day 1 till date to 5 charity organisations,” he naturally attracted sympathetic remarks from his followers, while winning new fans. Perhaps he is a smarter politician than the Koko Master.

While the argument in D’banj’s favour may be the fact that it is not strange for an artiste to change names or rebrand, his action seems to have elicited more knocks than kudos.

For instance, a post written on an entertainment site, 1976ad.com,  has gone viral and still continues to generate diverse comments. Amongst many other things, the anonymous writer wrote, “D’Banj, you’ve now gone from ‘Dapo Oyebanjo’ to ‘Daniel Banjo’. All I can do is laugh, I mean, Daniel ‘Banjo’? What are you, a country music star from Nashville? I mean, I get it, Daniel provides the ‘D’ and Banjo provides the ‘Banj’, but Negro, please, you’re hustlin’ backwards. Why abandon the successful person you are to become a less successful version of what you’re not? You’re a Nigerian, not an American, and no matter how hard you try, you’ll never be one, so be yourself and have faith.”

The article thus fires a fresh argument that the Mo bo lowo won act may only be trying to gain acceptance into the American business/music culture by pushing up the English though Biblical name – the way many immigrants do.

In this regard, a Nigerian born, US based music and fashion attorney, Uduak Odouk lends her voice in an online post. In her comment, Oduok says that a 2010 New York Times article has described the action as almost obsolete.

She adds, “it is a bit intriguing that Nigeria’s mega star who signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music Label bucks this trend and goes in reverse direction, albeit not on his official birth certificate, at least that we know of.”

But a media expert/entrepreneur, Ayeni Adekunle,  warns that before conclusions are drawn on the reason behind the move, some facts should be laid straight.

“When you say D’banj has changed his name, I think we need to clarify that. His brand name and identity are not changing per se. What is changing, if we are to take the Twitter changes seriously, is his real name. So he’s moving from Dapo Daniel Oyebanjo to Daniel Banjo.”

Adekunle, who is also an artiste manager, adds that the reasons may not be far fetched.

“It could be for ease of pronunciation, reference and documentation in view of his new environment and partners. It could also be for the purpose of cataloging – as a means of separating his new properties from those of the old Mohits. Who knows? There could be a well thought-out strategy to use a new identity for contractual purposes…. These are my own thoughts,” he says.

In the past, Nigerian entertainment personalities like Evaezi, IK Osakioduwa and Kenny Saint Best have rebranded their images and backed the action up with different reasons.

The dawn of 2009 saw On Air Personality Osakioduwa say goodbye to the name ‘Wild Child’.

While it was widely speculated that the change of identity had to do with his marital status, the on-air-personality explained that the core reason was that it was not a brand he could develop much further.

 “It (name) gathered popularity in Lagos but I had started doing some work outside of Lagos – in South Africa and America, and I discovered that I couldn’t use the name there because somebody has the right to the name Wild Child,” he said.

Nigeria Will Emerge stronger and More United by Olalekan Adetayo

                            President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday said despite the current insecurity in some parts of the country orchestrated by members of the fundamentalist Islamic group, Boko Haram, Nigeria would emerge stronger and more united.

He said daunting as the challenges might appear, he trusted in the efficacy of the Bible truth that the prayer of the righteous avails much.

Jonathan spoke at the second presidential national prayer breakfast held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said he had a conviction that every stumbling block before him and his administration would become stepping stones into national rebirth.

He urged Nigerians to dedicate themselves to a united nation by living above what he called primordial divisive tendencies which could only compromise national growth.

He urged Nigerians to be guided by the ideals of justice, equity, selflessness and above all, the fear of God in all their conducts.

Jonathan said, “With unwavering faith in God and renewed recommitment to the national cause by us all, I am confident that Nigeria will emerge from these trying times a stronger, more united, more stable and more prosperous nation.

“Now than ever before, our nation’s leadership needs to rededicate itself to the realisation of the grand vision of one big strong multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, diverse but united nation which steered our founding fathers.

“We must live above primordial tendencies which can only compromise our growth as a nation. We should be guided by the ideals of justice, equity, selflessness and above all the fear of God in every conduct, public or private.

“The significance that we are gathered here today still fresh from the celebration of Easter, Jesus Christ redemptive victory over sin and death on the cross of calvary, we all must be built with the spirit of selfless sacrifice as exemplified by our Lord and Master Jesus Christ on the Cross.

“Our country can only attain the lofty heights which Almighty God through Nigeria’s rich natural endowments and compelling human resources bases has preordained for us, if we as individuals are prepared to make the requisite sacrifice. Championing narrowing sectional courses does not add value to our national development efforts.”

He said as public office holders, he and other members of his cabinet owed Nigerians a sacred duty to toil endlessly for the enhanced welfare and well-being of all.

The President said he saw all his electoral promises as his article of faith and his covenant with Nigerians to better their lives.

He urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the good of the country and focus on building bridges of love.

He assured them that by God’s grace, his government would not fail.

While admitting that those of them at the helm of affairs in the country today were not the best materials, he said God had a purpose of putting them in charge, hence they need not to fail God.

He said they would work hard towards achieving peace, power, health care and other good things for the country.

Earlier, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, in his exhortation entitled ‘The power of the altar’ taken from Judges 6: 25-26 regretted that Nigeria, which was a giant nation that ought to be standing, was still crawling.

He said, “Nigeria, a great nation with talents is begging for ideas to survive. A rich nation but poor.

“There are wicked men and women worshipping and sacrificing on strange altars nationwide.

“They are manipulating the destiny of a whole nation, they will not go scot-free. We will ask for God’s judgment on them.”

While describing Jonathan’s transformation agenda as one of the greatest things that has happened to Nigeria, the clergyman however said such agenda should have its foundation at the altar of God.