The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 617 (February 21 - March 5 2024)
Africa finally has its own category at the Grammy Awards
Africa finally has its own category at the Grammy Awards
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<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Africans now have a voice... Founded in 1995<br />
V O L 30 N O <strong>617</strong> F E B R U A R Y <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
Monitor your<br />
health with<br />
the NHS App<br />
Tyla wins Grammy Award<br />
(Photo - Tyla on Instagram)<br />
Grammy Awards:<br />
Africa finally<br />
has its own<br />
category<br />
– but at what cost?<br />
By Eric Charry , Professor of Music, Wesleyan University<br />
Continued on Page 2><br />
Anew campaign by<br />
England’s National<br />
Health Service (NHS<br />
England) is encouraging more<br />
people to sign up and use the<br />
NHS App.<br />
Currently, over 33 million<br />
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Find your NHS number<br />
You can also check<br />
symptoms using NHS 111 online<br />
Continued on Page 4
Page2 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
News<br />
Grammy Awards:<br />
Africa finally has its own category<br />
– but at what cost?<br />
Continued from Page 1<<br />
For the first time in its 65-year history, the<br />
Grammy Awards in the US has<br />
introduced an African category, Best<br />
African Music Performance, which recognises<br />
the song of the year.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Grammys is the most prestigious<br />
award in the largest music industry in the world.<br />
Its focus has always been US music styles in<br />
categories like pop, R&B, rap, country, jazz and<br />
classical.<br />
As musical styles from abroad (or in<br />
Spanish) have moved into the US commercial<br />
market, the Grammy Foundation has tried to<br />
recognise them – beyond the generic “folk<br />
music” category it first used to put them in. So<br />
categories were established like Latin,<br />
Mexican, reggae, world music and global<br />
music.<br />
Now Africa has its own best song category,<br />
the first continent with this distinction. This is<br />
clearly a nod to the growing popularity of<br />
African music in the US – notably Afrobeats<br />
from Nigeria.<br />
Few African artists received Grammy<br />
nominations until 1992, when the Best World<br />
Music Album category was added. A diverse<br />
range of African music came to dominate this<br />
category. But “world music” was criticised for<br />
being outmoded. <strong>The</strong> award was renamed Best<br />
Global Music Album in 20<strong>21</strong>. <strong>The</strong> reasons<br />
given included:<br />
<strong>The</strong> change symbolises a departure from<br />
the connotations of colonialism, folk and ‘non-<br />
American’.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new name came with a shift in which<br />
music received nominations. “World music”<br />
tended to recognise regional music styles<br />
released on small independent labels. “Global<br />
music” was seemingly more focused on more<br />
commercial music that was also reaching the<br />
US charts. It tended to reward Afrobeats and<br />
other popular electronic dance music that took<br />
creative cues from the US.<br />
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How music represents and expresses<br />
identity and cultural authenticity has been a key<br />
issue in my research as an ethnomusicologist.<br />
Certainly, generational shifts happen and<br />
interests in some deeply rooted traditions may<br />
fade in favour of new global currents. But still,<br />
I have mixed reactions to the new award. <strong>The</strong><br />
economic boon that the Grammys brings to the<br />
African music industry could be significant. But<br />
at what cost to its diversity of offerings?<br />
<strong>The</strong> Grammys claims to recognise<br />
excellence. But it also celebrates US cultural<br />
imperialism and commercial success – a track<br />
record evident in its history.<br />
This first batch of best performance<br />
nominees provides further clues that US record<br />
conglomerates are strongly shaping Grammy<br />
recognition.<br />
Tyla Seethal (Photo - Tyla on Facebook)<br />
Africa at the Grammys<br />
<strong>The</strong> first Grammy Awards ceremony was in<br />
1959, the same year South African star Miriam<br />
Makeba first toured the US.<br />
In 1960 the Best Folk Performance<br />
category was added. This was the key. In 1961,<br />
Makeba received three nominations (new artist,<br />
female vocalist and folk). She was the first<br />
African artist nominated and it happened again<br />
in 1964 and 1965. Folk was the only category<br />
that could accommodate singing like hers – in<br />
South African languages with acoustic string<br />
instruments and hand percussion.<br />
In 1966 Makeba won her only Grammy. It<br />
was in the folk category. She had two albums in<br />
the running: Makeba Sings and the winner, An<br />
Evening with Belafonte/Makeba.<br />
Harry Belafonte was a well-established US<br />
singer and film star. His early sponsorship was<br />
essential. This would be a recurring theme,<br />
from Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black<br />
Mambazo to Peter Gabriel and Youssou<br />
N’Dour to Drake and Wizkid to Beyoncé and<br />
the predominantly Nigerian artists on her 2019<br />
Lion King album. Burna Boy, who appeared on<br />
it, received his first Grammy nomination the<br />
following year.<br />
On the charts<br />
Makeba was also the first African artist to<br />
break into the upper reaches of the US<br />
Billboard charts (Pata Pata reached number 12<br />
in 1967). She was followed by South African<br />
Hugh Masekela’s Grazing in the Grass (first<br />
spot in 1968) and Cameroonian Manu<br />
Dibango’s Soul Makossa (35th in 1973). <strong>The</strong>n<br />
a long drought.<br />
Masekela’s feat has yet to be duplicated by<br />
an African born-and-raised solo artist. Sade,<br />
Seal, Akon and Chamillionaire, children of<br />
immigrants from Nigeria or Senegal in the US<br />
and the UK, all hit number one. Sade and Seal<br />
won Grammys.<br />
Nigeria’s Wizkid hit top spot as a guest of<br />
Drake (2016) and Tems when sampled by<br />
Future (2022).<br />
From folk music to world music<br />
<strong>The</strong> term “world music” was used by<br />
global heritage body UNESCO as early as<br />
1948 to create a music catalogue and later<br />
sponsor a library of albums from over 70<br />
countries. Ethnomusicologists expanded the<br />
term to “incorporate the total range of music”,<br />
an early attempt to decolonise musical<br />
institutions.<br />
In 1987 some British independent record<br />
label execs adopted “world music” as a<br />
marketing category for retailers to give<br />
visibility to albums that didn’t have a place<br />
on the shelf. <strong>The</strong> Grammys first awarded the<br />
Best World Music Album in 1992. It split into<br />
“traditional” and “contemporary” in 2004 but<br />
merged again in 2012.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new category provided a huge boost<br />
for African artists. In seven of the eight years<br />
of the traditional award the winners were<br />
South African choral groups and Malian kora<br />
players. Angelique Kidjo from Benin alone<br />
won four times before the name change.<br />
Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic<br />
of Congo, Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi,<br />
Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda also<br />
received nominations.<br />
But objections to “world music” persisted<br />
for being a catch-all category that<br />
marginalised artists and their cultures.<br />
From world music to global music<br />
So the Grammys announced in 2020 that<br />
“world music” was being replaced by “global<br />
music”, offering “a fresh perspective fuelled<br />
by authenticity, diversity and direct<br />
inclusion”.<br />
An article at entertainment website<br />
UPROXX earlier in 2020 argued that Burna<br />
Boy’s loss at his first Grammys highlighted<br />
the problems with the world music category.<br />
UPROXX is a Warner Music Group<br />
independent subsidiary; Burna Boy is signed<br />
to Warner. Perhaps they caught the ear of the<br />
Grammy Foundation. He won the debut Best<br />
Global Music Album award in 20<strong>21</strong>. A new<br />
category for songs – Best Global Music<br />
Performance – was added the following year.<br />
Nigeria has been the only country with<br />
nominees each year of the global album<br />
category. <strong>The</strong> two new global music<br />
categories have particularly benefited<br />
Afrobeats artists with major label support,<br />
like Wizkid (RCA), Burna Boy (Warner) and<br />
Davido (Columbia/Sony). Authenticity for the<br />
Grammys, it appears, is shaped by what the<br />
largest numbers of people are listening to.<br />
<strong>The</strong> role of Afrobeats<br />
Afrobeats, a hybrid genre with roots in<br />
Continued on Page 3
News<br />
FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Grammy Awards:<br />
Africa finally has its own category<br />
– but at what cost?<br />
Page3<br />
Continued from Page 2<<br />
Nigeria and Ghana and named in the UK in the<br />
early 2010s, is so big in the US it even has its<br />
own Billboard chart.<br />
Currently driving the scene is Burna Boy.<br />
In <strong>2024</strong> he has four Grammy nominations<br />
(African performance, global album, global<br />
performance and melodic rap).<br />
Burna Boy himself offers a critique of<br />
Afrobeats, a label he shuns:<br />
<strong>The</strong>re’s no substance, like nobody is talking<br />
about anything. It’s just a great time, it’s an<br />
amazing time … But at the end of the day, life<br />
is not an amazing time.<br />
Five of the seven nominees in the new African<br />
category are Nigerian. (Asake, Burna Boy,<br />
Davido, Olamide and Ayra Starr; Musa Keys and<br />
Tyla are South African.) Afrobeats is big business.<br />
Indeed, the new African category was created after<br />
the head of the Grammys travelled to Africa to<br />
speak with music industry leaders.<br />
African artists have now been offered a seat<br />
at the table. And the stakes for the<br />
representation of African culture have just been<br />
raised.<br />
Samson Uchenna Eze contributed to the<br />
Afrobeats portion of this article. He’s<br />
completing a Master’s thesis on Afrobeats<br />
Feminism at Wesleyan University.<br />
Eric Charry is a Professor of Music at<br />
Wesleyan University.<br />
This article is republished from <strong>The</strong><br />
Conversation under a Creative Commons<br />
license. Read the original article.
Page4<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
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PUBLISHER / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:<br />
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FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
News<br />
Monitor your health with<br />
the NHS App<br />
Continued from Page 1<<br />
CONTRIBUTORS:<br />
Moji Idowu, Ayo Odumade,<br />
Steve Mulindwa<br />
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<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> (ISSN: 1477-3392)<br />
is published in London fortnightly<br />
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FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Page5
Page6 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH UK GOVERNMENT<br />
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A. My boiler is serviced annually as<br />
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If you use a Combi boiler, you can<br />
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Lowering the flow temperature won’t<br />
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______________________________<br />
For more energy-saving tips, visit:<br />
GOV.UK/SaveEnergy<br />
• Reduce your boiler flow<br />
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• Bleed your radiators for a warmer<br />
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• Get your boiler serviced to keep it<br />
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• Install an energy-efficient<br />
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• Reduce your washing machine<br />
temperature to save up to £20 per<br />
year.
FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Page7<br />
Produced in association with HM Government<br />
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Page8 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
Opinion<br />
Sanwo-Olu and the pursuit of a social<br />
market economy (3)<br />
Once upon a time, growing up<br />
in Lagos was akin to living in<br />
El-Dorado. Life in Igbosere<br />
Road and Lafiaji was tolerable, with<br />
good social amenities and<br />
infrastructure for the common good.<br />
On a rather sad note however was the<br />
degeneration that became its lot due<br />
to rural-urban migration; and there<br />
was no town planning, which was<br />
more rigorous in the 1950s and the<br />
1960s. <strong>The</strong>se put immense pressure<br />
on public facilities and infrastructure<br />
to a breaking point, more or less<br />
turning the State into a looming<br />
disaster.<br />
Well, this situation could have<br />
been foreseen by those in government<br />
but partially so as the effect caught<br />
one government after another<br />
unaware. Moving forward to the<br />
present status and style of<br />
governance, that Lagos State has done<br />
well despite population explosion and<br />
its attendant debilitating<br />
consequences, the least of which are<br />
security issues, is no longer news. Be<br />
that as it may, one of the issues that<br />
led to the ‘Lagos is no man’s land’<br />
slogan was that #EndSARS, which<br />
once turned the State into a contested<br />
space for mass demonstrations and<br />
vociferous violence, was not<br />
addressed. Tragically, this central<br />
issue hasn’t been properly addressed,<br />
still. <strong>The</strong>refore, Sanwo-Olu needs to<br />
rejig the people’s confidence and<br />
rebuild their trust. He needs to do<br />
more in securing the State through<br />
continuous employment, training and<br />
retraining of security personnel in<br />
technology-based crime fighting<br />
techniques and frontline operations<br />
anchored on actionable intelligence.<br />
Lagos under Sanwo-Olu must<br />
continue to identify, isolate and bring<br />
to book any criminal fraternity<br />
kingpins with a view forestalling their<br />
growth and expansion.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were governors and there<br />
have been governors in Lagos State.<br />
On a day like this, Nigerians<br />
remember Mobolaji Johnson (1967-<br />
1975), Lateef Jakande (1979-1983),<br />
Buba Marwa (1996-1999), Bola<br />
Tinubu (1999-2007), Babatunde<br />
Fashola (2007-2015) and Akinwumi<br />
Ambode (2015-2019) for the quality<br />
of their social market interventions.<br />
But who remembers Raji Rasaki<br />
(1988-1991)? Who remembers<br />
Michael Otedola (1992-1993) beyond<br />
the melodious interpretation of his<br />
surname and the ranking of Femi, his<br />
son, as Africa’s 20 th richest person by<br />
Forbes? So, Sanwo-Olu will be doing<br />
his tenure a great deal of good if he<br />
takes the noises of the marketplace for<br />
what they are: hustlers, even as he<br />
seeks more proactive ways of tackling<br />
the menace of Okada (motorcycle<br />
taxi) business owing to the danger it<br />
portends. For this class of Nigerians,<br />
things are almost getting to the<br />
boiling point and one can only hope<br />
that the governor would help change<br />
the narrative. Sanwo-Olu also needs<br />
to engage with the youths, for any<br />
BY ABIODUN<br />
KOMOLAFE<br />
policy that does not address youth<br />
restiveness in a democratic setting is<br />
not likely to fly in a cosmopolitan city<br />
like Lagos.<br />
Still on the ‘Area Boys’, it is on<br />
record that Fashola tried to handle this<br />
menace and there was relative peace<br />
in the State but, not unexpectedly,<br />
whatever achievement that was<br />
recorded at the time went away with<br />
his government. Since our major<br />
challenge as a country and people is<br />
Continued on Page 9
Opinion<br />
FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Sanwo-Olu and the pursuit of a social<br />
market economy (3)<br />
Page9<br />
Continued from Page 8<<br />
continuity, the government that took<br />
over from ‘Èkó ò níí bàjé’ had its own<br />
plans and that’s how Lagos missed a<br />
vital opportunity. Sanwo-Olu is now<br />
in the saddle; and, since it’s about<br />
legacy trust, a very rewarding option<br />
will be to up the ante, not slow the<br />
flow.<br />
Let Sanwo-Olu be deeply alerted<br />
to the current security challenges in<br />
the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),<br />
for Lagos may most certainly be the<br />
target, ultimately. Though COVID-19<br />
ravaged the entire country, Lagos was<br />
a special case. #EndSARS was also<br />
supposed to be a nationwide thing,<br />
but we all knew what happened in<br />
Lagos. So, let the governor<br />
revolutionize security matters by<br />
investing hugely in scientific and<br />
integrated technology crime detection<br />
and prevention; and ditto for a<br />
combat-ready force, to the extent that<br />
criminals will not have a place to<br />
hide. Installation of hoods and<br />
prevention of traffic bottlenecks will<br />
also go a long way in securing lives<br />
and immovable assets in the State.<br />
Although there are challenges even in<br />
the advanced nations of the world,<br />
hardly will a criminal escape without<br />
being caught, and this is not<br />
unconnected with what they have put<br />
in place.<br />
Lest we forget, there’s an urgent<br />
need for a review of the operations of<br />
government agencies like the Lagos<br />
State Traffic Management Authority<br />
(LASTMA) and Kick Against<br />
Indiscipline (KAI) with a view to<br />
bringing the best out of their<br />
operatives. From the look of things, it<br />
is as if there’s a disconnect between<br />
what some of these agencies represent<br />
and the real needs of Lagosians.<br />
Presently, Nigeria stinks “in the<br />
face of hunger, deprivation and ‘no<br />
gree for anybody” and the handlers of<br />
Lagos State cannot claim that all is<br />
well with the State. So, it’s time the<br />
Sanwo-Olus of Nigeria were alive to<br />
their responsibilities. In practical<br />
terms, it’s time they handled<br />
“political, economic and<br />
humanitarian bickering with care”,<br />
especially now that the ovation is still<br />
ascending.<br />
For Lagos, building a social<br />
market economy starts with an<br />
improvement in public education and<br />
health systems. Thusly, preparing for<br />
the future must start with coding so<br />
that Nigerians can start getting<br />
computer literate at, say, age 5. This<br />
will make them competitive in, say,<br />
20 years to come. Currently, public<br />
schools in Lagos are not up-to-speed<br />
even as it is sad to note that the State<br />
is gradually becoming a disaster zone<br />
in terms of health, education and<br />
allied social infrastructure. So, there<br />
is an urgent need for revampment.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re must also be an<br />
improvement in staff training and<br />
conditions of service in line with<br />
international best practices. In this<br />
mould is the creation of technology<br />
parks and large-scale industrial hubs,<br />
like the ones in Bangladesh, so that<br />
spaces can be allotted for light<br />
manufacturing and all sorts.<br />
Fortunately, the Internally Generated<br />
Revenue (IGR) of the State is rock<br />
solid enough to shoulder these<br />
expectations; only that it needs<br />
judicious spending. Take, for<br />
instance, if, in addition to other<br />
sources of IGR, there are 600,000<br />
Babajide Sanwo-Olu 6 (Photo - @JideSanwoolu on X)<br />
enumerated houses in Lagos, and if<br />
the State is collecting an aggregated<br />
average of N40,000.00 per house as<br />
Land Use Charge per annum, should<br />
Lagos not be like Singapore? If the<br />
signage fee also stands at<br />
N115,000.00 per board per annum,<br />
what stops Sanwo-Olu from<br />
replicating another Dubai in Lagos?<br />
Lagos State has to develop an<br />
indigenous, long-term financing<br />
system like the defunct Western<br />
Region Finance Corporation, which<br />
was reputed for giving long-term<br />
loans and equity capital to small-scale<br />
industries because, in the true sense<br />
of it, Nigerian banks are not known to<br />
be financial intermediators. It’s time<br />
the governor reflected deeply on these<br />
possibilities. After all, no man can get<br />
up walking all at once; a few attempts<br />
will have to be made.<br />
Lastly, Lagos, more than<br />
anywhere else, must take advantage<br />
of the electricity being out of the<br />
exclusive legislative list to the<br />
concurrent list. Let the State look for<br />
private sector capital for the purpose<br />
of developing electricity. Give kudos<br />
to Tinubu! Had he not been stymied<br />
by former President Olusegun<br />
Obasanjo’s shortsightedness, only<br />
God knows what would have come<br />
out of the Enron experiment! But<br />
again, it is not too late! Let Sanwo-<br />
Olu update the original plan and put<br />
it into fierce urgency. Over and above<br />
all, the governor should try and invest<br />
hugely in scientific and technological<br />
advancements that will make him<br />
unforgettable in Nigeria’s politics to<br />
the extent that even the national<br />
government will make Lagos State a<br />
reference point. Thank God he still<br />
has the sentiments of time on his side!<br />
‘Ìgbéga Ìpínlè Èkó, àjùmòse<br />
gbogbo wa ni!’<br />
May the Lamb of God, who takes<br />
away the sin of the world, grant us<br />
peace in Nigeria!<br />
Concluded.<br />
Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-<br />
Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria<br />
(ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)
Page10 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
Opinion<br />
AFCON 2023: A Review<br />
Big, loud and hearty<br />
congratulations to the people<br />
and government of the Republic<br />
of Ivory Coast for hosting and<br />
organizing what has been considered<br />
one of the best editions of the<br />
Confederation of African Football<br />
(CAF) tournaments. <strong>The</strong> last time the<br />
African Cup of Nations was hosted in<br />
West Africa was in 2022, delayed from<br />
20<strong>21</strong>, and that was in Cameroon<br />
between January 9 and <strong>February</strong> 6,<br />
2022. Originally scheduled to be held in<br />
June/July 20<strong>21</strong>, AFCON 20<strong>21</strong> as it was<br />
otherwise known, had to be shifted for<br />
sponsorship reasons and COVID. By<br />
then participating teams in the African<br />
soccer fiesta had been increased from 16<br />
to 24 teams, and the Cameroonians<br />
hosted the tournament in five cities and<br />
six stadia. But this was against the<br />
background of security threats in<br />
Cameroon, majorly from separatist<br />
groups, and as it turned out, the violence<br />
that eventually occurred was at the<br />
Olembe Stadium in Yaounde. Access to<br />
the stadium was the problem, during a<br />
last-16 match between hosts Cameroon<br />
and Comoros, resulting in a stampede<br />
and the unfortunate death of eight<br />
persons.<br />
This cast a shadow on the hosting of<br />
AFCON at the time. Ivory Coast<br />
deserves plaudits therefore for<br />
organizing and delivering a largely<br />
hitch-free tournament. <strong>The</strong>re were<br />
minor incidents of course: the Gambian<br />
team had to return to Banjul after their<br />
chartered flight, en route Abidjan,<br />
suddenly lost oxygen nine minutes after<br />
take-off; also, violence erupted after<br />
AFCON hosts, Cote D’Ivoire were<br />
beaten 4-0 by Equatorial Guinea in the<br />
final match of Group A. Aggrieved<br />
Ivorian fans vandalized vehicles and<br />
smashed the windows of buses. When<br />
Ghana’s Black Stars drew against<br />
Mozambique 2-2, in a final group game,<br />
and faced a sure exit, angry Ghanaian<br />
journalists barricaded the team’s bus and<br />
demanded to speak to the Black Stars’<br />
players and manager. Fans also<br />
reportedly went after Ghana coach,<br />
Chris Houghton when the team lost to<br />
Cape Verde, 2- 1 in their opening Group<br />
B match. In the semi-final match<br />
between Democratic Republic of Congo<br />
and Ivory Coast, the DRC squad<br />
decided to make a political statement by<br />
protesting about the crisis in Eastern<br />
Congo while singing their country’s<br />
national anthem. More notably, over 50<br />
journalists who went to Yamoussoukro,<br />
to cover Senegal vs Gambia (Group C)<br />
and Angola vs Burkina Faso (Group D)<br />
matches reportedly had an accident at<br />
about 2.30 am, Ivory Coast time, on<br />
their return to Abidjan. Some of them<br />
sustained injuries.<br />
Nonetheless, on the whole, these<br />
became minor issues. <strong>The</strong> Ivorian<br />
Football Federation delivered a<br />
successful tournament with no deaths<br />
recorded as a result of errors of<br />
organization or internal conflicts. <strong>The</strong><br />
people of Ivory Coast also went a step<br />
further by winning the trophy on the<br />
back of what seemed like an imminent<br />
relegation. <strong>The</strong> Elephants of Ivory Coast<br />
qualified for the knock-out stage by<br />
sheer luck, as one of the best of the<br />
worst four, but from the moment they<br />
crossed that line, luck, destiny and<br />
strategy worked in their favour backed<br />
by extra-ordinary nationalistic fervour.<br />
Last Sunday, they beat the Super Eagles,<br />
Nigeria’s better-ranked team, 2-1 to lift<br />
the AFCON trophy for a record third<br />
time, thus matching Nigeria’s record in<br />
the tournament. It was a glorious<br />
moment for Cote D’Ivoire, the first<br />
country to host the tournament and<br />
win it since Egypt last did same as<br />
host-country in 2006. We saw true<br />
nationalism on display. <strong>The</strong> 60,000-<br />
capacity Allasane Ouattara Stadium<br />
in Abidjan was filled to the brim, and<br />
the Orange-clad Ivorians stayed till<br />
the trophy was handed over. <strong>The</strong><br />
crowd obviously put Nigeria’s Super<br />
Eagles under pressure. But both the<br />
crowd and the people of Ivory Coast<br />
obviously wanted the trophy more<br />
than the Nigerians. <strong>The</strong>y had to sack<br />
their coach, Jean Louis-Gasset, and<br />
appoint Emerse Fae, who by default<br />
took them to the finals. <strong>The</strong>y also<br />
made history through Sebastien Haller, a<br />
come-back kid, who despite<br />
recuperation from testicular cancer and<br />
a knee injury sealed Nigeria’s fate with<br />
an 81 st minute goal.<br />
CAF and its President Patrice<br />
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Motsepe and the entire Board of CAF<br />
equally deserve to be applauded. <strong>The</strong><br />
organization was superb. <strong>The</strong> quality of<br />
play was excellent with many of the<br />
players from the 24 teams that<br />
participated now certainly looking<br />
forward to better recruitments<br />
internationally. <strong>The</strong> money was good<br />
too. Motsepe and co before the<br />
tournament announced that the prize<br />
money would go up by 40% as follows:<br />
$7million for winning, $4million for the<br />
runners up, the two losing semi-finalists<br />
got $2.5m each, losing quarter finalists -<br />
$1.3m, and the eight teams that got<br />
knocked out in the round of 16 -<br />
$800,000 each, the teams that ranked<br />
third but failed to make the round of 16<br />
- $700,000, the fourth teams in each of<br />
the six groups - $500,000. So, in a sense,<br />
most of the teams would go home with<br />
some cash. But this was not a<br />
tournament driven by cash per se but<br />
history, ironies and revelations. And<br />
except for one or two informal<br />
complaints, by Ghana and Nigeria, the<br />
officiating was generally considered<br />
satisfactory, and perhaps that would<br />
attract the attention of FIFA to make the<br />
refereeing of global football more<br />
inclusive with the participation at the<br />
highest levels of African male and<br />
female referees. It was also agreed that<br />
the pitches were much better and that<br />
the entertainment value was top-notch.<br />
In fact, one married, Ivorian man in the<br />
stands got so carried away he<br />
propositioned a Senegalese woman next<br />
to him. His moment of distraction was<br />
fully captured on camera and televised.<br />
He had to apologize to his wife and<br />
family afterwards!<br />
Opta, the AI supercomputer got<br />
many of the predictions wrong as did the<br />
bookmakers too. Opta, working with<br />
BBC, crunching the numbers based on<br />
recent and historical performances,<br />
identified Senegal as the country with<br />
the most likely chance to win with a<br />
12.8% chance, followed by Ivory Coast<br />
with 12.1%, and Morocco with 11.1%.<br />
By the quarter-finals, the same Opta was<br />
already projecting Nigeria’s Super<br />
Eagles as strong favourites. Opta’s AI<br />
was wrong. Ivory Coast took the trophy.<br />
This was a tournament of surprises and<br />
vanishing stars. Sebastien Haller, the<br />
Ivorian winning goal scorer, from<br />
Continued on Page 11
Opinion<br />
FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Page11<br />
Continued from Page 10<<br />
Borussia Dortmund, whose face was<br />
also all over billboards in Abidjan in fact<br />
looked like he was not going to play at<br />
all, but destiny brought him into<br />
reckoning. Mohammed Salah of Egypt<br />
whom everyone thought would make a<br />
difference for his country, left the<br />
tournament early due to injury. Egypt<br />
did not even make it to the knock-out<br />
stage. Liverpool that had been worried<br />
sick about Salah being in AFCON 2023<br />
had nothing to worry about at the end of<br />
the day. Riyad Mahrez, had to drop from<br />
his country, Algeria’s first XI after two<br />
false starts. Mahrez is Algeria’s star, but<br />
he was out of action literally in AFCON<br />
2023. Yves Bissouma of Mali and<br />
Dango Quattara of Burkina Faso were<br />
afflicted by injury. Andre Onana,<br />
Manchester United’s goalkeeper was<br />
also in Abidjan, but he played only one<br />
match for his country Cameroon, out of<br />
three. New stars emerged. Senegal may<br />
have dropped out, but they gave us the<br />
20-year-old gifted Lamine Camara, who<br />
helped his country to top Group C with<br />
a 100% record. Soon after, Senegal<br />
crashed out, losing 5-4 to Ivory Coast on<br />
penalties in the knock-out stage.<br />
It was also a tournament in which<br />
coaches lost out. Algeria sacked their<br />
coach Djamel Belmadi after the twotime<br />
winners’ shock loss to Mauritania.<br />
Ivory Coast also sacked their coach after<br />
an embarrassing loss to Equatorial<br />
Guinea. Ghana fired Chris Houghton.<br />
Rui Vittoria, the Egyptian coach was<br />
also sacked. Jalel Kadri, the Tunisian<br />
coach did not wait to be sacked. He<br />
resigned. Tunisia left Ivory Coast<br />
without a single win to their name. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
only just managed to score one goal in a<br />
1-1 draw with Mali, and came last in<br />
Group E. Algeria was knocked out by<br />
Mauritania. Ghana was sent out by<br />
Mozambique, Morocco, the same<br />
Morocco that did well at the World Cup<br />
was defeated by South Africa. Egypt did<br />
not go beyond the last 16. Cameroon did<br />
not get to the quarter finals. Instead, the<br />
big revelations were Democratic<br />
Republic of Congo whose team made it<br />
to the final play-off against South<br />
Africa. Cape Verde and Equatorial<br />
Guinea surprised even themselves.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were no minnows.<br />
Which is why, I think that the Super<br />
Eagles deserve some praise for making<br />
it to the finals and winning the Silver<br />
medal. Silver is not gold, yes. But it is<br />
still something. Nigeria won the trophy<br />
three times in the past: 1980, 1994, and<br />
2013. Nigeria have been runners-up in<br />
1984, 1988, 1990, 2000, and now 2023.<br />
If we must be honest with ourselves, it<br />
was clear that we were not ready to win<br />
this time around. Our preparation for the<br />
tournament was shoddy. We simply got<br />
there by chance, prompting Brown<br />
Ideye, who was part of the 2013 South<br />
AFCON 2023: A Review<br />
African winning squad to say ahead of<br />
the tournament that the Super Eagles<br />
lacked the hunger and discipline to win<br />
a fourth trophy. “We have good players<br />
but we don’t have a team to win the<br />
AFCON now,” he said. Ideye was<br />
absolutely right, as evident on Sunday<br />
when the Super Eagles put up their<br />
worst performance in the tournament.<br />
<strong>The</strong> statistics clearly confirmed the<br />
outcome: the Elephants of Cote D’Ivoire<br />
had better ball possession – over 60%,<br />
and better shots on goal – 8. Nigeria<br />
trailed behind, playing a highly<br />
defensive game that made no sense. We<br />
scored the only shot at goal. Our<br />
midfield was non-existent. People have<br />
been trying to blame Alex Iwobi in the<br />
midfield – but what can one man do?<br />
Others have said Osimhen could have<br />
played better. What do you want him to<br />
do? He is who he is because he plays for<br />
Napoli - a team that is structured<br />
differently. In Napoli, other players give<br />
him the ball. With the Super Eagles, he<br />
had to look for the ball himself and try to<br />
create chances for others. One man<br />
doing the work of three men! Osimhen<br />
was completely marked out by the<br />
Angolans and the South Africans and in<br />
the finals, the Ivorians were determined<br />
to break his legs. Nigeria’s game plan<br />
looked stupid. <strong>The</strong> players were flatfooted.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re was no creativity in the<br />
midfield. Patriotism took the better side<br />
of me when we qualified for the finals.<br />
We all have an obligation to support our<br />
country. I certainly agree with those who<br />
believe that this is not the end of the<br />
road for the Super Eagles given the<br />
circumstances. Win some, lose some.<br />
That is life.<br />
But what next? Morocco is the next<br />
venue of AFCON. <strong>The</strong> qualifiers will<br />
start in <strong>March</strong> <strong>2024</strong>. We may have lost<br />
at AFCON 2023, but now is the time to<br />
begin to prepare for the next challenge.<br />
Serious-minded nations start preparing<br />
for the next tournament the morning<br />
after. <strong>The</strong>y don’t wait till the last minute<br />
AFCON 2023 Final Draw<br />
as we do in Nigeria. In AFCON 2023,<br />
South Africa fielded ten local league<br />
players from one home-based club – the<br />
Mamelodi Sundowns and they went<br />
away with the Bronze Medal, their very<br />
first medal in 24 years. We were lucky<br />
they didn’t beat us during the semifinals.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y outplayed Nigeria, and that<br />
is the truth, the same way Cote D’Ivoire<br />
outplayed us on Sunday. Nigeria must<br />
have learnt one big lesson and it is this:<br />
luck is not enough in international<br />
competitions. <strong>The</strong>re is something extra<br />
teams bring to the table and we saw this<br />
with Cote D’Ivoire. Nigeria must begin<br />
to find that extra by working to build a<br />
team of the future. Jose Peseiro, the<br />
current manager, cannot help us in that<br />
regard. I don’t see the point in renewing<br />
his contract. His contract has expired by<br />
the way. It had to be extended to cover<br />
the AFCON 2023, and now that we<br />
made it to just the finals, can we aim<br />
higher? It is even a shame that Nigeria<br />
over the years has not been able to<br />
develop enough local expertise to<br />
compete with the rest of the world, and<br />
yet the country has to make do with<br />
absentee, tourist foreign coaches.<br />
Whatever it was however, it must be<br />
possible for us to agree that success of<br />
any kind tends to bring out the best in<br />
all of us. When Nigeria does well, the<br />
people bond together, because we all<br />
want the same thing. As the Super<br />
Eagles advanced in AFCON 2023, they<br />
provided us all with useful distraction<br />
from the problems at home. Whenever<br />
we scored and won, nobody talked<br />
about the religion or the ethnicity of the<br />
player. Nobody cared where Victor<br />
Osimhen, Troost-Ekong, Lookman<br />
Afolabi or Moses Simon or Stanley<br />
Nwabali came from. At one viewing<br />
centre in Lagos, Governor Babajide<br />
Sanwoolu was shown leading a chorus<br />
of celebration when Nigeria beat Angola<br />
to get to the semi-finals. Some of the<br />
people at the viewing centre must have<br />
voted for Labour Party and the People’s<br />
Democratic Party (PDP) in the last<br />
election, but party affiliations were<br />
suspended for the objective of national<br />
glory. Nigeria needs to build on<br />
opportunities for such cohesion. And<br />
kudos to all the private sector units who<br />
helped along the way to bolster the<br />
excitement of the country’s<br />
participation: TotalEnergies, sponsored<br />
the tournament, MTN Nigeria too,<br />
Nigeria Breweries set up viewing<br />
centres across the country with its Life,<br />
Zagg Malt and Goldberg brands, the<br />
Lagos State Government had 29<br />
viewing centres across Lagos State, and<br />
Glo/Otunba Mike Adenuga publicly<br />
identified with and supported the<br />
national aspiration to win the trophy,<br />
and of course thank you, all Nigerians<br />
who suspended disbelief to cheer on<br />
your country. Five persons died in the<br />
process out of patriotic excitement. May<br />
their souls rest in peace. Now that the<br />
battle has been won and lost, we must<br />
now all return to the reality of our urgent<br />
dilemma: hyperinflation, poverty in the<br />
land, and the continuing search for good<br />
governance. <strong>The</strong> game is over, the<br />
struggle continues…
Page12 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
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FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Page13
Page14 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
Opinion<br />
Ekiti: Time to silence the guns (1)<br />
By Abiodun Komolafe<br />
Thank God Ekiti school children<br />
and their teachers who were<br />
kidnapped on Monday, January<br />
29, <strong>2024</strong>, have now been released and<br />
reunited with their families. May the<br />
‘Land of Honour’ never witness such a<br />
horrible experience again!<br />
Yours sincerely also join other wellmeaning<br />
Nigerians to commiserate with<br />
those who lost loved ones to the two<br />
tragedies. May God repose the souls of<br />
the faithful departed and grant the<br />
bereaved families the courage to process<br />
their losses and the strength to face<br />
whatever lies ahead!<br />
Most of all, Governor Biodun<br />
Abayomi Oyebanji, aka BAO, deserves<br />
a pat on the back for taking steps that<br />
demonstrated the true essence of public<br />
service. No doubt about it, he, like any<br />
other Governor in Nigeria, is under<br />
immense pressure and recent events in<br />
the country have not helped matters. But<br />
then, here’s a man who did not delegate<br />
responsibilities or send his deputy on an<br />
assessment tour of the terrible tragedies<br />
that had just rocked the State. Oyebanji<br />
did not attempt to insult God by asking<br />
Him to help put rice on fire after He had<br />
done His part of the provision. No, the<br />
Governor did not resort to episodic<br />
strategies and dead laws that’d have<br />
further left the victims battered and<br />
bruised. Instead, he took charge! He led<br />
from the front!<br />
Oyebanji took steps that clearly<br />
showed the remarkable empathy in his<br />
public persona, which mattered to the<br />
people. He gave a comforting ‘State of<br />
the State’ broadcast, visited the affected<br />
communities and representatives of the<br />
traditional rulers to reassure them of his<br />
administration’s strong resolve to deal<br />
neatly, meticulously and decisively with<br />
the scent of frustration, confusion and a<br />
piece of complex puzzle trying to<br />
overwhelm the State. He met with<br />
Nigeria’s military chiefs and the<br />
Inspector General of Police on the<br />
security situation in the State, and this led<br />
to a promise to assist Ekiti security-wise.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Governor did even more, and the<br />
results showed!<br />
Bold steps! Encouraging results!<br />
From what Nigerians have seen in the<br />
past few days, Oyebanji is a Governor<br />
any State worth its purpose will want to<br />
have! But again, how did we get to this<br />
sorry pass and what next?<br />
<strong>The</strong> current dilemma again reminds<br />
one of a time in Nigeria’s recent history<br />
when the social media platforms were<br />
flooded with videos of young men who,<br />
in their thousands, were reportedly<br />
undergoing paramilitary training in<br />
insurgency in selected camps.<br />
Unfortunately, the principalities and<br />
powers at the time watched helplessly as<br />
some witches and wizards acted<br />
recklessly. With the Indigenous People of<br />
Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security<br />
Network (ESN) as the culprits, Nigerians<br />
are now living with the consequences.<br />
When Gani Adams cried out that<br />
Fulani herdsmen’s invasion of the forest<br />
reserves in Yorubaland was a taboo and<br />
an embarrassment that should not be<br />
tolerated, our leaders and elders either<br />
didn’t have the nerve to speak truth to<br />
power or made political fortunes out of<br />
the bad situation. Now, the chickens have<br />
come home to roost and here we are,<br />
crying over spilled milk!<br />
When Sunday Adeyemo, alias<br />
Sunday Igboho, attempted to lead a<br />
response to the criminal herdsmen who<br />
had invaded Yorubaland, some Nigerians<br />
gave him a bad name. <strong>The</strong> feeling then<br />
was that Igboho was just an impenitent<br />
irritant in the hunt for undue attention.<br />
With the help of some powerful forces,<br />
the activist was thrown out of the country<br />
and was detained in a foreign land. Safe<br />
for providence, the story would have<br />
been pathetically different. Now, here we<br />
are, licking our wounds!<br />
Truly, the upsurge in the killings and<br />
abductions is not new; and it’s not that the<br />
tendencies also assumed office with the<br />
Bola Tinubu-led government. However,<br />
it is no longer news that things are taking<br />
turns for the worse in Nigeria.<br />
Kidnappings for ransom are fast<br />
becoming an industry to the level of the<br />
hunter becoming the hunted. In the days<br />
of old, whenever anything was stolen, the<br />
oracle would be consulted to help catch<br />
the thieves. Now, thieves have stolen the<br />
oracle. So, who are we going to consult?<br />
Here, everything seems to be failing and<br />
falling. Abuja, Nigeria’s administrative<br />
and political capital is no longer safe<br />
while Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub is<br />
fast becoming a dangerous terrain for<br />
commerce to thrive. Even police and<br />
military formations are no longer secure,<br />
and one begins to ask if the proverbial<br />
security dogs have not begun eating up<br />
their owners’ children.<br />
When former President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari came, Nigerians were deceived<br />
into believing that he’s got body<br />
language. Of course, that horrid legacy<br />
worked for some time, until Nigerians<br />
woke up from their slumber only to<br />
discover that body language as a pill has<br />
an expiry date. One major challenge with<br />
the present government is that it doesn’t<br />
even seem to have a body language; and<br />
that’s unfortunate.<br />
During his time as British Prime<br />
Minister, a wall collapsed at a secondary<br />
Ekiti's Governor Oyebanji meets Service Chiefs on insecurity in the State<br />
school in Manchester while Tony Blair<br />
was attending a Tax Conference in<br />
Brussels. Even with no recorded fatality,<br />
Blair handed the affairs of the British<br />
government at the Conference over to his<br />
Foreign Secretary and flew back to<br />
Manchester to side with the victims of the<br />
wall collapse. In 2016, following<br />
multiple police shootings in Dallas,<br />
former President Barack Obama not only<br />
visited the families of the five deceased<br />
officers but also attended an inter-faith<br />
memorial service in their honour. Well, I<br />
hope to come back to that later.<br />
Going back in time, previous<br />
governments would have tamed the<br />
insecurity monster if only they had the<br />
sincerity of purpose and the will to go to<br />
its root causes as most professionally and<br />
honestly as possible. But that never<br />
happened, due to what only the handlers<br />
of Nigeria could explain. In terms of<br />
security, no one knows where Nigeria is<br />
presently headed. In our very eyes,<br />
kidnapping has become a major business<br />
in the country but unfortunately, the<br />
system has failed in the most elementary<br />
detective form to follow the money paid<br />
as ransom.<br />
<strong>The</strong> fear and the authority of a<br />
policeman command social order. <strong>The</strong><br />
fear and the command of a soldier brings<br />
more powerful social control on the<br />
society, simply because he represents not<br />
just the government but also confirms the<br />
authoritative use of force being exclusive<br />
to the State. Nevertheless, insecurity has<br />
a way of getting a life of its own. For<br />
instance, nobody can have a pattern at<br />
Budapest in Hungary and Bukkuyum in<br />
Zamfara State. So, we need to do a study<br />
of an environment vis-à-vis its historical<br />
environmental antecedents in order to<br />
initiate security measures.<br />
Why have successive governments’<br />
investments in security not been justified<br />
by tangible results and reduction in the<br />
violent criminal waves? Yes, previous<br />
governments shied away from going the<br />
full hog because of political,<br />
humanitarian and regional considerations<br />
but where has that left us as a country and<br />
people? Why do Nigerians seem to have<br />
lost confidence in almost all the<br />
institutions: police, army, academics,<br />
banking, judiciary, tradition, religion, just<br />
name it? Why have they been clamouring<br />
for restructuring or a return to the 1963<br />
Constitution which gave room for each<br />
region to stand alone and develop at its<br />
own pace but bring something to the<br />
centre?<br />
Why are those in charge at the top not<br />
making use of intelligence adequately<br />
and why are the masses running the race<br />
by being forgotten? Why are security<br />
agencies failing in infiltration tactics,<br />
intelligence gathering, proactive sting<br />
operations and covert operational<br />
planning which could help in destroying<br />
terrorist camps from within? Sincerely,<br />
doesn’t the present situation call for a<br />
revisit to the widely anticipated reorganization<br />
of the first responder law<br />
enforcement agency in Nigeria - the<br />
Nigeria Police?<br />
*To be continued.
Opinion<br />
FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Of monstrous cathedrals and<br />
hungry congregants<br />
By Abiodun Komolafe<br />
Page15<br />
Sometime in 1989, a friend told a<br />
story of how he was in dire need of<br />
sponsorship for his university<br />
education. When all things proved<br />
difficult, he approached one of the<br />
presbyters in a church in Ibadan, Oyo<br />
State who eventually advised that his<br />
impressive General Certificate of<br />
Education Ordinary Level (GCE O-<br />
Level) results be announced to the<br />
congregation during a Sunday service<br />
with a view to wooing Good Samaritans.<br />
Though that was done, help did not<br />
come! <strong>The</strong> presbyter’s wife pleaded with<br />
his husband to rerun the announcement.<br />
‘Who knows, help might come!’ But ‘Iya<br />
Yard’ (preacher’s wife) was shouted<br />
down. ‘We have more important things to<br />
do in the church’, he was quoted as<br />
saying. <strong>The</strong>n he turned to the help-seeker:<br />
“young man, go back to your village and<br />
start farming. By the time you do that for<br />
three to four years, you’ll have saved<br />
enough money to fund your university<br />
education.”<br />
Well, my friend’s experience brought<br />
to the fore a statement credited to Pastor<br />
W. F. Kumuyi, the Founder and General<br />
Superintendent of the Deeper Christian<br />
Life Ministry, recently. Kumuyi<br />
reportedly urged the Church to stop<br />
devoting all its money to church building<br />
but start committing parts to feeding the<br />
poor and clothing the naked. According<br />
to him, “all the offerings are not just for<br />
the Church. <strong>The</strong>re are poor people<br />
around. It makes no sense to give to a<br />
church building when the people inside<br />
are hungry.”<br />
It is interesting to note that good<br />
things are coming from Nazareth even as<br />
there might be priests who didn’t share<br />
Kumuyi’s lines of thought and are likely<br />
to take him up on this. Meanwhile,<br />
looking around, one sees many beautiful<br />
edifices, built with the people’s<br />
contributions, with the pastors cruising<br />
around in exotic cars and private jets.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y live in opulence while the<br />
contributors suffer hunger and<br />
deprivation. <strong>The</strong>se days, the common<br />
trend within the House of God can only<br />
be referred to as Building Competition:<br />
‘if you build a 50,000-seater Auditorium,<br />
I will surprise you with a 120,000-seater<br />
Basilica, complete with infrastructural<br />
and cultural significance and hi-tech<br />
facilities’, not even minding whether or<br />
not “those who do not have anything to<br />
feed” are there, dying.<br />
To state the obvious, the new trend in<br />
the Church calls for concern. ‘Prophetic<br />
utterances’ a la miracles and prosperity<br />
are now gushing out like erosion while<br />
nobody cares about the Balanced<br />
<strong>The</strong>ology any longer. Apostle James said<br />
in the Holy Book that, if someone comes<br />
unto you without food and all you have<br />
to tell him or her is ‘go in peace’, what<br />
kind of peace would that be without first<br />
giving him what the body needs? Same<br />
goes for the Sheikhood system where the<br />
Sheikh lives large only for the followers<br />
to go home poor and hungry.<br />
In an article, ‘Of miracle workers,<br />
receivers and critics’, (published on<br />
September 8, 2002), yours sincerely<br />
commented on how the now-late Prophet<br />
T.B. Joshua went about, feeding the poor<br />
and clothing the unclothed, yet, what was<br />
of paramount interest to his colleagues in<br />
the faith was his having ‘evil spirit’<br />
without doing something spectacular<br />
with their ‘holy spirit.’ Now that Joshua is<br />
dead, the world is free to accuse him of<br />
whatever it feels befits him but the truth<br />
is: those souls ‘Emmanuel’ fed while<br />
alive would not forget his good deeds in<br />
a hurry.<br />
Take it or leave it, the Church of<br />
Christ in the hands of men is practically<br />
stinking. From Lagos to Abuja, and from<br />
Adamawa to Owerri, the present-day<br />
Church is filled with various forms of<br />
sinful and shameful acts of many shades<br />
and shapes being perpetrated by its<br />
leaders, better referred to as merchants on<br />
the altar of God. <strong>The</strong>re is no distinction,<br />
be they mainline or the known privatelyowned<br />
churches. <strong>The</strong> mainline churches<br />
are out of their conscience and are in<br />
business mainly for the interest of their<br />
Bishops, Archbishops and Primates. This<br />
is why one cannot find any of their<br />
children or loved ones in the country and<br />
their target among other things is to buy<br />
property abroad and dot every choice<br />
location locally with choice cars. No<br />
wonder the Holy Book says: “For the<br />
Pastor W. F. Kumuyi - <strong>The</strong><br />
Church must start feeding<br />
the poor and clothing the<br />
naked 2<br />
time is come that judgment must begin at<br />
the house of God: and if it first begins at<br />
us, what shall the end be of them that<br />
obey not the gospel of God?”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Church in Nigeria is bleeding<br />
from the wound of financial impropriety<br />
inflicted on it by its leaders. Accounts are<br />
not being well-kept and promotions and<br />
preferments are being stylishly sold under<br />
different names and guises. Emergency<br />
jobs are being created for the boys in the<br />
Departments, Areas, Zones, Dioceses and<br />
Provinces. Monies are being collected<br />
arbitrarily and parishes are being taxed<br />
just to satisfy the taste of the leaders. Is it<br />
any wonder then that we have more<br />
‘healers’ than the healed and more<br />
‘perfect masters’ on earth than the One<br />
who has the ultimate power to give and<br />
take away? Indeed, that’s why the North-<br />
South dichotomy has only succeeded in<br />
dividing us instead of uniting us and why<br />
the cankerworms of religious ethnicism<br />
and doctrinal fanaticism have eaten deep<br />
into our fabric. It is also the reason our<br />
society comprises liars whose tokens are<br />
frustrated and wise diviners whose<br />
knowledge are made foolish.<br />
As it is in the Church, so it is in the<br />
political-cum-secular world. Things and<br />
times have become so troubling that, if a<br />
politician decides to build his house on a<br />
river, our religious leaders will build a<br />
canoe to the place. If they can’t build it,<br />
they will go as far as contracting experts<br />
from Ilaje in Ondo State to help construct<br />
a road to get there. As it is, there are<br />
millions of Nigerians who will follow<br />
their religious leaders into the lagoon.<br />
Anyway, that’s a topic for another day!<br />
<strong>The</strong> political class who use our<br />
commonwealth to sponsor would-be<br />
pilgrims to Mecca and Jerusalem is not<br />
helping matters. Of course, that’s why so<br />
many people have kowtowed, because,<br />
when a man makes it a point of duty to<br />
slash a tenth of his hard-earned salary and<br />
decides to give it to the Church, what’s<br />
wrong with such a soul is that he is still<br />
believing in the religious institution or the<br />
commandment of God that he should do<br />
so with his money. However, the<br />
unfortunate part of it is that other<br />
corresponding acts are observed in the<br />
breach by the Church.<br />
During his time, former President<br />
Goodluck Jonathan established schools,<br />
complete with incentives, for the<br />
Almajiris. Jonathan knew that, without<br />
these in place, Nigeria was sitting on a<br />
keg of gunpowder and that it was only a<br />
matter of time before it’d explode.<br />
Unfortunately, <strong>March</strong> 28, 2015 came and<br />
the election Tsunami swept Jonathan<br />
back to Otuoke. What happened<br />
afterwards was nothing compared to<br />
forgotten ideas!<br />
Let’s make this perfectly clear, the<br />
Church carries with it the totality of the<br />
responsibility of man. In the early days,<br />
the Church was supposed to be getting its<br />
directive directly from God. If its<br />
directives were from God, then, no one<br />
could query the Church. But, is the<br />
definition of religion sacrosanct and<br />
where lies the space of God in the hearts<br />
of men or his place in the affairs of his<br />
elect? Why have religious institutions in<br />
Nigeria become mere commercial<br />
organizations, toying with the people’s<br />
emotions and destinies through selfish<br />
prayers and very weird ideas of blessings<br />
and healing? Over and above all, why<br />
have institutional silliness, deliberate<br />
blindness and fake confidence robbed us<br />
of all the benefits of those prayers that<br />
have already been answered?<br />
Why? For God’s sake, why?<br />
May the Lamb of God, who takes<br />
away the sin of the world, grant us peace<br />
in Nigeria!<br />
Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-Jesa,<br />
Osun State, Nigeria<br />
(ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)
GAB Awards<br />
Faces at the 25th Annual GAB Awards<br />
Page16 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY <strong>21</strong> - MARCH 5 <strong>2024</strong><br />
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