In this report, George Agba gives and expository details
about reasons behind calls for the relocation of Aso Villa Chapel and
the sham religiosity that had become part of the church in recent past.
In the past weeks, a lot of dust had been raised in the
social media over reports that of a seeming plan by Aso Rock officials
to relocate the Villa Chapel from its current location at the
presidential villa. Some persons even claim that the plan is to demolish
the church completely. The controversy continues to rage despite the
fact that the presidency has come out to disprove the existence of such a
plan.
The special adviser to the president on media and
publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina had tweeted several photos on his Twitter
handle to prove that the chapel was functioning. He also twitted his
comment, indicating outright refutal. "President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB)
orders Aso Villa Chapel shut? There is no such thing. It’s only a rumour
spawned by fecund imagination gone into overdrive. PMB respects freedom
of worship", the presidential spokesman stated.
It has been over a month now since this attempt to skew
some religious sentiment against President Muhammadu Buhari's presidency
started. Curiously, the chapel still functions. But it would require a
personal visit to the president's residence to be able appreciate a
plan for its relocation. That is if at all there is any. The security
risk and undue exposure the president's official residence is subjected
to because of the present location of the church augurs badly for a
number one citizen of a country like Nigeria.
The chapel built and inaugurated by Obasanjo was designed
to accommodate only members of his family and his close aides. For
security reasons, Obasanjo built the less than 200 capacity church
inside his official residence mainly to make the Sunday
worship convenient for him, his family members and aides who are of the
Christian extraction. Erected less than 50 metres to the president's
official residence, the cottage size building was intended to be a
family size fellowship centre.
Leadership findings reveal that the president's aides want
the church relocated because under former President Goodluck Jonathan,
the chapel was converted to a full capacity church it currently serves
as at the moment. The massive influx of people has created a situation
where there is now an overflow of people who, unable to get space
inside, take seats fixed outside the chapel to accommodate them.
Apart from a handful of true worshipers who in keeping
faith with the biblical analogy that they must God in spirit and in
truth, there are still the great mass of other kind of worshipers who
throng the chapel in search of material benefits in God's name. It was
gathered that under the immediate past administration, the use of the
chapel was abused. Christians worshipers from different parts of Abuja
abandoned their respective churches to attend Sunday service there.
Apart from the fact that some of these persons used the
church for political reasons, there were others who were also attracted
to the church mainly because of certain material gifts they get from the
former First Lady during special occasions. Outsiders, including pagans
and Hindus hide under the cloak of worship to lobby for contracts,
appointments and other mundane benefits from the seat of power at the
chapel.
Pundits believe that because it satisfied former President
Jonathan's conviction, this form of worship which encouraged the mixed
multitude kept trending upward. Security aides who would have been in
the right position to caution that this was not good enough for national
security maintained sealed lips. Probably not wanting to be reprimanded
for attempting to stop 'faithful worshipers', they watched helplessly
as the chapel, which is very close to the president's kitchen and
bedroom was used as shopping ground for various interest.
And because the church shares very close walls with the
residence, children who accompany their parents to the place often times
overstep their bounds and dabble in the president's private lounge. Of
more serious security concern are the vehicles parked directly in front
of the building where food items are currently stored.
These, according to Leadership checks, are some of the
reasons why security aides to President Buhari say they are
uncomfortable with the location of the church under the present
administration. But their effort to convince the president to allow them
relocate the chapel is becoming even remote because of the president's
indifference towards the matter.
Their worry is that since the chapel is not useful to the
present occupant of the official residence, they are the ones at risk
when the president and the entire first family are exposed to such
vulnerability. The thinking is that under the present administration
where the incumbent president has no business with those he sees around
his official residence, anything can happen. It is more worrisome now
that the Boko Haram sect has been dislodged from their camps and are on
the prowl, seeking for the type of soft targets that will elevate their
terror profile.
Besides, every Sunday morning, security personnel at the pilot gate engage in the very arduous and strenuous task of screening the large
number of persons who throng the villa to attend church service in the
chapel. Most of the time, the security officials are said to be left
with no choice than to clear persons with questionable character and
identity for fear of being accused of depriving people from worshiping
God.
It was also report that the children’s church was shut and
some rooms converted to shops for storing food items. But this,
Leadership findings reveal, is not true. When President Buhari moved
into the residence, the children's church was turned to a creche used by
his domestic staff with a ban to put their babies.
During the Obasanjo and Jonathan era, the small private
mosque attached to the residence was used as store for food and other
items. It is a very small mosque built by former military president,
Ibrahim Babangida for his family members and domestic staff. A ground of
contention by the presidency officials who want the chapel relocated is
that nobody comes from outside to attend the other mosque close to the
president's office during the Friday Juma'at prayers.
It was also observed that the number of persons who worship
in the chapel after Jonathan moved of Aso Rock has reduced abysmally.
Our correspondent who attended yesterday's service in the church reports
that only four out of the about 12 row of seats were occupied. The
number of people worshiping in the chapel further reduced when it became
apparent that Vice President Osinbajo who spends most of his weekends
in Lagos does not worship there regularly.
Osinbajo, it was learnt lost enthusiasm in using the chapel
when he discovered it was located inside his boss's residence. There
are keen observers who believe strongly that those insisting on
maintaining the church in its present location are not rational. The
thinking is that what constitutes a church is the congregation and not
the building. If for the sake of convenience the place of worship does
not suit the purpose, there is nothing wrong in relocating it.
The contention is that since Obasanjo deemed it fit to
provide a church for a Christian president in the residence just as
Babangida did for a Muslim president, the issue should be guided by
common logic. The mosque and the chapel should be used successively,
depending on who occupies the resident at a given period.
Rather from seen reason from this point of view, religious
zealots are trying to overheat the polity by insisting that the current
location of the mosque be retained when a change in government has
redefined the tenancy of the official quarters of the president.
The Senate's plenary session will hold tomorrow, where president
Buhari's ministerial list will finally be unveiled. And according to Vanguard,
Omoni Oboli may have struck gold of sort as her new movie, The First
Lady which opened at the cinema on October 1, 2015 has done well so far
with sell out halls from Ikeja cinema, Surulere, Genesis, Ibadan to
Abuja and other cinemas in Nigeria.
The movie which starred Alex Ekubo, Yvonne Jegede, Joseph Benjamin,
Anthony Montero, Chinedu Ikedieze (Aki), Udoka and Omoni Oboli has been
described as a refreshing comedy that has liven up cinemas in recent
times.
The First Lady has been described as the best performance of Alex Ekubo
laced with heavy comedy that has not been seen in Nigerian cinemas since
the days of 30 Days in Atlanta.
Have you seen the movie, what do you think
Below is a press statement from Ayefele's management following his attack in Ondo last Saturday..
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The Convention Centre, Eko Hotel & Suites, was the place to be in
Lagos as comedy superstar Basket mouth hosted Comedy Central's all-star
comedy concert featuring performances by A-list African comedians and
music artistes. Faces seen in attendance were 2Face and wife Annie
Idibia, Tee-A, Colette Otusheso, Sound Sultan, Jay Jay Okocha, Seyi
Shay, Solidstar, Okey Bakassi and Yaw amongst others. See more exclusive
photos after the cut... 
When you aim to be the best, then you have to give your 100% - 100%
commitment, 100% focus, 100% quality – and that’s why Chivita 100% Fruit
Juice, which is Nigeria’s only 100% pure fruit juice is giving away
dozens of shopping vouchers worth N40000, N20000 and N10000 between
September 28 - October 18th 2015!
We love a good daiquiri and the strawberry-coconut daiquiri is a great variation of this.
The Cliqfest campus tour powered by EasyCliq visited Nuhu Bamali
Polytechnic Zaria and left beautiful memories with students and staff of
the institution through education and entertainment.
Desmond Ola Yusuf, was announced winner of the star prize, a Hyundai
i10.
The ND 1 student of Civil Engineering emerged after a raffle draw was
conducted signaling the highpoint of two days of pulsating excitement
for students of the school.
Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra state yesterday granted 25 prisoners
freedom and gave each of them N1 million for start up. Governor Obiano
granted them freedom as part of activities to celebrate Nigeria's 55th
independence.
The 17-year-old Russian school boy who goes by the Instagram name
(@drewsssik) fell off from the roof-top of a nine-story building while
trying to take an extreme selfie. The extreme selfie is the latest craze
among teenagers.
According to media reports, the boy climbed the building in Vologda city
with a friend to capture a stunning selfie while dangling off the
towering structure. He approached the edge in fading light and lowered
himself over it with a rope and a smartphone. Unfortunately, the rope
suddenly gave way and he fell.
