As I do when the situation warrants it, my take – off point is to thank those who in recent weeks phoned or sent text messages to appreciate me and my column. I begin with 85 year – old Chief Toye Ogunsuyi, a London trained lawyer and international relations expert and the President of Oduduwa Descendants in the 19 states in the North, who called from his base in Jos a fortnight back and commended me for writing well-researched, sound and deep articles week – after – week and said he is very proud of me.
On his part, 81 year – old Nnewi, Anambra State – born, Sir Amos Ofoneme, a Jerusalem Pilgrim (JP) and Knight of the Anglican Communion and a 1967 graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka who went on voluntary retirement at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) in 1978, said my column is a delight to read and learn lessons from, especially the profound spiritual scripts I write.
According to Mazi Nomeh Ekene W. Ugwu (080 – 3516 – 6661), my column is for sound minds, especially the youth and that “I am a blessing to this generation and the ones yet unborn as the purpose for which God created me is manifesting.”
The last compliment came from Anthony Okechukwu (080 – 3561 – 7260), who phoned from Anambra State on June 10 to congratulate and commend me on the effectiveness of my column of May 31, which urged the leaders of the South – West, South – East and South – South to meet and call off the bluff of Hausa – Fulani chieftains who behave as if they own Nigeria and that southerners were inferior to them. He said southern leaders announced the previous day that they would soon meet. They did so last week and warned northerners against the threat of their youth to expel the Igbo from the three zones in their region. They ended their statements with the promise that doing so would lead to reactions from them and dire consequences for the country.
Let me add another recommendation I made in the last six months that federal authorities had reacted to. The first was my article of January 18 titled: Time Senate gives Discos pre – paid meter supply deadline. And that of February 22 with the headline: Appeal to Fasola over my latest Disco bill. The message in the two write – ups was that if action was not promptly taken that people may start attacking and killing the staff of the eleven Discos in the country over the excessive and unreasonable bills they serve to electricity users every month even when for most of the time it is blackout they have.
On May 8, the Minister in charge of Power, Mr. Babatunde Fasola, in Jos during the monthly meeting of stakeholders in the electricity sector, warned the Discos to live up to their responsibilities, otherwise the Federal Government would revoke the agreement they have with them. And only last week the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, told the Discos to promptly provide meters for those they give estimated bills every month and that if they don’t such people should stop paying them and warned the companies that they would be punished if they disconnected their lines.
Back to the story of how late Prophet Adekunle Adebajo saved the then Brigadier Olusegun Obasanjo, the Deputy Head of State from being assassinated along with his boss, General Murtala Muhammed during the February 13, 1976 army coup and facilitated his being made to succeed him. Adebajo was such a powerful and largely results – oriented spiritualist who prayed for a lot prominent Nigerians, such as high court judges, medical doctors, university lecturers and professors, business tycoons and army officers, who included Brigadier Oluwole Rotimi when he was the Military Governor of the Western State (1971 – 75).
It was in September 1975, about two months after the Muhammed regime came to power that Prophet Adebajo while praying for Egba – born Chief Alani Egunjobi, a Chartered Accountant and a friend or relative of Obasanjo, that he told him the vision of a coup coming up early in 1976. But that through fasting, prayers and spiritual deliverance exercises he could get Obasanjo not to be killed and to end up as the successor to his principal, instead of northern – born Brigadier Theophilus Yakubu (TY) Danjuma, the Chief of Army Staff.
To be continued next week Wednesday
Professor Anele’s faux pas on bible authos (12)
The only reservation I have on the authorship of the 39 Books in the Old Testament and the 27 in the New Testament, is the claim that Prophet Moses, who led the Israelites out Egypt wrote the first five Books in the Old Testament. This can’t be because in the biographies of the authors of Holy Bible Books, Genesis was written in 1445 B.C; Exodus between 1445 and 1405; Leviticus in 1405; Numbers between 1444 and 1405 and Deuteronomy in 1405.
But in the development of early civilization from 4500 – 550 B.C in the Key Events in World History on page 285 in the Reader’s Digest Almanac and Yearbook published in 1980, by the Reader’s Digest Association, Incorporated, Pleasantville, New York, United States, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt between 1250 and 1232 BC. This was 195 – 213 years or 155 – 173 years after the first five Books in the Old Testament had been written between 1445 and 1405 BC.
Also in the biography of Moses on the internet, the leaders of Rabbinic Judaism, the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century AD, said he was born in 1391 and died 1271 BC. at the age of 120. But Jerome, a Bible scholar who lived from March 27, 347AD to September 30, 420 AD claimed Moses was born in 1592 BC, while James Ussher, another Bible scholar (January 4, 1581AD – March 21, 1656 AD) said Moses was born in 1571B.C. The dates given by the two of them show that Moses was born 147 – 187 years and 125 – 166 years respectively before the Books in the Old Testament were written between 1445 and 1405.
I accept the dates given by the leaders of Rabbinic Judaism and the authors of Reader’s Digest as more authentic than those from Jerome and Ussher. Indeed, I believe they came up with their dates in order to show that Prophet Moses wrote the first five Books in the Old Testament. For continuation next week