*Says ‘it gives me peace of mind’, but sad over Gaza, others
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
Founder and Spiritual Head of INRI Evangelical and Spiritual Church, Oke Afa, Isolo, Lagos, Nigeria, Primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele JP, has described the fact that people are going through war situation in parts of the world, especially in Gaza, as one reason he would have nothing much to say about celebrating Christmas this year.
Distribution of chickens and other food items at the INRI church cathedral, Oke Afa, Isolo, Lagos, Nigeria, at the weekend.
He stated this after the distribution of gifts including food, chickens and others, which preceded the annual convention of the church, at the weekend.
Ayodele’s passion for giving out, not only to the needy but also even to well-to-do Nigerians by way of encouraging them to do more good things, is now decades old as he would usually say there is no way he can be happy when the people around him are not happy.
The DEFENDER reports that the primate, who is better addressed as the Servant of the Lord’s Vineyard, had in the past given out cars of sound health to members at respective prices of N8,000 (eight thousand naira only) and more, while also giving out a room-and-parlour self-contained to beneficiary at N1,000 per month totaling N12,000 as at when prevailing cost of hiring same around Isolo was over N200,000.
Ayodele’s INRI is one church in the contemporary Nigeria’s history, which maintains workable inter-religious peace with Muslims and others to the extent that, through the Cathedral, many Muslims have been sent on Holy pilgrimage to Makkah and Madinah.
The church has kept its record intact on sponsoring of educational programmes of Nigerian youths including paying for WAEC and JAMB forms for identified beneficiaries. With all of the antecedents, doing what Primate Babatunde Ayodele did last weekend ahead this year’s Christmas celebration was, therefore, not new but only a reenactment of his ongoing kindheartedness towards the good of humanity.
He was, however, taken up by journalists, who asked him after the programme about happenings around the world and in Nigeria.
Responding he said, “There is nothing to say about Christmas celebration around the world. We are celebrating Christmas now but there is war in Gaza. People there are not happy, we are the ones happy, so what am I going to say when people not celebrating all over the world. See destruction, people are crying in some parts of the world and you want to tell me that this celebration of Jesus Christian. I don’t know anything about that.”
On his take about the state of the nation in Nigeria, he said, “Hardship, sorrow, tears, difficulties. These are the things we have. That is why I say it is petrol that is our problem. Let them put refineries in 100 million places, it will be the same thing. What we need to do are five things. If they do it, they will be happy for it. If they don’t do it, they will see the consequences.
“One, government should try as much as they can to reduce the price of food commodities. They should stop palliative (because) palliative is a scam, palliative is fraudulent. Palliative cannot help the government at all; two, 24/7 light; three, use our mineral resources to take care and liberate Nigerians from poverty. Nigerians are languishing in poverty. Let them use all that to liberate Nigerians by doing all that are needful. Four, they should create employment and, then lastly, engage in mechanized farming. When you do all of these, you will see that Nigeria will be better.
“That is all that is essential before you start talking about infrastructure. If there is food, then people will start to talk about road. They say rice is N60,000. How do you want people to feed? That means you want to kill them.”
