ZION B-BC NEWSLETTER. [ A Publication of the Zion Faith Bible-Believing Church, Kpeyegyi, Abuja Nigeria. ] { VOL. 2. NO 40. 18-05-14.} “SHE, NA SO WE GO DE, DE-E-E”? [SHALL WE, AS A NATION, CONTINUE IN SIN?] The Book of Romans, Chapter 6:1, poses this question on divine salvation through a process of deliverance from the bondage of Satan and Sin and asks: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” The import of this verse is that GRACE, (the unmerited favour of GOD upon the human race), MUST NEVER BE ABUSED! All of creation must be dead to sin and all forms of carnality through the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and avoid ever backsliding! Though, official corruption, extortion by public officers and judicial corruption, are serious offences punishable by law if found guilty, with seven (7), three (3), and fourteen (14) years imprisonment respectively, and have become commonplace and a ‘recurring decimal’ in Nigeria, these economic offences are handled with “kid gloves” and as such, were neither investigated nor punished unlike what obtains in other climes. The reasons for these lapses are not far-fetched! *Since the inception of this present administration, the Number One citizen, who should be the citizens’ role model in ethical norms and moral standards, had publicly and consistently declared at every opportunity, (home and abroad), that the DOMESTIC AND GLOBAL ACCUSATIONS OF OFFICIAL CORRUPTION AGAINST HIS GOVERNMENT WERE EXAGGERATED AND BLOWN OUT OF PROPORTION! *We of this editorial board will continue to disagree with Mr. Number One because with his executive fiat, the unpatriotic and criminally-minded Nigerians in the Civil Service and the Private Sector are having a field day in bribery, extortion, money laundering, oil theft, manipulation in contract awards and outright stealing of Pension Funds, etc. What about all detected and pending cases of economic crimes against the ‘untouchables’ of his government, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission[EFCC] who cannot be prosecuted due to deliberate under-funding of the organisation? *We therefore make bold to state that these crimes which continuously decimate Nigeria’s collective economic gains unhindered and the very elections that brought the present crop of leaders on board are all corruptly-powered! If you are a Nigerian of proven-integrity, please, travel down the memory lane, check your nation’s score-card on the Amnesty International Global Index on corruption and other related offences in the last four years and you may want to deny your nationality when you travel abroad because we have been permanently grounded at the bottom of the ladder! A dangerous dimension of official corruption is being introduced by heartless officials in the Military through the inappropriate manner of handling the allowances of troops engaged in overcoming the Boko Haram insurgency. In two separate past editions of this Newsletter, we warned against demoralizing our soldiers and creating an avenue for mutiny, when this heinous crime was first exposed, but the deeply-corrupt mafia in the military lost all sense of decorum which nearly cost the life of a General Officer Commanding[GOC]! What they dismissed then, as a rumour, now stares all of us in the face as the ‘bitter truth’! The Police is not excepted in this unpatriotic crimes of bribery corruption and extortion. Millions of naira of Police Pensions and Welfare Funds were stolen and an Inspector General had already served a prison sentence on conviction! How can a country dwell in peace when the leaders constitute themselves into an “Army of Occupation” to perpetrate the very crimes they should prevent? The National Assembly[NA], of this present administration like its past counterparts, have been accused of appropriating fat salaries and allowances to themselves contrary to the rule of law and no one has refunded monies collected in excess or penalised to date which proves the attitude of corruption with impunity of the ‘untouchables’! The Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Responsibility Commission [RMFRC], saddled with fixing adequate salaries for the Three Arms of government, stipulates the official salaries of NA Legislators as follows: SENATORS : N954.096.67kobo per month and, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE MEMBER: N794.084.95kobo per month, to take care of their mobility, fuelling security, utility, entertainment etc. These salaries which are less than ONE MILLION NAIRA PER LEGISLATOR, according to RMFRC, were reckoned at par with the pay-packet of a civil service Director; but it is an open secret that the Legislators live LARGER THAN LIFE because, with the connivance of the National Assembly CLERK they appropriate, not only jumbo salaries but also, outrageous quarterly constituency allowances for themselves, in spite of the fact that, over 100 out of about 175million Nigerians are dwelling in abject poverty! It is on record that Senators of the Federal Republic and their House of Representative counterparts, collect, N45 and N37million, four times annually, ie. N180 and N148 million respectively, to “execute constituency projects”! When did legislators become CONTRACTORS and who authorised the Clerk, an accounting officer, to dabble into the duty of fiscal appropriation, because one naira in excess of RMFRC official figures, is absolutely illegal and not known in law! The Clerk has neither been sanctioned nor all excess salaries, allowances and QUARTERLY CONSTITUENCY ALLOWANCES, refunded to the Federation Accounts! *Maybe we should not be too amazed because some tenants of the National Assembly, are past governors and administrators who have been accused by the EFCC of economic crimes, but have BOUGHT TIME through the COURTS! Having now manipulated themselves into the law-drafting, fiscal appropriation and OVERSIGHT processes, they are better positioned to embezzle the nation’s coffers with so much ease once again! *WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATION, AS THIS END-TIME CLOCK, IS TICKING AWAY EVERY EARTH PILGRIM TO DEATH AND TO ETERNITY OF EITHER DAMNATION OR SALVATION? *The Word of God says: “For God so love the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. [John.3:16-17]. God is not condemning the thieves amongst us, but requests that all sinners be ready to face all consequences of their actions or inactions make necessary restitutions and be saved through the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the WAY, TRUTH AND THE LIFE.[John.14:6]. *It is however very pertinent that the present administration should desist from the attitude of indulging in official corruption with impunity. Starting with the ruling party’s chairman, former governors, legislators and administrators, all indicted officials, MUST as a matter of urgency, be relieved of their posts, released to go and face their trials, in order to prove their innocence or guilt, as the case may be! *This is the surest way of running a government with probity and integrity. *Last week in Israel, a former Prime Minister, EHUD OLMERT, who was twice indicted for bribery and official corruption, both as Head of State and as a one-time Mayor of Jerusalem, was jailed for SIX YEARS, having been thoroughly investigated for over three years in respect of the economic and financial crimes! * Why should every administration in Nigeria postpone the evil day but remain under the illusion that certain “sacred cows” should be spared, no matter their CRIMINAL RECORDS? *The only plausible and sensible conclusion to warrant an attitude of cowardice on the part of an incumbent, to overlook the vices of his predecessors in office, must be an induced allegiance due to the unclean hands being brought to equity; cupboards full of SKELETONS and prone to blackmail, reproach and public shame! Let all past Presidents, Heads of State, Governors, Legislators and Administrators (military or civilian), who have been under EFCC investigations for economic and financial crimes, including money laundering, be recalled to face trials to ascertain their guilt or otherwise so that this nation can begin on a new slate with a crop of patriotic men and women of clean records after the 2015 general elections. It is time to VOTE AND FLUSH OUT ALL THIS PRESENT BAD AND UNWANTED ‘EGGS’ IN GOVERNMENT! There must be sanity in this nation, the bloodshed must stop and Boko Haram must become a bad dream, needed to be quickly forgotten! We enjoin all patriotic citizens of this great nation refuse the Voter Bribery Syndicate of the rural areas who offer A FIVE HUNDRED NAIRA NOTE PLUS A LOAVE OF BREAD PER VOTER AND THEIR URBAN counterparts who offer larger sums of Nigeria’s stolen and embezzled monies to bribe gullible voters! OUR VOTES AGAINST THESE OPPORTUNISTS WILL PACIFY INSURGENCY AND NIGERIA WILL BE AT PEACE ONCE AGAIN! AMEN, If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, don’t miss this great opportunity as you pray this prayer: Lord Jesus; I confess that I am a sinner who needs to be saved through the grace of the New Testament of your Blood, shed on the Cross at Calvary; I renounce every sin in my life and accept you as my Lord and Saviour. Please forgive me and write my name in the Book of Life. Amen. If you prayed this prayer, you have been admitted into the family of sons and daughters of God, who are born-again. Congratulations. Please look forward to more divine revelation in the next edition of Zion B-BC Newsletter as you share this with friends and remain blessed in the Lord. [For weekly access,to this newsletter, log on to: facebook.com/zionfaithbible.believingchurch & Zfbbc1.blogspot.com]. I am, Yours sincerely,Dr. David B.A. Olufon, Resident Pastor and Editor.08058436756 08098194390.g-mail- dvdolufon@gmail.com .