The senior pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, has urged his church members to always put God first.

Fatoyinbo, during a recent sermon, said that honouring God and putting him first is the surest way to exponential wealth. He urged his listeners to always pay their tithes and “first fruits”.

The preacher also had words for the Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC) general overseer, Pastor Tunde Bakare, over the bank loans he took to build his Lagos megachurch.

Fatoyinbo said that Bakare’s act of tearing Bishop David Oyedepo’s book could be the reason the CGCC pastor is in financial trouble over his megachurch project.

Bakare, many years ago, tore the book after, according to him, he read a portion in which Oyedepo called anointing oil “God’s life in a bottle”. Bakare was of the opinion that the claim was heretic and occultic.

But Fatoyinbo suggested that because the book was dealing with the topic of prosperity, tearing it may have taken Bakare far from financial stability.

“Someone tore Bishop Oyedepo’s books on prosperity and others on live TV. According to the news, he is now having issues because of N10 billion,” Fatoyinbo said without mentioning Bakare’s name.

I heard somebody is in trouble for N10 billion.

“Don’t let anybody deceive you. The church that they (Oyedepo’s church) are building, they already paid N100 billion cash for their building.

“They didn’t raise a dime. N100 Billion cash! And that’s not completion of the building. By the time they are finished with it, it has not been done on earth. Everybody is struggling to work there because it will be on their CV. It has not been done on earth. Anywhere. America. Anywhere. It has not been done on earth.

“Guys, I’m telling you there is a dimension we need to plunge into and I’m trusting God for sons to believe it.

“We are not teaching you what we are not doing, we are not following cunningly devised fables. It’s possible some people have taken advantage of Christians, but this is the truth,”
he said.

Zahra, the daughter of the President, Muhammadu Buhari has said that as long as men have feelings, they should be able to express them, including crying.

Sharing an Islamic quote, which said, ‘In paradise, we will never cry’, she added her thoughts, saying, “Sometimes, don’t you just wonder why men aren’t allowed to cry? These emotions were given to us to express…if a woman can feel, so can a man.”

President Muhammadu Buhari, mourned the death of the former head of the Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan.

President Buhari was accompanied to the Lugard Avenue, Ikoyi’s residence of the late Shonekan by Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, his Ogun and Yobe State counterparts, Prince Dapo Abiodun and Mai Mala Buni.

Buhari, who was on a one-day presidential visit to Ogun State to commission some projects by Governor Dapo Abiodun administration, stopped in Lagos on his way to Abuja and spent some time to commiserate with the late Shonekan’s family.

He sympathised with the family over the demise of the former Head of the Interim National Government, who died in Lagos on Tuesday at the age of 85.

Shonekan was at the helm of affairs in Nigeria between August 26 and November 17, 1993 after General Babangida stepped aside as military president.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, in a condolence message issued on Wednesday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Gboyega Akosile, described the late Shonekan, as a renowned technocrat, seasoned administrator and passionate leader who served his country meritoriously as a public servant during his short tenure as Number One Citizen in Nigeria.

He said the late elder statesman did his best for the country in contributing to the growth and development of Nigeria.

The Governor also praised Shonekan’s contribution to the economy of Nigeria as boardroom guru and employer of labour, especially during his tenure as the Chairman and Managing Director of the United Africa Company.