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RCCG’s Dangerous Foray Into Politics For Osinbajo

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The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Nigeria’s most popular Pentecostal church where Yemi Osinbajo was (is?) a pastor, issued a Feb. 28, 2022, memo, which came to light today, that hints at a massive, ground-up political operation to help its members win political offices in Nigeria.

The memo talked of the establishment of an “Office of Directorate of Politics and Governance,” which it said should be replicated “at all levels of the church – zone, area and parish” in order to “help coordinate the engagement of our people who are willing to be involved in politics as well as mobilize support for them when required.”

Peoples Gazette correctly interpreted the memo as an “arrangement to mobilise sweeping support for [Osinbajo’s] ambition” to be president.

This isn’t really surprising, frankly, because Pentecostal Christians see Osinbajo as their representative in government and think he is the fulfilment of Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s oft-quoted prediction that one of them would become Nigeria’s president during his lifetime.

(Osinbajo’s rise to the vice presidency, for the record, was a consequence of Buhari’s personal desire to blunt notions of his Islamic fanaticism by having a pastor as a running mate. It was the same reason that caused him to prefer Pastor Tunde Bakare, a Muslim convert, as his running mate).

Osinbajo himself defines his role in government in the narrow terms that his co-pentecostalists see it: as the materialization of a Pentecostal Christian theocratic dream. That’s why his inner political circle is almost entirely made up of Yoruba RCCG members.

When his multi-billion-naira corruption in the management of the Buhari regime’s social investment program was probed by members of the Aso Rock cabal (which caused it to be taken away from him and transformed into a separate ministry), it was discovered that the vast majority of people who benefited from the contracts he awarded were Yoruba members of the RCCG.

Osinbajo is so smugly ensconced in his RCCG filter bubble that he doesn’t even care to seek out the cultural counsel of his Federal Government-imposed Muslim aides when he travels to the Muslim North.

That is why he routinely steps into mosques– and into the the late Yar’adua’s mother’s bedroom– with his shoes on, even though the Queen of England whose people brought to Nigeria the Christianity he practices takes off her shoes when she visits mosques.

There’s no Christian in government in Nigeria’s history who has ever been as narrowminded, as culturally clueless, and as insular as Osinbajo, which was why, as I said in my last Saturday column, a senior Yoruba Christian professor told me recently that Osinbajo would “create greater instability as president” than Buhari has because “The Sharia folks will confront [Osinbajo’s] Christian fundamentalism with more violence,” which would precipitate disabling communal upheavals.

What the RCCG is doing with its wholesale immersion into partisan politics isn’t unique, of course. Muslims, particularly Salafists, pioneered it.

The late Sheikh Abubakar Gumi started it in, I think, the 1980s when he urged his followers to be politically partisan and shocked the Nigerian Muslim community when he said politics was more important than worship.

Just like the Pentecostals, the Salafists want to take over the power structure and impose, by stealth or by force, their version of theocracy on the rest of Nigeria.

Salafists’ highest representative in government today is Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami. He taught for 2 years at the Islamic University of Madinah, the ideological breeding ground for Salafist ideology, and is being prepped for a greater role.

Anyone who wants to hasten Nigeria’s conflagration should elect Osinbajo as President and Pantami as Vice President. Osinbajo would be the matchbox and Pantami the matchstick.

The push and pull between Pentecostal and Salafist theocratic craziness would provide the friction necessary for the matchstick and the matchbox to collide.

With RCCG’s openly political partisanship, expect the same from the Salafists. Let’s see where that leads.

By Farooq Kperogi

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The Peruvian Government Has Officially Classified Transgender, Nonbinary And Intersex People As “Mentally ill”

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According to the country’s ministry of health, the controversial decision was made to ensure the country’s public health services could “guarantee full coverage of medical attention for mental health” for the trans community.

It also categorises “dual-role transvestitism,” “fetishistic transvestism,” and “other gender identity disorders” under the same bracket of mental illness.

The new law will change language in the Essential Health Insurance Plan (PEAS) to reflect the view of trans and intersex people as a mental health disorder.

Trans groups across Peru have loudly condemned the decision as a step backwards for the country’s already complex relationship with LGBTQ+ rights.

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Math Teacher Accused Of Having Sex With 2 Students And Getting Pregnant For One Tearfully Reveals The Baby Was Taken Away From Her

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The UK teacher who had a baby with an underage student while on trial for having sex with another teenage boy broke down in court after revealing her newborn baby girl had been “taken away” from her.

Manchester math teacher Rebecca Joynes, 30, sobbed to jurors over how her baby was taken “24 hours after being born” this past January — and now she only sees her for nine hours a week, Joynes told jurors on Monday, May 13, according to the Manchester Evening News.

“At the moment I have contact with her three times a week for three hours and that’s it,” she said through tears.

Joynes was arrested and released on bail on orders not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 after allegedly grooming her pupil, known as Boy A in court, by buying him a $430 Gucci belt before bringing him to her apartment for unprotected sex.

She was suspended from school and eventually fired, but soon after, she began having a relationship with a 15-year-old boy, known in court as Boy B, whom she had a baby with in January.

Joynes, who has denied having sex with either boy when they were underage, told the court that when she learned of the allegations against her she had gone to the second boy in a “panic” and he deleted all of her phone’s content.

The former teacher denied having a sexual relationship with the second boy until after he turned 16 and she was already suspended from teaching.

According to her narration,

She said he had added her on Snapchat twice, which she only accepted the second time because she thought he “wanted to tell her something.”

Joynes said a friendship developed and he quickly became her “best friend” even though the boy would make flirtatious and sexualized comments toward her when he was drunk.

She told jurors that it wasn’t until after his 16th birthday that he messaged her saying “I’ve left school now” with a winky face.

After she received notice that she had been dismissed from her job, he went to her apartment, where following an emotional conversation, they had sex.

The two then entered a relationship that Joynes described as “quite toxic” telling the court how the teenager was “very controlling.”

After discovering she was pregnant, Joynes hid love notes for the boy to find around her apartment.

The notes eventually led to a piece of baby clothing that had the words “I love my daddy to the moon and back” written on it.

The court was told that she gave birth to their baby girl in January, but following an emergency court hearing, the newborn was taken away from Joynes.

Joynes has denied two counts of sexual activity with Boy A; two counts of sexual activity with Boy B; and two counts of sexual activity with Boy B while being a person in a position of trust.

Her trial is ongoing.

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First Man To Receive Pig Kidney Transplant Has Died

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The first Man to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died two months after the operation.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), which carried out the procedure in March, announced Sunday, May 12, that Richard “Rick” Slayman, 62, has died.

They said there was no indication his death was a result of the transplant.

Transplants of other organs from genetically modified pigs have failed in the past, but the operation on Mr Slayman, who was suffering with end-stage kidney disease, was hailed as a historic milestone.

In addition to kidney disease, Mr Slayman also suffered from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

In 2018, he had a human kidney transplant, but it began to fail after five years.

Following his pig kidney transplant on March 16, his doctors confirmed he no longer needed dialysis after the new organ was said to be functioning well.

“Mr Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide and we are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation,” MGH said in a statement.

Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another.

MGH said it was “deeply saddened” at his sudden death and offered condolences to his family.

Mr Slayman’s relatives said his story was an inspiration.

“Rick said that one of the reasons he underwent this procedure was to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” they said.

“Rick accomplished that goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever.

“To us, Rick was a kind-hearted man with a quick-witted sense of humour who was fiercely dedicated to his family, friends, and co-workers,” they added.

While Mr Slayman received the first pig kidney to be transplanted into a human, it is not the first pig organ to be used in a transplant procedure.

Two other patients have received pig heart transplants, but those procedures were unsuccessful as the recipients died a few weeks later.

In one case, there were signs the patient’s immune system had rejected the organ, which is a common risk in transplants.

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