1. As Justin Welby resigns from the bishopric
Father of three, friend of Nigeria and Archbishop of Canterbury, Mr Justin Portal Welby, left his position as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England on Tuesday, 12 November 2024. He trained at St John’s College, Durham. Senior members of the Church rose against him and demanded his resignation. They accused him of not taking sufficient action against officials accused of abusing children.
Welby, a former oil industry executive, struck a friendship with the former Oil Minister, later head of state, and President Muhammadu Buhari. He counted many influential Nigerians as friends.
Welby stated: “Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth.
When I was informed in 2013 and told that the police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.
I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and re-traumatising period between 2013 and 2024.
It is my duty to honour my Constitutional and church responsibilities, so exact timings will be decided once a review of necessary obligations has been completed, including those in England and the Anglican Communion.
I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our profound commitment to creating a safer church. As I step down, I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse.
The last few days have renewed my long-felt and profound sense of shame at the Church of England’s historic safeguarding failures. For nearly twelve years, I have struggled to introduce improvements.
Others should judge what has been done.
In the meantime, I will follow through on my commitment to meet victims. I will delegate all my other current responsibilities for safeguarding until the necessary risk assessment process is complete.
I ask everyone to keep my wife, Caroline, and my children in their prayers. They have been my most important support throughout my ministry, and I am eternally grateful for their sacrifice. Caroline led the spouses’ programme during the Lambeth Conference and has travelled tirelessly in areas of conflict, supporting the most vulnerable, the women, and those who care for them locally.
I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and have been honoured to serve. I pray that this decision points us back towards the love that Jesus Christ has for every one of us.
Above all else, my deepest commitment is to the person of Jesus Christ, my saviour and my God; the bearer of the sins and burdens of the world, and the hope of every person.”
2. Nigeria and the world await President Trump Part Two
Citizen Donald Trump will return to the White House as president of America on 20 January 2025 following his historic re-election in the 5 November 2024 American presidential election. Mr Trump’s victory was a tsunami and propelled the Republican Party to control the American legislature.
Nigerians on and off social media participated actively in the American election. There were sizeable numbers in the corner of Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
There have been memes and posts on the return of Trump in the Nigerian media as if it were a Nigerian election.
A report in DW Radio asserted that many Nigerians were positive about Trump. “On the streets of Lagos, Nigeria, vendors sell Donald Trump paraphernalia and the billionaire former president’s successful books, The Art of The Deal and “Think Like a Billionaire.”
“I sell books almost every day. I sell two and three copies [of Trump’s books] daily,” Emmanuel Akhuetie, a book vendor, told DW. “When you read his book and apply it, you will make it in life.”
Nigerians are following Trump as he dominates the news cycle, responds to the invitation from President Joe Biden, and appoints people to his cabinet. About the Biden-Trump meeting, Dr Dokun Adedeji, a citizen who is not a Trump fan, commented:
“Shameless man. What he couldn’t offer . He has been shown what decency and adulthood mean. I am sure that the wife felt ashamed and stayed away.”
A Nigerian in America made the news over the election. He voted for Trump, while he and his girlfriend initially agreed to vote for Kamala. This enraged the lady who owns the house, and she sent him out.
He voted Trump….
She voted Kamala…
He’s got to leave…. 😰
Elections have consequences.
3. Ebonyi Airport now prayer ground
With videos and photos, the social media lambasted Works Minister and former governor of Ebonyi State, Engr Dave Umahi, as worshippers turned one of the halls of the Ebonyi Airport into a prayer ground.
Citizen Peter Agba Kalu submitted on Facebook.
Peter Agba Kalu
Sseotnropdm27ac1g0eN350u1f i771ih5v061tila7bom9rutg e6ial :m ·
They turned Ebonyi State Airport to Church since there is no airline or passenger. At least it’s useful for the Church.
However, the Ebonyi State Government quickly denied the claims. The Commissioner for Aviation and Transport Technology, Mrs Ngozi Obichukwu, described the information as false and baseless.
She explained that the ministry staff usually holds monthly prayers to re-dedicate and smoothen the recommencement of flight operations at the airport.
Ebonyi State inaugurated the airport on Thursday, April 26, 2023, with two flights by Air Peace.
However, the runway needed to be fixed, and Governor Francis Nwifuru approved N13 billion for the project. The state claimed an expenditure of N36 billion for the airport, plus the N13 billion additional expense.
4. Is LinkedIn fake?
A young Nigerian lashed out at LinkedIn in an essay in The Republic.\\
Mifa Adejumo, wrote, “On the pseudo-positive streets of LinkedIn, everyone but me is either gainfully employed, self-employed, or volunteering to change the world. Each scroll through my feed is littered with motivational tales of triumph or backhanded insults about my lack of passion and drive marketed as sincere instructional advice.’
She calls LinkedIn a coven of capitalism. Adejumo writes: ‘The trouble with here is not that it is a thriving cesspool of charlatans and corporate zombies, mummified in the garbs of pseudo-motivational self-aggrandisement. No, those come naturally with being human. For eons, we have always thought of ourselves as the most important entities in the cosmos. We have always believed ourselves to be the heroes of our embellished stories. Rather, the trouble here is that nothing, not even the “empathy” on rampant display, feels remotely human. People see your misfortune as an engagement metric to be farmed. The more they interact with your pain, the more the corporate algorithmic eyes see them.”
According to Adejumo: ‘I hate it here. But I’ll remain. As long as the corporate powers deem this dungeon of self-fellating hell the necessary evil that an unemployed youth like me has to endure in my search for the illusive freedom of a pay check, I will have to remain here. I will have to hold my nose and take a dive in this cesspool and hope I only emerge with a few leeches on my skin. I will still hate it here tomorrow. But in the quietude of my heart, when no one is listening to its frightful thumps plagued by the insecurity of unemployment, I sometimes secretly wish I had the talent to repurpose my misfortunes into paeans, like those that love it here do.’
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