Point One

Spiritual leaders, famously called ‘men/women of God,’ tend to carry an air of superiority around them. They are ‘fathers/mothers’ to followers who dote on their whims  and hang on their utterances as communication from a higher realm to which they are presumed to have privileged access. On his own pulpit, the man of God is law – a prerogative he deploys as he feels led by natural and supra-natural promptings. Because he is human like everybody else, he is fallible like everybody else; but the doting credulity of followers often pose a strong allure into feeling infallible that many men of God find difficult to resist. It would take a brutal encounter with contrary facts to bring him round to acknowledging an error and demonstrating genuine remorse in line with that acknowledgement. Dr. Paul Enenche, senior pastor of Abuja-based Dunamis International Gospel Centre, had such teachable moments in the last week over his misjudgment of a testifier, Veronica Anyim, as a liar. Anyim had ...

It’s election year in the United States and electioneering for the country’s presidency, touted as the most powerful office in the world, is coming to the wire. Former President Donald Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee, is throwing all aces in the ring for his square off with incumbent President Joe Biden of the Democrats. It is a rematch of the 2020 race that Trump grudgingly lost to Biden and he is apparently leaving nothing to chance to gain an edge this time. His latest card is patenting the Bible – a divinely authored and universal literature – for sale as America’s patriotism codebook and item of merchandise. The ex-president posted a video on his Truth Social network by which he urged his supporters to buy the ‘God Bless the USA Bible,’ named after a ballad by country singer Lee Greenwood alongside whom he’s appeared at events, and whose song he airs whenever he takes the stage at his rallies. The mercantilist motive underpinning  the venture seeped through in...

Less than three weeks ago, he was in prison on charges of violations against the Senegalese state. Today, he is the country’s president-elect, having won the election held 24th March against stiff power of incumbency that could have advantaged the candidate of the ruling coalition. Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, is a political newcomer who has emerged the youngest president ever of his country. He won at first ballot with 54.28 percent of votes cast over the ruling coalition torchbearer, Amadou Ba, who distantly trailed with 35.79 percent of the votes according to official tally announced at the weekend by the Senegalese electoral commission. Faye will take power as substantive president few hours hence when the term of the outgoing president, Macky Sall, expires on 2nd April. His ascension in office by peaceful transition consolidates Senegal’s record as the most stable democracy in the West African sub-region, and should pull the country back from the brink of instability where it perche...