Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins, Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos has commended the administrator, his assistant, management and staff of St. Gregory’s college, Obalende, Lagos as he commissioned and blessed their new staff quarters on Tuesday, September 6, 2022. Archbishop Martins commended the team for their hard work and doggedness that led to the actualisation of the event. He said: “We congratulate and commend you for managing the resources of the institution so well and the physical development that we have been experiencing, all the number of physical structures that have dotted this compound. “We give thanks to God for the opportunity to be part of all these activities. We pray that happy occasions, joyful occasions like this will continue to reverberate in the life of each one of us through Christ our Lord.” Speaking on the reading of the day, the Archbishop said people should have good dispositions towards others, particularly when they go to their houses to visit them. He noted that Jesus deems it important for visitors to bring to the people of a house value, virtue, good wish and prayer for peace.
“So, as you enter into the house, say, ‘Peace be onto this house’. I believe that perhaps it is one of the things that we should learn to do as we enter into people’s houses instead of good morning, we say peace to this house. “Certainly, it tells people that you’ve come in peace and it’s also a prayer that you offer to those in that house”, he said. Blessing the house named Bishop Ferdinand Terrien Staff Quarters, Archbishop Martins said, “We might as well call it Peace Quarters that people who live in it shall be at peace with one another and they shall be at peace with the institution. They shall be at peace with the environment in which they find themselves. This I believe is what the Lord wishes to extend onto us as a way and disposition that makes life better and easier for all of us.” Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Ayeni, Administrator, St. Gregory’s College while thanking God added that the staff quarters is another milestone in the history of the college. He said the constant presence of staff will be of good service to the college and students, as he added that always having them around will help in giving full attention to the students. “So that is why it’s good to have them here. And it saves them the stress of going back and forth every day, amid the traffic congestion in Lagos State. So, we are happy and grateful to God for making this possible, and of course, the Greg 76, 81 year set that was available to help us. We thank all of them and we thank His Grace for making these things happen around us”, he said.
2023: CAN refutes receiving financial inducement from Tinubu
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has refuted a media report claiming that the association received financial inducement from Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 elections. Reacting to the report captioned, ‘How Tinubu met, resolved Muslim-Muslim ticket with CAN’, The association which termed the story as ridiculous, malicious and untrue, asked Nigerians to disregard the report in its entirety, The reaction by the Christian apex body was disclosed in a statement issued by Luminous Jannaike, Special Assistant on Media to CAN President Monday in Abuja. The body stated that it respected the decision of political parties on issues that affect their electoral fortunes, so long as it is in accord with Nigeria’s Constitution and Electoral Act. The statement read in part: “For the umpteenth time, CAN reiterates that it is non-partisan, but remains willing to partner with all leaders and other relevant stakeholders towards achieving unity, peace and progress in our nation.”
Condemning the attempt in the report to link it with the donation made by Tinubu during the 70th birthday of the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, in Abuja, the Christian body claimed that it cannot be antagonistic to any well-meaning political party or group as the nation warms up for elections in 2023. According to the statement, “The event was public, and the friends of the celebrant and other good-spirited Nigerians donated to the building of The Kukah Centre, which is designed to be a veritable platform to propagate and promote the ideals of democracy and responsible leadership through research and intellectualism.” “It is therefore mischievous to insinuate it was a sort of bribe money for Christian leaders to make a U-turn on its stance against same-faith ticket. Calling on political parties and candidates to put the nation first in their considerations and prepare to serve the people earnestly, with humility, the group reiterated that CAN is a faith-based organization whose conscience cannot be bought and whose prophetic voice cannot be silenced with money.