If you give me N100m it won’t last a week because I’m a builder, I invest, says Bishop Samson

General Overseer of Christ Royal Family International Churches, with headquarters in Royal City, Otta, Ogun State, Bishop (Dr) Tom Samson is not called violent Tom for nothing, he is a man gifted with power of deliverance. In this interview with CYRIACUS NNAJI which he granted during his world press conference, he spoke on his love for investment, his 55 birthday, #EndSARS, Dawn of His Glory, among other burning issues. Excerpts:

Let’s met you

I am Bishop (Dr) Samson, the General Overseer of Christ Royal Family International Churches, with headquarters in Royal City, Otta, Ogun State, we have branches in Ikeja, Egbeda, Lekki, Festac, Agbara, Abuja, PH, London, states in USA, Canada, etc. And not only churches, we have also made an impact in the area of education. In Lagos and Ogun states we have over 15 secondary and primary schools, we have college of education, our university programme is undergoing approval process, Monarch University, we have hospitals, I also have a charismatic  Fellowship Network, where we impact pastors, pastors that are upcoming, Tom Samson World Outreach, Tom Samson Foundation where we impact communities, be it boreholes, transformers, empowering women, youths, for example during this Covid-19, the whole Ikeja community, Egbeda Community, Police Force, we gave out various food items. We rehabilitate this road, so many in Ogun State, we have impacted lives, a church should reach out to communities. As a light we should shine across the globe, reach out to the downtrodden through Tom Samson Foundation. Recently we venture into agriculture too, because that is what the government is emphasizing on. Right now in Ewekoro where we are a lot of youths are working there. In our schools we employ about 300 teachers, apart from lecturers. We touch communities, we impact lives. By the grace of God that is why at my 55, we have a cause to give thanks to God especially looking back where we were yesterday and where God has brought us.

What is your experience in the ministry?

I am not a man that started big. I remembered this street is bearing my name now, Adebola Tom Samson Street, I used to trek this street, 27 years ago, trek down to Egbeda to preach the gospel, because I stayed in one uncompleted building in that place. So when I left University 1991, I came into Lagos a young man but with the calling, because I started church on Campus. I finished from Bendel State University 1991, and I stated my ministry 1986 on campus, as a campus fellowship, basically noted for deliverance, because God gave me so much, Buccaneer, Black Axe on Campus, and many gave their lives to Christ. That is why they named me Violent Tom. I went round villages: Iweka, Okpila, Okpoji.. I moved from Bendel State University to Abraka Campus and we were the last set of Bendel University, after us it was Edo or Delta. We did so much on campus, we impacted lives in communities  so when I came into Lagos, I came in alone, one shirt and one trousers, and moved round Egbeda, Akuwonjo, street to street, preaching everywhere, trekking round, and today we are all over the world, impacting communities, so our story is a story of salvation, destiny, transformation. So it has been amazing, though it was rough, but our God is a consistent God, he lifts up the downtrodden, he raised the poor from the dunghill; that is the story of my life. I am a testimony of a man lifted up from nowhere.

What is your advice to the youths who obviously don’t know where you are coming from but want to be like you, talking about the get rich quick syndrome amongst our youth, they don’t know your years of suffering, but want to be like you, even though they have not worked?

You see this is the problem we have today, even with young ministers, and the youth; patience, endurance, and again discovering yourself. You see I have a ministry but I am also a proprietor of schools, I am a Chancellor, I have hospitals, you see, you can discover yourself, but when you don’t have God it is very painful. One we need to encourage our youth, we must teach them values, integrity. Now, get rich quick syndrome is there, I tell my children that I give you pocket money doesn’t mean you cannot work on your own, make money and have your own saving. Even though it is a laborer job do it and save that money. So we need to let our youths know that, it doesn’t come so quick, it takes time. Some pastors might see people like us, I drive Rolls Royce, and this one, and they want to get that done, but it has taken me 30 years in Lagos, of struggling, touching lives, transforming destinies. I trekked on this street 27 years ago, down to Egbeda. We need to be encouraging our youths, because our God is an amazing God. When he sees your commitment and dedication he brings a reward 

At what point would you say you began to experience breakthrough 

At what time? Let me tell you this, when I put the church up at Egbeda, and that is why I don’t play with Egbeda, for almost five years we were struggling, because people will send their children to us while the adults would go to orthodox churches, they see us as children, mushroom church, but we kept moving, we were winning souls. At what point God began to give me breakthrough, the people I was praying for. When God began to answer their prayers, they began to give back to me. Let me tell you something, every multi millionaire you see in this church today, they did not come as a big man. I drive Rolls Royce they gave it to me; Limousine, they gave it to me, but they were not like that yesterday.

You have an event on the 6th of December, titled the Down of His Glory, What are we expecting at event?

When the Glory of God comes upon man or comes into a place, there is a transformation. Isaiah 60 says arise and shine for your light is come, the glory of the lord is risen upon you. When the glory comes, now what begins to happen? Hre says you doors shall be open day and night… a lot of people have been struggling in this nation, young graduates, people looking for jobs, people doing business, they are not going well, when the grace of God comes, let me give you an example, for 430 years the Israelites were in labour, they toiled, but they were not appreciated. There are many people working in establishments, their bosses are not appreciating them, there are those doing businesses, but the environment in our nation did not empower them to get money to do business, when God’s glory comes favour comes. He said I will give you favour before the Egyptians, when the doors of His glory comes, one, your helper remembers you. One of the things that really brought transformation to my life is connection to international world, that is favour. When I did my programme it is war, the lord told me to use military camouflage, I did, then the posters, flyers were everywhere, do you know, four Americans, they missed their flight and they put them in Airport Hotel, when they saw my flyers on the floor they picked it. Talking of Dawn of His Glory, I have been toiling, laboring, that favour welcomed me to the world, as they picked the flyer God told them bring this young man to America. You see, that is a shift in my life. I have been popular in Lagos, Egbeda, but God wanted to give me a shift. I believe a change is coming to this country after this programme, as many that will be connected to it, they will expect a change.

You are still young, and you have spoken so about youth, what do you have to say about the #EndSARS protest and your advice to youths and government?

You see I remember even my early days in the ministry, I was using a Volvo car, and these policemen stopped me and said my car is a stolen car, I said sir, I know where I bought this car, but they said it is a stolen car. Eventually they said they would help me do one document, you could imagine. Do you know one of my sons said Dad anytime I am going out I am afraid. Because police must stop him because he is a young man and he has a little Toyota car he is driving. I have two sons like that, each time they must call me and I call them hei, Oga that is my child, so almost all our youths are scared to move on the road.

I believe so far, all we have done is good, because it is when you are a victim you will know what all this thing is all about. But meanwhile I must appeal to government and to our youths, our voice has been heard, all over the world, they know that there is EndSARS project, they know. And let us now look at Government, if government does nothing, a man like me will carry placard. I must tell you 

If we give this government between now and first quarter next year and nothing happened may be you guys will hear that Tom Samson is arrested. I gonna go out there too carrying placard because can you imagine two of my sons telling me that when they are going out they are scared. If a police stop you even you as an adult you can imagine and many times they say you would follow them to station and once you enter station you must be bailed, so I want to believe let us maintain peace for now, our government has spoken, we will hold them by their word and if nothing is done between now and first quarter of nest year I think we adults we have to turn to youths, because we have to fight for our children.

Tell us about the gigantic cathedral construction going on this same street you trekked many years ago, that is one. Two we want to know about your convention coming up this year, tell us what is unique about this year’s programme, and lastly tell us when and how you made your first 1mllion Naira 

By the grace of God in this environment apart from this royal Tower, there is a school property right behind us here, but the major one, God gave us the former Pavillion Hotel, which sits on acres of land and a lot of property there, we pulled it down, we are building a Cathedral, it is amazing, work is going on there, one it is going to speak so much of revival in the land, it is gonna give youths a lot of opportunity to receive the word and for transformation. And even the presence alone we have beauty. Many a time we travel abroad to look at some cathedrals, this one is another place people will say come there is something in Lagos, in Lekki, Otta, work is going on. it goes to show the revelation of God’s glory in or lives.

The convention, one of the special events in this convention apart from where I stopped, the down of his glory, another thing is my birthday. I will be 55; you know 55 is a double grace. Again I look back, he has been awesome. At this age, to have gone this far, it can only be God. When we impacted communities, the world, ministry wise, it has been enormous, As per million, you see if you look at my life I might tell you I am a man that doesn’t have cash, you know why, I am a builder. I invest. All our churches and schools they are on their property. We pay so much, the television, the media people, this things are very expensive, putting a church in different places are very expensive, as it comes we spend, we have almost over 1000 staff, so you can imagine to pay people on monthly basis, touching families, if you have about 1000 staff, how many families have been impacted? So if you give me 100million today it can’t last one week.

But when my first 1million came, it came in  a Ghana must Go and I couldn’t sleep, and immediately we started building our church, and since that time till now we have never stopped building 

What motivated you to invest so much in education?

I read education in school. The primary school I went was catholic school, the secondary school was Islamic school. We went to Islamic school because that was the only school left as a child of a poor parent, so they sent us to the available school. You see being a teacher myself I just know as a missionary, missionaries were able to reach people through education. Before I started today I have been in the school and I talk to these children, and whenever I get there I tell them my life history and the fear of God and how they can be great too.  How God can use them, how they can lead in this country. We inculcate integrity in them, so one of the best means for my evangelism is through education, so you can teach them morals, look at these public schools, cultism was terrible, in Ekpoma, in Abraka, Black Axe, Buccaneers, if you look at Christian schools today, this is not permitted. From primary school begin to teach them about the fear of God, you can imagine a teacher who is a member of Black Axe and opening his chest, what can that kind of teacher give? We need to catch them young, to impact people’s life, it is at that tender age.

 

There are no factions in ASUU-LASU Branch, says union

Success Damian:

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Lagos State University (LASU) Chapter has countered the falsehood which claimed the union has factions in the university 

In a press statement signed by Ibrahim Bakare (PhD), Chairman, ASUU-LASU and Sylvester Idowu (PhD), Secretary, the body refuted the falsehood as reported in

an on-line media outfit -- The Cable Lifestyle which has reported that a spokesman of the defunct ASUU-LASU Exco claimed that there was an attempt to take over the Union's Secretariat by a faction of ASUU-LASU that's backed by the Vice Chancellor.

The statement asked: Whose Secretariat? And why blackmail the V.C?

“We wish to put the records straight that there are no factions in ASUU-LASU Branch, that the Ibrahim Bakare-led Exco of ASUU-LASU is the one known in LASU. It was inaugurated on the 24th January, 2020 after a keenly contested election under the auspices of the Prof Ishaq Akintola-led Care-taker Committee, that the signatory to the letter The Cable referred to ceased to be a staff of the University since September, 2019, and that aside the fact that the tenure of the erstwhile Exco lapsed in 2018, the five members of the Exco dismissed in 2017 and 2019 were guilty of the allegations  that ranged from illegal alteration of students' exams scores to extortion of  money from students and stealing of confidential documents, the statement read.

The statement further noted that the offences of the dismissed officials had nothing to do with Union matters and it was at the meeting of ASUU-LASU Congress of July, 2020 that the decision to renovate the Union Secretariat was taken, pending the take-off of a new one at the permanent site. Thus, the Exco sought the approval of the V.C’s Approval which was given.

It said “We wrote the Security Unit of the University to seek its presence at the Secretariat to take inventory of items there. The Security Unit requested the presence of the Legal Unit, the Works Dept; and the Multimedia Centre at the Secretariat before we could commence renovation. 

“On Thursday, 5th November, 2020, representatives of all the University organs and that of the DPO, Ojo converged at the Secretariat to formally serve a seven- day notice to officials in the Secretariat. The application letter for approval from Exco and that of approval from the V.C's office were given the Secretarial clerk and also pasted on the Secretariat. At the expiration of the seven-day notice, the renovation would commence.’ 

From the foregoing, the statement said, “ASUU-LASU Exco is rightfully carrying out the directive of  Congress in the collective interest of members and image-enhancement of our Union when the renovation is completed. Even, in the event that the erstwhile Exco wins its case against the University in the Court of law, the fact remains that it joyfully returns to take over a befitting Secretariat. So why the attack on ASUU-LASU Exco and the blackmail of the Vice Chancellor?

“Our position as ASUU-LASU Exco is that it is an aberration, an absurdity and very unacceptable for a dismissed staff to interfere in the affairs of the institution/organisation from where he was dismissed until the Court of competent jurisdiction rules otherwise or else, his actions are prejudicial. This is the Peak of Impunity,” the statement read.

 

 

 

Bayelsa Governor seeks more revenue allocation for Bayelsa, says 13% grossly inadequate

Cyriacus Nnaji

Bayelsa State Governor, His Excellency, Douye Diri, has stated that if half of the revenue derived from Bayelsa soil is used in Bayelsa, his administration will change the state for good 

Diri made the disclosure when he attended this year’s two-day Crusade “…And the Enemies Submitted” organized by The Lords Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries which was held at the International headquarters of the church at Ijesha, Lagos on Sunday.

He said that Bayelsa is a state blessed with so much and abundant natural resources, but receives less as derivation.

“Bayelsa is a state blessed with so much of natural resources, but receives, as you are aware, our resources are not used in Bayelsa, our resources are resources that are taken to Abuja to share in the name of Federal allocation and out of 100% of Bayelsa’s resources 13% comes back in the name of derivation, and that is grossly inadequate to develop the state, so if you ask me the challenges we have, it is basically that of resources.

Diri maintained that if Bayelsa resources are ploughed back into Bayelsa, the story will be different “If Bayelsa’s revenue is ploughed back to Bayelsa, this regime will change Bayelsa.”

On the case which his opponents instituted against him in the Supreme Court challenging his election, he said that he has handed the case over to God saying “My case is coming up very soon and I have handed it over to my God, I am expecting that it will go the way others have gone, I am expecting that it will again have another bashing against them from the Supreme Court.”

On what his priority is in Bayelsa, he said it is to work for his people “It is just for me to work for the state, God has just put me there divinely and that is the difference between me and any other governor. I am divinely put there and if I do anything other than serving the people, the bible says when the righteous is on the throne the people rejoice so my objective, my goal, is for the people to rejoice.^.

The governor who knelt before the congregation testified how God worked in his life to become governor of Bayelsa through the prayer offered for him at Mgbidi, Imo State by the General Overseer of the Lord Chosen, Pastor Lazarus Muoka.

Giri disclosed that while his opponents in the Governorship election trusted in their chariots, he trusted in God almighty and his ordain men who are his representatives on earth, like Pastor Muoka.

The Pastor of the Lords Chosen asked the congregation to pray for Diri and afterwards assured him that his case is settled.

 

Traditional ruler, others, applaud NCC boss, Danbatta for community development, nation building

Success Damian:

Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has been commended for his role in community and national development through his Danbatta Charity Foundation (DCF), a non-profit organisation.

The Sarki Bai of Bichi and District Head of Danbatta, Alhaji Isyaku Wada Waziri and other beneficiaries of the DCF gave the commendation during the Quranic Graduation Ceremony of 21 students of Garkuwa Usman Community Primary School Islamiya, Danbatta Local Government Area, Kano State, at the weekend.

While commending the EVC for being a pillar of support for the nation’s development; Alh. Waziri particularly praised him for the role he is playing at ensuring security in the local government among numerous other interventions in education, health and youth employment.

“We are blessed to have someone like Prof. Danbatta, who has shown remarkable interest in the development of Danbatta. We can’t thank him enough for what he is doing at the grassroots. And he is doing us proud at the national level as our worthy ambassador,” said the traditional ruler. 

Fielding questions from newsmen, Danbatta disclosed that the foundation is currently sponsoring 10 young women studying different health-related courses at the Muslim Community College of Health, Sciences and Technology, Funtua, Kano, as part of efforts to empower members of the community through education and technology.

He said the foundation has, for 15 years, sponsored different skill acquisition programmes, while a dialysis machine has been donated to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), among other interventions.

“This school is one of the initiatives of Danbatta charity foundation. It is intended to be a source of support to our immediate community and the larger society in general, having, emulated the good examples set by other well-meaning Nigerians,” Danbatta said.

The NCC boss, subsequently, called on well-meaning Nigerians to embark on community development activities in order to get rewards from Almighty God. 

 

 

LASU is the greatest testimony that TETFUND is performing, says Ibrahim-Imam

Success Damian:

Chairman, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Board of Trustees, Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, has lauded the Lagos State University for its effective utilisation of funds from the body describing interventions in the university as the greatest testimony that the TETFund is performing. 

Alhaji Ibrahim-Imam made this assertion on Tuesday, 3rd November, 2020 when he led members of the Board and Directors on an interaction and assessment visit to the University, as part of their tour of universities in the country where TETFund has projects. He also commended the University for its well deserved latest ranking as the 2nd Best University in Nigeria.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, SAN, NPOM, who received the team in his office, was unequivocal in attributing the sustained peace and development being enjoyed by the institution in the last four years, to, amongst other things, the interventions of TETFund. He listed the sponsorship of staff members to conferences and trainings, infrastructural development and selection of some academic staff for research grants award, as some critical areas of interventions afforded the university.  

"We are deeply grateful to you and your team for what you have done in the life of our institution. 

You have not only supported us, you have taken a step further to visit us.

"From 2016 till date, we have not had a moment of crisis and the reason is not far-fetched. Before now, Many of our colleagues were not able to go for conferences for a long time and this was part of the things that caused tensions in the University. But when we came in 2016, we met with you (tetfund) and expressed our readiness to access and utilize our funds and you obliged us. 

On infrastructural developments, TETFund intervention projects have proved critical in our admission process. With the TETFund projects on our campuses complementing the government's efforts,  our ability to admit more students in our programmes is enhanced. Today, we have 70 programmes and they are all accredited, thanks to the interventions of tetfund.", he announced proudly. 

The professor of Environmental Law also credited Tetfund for strengthening the teaching of entrepreneurship in the University: "Lagos State Government kick-started entrepreneurship training for our students with a programme called ReadySetWork. But the programme has been complemented vigorously by our own entrepreneurship courses managed by our Centre for Entrepreneurship. That Centre has a befitting facility, thanks to tetfund.

"We have also been able to deepen our capacity for research. All these grants that our staff are getting is because tetfund was able to start us up.

In his response, the TETFund boss could not hide his joy when he said, "Since my appointment as chairman of tetfund, today is my happiest day. The testimony I have heard from the Vice Chancellor has made me happy. We have gone round to interact with VCs around the country and to see how we have fared, but I can tell you that since we embarked on these visits, this is the best testimony I have heard. Yours is the greatest testimony that tetfund is performing.

And because of what we have seen and heard, I promise you, we'll do more. Indeed, I am encouraged for us to do more for LASU, " he announced to the delight of the Vice Chancellor and other members of Managements and Directors present at the interaction, which also afforded the Director, Directorate of Research Management and Innovation, Prof. Olumuyiwa Odusanya; the Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship, Prof. Martin Anatekhai; the Dean, Faculty of Education, Prof. Owolabi; Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof Omobitan; National Research Grant Award Winner, Prof. Sylvester Fajonyomi and some students representatives the opportunity to testify about tetfund interventions in their domains. 

The TETFund team also had the pleasure of holding a virtual assessment meeting with the Provost, College of Medicine, Prof. Biodun Adewuya and Dean, School of Agriculture, Prof. Olatunji Abanikanda at the Senate Chamber before embarking on an on-the-spot assessment of tetfund-sponsored facilities on the main campus, Ojo. 

At the end of the tour, the Tetfund boss expressed deep satisfaction with the projects and reiterated his promised to attract more interventions to the University, one of which is an incubation centre for the Centre for Entrepreneurship.

Members of the University Management, including the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Wahab Elias; Deputy Vice Chancellor, (Administration), Prof. Oyedamola Oke; Registrar, Mr Olayinka Amuni; University Librarian, Dr. Emmanuel Lai Adebayo and representative of the Bursar, Mr. Taiwo Omonyi, officials of the Tetfund Desk Office in LASU and other officials of the University were part of the meeting and subsequent tour of facilities.

 

Success Damian:

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has granted approval for two mobile network operators (MNOs), MTN Nigeria and 9Mobile, to carry out trial on the workability of embedded Subscriber Identification Modules (e-SIM) Service in Nigeria.

Revealing this in a press statement, Director, Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, said that the trial, approved to run for a period of one year, will involve testing 5,000 e-SIMs by the two networks, subject to compliance with a number of regulatory conditions.

These conditions include full compliance by the MNOs with the Registration of Telecoms Subscribers Regulations 2011; the Mobile Number Portability Regulations and Business Rules 2015; Guidelines on SIM Replacement 2017; and non-degradation of the Quality of Service (QoS) experience by users of e-SIMs 

According to Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, the primary objective of the e-SIM trial is to assess the technical performance of the e-SIM on telecoms service providers’ network towards eventual rollout, if satisfactory.

An e-SIM is a small chip that is embedded on a mobile phone or smart devices. It is designed for convenience, flexibility and simplicity. The e-SIM makes it easier for subscribers to choose a pre-paid plan provider and switch between network operators. 

The information on the e-SIM is rewritable by operators and the identification information can be updated over time. 

According to the EVC, the e-SIMs is a technology that will eliminate the need for physical SIM card slots on mobile devices in the near future, adding that the trial is in line with the Commission’s forward-looking regulatory approach to ensure Nigeria’s telecoms ecosystem is in tandem with global best practices.

 

 

 

 

Cybersecurity readiness, resilience is a journey not a destination - Digital Encode

Success Damian:

Co-Founder and the Chief Operating Officer of Digital Encode Limited, Dr. Peter Adewale Obadare has said no company is totally immune against cyber attacks.

The Information Technology expert noted that the high dependency on the internet and adoption of digital transformation has led to the increase in cybercriminal activities.

Addressing this issue, Dr. Obadare stressed that cyber security readiness and resilience is therefore a journey not a destination.

The Digital Encode Boss stated this at the 2020 National Information Technology Reporters’ Association (NITRA) Virtual Innovative Tech Webinar held recently.

According to him, cybercrime damages are projected to cost the world over US6 trillion annually in 2021, up from US3 trillion in 2015. 

Speaking on the biggest threat to enterprise organization, Dr. Obadare stated that findings has shown that at every 11 seconds, businesses will fall victim to a ransomware attack in 2021.

"More than 90% of successful hacks and data breaches steam from phising scams. Most frequent attack methods are social engineering, advanced persistent threats, unpatched ransomware 

Dr. Obadare also stressed that cybersecurity/fraud is a discussion topic for the board and not for the data center alone. Backing up his claim, he explained that 60% of small businesses that suffer cyberattack are out of business within 6 months.

He also highlighted that 53% security personnel believed that their enterprise will experience a cyberattack in the next 12 months.

While urging vigilance, he said the survey revealed 87% believe that the rapid shift to work from home will increase the risk of data privacy and protection issues. 

Also, 54% believe will take advantage of the pandemic to disrupt organisation. However, 51% (only half) are highly confident in their security team to detect and respond to cyber threats during the pandemic. 

Although much is at stake, the Digital Encode Boss lamented that the confidence level is low.

Speaking further, he urged and advised organizations to invest in people and process and not only in technology, in an effort to collectively combat the looming threat. 

Dr. Obadare recommended that for safety in the cyberspace, organizations must address cybersecurity readiness and resilience on a number of dimensions so as to understand the big picture while integrating and coordinating all operational risk management activities.

In addition, he said it is important that the executive team develop a risk intelligence quotient and also build an Intelligent Security Operations Center (SOC) based on AI & Machine Learning.