“Can of worms” represents an idiomatic expression that describes the need to carefully approach issues that are complicated in order not to let loose their putrid content!
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary says it means “to create a complicated situation in which doing something to correct a problem leads to many more problem”. It then goes ahead to cite this example: “our boss is reluctant to change the policy now because she doesn’t want to open a can of worms”!
STV Adegbite is the boss of Christians and leaders of Christianity in Lagos State. But unlike the “she” boss in Merriam-Webster’s example, he is not reluctant or even perturbed to add another bad omen to a rotten situation for which BAT prayed for Nasir El-Rufai in Kaduna! Could God be answering the prayer BAT prayed in Kaduna in Lagos?
El-Rufai once came to Lagos lecturing us on how to retire Godfather BAT from politics. Before him BAT openly pleaded to help his ambition because he has the capacity to turn a rotten situation into a bad one. How elated El-Rufai must have been at such a Freudian slip!
“Kokoro to nje efo, idi efo lowa”, meaning; the worm devouring the vegetables is right within the vegetables. There are too many worms in CAN, frustrating organization effort and working at cross purpose with the national leadership. Political seasons are time they writhes, wiggle and push themselves out. Adegbite let his nature out for what he is, a worm in CAN’s can, to further complicate an already complicated situation!
“Can of worms” is really an irony because worms are not expected to survive when sealed in a can especially after eating up their putrefaction. Christianity is both life and truth with no supply for agents of decomposition like worms, but it’s only a matter of time for mundane worms like men to be exposed in the face of life and truth!
It was Lauretta Onochie, President Muhammadu Buhari’s social media aide who first used the expression CAN of worms, her very words, in response to CAN’s statement on a burning national issue: “this piece has nothing to do with the millions of Christians in Nigeria who love the Lord with their whole hearts and their neighbours as themselves as commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ”. If wrong then, Onochie is right now!
A fire kindled in Lagos by Bishop STV Adegbite has engulfed the nation and the heat is right now felt everywhere in the country. Adegbite’s utterance was captioned: “God Will Punish Us If We Don’t Support Tinubu, Nobody Can Tell Us Not To Support Him,”.
Adegbite was the Director of Social Issues, CAN National when Onochie, issued her Worms in CAN’s can screamer! And now the Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has vowed to mobilize support for the aspiration of the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu because of his tremendous support for the Christian community, not only in Lagos but in the entire southwest region!
Though he has come out to say he spoke for himself. The question for him, Methodist Church in Nigeria and Christian Association of Nigeria is, was he entitled to such public opinion in the first place? I will therefore be addressing him personally on his gross misconduct and total abuse of office. I doubt if he was invited to the platform where he spoke as an individual, rather he must have been invited as the Chairman of CAN Lagos State, it is therefore insensitive to use his personal relationship with BAT and the gains of very few constipated yes men feeding from the crumbs from Burdillon’s table to enlist the support of other numerous patriotic and selfless Christians in Lagos, who do not hold the same view with him and will never hold such view.
If politics is all that matters to Adegbite and he wouldn’t mind playing it this dirty, it is life and protection of it that is of interest to most Christians!
This is the challenge before the new national executive of CAN, our worms must be canned away from politics, so we won’t need an intellectual panacea on how to reverse rotteness to bad, nor exposed our rats to poisonous communion of politics.
The threat to life particularly of Christians in Nigeria is an open sore, Adegbite should tell us one effort not two, made by his benefactor over the obvious travails Christians have faced since 2015 when the national leader of APC led a political jihad that saw Buhari to power by importing militia into the country according to Baraje. Which strengthened local terror operations and escalated security related violence by ISWAP, Boko Haram and others against Christians, Christianity, their communities and other Nigerians in general!
Reverend Adegbite went as far as saying “God will punish us if we don’t support Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu”. Now that it is clear that he spoke for himself, the curse he issued is for him alone.
The poignant essential issues that APC’s policy of forgiveness of Boko Haram and other terror elements and appointment of terrorist sympathizers in government poses to Christianity in Nigeria is inconsequential to him before placing himself under a curse!
Adegbite boasted, “I have told our friends from the North that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is our candidate and we are going to support him. Nobody can tell us not to support Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he has done more than enough to support the Body of Christ in the Southwest”.
Asiwaju should be rightly advised that Adegbite has just one vote. And yes men like him around BAT is the reason for the escalation of emotions about his unfortunate decision of “Muslim/Boko Haram” ticket.
If people like Adegbite don’t know how to appeal to their constituency, they should keep quiet. It is an insult on his Ecclesiastical calling to so degenerate in value to assume the duty of a campaign director to BAT. It is not enough for him to say he spoke for himself, all blocs of CAN should as a matter of urgency meet on the all important issue to pass a vote of confidence on Adegbite or otherwise!
Adegbite has been neck deep in the politics of Lagos needlessly, as a Bishop of the Methodist Church and Chairman of CAN, he should be the father of all candidates without partiality. If the place of honour that life has bequeathed to him is not valued, he should resign honorably to take his place in politics where he can freely speak for himself like any of the hired Bishops for Shettima’s unveiling!
According to the publication in the media, the Lagos CAN Chairman spoke in Lagos on Sunday, 16 October, 2022 during the presentation of the stewardship report of 12 years sojourn in the Senate presented by the Senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District in the Upper Legislative Chamber, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, OON. What an opportunity to turn the table in favour of BAT! But unfortunately that opportunity was squandered!!
Reeling out things that Tinubu has done for Christians, Bishop Adegbite stated that the APC Flag-bearer “initiated a fund to sponsor Christians to Jerusalem and up till today the fund is still there and Christians are benefitting. We’re still going this year and we will pray for him,” he gracefully said.
First, we would like to see the statistics of the number of Christians that have benefited.
Second, we would also like to know who they are. Those records are very important. Not so much as to approve of Bishop Adegbite’s endorsement or to ascertain their veracity or otherwise, but for more weeping between the porch and the altar for a country that wastes resources on unnecessary pilgrimages sanctioned by some clergy!
Pligrimage will remain a waste to Nigeria either to Jerusalem or Mecca until useful minds are sent to go beyond religion and borrow some sense from there!
Is Adegbite aware that Israel’s land mass is 22,145 square kilometers?
Nigeria’s land mass is 923,768 square kilometers. Kebbi State the state with which Lagos is in partnership for the production of Lake Rice has a land mass of 32,800 square kilometers, land far bigger than Israel!
Is he aware that water is a necessity for productivity in Agriculture and that God has blessed Nigeria with it more than Israel and Saudi Arabia?
With an average of 400mm rainfall annually, Israel has an export earning of $143.05 billions per annum with the aid of a technology called Precision Agriculture which enables the sparse rain water to be stored, measured and distributed to each crops on the field according to their water requirements!
Nigeria is almost 42 times the size of Israel with an annual rainfall of 1,165 mm but with unfortunate agricultural earnings of $1.2 billion!
With land in abundance and more than enough rainfall meeting up with local needs of agbado and cassava (apology to BAT) is far from being our problem!
Our problem is how to deploy technology to mechanize and maximize productivity. We must further deploy technology to storage of agricultural produce and products!
If we factor the indices of land and water and embrace technology like Israel, our earnings will move from a paltry $1.2 billion to about $6 trillion!
The margin between $1.2 billion and $6 trillion is hidden in leadership. If the right leadership can be found, the greatness of Nigeria will be unleashed to the world!
Those who should be enjoying BAT’s fund to Israel are not politically naive religious minds, but technology inclined Lagos and Kebbi youths who won’t go and get baptized in River Jordan after they had been baptized in River Yewa, Arugungu or River Niger. While river Jordan is today serving Israel’s precision irrigation project, Nigerian christians goes there to dip themselves like Naman without getting cure from their leprous ignorance.
Forward thinking minds who will ask needed questions such as why Israel is better in Agriculture when we have more land, more rainfall and more labour than they do should take the place of the religious crowd if BAT mean well for this country!
Beyond politics of tribe and religion which brings to power those who hand out freebies, is our urgent need for productive leadership!
That is what Adegbite should be canvassing and encouraging as the Bishop of Methodist Church and Chairman of CAN. Sir, you are not an independent minister, your right to so speak in the manner you did in the public was lost the day you were ordained a minister of the Methodist Church much more the father of all Christians in Lagos State.
You must avoid combustive statement under whatever guise!
You should be at the forefront of leadership revolution not just to educate Christians to vote right, but all Nigerians of voting ages duly registered to do so in 2023!
He stated that Tinubu has through provision of funds saved children of many Ministers of God noting a particular case of one he personally carried dying but through Tinubu’s support was saved and alive today.
Adegbite is selling a Candidate who has “built” Lagos and its hospitals, but who is often rushed to France and UK hospitals when in need of medical care!
What is the available medicare delivery to Christians and the generality of Lagosians who may not know Adegbite to be so rushed and recommended for BAT’s attention? We need working hospitals that Tinubu and his family can be rushed to when in need of medicare!
Adegbite was also quoted to have said:
“Don’t also forget that it was Tinubu who returned schools to the owners when he was Governor. There are more and we will support him,” he vowed!
What a mindset! Tinubu returned schools to people Adegbite referred to as OWNERS and for that we must vote for him, when the educational situation under APC is in comatose, and the Minister for Education got applauded and rewarded with a National Honour for walking out on NANS and keeping University students at home for 8 months! Sir, the future beckons with challenging reality, your political marketing should be based on ideas that confront our challenges!
Within the 12 years of Oluremi Tinubu as Senator for Lagos Central, CAMA became the reality of Churches and NGOs!
The reported meeting was an opportunity for Adegbite to tell us what his own efforts was at engaging Oluremi Tinubu to a town hall meeting to discuss this important APC’s hangman’s noose waiting to hang many pastors and churches. These are the people he is promising he will mobilize to vote for Tinubu!
I close with the saying of our Yoruba elders as an advice to Bola Ahmed Tinubu: “ti won ba ntan e, ma tan ara re”. Meaning if people are deceiving you, don’t deceive yourself!
Adegbite should be reminded of the Yoruba saying: “eni ti o je gbi, ko ni ku gbi”. Meaning, he who hasn’t eaten the forbidden will not be killed for eating the forbidden!
God must surely punish all supporting BAT, if the basis of such support is in their personal interest against the wellbeing of all Lagosians and Nigerians. Those who with him, are eating sacrifices of politics and dancing on the graves of Christians killed by fundamentalists shall surely not go unpunished!
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