PRESERVE YOUR YOUTH AND ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS AND THE STATE OF THE NATION

Sermons by THE SON OF MAN (APOSTLE PETER ODOEMENA) A Forum held with Youths in the Bride’s Ministry, On 17th September 2006, at The Household of God,

Onitsha, Anambra State.

INTRODUCTION

The entrance of the Word of God in the heart of man gives life. When you reject the Word of God, you separate yourself from Him because God is nothing but His Word. The same

way a man is nothing but his word. Life without the Word of God or fear of God is vanity.

Note, the importance of the youth in the development of the society cannot be overemphasized. The role of the youth in nation building is so paramount that the Federal and State Governments carved out a Ministry for Youth Development and Empowerment. The youth of course are regarded as the future leaders. It is against this backdrop that I plead with the youth to take note of this message.

If you are a father or mother, you undoubtedly passed through the youthful stage of life. The most delicate stage of life is the youthful stage. It is the most destructive stage of life. It is the stage where too many things attract the attention of the youth and most of the things they delight themselves in are things that would destroy them ignorantly. It is at this stage that a good number of them desire violence and experiment every kind of rough life. Some of them think that evil is pleasurable while some just indulge in these notorious lifestyles just for the fun of it.

If you watch the society today, a good number of our youths like to enlist in the force not to serve the nation but to terrorise and intimidate their fellow human beings. Some desire task forces such as we witnessed in Onitsha, Anambra State under the guise of Road Decongestion or Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) before they were disbanded. I mean that the youth desire the use of force more than peaceful approach to issues and that is why they are always the brains behind all violent and destructive activities in the society especially in their misguided estate. They love violence more than peace because they are ready to die anywhere at any given time. It is a very dangerous stage of life where they ignorantly experiment with death daily.

Nothing disturbs the peace of the society more than unguided youths. Watch all that are misfits in their families, interview them very well, you will notice that they were victims of misguided folly.

If parents refuse to guide their youths in the fear of God, they are bound to forfeit them to the winds of time. No matter how godly or religious parents may be, if they do not strictly monitor the development of their youths very well, scrutinize their conducts, and investigate the type of friends or company they keep, they are liable to forfeit them to the fowls of the air. Noble ambitions of some youths in the society today have been thrown to the fowls of the air as a result of wrong influence. The youth are easily influenced wrongly by their friends, this is so because you cannot be a friend to a leper and avoid his handshake. It has therefore become very imperative for us to counsel our youths very well so as to preserve their lives and protect their future.

I liken the youth to yam plumule. Any way the farmer twists it to the stake is the way it is going to climb the stake either to the right or to the left. All of us passed through the youthful stage of life. As a result, we know all that we suffered in our youths.

Any youth that escapes imprisonment or premature death; anybody that escapes imprisonment or premature death in his or her youth, should sacrifice a cow to God! About ninety percentage of our youths in the society commit heinous crimes everyday, but the eyes of the law enforcement agents catch only but a few. For that reason, the fortunate ones among them think that they are innocent but their consciences testify against them privately.

The person in the prison yard is not worse than the one that is moving freely about the streets. He is moving about freely because he has not been caught while the one in the prison is there because of his own misfortune. However, whether you are in the prison yard or outside, it is all but one if you are not properly instructed.

Gone are the days when prison yards were reformatory homes. The aim of imprisoning somebody is not to kill him but to get his character reformed and to serve as a deterrent to others. This service is no longer obtainable in the prison yards of today. People go to prison today and become worse, because there, they meet hardened ad unrepentant criminals who lecture them on scientific criminal acts that even beat the law enforcement agents hollow. It is there that they acquire the knowledge of trado-medical bullet proof. This is why from time to time, we hear stories of people that survived years of imprisonment due to criminal acts, instead of praising God by changing their minds, they will commit even worse crimes and be re-arrested by the law enforcement agents again. A sure sign that they never learnt anything good from the previous imprisonment. Some are sometimes, given very long jail terms so as to weaken them through old age so as to restrain them from evil anytime they are freed.

Any youth that suffers this setback due to his unguided behaviour has shattered his future with his hands. Do not forget the fact that some prison inmates die in the prison due to ill-health and horrible conditions of life they may be subjected to while some are imprisoned for life, all as a result of unguided behaviours.

It is at this youthful stage of life that many die mysteriously because they are over-ambitious to make money by all means. Some of them enlist themselves in secret societies that involve even human rituals or even their own lives in order to make money at tender ages due to improper counselling and bad influence. They capitalise on the weakness of the society that believes that the end justifies the means. This ideology or philosophy is from the Devil and not from God. It increases the criminal propensities of the youth without measure and must be curbed by the parents.

Some silly parents are also guilty of mounting undue pressure on their youths comparing their financial standings with that of their compatriots irrespective of how they made the money. A wise youth should not succumb to that type of devilish pressure or competition for wealth. Wealth is good only if it is acquired honestly in the fear of God.

These over ambitious youths will like to catch the wind by becoming millionaires sometimes without any visible and viable means, as a proof to their parents and colleagues that they have arrived. Such youths can indulge in unimaginable and abominable profligacy to the hurt of their fellow human being to achieve their dastardly objectives. To these categories of youth, they prefer money to life and nothing obstructs their ways without being crushed in their bid to make the money. These people do not know the value of money. The only thing they know is to boast of building estates, ridding the best aeroplane, the best jeep, sleeping with every kind of lady or woman in exotic hotels and to take chieftaincy titles at young age. Is this a sign of development?

A nation can grow without developing in the same manner a man can grow without developing. A human being can grow in stature but is mentally retarded. These youths who die for money are mentally retarded.

At the youthful stage of life, the ladies parade the streets half naked with their handbags, flickering their eyes side-ways and twisting their waists so as to catch the attention of such stupid persons like them. They have unbridled desire for men for the sake of money; hence they collect the money and HIV/AIDS in return.

Watch the rate at which they are dying in the hospitals and trado-medical homes. Visit any Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) Unit in any approved hospital and you will be amazed at the calibre of youths that have been ravaged by the dreaded HIV/AIDS scourge due to promiscuity, prostitution and other unguided behaviours. Many die while committing abortion secretly.

At this youthful stage, some ladies become victims of ritual murder with their private parts chopped off from their bodies. Why? They love to take free car lifts with people they know not and also love to sleep with men whose motives they know not for money-making sake or for the fun of it. At this Stage, they pay every kind of visit to their friends, attend night parties and keep the worst type of company without the knowledge of their parents. This can be destructive if left unchecked. Some die in motor accidents during such travels to places unknown to their parents. Some claim to know their relations more than their parents hence every man is an uncle or brother or cousin while the counterpart is a sister or aunty. The youth, be careful. All that glitters is not gold. Preserve your youth and achieve your dreams.

At this youthful stage of life, they indulge in smoking Indian hemp, have their fill of all kinds of alcoholic drinks, and take illegal or forbidden hard drugs that often make them run mad. These things they do without any good reasons only that they want to be dreaded by all as “bad guys”. It is at this stage that they become political thugs. Who is a thug? A thug is one that is paid to commit suicide! Some like to be touts even in motor parks while some indulge in other nefarious activities without restraint. Violent stealing is very much prevalent among this age bracket because they want quick money, which they will lavish on women and drinks.

I am trying to highlight some of the problems the youth pose to the society or families if they are not properly guided and empowered so that all and sundry will appreciate the necessity for proper upbringing of our youths to enable them achieve their dreams.

The development of any society or family is determined by the quality of the youth that make up that family or society. Due to lack of proper counselling, these youths often drop out from schools and colleges and even the universities thereby constituting a great nuisance to the society. Some run away from all forms of apprenticeships and become hooligans in the streets.

There is no age that has produced more mad youths that parade the streets and markets than our age. This is so because our youths find it very difficult to listen to and obey good advice even from their parents.

If you are a youth, note that your destiny to a Large extent lies in your hands because life is nothing but what you want to make it. Your heaven or hell starts here on Earth before the imaginary one that follows in the world beyond.

As a result of wrong habits the youth inculcate during their youthful days, they can hardly make good husbands and wives, hence they run broken homes with mischievous children that cause them sorrow and pain during old age. Remember that ignorance is a deliberate misfortune. Recognise all these facts and protect your dreams.

The quality and not the quantity of the youth in the society or family will determine the extent the society or family will develop. There can be youth without quality. This is a hard saying but it is true. Knowledge is power if it is after a Godly sort. Academic knowledge without this wisdom from God is useless. This is why we have too many educated fools in the society and even in the citadel of learning, I mean the university.

A university don that collects money from students or gives the female ones sexual conditions for passing his paper is an educated fool and there are too many of such people in our universities. Do not succumb to their advances especially the female youth. They are spoilers that must be avoided. Please, report such obnoxious requests to the University Senate for appropriate actions. Mostly, be serious with your studies. If you are not serious with your studies, you are not sure of your success and you create room for such an unholy advances.

PRESERVE YOUR YOUTH AND ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS

A lot of our youths have good dreams about what they would like to be in life. Unfortunately, these dreams are never transformed into realities due to poor counselling and unguided behaviours. Due to youthful exuberances some of them indulged in dangerous and harmful life unchecked, which culminated into shattering their ambitions and the expectations of their parents.

It is in recognition of this ugly development, that I have decided to draw the attention of our youths ahead of time to the notorious evils that can destroy their future glory and to proffer the possible remedies without any threat of Hellfire. I have therefore decided to document this brief counsel in writing to help the youth check against the numerous temptations awaiting them as they struggle to attain greatness in life.

PROMISCUITY

This is a hateful act of having sexual affair indiscriminately with many people at a very early stage of life or at any age at all; it is the worst form of sexual abuse. It is an indiscriminate sexual act just for the fun of it and not for any other social or biological consideration.

Social psychologist refer to promiscuity as an unwarranted exposure of oneself to sexual relationships at tender stages of life. This is a social malaise, very much prevalent among our youths due to poor family upstart, ignorance, lack of moral discipline, lack of vision of the future, evil association and lack of fear of God. That the dreaded HIV/AIDS pandemic is very much prevalent among the productive and reproductive ages of sixteen to forty-nine years is as a result of promiscuity within this age bracket. The same is applicable to other sexually transmitted diseases.

Most cases of infertility, impotence and sterility arise from damages done to the reproductive organs of the body system as a result of contraceptives and other pregnancy preventive devices, whether scientifically, trado-medically or otherwise during the youthful age. It is always the evil or havoc wrecked by the hen during the dry season, that eradicates its chicks during the raining season. One that has never tasted an apple does not know whether it is sweet or bitter.

No sensible and sincere person ever desires to experiment an act that will undoubtedly jeopardize his or her future ambitions. At same time, no wise and intelligent fellow ever associates himself or herself with a spoiler, no matter what the person promises or holds out in pretext. It is a humiliating and dehumanising act for one to indulge in promiscuity or promiscuous acts. It is self-debasement arising out of lack of self-confidence and self-contentment.

When you preserve your youth, you protect your life, your integrity, your future, your family’s reputation, and fulfil your dreams. If you act contra-wise, you shatter your future and disgrace both yourself and your parents. The issue of threat of hellfire should not arise here at all. This is because your hellfire starts here on Earth; equally, your Heaven starts here on Earth. Whomever that obeys my messages out of fear of Hellfire or indictment has not obeyed at all but merely suppressing his or her feelings. Nobody’s obedience to the messages is fulfilled until it is practiced as a result of personal conviction that my messages are wholesome truths.

There is always the propensity in the youth to experiment evil but this act has grievous and disastrous consequences and should be avoided by all if we must transform our good dreams into realities. Consider what I have said and let the Almighty God give you perfect understanding. Evil is pleasurable to those that are destitute of truth and void of wisdom. Preserve your youth and achieve your dreams.

PROSTITUTION

This is another cankerworm that has eaten very deep into the fabric of the society. It is the act of having sexual relationship for the sake of making money or for other materials gains. This devilish act has assumed a higher dimension in the society. The time when people regarded prostitutes as only women that use their bodies to make money in the brothels is over. A lot of men and women now indulge in this notorious act without living in the brothels. A man can be a prostitute as well as a woman. This is hard to believe.

Some men, especially our youths, in the urban centres collect huge sums of money from their sugar mummies, who are old enough to be their mothers, just as a condition to satisfy their sexual desires. These aged women, some of them have crossed their menopause, volunteer to take care of the school fees of these victims and also pay their rents provided they remain faithful to them. The women also entangle themselves with men that are old enough to be their fathers, just for the sake of money and other pleasantries. This is a very destructive act that should be treated with contempt by all and sundry who fear and honour the Lord God Almighty.

A good number of our youths in the higher institutions of learning have become prostitute due to lack of fear of God and improper and misguided family up bringing. Another reason is the desire for sophistication and exotic lifestyle due to bad influence.

Often times, some stupendous ignoramuses who pose as parents, conspire to spoil and over-expose their children to all forms of vices by laying destructive examples before them in their homes. Imagine a situation where parents encourage their children to put on immoral and amorous dresses, some of which expose their nudities so that men can go after them. Some married women are also guilty of this crime. All these dresses and hairstyles they refer to as “dress to kill” are awful crimes against God and humanity and must be condemned by every child of God who professes godliness with contentment. Any woman or man that dresses to attract attention with intent to seduce, entice, mislead, deceive an innocent fellow is no less than a prostitute.

It is ubiquitous today for people to stay in their marital homes, some in the families under the care of their parents, and still practice prostitution. Anybody that is not mindful of how and where his daughters or wife or sons get the money they lavish in purchasing one item or other is encouraging prostitution, which is a crime against God and mankind. Parents that do not have money to train their children either in the schools, universities or in gainful pursuits should not lure them into prostitution.

A prostitute is an irresponsible fellow. It is one that has no personality or integrity to protect. It is one that lacks shamefacedness and a laughing stock in the society. A prostitute does not live long on Earth. A woman that practices prostitution debases herself, her husband, her children, and even her own parents. Everything can last long but the gains of prostitution do not last long. Homes are built by virtuous men and women but prostitution is a curse. For that reason, youths, say no to prostitution and preserve your future. Curb your immoral desires and prolong your days on Earth.

LESBIANISM

This is the act of females having sexual relationship with their fellow females. This act contrary to nature and very much pronounced among our youths due to Western influence through the use of television, seductive periodicals and destructive conversations with ungodly victims of the deadly act.

Some schools of thought hold the opinion that those that indulge in it do it to avoid unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. This not true at all. This is a socio-psychological problem that deserves a psychotherapeutic approach. I mean that it is a psychological defect, a pathological problem that should be given serious attention among the youths. Consider a situation where a female romances her fellow female, touching all the sensitive organs in the body, sometimes kissing and caressing her just to satisfy her sexual urge. This is madness in its peak! It is a distasteful act in the sight of God and man’s inhumanity to fellow man.

Lesbians are very much found in the secondary schools that are all-females; in the same manner Sodomist are found in exclusively boys’ schools and colleges. Sodomy is the act of males having sexual relationships with fellow males. Homosexuals are those that have sexual relationships with same sex. This is a condemnable action that should be deemphasised among our youths if they must realize their ambitions in life.

THE EVIL SIDE OF LESBIANISM

A lesbian finds it difficult to marry because she does not have any desire for a man.

(2) Where she gets married at all, which is normally at an old age, she is never satisfied with one man. This is because, the constant touch on her genital organ especially, keeps her clitoris erect at all times. This is why most of them end it in prostitution or promiscuity.

(3) In her constant attempt to satisfy her sexual urge with her fingers, she is prone to infections like fungi and even bacteria. The most prominent of them being the itching, and discharging effect of candidaisis.

(4) It promotes the development of fibroid, which impairs conception

 The remedy lies in self-recognition and the dangers likely to be posed by the act. Nobody comes out publicly to declare that she is a lesbian. It is against the customs and traditions of Africa and so it is not popular but notorious. Notorious in the sense that a good number of our female youth indulge in the act secretly with their partners and still come out looking angelic and unsuspicious. Lesbians do not make good mothers because they do not respect any man for whom he is since men do not appeal to them. This is a social imbalance that has to be addressed in the fear of God by any female or male youth that thinks the best of himself or or herself.

Our youths should develop themselves to the point where the horror of the sight alone should send shivers into their spines.

MARITAL ENGAGEMENT

It is not out of place to hear some of our youths from time to time, saying that they are engaged in marriage to one another even when they are still in school. This is a rampant evil that leaves its victims with sorrow, pain, heartbreak and sometimes death. How can somebody who is sensible take his or her fellow student seriously in any marital engagement? It is like embarking one’s hope on the wind whether male or female.

Any student that promises a fellow student marriage while in school is looking for a sexual partner. If at all the engagement fulfils at last, the couples have succeeded in laying the foundation of their marriage on hardship. This must be so because the female counterpart must mount undue pressure on the man to fulfil his word or promise either before he completes his studies or immediately after his studies without any proper preparation for marriage.

The worst will happen if they mistakenly begin to have children while in the school or immediately after passing out from the schools. The level of hardship that will befall them will be better imagined than observed. A woman can conveniently get married to a man while still pursuing her career without any setback but it is not so with a man. It is a man’s honest attempt to lay a good background for his family that leads to breaking of engagements.

Every sensible young man must acknowledge that his prime objective in life is not marriage. His family must be put in order before marriage is considered which was the essence of the parents’ sacrifice on him. A man is trained to better his family while a woman is trained to better the lot of her husband. Whatever a married man does to his in-laws is in appreciation of what his wife is to him—her positive contributions to the well being of the man and his family—and not a payment for her education at all.

Any woman that gives her body to a man as a means of satisfying his sexual desires in the name of engagement is a fool. The more you associate with such a person, the cheaper you make yourself and the more he will useless you. At the end, he will pick a virtuous woman from the rural area or from among his people and leave you with heartbreak.

The young man should also take note that many youths have been bathed with concentrated acid as a result of breaking marriage engagements. The female youth should also remember that some ladies have lost their precious lives in the hand of cruel men due to breaking of marital engagements. Why should a female indulge in marital engagement at all? It will take one that does not know her worth to do that! A virtuous and dependable woman does not go about looking for men or solicit marriage to any man. Men who know her worth stake their fortune to convince her why she should consider them fit and proper to accept their hand in marriage.

Marital engagement is for those with questionable characters only or societal misfits and not for well-organized and reputable persons.

Refrain from marital engagements and fulfil your life’s ambitious with joy. Remember, if you misbehave yourself, you will land yourself where you least esteemed.

ABORTION AND ITS AWFUL EFFECTS

Abortion in the context of this brief message means a deliberate termination of unwanted pregnancy by anybody by means of oral drugs, trado-medical ways, or by a specialised medical doctor in various forms. This obnoxious practice has become a way of life among the youth of today without any recourse to its awful effects to their health and their future.

To begin with, why is the pregnancy regarded as an unwanted one? The answer is obvious. The person never knew that his or her affair with the sexual partner would result to pregnancy. Since you do not want to be pregnant why do you desire sexual affair with any man or woman? Do you not know that the resultant effect of sexual intercourse is nothing but pregnancy? This is why the youth are advised to steer clear from pre-marital sex.

If you are a woman that preserves your virginity you will earn respect from your husband and you will not experience any difficulty in conception anytime you get married to a man because your whole system is untouched and natural. This is also applicable to a young man. Show me couples that have difficulties in conception after marriage, and I will show you that either the wife or the husband or both abused their youth by being way-ward.

Awful Effects of Abortion

1. It can result to premature death especially when it is handled by medical quacks or chemists or even native doctors.

2. It destroys the womb or all the reproductive organs thereby rendering the woman barren.

3. It can result to cancer of the cervix (Human Paphomia Virus), which is deadly.

4. It can lead to very serious infections, which may even block the fallopian tubes.

5. It promotes the growth of uterine fibroid, which hinders conception.

6. It can result to internal bleeding (Haemorrhage)

A good number of our youths today have brought untold hardship to themselves in the process of procuring abortion. Some have been arrested and jailed by the law enforcement agents because it is against the law of the land. Many families are living in sorrow without any hope of getting a child because of abortions they did in their youth before marriage. . Abortion can only be permitted if it is done to save the life of the mother.

Whoever that procures abortion has become a murderer, believe it if you can! Refrain from pre-marital sex and achieve your dreams.

DRUG ABUSE

This is the administration of certain drugs that are in the prohibited lists to the general public or to an individual by medical quacks or by self-medication. For anybody to be qualified to practice self-medication, he must know the chemical constituents of the drugs and its possible reactions or side effects.

In well-organised countries, nobody is allowed to dispense any drug to any patient or buyer without the doctor’s prescription note, while some placed the sale of drugs in the hands of approved and licensed pharmacists only. But in Nigeria, open market sale of drugs is the practice; hence many quacks and illiterates dominate the business to make brisk business. This is the worst form of drug abuses and has resulted to the death of many people in the society.

The most important aspect of drug abuse among our youths is the pushing of hard and illegal drugs at home and beyond the shores of the country to make money. Examples of such hard drugs are cocaine, heroine, morphine, petedine, Indian hemp, Chinese capsule etc. Some of these drugs are in powdered form while some are in liquid form.

Little quantities of these drugs attract huge sum of money and for that reason, our youths now rush into the business in spite of the stiff penalty that awaits any offender. Some people plant these drugs into their body tissues in cellophane packs or capsules, which often times result to death of the carrier, should any of the packs open up in the body. Many students have ran amok as a result of intake of hard drugs thereby shattering their dreams and the expectations of their parents.

To become an addict starts with a single experiment with a dose or a wrap. Many who indulge in hard drugs do not have good reason for that at all. Some take hard drugs so that they will feel high and dreadful. Some take it for the fun of it just like a foolish young man that indulges in premarital sexual act just for the fun of it. Can a sensible fellow who has the fear of God experiment death?

A good number of the youth that roam the streets, especially in the urban centres, are as a result of drug abuse. There is no gain in the smoking of cigarette or Indian hemp. Only beasts from broken homes who have no focus In life indulge in such unwholesome habit. Be wise. Evil association spoils good character.

SPOILERS AND THE GSM

The GSM phones are introduced to bridge communication gap among the people and to facilitate quick transfer of information within the service area. This is a welcome development in this scientific age we are living in today. This instrument, we were told by God at its inception, should not be found in the hands of fools.

Today, fools have invaded the industry with every Tom, Dick and Harry, carrying GSM handset about. People with perverted minds have perverted its usage as they have done in other spheres of life. Some now use it to swindle money from their fellow men, while others specialise in using it to tell lies. Others use it for numerous criminal activities to the hurt of their fellow men.

A good number of our youths use it to establish boyfriend and girlfriend relationships hence many have died in their bid to get a promised handset for their girlfriends. There is no kind of text message, that does not pass through the GSM handset screen. Fools now specialise in coining different text messages that can turn the hearts of their receivers to them to the neglect of their noble pursuits in life.

The most effective instrument in the hand of a spoiler is the GSM handset. With it, the spoiler can send any amount of money to his target by means of recharge cards. This is why every intelligent and focussed youth should be mindful of those texts and recharge cards that flash across their GSM handset screens.

The most pleasant message in the handset by way of text message has always come from a spoiler. A wise and intelligent person will use the tone of the text or call to detect the aim of the caller. Reckless exchange of GSM phone numbers is a naked sign of stupidity. It is a deliberate invitation to the devil or the spoiler.

The next spoiler is gifts of any kind. Behind every gift, there is a motive. Some gifts are given with honest intentions while majority are given to bribe one’s conscience against himself or herself. Some are holistic destruction! I mean that some are aimed at destroying the recipient diabolically. One’s enemies may hide under their relations or friends who are envious of your advancement, and destroy you and your career prospects.

To the youth I say, a gift is not a gift until it passes the confirmation of your parents. Whoever that is afraid of routing any gift to you through your parents while you are still under their custody, has a sinister motive! At the same time, any child or youth that conceals a gift from his or her parents has made up his mind or her mind to stop his journey or her journey mid-way. Gift is good only if it is given after a godly sort. Beware!

Another spoiler is the television, which gives some ungodly youths the opportunity to watch pornographic films and many other devilish films produced by people with reprobate minds, with the intent to make money. Any youth that wants to make the best of himself or herself in this life, must avoid watching such films that corrupt the mind and increase criminal propensities in them with all malice. Nothing influences the youth more than what they see and what they hear or read from the newspapers or periodicals.

You should regard anything or anybody that will not help you to achieve your ambition in life as an obstruction or a brazen enemy. Give it antagonistic approach. Remember the accompanying disgrace if you should fail to succeed in life.

FRIENDSHIP AND DEATH

A friend is the person that corrects one when he or she goes wrong. Any other definition than this is unacceptable in the sight of God. People mistake friendship to mean exchange of pleasantries. This notion is erroneous. This is why to such people that holds this erroneous beliefs, anybody that reprimands them of any evil act is regarded as an enemy. For two to become friends, they must be like-minded. I said two, because it takes two to tango. The two cannot walk together except they agree.

Do you have the same ideology, or principle with the person you call your friend? What is the basis of your friendship? Is the relationship or friendship symbiotic? If yes, why? And if no, why? Do you have the same vision with that your friend? The answer you supply to these questions will determine where the friendship will take you. Your enemy will not destroy you but your friend. All evil suggestions that have grave consequences have been traceable to friends and not enemies. Nobody exposes a friend to rough life more than a friend. Friends have even lured their fellow friends to their death grounds unsuspectingly. The easiest person that can poison you is your friend.

Love him or her and do good to your friend but do not blink your eyes whenever he or she is around. If it is possible, maintain no friends, no enemy. The best friend you have in this life that is trustworthy is yourself.

Enjoying a free lift in a car on the basis of friendship can be disastrous. You may be carried dumb to an unknown destination and that may mark the end of your journey on Earth. Your friend with whom you pass the night may use you for ritual sacrifice. Avoid friendship the same way you avoid cultism and robbery. Cases abound where robbers made confessional statements to the Police that their friends lured them into violent robbery and rape.

Your friend who is envious of your success can even plan for your rape and execute it with ease even in his or her house. Since friendship is often associated with death, every intelligent youth should avoid it like wild fire. When you preserve your youth, you secure your future and transform your dreams into realities.

ATTENDANCE TO PARTIES AND DRUNKENNESS

Nothing exposes the youth to destructive influences more than attendance of ceremonial parties where they exhibit their youthful lusts. These parties range from wake-keep, bachelor’s eve, wedding ceremonies, school shows and picnics, to nightclubs. These fora offer the youth opportunities to free drinks, free exchange of cigarettes and free food. It is also a favourable ground for both sexes to mis-mate themselves without restraint.

Youths that indulge in this destructive behaviour only boast of how many cartons of beer or bottles of hot drinks and plates of salad they could finish at a time and the number of ladies or young men they could deceive during such parties.

Awful Effects of These Habits

1. It influences innocent souls into wrong and destructive lifestyles that destroy their future and shatter their ambitions.

2. It produces drunkards and reckless youths who constitute a nuisance to the society.

3. It increases evil tendencies in the youth hence it makes them restless.

4. Keeping late at night has landed many into many troubles in the hands of enforcement agents, armed robbers and other suspicious places thereby damaging their reputations and that of their families.

5. Party or ceremonial grounds are fertile grounds where enemies lie in wait to poison or destroy their foes ignorantly.

Therefore, it is worthwhile for any sensible and focussed youth to refrain from this delicate habit. It is not a MUST that you honour all invitations. If you are wise, and recognise that you are accountable to your parents, you should not attend to any invitation without the approval of your parents. If you maintain this stance, you MUST escape from your enemies and fulfil your ambitions.

THE STATE OF THE NATION

PREACHED on

19^TH JULY, 2009

by

THE SON OF MAN

(APOSTLE PETER ODOEMENA)

at

THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD

ONITSHA

(ANAMBRA STATE)

THE STATE OF THE NATION

I want to speak to you on THE STATE OF THE NATION. When I listened to the news read in the newspapers concerning the amnesty granted to the Niger Delta youths, I laughed within Myself. I said, “No, this goes to confirm that we do not have leadership anymore.”

2.          Why amnesty? One, that amnesty is useless and cannot go to anybody. Two, the time frame is poor. That is, the time limit is unimaginable.

3.          How can you grant amnesty to a people you do not know and give them mandate that must be 4th October as last date?

4.          Then I said within myself, “If by 4th October they failed to surrender or accept the amnesty, what next?”

5.          Now the question arises: Who and who are being granted the amnesty—who and who make up MEND? I began to wonder.

6.          MEND as a movement, is a radical movement, a freedom movement born out of gross marginalization.

7.          Now watch. They have over two hundred seen and unseen commanders. Even the kangaroo commanders do not know themselves except the prominent ones. In addition, there is no commander that knows the number of youths he has already recruited. For there is no recruiters’ license. There is no number with which to identify them.

8.          Now, where are their locations? How can you grant amnesty to a people you do not know? You do not know how many they are. You do not know their various formations. You do not even know the types of weapons they have imported which they are using.

9.          Where do you say they are going to surrender that thing? You say it is 82 Division in Enugu. Why not Bayelsa or Port Harcout or Aba? Why not Imo State,  Obirinze  Artillery Unit? But they said it is 82 Division in Enugu.

10.       Now, what and what are they going to surrender? Why not reason properly.

11.       What if they refuse to go there to surrender anything or if they go there and say they have surrendered? What if they just went there, dropped some pistols, put their names that they have dropped their weapons, and then go away?

12.       The Atlas Cove Jetty in Lagos that was demolished just of recent, was it demolished with ordinary pistol? It was a master plan.

13.       I am coming to something. Follow Me strictly. God is doing something now. God is confirming His Word.

WHAT IS NEEDED IS DIALOGUE AND NOT VIOLENCE

I am saying that the amnesty is a useless amnesty. What was needed was not even bombing and shooting them. What was needed was roundtable conference, that is, negotiation.

16.       Once there is a dispute, ask them to ceasefire. Let them come to the roundtable and present their agenda so that you know their grievances. Then you begin to tell them the extent you can go to address them within the capacity the nation has found herself. It is not violence versus violence.

17.       Nobody has ever succeeded in quelling the yearning of the people through violence. Do you know that in spite of what happened during the Civil War, Biafra still exists in the hearts of all Igbos? Do you believe that? It is not existing in the name, it is in the heart. Up till today, the Igbos are still clamouring for separation. Is it not true? Are we not witnesses?

18.       Why is it so? It is simply because Gowon came up one morning and then granted amnesty without hearing from the people. So, that agitation has remained there. What is more, before our eyes, we begin to see marginalization continuing.

19.       Check all the newspapers, news; you hear marginalization, marginalization, marginalization everyday. That goes to show that the real problem is yet to be addressed.

20.       Moreover, we were of the opinion that that which the Army could not do because it was Force, democracy can now do it. Because it gives everybody a sense of belonging to air his or her views on national issues.

21.       But unfortunately, those that have the brains are not invited. The National Confab they said they were conducting ended in the pipeline.

22.       I am going somewhere. I want you to know the state of the nation. God spoke concerning this nation.

23.       We can see crimes on the increase. When we started hearing about kidnapping in the Niger Delta, remember I mounted the pulpit and told you that this kidnapping must extend its tentacles to the Southeast;   so it will continue until it will engulf the whole Nigeria for that is the area affecting MEND.

24.       The criminality side of it was at the side of kidnapping and collecting ransom. It is a condemnable act by God.

25.       Now watch what is happening, the state of kidnapping, nobody will say he is not aware. If anybody is pretending that he does not know that kidnapping has come to stay in Nigeria, that person is a liar. Even our authorities know this truth.

26.       Who should be blamed? Surely, those that are in authority. A situation where few individuals are controlling the wealth of the nation. So, they should be blamed. They are responsible for what is happening.

27.       You watch violent crimes, just of recent; we saw what happened at Awka, from Awka to Nnewi. About a month ago, we saw what happened at Nnewi. Now, it has shifted to Nsukka. Everywhere, violence, violence, violence.

28.       You get to Abia, all the newspapers write volumes concerning violence in Abia, banning okada without providing okada riders with a substitute. What do you think the person will be doing?

29.       “You wean me from my mother’s breast without giving me  food supplements; in other words, you want me to die. I will not die, I will not like to die. I must struggle to survive. And I know how I will do it.”

30.       Now, I am continuing. I am trying to say that banning okada is not a remedy. After all, it is on record that no rich man has ever been kidnapped with okada—you see the man in okada and carry him like that. They use costly new vehicles; the type the person is driving also.

31.       So, I am saying that okada is not our problem for now. They have not yet addressed the problem.

THE HAND OF GOD IS BEHIND WHAT IS HAPPENING

I am coming to something. We are coming forward to look at the state of Nigeria.

33.       As at the time God spoke concerning “the state of the economy,” we never knew or heard anything called “global economic meltdown.” It was unknown but as we journeyed along, that language appeared as headlines in all our national dailies.

34.       Before we knew it, the capital market crashed. Banks started struggling again for survival. All bank officials have now been emptied into the market for marketing. They now open accounts with even one Kobo deposit.

35.       Many, many things are happening now. They are struggling to survive. The little they will gather from the general public, overnight, armed robbers will attack them and carry that one away. It then appears they are now saving for armed robbers. They are making a pool of money available for them to carry.

36.       We are addressing something very serious. What I am telling you in this Faith, you can never hear it in any Church.

37.       Before all these things begin to happen, the Lord will always announce it. Then prepare your minds so that when they begin to happen nobody will panic. You know that the Hand of the Lord is behind it. We are in this Faith for a purpose. Once the purpose is achieved, we go away. No more, no less!

WHAT CAUSED THE RISE OF CRIME

Watch the rate at which violent crimes are increasing, it can be traceable to something. I told you in the New Year Message that the government of Nigeria under the leadership of Obasanjo and EL-Rufai had made their greatest mistake.

39.       What is that mistake they have made? They retrenched able-bodied and trained people from the civil service of the Federation during their productive ages—when they were vibrant and productive, they retrenched them from services.

40.       Most of them were soldiers, some were police officers, some were customs officials, some were drug law enforcement agents. Then, majority fall within our own group, the civil service and the parastatals. We had the hard pill.

41.       Besides that, all that returned from ECOMOG under the UN peacekeeping force—remember many landed in Nigeria, Nigeria accused them of looting, of violence and of raping women over there. All of them, Nigeria discharged them from the service without providing any alternative.

42.       Now, the question arises. When you discharge young, young men that had up to twelve, thirteen, fifteen years to go in the service, you terminate their contract like that; you made no provision for their rehabilitation; what do you think will happen?

43.       You know for sure that they have no other occupation they have learnt. They did not learn any trade. What they learnt is what you taught them. You taught them how to handle gun. Did you get the Message?

44.       Our people say that the matchet one has is the one he can boast with. 

45.       Yes! The authorities know what is happening that is why all of them are afraid; they do not want to comment.

46.       It is true that it does not concern you and I in practice but we feel the influence. We feel it because we are living in Nigeria. That is why the Scriptures say that we should pray for those in authorities that we may live in peace.

47.       I thank God for the way things are really going. These young men were discharged prematurely and they were warlords, trained gunmen. I believe there is no other thing they can use to re-establish themselves if not that which they are conversant with.

48.       Take for example; if you are not a trained gunman with many years experience; even if you are given a machine gun, you can never attempt entering a Police Station to begin to shoot.

49.       Once you are not trained, no matter the gun you are having, once you see the Police, you will drop it on the ground and run. But the way and manner these crimes are committed proved to the entire world that these are really professionals. They are not afraid of the Army, they are not afraid of the Police, they are not afraid of anything at all.

CALL ON CHRIST IN THE TIME OF CRISES

N

ow, I want to come down to something. If you have been trusting in your charms and amulets, you cannot be more prepared than all the Law Enforcement Agents. They have the money. They know where these native doctors are. Am I making sense at all?

2.          On your side, you do not have the money you can bring. You are as poor as poor can be. Now, if all these things are failing them, is there any need of anybody putting his trust and confidence in those useless things?

3.          Do not put your trust in any man. Do not put your trust in any charm, or any amulet. Do not put your trust and confidence in any other thing than the Great God of all the ages.

4.          To our youths, I want to talk to you. You are very, very vulnerable to all these problems because you are vibrant. You move wider than Myself. You gather information here and there. There is always the temptation there to get identified with such pressure groups or radical groups to make both ends meet.

5.          Please, resist such temptations. I have told you time without number that the prosperity of the wicked is always a great temptation to the righteous. Do you believe that?

6.          Do not begin now to sit down and think: “What if I will take a risk, maybe identify with one group.  Take the loots; I will succeed in one or two operations. By the time we share the loots, I will be able to make up to five or six million Naira.”

7.          You see, you have calculated one way. Death is not in your programme. What if you go and you do not return? Is it not possible? It is very much possible. Even if you go and succeed, the truth is there. You do not need anybody to begin to talk. The whole world will know that you have strayed away from the pathway of truth.

8.          Why? Because your occupation must at all times justify your expenditure. If your occupation does not justify your expenditure, you have a questionable character.

9.          Do not say, “We are living in the world where the end justifies the means. Once I can make it, everybody will be clamouring at my back.” Not always!

10.       So please, I am appealing to you that you refrain from such ugly conversations that may tempt you to join one useless group or another. Please, say no to that temptation.

11.       I am aware that these people that are perpetrating the evil are human beings. They came from families. They did not drop from the sky. Some of them might be your relations in one way or the other. Some might be your friends.

12.       Cut off from such people that can lure you into something that can take your life prematurely. Do not ever indulge in it. Take side with God. Pray for yourself, pray for the entire Brethren, pray for the security agents. Pray for those that are also perpetrating the evils, that God will touch their hearts so that they will begin to address the truth and drop violence. For we have no other nation than this nation.

SECURITY IS OF THE LORD

No matter the injustice we are witnessing in Nigeria, our duty is to pray. Our duty is to trust God. Trust God for your security. What is happening now bears eloquent testimony that what the Son of Man is saying is truth: That security is of the Lord.

14.       If the Great Jehovah does not give you security, surely, whatever you are surrounding yourself with must surely disappoint you.

15.       If they are not afraid of the Police that are well armed, they are not afraid of the Navy; they are not afraid of the Army and so on, what of you, a defenceless and careless fellow? Can you make noise? In other words, your security is in the Hand of the Lord as a child of God.

16.       When you hear them talking and doing whatsoever they are doing, feign ignorance. Show sympathy as a Nigerian. Pray for them. Finish!

17.       I am sure and certain that if we do the perfect will of God as we have been instructed, we will hear all these things with hearing of the ears according to the Promise. They will never come near us. For the Lord must surely protect His own.

18.       If the Lord does not protect us, nobody will protect us at a time like this.

19.       If you watch all that are living in fenced houses, fenced gates, iron gates, no matter how bulletproof that gate might be, has it saved anybody? That goes to prove that by the arms of flesh, by the works of the hands of man, no flesh has ever prevailed. Nobody!

20.       Without God we can do nothing. That we have rolled into real crises, see this period as a period of crises. Know where it is going to culminate to.

21.       We received a Message that says we should call Christ in the time of crises. It did not say call Police, it did not say call Army. It says, “Call on Christ in the time of crises.”

22.       The matchet one has is the one he uses to boast with. The only thing you have is God. You should use God to boast. Do not boast of any man and do not put your confidence in any man. They will all disappoint you. You cannot be more protected than a DPO, can you? You cannot. So, look up to God in all situations. Resist the temptation.

STEPS TO RESISTING “THE TEMPTATION”

The first step in resisting temptation lies in avoiding that area where you know they hold such dangerous discussions because words are spirits.

24.       In the book of Proverb chapter one, starting from verse one, it says, “My son, do not ever associate with the scorners.” Do not ever do that. Mockers, do not associate with those people that hold deadly conversations; who will tell you, “Let us go, lie in wait, kill innocent fellows and carry their properties, carry their money. We shall make a good scourer, we shall live all our days in pleasure.

25.       It says that if they shall tempt you telling this, do not succumb. Say “no” my son. Do not look at the prosperity of the wicked but consider the end of the wicked. It is always disastrous. The end of the wicked has always been a disaster.

26.       I will rather pray that the end of my life shall be better than the beginning of my life. Anybody who does not pray that type of prayer is blind: That the end of my life shall be better than the beginning of my life. Pray a prayer like that and hand yourself over to God.

27.       Avoid such areas they hold evil discussions. Even if you have read about them in the newspapers, run away from that influence. Do not ever allow it to attract your attention.

28.       I do not know why it became a burden in Me that I should speak to you on THE STATE OF THE NATION; to warn all of you to refrain from evil associations or ungodly conversations.

29.       Let it be known to you that whosoever that is arrested in a place where people are smoking Indian hemp, is nothing but an Indian hemp smoker. Is that not true? If you are arrested in a place where armed robbers are enjoying their loots in the beer parlour, eating and drinking, and making a noise; there is no other thing they will call you than an armed robber. Is it not true?

30.       For that reason, if you are a child of God, do not put yourself in a position where God will see you and ask you, “My child, what brought you here? What are you doing here?”

31.       Refrain from the conversations of the wicked. Do that which is right.  Be sober, be honest to all mankind. Pray for us, pray for yourself, pray for the nation. Even for those terrorizing the nation, pray for them because sometimes, frustrations lead them to those terrorism. Any act of violence is terrorism. There is no other word I know I can use.

GOD MUST BRING EVERY ACTION OF MAN INTO JUDGMENT

Refrain from acts of violence. Do not ever be entangled in it. Remember we are a nation of our own. God said we are in a nation in a nation also. The Church of God is a nation in a nation.

33.       You are the holy nation of God, a royal priesthood, God’s own purchased possession. You know more than that.

34.       Do not allow the prosperity of the wicked to ever tempt you. Even if you see your mate coming now, riding jeeps anyhow when they have no visible and viable means of livelihood, please, do not be tempted.

35.       Even if they come home with one hundred cars, they erect estates in their villages, please, do not be tempted. Look up to God.

36.       Any wealth that is gotten in unrighteousness must fly away like wind.

37.       I want to conclude by saying, “People have always stayed in the house of cowards and point to where heroes lived.” People stay in the house of cowards and point to the place where a hero lived. It is only in the house of the coward that people can stay and point to such a place. Did you get the Message?

38.       Fear is life. Fear the Lord, honour the Lord. Respect the Lord, keep the laws of the land and it shall be well with you.

39.       But when you begin to violate God’s natural laws which say that any seed a man sows that he must reap, you begin to think that you have not reaped the fruits of your works; well, Satan has already deceived you.

40.       God had already concluded the whole matter in the book of Ecclesiastes saying, “Thou O’ man, do whatever you want to do, eat and drink but remember one thing, that God must bring every action of man into judgment, whether they be good or evil.”

41.       God must bring every action of man into judgment whether they be good or evil.

VIOLENCE DOES NOT MAKE YOU GREAT

To our youths, please, please, in the Name of the Lord, do not allow yourselves to be tempted by the discussions of the wicked into becoming violent or joining in violent crimes, or becoming lawless. Please, do not do that.

43.       God has given us His liberty to do that which is right in the sight of man.

44.       Remember the meaning of greatness. Greatness means imparting positive ideas to fellow human beings. Greatness means doing that which favours the generality of people around you most of the time.

45.       When you are doing that which favours the generality of the people around you, you become great. But when you are putting fellow human beings in fear, killing them, making some to develop hypertension, you know you are not imparting greatness.

46.       No violent man has ever been called a great man. If there had been, Idi Amin would have been number one, Sheik of Iran would have been number two.

47.       No living person has ever become a great man by supporting violence. If there has been, Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran would have been number one. Fidel Castro of Cuba would have been another.

48.       What am I saying? Let us remain children of God by day and by night. Refrain our steps, our actions from that which God hates.

49.       If you are a businessman or woman, do it with godly love and sincerity. If you say you are going to Enugu, go to Enugu. Do not tell Me you are going to Enugu while you are in Lagos. Do not use your business excuse to go out and join bad groups. Please, I am appealing to all of you.

50.       Understand what the Lord is saying. Think concerning the little I have just imparted on you in this Message. And may the good Lord of Mercy Whom we serve grant all of you perfect understanding.

51.       I am assuring you, as we walk with the Lord, obeying, supporting His cause, reverencing Him, making sure we do not walk in a way that will humiliate His Name, humiliate our family name; the Lord will surely offer us protection.

52.       Yes! God is far from the wicked but He offers protection to the righteous. Amen.