"THOUSANDS OF NIGERIAN ARE IN FOREIGN PRISONS FOR THEIR CRIMES IN 2013"

Nigeria as a nation in this 21st century human universe is known worldwide in the bad light and for the criminal activities of her nationals in those foreign countries. Nigerians are today synonymous globally with corruption, illegalities, crimes or criminal activities, such as, terrorism, the internet fraud (419 scam), mail fraud, wire fraud, visa fraud or immigration violations, banking fraud, security fraud, drug smugglings, human traffickings, illegal prostitutions and for impersonations or identity theft. There is hardly any nation out of the 195 countries of the world today that Nigerians cannot be found serving various prison time for one or more of the above listed criminal activities. The Federal Government of Nigeria does not have an accurate or the up-to-date data on the exact number of Nigerians in the foreign prisons in 2013.

Mr. Femi Ajayi, the Director General of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency of Nigeria put the number of Nigerians in the foreign prisons at over 6,000 which I personally considered to be an underestimated figure in all reality. The information from some of the available data showed that 4,000 Nigerians are in the Iranian jails, 6,000 in the British prisons, 1,000 in the Chinese jails, 500 in the Indian prisons, 100 in the Ukraine jails, 409 in the South African jails, 500 in the Brazilian prisons, 300 in the Malaysian jails and 500 in the prisons of the nation of Thailand. The number of Nigerians in the American prisons is low today in 2013 because American government has the financial resources to deport these convicted Nigerians back to Nigeria which is cheaper to do than spending about $26,000 a year of the American tax payers' money to support each Nigerian prisoner in the United States.

In conclusion, the Nigerians that live in the foreign countries should never forget that their Nigerian citizenship that they currently hold and the sovereignty of the Federal Government of Nigerian do not extend beyond the international borders of Nigeria in all reality. The Nigerians in diaspora should never forget that those foreign countries have their own laws which they will implement if broken by Nigerians. All Nigerians are expected to follow the laws of the foreign nations where they reside or visiting, in order to stay out of trouble with the governments of those foreign countries.

"SECULARISM IN THE NIGERIAN 1999 CONSTITUTION"

The Section 38 (1) of the Nigerian 1999 constitution and the Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right, provide a legal basis for secularism in Nigeria:“Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”

Secularism or the freedom of religion as it is stated in the Nigerian 1999 constitution means that Nigeria as a nation has no state or any official religion. It means that the governance of the Nigerian state affairs and the religious practices are 100% separated from one another. It means that the Nigerian government at all levels has no right to use the state resources or the Nigerian tax payers' money to support any religion that is practiced in Nigeria by Nigerians. It means that all Nigerians have the constitutional right to practice any religion of their choice. It means that any Nigerian has the constitutional right not to practice any religion in Nigeria. It means that any Nigerian has the legal right to live anywhere in Nigeria, to practice his or her religious freedom without any fear of intimidation or may choose not to practice any religion. It means that the federal government of Nigeria, the 36 state governments, the authority of the federal capital territory in Abuja and the 774 local governments cannot officially violate the constitutional right to the religious freedom for all the 170 million Nigerians

"WHY NIGERIA IS THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD" - FEMI ARIBISALA

Two weeks ago, I paid a visit to Dubai for the very first time.  Dubai is everything Lagos is not.  Dubai works: Lagos does not.  Dubai is spotlessly clean: Lagos is filthy.  Dubai is bathed in gleaming electricity.  Lagos is shrouded in darkness.  Dubai is organized.  Lagos is disorganized.  After a few days in Dubai, I longed to be back in Lagos.

What is the attraction of Lagos relative to a city like Dubai?  The answer is actually very simple.  Lagos is the very best city in Nigeria; the very best country in the world.  I have traveled all over the world.  I have been to the Far East, to the Middle East, to North and Latin America and to Europe.  I have been to over 30 African countries.  This qualifies me to make this assessment.  Nigeria is the very best country in the whole wide world.

Made-in-Nigeria

There are too many things that make Nigeria exceptional and without equal.  If Nigeria were not so wonderful, there would not have been 170 million Nigerians.  Because Nigeria is such a great country, we are determined to give birth to as many children as possible so that even more people can partake of the pleasures of living here.  We manufacture babies by the thousands and the millions because we are in love with the country.  Nigerians don’t commit suicide.  Neither do Nigerians ever desert Nigeria.  The very worst thing that can happen to a Nigerian is to be exiled from the country.

Remember this: Nigeria is nobody’s colony.  We refuse to be subject to nobody.  We are not under the thumb of the British, the Americans or anyone else.  Nigeria is the one African country that can be said to be truly independent.  We have nationalized all the nationalize-ables.  We own the land.  There is no foreign settler-community in Nigeria that holds us captive.  We are the kings of our castles.  Our very best products are made in Nigeria.  We make our own mistakes; make our own choices and make our own beds.

We rig our own elections.  We forge our own passports.  We buy our own lies.  We deceive our own people.  We choose to live in the middle ages and not in the 21st century.  We choose to eat in “bukas” and not in restaurants.  We choose to eat with our hands and not with forks and knives.  We choose to walk rather than fly.

Organised chaos

Nigerians are natural-born revolutionaries.  We like to struggle.  We are always fighting something or someone.  We don’t like the easy life.  That is way too boring.  We thrive when there is chaos.  We make a profit, where there is confusion.  We rise up to the challenge, where everything is upside down.  If something is well-organised, our first assignment is to scatter it.  That gives us room to maneuver.  We can handle chaos, but order is another problem entirely.

Nigerians hate progress.  It does not agree with us.  Some smart Alec decided to introduce traffic-lights on our roads.  But when there are too many cars on the road, the last things you need are traffic-lights preventing people from going where they want.  Traffic-lights make drivers wait, when they should be going.  That is such a waste of time.  The same goes for traffic-wardens.  When you have them obstructing the roads, there are going to be tailbacks.  But if you want the traffic to flow, let it be a free for all.  Then you will see the ingenuity of Nigerians.  We will climb up any and every possible place, and convert it to super-highways.

Moreover, our roads are theaters where drama is always enacted.  That means passers-by don’t have to spend money buying tickets in order to watch our plays.  You can watch a very interesting TV series just by sitting on your balcony and watching Nigerians negotiate their way every day.  In one afternoon, you will see David killing Goliath.  You will see Mohammed Ali fighting Joe Frazier.  You will see Arnold Schwarzenegger terminating his opponents.  You have to admit this kind of free theater is not readily available abroad.

NEPA problem

Can you imagine a country where there is 24 hour electricity?  That is Nigeria’s worst nightmare.  For years, many nincompoops have tried to convince us to improve the electricity situation in the country, but we have wisely refused to be taken in by such deception.  Why would we want good electricity when most of what we do is done under the cloak of darkness?  Why should NEPA work when there are things that need to be hidden, including the rubbish that have taken over our roads.  Any right-thinking person knows there are serious criminal issues in Nigeria that should not be brought to light for the sake of national security.

Just think about it: 24 hour NEPA.  How boring that would be?  Nigerians would have nothing to talk about.  We would have nothing to complain about.  We would not be able to have tales by the moonlight.  We would spend too much time watching television.  The economy would suffer because generator sales would plummet.  Those of us making ends meet by selling diesel would be in trouble.  Generator repairmen, major  contributors to the economy, would go out of business.  Spare-parts sellers would not be able to sell even good spare-parts, how much more fake ones.  Let’s face it; should Goodluck Jonathan succeed in improving the problem of electricity in Nigeria, it will lose him the next election for sure.  He will not even be able to secure the nomination of PDP, which we all know is a party of diesel-sellers and generator repairmen.

Valuable corruption

There is so much talk about corruption.  But if there were no corruption in Nigeria, there would be social upheaval.  Can you imagine a corruption-free Nigeria?  Don’t even bother.  It would be disastrous.  Millions would die of starvation.  How can a man sustain his family if he cannot lie, cheat and steal?  As Nigerians, it is high time we come to terms with who we are, instead of pretending to be what we are not.

We are a corrupt people.  It is not just our leaders: we are all corrupt.  We are thieves.  We love to steal.  We celebrate thieves and give them national awards.  We recognize that stealing is an art.  To be a successful thief, you have to be skillful; you have to be ambitious; you have to be imaginative; and you have to be courageous.  We are criminals because we are smart.  We bring innovation to everything.

Nigerians know that successful thieves are men of destiny: renowned statesmen; famous politicians; erudite managing-directors.  Therefore we eulogise thieves.  We sing their praises.  We give them chieftaincy awards.  We give them our daughters as third wives and concubines.  We prefer them as our presidents, governors and legislators.  Who wants an honest man as his representative in Abuja?  That is a sure way to ensure you will not get your share of the national cake.

Had it not been for corruption, Nigeria would not have survived.  Corruption is the glue that holds the fabric of the country together.  It ensures that, one way or another, we get paid.  It provides a social security system.  Corruption helps us to redistribute wealth between the rich and the poor.  The rich steal from the government; the poor steal from the rich; and everyone is happy.  If there were no corruption, there would have been a violent revolution a long time ago.

You can pocket a few monies from work illegally because nobody in his right mind expects you to be able to afford even your transportation costs from your meager salary.  If you are caught and prosecuted, all you need to do is ask your mother to come to work to plea-bargain for you.  Thanks to corruption, we can put food on our tables.  We can send our children to school.  We can pay for the aso-ebi.  We can keep up with the fashion trends.

Traffic jams

There is one fundamental reason behind the traffic situation in Nigeria.  Nigerians are a wanted people.  Therefore, we are always on the run.  Somebody somewhere is after us and we need to make quick getaways.  We are on the run from our wives.  We are on the run from our children.  We need to get away from our extended families.  But even more urgently, we are on the run from the law.  We are on the run from the state government.  We don’t want to be caught by the friend we borrowed some money from last year.

Thank God for traffic jams.  Isn’t it wonderful that you can do all your shopping while driving on the road?  How many countries do you know where you have that kind of facility?  You can even get your car washed while on your way to work; without having to stop or park.  And if there is any problem with your car while you are on the road, you will be grateful that you are in Nigeria.  One out of every two Nigerian pedestrian is a London-trained mechanic.  In case you are wondering, there is London; and then there is Osapa-London.  You also don’t need any GPRS in Nigeria.  Every pedestrian knows exactly the way to where you are going.  So if you are lost, simply ask for directions and then you will really get lost.

Conclusion

All this explains why, in spite of everything, Nigerians are the happiest people in the world.  We are deliriously happy.  Don’t believe the lie.  Nigerians complain a lot about Nigeria.  But that does not mean we would have Nigeria any other way.  We complain because we love to complain.  If everything was alright about Nigeria, we would be miserable.  Let’s face it, Nigerians love Nigeria.  Nigeria is the way it is because Nigerians love it so.  If it were not so, we would have made amends in over 50 years of independence.

One last thing of the utmost importance: Nigeria is the very best country in the world because in Nigeria you will find Nigerians.

"THE 3 FUNDAMENTAL LIFE PRINCIPLES FOR SUCCESS"

(i).The personal choices and the decisions we make on daily basis will either open us up to more blessings, more doors of opportunities, many life setbacks, constant failures and life disasters. (ii). You will need time in this life to accomplish any task successfully. Time management is the key to everything in this human life. Time and life opportunities or chances are both heavily interwoven together. A wise use of time in this life will result directly in many life great and meaningful accomplishments. (iii). Money is also a direct answer to the many life issues under the sun. Money that is earned legally requires human effort and time usage. Money must be well managed and properly invested for anyone to be financially independent and monetarily successfully in this life. In conclusion, the secret to success in life comes through good personal choices, wise time usage and proper money management skills.

"IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL POSES A POLITICAL CHALLENGE FOR ISRAEL'S NETANYANU" - ALJAZEERA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was predictably hostile in his first comments on the nuclear deal concluded in the wee hours of Sunday morning between Iran and six world powers gathered in Geneva. “This is not a historical agreement, but a historic mistake,” Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. "The world is a much more dangerous place today because the most dangerous regime in the world has made a meaningful step towards obtaining the world’s most dangerous weapons."

There was no surprise in Netanyahu's response. He has campaigned frantically on the international circuit in recent weeks to prevent just such a deal. And it's precisely because of the political and diplomatic capital he has poured into preventing a nuclear compromise with Iran that the conclusion of the Geneva deal could be politically damaging to the prime minister.

Netanyahu's leverage in international diplomacy over Iran has been grounded in the threat that Israel could overturn the negotiating table by launching military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. Fear that such a decision could trigger a potentially cataclysmic regional war has helped cajole some reluctant European nations and other countries into tightening sanctions against Iran. And the threat of unilateral military action – whether openly declared, predicted in supposedly inside-sourced media articles or implied by long-range Israeli Air Force training exercises – continues to figure prominently in the Israeli leader's talking points, even if his own security chiefs were deeply and sometimes publicly skeptical of the severity of the Iranian threats and of the wisdom of Israel launching an attack alone.

Netanyahu's priority in dealing with President Obama from his inauguration in 2009 onward had been to persuade the U.S. to prioritize the Iran nuclear issues over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has largely succeeded in that goal, with Obama having backed off from applying pressure on the Israelis over settlements and other issues related to the Palestinian file and focusing on organizing a major international sanctions effort against Tehran. But while this shift has left Netanyahu largely free to set his own terms for engagement with the Palestinians and to promote the growth of settlements in occupied territory, it has also had unintended consequences: From the moment Obama recognized the opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff presented by the election of the more pragmatic President Hasan Rouhani in Iran last summer, Netanyahu has found his hard line increasingly marginalized.

The spectacle of Secretary of State John Kerry proclaiming as good for Israel the same deal denounced by Netanyahu as a dangerous illusion underscored the image of a prime minister sharply at odds with, and being ignored by, Israel's most important ally.

The political timing couldn't have been worse for Netanyahu. Until a few weeks ago, his domestic political position seemed relatively secure. He had no challengers in his own league. Netanyahu's potential challengers from within his own party are all relatively fresh faces. His two great political rivals on the wider stage, right-wing settler champion Naftali Bennett and centrist Yair Lapid were shackled to the coalition as well as to  one another. Lapid, in particular, is being weakened by running the Finance Ministry, the demands of which has forced him to adopt policies on taxes and spending that are hurting his own middle-class political base. There seemed to be little imminent threat on the Israeli political horizon to Netanyahu's tenure.

Netanyahu's political calculus changed on November 9, however, when hard-line former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman was cleared on charges of nepotism and corruption and returned to the political stage, once again casting himself as a natural heir for Netanyahu. Lieberman is a veteran figure in Israel's national politics,  and has over the years demonstrated a capacity for strategic thinking and a reputation for hardline pragmatism alongside a bullish public image. He brought his Yisraeli Beitenu party, historically grounded among immigrants from the former Soviet Union, into an electoral pact with Netanyahu. And he has adopted a pragmatic tone throughout his 11-month stint as the chairman of the  Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

On the occasion of his reappointment as foreign minister last week, Lieberman remarked that the spat between Israel and the U.S. over the Geneva talks had become too public for anyone’s good – not blaming Netanyahu or his coalition partners, but nonetheless trying to portray himself as someone with a cooler head and an eye for the bigger picture.

These subtle differences in tone between Lieberman and other coalition leaders were on display in response to the Geneva talks. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon thundered about the short-sightedness of the West, and Naftaly Bennet warned that Israeli was not bound by the "bad" agreement and could still act to defend itself if it felt threatened by Iran. But Lieberman, while lamenting what he said was a great diplomatic victory for Tehran and pointing out the weaknesses of the  agreement, said merely that “we shall see how the agreement implementation is progressing… and then reevaluate.” Netanyahu faces little threat from the left, but Lieberman's reinvention – his traditional hawkish role in a more pragmatist version – presents a new challenge of a different magnitude.

The Israeli leader likes to cast himself in the role of Sir Winston Churchill, warning of a grave and gathering danger and denouncing Western reluctance to gird for war in order to deter Tehran. But even Churchill, after famously leading an initially isolated Britain through five tough years of war, was unceremoniously turfed out by the British electorate in 1945.

The Geneva agreement is hardly likely to bring down Israel's prime minister, but his failure to prevent it clearly deals Netanyahu a political setback.

"THE SAHARA REPORTERS VERSUS THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT"

(i). This online news organization has operated autonomously, independently and freely from its onset to date from the normal direct interference of the Nigerian government and her security agencies that hate free speech and press freedom. (ii). This online media that is based in the New York city is protected by the Amendment One of the United States constitution that supports the freedom of religion, speech, press and peaceful assembly. (iii). The Sahara Reporters rely mainly on the ordinary Nigerians (citizen reporters) and not professional journalists primarily for its own source of news reporting about the menaces of the official corruption in the Nigerian government, the mismanagement of the Nigerian state resources by her officials, lawlessness, abuse of power, abuse of human rights and the rule of brutality that are happening in Nigeria. This news organization has given international voice to the ordinary Nigerians and to the opposition groups in and outside Nigeria. 

(iv). The Sahara Reporters have received free money or grant money from the two highly reputable international non-governmental organizations to date that allowed it to expand and to modernize its operations to the 21st century international standard. The Ford Foundation gave $175,000 to the Sahara Reporters and another $450,000 grant came from The Omidyar Foundation. (v). The Sahara Reporters have been recognized by the major international news media, such as, the CNN, New York Times, Daily Beast, Aljazeera, BBC and many others for its reliability, credibility, fairness, boldness, balanced and objective news coverage and reporting. (vi). The Sahara Reporters have the global reputation for its powerful investigative news reporting, such as, the illness and the death of the former Nigerian leader Musa Yar'Adua, the photo of the Nigerian man, Farouk Adulmutallab (the underwear bomber) that attempted to bomb an airline over the United States and many other important news information that is normally kept away from the millions of the ordinary Nigerians.

"REMEMBERING THE ENDURING LEGACIES OF CHINUA ACHEBE OF NIGERIA ON HIS BIRTHDAY"

If Chinua Achebe was alive today. He would be 83 years old today. One of the most important legacies of this global icon of the African literature was his last book which he titled "There Was A Country:A Personal History of Biafra". This book was a direct product of the over 40 years of detailed and deep academic research that was never driven primarily for financial gains, cheap national and international recognitions or for any literary awards. I consider this book after my personal perusal of it and in my own personal judgement as a Nigerian to be one of the Bibles on the Nigerian state and her deep crises in the colonial and post-colonial dispensations that linger till today.

Chinua Achebe never personally risked his own international reputation and global recognition as an icon of human literature that covered over half of a century by intentionally documenting a fabricated historical account of the history of the Nigerian state and he never left behind any shady legacies of his colorful, controversial and very eventful life or times. Chinua Achebe remained until his death as one of the few Nigerians in powerful and influential positions that had refused to be corrupted by the Nigerian state with her juicy political appointments, national awards, inflated contract allocations and official bribery.

The biggest threat in the Chinua Achebe's last book on the Biafran war to the Nigeria's state and her questionable unity in 2013 is the fact that Chinua Achebe asked the boldest, the most honest and the toughest questions about the current Nigerian state affairs and the Biafra war at the international level, such as:(i) Was the Biafran war not an act of genocide against the Igbos from all the evidences that are available today on that war? (ii) Were General Yakubu Gowon and Chief Obafemi Awolowo
not directly guilty of genocide against the Igbos in the ways and in the manners they decided to prosecute this brutal war through the use of economic blockage like the food starvation that led to the unnecessary physical deaths of about 2-3 million of those defenseless Igbos children, women and the non-combatant men?
(iii) Has Nigeria as a nation ever truly learned any vital lessons from this brutal past with the determination to prevent it from happening again in our lifetime? (iv) Are the present events in Nigeria today not very similar to those events of the 1960s that gave birth to the Biafran war? (v) Why is the Biafran war and its most important hard lessons of life kept away from the public and from the young Nigerians today without teaching these things in any of our public educational systems? (vi) Why did all the successive governments in Nigeria to date have all attempted to suppress the whole truth or the important information about this terrible war that killed more people in the entire history of Nigeria as a developing country?

"PROSPERITY GOSPEL ATTRACT MANY AFRICAN CHRISTIANS" - THE HUFFINGTON POST.

Segun Ilori spent much of his time cleaning a local Foursquare Gospel Church in 2005 when he won an immigration lottery enabling him to move to the United States.

Today, he drives a 2010 Toyota Camry and has been able to share his comfortable life in the U.S. by sending six cars back home. He attributes his good fortune to the grace of God.

Tedius Makwari heard promises of faith leading to health and wealth while attending the United Family International Church in Zimbabwe. But he said he never realized any benefit of going to the church besides being stripped of his hard-earned money in the name of offerings.

In a continent where many churches are growing by emphasizing both the material and spiritual benefits of faith, Ilori and Makwari represent different faces of a religious movement that can evoke both spiritual revival and disillusionment.

What is sometimes called the "prosperity gospel" is gaining followers across Africa.

Religious communities throughout the world are challenged by the issue of how much material comfort their faith promises in this world. In Africa and elsewhere, many people go to church for different reasons and economic empowerment through divine intervention is one of them.

In Nigeria, where a majority of the population lives on one dollar a day, churches promoting the practical benefits of religion are filled.

In Zimbabwe, pastoral figures such as Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa and Bishop Trevor Manhanga have become household names for those seeking redemption and the acquisition of both spiritual and material wealth.

Makandiwa's United Family International Church is said to have won the hearts of many partly through his use of the local Shona language and by touching on issues that affect ordinary people in their everyday lives.

"When I joined United Family International Church in 2010 I had been burdened by some evil spirits so when Prophet Makandiwa came to Chinhoyi preaching and praying to people with problems like mine, I took the decision straight away so that I could be redeemed," said Grace Urayai, 66, from Chinhoyi. 
Urayai says there has been considerable improvement in her life as well as her family's after going through prayers with the UFIC family. She says she used to constantly suffer epileptic bouts, which she attributed to evil spirits.

However, Makwari, a former follower of the same congregation, has a different story to tell.

"I have been to this church before and nothing seem to have worked in my favor save for the fact that I could only lose my hard earned money paying for offerings which sometimes appear to be forced matters," Makwari said.

Pastor Tony Egbe of Nigeria's Redeemed Christian Church of God said church is not a place where every problem will be necessarily solved. "It's a place that where you go, you find Christ and He will give you peace."

How does the church respond to those in need? Egbe, who heads the Turning Point parish in Lagos, cited the example of a man who is jobless and upset about it.

"What the church does is to give him an assurance that 'if you trust in God and you know His Son Jesus Christ and you have accepted Him, then your issues are not lost to Him.' God is working out something and in the fullness of time He will address your challenge.

"In the meantime, before that fullness of time comes, the role of the church is to give such an individual peace and rest and occupy him in more meaningful things before the fulfillment of God's promise, regarding a job," said Egbe.

In reflecting on his success since moving to America, Segun, 30, said the gifts he has received are tied to his faith.

"I felt in my heart that God has compensated me for all the services that I have been rendering in the church and to people," he said in a Skype interview from Houston, Texas. "I dedicated my time, everything in serving the Lord and others while focusing on my career and academic pursuit."

Segun is quick to add, however, that his Christian faith is stronger than ever and his work in the church continues. He is the head of horticulture and a member of the prayer band at the Redeemed Christian Church in Houston, Texas, where he worships - By Samuel Okochaand Misheck Rusere.

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"AMERICA REFUSES ISRAEL FROM CONTROLLING HER NUCLEAR DEAL WITH IRAN"

The state of Israel feels left out as the United States of America and Iran are nearing a deal that will officially halt the Iran’s nuclear program. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted “Don’t rush to a bad deal with Iran.”. The state of Israel should remember that the America's foreign interests in the world as a global leader and power in this 21st century human universe must come first and foremost. The constitution of America also allows her to enter into foreign treaties with other nations of the world. 

America as a nation has remained a loyal friend both militarily and financially to the state of Israel since the formation of that country in 1948. American tax payers' money have supported the national economy of the state of Israel faithfully for 65 years. According to the" If Americans Knew" analysts, particularly Pamela Olson, a President's Scholar at Stanford University 1998-2002 with a major in physics, a minor in political science, and author of a book based on her three years in the West Bank. "Israel receives more of America’s foreign aid budget than any other nation. The US has, in fact, given more aid to Israel than it has to all the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean combined—which have a total population of over a billion people.

According to the Congressional Research Service , the amount of official US aid to Israel since its founding in 1948 tops $115 billion, and in the past few decades it has been on the order of $3 billion per year. (In 2013, for example, this amounted to over $8.5 million every single day.) But this money is only part of the story. For one thing, Israel gets all of its aid money at the start of each year, rather than in quarterly installments like other countries. This is significant: It means that Israel can start earning interest on the money right away – interest paid by the US since Israel invests these funds in US Treasury notes. In addition, because the US government operates at a deficit, it must borrow money in order to give it to Israel and then pay interest on it all year. Together these cost US taxpayers more than $100 million every year.

Israel is also the only recipient of US military aid that is allowed to use a significant portion annually to purchase products made by Israeli companies instead of US companies. (The costs to Americans caused by this unique perk are discussed below.) In addition, the US gives roughly $1.6 billion per year to Egypt and Jordan in aid packages arranged largely in exchange for peace treaties with Israel. The treaties don’t include justice for Palestinians, and are therefore deeply unpopular with the local populations.

On top of this, the US gives more than $400 million to the Palestinian Authority each year, much of it used to rebuild infrastructure destroyed by Israel and to bolster an economy stifled by the Israeli occupation. This would be unnecessary if Israel were to end the occupation and allow the Palestinians to build a functioning and self-sustaining economy. Yet, there’s still much more to the story, because parts of US aid to Israel are buried in the budgets of various US agencies, mostly the Department of Defense. For example, since at least 2006, the American Defense budget has included between $130 and $235 million per year for missile defense programs in Israel.

In all, direct US disbursements to Israel are higher than to any other country, even though Israelis only make up 0.1% of the world’s population. On average, Israelis receive 7,000 times more US foreign aid per capita than other people throughout the world, despite the fact that Israel is one of the world’s more affluent nations. And that number rises significantly when one considers disbursements to Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority and Defense spending on behalf of Israel - Reports and Analysis from Sunday Iwalaiye, If Americans Knew the Congressional Research Service and CNN.

"5 WAYS THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL IS HURTING AFRICA" - CHARISMA MAGAZINE

I’m not an African, but in 2008 some Nigerian friends gave me a Yoruba name (“Akinwale”) because I have been to that country so often. My visits there, along with trips to Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa and Egypt, planted a deep love for Africa in my heart. My first grandson’s arrival this year from Ethiopia made the connection even stronger. 

I’m often asked to describe how God is moving in Africa today. Since I’m an optimist, I usually tell of the large churches, the passionate praise and the intense spiritual hunger that characterizes African Christianity. But there is also a dark side, and I think it’s time we addressed one of the most serious threats to faith on the continent.

I’m talking about the prosperity gospel. Of course, I know a slick version of this message is preached in the United States—and I know we are the ones who exported it overseas. I am not minimizing the damage that prosperity preaching has done in my own country. But I have witnessed how some African Christians are taking this money-focused message to new and even more dangerous extremes. 

Here are five reasons the prosperity message is damaging the continent of Africa today:

1. It is mixed with occultism. Before Christianity came to Nigeria, people visited witch doctors and sacrificed goats or cows to get prosperity. They poured libations on the ground so the gods would hear their prayers. Today similar practices continue, only the jujupriest has been replaced by a pastor who drives a Mercedes-Benz. I am aware of a pastor who buried a live animal under the floor of his church to win God’s favor. Another pastor asked his congregants to bring bottles of sand to church so he could anoint them; he then told the people to sprinkle the sand in their houses to bring blessings. The people who follow these charlatans are reminded that their promised windfall won’t materialize unless they give large donations. 

2. It fuels greed. Any person who knows Christ will learn the joy of giving to others. But the prosperity gospel teaches people to focus on getting, not giving. At its core it is a selfish and materialistic faith with a thin Christian veneer. Church members are continually urged to sow financial seeds to reap bigger and bigger rewards. In Africa, entire conferences are dedicated to collecting offerings in order to achieve wealth. Preachers boast about how much they paid for suits, shoes, necklaces and watches. They tell their followers that spirituality is measured by whether they have a big house or a first-class ticket. When greed is preached from the pulpit, it spreads like a cancer in God’s house.

3. It feeds pride. This greedy atmosphere in prosperity churches has produced a warped style of leadership. My Kenyan friend Gideon Thuranira, editor of Christian Professional magazine, calls these men “churchpreneurs.” They plant churches not because they have a burden to reach lost souls but because they see dollar signs when they fill an auditorium with chairs. A selfish message produces bigheaded opportunists who need position, applause and plenty of perks to keep them happy. The most successful prosperity preacher is the most dangerous because he can convince a crowd that Jesus died to give you and me a Lexus. 

4. It works against the formation of Christian character. The prosperity message is a poor imitation of the gospel because it leaves no room for brokenness, suffering, humility or delay. It offers an illegal shortcut. Prosperity preachers promise instant results and overnight success; if you don’t get your breakthrough, it’s because you didn’t give enough money in the offering. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and follow Him; prosperity preaching calls us to deny Jesus and follow our materialistic lusts. There is a leadership crisis in the African church because many pastors are so set on getting rich, they can’t go through the process of discipleship that requires self-denial.

5. It actually keeps people in poverty. The government of Malawi is currently under international scrutiny because of fraud carried out by top leaders. The saddest thing about the so-called “Cashgate” scandal is that professing Christians in the administration of President Joyce Banda have been implicated. One of these people stole millions of kwacha from the government and hid the cash in a teddy bear! Most people today in Malawi live on less than $1 a day, yet their leaders have been known to buy fleets of cars and huge plots of land with money that was not theirs. Sadly, the prosperity gospel preached in Malawi has encouraged pastors and leaders to follow the same corrupt pattern. As a result, God’s people have been financially exploited.

When Jesus described false prophets as wolves in sheep’s clothing, He warned us to examine their fruit. Matthew 7:17 says, “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit” (NASB). What is the fruit of prosperity preaching?

Churches have been growing rapidly in many parts of Africa today, yet sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world where poverty has increased in the past 25 years. So according to the statistics, the prosperity gospel is not bringing prosperity! It is a flawed message, but I believe God will use selfless, broken African leaders to correct it.

J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma and the director of the Mordecai Project. You can follow him on Twitter at @leegrady. He is preaching in Kenya this week.

"THE REPUBLICAN PARTY'S STRATEGIES TO STEAL THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY"

The GOP is gradually loosing its national flavor, popular appeal and general acceptance as a national party in America based on the 2012 election results. This political machine was rejected by the majority of the young American voters under the age of 30 years old. This political organ suffered another political rejection or setback from the single white women, the African-Americans voters, the Hispanic-Americans voters and the Asian-Americans voters. The GOP at the moment is only controlling the lower branch of the US Congress in 2013 due to the redistricting of those congressional districts by the GOP governors in those GOP controlled states in 2010. Today in 2013, the GOP is now left with only three crude political options to rule America without winning the majority of the votes of the Americans through elections. 

The first strategy of the GOP is the voter suppression laws that will make it so difficult or completely impossible for the American minority voters to register and to vote in all elections. The second strategy was the gerrymandering of some of the congressional districts in the GOP controlled states that made it possible for the GOP to win and then to control the United States House of Representatives despite the fact that the elected Democratic members of same house had over 1 million plus votes more than the combined votes that gave the GOP the control of this house in 2010. The third strategy of the GOP is to use their control of the House of Representatives to govern through political obstructions which resulted in the closing down of the federal government of America over the Obamacare that is the health care law of the land in the United States.