_… To Speak on Building a Highway of Businesses Between the New Nigeria and Modern Israel_
One of the leading, objective voices calling for order in the Church in Nigeria and beyond the walls of the church for purity of politics and good governance is Dr Bolaji O. Akinyemi. The renowned market place Apostle and Nation Builder is set to take his *Word 4 World Revolution* to the global stage!
A letter dated 26th July 2023 addressed to Dr. Bolaji Akinyemi, as the Convener, Apostolic Round Table Nigeria, inviting him to Address a Session of the Africa Leadership Summit, thanked him for his willingness and availability to participate in the ALS Jerusalem 2023 Summit. A copy of letter shared with Nation Builder News, requested of him to address the Summit on *“Building the Highway of business between Nigeria and Israel”.*
It reads in part:
“The session is slated for the afternoon of 1st August during the symposium. The date and time are subject to change but within the timeframe of the Summit. I pray that this presentation will capture your wealth of experience for posterity. Kindly note that leaders and delegates from several nations, including the United States of America, United Kingdom, Israel, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana, D.R. Congo, and Cote D’ Ivoire, will attend this session.”
The letter was signed by Olusegun Olanipekun, Convener, Africa Leadership Summit and President, Africa- Israel Chamber of Commerce.
Akinyemi has been consistent over the years in expressing his believe that pilgrimage is nothing more than a holiday and it should be the exclusive responsibility of individuals going on it to pay their bills!
He noted recently; “right in the midst of our economic confrontations, the President has demonstrated exceptional courage by the removal of petrol subsidy. But I can bet that billions have been burnt to satisfy religious cravings that have no value to add to our Nation nor eternal value to our faith!
In Islam where it is considered as one of its pillars, it is with a caveat, only for those who have the means!”
He added, “This, for me is where the courage of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is needed. It is time to pull out of pilgrimages sponsorship!
That money should go into funding education particularly for our out of school children!”
On the actions of the National Assembly, Akinyemi states:
“The Senate & House Of Representatives of Nigeria, instead of struggling to regulate religion, they should rather consider a bill for Mr President’s assent to get government’s hands washed off religion”!
Akinyemi had earlier this year taken a swipe at Bishop STV Adegbite, the Chairman, Lagos State branch of Christian Association of Nigeria, when he noted that:
“sending pastors on pilgrimage is not part of the mandate of Government and nobody deserves to be elected to Government on the basis of such wasteful sponsorship! Is Akinyemi against Government support to Christians to go to Israel on Holy pilgrimage?”
Akinyemi however stressed the need for a Holy productivity tour of Israel! To go borrow their Agric models, innovations, education, energy and Tech and security, to change the story of the giant in the sun!
Akinyemi’s response was to a statement by Bishop Adegbite who said the APC Flag-bearer “initiated a fund to sponsor Christians to Jerusalem and up till today the fund is still there and Christians are benefitting. We are still going this year and we will pray for him.”
For Akinyemi, Christians should be weeping between the porch and the altar for a country that wastes resources on unnecessary pilgrimages sanctioned by some clergy!
He further maintained that:
“Pilgrimage will remain a waste to Nigeria either to Jerusalem or Mecca until useful minds are sent to go beyond religion and borrow some sense from there!”
He asks the following questions rhetorically; is Adegbite aware that Israel’s land mass is 22,145 square kilometers?
Nigeria’s land mass is 923,768 square kilometers. Kebbi State the state with which Lagos is in partnership for the production of Lake Rice has a land mass of 32,800 square kilometers, land which is far bigger than that of Israel!
Is he aware that water is a necessity for productivity in Agriculture and that God has blessed Nigeria with it more than Israel and Saudi Arabia?
With an average of 400mm rainfall annually, Israel has an export earning of $143.05 billions per annum with the aid of a technology called *Precision Agriculture* which enables the sparse rain water to be stored, measured and distributed to each crops on the field according to their water requirements!
Nigeria is almost 42 times the size of Israel with an annual rainfall of 1,165 mm but with unfortunate agricultural earnings of $1.2 billion!
With land in abundance and more than enough rainfall, meeting up with local needs of agbado and cassava (apology to BAT) is far from being our problem!
According to Akinyemi, Our problem is how to deploy technology to mechanize and maximize productivity. We must further deploy technology to storage of agricultural produce and products!
If we factor the indices of land and water and embrace technology like Israel, our earnings will move from a paltry $1.2 billion to about $6 trillion!
The margin between $1.2 billion and $6 trillion is hidden in leadership. If the right leadership can be found, the greatness of Nigeria will be unleashed to the world!
Those who should be enjoying BAT’s fund to Israel are not politically naive religious minds, but technology inclined Nigerian youths, Christians or Muslims who won’t go and consider baptism in or swimming in River Jordan as an achievement after they had been baptized in River Yewa and swam in Arugungu or River Niger, he added.
For Akinyemi, while river Jordan is today serving Israel’s precision irrigation project, Nigerian Christians go there to dip themselves like Naaman without getting cured from their leprous-like ignorance!
Akinyemi posits therefore that:
“forward thinking minds who will ask needed questions such as why Israel is better in Agriculture when we have more land, more rainfall and more labour than they do, should take the place of the religious crowd if BAT means well for this country!”
Now that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the President, will he consider the counsel of this Nation Builder?
Time will tell.
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