Archives for the Month: November 2017
The Management of the University received an eight-man team from the National Universities Commission (NUC), on resource verification, to assess the level of the University’s preparedness in terms of human and material resources to start its proposed programmes.
The proposed programmes are Industrial Chemistry, Chemistry, Software Engineering and Information Technology, all in the Department of Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science.
Receiving the delegation made up of Professors from various universities in the country and NUC representatives, the Vice Chancellor of Benson Idahosa University, Professor Ernest Izevbigie thanked the team for responding to the University’s invitation.
He assured them of University’s unflinching cooperation and readiness to adhere to all professional advice offered and to correct, implement and execute whatever recommendations made.
Briefing the Management after the verification exercise, the leader of the National Universities Commission (NUC) team, Professor S.B Junaid expressed satisfaction with things on ground for the proposed programmes and enjoined the University to keep up the pace of developmental projects.
He lauded the University for providing sophisticated equipment in the laboratories, efficient e-library, and adequate internet facility. Furthermore, he thanked the University for providing an enabling environment for his team to do its job, while commending the notable contributions of the entire Faculty to the relentless pursuit of the vision of raising models, professionals and entrepreneurs.
Apart from Professor S.B Junaid, other members of the eight-man team include, Prof. Hammawa Mohammed, Prof. Olumide Owolabi, Prof. Folahan Adekola, Prof. Abass Olajure, Prof. O.S Adewale, Hayatuddeen Umar and Nazeef Bala.
Professor S.B Junaid mentioned that the assignment took them to many places on the University campus such as the laboratories, classrooms, library, and staff offices.
Responding on behalf of the University, the Vice Chancellor of Benson Idahosa University, Prof. Ernest Izevbigie thanked the team for the visit and appreciated the suggestions, observations and genuine criticism made by the verification team to the University. He expressed hope that the University would be given the nod to commence the programmes very soon.
He maintained that the University was going to ensure strict compliance to the National Universities Commission’s set standard in its entire academic programme.
Also at the meeting were the Registrar, Benson Idahosa University, Rev. Mike Okagbare; Librarian, Mrs. Grace Sanni, Bursar, Mr. Gladday Igweagbara; Dean of Post graduate School, Prof. Bamidele Sanni, Dean of Faculty of Science, Dr. Osondu Akoma; Director of Academic Planning, Dr. Mark Ighile and other Faculty members from the Department of Physical Sciences.
The Bishop, Church of God Mission International, Faith Arena, who was commenting on a recent statement by popular On Air Personality (OAP) Daddy Freeze, gave this advice in an exclusive interview with our correspondents at the premises of the Benson Idahosa University, Benin Edo State, recently.
According to F.E.B Idahosa, it is a very interesting issue but he observed that the problem is for people like Daddy Freeze and other people to be upset because they think the church is taking advantage of certain people.
His words: “Tithing is a matter of love between me and God. There is a very long discourse on tithing which we cannot really deal with unless to discuss from the scripture one by one. Tithing is something that people are asking questions about and they need to understand fully how it works.
“On my Instagram recently, I said pursue understanding. So before you talk or say certain things, understand what the point is about. Then you would know where it is coming from.
“Tithing should not be an issue where someone is forced to tithe because the truth is, if you don’t tithe today, the church would not die. We have as part of our Core Values in the church that we tithe to show our commitments to God and show His commitments to us, to supply our needs.
“For me, I tithe because I love God and I do it because I trust Him to supply my needs. I give Him a part of my income which could be 10, 20 or 30%. There are pastors who give 40% of their income as tithe, not to other pastors but they inject it back into the church.
“My father was giving 90% of his income to the ministry. He wasn’t giving it to one person. And he lived on 10% which was enough to take care of our home needs.
Tithing is a matter of Love and not Law. If you want to talk about law then people get to fall under certain laws.
“Law will eventually fall apart but love is the one that will not fall away. Look, Abraham tithe because of love for Melchizedek. Law came after Abraham through Moses. So you can argue if the law was abolished bla bla bla which is true but Abraham didn’t tithe because there was a law but because he loved Melchizedek.
“There is a certain blessing that God has promised for those who pay tithe, so that’s the promise I am tapping on when I pay my tithe. If you don’t pay tithe as a Christian, I don’t think you will die. No! It is a matter of the heart. So we encourage people to tithe because there are certain blessings that come with it.
“Some people don’t believe in it, but will they die? No. Think of it this way, some of the world’s biggest philanthropists, give a ten or more of their income away. This people are not getting poorer. They are getting richer. Now, they don’t call it tithing but almost all of them will tell you that you must give a part of your income away. It is a principle that works.”
The Bible scholar corroborated this statement with the scripture saying that God causes the rain to fall on both the righteous and the unrighteous. He doesn’t discriminate. There are certain principles that work either you are a Christian or not.
According to him, “If you plant in the ground as a Christian, it will grow. If a non Christian does the same, given similar factors, it will grow. These are principles of God that work in nature.
“People tend to take it one way and they want to make comments about it. Look at someone like Daddy Freeze now, he is using the opportunity to insult pastors. He doesn’t have to get that far. Address the issue and if you want people to be free in their minds, give them the facts allow the pastors say their side too.
“He might have had an experience before now but he should not make a general statement,” F.E.B Idahosa advised.