SATURDAY SUN
EW Continued from Page 26 do it. That is just the case. It is a privilege and honour How would you describe your father as a prominent personality in the country? My father is a very wonderful man. He is a loving father in a true sense of what a father should be to his children. We are two of his children, my brother and I and he has a lot of time for us. He made us travel virtually all over the world from Europe to Greece, Paris, Rome, Asians countries like India, Singapore and many other countries. And I thank God for what he had done for this country. Are you married to the popular Williams’? No, Williams is a very common name in Lagos. How did you come into politics? It is just by sure chance. I’m a lawyer and I was a banker for about 23 years. I worked in the former Afribank now Mainstream Bank. I retired voluntarily when I saw that I had enough of what the bank is doing. I felt we are just working for some people and making money for them and the satisfaction is no longer there. I decided I had enough, therefore, retired from the bank. My mother owns a school. When I left the bank, I went to assist my mother to manage the school. It is from there that his Excellency, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola called me to this office as Special Adviser on Women Affair in the state of Osun. Would you say it is by your father’s influence? Of course, because I’m not a politician rather I’m a technocrat, a lawyer and a banker. Do you believe St. Louis students are full of pride? I don’t know that. I’m only hearing that from you for the first time though we might be girls of high profile.
What’s your advice to women? Women have to be very patient. We have to be a good listener, mother, sister and wife. And the only way to improve on our home front is to be able to balance our life and even our emotions. It takes God’s grace and personal effort to achieve this by communicating with husband and children as a lifewire of any relationship. You have to carry people around you along what you are going through to be able to enhance mutual understanding. Why is increase in cases of divorce? It is because there is no mutual understanding between husband and wife. It happens when there is no communication and interaction and unfortunately if the children are young, they suffer it. Again, tolerance is the succour to misunderstanding in a relationship. What solutions does your office proffer? We have family court and that is the end result. Before it gets to that stage, we give them counselling but when all that fail and children are involved, they go to the family court which is a very understanding court. In order not to let the children be abused sexually, emotionally and financially, we harbour the children pending when the family is reconciled, though we can’t go to homes to take the children, but they come to us to seek refuge.
What is your take on indecent dressing? When I go out and see women and young girls in indecent dressing, I say to myself, I must be getting old, because I went to a function and I saw how peoHow do you strike balance between work ple dressed. To me it is no dressing but undressing. and home front? You will be disappointed at the way even women are It is easy if you plan yourself well. I’m parading themselves half-naked and they say they are just lucky that my children are grown up. My doing fashion. That is not fashion but indecent assault two children are schooling in United States. I in the eyes of the public. My candid opinion is that don’t have to see them everyday; I talk to they should be arrested because it amounts to sexual them everyday. My husband is in Lagos and harassment and other relative acts in the society he doesn’t mind. If you have passion to do because when you expose your body to the public something, you will always have a means to that means you are asking for it.
Williams
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EVERY WOMAN
familytonic
that I’m called to serve this state with a democratically elected governor. So, I have come to make a difference in this state as there is much poverty in the state. Do you believe women are marginalized? Definitely yes, though in some quarters like in Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s cabinet, there are seven member females there which rarely happen. And they are women of high intelligence, educated women who have degree in various fields. They are engineers, medical doctors, educationist, pharmacists, lawyers and so on. But I believe we will get over the situation.
August 11, 2012
with Osondu Anyalechi oanyaalechi@yahoo.co.uk
Missing an opportunity
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ast month I wrote about the good thing that could come out of a mess using Dana Air crash and the text message a victim, Alvana, sent to her brother that she would soon meet the Lord Jesus Christ. I received text messages and calls from people in appreciation. One person asked if her corpse was recovered. Another said that they were in the same Law office. The issue is not whether her corpse was recovered or not but that she has gone to stay with Jesus. Since we never met here on earth, we will do so in glory, Heaven, the believer’s home and hope. I wrote that since the victims were aware of their imminent death, some of them must have made the most out of the painful situation by making peace with God. In that case, physical death would have meant nothing to them. But some might have died without cashing on that, thereby missing a glorious opportunity. Today, we will examine the danger of missing an opportunity. An opportunity is good but the problem is the tragic consequence of missing it since it may only come but once. Apart from Alvana’s text, I know that the crew might have alerted the passengers of their looming danger. In 1980, we flew from Florida to Houston amidst turbulent storm. It was so bad that we cheered the Pilots when we landed. In 2000, we distributed tracts in our Amsterdam-Lagos-bound plane. Some passengers accepted and some snubbed us. When we reached Lagos, the Pilot announced that he could not land because of bad weather. For forty five minutes we were hovering in the air. Knowing the implication, I kept on praying that we would not run out of fuel and for God’s wisdom to the Pilot. Praise God that we finally landed and when I requested that we prayed, they obliged, including those that snubbed us. Two criminals were crucified, one on either side of Jesus. They had many things in common. Both were condemned to death and their death was by crucifixion. Both listened to the Words of Jesus and His prayer of forgiveness for His murderers. One confessed that Jesus saved others but blamed Him for not saving them so that they would continue their criminal activities. The other thief rebuked his comrade-in-crime and pleaded with Jesus for a place in His Kingdom, an evidence of repentance. That was his last opportunity for salvation and he got it. ‘Today,’ the Lord told him, ‘shalt thou be with Me in paradise’. The other criminal kept quiet and missed that unique opportunity and perished in hell. Two people again, but not on the cross, but probably in a king’s or enviable palace, were raised together. One of them later became Herod, the tetrarch, and the other was Manaen – Acts 13:1. They ate the same food and probably slept on the same bed. It was likely that they belonged to the same synagogue and listened to the same messages. But while Manaen repented and became a Prophet of God, it was Herod that condemned Jesus. He would have been a Jesus man like Manaen and not a murderer. Ah! He missed it! Thomas, one of the Apostles of Jesus, was not around when the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples after His resurrection. There, He blessed them and breathed on them. Thomas missed that blessing, that rare opportunity. Bartimaeus was blind but not deaf. When he heard that Jesus was passing by, he made up his mind not to miss that golden opportunity. When he was advised by the disciples to be ‘nice’ by not shouting so that he would not disturb the peace of Jesus, he curiously increased the pitch of his voice. He got what he desired – restoration of his sight. That was also what the woman with the issue of blood did. Being sure that it was Jesus, the Giver of life, she threw away decorum and touched Him and was healed. A Nigerian lady flew from the U.S. to Cameroon, where Pastor W.F. Kumuyi was ministering. The protocol that was mounted prevented her from meeting him during the days of the crusade. As she was walking to board the plane, she saw the pastor going also to board the same plane. She introduced herself to him and requested for an appointment from him. ‘What is the problem?’ he asked her. ‘Just give me an appointment and I will keep it,’ she pleaded humbly. ‘You are with Kumuyi and you are asking for an appointment, what is the problem?’ Bro. Kumuyi asked her again. She told him of her ailing body. He prayed and she was healed on the spot. Thank God for the man of God who pressed her to tell him her need and she did. If not, she would have gone home comfortably with an appointment but missing her healing! Are many people not like her? Imagine her willingness to meet him at an appointed time, not minding the time and cost! But as the man of God was with her, she was putting off her need, planning for a future she was not sure of. ‘Today,’ so warns the Bible, ‘when you hear His voice, harden not your hearts’. It still pains me how we met in Amsterdam, Pastor Kumuyi and a few of us, during Billy Graham’s International Conference in year 2000. We embraced, took photographs and he prayed for us, telling us to meet him any Sunday the Deeper Life Bible Church was having a combined service. That was okay with me but I would have told him to write it on his complimentary card. All our efforts to reach him in Nigeria have been futile. We missed a great opportunity! Apostle Paul ministered in Athens and while some people turned their hearts to God, some postponed theirs, saying, ‘We will listen to you next time’. They never had that ‘next time’ for he never passed through that territory ‘next time’! For further comment, please contact Osondu Anyalechi on 0802 3002-471; anyalechiosondu@yahoo.com