President Bola Tinubu has congratulated political scientist, public administrator and Federal Civil Service Commission Chairman Prof. Tunji Olaopa as he clocked the milestone 65 years on Friday, December 20, 2024.

In the president’s congratulatory message signed by his Special Adviser on
Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga on Friday, he lauded Olaopa as a reputable intellectual and advocate of public service reforms and institutional strengthening who rose to the zenith of his civil service career.

According to the statement, before Olaopa’s retirement, “he served as Permanent Secretary in various ministries before proceeding to establish the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy – ISGPP. He later lectured at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, near Jos.

“President Tinubu commends Prof. Olaopa for his contributions to nation-building through his engagement in public service and interventions and his scholarly contributions including numerous books and writings, which have helped shape public policy.

“The President charges Prof. Olaopa with instituting reforms that adequately position the service as the bedrock of purposeful administration and governance.

“President Tinubu extends his warmest wishes to the esteemed professor, hoping for many years of good health and meritorious service to the country.”

By Dare Adejumo

This Sunday, December 8, SCOAN at its Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos headquarters will roll out drums in soul-inspiring songs and praises to express gratitude to God for His  faithfulness as the rock upon which the church was founded.

The celebration which is the third of its kind is not only going to hold in Lagos but also across the nations and continents where members and Emmanuel TV Partners will gather respectively to rejoice too in the Lord.
SCOAN has many reasons to celebrate. The church like other churches in the country was closed down by the government for a long time during the Covid-19 pandemic. Even when all churches nationwide were later authorized to open, SCOAN still closed its doors obviously because of the thirsty crowd for Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) from several countries who were all scrambling to come to Nigeria. If allowed at such a time when the world was not totally out of the Covid-19 miasma it could generate unholy brouhaha which the man of God Prophet TB Joshua would not want. In God’s wisdom he simply diffused the pressure by saying: “I will not reopen the church until I hear from God”. Yes it was clearly not suitable to open at the time because of these massive foreign visitors looking at the genesis of the rampaging pandemic that killed several people worldwide.

The greater devastation that jolted the entire world suddenly happened! The God’s general, the enigmatic spiritual giant who bestrode the world like a colossus by bringing Jesus Christ in action to the doorsteps of the world like early apostles and his uncommon love for humanity that touched and blessed the lives of millions all over the world suddenly passed on, just shortly after conducting a symbolic “parting” worship at his prayer mountain where he had been meeting with worshippers in batches since the nationwide reopening of the churches.

That was indeed a big storm; the unfathomable spiritual earthquake that be-clouded the world and the church’s firmament. Many, who were being ruled by flesh and those of the dark world to which Joshua was a puzzle and thorn in their flesh by the radiant light of God in him which put their satanic powers and kingdom on their knees with the name of Jesus Christ had ignorantly concluded that the end of SCOAN had finally come not knowing that greater is He in the SCOAN than he that is in the world. Satan and its agents tried to terrorize the church, but the church could not be cowed.  God would never forsake His own. The grace, wisdom, power and love of God paved the way for the leadership mantle of SCOAN like that of Elijah to Elisha to fall upon Evelyn Joshua.

Pastor Evelyn Joshua without mincing words is a woman of virtues, one in a million. The quintessential woman, who had quietly gone through the spiritual mills, was well-equipped and fortified for the new role beyond human imagination. The life of Evelyn Joshua today shows clearly that TB Joshua never made a mistake in her choice as wife by their conjugal life as he was led by the Holy Spirit to marry her. That God was the foundation of the church, that God is ever with the church and His grace would for ever be sufficient for His chosen ones is today very palpable and gratifying in the joyful activities and flow of anointing from His throne of grace with the presence of the Holy Spirit in the dumbfounding demonstration of God’s power, blessings, healing and miracles whenever and wherever Pastor Evelyn Joshua chooses to worship, evangelise or hold a crusade as led by the Holy Spirit. A woman of propulsive energy, unassuming, firm, calm, intelligent, and loving, Evelyn Joshua has no eyes for frivolous or wanton desires. She is spiritually endowed and full of joyful activities. With time, people that have not discovered will see very clearly that TB Joshua is in Evelyn Joshua.
This is the secret of the joy of members and Emmanuel TV Partners worldwide  today as the church is increasing daily with several countries requesting  a crusade in their respective domains!
The celebration is bound to be colourful with the members’ enthusiasm to praise God .

“We are overwhelmed with gratitude for all that God has done for The Synagogue Church Of All Nations SCOAN,” said the woman of God, Evelyn Joshua. “His faithfulness has brought healing to our bodies, deliverance to our souls, blessings to our lives and salvation to our spirits. He has preserved and multiplied our families including several open doors of breakthrough. We are therefore celebrating His unfailing goodness”, she added.

In the last three years when the church reopened a lot of giant strides have taken place under Evelyn Joshua. Some of these, just to mention a few are:: The Akure branch that was comatose was joyfully rebranded and opened for members and public who are till today in high spirit.. ⁠Crusades, partners meetings and charity works were held in Ghana South Africa, Zambia, Spain, Kenya, and Argentina. There have been massive charity works in different parts of Nigeria, Anointing Water was distributed to partners with charity works in different countries; regular meetings with the elderly people with welfare packages for them;; birthing of Women of Grace Conference which was initiated by Evelyn Joshua towards the reawakening of womenfolk for true womanhood ; International Youth Conference for the purpose of achieving greater and peaceful future for our world has been planted. Evelyn Joshua believes that both the government and the society must not fail in proper moulding of the youth.

The thanksgiving service will be preceded on Friday with “healing and deliverance service”. Like the “Living Water Service” of the church, the Friday service is a dedicated and unique one that will draw crowds from different parts of the country and beyond. One of the major landmarks in SCOAN is Pastor Joshua’s unquenchable yearning and her uncompromising stand for a sound spiritual life for members. Each group in the church is today made to regularly spend time with God on TB Joshua Mountain where both in spirit and knowledge including prayer lives of participants are greatly enriched. She has also tenaciously upheld the lofty legacies of her late husband for which he lived and died .

Without doubt, SCOAN is a mystery. It is a tree planted at the riverside by God. It is hound to bring out its fruits in the seasons and its leaves shall never wither. As the gate of hell cannot prevail against it because of Christ, the church of God is joyfully waxing stronger day by day.

Balastro II, Fontana in Resistencia Chaco Province of Argentina is a lesson in the tragedy of existence. The high level of poverty is terrifying! Life here is a simulacrum of Thomas Hobbes horrific classification: “Brutish, nasty and short”. This place in Latin America is described as the “poorest of the poor” in Argentina. Neglected and forsaken in poverty, sickness and diseases with over one million children living in uncertainty over one malnourished meal daily without hope, happiness and future, it was an unimaginable, dark and miserable existence. No food, no water, no roads, no electricity, and all the basic needs of life were in complete abeyance with the exception of a field for football! The physiognomy of destitution bedeviling the community is apparent and embarrassingly suffocating. It takes grace to survive daily.

These are the people Pastor Evelyn Joshua and Emmanuel TV Partners of Synagogue Church Of All Nations SCOAN have gone to put smiles on their faces.
If hard times will always reveal true friends Pastor Evelyn Joshua has demonstrated that the greatest gift you can give someone is your time, your attention, your love, your concern, hope and unshakable faith by providing them with basic needs of life to make them to live as true human beings!

Over 500 families living in penury and inhuman conditions benefited from the truckload of food items, clothing, domestic and educational items worth over 20 millions of Argentina Pesos including cash gifts of $1.5 Pesos for these “wretched of the earth”.
The whole community was agog and electrified. The enthusiasm and joy in the people was palpable and beyond description. It was a big miracle, like the mana from heaven for them to see the enormity of life- transformative goods brought to them free not by their white counterparts but by a black team of Christians from Nigeria on the African continent!

Fontana is really a backward society where witchcraft, worshiping the dead, and all sorts of occultic practices and idolatry are still very rampant. The society is also battling with the menace of hard drugs among the youth especially and other social afflictions.
With joy, dancing, singing and happiness, the open football field for the reception was painted red with the best of their traditional honours and courtesies in uncontrollable simultaneous appreciation.

“We have brought for you the gospel of love from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. You must completely surrender your life to Jesus Christ for your joy to be full and have a lasting happiness” Pastor Joshua declared as the throng of enthusiastic villagers enveloped her in joyful excitement beholding her in a way reminiscent of how Paul and Barnabas were considered extraordinary beings at Lystra during their evangelism .

“We are one with you. The seed of love planted in us with you by Jesus Christ would remain alive. Your challenges are our challenges and your joy is our joy. To you mothers, my sisters, life is full of challenges. Accept Jesus and bring your children up in the way of God so that you can have joy. Please ensure you build in them the fear of God and let them be given sound education and upbringing.This place has become our second home. Let the words of God continue to grow in you and walk in the light of God so that we can continue to rejoice together in Christ Jesus,” she further admonished and inspired the people in frenetic jubilations.

Aduana Solidod Gornama, a 37-year-old homeless mother of five was specially elated to see the gifts: “This is a miracle. May God continue to bless the woman of God. This will go a long way in our lives to save us from untimely death and hopelessness,” she said.

Viviome Piluen Colrol is a jobless housewife with her children and husband living in a sandwiched-like ghetto apartment. “Today is the happiest day in my life. This help is coming when all hope is gone. May God continue to be with the woman of God and SCOAN,” she said.

Jorge Aditouio Movoz, a community leader also living from hand to mouth has this to say: “Words are inadequate to express our joy in this community to Pastor Evelyn Joshua for these marvelous gifts. We are all overwhelmed to see you from Nigeria, coming here to bless us in this way. We thank God for your love and kindness to us in our abject poverty and miserable existence. May God continue to bless you and your church. This is marvelous to us”.

Clearly the mills of God grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine. This is the legacy and foundation laid down by the God’s General, Prophet TB Joshua.

“By the grace of God we have put our hands on the plow and we can’t look back. We are committed to changing lives, changing nations and changing the world for the salvation of souls and a better humanity as the Lord directs us to move,” said Evelyn Joshua.

Obviously this is a move of God. A white pastor in the crowd overwhelmed by the stupendous generosity said quietly: “God is awesome! We used to pray for the black people, it’s the black that are now praying for us. Glory be to His Holy name”.

Without doubt there will be a better world and humanity if love is allowed to practically lead in human affairs as embedded in SCOAN. Greater things are coming!