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FANO: Building a greater generation and impacting lives
Freedom for All Nations Outreach (FANO), a Pretoria-based church, started off some five years ago as a fellowship of brethren with a mission to take salvation to lost souls and succour to the needy.
From a humble beginning at a rented hall for evening fellowships, and itinerant revivals, the church has grown to occupy its current 5.3 hectres property on the outskirts of South Africa’s capital city, Pretoria. NewsPlus paid a visit to the church recently and had an exclusive chat with the self-effacing, exceptionally generous and empathetic Founder and Senior Pastor of the church, Prophet Samuel Akinbodunse (fondly called Brother Sam), and he disclosed the ‘secret’ behind the exponential growth of the church:
NewsPlus
Prophet, it is amazing that we are already talking about five years since you started this ministry. A lot has happened and, looking at the past five years, how well would you say you have fared working for God?
Brother Sam
I can say that it is all about grace. Ministry is not an easy journey. It is about the grace of God because if we are to look at all that has happened for the past five years we will see that it is not something that an ordinary man can do. Somebody asked me to tell them the secret that I used to do in five years what 20 years could not do, and I replied that I’m not the one that did it. When the grace of God is at work with man, it makes the life of man easy. That is why I say it is the grace of God that made us to achieve everything that we have achieved now. It is true that we are fasting and we are praying; we rely on the word of God, even yet there are people who fast and pray more than we do, that understand the word more than we do but the difference is the favour, mercy, and grace of God. According to Hebrews Chapter 4 Verse 16, “Let us come boldly to approach the throne of grace so that we may obtain mercy and find grace in times of need”. It is only the grace of God that has brought us to where we are now.
NewsPlus
It’s like you just took those words out of my mouth. I was going to ask you; everybody prays for the grace of God, how come this grace is sufficient for some people and some others don’t have it. Like you rightly said, some people have been in the ministry for decades and they haven’t accomplished what you have accomplished. You also mentioned mercy; to qualify for mercy you yourself have to be merciful. Could that be the secret?
Brother Sam
No, that is not a secret. The Bible says, “Blessed are the merciful for they will obtain mercy”. That is not the hidden secret; the hidden secret of the achievement is found in the book of Exodus Chapter 33 from Verse 18 where God says, “I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy and compassion to whom I will show compassion.” The obtainment of mercy is God’s choice and God’s will. If we look at what we have achieved, it is because we have received mercy in God’s sight and that the grace is available. Without a man obtaining mercy, grace is not available because it is mercy that opens the door for grace. That is why we call our church ‘Mercy Land’. So, it is the mercy of God that we have obtained that has given us the grace that we are running with; we are not running just a race. We are running with grace.
NewsPlus
You just moved to this new site as part of your expansion drive and already you have a massive auditorium in place. Tell us about that.
Brother Sam
It is indeed the expansion that moved us to this site and, also, it is the Lord’s doing. People come from all over the country and from overseas. We have shuttle buses bringing people to our various services and we had serious space problems where we were.
By God’s grace, we acquired this 5.3 hectres or 53000 square metres property and the auditorium that you talk about is actually meant to be the youth auditorium. It is an 8000 capacity auditorium. Our plan is to build a 50,000-seater auditorium that is estimated to cost 300 million rands, and we are trusting God to help us put that in place within the next two years.
NewsPlus
There are a lot of things that you are doing that are just amazing. Take for instance your School of Ministry. That is one major breakthrough that you recorded very early in the life of this ministry – I think in September 2014 you held your maiden convocation. What is the place of the school in your ministry’s agenda?
Brother Sam
Actually, if we are to do this work for God we have to raise people because one of the things that I picked up is that there were great men of God in the past before we even came into the picture that didn’t raise men and when they died their ministry died and we don’t want the ministry of Jesus Christ to die because every man that is a true man of God is running the extension of the ministry of Jesus. So, if we don’t want that ministry to die, we have to raise men the same way Jesus raised men for his ministry. The school of ministry that we are doing is not an avenue for money making; our motive is to raise men so if we are no more, there are men who can do the work. For example, if I travel for months, the ministry cannot die because there are able men that have been raised for the ministry. So, if somebody is fighting me now because of what we have achieved, the person doesn’t know what he/she is doing because it is not me now; it is all about the people that have been raised. There are hundreds of Samuels that have been raised for the work so if I am no more, there are people that can carry on the work and the work cannot die.
NewsPlus
That is divine wisdom. There is something unique that you do also that we have noticed: A lot of men of God leave Nigeria to go and minister abroad. You, on the contrary, leave South Africa to go and minister in Nigeria even though Nigeria has a lot of men of God. You do this consistently. Why is that so?
Brother Sam
Jesus did the same thing. The headquarters of Jesus’ ministry was not in his hometown; he ministered outside and brought the gospel back to them. The same thing I did; so South Africa is not my birthplace, I was born in Nigeria. The Lord sent me to South Africa and I saw that there is a need in Nigeria for what God put in me and he told me, so I go back and give them what they need and they are benefitting from it.
NewsPlus
You embarked on one of such missions recently, not just to Nigeria but to your home state, Ondo; taking the message back to your roots. What would you say is the most memorable experience during the Ondo Outreach?
Brother Sam
The most memorable experience is the wonderful testimony of the woman who was pregnant for one year and four months. She had gone everywhere but could not find a solution to her predicament. However, after we prayed a short prayer she went into labor, but to everyone’s surprise, she gave birth to a live catfish.
We were so shocked; we took pictures and recorded the event. She too was shocked. It was a real birth, there was blood and her water even broke, we thought it was a baby coming out but it was a catfish. In fact, that was the most shocking testimony that I have ever seen in my ministry.
Watch the prophet relate the incident to FANO congregation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z1OJ8-g34o
Another amazing testimony is that when I was away, a thief attempted to break into the church. He got stuck on the perimeter fence for about three hours and only dropped from the fence when the police arrived at the scene.
When interrogated, he confessed that his intention was to steal from the church but he had no idea how he got stuck. It is not an electric fence; otherwise, perhaps he would have been electrocuted. Again, we can only attribute that to the power of God in action.
NewsPlus
At your services, you make it a point to pray for Africa and you have in your auditorium the flags of different nations. What’s that about?
Brother Sam
Our ministry is the Freedom for All Nations Outreach. We recognise the need for peace in all nations because that is the first condition for people to be truly called the children of God. Matthew Chapter 5 Verse 9 says, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.” So, we pray for peace in all nations, particularly African countries because, first, we are in Africa and then, of course, we all know that Africa has its peculiar challenges. The flags you see represent all the nations we have visited for ministration.
NewsPlus
That’s quite a number of nations. FANO Television is also part of your outreach strategy. How’s that going?
Brother Sam
FANO TV is indeed a medium that helps us to take the message to the uttermost parts of the earth as Jesus commanded in the Great Commission:
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)
FANO TV is doing great. We receive a lot of testimonies from people watching it all over the world and the visitors that we get are mainly as a result of the encounter they have through the channel. It is a very expensive venture. But God has made it possible and He is using men to sustain it.
NewsPlus
Thanks for your time and the great work you’re doing
Brother Sam
Thank you and God bless you.
NNPCL and Corruption’s Final Throes
By Pius Olasanmi
In the twilight of the Obasanjo administration, when Nigerians were still capable of being outraged, when Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of refineries was a buzzword that still held some mysticism to bamboozle citizens, during a conversation, a certain man said something profound. The man said, “As a businessman, if I were the owner of these refineries, knowing that they are three decades old, I would take the last money I have, hire bulldozers, raze them to the ground, and obtain loans to build new ones.”
When we pressed him further on why he would engage in such waste, he explained that repairing the refineries is the real waste. He explained that even if the TAM were honestly carried out, a thirty-year-old refinery would never compete favourably with a new one that would integrate contemporary technology. Operating at its best, such a refinery would never be comparatively more efficient. It is therefore pointless to have spent another one naira on the refineries at that point.
A few months later, I had a conversation with a then-lawmaker on an entirely different matter. I mentioned that the National Assembly has failed by not crafting legislation that would criminalise and punish public office holders who foist wrong decisions on the country. The logic: a public office holder need not steal to be punished, wrong decisions should attract penalties for an office holder who opts for the worst of all options when there are less injurious ones.
These established premises speak to the ongoing nauseating efforts at revisionism by those who wrecked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its previous iteration, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Notably, this campaign to rewrite history is traceable to Engineer Mele Kolo Kyari, the disgraced immediate past Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL and his hirelings. They have suffocated the news and the public opinion space with even more lies than they spun while in office.
The Saint Kyari campaign is anchored on convincing Nigerians that the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries were fully functional when he was booted out of office. So brazen is the campaign that one of its talking heads challenged the group chief executive officer (GCEO), Engr. Bayo Ojulari, to “inform Nigerians categorically what happened to the functioning refineries he inherited from his predecessor, Engr. Mele Kyari.” The effrontery.
We have not forgotten so soon the charade that followed the baffling claim that Nigeria has spent $2.8 billion on the repair of the refineries, while they are not churning out even a single litre of refined product among them. Saint Kyari and his goons played all manner of tricks, all of which embarrassed President Bola Tinubu, who had counted on ticking off the return to productivity of the refineries as part of his achievements, only to realise that he was deceived into celebrating phantoms. Tragic.
Lest we forget, 200 trucks were arranged as props in a well-directed video clip to celebrate the re-streaming of the Port Harcourt Refinery. The disappointment. Nigerians were to learn from several reports that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing and was instead using old, stored petroleum products to load trucks. Worse still, the Kyari crew was passing off sanction-tainted Russian-sourced crude oil refined in Malta as locally refined products. More insult was piled on the assault on our collective sensibility with the lies that the Port Harcourt Refinery exported semi-finished products. Brazen.
Meanwhile, Kyari and his hirelings called those who pointed out or protested these glaring scams all manner of names. They hid behind industry technicalities and jargon to create the impression that those of us who knew Nigerians were being robbed did not understand what we were saying. The point remains that a $2.8 billion investment can potentially build a refinery with a capacity of around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). Of course, the actual capacity of such a refinery will depend on various factors, including the complexity of the refinery, the technology used, and the location. That is the amount that Kyari’s regime at the NNPCL took and did not give Nigerians refined products.
Fast forward to Kyari’s sack and the appointment of Engineer Bayo Ojulari, who has demonstrated that things can indeed be done differently. Kyari’s exit was expectedly followed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) going after him and his associates. The extent of the theft is better understood against the backdrop of N80 billion being found in the bank account of one of his associates. They went on the run.
Perhaps because the EFCC was biding its time on securing international warrants for the arrests of these characters on the lam, they have become emboldened. They have decided to fight back and rewrite the story of their participation in the greatest fraud against Nigerians. Engineer Ojulari’s renewed mindset, which is entrenching a semblance of the transparency Nigerians demand, became their natural target. The demons that once roamed around the corporation came out with malevolence. They started spinning stories of corruption to tarnish the incumbent who refused to hide their crimes. The objective: bring Ojulari down. But alas, he is winning the war as it stands.
His innocence is proven, and it is glaring that those who want him out are mere charlatans who can no longer ply their corrupt wares because of the impact of the new reforms. Corruption in the NNPCL is in its final throes. The fake news being unleashed against the incumbent leadership is akin to corruption’s last kicks as reforms in the sector strangulate it and its practitioners. The reforms must take place in the NNPCL, whether the industry demons like it or not.
As a parting shot, Kyari and his associates would do well to prepare their defence. In addition to accounting for the $2.8 billion they laundered in the name of repairing the moribund refineries, they must also answer for the poor decision to fix that which is irretrievably broken. Awarding contracts for Turn Around Maintenance of 59-year-old refineries that a right-thinking person had suggested should be demolished almost twenty years ago, when they were only 30 years old, is criminal. Trying to deceive Nigerians that the fake repairs worked is treason.
Olasanmi is a public affairs analyst writing from Lagos.
GRANDIS 5STAR LUXURY APARTMENT & SUITES SET TO REDEFINE LIVING IN VICTORIA ISLAND
Set to Rise elegantly against the Lagos skyline, is the Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites. According to Adejuwon Ademola, The General Manager of the Development company, it is more than just a residential building
“it’s a lifestyle statement. Standing 17 floors high in the heart of Victoria Island, this revolutionary masterpiece of modern architecture will offer a panoramic 360° view of Eko Atlantic, Victoria Island, and Ikoyi, transforming every apartment into an exclusive penthouse experience for the world’s most discerning elite.”
Developed by Dumarco Construction Limited, a globally acclaimed company with decades of delivering complex, high-value projects in the highly regulated petroleum, oil, and gas industries, Grandis 5Star brings unmatched international safety standards, uncompromising quality, and timeless elegance into Nigeria’s luxury property market.
> “When you live in Grandis, you’re not just buying a home—you’re investing in peace of mind, world-class safety, and an effortless luxury experience that will remain pristine for decades,” says Adejuwon A. Ademola, General Manager of Dumarco Construction Limited.
The Gold Standard in Safety and Quality
Dumarco’s roots in the oil and gas sector mean the company operates to some of the strictest safety protocols in the world. Every stage—from conceptualization, design, construction, to long-term maintenance—follows internationally accepted procedures and quality assurance measures. Cutting corners is simply not in Dumarco’s vocabulary.
> “In the oil and gas industry, there’s no room for compromise. We’ve brought that same discipline and zero-tolerance for mediocrity into property development,” says Ademola. “That’s why Grandis will be one of the safest and most enduring residential developments in Nigeria.”
To ensure transparency and prevent (project complacency), Dumarco deliberately separates the developer, contractor, and consultant roles, engaging only the most competent professionals in each respective field. Dumarco’s project team includes globally recognized contractors such as Julius Berger, Cappa & D’Alberto, and Elalan, Migliore Construczione & Tecniche (MC&T) and their partners VENCO IMTIAZ CONTRACTING COMPANY (VICC) based in Dubai, UAE, Business Contracting Limited, alongside leading consultants like Morgan Omanitan & Abe, LAMBERT, and James Cubitt.
Grandis – Investments, appreciation, returns and profitability
Our selection process for the location of the project alone was pains-taking and completely thorough scientific process. Top professional companies were employed to conduct a scientific data acquisition and analytical survey of the entire Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki and Eko Atlantic before a project site is selected. Analyzing and acquiring areas developmental charts and trends, studying and gathering historical and present sale prices, rental charge and occupancy rates over a 50 year period from every individual street before the selection of the location of any of our developments especially true for the Grandis Project
He adds,
“Our clients and residents can be rest assured that the location of Grandis has been scientifically proven through all existing data to provide our clients with a 100% occupancy rate, highest developmental location, highest rental income and investment returns. ”
The Grandis Experience
Located minutes away from international corporate headquarters, embassies, and landmarks such as Eko Hotel, Radisson Blu, and the Radisson Red, Grandis offers unmatched convenience for professionals, diplomats, and high-net-worth individuals. Every residence is designed for both indulgence and efficiency, with high-grade finishes, smart-home systems, and private amenities that ensure seamless living.
From sunrise over the Atlantic to the glittering Lagos night skyline, residents will enjoy uninterrupted luxury, supported by discreet and highly trained staff, advanced security systems, and a design that prioritizes comfort and privacy.
> “We designed Grandis for people who want everything—security, elegance, convenience, and the assurance that their home will look as spectacular in 20 years as it does on day one,” Ademola notes.
A Legacy That Lasts
With its combination of visionary architecture, peerless safety, and meticulous maintenance planning, Grandis is built to remain iconic for generations. Thanks to Dumarco’s meticulous approach, the building’s service charges are expected to remain low while its value and appeal continue to appreciate over time.
In a market often marred by shortcuts and substandard practices, Mr Ademola says
Grandis stands as a beacon of what luxury living should be—safe, spectacular, and built to last.
“Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites — Where safety meets sophistication, and every detail is designed for a life well-lived.”
He added
Website -www.dumarcoltd.com
Project website – www.26idowutaylor.com
Email [email protected]
Tel / WhatsApp +234 9077777883
GM – Adejuwon A. Ademola
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