Tag Archives: Chapel

Gowon, Obasanjo, Shonekan, Osinbajo grace Villa Chapel thanksgiving

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The Aso Villa Chapel on Sunday organised its annual end of the year thanksgiving with former Heads of State, Yakubu Gowon, Olusegun Obasanjo and Ernest Shonekan in attendance.

The service which took place in the chapel was also attended by former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, former Chiefs of General Staff, Ebitu Ukiwe and Oladipo Diya, and host Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Vice President Osinbajo said the service was an exciting time to thank God for all he had done for the country during the year.

“Today is a special thanksgiving for the end of the year and as you have seen, all the former Presidents and Vice Presidents are here for the special thanksgiving service.

“They have been specially invited to come, we also expected President Jonathan, but unfortunately, he had to cancel at the last moment.

“So we are all extremely excited that we have been able to bring everyone together to thank God for our nation and to give Him thanks for the great future ahead of us,’’ he said.

Mr. Gowon said he was delighted to be at the service with other former colleagues and thanked Mr. Osinbajo for facilitating his attendance.

Mr. Gowon said he was more excited with the children who came also to do their thanksgiving and prayed to God to bless the children in a special way.

He enjoined the children to keep the faith with other Christians “to always make sure that we keep this country one and together.’’

He urged Christians to love every Nigerian in spite of their faith following the injunction of Jesus Christ to love your neighbour.

“Our neighbours are Christian, Muslim, traditional religions, among others. Whatever we do, we make sure that we live up to the expectation of what Christ expects of us,” he said.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang, thanked the Vice President and organisers of the service for bringing the past and present leaders to the service.

He said the nation was expecting good lead from the leadership in the coming year, noting that the event was specifically to thank God for helping the country to steer the economy of the country.

The Chaplain of the Aso Villa Chapel, Seyi Malomo, in his message said thanksgiving was an injunction from God, adding that everyone in spite of status must thank God in all circumstances.

According to him, thanksgiving is an acknowledgement that God is alive, adding that each time the faithful gave thanks they demonstrate their faith in God.

“As we thank God, He will restore the good days to the nation,” he said, and predicted that time shall come when people will queue in embassies to visit Nigeria.

Presidency May Relocate Villa Chapel, Mosque

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It appears from last night that the Presidency has been put under pressure to relocate the Villa Chapel because the location of the Villa Chapel, which was built and inaugurated by President Olusegun Obasanjo, is said to be too close to Buhari’s bedroom and kitchen.

Sources close to the presidency said that the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who inherited the Villa chapel from Obasanjo, had assured his predecessor that he would not relocate the location despite its proximity to his residence.
It was revealed that some overzealous aides of President Buhari were uncomfortable with the location of the church and had already made efforts to stop the use of the facility by Christian worshippers on August 30, 2015, thereby causing a national uproar in the process.

A source in the Presidency said that security agents prevented the Villa Chapel choristers from entering the building for their weekly rehearsal on Saturday, August 29, 2015.
According to the source, the plot was to erect canopies and have the church service there but the plan soon leaked and the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, had to intervene by reaching out to President Buhari before the security men gave way for service to be conducted that day.

The Presidency source said: “Osinbajo was uncomfortable with the plan and he had to reach out to the President before service could be held that day in the chapel.”

It was learnt last night as prelude to relocating the Chapel, the Children’s church, which forms part of the Villa Chapel, has been shut and some rooms, converted to shops for storing food items which forced the children to relocate to the office of the Chaplain, Seyi Malomo, for their normal service.

A source at the Presidency said on Tuesday, “As we speak, the children’s church remains shut and everything relating to the church has been removed. We had to beg them to allow us to remove our property. The children’s church has been turned into a store,” the official said.

“As a result of the unforeseen development, we had to collapse some facilities to accommodate the children and keep our worship going.”

That was why the Chaplain said that the church had not been shut but ‘we only had some procedural issues that needed to be sorted out’.

However the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina has denied the closure of the church by the Presidency.

Last week, when the issue came up, Adesina, posted pictures of the church service on his Facebook page.

The acting Chaplain of the Aso Villa Chapel, Pastor Joseph Sheyi Malomo also said that the church was not shut but did not make mention of the fact that his office was being used in the place of the shut children’s church.

Vanguard learnt that the Presidency is considering relocating both the Mosque and the Church from their present locations to a more spacious area in the Villa so as to prevent any accusation.

Presidency Denies Closure Of Aso Villa Chapel

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The leadership of the Aso Villa Chapel has denied speculations that the chapel has been closed down by the Presidency, describing the rumour as handiwork of mischief makers. The Presidency shared photos from the church service to back up its claim.

Fielding questions from State House correspondents after the church service on Sunday, acting chaplain, Pastor Joseph Sheyi Malomo, admitted that though there were some procedural issues last Sunday that needed to be sorted out, the Presidency at no time or­dered the closure of the chapel. The cleric appealed to Nigerians to ignore the rumour and focus rather on is­sues that will unit the country.

Read More: sunnewsonline