By Ignatius Okorocha,Donald Ugwu, Jonas Ezieke

Christ the King Catholic Church CKC Kurudu Abuja on Sunday 12th July 2026 held its annual Cultural Day celebration marking the 2026 edition amidst pomp and pageatary demonstrating God’s faithfulness and abiding faith and commitment in the Lord’s vineyard among catholic faithfuls.

The event began with a Holy Mass presided by the Parish Priest Very Rev Fr. Thadeus Chike Dim, associate priests Rev Fr.Cyril Udom, Rev.Fr.Johncross Ozor and other priests who are friends of the parish and the congregations at two seperate masses concelebrated at 6.00am and 9.00am that day.

In his homily,the Parish Priest Charged Christians to deepen their faith by applying the wisdom and tenets inherent in their cultures in their daily lives and relationships with others.

According to Fr Dim, God created human beings with diverse cultures to use the differences as points of contacts, good relationships and propagating the uniqueness of creation.

He said it was unfortunate that in Nigeria and other African nations, people use culture and religious differences to divide and foment trouble.

“We have turned upside-down the culture of our people.
“We are killing and dividing ourselves with religion and tribalism.
“we have put the worst of us ruling the rest of us due to the wrong application of culture and that is why all the institutions of governance are collapsing,” Dim added.
The cleric urged the faithful to reflect on the significance of their cultural day and “think about what we are going through in the country”.

He also advised the people to always show kindness to fellow Nigerians notwithstanding cultural and religious differences as God has done with humanity.
Using the parable of the sower in the gospel Dim remarked that by “scattering” His seeds on the partway, rock, bad and good soil the sower, God, shows love and compassion to all His children.

“The sowing of seeds is not just about planting crops but shows the generosity of God even to those who will not listen.
“God is generous and let’s His love and grace pour on all, whether good or bad.
“No one is excluded from God’s love as His love, mercy, humility and compassion are for everyone.”
He expressed dismay that the country was filled with religious people but “our faith is not deep. We hear the word of God but it doesn’t go deep in our hearts or bear good fruits.
Dim cautioned against quest for material things and the vice of compartmentalization which make many to display certain pious lives in church on Sundays but demonstrate superficial lives the rest days of the week.
“Try to do good and show kindness to others no matter your religion or tribe.
“Let us use the word of God we hear to bear fruits in our lives.
“Do not steal the wealth of the citizens due to selfishness and greed but rather use the little time and opportunity you have to improve humanity as Christ has done.”
The Parish Priest hailed the dedication of proceeds of the cultural events to building the church and prayed for abundant blessings for the sacrifices of the faithful in various church projects.
A Parishioner, Dr Joel Oruche, in an interview described the cultural day as a celebration of the cultural heritage of different ethnic and tribal groups in the church.
According to Oruche, a veteran journalist, the glamour is typified by beautiful colours in the dress, language, dialects, music, songs and food which remains the beauty in Nigeria’s diversity and ditto, the Church.
“In spite of this diversity, the unity of purpose remains strong both as a country and indeed as members of the body of Christ.
“Though the disciples spoke in tongues, each could hear and understand; This is what the celebration symbolises; Our rich culture should be a blessing rather than otherwise
“I pray that the beauty of the celebration will reflect in our lives as parishioners, strong and United for God,” Oruche added.

Chairperson CKC Cultural Day Celeberation, Mrs Mary Oketa said this yesr’s cultural Day celebration has been a great success.

“It is a day that reminds us of where we came from ( our root ) it is a day we celebrate our unity in
diversity and as you can see there are lots of happiness and joy in the hearts of parishioners as we celebrate this day.

“Everybody keys into this cultural day celeberation
as we all look unto it and thank God we have not been disappointed by what you can see here today.
As you can see,all the states associations are fully represented at this venue to showcase their cultural heritage.”

Mrs Oketa noted that the aim of hosting this year’s cultural day is one,to make parishioners to know their ethnic background, “tracing back to our state of origin, our root and we need to celebrate our cultural heritage which comprises our native foods, dressings and languages

“It is a day that we come together and celebrate our culural in diversity as a body of christ, and that simply means that no matter the extent of our cultural differences, in Christ we are one as a body of Christ”

On the lesson to be learnt by other parishes in the Archdiocese, she urged them to borrow a clue from CKC Kurudu becuse,”if you see what is happing here today in our parish, you can see that even our children are happy and this is a sign that we are passing our cultural hertage unto our childern and the message from this event will make them know where they are coming from as a people.

“Today you could see an Idoma person crossing over to test the native food of a Yoruba person to eat Amala and a Yoruba peron crossing over to eat the food of Arewa person and an Igbo person crossing over to Edo-Delta community to eat Edikayikon etc.”

The event kicked off immediately after the opening prayer at 2:25pm by Fr Pat Eze who is a visiting priest and long time friend of the parish and witnessed different cultural and linguistic groups united into different communities and was well attended by all parishoners

Some of the Invited guests at the high profile event include. Mr Sunday Odita, Mr John Ejuwa, Chief Samuel Madaki, Mr Obiora Enete, Mr Linus Garba Dr.Martins Ilegoma, Amb.Rita Izunwanne, Mr Nonso Obi among other top business executives and philanthropists

Other dignitaries that also graced the occasion include the district Head of Kurudu Chief Ezra Edun,Oba Samuel Peter Popoola, His Royal Highness Luka Garza and other chiefs who are celebrated first class traditional rulers in the nation’s capital

The chairman of the occasion was General Don.M Edih (Rtd) while the Father of the day was Amb.A.M Okoh as Mrs Janet Ejeh served as the Mother of the Day.

Features or the well attended annual cultural day including breaking of kolanuts, fashion parade, dancing competition, cultural displays etc by the members of St Michael Yoruba Community, St Anthony Imo/Abia Community, St Gabriel Arewa C’ommunity, St Joseph Enugu/Anambra and Ebonyi Catholic Community, and St .Thomas Igede Community among others.

By Our Correspondent

Remarkably and unprecedentedly, four decades after their graduation from the school, the 1986 class of Baptist High School Ekinrin-Adde, Ijumu LGA of Kogi State, in an unparalleled and unique way, returned to their alma mater, with a great donation of a transformative Legacy GateHouse, to commemorate their 40th graduation anniversary.

The top-grade and elegantly delivered gatehouse, which has significantly changed the landscape of the school and the Ekinrin-Adde community, was applauded and celebrated as the first of its kind in all Ijumu communities, by any alumni association.

The multi-million magnificent facility, which is reckoned by not a few, as a cherished monument to history, was commissioned at a colourful ceremony on Friday, June 26, 2026, by His Royal Majesty, Olu Anthony Bamigbaiye Idowu, CON, (Ahe-Maworo I), Olu-Adde of Ekinrin-Adde, in company of his Olori, members of the traditional council, the Chairman, CAN of the community, and a coterie of clergymen.

HRM, the Olu-Adde, who was apparently happy about the historic and momentous occasion, remarked that the BHS Ekinrin-Adde 1986 alumni association, has set a record of excellence and etched its name indelibly on the sands of time.

The revered monarch commended the members of the association for their unity of purpose, sacrificial giving, commitment, and thoughtfulness in bringing the highly impactful project to reality.

He charged other sets of the school, and alumni associations of other schools across Ijumu, Okun land and Kogi State in general, to emulate the BHSEA 1986 set, in giving back to society, and particularly in adding value to their alma maters.

The President of Ekinrin-Adde Community Development Association (EACDA), Elder Dehinde Toyin Komolafe, speaking on behalf of the CDA, lauded the BHS Ekinrin-Adde 1986 Set as a pace-setter, and commended all the members for making a great donation of their time and resources towards making the huge impac which the GateHouse has made. He prayed for continued grace and blessings of God on all the members of the association.

One of the old teachers of the 1986 Set, Elder Omodele, who was a teacher of English Language in the school at that time, expressed joy and gratitude to God for the grace to witness the epoch-making event, noted that the discipline, hardwork and sense of duty that were insulated in the members of the alumni association, accounted for the success-story that they all became in their adult life.

The elderstatesman enjoined the younger generation of students to seriously imbibe the culture of discipline and dedication to duty, so as to become successful in life.

The President of the Alumni Association, Alhaji Abdulkareem Oludare Aminu, in his welcome address, remarked that forty-five years ago, members, walked through the gates of the school, as impressionable young lads, full of dreams, passed through the crucible of fire of learning and grooming, and forty years later, have returned through a new gate powered and built by the same dreams, a sense of fulfillment, and with hearts full of gratitude, pride, and in unity.

Alhaji Abdulkareem Oludare Aminu also noted that the Legacy GateHouse, which speaks to robust cooperative spirit, was borne out of the desire and strong resolve of members of the association to enhance the security of the students and teachers of the school; to accentuate the pride of place which the school occupies; to beautiful and dignify their alma mater, and the Ekinrin-Adde community, and to inspire every student who is currently passing through the gate, and the next generation of students who are to come, that excellence is achievable, and that giving back to society is a commanding duty to the society for all.

The Legacy Project Committee, has Mr Abayomi Amupitan, a successful Quantity Surveyor as Chairman, while the 40th Graduation Anniversary Committee is chaired by Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, a former Deputy Country Director of Democracy Program for Africa (DfAP), and currently serving as the National Publicity Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

The Anniversary Committee has, among other members, the Chief Medical Director/CEO, Ademola Hospital Ltd., Agbara-Ijanikin Lagos, Dr Edward Ademola Aina, the Vice-President (Nigeria) of the association, as Deputy Chairman.

It is remarkable to bring to mind that Dr. Edward Ademola Aina, as a sixteen year old teenager, emerged as the best graduating student of the Set, and the over-all best in the West African School Cerricate (WASC) of 1986, in the entire old Kwara State; Barrister Bolaji Ireyomi, a Canada-based legal practitioner, as Secretary, and Professor Christopher Jimoh Olowookere, a professor of Health Physics and Biophysics,
and Director of Investment and Consultancy at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, as Assistant Secretary.

The four-day 40th anniversary celebration of the aumni association, which includes a Jumat Service on Friday, June 26th, and a thanksgiving service in the morning of Sunday, June 28th, will culminate in a Re-Union Dinner in the evening of Sunday, which is to be held at the Ekinrin-Adde Events Centre.

The re-union dinner event is expected to attract the entire Ekinrin-Adde traditional council members to grace the occasion with their royal presence, and a good number of illustrious sons and daughters of the community, and other invited eminent dignitaries and well-wishers.

The BHSEA 1986 alumni association has done so well in impacting their alma mater and has indeed challenged other sets of the school to also step out and make a difference.

By David Owei,Bayelsa

The Central Organizing Committee of Nigeria’s largest grassroots football spectacle, the Bayelsa Governor’s Football Tournament — _Prosperity Cup_ — has felicitated the Managing Director of Premium Trust Bank, Dr. Emmanuel Emefienim, on the occasion of his birthday.

In a statement signed by the Tournament Director General, Mr. Ono Akpe, and Deputy Director General, Mr. Perela Aboro, the COC commended Dr. Emefienim for his exemplary leadership, unwavering commitment to excellence, and deep passion for humanitarian service.

The Committee noted that Premium Trust Bank’s consistent sponsorship of the Prosperity Cup reflects its dedication to sports development and youth empowerment across Bayelsa State and Nigeria. This partnership, it added, has been instrumental in reducing the burden on organizers and government, while productively engaging young people and curbing social vices.

“Your visionary leadership, anchored on compassion and integrity, has not only strengthened our state but also set a new benchmark for sports development,” the statement read.

The COC further described Dr. Emefienim as a thoroughbred administrator, philanthropist, and sports enthusiast whose stewardship has elevated Premium Trust Bank to national prominence while leaving a lasting impact on the Niger Delta and beyond.

“As you mark this milestone, we celebrate not just your life but the enduring legacy you continue to build. We pray for renewed strength, good health, and greater success in the year ahead. We remain grateful for your steadfast support of the Prosperity Cup and look forward to many more years of your wise counsel and partnership,” the statement concluded.