KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
With Remi Akano Sr
E-mail: kpeditorpublisher@yahoo.co.uk
It’s five o’clock in the morning. The lilting sound of Moses Olusegun Oyebola’s electronic organ was wafting through the air into the room, rousing me from sleep, finishing off the task the cock crow from my phone had started ten minutes earlier.
Now since that early December day that my wife and I found ourselves moving in with this wonderful man and his indescribably warm wife, both of them pastors, this has been the experience. And although the pattern is similar – not one day has been exactly like another at these morning devotionals. There is always something to take away; a food for thought; a word of knowledge or wisdom; encouragement. But for reasons that I cannot easily fathom, there was to be something extra special about this Wednesday.
Praise and worship over, Mrs Jennifer Oyebola, a woman who, like her husband, has a zeal for things of God that constantly challenges those around them to higher heights, began to read from the well-known “Our Daily Bread,” a publication of Radio Bible Class. The piece titled “Look It Up” written by one of RBC’s staff writers, Anne M. Cetas reads in part:
“Some online dictionaries report each year on what words were looked up the most on their site…The most popular lookup for the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary that year (2005) was the word integrity. The definition given is: “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values.” It’s used to describe those who are unwilling to be bribed or morally corrupted. Why was that word on the top of the list? Could it be because integrity is so lacking that many don’t know what it looks like in someone’s life?”
Cetas went on to cite, as God’s example of integrity, the life of Joseph as contained in the Bible. Her words: “Potiphar had put him in charge of overseeing ‘his house and all that he had’ (Genesis 39:5). When he was propositioned by his master’s wife, Joseph refused, saying, ‘How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’ (verse 9). He knew what God’s standards were, and he chose to stand for the right—at the cost of his freedom.” She concluded: “Integrity - look it up in Genesis 39. Then live it out in God’s strength”.
A number of things struck me about this piece of exhortation, such that I felt a need to read and meditate more on the issue of integrity. This is surprising, given the fact that the issue had been on the front-burner for sometime within the men’s group that I have the priviledge of coordinating. But meditate on the subject, I did, all the same and as I did, I begun to see why.
Cetas raised a very important point, one that I believe is so tragically applicable to our situation in Nigeria, when she asked the question: “Could it be because integrity is so lacking that many don’t know what it looks like in someone’s life?” That question speaks to the heart of our national condition today.
Who, for instance, modelled integrity in public life in our nation in the eight years of democratic rule preceding the unfolding Yar’Adua administration? Is it the governor being hounded by the law for sundry malfeasance? Is it the local government chairman who rose from dirt poor to stinking rich while his constituents wallow in poverty? Is it the helmsman who taught Sunday School, identified with and revelled in photo opportunities with great men of God from all over the world; never lost a chance to take the pulpit at mega-churches and Holy Ghost meetings, yet now stands accused of some of the most despicable things you can think of by his own son?
Of the people who took centre stage at national events, graced the cover of celebrity magazines, won awards of all kinds, how many truly mirrored integrity?. That’s what I tried to highlight in the introductory part of my HEROES 2007 piece a couple of weeks back. Our nation needs godly heroes otherwise the future is bleak because the younger ones would always need dictionaries to figure out what the word means!
Also noteworthy for me was the definition of integrity by the dictionary quoted by Cetas as “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values”; as well as what appeared to be her own take on who the word describes: “It’s used to describe those who are unwilling to be bribed or morally corrupted.” I agree absolutely with both definition and application and would to God that we would all begin anew and afresh to hunger and thirst to have the word apply to us by our adherence to high moral values.
Cetas’ example of integrity taken from the Bible is particularly instructive. So straight as a rod was Joseph, that, as a child he would report the wrong-doings of his brothers to their father; he would not hold back the telling of his dreams even when it was obvious it did not please his brothers! When he had the opportunity of sleeping his way precariously to the firmer control of Potiphar’s fortunes by becoming the wife’s lover, he thought about God! Of course his integrity got him into slavery and into jail, but it also inexorably got him to the prime ministerial office of Egypt. Please read the story of Joseph again in Genesis 39.
I wish especially to call on all who lead or aspire to lead in any and ever area of our national life to take a close look at their lives by asking these questions. I urge that both the leader, the aspiring leader as well as the led begin to see integrity as the PRIMARY QUALIFICATION for leadership. This is because, ironically, it is in leadership that integrity, character, adherence to strict code of moral behaviour are in the shortest of supply. That is because good looks, oratorical prowess, liberality with half-truths and down right falsehoods and in some cases competence are rated higher than integrity. So are access to ill-gotten wealth and an easy recourse to violence.
Incidentally, as I prayerfully studied and meditated on this subject, I came across a wonderful piece written by one of Cetas’ colleagues in answer to a question I know must be dancing in your head as you read the last few paragraphs: “How important is good personal character to effective leadership?” Permit me quote excerpts from Dan Vander Lugt’s answer to that important question:
“Some people don't think it (good personal character) is very important. Since leadership requires flexibility, some think that a person with high ideals and deep moral convictions will be less pragmatic or realistic than a person with fewer scruples. In the short term it's undeniable that unscrupulous people sometimes have an advantage. People often find personal accountability and a long-range vision less appealing than immediate advantages and an opportunity to fall in line behind a charismatic leader”.
“Even the psalmist eloquently described the temporary success of the wicked (Psalm 37:35; 73:3 ). Jesus also recognized the short-term advantages of the unprincipled (Luke 16:8 ). But although unprincipled people in power may gain quick success, they and their followers always reap the consequences of their immorality and opportunism. The Old Testament writers vividly described the results of evil leadership as did Jesus.
“In the long term, however, a person of integrity has the advantage. Good character may limit a person's options at times, but wisdom flows from good character (In the long term, however, a person of integrity has the advantage. Good character may limit a person's options at times, but wisdom flows from good character (Job 28:28).
Under the “For Further Thought” column, Cetas concluded her exhortation with a few questions we all need to ask ourselves. And they are questions, I believe, we all ought to ask ourselves at this, the onset of a new year: “In what ways have I been a person of integrity when it was tough? When have I failed? Whose standards do I live by? What do I need to change?” I assure you that yours sincerely has asked himself these questions, and did not rate so high as to talk down to anyone; which is not my intention, anyway. But I assure you, I am well on my way! Are you?
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
Friday 25 January 2008
Friday 4 January 2008
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE’S HEROES 2007
Edwin Louis Cole, recognized as founder of the modern Christian men’s movement from the great works he did through Christian Men’s Network once made a declaration to this effect: I will make only the godly my heroes; I will invite them to my home; I will celebrate them. Now, those may not have been his exact words, but they certainly capture his conviction. Those words have ministered to me so powerfully. The truth they contain has influenced me in my personal life and in ministry, and will continue to till the very end. I believe with all my heart that even as the Bible has declared “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord…(Psalm 33:12)”; so also is it true that “blessed is that nation whose heroes are the godly”.
Yes, sure, it’s the fad thing to do; celebrate creativity, athletic prowess, intellect, efficiency, and all those things which we do and have elevated to high art as part of a global community of shadow-chaser. They give our world a sense of going somewhere; a sense of achievement and raise up role models of all kinds, many of whom warp up our values and send the impressionable on a wild goose chase after the ephemeral.
At about age 60, yours sincerely is not a star-struck doting worshipper at any man-made altars, but I do admire those who manifest godliness a great deal; possibly because I am still struggling along that path, but certainly because I do have a witness in my heart that we are a nation currently holding up near-villains as heroes, while the real heroes get scant attention.
That is why I have decided to name and publicly acknowledge those I have called KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE’S HEROES 2007. These are mainly people I had the opportunity of writing about in this column since its inception. Of course, there are many more I had the privilege of meeting, reading about and checking out, during the year and whom I would have loved to recognize, but since I didn’t have the privilege of writing about them earlier I shall limit myself to these three (alphabetically by surname): Dr Peter Jasper Akinola, Mr Peter Obi and Elder Felix Ohiwerei
Akinola has featured in this column a number of times. The most recent of this was in May 2007 when in the gloom that enveloped the nation after “Elections 2007,” a ray of light broke through by way of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Primate’s listing among the world’s100 most influential leaders by TIME magazine.
In “Something To Cheer” published May 13, I found myself joyfully joining “other Nigerians in celebrating one of our own, Most Rev Dr Peter Jasper Akinola, Primate and Metropolitan, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and President, Christian Association of Nigeria. For the second time in three years, he has been named in The TIME 100, a TIME magazine list of the 100 most influential persons in the world. These are people, in the words of TIME’s Managing Director, Mr. Richard Stengel who “by virtue of their character, their drives and their dreams change the world and make history”. He first made the list last year”.
I recalled that he was “listed among the Leaders and Revolutionaries; a category that includes such individuals as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton and a front-runner for the United States presidency, Condoleezza Rice current US Secretary of State, Queen Elizabeth 11 of England and; Pope Benedict XVI…”
Explaining TIME’s choice of Akinola in a three-paragraph piece David Van Biema identified him as “a harsh critic of the Episcopal Church (U.S.A.), which elected an openly gay bishop in 2003” whose imprint was on “the rancorous disunion within the worldwide Anglican Communion and whose “impatience with earlier, more deliberate measures” was being echoed by “Anglicanism‘s 38 primates” which had just then “ presented the Episcopalians with demands for a retreat on sexuality and direct communion involvement in Episcopal governance.“ Such had become Akinola’s influence that TIME was already positing that should “Anglicanism‘s conservative southern provinces decide that the Anglican Church‘s top official, the Archbishop of Canterbury is too liberal and chose their own leader”, Akinola was a likely choice. TIME acknowledged though that “the Nigerian cleric has denied any (such) leadership ambition”
I then added: “What makes Akinola’s award very significant and much more worthy of celebration is the enduring nature of the value for which the man of God is standing and for which even a largely cynical secular publication like TIME could not ignore him. It’s the war against gay ascendancy in the leadership cadre of the church. It is a war for the soul of the church and society that has been lost largely in many parts of the world, particularly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and even next door, South Africa…”
Although Akinola has vacated the presidency of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, he remains a good example, a model of courageous, godly leadership worth emulating by all.
Readers of this column would have been very surprised were Anambra state’s Governor Peter Obi not on my Heroes 2007 list! This is simply because of my admission of ecstasy at the man’s faith in God which saw him doggedly wrestle down all odds to retrieve his mandate and retrieve it to the fullest, and his magnanimity in victory. The following quotes from the June 24 piece titled “Upon This Rock…” should throw the light on Governor Obi’s place among the heroes:
“In an interview with Sunday Independent, which was held before the Supreme Court judgment that correctly put his tenure as enduring till 2010, but which was not published until after it, Obi was quoted as saying the following prophetic words:
‘Mark my word, I will return to the Government House, Awka, to complete my tenure. I say so because the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria makes it imperative that I serve out my term as elected governor of the state. Besides, I see myself as a child of destiny raised by God to salvage my people and, as a Christian, I know that God does not lie…At the appointed time, the will of God concerning me and Anambra State will be made manifest. It may seem that justice is being delayed now, but definitely, it cannot be denied when that time comes…I have asked just one thing from my people, and that is: that they should continue to pray for the will of God to prevail in my situation and in the situation of Anambra. God, in his infinite mercy, should give the Supreme Court justices the wisdom and courage to do the right thing whenever they will take the final decision on his matter.’
“He did not have any doubt whatsoever about the triumph of good over evil. He was fully persuaded of the victory of righteousness over wickedness. And he did not mince words. As those of the school of political correctness would have cynically put it, he was “wearing his faith on his sleeves” or “playing the religion card.” But a man, any man who would swim against the swift current of evil flooding our land and stay the course must stand firm on his faith. That is what Obi has done and is doing. That is the secret of his success.” That is the stuff that godly heroes are made of.
Elder Felix Ohiwerei, 70, whom I had the privilege of interacting with very briefly during the third quarter of the year also left such a great impression on me that he certainly stands tall as a true Nigerian hero. He spoke on “Wanted: Men of Character” at a luncheon organized by Christian Men’s Network Nigeria and during the interactive session that climaxed the event left no one in doubt that he walks his talk.
In the column of November 4, 2007, I reported that part of the meeting this way: “…In answer to one of the questions on his experience as a born-again Christian at the helm of a big company like Nigeria Breweries, he recalled one of his encounters with corruption at one of Nigeria’s seaports.
“According to him, the top man in charge of raw materials was for some reasons not available and so he was contacted on the need to “do something” (euphemism for paying some bribes) about clearing their consignments at the port. He refused. Things began to drag and raw material stock was running low with possible adverse consequences for production. He knew he had to do something else! So he instructed that fresh orders for raw materials be made and air-freighted into the country. This was done. Production was not affected and he virtually had to be begged to come and clear the earlier consignment. Needless to say, this sent signals to people in certain quarters and the rest, as they say, is history! “What Elder Ohiwerei was saying was ‘I walked my talk’. It could not have been easy, but he had the courage to do what had to be done...” A man like this would be my hero any day!
Happy New Year to all and may 2008 be a year of great new beginnings for you, your family and our nation.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
RICARDO IZECSON DOS SANTOS LEITE
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
No, the headline is not the “other tongue” for Merry Christmas. It is actually Portuguese and it is the name of a certain young sportsman. But, yes, it does represent the spirit of the season and the victory that comes from being a true, unabashed follower of the one who, as the cliché goes, is the reason for the season.
As every lover of the beautiful game known to the rest of the world as football, but which the Americans like to call soccer, knows, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, 25, more widely known and called as Kaka, was on Monday named FIFA World Football Player of the Year 2007. The AC Milan and Brazil star beat two worthy competitors, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, to the prestigious trophy at the annual FIFA World Gala which held at the Zurich Opera House in Switzerland.
He was the choice of 1,047 national coaches and captains who were polled for the award. Messi was first runner up with 504 votes while Ronaldo scored 426 votes to come third. Kaka's latest crown climaxes for him a fantastic year during which he led his club, AC Milan, to European Champions League victory this season, scoring 10 goals in the process and barely two weeks earlier on December 2, bagged the European Player of the Year title.
Kaka, though only 25, did not arrive on the world football stage as an overnight wonder. According to Wikipedia, he began his club career with Sao Paolo Football Club at the tender age of eight and signed his first playing contract with that Club’s youth squad seven years later. He graduated to the legendary club’s senior team in January 2001.
His first and to date only major career move came two years later when “AC Milan, fresh from winning the 2003 Champions League, brought him aboard in 2003 for $8.5 million…Kaká was a part of the five-man midfield in the 2004-05 season, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko. He scored 7 goals in 36 domestic appearances as Milan finished runner-up to Juventus. Despite Milan losing the 2004-05 Champions League final to Liverpool F.C. on penalties, he was nonetheless voted the best midfielder of the tournament, and also finished ninth, with 19 votes, in the running for the 2005 Player of the year.”
Wikipedia records that,the football world was began to take notice of a superstar in the making when in the 2005-06 season Kaká score his first hat-tricks in domestic and European competitions respectively.
Kaká became the focal point of Milan's attack in the 2006-7 following Shevchenko's departure to Chelsea FC. He began to alternate between the midfield and striker positions finishing the season as the top scorer with ten goals, which helped to steer AC Milan back to European success. One of them helped the Milan beat Scottish team Celtic FC 1-0 after extra time in the quarterfinals on a 1-0 aggregate, and three others proved fatal for Manchester United in the semi-finals in spite of Milan’s earlier loss of the first leg. Following that convincing 3-0 second-leg defeat at the San Siro on May 2 that knocked out the English champions, Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson confessed that Kaka was one of the two best players in the world, naming this own ward, Cristiano Ronaldo as the other. Sir Alex was however only echoing what was already being widely accepted! In April, a panel of experts set up by Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport proclaimed Kaká as the world's best footballer. Shevchenko also included his endorsement, while suggesting that Kaká deserved to win the FIFA top trophy.
Kaká won the Champions League title he was so outstanding that for the first time when Milan defeated Liverpool F.C. 2-1 in Athens on May 23, 2007. Though he went scoreless, his performance was so stellar throughout the competition that he was voted the Vodafone Fans' Player of the Season in a poll of over 100,000 UEFA.com visitors. In June 2007, German football publication Kicker named him the world's best player, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho finishing second and third, respectively, while he was also given this honour by UK publication The Times. On August 30, he was named by UEFA as both the top forward of the 2006-07 season and Club Footballer of the Year.
He played his 200th career match with Milan in a 1-1 home draw with Calcio Catania on September 30, 2007, and on October 5, he was named the 2006-07 FIFPro World Player of the Year.
On December 2, 2007, Kaká was officially announced as the European Footballer of the Year, becoming the eighth Milan player in history to receive the honor. He finished with a decisive 444 votes, far ahead of runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo.
But this piece is not about Kaka’s many victories. This piece about the source of those victories! This is about a young man’s recognition of who is source and sustainer is! It is about an athlete sold out to Jesus Christ!
Receiving the European Player of the year trophy in Paris, France on December 2, he was quoted as saying: “It was an exceptional year and this crowns an extraordinary 2007...I want to thank God who allowed me to be here today. I thank my wife, my parents and Milan, the team that allowed me to win. I also thank my teammates, both at Milan and Brazil, and all of the fans.”
If you thought that was the typical half-hearted platitude of the average athlete, listen to him quoting from Ephesians 3:20 after the great Pele handed him the World Player of the Year trophy in Zurich on Monday: . "It's really special for me - it was a dream for me just to play for Sao Paulo and one game for Brazil…But the Bible says God can give you more than you even ask for and that is what has happened in my life. I had always thought about winning this award, but there are always doubts until it is actually confirmed. It is not just this award but the whole year that has been very nice. Winning the Champions League and everything that has happened, it's just been wonderful."
And if you still think that is a skin-deep affair, recall the following:
• Most memorably he, along with some of his team mates, removed his jersey to reveal to a worldwide television audience, an "I Belong to Jesus" T-shirt after Brazil's defeat of Germany in the 2002 World Cup final;
• He sported the same shirt during Milan's 2004 league celebration;
• During the postmatch celebration following Brazil's 4-1 win over Argentina in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup final, he and several of his teammates, among them backup keeper Gomes and defender Lúcio, wore T-shirts with "Jesus Loves You" printed on them in various languages
• In addition to the’ I Belong to Jesus’ T-shirt, he openly engaged in prayer moments after the final whistle of Milan's 2007 Champions League triumph.
Kaka, reports say has the phrases “I belong to Jesus” and "God Is Faithful," stitched onto the tongues of his boots. He is a member of the Brazil-based organization Athletes of Christ. All of which explains why his goal celebration consists of him pointing to the sky as a gesture of thanks to God. This wonderful Christian role model says his favourite music is gospel music; his favourite book is the Bible and he is proud that he was a virgin when he married.
All of which explains why football icon, Pele said of him: "Kaka …is also a great example off the pitch. He's the complete player." That is also why I joyfully present his story to you, dear reader, with my wishes that your life and mine be more Christ-like as we celebrate the birth of the Saviour. Merry Christmas.
By the way, please join me in wishing Treasure Olufunmi Yinyinola Akano, my wife of 27 years, God’s continued abundant blessings as she celebrates her birthday today. Thank you.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
No, the headline is not the “other tongue” for Merry Christmas. It is actually Portuguese and it is the name of a certain young sportsman. But, yes, it does represent the spirit of the season and the victory that comes from being a true, unabashed follower of the one who, as the cliché goes, is the reason for the season.
As every lover of the beautiful game known to the rest of the world as football, but which the Americans like to call soccer, knows, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, 25, more widely known and called as Kaka, was on Monday named FIFA World Football Player of the Year 2007. The AC Milan and Brazil star beat two worthy competitors, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, to the prestigious trophy at the annual FIFA World Gala which held at the Zurich Opera House in Switzerland.
He was the choice of 1,047 national coaches and captains who were polled for the award. Messi was first runner up with 504 votes while Ronaldo scored 426 votes to come third. Kaka's latest crown climaxes for him a fantastic year during which he led his club, AC Milan, to European Champions League victory this season, scoring 10 goals in the process and barely two weeks earlier on December 2, bagged the European Player of the Year title.
Kaka, though only 25, did not arrive on the world football stage as an overnight wonder. According to Wikipedia, he began his club career with Sao Paolo Football Club at the tender age of eight and signed his first playing contract with that Club’s youth squad seven years later. He graduated to the legendary club’s senior team in January 2001.
His first and to date only major career move came two years later when “AC Milan, fresh from winning the 2003 Champions League, brought him aboard in 2003 for $8.5 million…Kaká was a part of the five-man midfield in the 2004-05 season, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko. He scored 7 goals in 36 domestic appearances as Milan finished runner-up to Juventus. Despite Milan losing the 2004-05 Champions League final to Liverpool F.C. on penalties, he was nonetheless voted the best midfielder of the tournament, and also finished ninth, with 19 votes, in the running for the 2005 Player of the year.”
Wikipedia records that,the football world was began to take notice of a superstar in the making when in the 2005-06 season Kaká score his first hat-tricks in domestic and European competitions respectively.
Kaká became the focal point of Milan's attack in the 2006-7 following Shevchenko's departure to Chelsea FC. He began to alternate between the midfield and striker positions finishing the season as the top scorer with ten goals, which helped to steer AC Milan back to European success. One of them helped the Milan beat Scottish team Celtic FC 1-0 after extra time in the quarterfinals on a 1-0 aggregate, and three others proved fatal for Manchester United in the semi-finals in spite of Milan’s earlier loss of the first leg. Following that convincing 3-0 second-leg defeat at the San Siro on May 2 that knocked out the English champions, Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson confessed that Kaka was one of the two best players in the world, naming this own ward, Cristiano Ronaldo as the other. Sir Alex was however only echoing what was already being widely accepted! In April, a panel of experts set up by Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport proclaimed Kaká as the world's best footballer. Shevchenko also included his endorsement, while suggesting that Kaká deserved to win the FIFA top trophy.
Kaká won the Champions League title he was so outstanding that for the first time when Milan defeated Liverpool F.C. 2-1 in Athens on May 23, 2007. Though he went scoreless, his performance was so stellar throughout the competition that he was voted the Vodafone Fans' Player of the Season in a poll of over 100,000 UEFA.com visitors. In June 2007, German football publication Kicker named him the world's best player, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho finishing second and third, respectively, while he was also given this honour by UK publication The Times. On August 30, he was named by UEFA as both the top forward of the 2006-07 season and Club Footballer of the Year.
He played his 200th career match with Milan in a 1-1 home draw with Calcio Catania on September 30, 2007, and on October 5, he was named the 2006-07 FIFPro World Player of the Year.
On December 2, 2007, Kaká was officially announced as the European Footballer of the Year, becoming the eighth Milan player in history to receive the honor. He finished with a decisive 444 votes, far ahead of runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo.
But this piece is not about Kaka’s many victories. This piece about the source of those victories! This is about a young man’s recognition of who is source and sustainer is! It is about an athlete sold out to Jesus Christ!
Receiving the European Player of the year trophy in Paris, France on December 2, he was quoted as saying: “It was an exceptional year and this crowns an extraordinary 2007...I want to thank God who allowed me to be here today. I thank my wife, my parents and Milan, the team that allowed me to win. I also thank my teammates, both at Milan and Brazil, and all of the fans.”
If you thought that was the typical half-hearted platitude of the average athlete, listen to him quoting from Ephesians 3:20 after the great Pele handed him the World Player of the Year trophy in Zurich on Monday: . "It's really special for me - it was a dream for me just to play for Sao Paulo and one game for Brazil…But the Bible says God can give you more than you even ask for and that is what has happened in my life. I had always thought about winning this award, but there are always doubts until it is actually confirmed. It is not just this award but the whole year that has been very nice. Winning the Champions League and everything that has happened, it's just been wonderful."
And if you still think that is a skin-deep affair, recall the following:
• Most memorably he, along with some of his team mates, removed his jersey to reveal to a worldwide television audience, an "I Belong to Jesus" T-shirt after Brazil's defeat of Germany in the 2002 World Cup final;
• He sported the same shirt during Milan's 2004 league celebration;
• During the postmatch celebration following Brazil's 4-1 win over Argentina in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup final, he and several of his teammates, among them backup keeper Gomes and defender Lúcio, wore T-shirts with "Jesus Loves You" printed on them in various languages
• In addition to the’ I Belong to Jesus’ T-shirt, he openly engaged in prayer moments after the final whistle of Milan's 2007 Champions League triumph.
Kaka, reports say has the phrases “I belong to Jesus” and "God Is Faithful," stitched onto the tongues of his boots. He is a member of the Brazil-based organization Athletes of Christ. All of which explains why his goal celebration consists of him pointing to the sky as a gesture of thanks to God. This wonderful Christian role model says his favourite music is gospel music; his favourite book is the Bible and he is proud that he was a virgin when he married.
All of which explains why football icon, Pele said of him: "Kaka …is also a great example off the pitch. He's the complete player." That is also why I joyfully present his story to you, dear reader, with my wishes that your life and mine be more Christ-like as we celebrate the birth of the Saviour. Merry Christmas.
By the way, please join me in wishing Treasure Olufunmi Yinyinola Akano, my wife of 27 years, God’s continued abundant blessings as she celebrates her birthday today. Thank you.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
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