Don’t bully people for exercising their faith, actress Lala Akindoju slams trolls

Nollywood actress, Kemi Lala Akindoju, has slammed people speaking against Christians participating in the #JesusChallenge on Twitter.

Earlier on Tuesday, gospel singer Nathaniel Bassey called on Christians via his Twitter handle to trend a picture with a white background and “JESUS” written in a red-coloured font.

This spurred many including Pastor W. F. Kumuyi of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry and Pastor E. A. Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God to share the picture on their social media pages, especially on Twitter.

The trend has been trailed by mixed reactions as many praised the expression of faith while others questioned it.

Popular media personality, Daddy Freeze, stated his disapproval of the trend saying that the gospel singer should instead ask people to get their Permanent Voter Cards.

Posting a picture of Bassey’s tweet, the OAP wrote on his Instagram page, “Instead of telling people to go and get their PVC, na to put Jesus for display picture. Who did this to us? Nigeria is living proof that Jesus can’t bring peace. It’s been 60 years of doing the same thing with no result bro. Come on.”

Defending the trend, Akindoju argued that several churches have been in the active drive of getting their members to register for their PVCs ahead of the 2023 elections.

“Churches have been organising voters’ registration programs for months at no cost,” she tweeted on Tuesday.

“They have been educating their members on the importance of voting and being active citizens. But y’all want to bully people for exercising their faith?

“If you don’t like it, jump and pass, but bullying and insulting is so wrong. Some churches even insist on members having PVCs. There’s no shame in praying. WE WILL PRAY, VOTE, ENGAGE THE SYSTEM AND INSIST.”

She further charged Nigerians to direct their grievances towards their leaders and lawmakers, instead of bullying Christians who chose to exercise their faith by trending the said picture.

“When the same handles were posting PVC matters, Y’all didn’t talk. People say they want to post Jesus instead of all the doom and gloom today and you’re angry. Have you used this same energy to hold your leaders accountable?

“How many of you have contributed anything to improve the living conditions of any Nigerian. Christians and churches are feeding people, paying school fees, getting people rehabilitated and actually doing what your government should do but y’all just decide to pick on people??? Block them if you don’t like it. Gosh,” she wrote.

I was written off but I never lost faith in myself – Kelechi Iheanacho

Leicester City’s striker, Kelechi Iheanacho, says he never lost faith in himself while going through a rough patch in his career, adding that he was confident that he would return to form.

Iheanacho had his worst ever scoring run of his professional career in 2019, failing to score in over 365 days, with trio Jamie Vardy, Ayoze Perez and James Maddison all ahead of him in the pecking order.

The 24-year-old’s lack of goals at Leicester during this period also saw him lose his place in the Super Eagles, and was left out of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

However, the former Manchester City striker has returned to form for The Foxes and was named March’s Premier League Player of The Month and is on course for a double award for April.

Speaking with BBC Sport on his resurgence, Iheanacho said; “I think a lot of people wrote me off, but I never lost faith in myself.

“I was going through a crazy and difficult time when things just didn’t work out for me.

“But I’ve worked extremely hard, and also have the manager and other staff at Leicester, and most importantly my brother and friend Wilfred (Ndidi) who stood by me.

“It’s been a really tough ride but I’m just delighted it’s all come together for me.

It was truly a bad patch and we all know that some people are always too quick to judge. To hear some people come out now and start saying positive things again is only normal but I don’t even bother.

“I only have to prove to myself that I can do this consistently, continue to grow, help my club and country when I get the chance to play.

“We have a lot ahead of us. It’s that time of the season where you want to fight for everything in front of you and not get carried away.”

Iheanacho is the Foxes’ top scorer this season with 18 goals from 35 matches across all competitions.