The Book "GOD'S MESSAGE TO KUTEB AND INDIGENES OF TARABA STATE": WHAT DOES THE AUTHOR PORTEND? - By Dinshiya Joel

 

The above book, authored by Pastor Paul Rika of Holiness Revival Movement Worldwide, drew my attention to read and find out the intention of the writer.

From the beginning of the book to its end, I saw what I have never experienced while reading other books.  There was a sense of urgency, desperation, sentiment, bias, malice, and mockery in the mood of the author. A message supposedly from God being so unwittingly manipulated to misinform, incite, and create discord and hatred among ethnic groups in Southern Taraba and the entire State.

A thorough review of the contents indicates as follows:

Chapter one is dedicated to the worship, and praise of, through funny comments about someone the author calls “Ukwe Rimamnyang Abu Ahmadu II of Takum”. The “Ukwe” title was said to have been given to him in the last quarter of 2023 by his kinsmen, for the underground role he played in undermining the activities preceding the appointment and installation of the Chief of Takum, the event which by God’s grace finally took place in May 2024. 

The author, Pastor Paul Rika, dedicated Chapter Two to negative propaganda against the person of Gen TY Danjuma (Rtd). The chapter speaks whole stuff about the banditry Christianity he wants his tribesmen to practice. 

Chapter three was dedicated to the programmed solution to the fake and false alarms he raised in Chapters One and Two. In these chapters, he fabricated issues and problems as well as created intentional loopholes for his intended mischievous solutions to fool the gullible.

Now, I worry that he went the extra mile, too far to bear, when he had to drag in, the name of the statesman and philanthropist of international reckon, Gen TY Danjuma (Rtd.). He, in this book, tried to make a good sale using blackmail as a means to climb to the limelight, disguising himself under the claim of prophecies from a 'strange' God. He has labeled malicious fabrications and lies against his perceived arch-enemy in the pretext of receiving messages from his god which he also tried to make readers think he is talking about the Almighty God, the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In the book are found so many senseless and meaningless multiple mentions of allegations, too abstract to make any sense to a sensible person.

In chapters two and three of the book, he claims that his god has told him that;

a) General TY Danjuma (Rtd.) has many evil plans against his tribe (Kuteb), while the same General loves his people (Chamba) and wants their future to be good, what an ironic, and contradictory, fictitious assertion. 

b) Because of Gen Danjuma’s hatred for his (Pastor Paul Rika’s) tribe in Taraba State, he had gone to take an oath, a covenant with the 'Muslim Authority' so that as long as he is alive, they should give him Taraba State to appoint 'who he wants to be the governor'. Now if Gen Danjuma could support a candidate to vie the Governorship of Taraba State, and Tarabans would go ahead to vote him to office as Governor does he need to collaborate with any “Muslim authority” to support the candidate? What a confusing statement.  This might be one of the deliberate desperation to pitch the Christian community and other ethnic nationalities against Gen. TY Danjuma)

c. "The Muslims’ Authority” should take Taraba State to be its own and continue to rule over it so that the indigenes of Taraba State should always have a Muslim to rule over them" and always serve them "as slaves in their land";

d) The Muslim authority” should make sure none of his (Paul Rika's) tribe’s persons (Kuteb) is allowed to serve in the government of Taraba State.

e) He further explained how the Muslim Authority sought from Gen. TY Danjuma (Rtd), to take over Taraba State “as we have taken over Nasarawa State”. Paul Rika has ironically projected the Muslims as though they are strangers to Taraba. He should note that the largest standing mosque in Takum was built by a Kuteb Muslim, so what is he talking about? Have Muslims not ruled in Taraba? Will they be denied leadership where God destined them to rule?

f) Gen TY Danjuma (Rtd.) has further covenanted with 'the Muslim Authority' to ensure that Sen Emmanuel Bwacha should never ascend to govern Taraba State, neither should he ever be given any appointments that will enable him, according to Paul Rika, "gather money" for elections. 

g) Pastor Paul Rika in his statement said Gen TY Danjuma prefers somebody who is not from any tribe in Taraba State, who cannot sense the evil work he did in Taraba like the Muslim Authority who, to him (Paul Rika), is a foreigner, to rule Taraba State instead. 

h) And he talked about death too, whether of who I cannot understand. So disjointed were the fabrications and the manipulative “revelation” and prophecies he wrote in this book that a logical whole cannot be drawn from the book.

My Response to Pastor Paul Rika's controversial book as captioned above:

i) The Man Pastor Paul Rika 

If you notice the wisdom he uses, you will understand where this Pastor, Paul Rika, is coming from. He would smartly create the issue requiring a solution and then pretend to provide the solution to it, knowing that the solution itself will be very ineffective because the weight in his creation of fabricated scenarios and manipulative statements has already been destroyed.

Such fabrication of lies among his people (the Kuteb) started long ago but got fortified in the early 70s. It has been their figment of imagination for years. They are people who write and rewrite their history without recourse to previously published materials, yet they publish and post on social media space without minding the implications of peddling falsehood. They are careless, that there are libraries in France, the United Kingdom (UK), Germany, Cameron, Wukari, British Council (Kaduna,), etc., where people can verify facts, but think the whole world should expunge these predating reference materials from those archives and accept their “new found history” as worthy writing. In recent years, some of their young scholars suddenly come out to start condemning documents and books that have been written by unbiased white anthropologists simply because the contents do not favor the Kuteb or go the way they want. What a shameless people driven by sensational naivety. 

I don't know Pastor Paul Rika much, but my brief about the man is simple. Apart from the cloudy circumstances surrounding how he left his former boss Pastor W.F Kumuyi, he also outsmarted other people including a close one of his, who also was the brain behind the book, “Revelation of Heaven and Hell,’ published over ten years ago. They (the author and his outsmarted friend) were friends from the same tribe in Ussa LGA, doing things together as brothers.  His unsuspecting friend, Michael, was the one who wrote that book. 

Incidentally, while they were making efforts together to publish the book, one thing led to another and it was finally published, but unknown to Pastor Michael, his name was written in very tiny letters somewhere in the producers' information section of the book, while Pastor Paul Rika's name was boldly printed on it, so almost all readers thought Pastor Paul Rika was the author.

This generated ill-feeling between them, but Michael took patience and they forged on. The book later gave birth to what is today the Holiness Revival Movement Worldwide, which they jointly established. 

As time passed, things got slightly worse about the book, so in the second edition, Michael's name was printed boldly on it as the author of the book, “Revelation of Heaven and Hell”. 

About the story in the book, Paul Rika even placed himself as if he was the one 

who died and came back to life. Many who read the book could not easily understand that Pastor Paul Rika was not the man who died but came back to life. It was this book written by Pastor Michael Thomas that was used to lay the foundation of the Ministry now called, “Holiness Revival Movement Worldwide” (HOREMOW).  

The vision bearer Pastor Michael had to protest in a heated fracas before his name was later printed in the second edition of the book as the author. 

Today, Michael has been forced out of Holiness Revival Movement Worldwide by Pastor Paul Rika, who now poses as the Founder and International Director of HOREMOW.

This scenario gives a vivid picture of why Pastor Paul Rika could go this far to rapt in retired General TY Danjuma soiling him under no basis into the emergency book he has written. He appears to be ready to seek power, money, and fame by defaming anybody by any means.

Now let's go a bit further to look at some of Paul Rika’s primitive and evil manipulations.

ii) Pastor Paul Rika and Prophet Tudi Atomrimam. 

Pastor Paul Rika also wants to pull a fast one on Prophet Tudi Atomrimam, who claims to have been sent by God to deliver the kingship of Takum to Kuteb. He, as a non-Kuteb, appears to be gradually taking over the Kuteb people for his church. He has already extended his Church to all Kuteb people and appears to be having an outburst of membership in the Kuteb land of Ussa LGA.

It looks like when news repeatedly flashed about how Atomrimam was bringing people, including white men, to pray for Kuteb Chieftaincy, Paul Rika was having sleepless nights and feelings so unstable and debased. He felt he had to take over in a more sophisticated manner by first, landing with a mouthwatering message from his 'god'. So it could be included in the book which had to be written quickly and also to try to destroy the reputation of Gen. TY Danjuma. He couldn't believe how he had gone far with his church and yet an unknown pastor, who was not even Kuteb, could easily come and take over his people. Now he says in the book that his god told him that Rimamyang Abu Ahmadu, should follow him (Pastor Paul Rika) and not Tudi, whom his God too, has already given him a Kuteb name, Atomrimam, that he would make him king. Meanwhile, Tudi is already making waves among the Kuteb people because he has always “prophesied” to them what they love to hear, whether they would ever come to pass or not, they don't care. I once listened to Tudi in a Church service at RCCN Magami, telling the Kuteb people that he loves them so much to the extent that he told his wife that if not he had married her he would have married a Kuteb woman. Whatever that statement was meant to achieve is left for the reader to determine.

iii) Pastor Paul Rika and the Muslim Authority 

Pastor Paul Rika's claim of a covenant between Gen. TY Danjuma and the “Muslim Authority” leaves much to be desired. He did not name the “Muslim Authority” He also made mention of the Imam but did not tell us about the mosque. Or what does he mean by “Muslim Authority”? He seems to be among those who turned Pastoring and work of the ministry into a mere avenue for stomach infrastructure and undeserved power and fame, using 'suitable' Bible passages to lace his unholy intentions.

Pitching his tribe against Muslims and spicing it with reference to Christian texts, Christian texts, plus the persistent mention of the name of Gen TY Danjuma is like Paul Rika struggling with how to earn and protect his daily meals by any foul means. He doesn't give a damn about the effect or what happens to the providers of his meals (the poor listeners), once his daily meals are assured. Too bad!

For Pastor Paul Rika to bring up the issue of his tribe against Muslims is a confirmation that he is very conversant with the things going on at his home of origin. He knows that no tribe other than the Kuteb can settle or live in the Kuteb enclaves of Ussa LGA. He knows more than anyone else that there is no mosque there. Muslims who attempted to go there were chased away in broad daylight. His people are predominantly traditional worshipers. Even non-Kuteb Christians have no place there.

He has seen an opportunity to launder his tribe's unwarranted hatred against Muslims, even those Muslims from his tribe. This is not history; it is right there on the ground even today. Or are there no Kuteb people who are Muslims?

Suffice it to state here that General TY Danjuma can never get involved in such trivial issues. The Muslims in Taraba State know the Kuteb people more than the General. The Pastor is oblivious to the fact that while the Muslims are shunned in Ussa (Kuteb) land, they are accepted in the cosmopolitan Takum, where the largest mosque was built by a Kuteb Muslim. Please, Pastor Paul Rika, look elsewhere, you don't have to destroy somebody to build your Church enterprise. The day that the real born against Kuteb Christians will identify that you are a mercantile “Pastor” they will pray you out of the Kuteb enclave to be able to receive clear and true inspiration from God.

 Pastor Paul Rika and His Tribe, Kuteb.

Paul Rika seems to be tired of always working underground and now though he could come out clear He wants his Kuteb people to know that they have a powerful, anointed man of god selected from among them. He made this clear in chapters one and three. He wants all Kuteb people who are Christians to come to his church and listen to only him as God’s chosen messenger from Kuteb land. To him, Atomrimam is a threat; he has to deal with him now before he penetrates too deep into his Kuteb people. 

Pastor Paul Rika may have been operating the underground sponsorship of the clique of Kuteb propagandists disabling peaceful coexistence in Takum and Southern Taraba. Now he wants to champion it directly himself before the credit goes to another person who is not even a Kuteb man, hence the book, “God’s Message to Kuteb Tribe and indigene of Taraba State”.

A portion of the book is specially dedicated to pitching his Kuteb people against Muslims, and spiced with persistent mention of the name of the retired General, is like struggling with how to earn his daily meals. He doesn’t give a damn what happens to the provider of his meals, once his daily meals are assured.

Paul Rika knows that he is preparing a hate army of Kuteb youths against TY Danjuma and the Chamba people; that is exactly the underlying intention of the book itself. The Bible quotations are mere gimmicks to fool the gullible ones.

After all, the average Kuteb man, especially those from Ussa LGA believes that they are so sure that their perceived enemies will die while they continue to live on, so anything that will fuel trouble in Takum does not matter to them. Too bad.

 

 Pastor Paul Rika and Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha.

Today after swindling Sen Bwacha by faking God’s message all along, that he would be the next Governor of Taraba state in 2023. That he would be this and that, vision upon vision, all fake and never from God Almighty, now he is into another Ponzi; writing a book out of emergency, completely unprepared, just to fake revelations again for proper cover-up of his failed tricks. What a lying “prophet”! Your prophesy just failed and you are still in the act of deception.

The fake “revelation” of dragging Gen TY (Rtd) in the mud through an emergency publication of this book is all to pacify Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha, whom he had earlier misled with visions upon visions and revelations upon revelations.

 In the sinister effort to pacify Sen Emmanuel Bwacha in Chapter Three of the book, he resorted to polishing and lavishing him with superlative praises like the local praise singers would when they site their King. I am happy that he praised the Distinguished Senator, but I am also worried because Paul Rika wrote completely out of hypocrisy. 

Sen. Bwacha has been the backbone of all those fantastic projects at the Holiness Movement Camp at Kwali, FCT. Sen. Bwacha and Paul Rika had known each other right from their Secondary School days at the then Mbiya Government Secondary School (MGSS) Takum, and before Paul tore off from The Deeper Life Bible Church. He joined his friend and established the Church (HOREMOW) in Abuja. He had promised Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha that God had told him clearly that he was unfailingly going to be the next Governor of Taraba state in 2023.  He didn't realize that the power was not in his hands until now. So he has to blindfold everybody by quoting passages of the Bible to convince Sen. Bwacha that everything that didn't come to pass was because of Gen TY Danjuma (Rtd.). In his usual confusing nature, after claiming God told him that Bwacha was going to be Governor, he finally exposes himself by saying in his book that since the Senator didn't become the governor it was not meant to be so yet. Has he not revealed the time and season? How on earth can a Pastor so poor in the knowledge of operations at the spirit realm think he can discern, access, or domesticate the matters of God? 

 Paul Rika's Failed Attempt at Defaming Gen. T.Y Danjuma (Rtd.)

General TY Danjuma has brought to the Takum area in Taraba State overwhelming developmental strides for the benefit of all, including the Kuteb people who in the actual sense usually benefit the most because of their large populations. Other tribes are not so opportune with the proximity to General TY projects like the Kutebs as most of the projects are sited nearest to their locations. The General has brought developments in road construction, international airports, educational institutions, skills acquisition institutions, world-class hospitals, technological institutions, world standard dam for electricity irrigation farming facilities, fishing, etc. And yet Pastor Paul Rika wrote the fabrications and lies in his book to demonize and deprive them of all these that are being provided for his people. Similarly, some of their pretentious and insatiable elites are going tooth and nail to set against their existence. What else can he offer a Kuteb man? 

Pastor Paul Rika alleged that the General was the one who told the “Muslim Authority” that Muslims cannot settle in Ussa LGA where his tribal people are the only single tribe living there. Do the Muslims need to be informed of this reality? Paul Rika knows between him and his conscience, if he is still sober, that what he has written are lies, fabrications, and manipulations of intellectual attainment. He further lied that Gen. TY Danjuma covenanted with the “Muslim Authority” to take over Taraba State, that they should never allow his tribesmen (Kutebs) in the administration of Taraba State, and should never allow a Christian or any Taraba indigenes to govern the state. Paul alleged further that Gen TY prefers the State to be governed by somebody who is not from any tribe in Taraba State, somebody who cannot sense the evil work he did in Taraba. 

There are so many divergent statements in the book raising doubts about the saneness of his person. Something is wrong somewhere with this preacher man, Pastor Paul Rika is clearly a controversial personality, in coordination, and probably insane given the manifestation of multiple features of irrationality.

 

Paul alleged further that, Gen TY prefers someone who is not from any tribe in Taraba State, to rule instead. Which foreigner has the retired General ever brought or encouraged to govern Taraba State? Does this imply that anybody outside the Kuteb tribe that the General supports during elections in the state is a foreigner? To bring up the issue of Muslims being foreigners casts doubts on his mental cohesion, at least, at the time of writing. Is he referring to Hausa/Fulani as foreigners in the state? But if Muslims are foreigners then, the former Kuteb chief who built the largest mosques in Takum and the few Kuteb Muslims are foreigners. Does that make any sense?

Pastor Paul Rika claimed that the retired General talked about what should be done if he died. This is a lie from the pit of hell.  How can one who has no business with a family either by kindred-ship blood, heritage, or legal or business transaction know? One thing with typical Kuteb negative propaganda promoters is, that when they speak about a perceived enemy they believe that death will take their enemy, and leave them not to die. They forget that death is not like that. They also forget that death has no regard for age; and that being young does not matter to death. Death is not respecter for tribe or sentiments otherwise the Israelites, the tribe of Jehovah would not have died, or Palestinians and allies’ sentiments would have wiped out Israelites from the planet. 

Many Kuteb have celebrated TY Danjuma’s death like Paul is doing. They are today waiting in expectation of his death. The retired military General has been very generous. Even Pastor Paul Rika, can't erase that away from his knowledge of the statesman in his homestead. What the General did for the Kuteb land, no Kuteb man has done to any fellow Kuteb. Find out. 

Pastor Paul Rika's linking of Senator Emmanuel Bwacha's present status in politics to Gen TY Danjuma is a mere attempt to divert attention or simply parry whatever he has sensed from his manipulative cajoling, which he has perceived is smoking now.  General TY Danjuma has nothing to do with Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha's political career. The publisher Pastor is hereby advised to save his reputation or image of cajoling and manipulating others, and not to drift further by living a false life predicated upon fake spirits that could only run his organization down. His picking on the famous retired General TY Danjuma was deliberate. He needed a name that would catch the attention of readers. But the whole arrangement is primitive, childish, and immature in view of the frivolous sentimental besides the baseless issues that can easily degenerate into incitement, tension, and even crisis if the authorities do not manage the situation well. 

Gen TY Danjuma is far above all these foolish controversies being orchestrated by the ambitious but impatient Pastor Paul Rika. Try these on any other retired or serving General and you are sure to spend the whole part of your life in prison. Enough is enough about the hate project of destroying the General’s image even when is taciturn.

Conclusion 

In the beginning, Pastor Paul Rika said God told him, but when he went deeper into the doldrums of falsehood and manipulations forgot his first claim and said it was a dream. His controversies and contradictions are indications that he is not in a proper state of mind. Pardon granted. 

However, I want Pastor Paul Rika and the general public to know that; 

i) If there is anything you so much dread, you may have a fearful dream when you sleep. For if it is not fear arising from phantom imagination, how could any sane person think Gen Danjuma could align with any person or group to do evil to Tarabans?  

ii) If you so much imagine something good you like; you will dream good about it in your sleep. I urge Pastor Rika and his cohorts to renew their minds toward positive transformation instead of trying to step down the word of God to conform to worldly standards.

iii) If you heard some kind of story that got into you so much, you will dream about it.

I leave you with just three examples. You don't need a prophet every time to interpret such dreams; they are like a mere reflection of what you see in the mirror -  a kind of figment of imagination.

 Therefore, Pastor Paul Rika, we all know the trick you guys are using to cajole and swindle people. If you claim you are a man of God, please stop cutting corners. Don’t manipulate the word of God to satisfy your selfish ambitions and cajole simple minds to believe in your incorrigible lies or phantom tales. Your book, “God's Message to Kuteb and Indigenes of Taraba State” is not from our God, the God of Israel, but probably from the Serpentine Spirit Leviathan whose mission is to cause animosity, destruction of lives and property in Takum, Ussa and the entire people of Taraba. You have gone too far. Retract your ways or else whatever evil you wish for the people will have a boomerang effect.