IWD Broadcast

 

INTERNATIONAL WIDOWS DAY MESSAGE

Honouring Widows, Defending Their Dignity, and Building a Future of Hope

On this International Widows Day, we pause to honour the strength, resilience, sacrifice, and dignity of widows across nations, cultures, and communities. We salute women who, despite grief, loneliness, rejection, financial hardship, and social exclusion, continue to rise with courage and grace. Today, we stand in solidarity with every widow and declare that your pain is seen, your tears matter, your voice counts, and your life carries immeasurable worth.

To every widow who has had to navigate the painful silence left by loss, the burden of raising children alone, the pressure of surviving without support, and the deep ache of emotional and economic uncertainty — we say: you are not forgotten. God sees you, heaven hears your cry, and there are still people on the earth committed to walking with you until sorrow gives way to strength and mourning gives way to meaning.

Yet, this day is not only for remembrance; it is also a day of conscience, justice, and action.

Around the world, countless widows remain disenfranchised, impoverished, stigmatised, dispossessed, neglected, and abused. Many are stripped of inheritance, denied access to education and healthcare, isolated by harmful traditions, excluded from decision-making spaces, and left vulnerable to poverty, trauma, and exploitation. In many communities, widowhood is treated not only as a personal loss, but as a social sentence. This must not continue.

A Call to Faith Leaders

We call on pastors, bishops, apostles, prophets, imams, priests, and all faith leaders to rise beyond ceremonial sympathy and become active defenders of widows. The pulpit must not be silent where widows are suffering. The Church and every faith community must become a sanctuary of compassion, justice, restoration, and practical support. Let us create structures of care, counselling, benevolence, advocacy, and inclusion for widows within our congregations and communities. True religion is not complete if widows remain unseen in our pews, unheard in our meetings, and unsupported in their affliction.

A Call to the United Nations, Civil Society, and Development Partners

We call on the United Nations, international development agencies, NGOs, women-focused institutions, philanthropic organisations, corporations and civil society groups to deepen collaboration and strengthen global responses to widowhood. Widows must not remain an invisible population in policy conversations and development frameworks. Their realities must be intentionally addressed in conversations around poverty alleviation, gender justice, mental health, social protection, education, healthcare, housing, peacebuilding, and economic inclusion.

Widows must not be excluded from International Women’s Day, and International Widows Day must not be treated as less significant than other UN-recognised commemorative observances.

We must build stronger partnerships that move from awareness to measurable impact.

A Call to Government

We call on governments at all levels to do more than acknowledge widows with annual statements. Widows need enforceable protections, responsive policies, legal reforms, economic opportunities, and social welfare systems that restore dignity and mitigate vulnerability. Governments must address discriminatory inheritance practices, improve access to justice, protect widows from violence and dispossession, create targeted empowerment programmes, and ensure widows are not left behind in national planning and social intervention strategies. A nation cannot claim progress while widows remain abandoned at the margins.

A Call to Journalists, Attorneys, Activists, and Advocates

We call on journalists, attorneys, activists, human rights defenders, gender advocates, and social justice champions to keep the issues of unreached, marginalised, dehumanised, dispossessed, defrauded widows and vulnerable orphans on the front burners of public discourse until we see real change that serves justice, restores dignity, and strengthens societal peace. We urge the media to keep telling these stories with compassion and courage; we urge legal practitioners to defend the rights of widows and orphans against exploitation, unlawful dispossession, and systemic abuse; and we urge advocates to continue pressing institutions, communities, and governments toward reforms that protect the vulnerable and punish injustice. Silence enables oppression, but sustained visibility, strategic advocacy, and collective action can move societies toward healing, equity, and peace.

A Call to Police Chiefs and Security Leaders

When I reported to the judicial system in USA and Nigeria, the case was upturned against me and corruption made evil win against good, leading to abuse, hijack of properties and belongings.

We call on police chiefs, commissioners of police, security commanders, investigators, family protection units, and all law-enforcement authorities to treat crimes against widows and orphans with urgency, seriousness, and uncompromising integrity. Too many widows suffer intimidation, property grabbing, fraudulent dispossession, domestic violence, coercion, threats, unlawful eviction, financial exploitation, and abuse without timely protection or justice. Too many orphans are left exposed to neglect, trafficking risks, exploitation, and predatory influences because the systems meant to protect them respond too slowly or not at all.

We urge police leadership to ensure that cases involving widows and vulnerable children are properly documented, professionally investigated, and lawfully pursued without bias, bribery, delay, mockery, or institutional indifference. Let law enforcement become a shield for the vulnerable rather than another wall they must struggle to climb. We call for stronger collaboration between police authorities, legal institutions, social welfare agencies, community leaders, faith-based organisations, and advocacy groups so that widows and orphans are protected before abuse escalates and justice is not denied by silence, influence, or procedural neglect.

A society that cannot protect its widows and children at the point of distress is already in moral and institutional danger. Police leadership must therefore rise to its duty not only as enforcers of law, but as defenders of human dignity, public trust, and social peace.


A Caution to Society

We must also recognise the broader social consequences of neglecting widows and orphans. When widows are left without support, protection, and adequate welfare, and when orphans grow up in abandonment, deprivation, trauma, and exclusion, society creates fertile ground for desperation, exploitation, crime, radicalisation, and cycles of violence. Children who are unsupported, unprotected, and unreached can become easy targets for traffickers, criminal networks, and sponsors of violence who prey on vulnerability for destructive ends. If we truly desire peace, security, and social stability, then the welfare, protection, education, and empowerment of widows and orphans must be treated not only as a humanitarian responsibility, but as a moral, spiritual, and national priority.

A Word to Widows and Their Children

To widows and their children who have suffered injustice, rejection, dispossession, betrayal, or abuse, we speak with compassion and urgency: do not surrender your hearts to retaliation, resentment, vengeance, bitterness, or destructive responses. Pain must not be allowed to push you into decisions that deepen wounds or destroy destinies. Instead, seek Godled counsel, legal guidance, emotional support, and safe community. Reach out to trusted faith leaders, responsible mentors, professional counsellors, and credible support systems that can help you navigate grief, conflict, trauma, and transition with wisdom and strength. We urge widows and their children to tap into opportunities provided through ministries, missions, churches, support networks, and initiatives such as Walk With Widows, where healing, encouragement, advocacy, empowerment, and practical help can be found. There is hope beyond this season, and there are people and platforms prepared to walk with you toward restoration, stability, and a better future.

Our Commitment: Walk With Widows Initiative

At Walk With Widows Initiative, our vision is clear: to stand with widows and address their spiritual, social, physical, psychological, and economic needs through care, compassion, community, empowerment, and transformational action.

We are committed to walking alongside widows through:

• fellowship and community-building

• counselling and emotional support

• networking and strategic connections

• empowerment and capacity development

• encouragement and pastoral care

• transformational initiatives that restore dignity and opportunity

Our interventions include, but are not limited to:

• payment of tuition and educational support

• micro-loans and economic empowerment opportunities

• conferences, colloquiums, and widows’ forums

• classes, mentoring, and life-enrichment programmes

• advocacy and policy engagement

• research and knowledge development on widowhood realities and solutions

We believe widowhood should not mark the end of relevance, dignity, stability, or joy. With the right support, widows can heal, thrive, lead, rebuild, and become powerful voices of transformation in families, communities, and nations.

A Call for Partnership, Support, and Sponsorship

As we mark this International Widows Day this June 23, we invite individuals, ministries, churches, corporations, foundations, development partners, policymakers, researchers, and compassionate friends of humanity to partner with us. We need your support, sponsorship, collaboration, advocacy, and financial partnership to expand the reach and impact of Walk With Widows Initiative.

Together, we can:

• restore hope to grieving hearts,

• provide practical relief to struggling widows,

• fund education and economic empowerment,

• amplify advocacy for justice and dignity,

• and build sustainable systems of support that will transform generations.

This is more than charity. This is kingdom responsibility, social justice, and human dignity in action.

Prayer

We pray today for widows and their children across the world:
God who defends the vulnerable will surround every widow with comfort, strength, provision, and divine help. Divinity will heal broken hearts, fight every battle of injustice, restore what has been lost, and raise helpers and destiny partners for every widow. I decree that homes once filled with sorrow will be visited with peace, stability, joy, love and fresh purpose. I pray widows will never be abandoned, and their children will become living testimonies of God’s faithfulness.

As I bring this broadcast to a close I share from Psalm 68:5 which clearly states that God in His Holy dwelling is Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows.

James 1:27 clearly records that Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”

The Lord will remember every widow for good, turn mourning into dancing, and raise a generation that will not merely speak about widows, but will truly walk with widows in love, justice, and transformative service.
Amen.

Counsel to Men on Widowhood

Counsel to Men About Widowhood — 7 Points

1. See her, don’t avoid her

Grief makes people feel invisible. A simple check-in, greeting, or “I’m thinking of you” removes isolation. Reach out to a widow today.

Pure religion... is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. James 1:27 KJV

2. Defend, don’t take advantage

Widows are specifically placed under God’s protection. Guard her from exploitation, bad deals, and pressure. Be her advocate, not her opportunist.  

Ye shall not afflict any widow... I will surely hear their cry. Exodus 22:22-23 KJV

3. Provide practical help without pride

Mow the lawn, fix the leak, carry provisions or roceries, help with paperwork. Do it quietly, without making her feel like a burden. Dignity matters.  

God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love. Hebrews 6:10 KJV

4. Listen more than you advise

She does not always need solutions. Sometimes she needs a man in whose presence she can safely cry. Be patient. Grief has its own timeline and it is NOT one size fits all.

To every thing there is a season... a time to weep.  Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 KJV. 

5. Point her to God, not just yourself

You can not replace her husband. But you can point her to the Husband of the widow. Pray with her, remind her of Scripture, connect her to community.  

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. Psalm 34:18 KJV

6. Be present, God-led fathers to her children*  

Children who lose a father need steady, righteous male presence as mentors, uncles, church fathers. Model responsibility, integrity, gentleness, and strength. Children thrive when they see both nurturing care and firm guidance reflected in Christ.  

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 KJV

7. Advocate for visibility

Bring widows into the room. Invite them to church leadership conversations, community programs, and workplace initiatives. Their voices, wisdom, and needs matter. Visibility protects them from being overlooked.  

Open thy mouth for the voiceless in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9 KJV_

Men, above is what it looks like to carry God’s heart as Defender and Father. Strength with compassion.

Celebration for Olubamidele!

 1125 Words for Our Audu!

A proud Egba man through and through — grounded, resilient, warm-hearted, and full of quiet pride. A man standing tall, though he has a brother towering over him in height; he is taller in grace, charisma, loyalty, wisdom, and glory.

The kind of brother who may not always call… but somehow always shows up exactly when it matters most. Shocked was I when he stepped in with Olurotimi at my 55th, sorry scratch that, 50th.

Raise your glass and toast to my brother... who fights me all the time because I query why I have to call him Brother Dele when he is only two years, 2 weeks and 2 days older. I can here a sweetheart saying, lo ra l'oja! I can only echo, f'ona han mi.

Raise your glass and toast to classy Mr. Oluwabamidele TiOluwatope Famuyiwa, soon to be Mayor of MK.

I pray for you egbon mi, God will continue to strengthen you with wisdom, peace, and uncommon favour. Your hands will never lack provision for the people you love. I declare that the sacrifices you make for family and friends will return to you as joy, honour, wellness, wealth and lasting fulfillment. I pray your home remain covered in grace, your path directed by God, your laughter remains contagious and your blessed wife and outstanding children remain channels of happiness. I pray that you will continue to stand tall in dignity, strength, and divine purpose.

I decree that you will be refilled and refueled as you wait upon the Lord. Elohim shall renew your strength and you shall mount up with wings as eagles after the order in Isaiah 40:31

After the order in Numbers 6:24–26 I decree that The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Happy 55th Birthday to the Audu of Ibiyemi and Olukunle Famuyiwa clan.

They say the first child in an African family is born twice, once as a baby, and again as an unpaid assistant father.

My brother did not have other siblings jumping at his first wail; he arrived with invisible responsibilities strapped to him like ceremonial agbada.

As the first of five, he mastered the sacred art of carrying everybody’s matter. House cleaning? Present. Family drama? Present. Emergency mechanic negotiations? Present. Random advice nobody asked for but everybody needed? Always present.

Here’s the funny thing, this son of Ibiyemi hardly calls. You can wait for “How are you?” call tl next Easter. But let there be one family crisis or just sneeze near danger and suddenly your phone rings and he is negotiating appearing like an action hero entering scene three of a Nollywood blockbuster. Flights booked. Bags packed. Face serious. Wallet loaded.

At a recent funeral for the patriarch of a family close to ours, while everyone was buried in sympathy, service of songs logistics, and emotional exhaustion, one woman discovered her phone had been stolen. Most people would have sighed dramatically and said, “Ah! Eeya! These things happen.” Not Oluwabamidele. My brother turned into a one-man investigative task force, Omo Olopa! The next thing, he is asking questions, following up information on the venue's camera. Following leads. Coordinating people. Going far beyond obligation because somewhere inside him lives a stubborn refusal to ignore another person’s distress. That is who Tolutope is.

His names? Dad's family named him Olubamidele because names from the clan are predicated by Olu but MAMI's family stuck to their Tolutope because this was the name MAMI received from the Holy Spirit and when Grandma Fatolu-Odu arrived the hospital to celebrate the birth of her grandson she chanted, Tolutope. It wasn't family rivalry, it was just two principled families sticking to the name Eleduwa whispered to them.

You would expect my brother to be British like MAMI or Native like Bami, somehow, he chose to be the life of every party, picking their personable personae (oyinbo repete).

Give him music, friends - old and new, small pepper soup, plus two hours, and suddenly strangers are laughing like cousins at a December reunion. Talking about chopping life, he few years ago was laughing out loud and went back headlong, face down. Death starred him in the face but Jesu Kristi said rara o!

Se ba o ku, ise o tan. He continues to carry joy naturally, the kind that makes room lighter without trying too hard. The kind of man whose arrival changes the temperature and flips the thermostat of a gathering. Once he arrives, water turns to wine and cassava turns to lafun with ooyọ. Not that he cares much about lafun as Eko recultured him aa Lagos Bobo. I said that to say he would make appropriate provision for whatever is missing.

But beneath every roaring laughter sits wisdom. Not the noisy type that quotes motivational speakers every five minutes. His wisdom is quieter, seasoned; sometimes hidden inside jokes and side comments that only make sense three months later when life humbles you properly.

I still share the ko-ko-ka joke at events to which I am invited as emcee... I bought this lovely pair of shoes and was demo-ing, he was present and most likely MAMI too in the apartment we shared at Adeniji Adele... As I walked with my shoes doing ko-ko-ka and singing "bata mi a dun kokoka, ready to style out for my next television programme, Oluwabamidele whispered aloud in pidgin, "Beta shoe no dey make noise!" Damn! He burst my bubble right there. I almost smacked his head with newspaper rolls!

He may skip church o, he is NOT SU like Motun and Omolola, but nobody who knows him doubts that he walks with deep awareness that God directs the script of his life. Faith for him is less performance, more presence of mind.

And love? Ah. That chapter matured beautifully with Abiola, his heartthrob. If she wants to start a fight, let her ignore any of his siblings when we arrive! But she is so sweet. We love and honour her not as wife but the one after me in the line up of dames in our Eko-Egba Kingdom. Yes, I yari for the drama of call your elder brother's wife sister. Lailai! If we start am 25 yeara ago e for don become entitlement.

He grew into a man who loves his wife deeply — not just loudly, but sacrificially. The kind of love that shows up in responsibility, protection, consistency, and provision. He stands firmly for his nuclear family while still stretching his hands toward the extended one, carrying both with dignity even when nobody sees the cost.

Quadruplet Miracle

Quadruplet Miracle: Join Me To Bless This Family

A faith leader called me last week about a couple with miracle births. 

I have seen God work miracles through me before - like helping a son with a heart condition get surgery in India and a girl with a tongue-tie get healed. 

Now, I'm called to support this couple, blessed to the glory of God with quads at 50 and 63!

The babies' arrival was unexpected, and bills are piling. The father is a missionary, helping others, and the mother who is a business woman is unable to work as she heals from surgery and tend to her bundles of blessings. 

You have supported me before to bless lives, let's come together AGAIN to bless this family.

What do we need?

- 3.5M to clear hospital bills

- 2.5M for a home (I have a place in mind that needs basic touch up yo make it conducive)

- 2M for basic needs

- 2M for business investment for the mother

If you desire to sow into this blessing, reach me on whatsapp 📲 wa.me/2347086507744. 

join me to make a difference!

Hurricane Report: Kingston, Jamaica

Three delegates for Feast of Esther, founded by faith matriarch, Pastor Foluke Adeboye, arrived in Jamaica Kingston on Friday for a conference for female faith leaders on Saturday. Defying all odds they prayerfully held the conference which seemed salvation, rededication, deliverance, healing and transformation to all participants as the President for USA - Pastor Anthonia Adeyeye of Abundant Life Christian Church Brooklyn delivered the message urging women to take up their role as Esthers to stand on their watch. 

Though safe to travel on Sunday as scheduled, the delegates are locked down on Kingston because airlines cancelled flights and the country officials closed the airport much earlier than the projected landfall by Melissa. One wonders if this is genuinely for safety or greedily to curry the favour of international partners. 

But the delegates have turned the inability to travel to a prayer retreat as they continue to hold up the nation in prayer with Dr. Omolola Omoteso and Pastor Bridget Adeoye leading prayers for global peace. 

Category 5 hurricane, code named Melissa, made landfall in Jamaica, bringing catastrophic winds, storm surges, and flash flooding. 

Though storm's sustained winds is reported to have reached up to 175 mph, with gusts exceeding 200 mph, particularly in mountainous areas, Kingston, Jamaica is currently experiencing major hurricane conditions with strong sustained winds of 35 to 50 mph, with gusts potentially stronger. 

Steady rain with showers and thunderstorms continue into late afternoon with high of 82°F (28°C). 

The hurricane intensified in some areas of Jamaica bringing catastrophic flash flooding and landslides. Thunderstorms and gusty winds are expected, with the highs reaching low 80s and variable clouds overnight and a chance of showers. Low around 80F, with SW winds at 25 to 35 mph. 

The cloud and storm is moving over Jamaica, and crossing to eastern Cuba, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos by Wednesday. 

Rainfall of 20-40 inches hit some areas leading to catastrophic flash flooding and landslides. 

Up to 13 feet of storm surge hit some areas with strong wind and caused extensive coastal flooding and extensive infrastructure damage to homes, hospitals and schools in southwestern Jamaica, cutting off communities from power supplies and overwhelming local authorities. 

Many who responded to mandatory evacuations orders were safely accommodated in  over 650 shelters opened across the country. 

Melissa is now centered off the northern coast of Jamaica after rushing ashore as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history. It is now downgraded to Category 4 hurricane as it heads next toward Cuba. 

While Melissa has reportedly not caused any death directly, three in Jamaica died during storm preparations, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.

It is important for the nation to rally round counsellors and chaplains and open a tollfree line through which persons seeking comfort, counsel and encouragement can get help. A woman found at a restaurant transfixed in fear was promptly counselled and calmed by Chaplain Omolola.  There can be a surve in mental health issues as an indirect impact of the hurricane.

Meanwhile, airlines in Kingston and Montego Bay are projected to open between tomorrow and Friday October 31, 2025.

Report by Dr. Omolola Omoteso

Dr. Omolola Omoteso-Famuyiwa is a journalist and minister who is passionate about sharing God's words for the healing of others.

Seneca Village: Speaking Still

What lies beneath your feet as you walk the length and width of Central Park New York is #SenecaVillage. Buried but still breathing, silenced but speaking still. Let children know that before Africans were labelled slaves, we were kings and queens, princes and princesses #JUSTICE

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Seneca Village was a vibrant community in 19th-century New York City, located in what is now Central Park. Founded in 1825 by free Black Americans, the village thrived as a self-sufficient neighbourhood with schools, churches, and cemeteries.

Here's what we know about Seneca Village

Location: The village spanned from 82nd to 89th Streets between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, covering about five acres of land.

Residents: Seneca Village was home to around 225 residents, primarily African Americans, with some Irish and German immigrants. Many residents owned their homes, which was rare for African Americans at the time.

Community Institutions:

All Angels' Church: A central institution and Episcopal church serving the villagers.

African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church: Provided spiritual guidance and support to African American residents.

Coloured School No. 3: Educated children and offered opportunities for a better future.

Significance:

Seneca Village represented African American property ownership, community, and resilience in pre-Civil War New York.

It was a symbol of black self-sufficiency and a haven from the slums of downtown Manhattan.

Destruction: The village was forcibly removed in 1857 to make way for Central Park, with the city using eminent domain to acquire the land.

Residents were displaced, and many received little or no compensation for their lost properties.

Legacy: Efforts have been made to commemorate Seneca Village, including archaeological excavations, educational programmes, and commemorative plaques. The village's story serves as a reminder of the complexities of history and the importance of preserving the stories of marginalised communities.

I urge you, never let silence win.