IS THERE ANY HOPE FOR NIGERIA???

                                                           

The only thing I did not do is moo or low like a cow.  Okay, Okay, I forgot! I did not chew the cud either. But bovine restlessness and restiveness were my companions as pain shot through my waist all the way down to my feet. I was tired of being weary and tired! The pen of restriction binding me with others of my kind fed the flames of claustrophobia, I needed air but the uniformed shepherds kept directing us like a policeman controls onerous traffic.  In this country, there are so many uniforms that you don’t know who is who.  The whole place is a livery of confusion. The voices of the uniformed men cut intermittently through the buzz of activities shouting, “You can not go beyond here”.

I was at the Murtala Muhammed waiting for my brother to arrive. Nonso is the best brother in the world but the way he usually plans can try a saint (GUY, YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU). I did not reckon I was going to be here until a few hours ago. It was hellish. As I stood outside Arrivals, I wondered what it was about Nigeria that dehumanizes people. Citizens were made to feel like cattle because they came to welcome family and friends. In other parts of the world, we should be sitting in air-conditioned rooms while awaiting our loved ones. Some work always seems to be going on at the Murtala Muhammed “international” airport yet anytime one visits, it’s still same old, same old. On his trip back, entering the departure lounge made me feel like “boli” roasting on a grill. SMH…….

Nigeria, a place where the populace grope in perpetual darkness like misguided bats, a country where bombs go off with the regularity and frequency of fireworks at twelve midnight on December 31^st, a nation whose streets are strewn with the carcasses of the weak, poor, sick and bedraggled, a land that inhabits fainting sheep without shepherds, a land where monkeys have tree branches but pupils have nowhere to sit in classes. A friend recently said we are a diabetic nation with a surfeit of sugar but the cells within starve. The heart of this country swarms with fat, swarming maggots of corruption and dishonesty. Nigeria makes the soul bleed, the heart break and the eyes weep like they were infused with onion fumes!

So if you would ask me whether there is any foreseeable hope for my “fatherland” I would give you an EMPHATIC  NO!!!

……Hey! But wait a minute, why do we study history. I would guess it is to prevent the mistakes of the past from catching up with us or to show that what has happened in the past can happen in the present or future.

So let’s rewind to about 856 BC, Samaria case in point. The Syrians had besieged the Samarians and there was terrible famine in the city. This is so reminiscent of Naija. We have been overwhelmed by corruption and evil that there is now a dearth of everything good you can think of.


Things were dreadful in Samaria, doves dung ( I used to think it was poo but it’s actually a wild vegetable) was going for like 3 dollars. Here wild vegetables go for almost nothing and you could get succulent “Ugu” leaves for almost free in some parts of the country. Things were dreadful in Samaria especially if you also add that a donkeys head was going for fifty dollars (I don’t think a plate of “Isi ewu” costs that much). To cap it all, the hunger was so bad that mothers were sharing and killing their children for food. Hmmm, Nigeria is bad but we have not gotten to this point yet and I don’t think we would ever. Is that a smidgen of hope? You tell me!


The king of Samaria tore his clothes at the calamity that had befallen his people. He was distraught, and confessed that the predicament that had befallen his citizens was more than his capacity could handle. One thing that leapt at me in this story is that he could be reached by his citizenry. Okay, they have one up on us here. We have leaders who do not “give a damn”; their skins are like Benjy Grimm’s of the fantastic four. Stony and hard, no human feelings penetrate their hide. They are so unreachable, so untouchable, so away from it all. They sit on their high horses and would never admit they don’t know diddly squat.

The king went looking for an answer to this national riddle, which led him to a prophet called Elisha, who prophesied that in 24 hours there was going to be a turnaround in the economic situation tormenting the country. There was going to be so much surfeit of food that gallons of grains were going to be sold for a dollar. The king’s economic adviser scoffed at this and the prophet told him that he was going to see the change but never partake of it. The dude was like our special advisers, all hot air and nothing. With all their degrees, bought or achieved, they don’t know anything and can only purport theories which do not amount to much while they feed off the trough of the nation’s coffers.

24 hours later, something that Jack Bauer could not have done happened. Four lepers outside the city gates of Samaria decided to take a step of faith towards the camp of the Syrians and while they walked, God amplified their steps and it sounded like the Samarians had partnered with other countries to help them defeat their enemies. The Syrians ran for dear life and left a camp that was brimming with everything good you could think of. The lepers stuffed themselves then announced it to the whole populace. Subsequently there was feasting and celebration. The last people that we would have expected to deliver a nation were those lepers. They were physically challenged, had nothing but faith but they did what the king, his soldiers and special advisers could never have done. I believe the citizens of Nigeria are those lepers but for any transformation to occur in this country, it has to be the ones living outside the city gates. When you live outside the city gates, your mentality is not locked in like the others within, you can move, live and think outside the box. You do not conform to the ways of the people within the walls. These are the kind of people Nigeria needs now, people who might not have much but have faith and are different in their outlook. These are Nigerians who are ready to live by faith or die trying. They do not need to have much; they do not have to be many. In the similitude of those lepers, they would take deliberate steps towards our problems, that is when the ordinary would become extraordinary, the earthly becomes divine and the natural becomes supernatural. It is when we take calculated steps that God steps in to amplify our efforts, human ambition and vision sets off an earthquake of heavenly intention. This is not just about interminable religious prayer and fasting. We need people who would refuse to die, who want change at all costs, who believe and will work and walk towards change.

It happened as the Prophet declared and change happened within a day. The special adviser saw the change and died without partaking of it like the Seer said. THE UNBELIEVING RARELY EVER PARTAKE OF THE GOODIES OF CHANGE, except if you are a Thomas, maybe. Such doubters are trampled into the sands of time as people rush towards the spoils of transformation.

I know some unbelieving soul out there might just discountenance this as some biblical mumbo jumbo or some pop psychological baloney. Such a person is not a student of history. Look around you change is springing up in the most unlikely places. Nigeria is not as bad as Samaria was, if change could happen then, it can happen now.


I cannot tell you that our tomorrow is 24 hours from now, 2 years or 10 but if we keep believing and keep working towards it, I believe these prophetic words will become real in our lives soon…. “Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria (NIGERIA)”.

Nigeria does not need more political leaders. It is prophets that we need, people who will look beyond the present circumstances and see a bit of hope. People who will keep speaking and prophesying in words and deeds over this nation……IT IS BY THE BLESSING OF THE RIGHTEOUS THAT A CITY IS EXALTED!!!

A KING IS BORN IN BETHLEHEM

                                                                       

Mummy giving Santa Claus a smackeroo under the mistletoe (I sincerely don’t think it would have been a laugh if dad had seen), jingling of bells, sleds and snow, gifts and lights, stockings and missing snowmen, puddings and decorated trees, these are the classic features of Christmas.

The rush of adrenaline as people shop till they drop, the thrill of opening presents, the joy of family reunions, these are the caffeine in the coffee of this high energy season.  Like a toy boat in the strong grip of a maniacal flood, we are swept away by the fever of it all. 

Now there is one little town that is embroiled in the swirling currents of the Christmas story, that is Bethlehem. Thing is, unless you look very closely, you would miss this rural municipal in the snowy mists of all the merriment.

Some thousands of years before, Prophet Samuel went down to Bethlehem to anoint a shepherd boy as King of Israel. The crowning was swallowed up in the festivities of the sacrifice he made to God to disguise the true purpose of his visit and almost no one noticed that history had been made. People thought “The Prophet” must have been clowning with David since another king was on the throne of Israel.

Fast forward to Augustus Caesar’s decree for a population census during the Roman’s world domination. The whole earth was caught up in the excitement of the edict while in a manger a King was born and no one noticed. Herod was on the throne calling the shots and was oblivious to the divine nativity going on in his back yard. No one reckoned with Bethlehem, not even the wise men that saw a rare star. They felt kings were usually in palaces and went looking for the Ruler of the world in Herod’s place. Somehow in the showy events of life, Bethlehem always seems overlooked.

Herod was confused by the enquiries of the wise men and inquired of his scribes the meaning of the oriental men’s search. The scribes discovered in the books that Prophet Micah, who had a glimpse of the potential of the unknown town had prophesied about its future.

Bethlehem, small dusty town without frills and thrill, a place not usually mentioned when you talk about the cosmopolitan cities of Judah. But it was a place where Kings were born.

Bethlehem never looked like it but it was it! If you judged it by its cover then you would miss the heavenly bestseller in it by a mile. You overlook the place at your peril. It was unglamorous but within it was born the Glamour of heaven. Contrary to prevailing public opinion, great things happen in Bethlehem!

Recently, I went for an oncology seminar organized by Ace Medicare Clinic in the African Leadership Developmental Centre of Covenant University Sango Otta. Sango Otta is an unspectacular place, if there ever was one, compared to the Victoria Islands of this world. The conference was world class and drew great people from all over the world. The convention was a king amongst conventions!

Same thing applies to you. YOU MIGHT NOT LOOK LIKE IT BUT YOU ARE IT! THERE IS A KING IN YOU!

Jesus was born in a manger after been rejected in the inns, surrounded by goats and sheep but it never detracted from the fact that He was the King of Kings.

Have you ever been rejected by a human, marital, financial, educational establishment, then you are in distinguished company. Are you currently in a stinky smelly, manger, beset by the scent of the hay of limitations, the braying of the donkeys of lack of companionship, are you sleeping in an ugly crib of insolvency, do you seem to be booed by the lowing of the cows of hopelessness, are the baaing of sheep telling you there is no wool of dressing to keep you warm in the harsh winds of a hoary winter,….? All these will never detract from the truth that there is a king in you.

In the manger you might feel that you do not have humans to assist the delivery of your dreams and publicize it to the world. Your thoughts might be that you are not in a labour room and there are no midwives. Keep your cool, angels will be your midwives and will announce you. Even when men finally appeared, they were common shepherds. How will shepherds help your present ordeal? My friend, think companionship, when the night is cold and long, nothing helps like the camaraderie of folks more joyous than Ukrainians loaded up on vodka doing a Gopak dance. Be patient a little bit more, The Orient kings will soon arrive bearing the gifts that are tailor made for your destiny.

Look beyond the fanfare of this period and key into the purpose of this season! Christmas is beyond dining and wining, it is a time to take a long critical look inwardly. IT IS A TIME WHEN KINGS ARE BORN!!! YOU ARE A KING!

Has life belittled you in any way then listen and listen good to what Prophet Micah told Bethlehem, it is also a message for you…..“FOR THOU O, BETHLEHEM ARE NOT THE LEAST AMONGST THE PRINCES OF JUDAH, FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME A GOVERNOR THAT WILL RULE MY PEOPLE ISRAEL….”

 

 

 

 

 

TAKEN...

                                                              

Recently I have been too tired to watch any movie, I even had to struggle with the Avengers, which I am sure beggars belief. In spite of my fatigue, I had to take out time to see “Taken” since everyone seemed to be talking about it with the intensity of surf crashing on a beach and the constancy of the droning of worker bees.

It was a great movie!!!

Liam Neeson is quite the actor. In the last few years, the movies he has been in have been absolutely magnificent. He has pure vintage class. As he gets older, the man is getting better. Like rich Merlot, Mr. Neeson saturates the buds of our creative senses with a flavor that is akin to that of the grapes grown in the vinery of Bacchus himself.

I loved “Taken” for a number of reasons. One it was revelatory; I haven’t been able to get past the horror of Albanians kidnapping pretty tourist ladies and flooding their systems with drugs for prostitution rings. The depravity of the human heart especially when it comes to pecuniary gains is absolutely astounding. The heart of man is indeed desperately wicked. What gets me most about the film is that it is a story of redemption.

It is just in the human nature for us to gambol away out of the reach of our Father like errant lambs. We flaunt his orders with reckless abandon in the name of having fun and escaping the boring reaches of His “Stultifying” presence. He says “go this way”, but we prefer the other and by doing so we do not hear when He calls until things get out of hand, then we are taken. It is just our way, we have been like this since the earliest days of Eden.

Getting out of His radar, we end up being taken by the Albanians of drugs, alcohol, divorce, poverty, prostitution, depression, suicidal tendencies, afflictions, diseases, an inexhaustible list of problems, even death sometimes. By the time we start shouting and screaming for Dad, things have usually gone out of hand.

You would expect Dad to leave us to ourselves and our issues since they were self afflicted through our self destructive tendencies but He does not usually. He puts everything on the line to save us, even His very life. He sacrifices everything, battles the hordes of hell, death and the grave to set us free. He loses blood, takes unbearable punishment and suffering to emancipate us from the evil ones who have taken us.  Whipped and lacerated with gun butts and garrotes, He takes the bullets of our tormentors in his hands and feet, but His love never lets up. SUCH LOVE LIKE HIS IS AMAZING! His affection is for us is incredibly unimaginable. He never walks away. He will follow through thick and thin to be with us again, go through every maze, look for us in any nook and cranny, would do anything it takes for us to have our freedom again.

One important thing though, for His salvation mission to be achieved, we have to listen to him and listen good! We would need to recognize His Lordship and obey his instructions to the letter. This is what would give Him the vital lead that would help guide Him to where we are being held captive. Without this, waterloo might just be ahead like it happened for Amanda, Kim’s pal. It was a vital lead that saved Kim.

When The Father finally battles through to us, we are shocked and ask with stupefying incredulity like Kim did. “You came for me” she said and with all the love in the world filling his eyes like all the oceans in our hemisphere together, he tells us “I told you, I would”.

At the very end of it all, He reiterates, “I LOVE YOU” when we express our love to him, then He sets us on a path of purpose like Bryan did his daughter when he took her to meet Sheerah who was to show her the ropes of becoming a musical star.

FOR GOD COMMENDETH HIS LOVE TOWARDS US IN THAT WHILE WE WERE YET WITHOUT STRENGTH, CHRIST DIED FOR US………….

MERCY SAID NO......

                                                              

I was doomed for destruction!

As I was dragged along by the burly bullies, almost naked aside from the shawl I quickly tied around my waist, fear like liquid lead percolated in my soul and crystallized into a solidified mass of dread that made my whole being heavier with each step taken. What transpired the last time this happened ran vividly in Technicolour across my mind in slow motion.  I could see her pretty face as the projectiles unleashed by a mob frothing at the mouth with religious fervor hit her with unerring accuracy. Her face dissolved into a pulp of bone, gristle, flesh and bones. Her whole body became disjointed. She was made over in a horrific way that still gives me nightmares. What was left over at the end of the gruesome exercise could never be deemed to be a person but broken debris of humanity. Fountains of blood spurted and jetted from different parts of that wrecked mass, a crimson tide which ebbed into caked bloody ponds from which hordes of flies drank their fill. But it was her screaming that still got to me the most, the piercing shriek of a tortured banshee in excruciating agony, a maddened ultrasonic sound that shattered the glass of my consciousness. As I was hauled away unceremoniously, my mind could not could not come to terms with the fact that I was about to become like her!

Funnily though, I had continued plying my trade before now despite the punishment I knew would be meted out to me if I was ever caught. I had to eat! The need for food has always blunted the serrated, razor, sharp edge of my horrors. Ultimately I had been caught in the very act of adultery and was now going to be stoned to death.

To make matters worse, I was being hauled to the temple so any chance of going scot free had been erased completely. The temple is a den of religious vipers, Pharisees and Sadducees who will judge me guilty in world record time. To make matters worse, I overhead that the Galilean would be there, He who was even more righteous than the snakes mentioned above. There was no squirming out of this one. I was thoroughly hooked!

It turned out that I was bait for one of their religious games to ensnare the Galilean; another woman caught up in the intrigues of a man’s world. My partner in the tango dance for which the death sentence stared me in the face had long gone. Funny, he was supposed to be guilty too but I was left to shoulder the burden of sin for both of us. But what kind of people sees a human life as something cheap and dispensable in the bid of trying to snare another? These people were worse than I am but were too blinded by religion to see it.

When we got to Him, they brought out their arguments; Moses had said that the crime I had committed was punishable by death. But instead of answering them, the weird man that self allegedly called Himself the Son of God kept doodling in the sand. What kind of a man plays in the sand when someone’s life is at stake?  Just my luck that my destiny had to be at the mercy of such a one as this, He did not even look up but kept writing in the dust like a child. A frisson of anger and irritation flared with my fear drenched soul. He should just get it over with; I can’t stand this any longer.

His silence dragged on, but my accusers were persistent and kept pestering Him like pesky flies until he raised his head and said “he that has no sin should cast the first stone”. The hush that ensued made a graveyard seem noisier than a market place.

My would be executioners were stabbed with conviction and started to leave one at a time dropping the weapons that had been custom picked for my painful death. They must have realized that we all live in glass houses and should never throw stones because ALL of us have been caught right in the very act of one thing or another. We are all guilty because we have all sinned. Mine was adultery, his was stealing public funds, hers was peddling venomous and poisonous gossip and the list goes on interminably.

Mouth agape, I kept looking at the growing pyramid of stones that would have been the end of me until they all left and my fear began to recede into the distance.  I now had enough presence of mind to take a peek at what He was writing. In lovely prints, He had written that the free gift of grace now trumps the law. I saw that He had re-written my story in the sands of time. He had closed the past and opened a new chapter for a new story. Instead of an adulterer, He called me woman. He did not see my past but saw me as I am. I was dazed! I came to be condemned. Instead of Judgment, I got mercy. Instead of pain, I got relief. I got a new lease of life, a sweet taste of freedom. I have one more shot at life because MERCY SAID NO!!!

He finally lifted his head and His eyes bore through my soul. He asked about my accusers, if no one had accused me. I told Him no and He smiled at me.  To me His smile was a snowy white ocean where angels took their bath before embarking on divine assignments and I could feel its warmth melting the snow caps of the Mount of Olives. 

I left with his last words ringing in my head. “NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU, GO AND SIN NO MORE”…..

DELILAH.......

                                                              

Superman’s weakness was kryptonite. Grapes were mine! I wasn’t supposed to touch those luscious beauties with a barge pole.

Which is why I am surprised with myself as I jauntily stride towards the valley of Sorek (grapes) in deep Philistine territory where some wine celebration thing was going on. One, the Philistines were mortal enemies, two, if it smacks or looks like wine, I should be headed in the opposite direction. But I have always been a risk taker and a bit blasé about my divine destiny. If not, I should have remembered that being around vineyards do not usually portend good will for me. The last time I was near one in Timnath, a lion attacked me though I quickly made short work of it.

Deep within, my main reason was to see if I could catch an eyeful of Philistine wenches. Grapes and non kosher food were "no nos” for me but my real weakness was these uncircumcised chics. For uncircumcised women, I found them quite kosher dishes. Now they were my real achilles heel. Some guy later went on to write that I was a He-man with  a she weakness. Superman runs away from kryptonite but for some reason, I always run towards mine.. Pop and mom and all the high priests have perpetually warned that covenanted folks should never have anything to do with the uncircumcised. Light never fellowships with darkness, they continually admonish but my sun still burns bright. My name actually means sun. it seems with my super powers come super deafness and super pride.

I hated everything Philistine aside from their ladies! I should have, but somehow I had never given much thought to why I am usually attracted to the enemy, enticed to what might be the death of me. Even with my prowess for riddles, this is one I haven’t been able to crack. If I am to ever hazard a guess, I would say its because Jewish girls are too tame for me. They are like lambs compared to the wolverine  nature of their counterparts.  Somehow Hebrew babes don’t make my blood boil to steaming point. Over the years I have been playing with fire in my bosom but the thrill makes all the danger worthwhile. My trysts with these ladies of Gath and Ashkelon usually gets me into trouble but always presents me with the opportunity to whip the behind of these oppressors of Israel with relish. I do it with my eyes closed. A few days back while exploring the treasures of a harlot at Gaza, my enemies got wind of it and laid a seige on me but I managed to escape at midnight. Something must be wrong with me, because here I am again.

As I got into the maelstrom of the party, my nerves were set on edge, I hate their music! But something  happened that caused the whole direction of my life to shift. I saw her dancing and her name was the best thing to ever hit my ossicles! It causes a lilt on the tongue, leaves a taste on it akin to the most delicious palm date.

She was a red head, with red lips and a red short dress skimpy enough to save my imagination a lot of stress. She seemed to have been conceived and incubated in wine with a complexion that was like cream goat cheese’s. The gap between her pearly whites hinted of a paradise where pomegranates fluorished uninhibited, if I can’t have grape wine, I sure can do pomegranates (hehehe, I chuckled to myself). I envisioned myself drinking mead that was sweeter than wine from the goblet of those lips. Waist beads accentuated her hip and silver bracelets her ankles (my best locations for jewellry), lovely trinkets that deflected the arrows of sunshine right into my heart.  The tatoo on her neck spoke of ancient arcane secrets that I quickly unravelled through my smoky intense gaze. She looked at me and smiled; ours was instant chemistry. Her oxygen with my hydrogen would form water sweeter than the one I drank at En-hakkore. As she gyrated and swivelled, jiggled and bounced, my mind splintered like a mirror into a million shards, each sliver a reflection of a thousand torturing images. She was a sea of magnetic mesmerization, and having discarded the life jacket of my morals, I hopelessly and pleasurably drowned. My heartbeat roared more than the lion I spoke about earlier and I could visualize all the honey I was going to get out of this one (I promptly forgot that the honey I got from the dead lion was not legitimate since being a Nazirite forbade touching dead things). I fell in love. Since I was Samson, she could not resist my advance and became wholly mine. The valley of Sorek became a place of intoxicating pleasures.

Our relationship was a rollercoaster ride in a the eye of a hurricane  from the word go! Boy! She could nag! But the heavenly pleasures she offered where worth it!  What is it with her and the source of my strength? No maiden had ever asked me that before? But I had also never loved another like her before and would never want to lose her. She harrased me like angry wasps until I started teasing her thinking she would get fed up with time but to my amazement, she had the tenacity of a mule and ran me ragged until I could not bear the nagging anymore. I progressively went from ridiculous stuff until I got to her messing with my hair, then I finally bared my heart to her. That is how we strong men lose it, gradually monkeying around with our fate until the truth dawns that we have been had! I figured it would make no difference since she truly loves me.

Wily vixen Delilah was, she knew touch was my love language and made me lie on her laps. Massaging and touching, kissing and petting until I went into a heavy sleep like I was drugged (she was a drug). I woke up to see my locks gone and the Spirit departed. I was reduced to putty, a normal man as bald as an egg. I was on my powerless own!

I got to know she had been paid by my foes to ferret out my secret. My tormentors gouged out my eyes, put me in brass fetters and  made me grind their grain all day. When you stupidly fall off the path of destiny, you lose your vision and your life goes from the sublime to the menial. From the heights of the supernatural and extra-ordinary you plummet to the low of the ordinary and natural. I, Samson, the sun of Israel  reduced to a blind bat grinding grainy meals. From a life of exhilarating freedom, I found myself in a prison of limitations! I remembered the past, when with the jawbone of an ass, I leveled a thousand Philistine elite soldiers. But that was the past. Regret flooded my soul like faecal water in a blocked cesspit! The maggots of ignominy festered in my soul!

My hair started to grow again. Mercy never lets go! Brother, if you lost hair, do not lose hope for it will grow again. The One I was covenanted to is merciful, gracious and loving. Hope burst upon my face like a ray of sunlight kissing a sunflower seed after a long winter, it filled my core like a dead root coming alive at the scent of water. Nothing rocks like redemption!

During the festivities to worship their god, I was called upon to clown for them. I told the kid who led me to support me between the pillars holding up their temple. Philistines are dumb, who hinges the whole support of such a massive edifice on two moveable pillars! Guys, the pillars of your life will determine the strength of your destinies! Most people like the Philistines don’t give much thought to the flimsy pillars they hinge their lives, career, marriages, finances, health, etc, on. It makes sense to have only One pivotal pillar, a Chief Cornerstone. I reconnected to my Source and asked Him to move through me one more time and to allow me die with my enemies. A LIFE WITHOUT VISION IS NOT WORTH LIVING! I would rather die!

I brought the whole house down! Sod their Dagon! I was buried under a tomb of stones and as my lastbreath was snuffed out, a lone tear ran down my eye. My reign as a leader in Israel lasted for only twenty years. My sun has set faster than it was supposed to…. Delilah, I thought, if not for Delilah….

A PRUDENT MAN SEES TROUBLE COMING AND HIDES HIMSELF………………………….

THE TRAGEDY OF ALUU

                                         

 

The speed at which news flares up and gets buried here is incredible! A few weeks ago, the whole country was agog with the news of the young men that were burnt at Aluu and as usual the boiling cauldron of outrage has simmered down to a cold pot locked up in the cupboard of our memory.

Truth is, we usually spend too many hours aggressively attacking the leaves of a situation instead of uprooting its origins. Everyone has called for the heads of the people of Aluu but is that the solution to the whole issue. If it is actually true that they had been harassed for a while by thieves while the police did nothing to alleviate the issue, would one really blame them for taking the law into their hands? Believe me if you have ever lost a loved one to armed robbers, I am sure that you would not give any quarter to any that crosses your path except you are full of divine love. As much as I don’t condone what the people of Aluu did, would you blame them or a system that failed to keep them safe? One thing I can say about the whole incident is that it confronted us with the ugliness of an age long barbarity.

Nigeria does not value human lives, blood is spilled in this nation on a regular basis and we are beginning to live with its consequences. We place more value in things than people. It shows in the kind of public vehicles used to transport our citizens, the horrendous state of public schools, the dilapidation of our teaching hospitals, the murderous traps in the form of roads, fake drugs, adulterated fuel and so on. The lack of appreciation of human lives explains why a Nigerian business owner would take money from the coffers of his company to travel for summer with his girlfriend while he hasn’t paid his staff for over four months. A member of his staff would then go ahead to lose a baby because she did not have enough money for antimalarials and give “agbo” (concoction made from herbal leaves) leading to the demise of the child. More examples like this abound. I sincerely believe that all that flood of blood is beginning to cry out.

As far back as I can remember Nigeria has been plagued by bad leadership but there are some things that happen in this country these days that we used to think only happened in places as distant as Mars and not to us. Unfortunately some of those things seem to have become a national staple. For example, bombings, air crashes, floods, terrorism, name it!

Somehow it is not a surprise that these things are harassing Nigeria like killer bees. Innocent lives are wasted in this nation every day. Ritual killings, police brutality, lack of drugs, political assassinations, bad roads, poor aviation monitoring and more contribute to this while our leaders don’t give a damn. It has become a normal part of our green, white, green landscape to see the unceremonious extirpation of the living on every front. And I believe it is beginning to haunt us now and even the so called, high and mighty are not exempt. Floods and the kinds of disasters that have infected the vital organs of this nation do not differentiate between classes.

As a nation, it is time for us to stop in our tracks and make a change. A total turnaround of our values and systems is essential to our survival. Today is the acceptable time, tomorrow would make it too late for some people! For us to progress from here to a much better kingdom, we need transformation! We need to reassess our ideals, principles, morals, ethics, etc. WE MUST REPENT!!!! This is passion that must consume us all!

 

…if my people, who are called by name, will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and heal their land!