THE STATE OF THE NATION

KPerspective June 10, 2007

KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
e-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com

State of the Nation addresses are normally reserved for presidents and/or heads of states and I am neither. That it why I have carefully omitted the word ‘address’ from the headline of this piece; lest somebody smells treason. But we really need to engage ourselves in a continuous dialogue over the state of Nigeria and I am concerned enough, driven enough or as some might think, conceited enough to want to be part of that dialogue.

I know that many of my compatriots are doing just that, at the pubs and sundry watering holes (yes, I used to be part of that scene too!); in the comfort of our homes; after church services on Sundays; some through newspaper articles like this, and many more on several forums and blogs on the internet. So it is tempting to not want to get lost in the crowd; it is attractive to not want to be one of a cacophony of voices and; if, like me, you believe that so many of the brilliant solutions being proffered to our national malaise are lacking in the discernment of the deep things of God, it is perhaps the expedient thing to stay away from the fray. And for very long, one had succumbed to that temptation and expedience. But no more!

The more I surf the net and burrow through newspapers and magazines, the more I read our experts in politics and policies, constitutional historians and legal minds - all of them - brilliant minds, the more persuaded I am that the voice of righteousness, hitherto restricted to the matter of life after death and matters related to it, has to become louder in the running of the affairs of our nation. And I have become more persuaded that the matter is urgent, made very urgent by the magnitude of iniquities visited upon the national psyche at the April elections. That is why I seem to have been unable to stop talking about it.

You see, I have this strong knowing in my spirit that now, more than at any other time in our history, this nation is on the threshold of a breakthrough, a new beginning of peace and the abundant life for the Nigerian. But I also know that like the Jews in biblical times, we are being hindered by the selfsame five-man army that kept the Israelites out of the Promised Land.

In his book, Maximized Manhood, the late Edwin Louis Cole, acknowledged as founder of the modern international Christian men’s movement, identified the big bad five as, lust, idolatory, fornication, tempting Christ and murmuring. Extracted from I Corinthians chapter 10, which I urge you to read, these are the things keeping us from fulfilling our destiny as a nation, recognized by many men of God worldwide as, crucial to the end-time plans of God.

As a servant of God, who is involved in the men’s ministry and who does not claim to “have apprehended”, I know that these five deadly sins are present in many of our lives and hindering the fulfillment of many individual destinies. I also know that they are present to varying degrees in the conduct of affairs of state. It is therefore my thesis that for our nation to fulfill her destiny, we must expunge these infamous five from our lives – beginning from the leadership. We must identify them wherever they exist, call them by their names, condemn them and refuse to stomach them.

Someday I believe we shall have the opportunity of examining all of them, but I’d like to dwell a bit on what I consider the deadliest of the five, which is pervasive in the nation and which seems to enjoy the tacit approval of even the Church I Tempting Christ.

Let be explain that assertion about the seeming tacit approval of the church in tempting Christ. In a piece that was meant for this column two weeks ago but which found its way in part to the letter’s page two days later, I tried to expressed my exasperation with the amoral attitude of most of the church in Nigeria to Election 2007 and its aftermath. I quoted copiously from the statement made on behalf of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria by its president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.
Among other things the respected founder and Pastor of Word of Faith Bible Church, Warri, Delta State was reported to have said: “What we wanted to see is not exactly what we saw. We’d have wanted a better, more organised and smoother election but that is not exactly what we got. That is true but we are still saying even at that we should thank God because we still have Nigeria after the fears generated before the elections".
He continued: “(Though) the elections were not particularly smooth the results should be accepted in good faith in the interest of the nation. Nigeria is greater than individuals...Yes, there were problems but they were not enough to say everything should be cancelled…Aggrieved politicians should explore constitutional means in seeking redress, (and) avoid actions that will truncate the transition programme. Winners should also form all-inclusive governments by reaching out to others on a broad spectrum.”
The statement, in my understanding translates thus: yes there may have been something akin to evil, but we can live with it in the interest of peace and survival of our “nascent democracy. In other words, we should thank God that through some clearly ungodly methods, we still have Nigeria!”
And if you thought the statement was the result of poor draftsmanship, no less a cleric than the vice-president of this umbrella body for all Pentecostals, Rev Dr Wilson Badejo offered evidence that this was the opinion in the top cadre of the Pentecostal group in Nigeria.
Speaking after a thanksgiving service to mark his 60th birthday soon after, Badejo said: “We appeal to those who lost in the elections to accept it in good faith. There will always be another opportunity. 2011 is round the corner. They should wait for their time. Abraham Lincoln contested 10 times before becoming President of America. We must be patient.” My translation: all of this is about politicians angling for office. It has got nothing to do with good or evil.

One cannot but be puzzled, at least, when you recall that in a statement jointly issued by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), the very first round of the elections drew a sharp rebuke of the process and a call on INEC to “purge itself of iniquity, partiality and inefficiency before the federal ballot…”

Well, some of the churches, particularly the big denominational ones and their leadership also weighed in with their opinions. All were united in finding fault with the election, yet only the Catholic Church managed to resist the temptation to urge Nigerian voters to accept the rape of their rights as an act of God. At a press conference addressed by Most Rev Felix Alaba Job, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, the Church said among other things: “Nigerians must in a constitutional and dignified manner come together to resist any form of dictatorship, domination and subversion of their rights. We must defend our political rights as a people.”

On his part, Most Rev Dr Sunday Ola Makinde, Prelate, Methodist Church Nigeria has since led a delegation of his church on a solidarity visit to President-elect Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua during which he assured him: “God has chosen you and He will not disappoint you.”

Now as I said in that piece, I dare not criticize servants of God. The bible has said very clearly: “Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand” Romans 14:4.

But I know that God will forgive me for thinking aloud. I am sure I can be forgiving for wondering if we are not tempting Christ when we put the stamp of God on fraud; when we pray to God to sustain the custodians of stolen goods; when we seem all too eager to fraternize with the perpetrators and beneficiaries of ungodly activities.

Dr Cole said in his Maximized Manhood, “Tempting God is demanding that God do what is contrary to his will or inconsistent with his character…Lying and cheating in business and demanding that God bless and prosper it is tempting Christ…” Should we be encouraging a man who admits to being in possession of stolen goods to enjoy the loot, just because he seems a decent man enough to begin the process of making stealing more difficult in future?

I am truly at sea about our values; about whether having recognized and pronounced something as evil we should still romance it. I am just wondering whether the biblical injunction to “abstain from all appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22)“ can be rightly varied in the interest of an amoral larger picture such as national interest. What I do not wonder about, however, is that evil must bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous (see Proverbs 14:19).