There cannot be an answer to this rhetorical question- I suppose; it however lets open the Pandora’s Box of paradox. The foundations, no doubt are rotting away before our very eyes. Who though is the righteous in a Country where everyone is hustling to butter a half- baked bread? If you note the plurality of foundations and the singular ‘righteous’ you are almost half way through understanding the scope of the decay and the scale of any drive to change the present situation in Nigeria. Issues affecting daily living, living standards, education, unemployment, bad leadership, corruption etc have formed subjects of discussions and writings- for as long as I can remember. My husband and his fellow writers actually took some delight in delving into these issues as ploy to impress with their command of ‘the language’. Such writings are entertaining, informative and ubiquitous- but they symbolise the ‘Nigerian Renaissance’ I would say. However calling a spade a spade, nothing has changed either by way of development in the Country or by way of the leadership. In a way this replicates the irony which is present in the largest evangelism in the developing World- where you will find at least a church in every street in Lagos; yet there is no impact from the church on development in their immediate local communities. It is not wrong for the poor to expect to find solace in the church but if this leads to the poor being further pauperised then this is wrong.

Whilst Psalm 11 provides the much needed consolation, it is difficult to visualise a way forward for Nigeria not with the 7-point agenda or even the vision 2020 objectives. As highlighted in recent articles, there is more to governance than commissioning of projects which are not followed through to completion; a good observation though is that rather than monies being embezzled they are being returned to the Central government. On a positive note, this creates a good foundation for accountability (an important building block in Nigeria’s maturing democracy) except that it leaves the country in a state of flux- where ‘we are not going backward or forward’. (Actually, that should read ’where ‘we are going backward and never forward’). Quirkily, this conjures an image- an image of Cuba, a country which during Fidel seemed trapped in a time-warp, badly lit streets littered by old American cars otherwise called ‘yank- tanks’. Fidel’s Cuba’s defiance of and unresponsiveness to time are elicited by the nostalgic lazy haze of tobacco- filled air of Havana. It is hard to imagine that Nigeria with its haste can be slowed-down to such a pace except by the unwieldy, crumbly state of infrastructure in the country. Even in spite of this, because we are generally spritely and hardworking people- we will still ‘get up and go’. Long live the struggle! In a way this bears a reminder of Bastille (in 1789 during the French Revolution) when it took people power to change the oppressive aristocracy in France.

What therefore is God’s Will for Nigeria? When the foundations are rotten, we need to look to God for a solution. It is difficult to perceive that 49 years on, Nigeria’s leadership has not produced a blue print for driving the Nation forward. Politics may be getting in the way of forward-thinking. Perhaps this is where one would stop and question how our democracy has fared. The short answer is we have not fared well. Sonny Okosun once asked ‘which way Nigeria?’ A good description that captures our state of affairs is that of someone who is groping in the dark for the door when all that he/ she could feel or see is unending darkness. It would be good to be able to pat our own backs over small milestones but small milestones do not measure up to the level of retrogression the country has experienced since independence. The cost of which is losing Nigeria her place and stature amongst her peer group. The unimaginable waste in terms of resources and valuable time forms a sharp contrast with modern global pace of transformation- not just in terms of development but also of progressive minds (that are challenged by the local conditions- such as alleviation of poverty, raising education standards, providing more hospital beds etc). Forgetting other consolations about the state of affairs such as ‘our young democracy’, ‘at 49 we are not yet gestating’; the fact of the matter is that politicians need to be righteous and do the right thing.

Robot  # 1 | 13.10.2009 01:28

...Read the full article.

Taiwo Olokun  # 2 | 14.10.2009 15:46

Please visit: GraceTruth7.org There, you will find my article "Newsweek-Adeboye: Pentecostals"