FROM THE PREACHER'S LENSES

Sam AwedaTuesday, December 14, 2010
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MY CAMPAIGN AGAINST MORAL DECADENCE BY NIGERIAN CITIZENS (PART 3)
ROAD MAP TO A LASTING & ENDURING PROSPERITY FOR NIGERIANS - A RE-VISITS

Continued from Part 2

concluded the 1st part of the ongoing series published on November 30 with the following words: "By God's grace next time, I will re-visit some of the previous published articles, hoping the Publisher will grant me the indulgence.


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Do not forget, the ongoing series is all at the instance of some nasty experiences Dr. Adebayo Onigbinde and some of his friends encountered with people back at home.

This topic "The Road Map to a Lasting & Enduring Prosperity for Nigerians" was first published by the Nigerianworld on April 8 2008:

One fellow argues:

"Well, I am not at fault. The salary can hardly take me 2 days. How do my children and I survive the rest 28 days in the month? I must help myself.

Another fellow says :

"Everyone does it. In fact, my ambition is to get into the Customs or the Immigration Department. You see, that fellow up there built 2 mansions just after few years in the Customs Department".

A young undergraduate, who has gone through severe hardship in the process of his education, determines: "Do or die, I must get into the 'Police force'. Once I am posted to mount roadblocks whether within the city or on the highway, my problem is solved. I can immediately start to educate my younger ones"

A high school student fixes his mind to read either accountancy or Banking & Finance because 'ije' (lots of opportunities to embezzle) would be available.

Another fellow says : "Going to the Defence Academy is now a waste of time because the nation is totally embittered towards military coups. The vogue now is to find oneself among the movers and shakers in the society and become a politician. I only need to be a counselor for one term and my present poverty will become history".

The fellow who does not expect to join in the jungle practices continues to parade the embassies of the western countries with a determination to checking out.

Our badly managed wealth has led everyone to be devising ways to float above the waters; crook, fair or foul. Most people by crook anyway. Many have thereby become extortionists, oppressors and thieves to varying degrees in their daily operations.

An office messenger does not deliver files except the owner of the file 'settles' him. The office typist does not type materials on her table except the recipients give her money. The clerk piles up files until the owners come to settle him. The boss (oga) inside the room cannot be seen until 'settlement' as demanded is deposited with the secretary.

Program Officers and those who control votes divert funds into private use.

Men of the Customs at the airport or are they Officers of The Drug Enforcement Law Agency? have interpreted for purposes of extortion, a certain Government order made genuinely to conserve food in the country to openly demand and take money from people traveling abroad before they are allowed to travel with some cherished local food-stuff, which are not for sale but for personal consumption.

Men of the Police display all kinds of brutality, harassment and intimidation in order to squeeze money from road users and the public.

Immigration, Vehicle Licensing and other Revenue officers at whichever post defraud and cheat their fellow citizens before they issue or renew the required papers or whatever they deal with.

Every one grabs whatever is in his jurisdiction. Only a remnant is living a Godly life in his/her daily operations.

Occasionally, journalists would not publish stories until they are given 'brown envelopes', in what is called 'fine ba-ara' in their journalistic parlance.

Builders: bricklayers, carpenters, painters etc over estimate cost and steal building materials of clients. Motor mechanics play all kinds of pranks to cheat clients.

Quite a large number of youths have become laws to themselves. They have made themselves landlords of roads in their different neighbourhoods, harassing road users and petty traders, demanding money from them. They call themselves area boys. Others constitute themselves into one law enforcing agent or the other, both inside the cities and on the highways; they wear all kinds of uniforms, arresting innocent citizens on none or flimsy excuses. They take unsuspecting citizens, who they arrest to hideouts where they run illegal courts and penalized them heavily. One is in for his doom not to pay their stipulated penalty.

It is a horrible jungle way of life. Even animals behave with better decorum. Animals in their habitat show kindness to their species better than how we treat ourselves as Nigerians.

In fact, the various ignominious behaviours catalogued above have gone beyond fighting poverty; it has become a 'get rich quick' syndrome.

While anyone can justify his actions for whatever reasons, I am afraid, the various jungle ways, which are being devised meanwhile, either to make ends meet or to get rich quickly, cannot provide a lasting solution. They are only worsening and will continue to worsen our suffering, tarnish our individual images and the image of our country and eventually explode into chaos.

However rich anyone may be, to how many generations of his descendants can it last? To how many generations of his descendants can the wealth be bequeathed?

A prosperity, which we can bequeath to the coming generations, cannot be achieved through jungle living, neither on individual basis. An enabling environment for a thriving economy in what I define as Collective/Communal prosperity alone can do it.

The countries where many desire to escape to, for economic refuge had survived on Collective-Communal prosperity. They were able to lay a solid foundation where private enterprises thrived, which had led to a large employment market. And this is what we should help our government to succeed at.

And the only means to achieving Collective/Communal prosperity is to follow God's plans, which He has formulated for our good and peace. The Bible says it very clearly, "Righteousness exalts a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people"(Prov.14:34). Our breakthrough will be a lasting one only through Godly living. This is the way God has designed it. Success can take sometime because the situation has deteriorated too badly but it is the only sure way.

The Bible in 1Timothy 3:16 says it clearly "Without controversy i.e without question, great is the mystery of godliness" All the methods, which we have embarked upon till date have been compounding our problem. They cannot make us to achieve a lasting prosperity. But if we listen to God and obey His counsel, our misery will soon be over.

Many of these countries where we run to, for refuge, I stand to be challenged were initially built on solid foundation of faith in God and honesty (they have drifted though). Yet, they are never complacent with whatever they have achieved. They continue to develop and advance higher in administration, politics, technology and science etc. They thereby have reached a level, whereby fraudulent practices have been made difficult for anyone in their countries; things, which characterize the behavior of Nigerians and which have greatly led us to doom.

Rather than the jungle way of survival, which we meanwhile operate, what we ought to push for, is the Government to lay the solid infrastructures (enabling environment) on which private enterprises can thrive, which will lead to employment market, sufficiently large to accommodate all and sundry. Then, only a lazy person will go hungry. Politics will also become less attractive. Whoever seeks a political post will do it for the purpose of service to the country and for the posterity of his name and not for the purpose to amass wealth. Extortion, by public officers who are paid to serve and protect the public, will also minimize.

With national prosperity, inconveniences from members of the extended family are absent because everyone is able to take care of himself. In fact, after a certain age, children themselves know the limit to which they can depend on the parents because there is provision for their welfare by the government.

With a strong and properly maintained economy, fear of how to make ends meet after retirement from service, is absent because life after retirement would have been taken care of while in service, with the various plans, which would have been put in place for that purpose.

With a true national prosperity, on our dying bed, we shall be at peace, with no anxiety over how our children will survive, because we can be sure that with a dint of hard work on their part, they will be able to sort themselves out.

I hear someone say: "We all know these, and the jungle living, which we meanwhile operate on, is due to the failure of the Government to perform her duties and fulfill her responsibilities to the citizens". While this argument may be correct, we all have our share of blame for the failure of the Government to fulfill its responsibilities to us, except perhaps a few.

  • People, who were not in Government, but would have behaved in the same way, given the opportunity, are all guilty, because the Lord knows the heart of every one and He judges according to the state of the heart of the individual.

  • Everyone who had hailed (sang the praise of) the various corrupt, reckless, wicked and murderous Governments for whatever reason, including for purposes of having favour, pushed by penury (poverty) or because they are relations or old friends / acquaintances are equally accountable. Hear what God said:
  • Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that say black is white and white is black; bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. Woe unto them that justify the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him
  • (Isaiah 5:20, 23).

  • All people, who knew that those Governments were evil and who could have lend a voice of rebuke or warning, but kept quiet, either for fear of arrest or because they were self satisfied and couldn't be bothered with how the Governments ran the affairs of the state or in order to protect their business are all to blame.

  • Anyone, who had at anytime demanded out rightly or behaved in any manner, even if politely, which could indicate a desire for gratification while doing Government's duty has contributed to this chaos and he is guilty.

  • Anyone, who had defrauded the Government or his employer of any amount, albeit small, e.g. converting Government's money to private use in whatever transaction or retiring Government's fund in a dishonest manner or converting Government's property to private use is accountable for the suffering, which the masses are now going through.

  • Any contractor who did business for the Government at inflated cost or who colluded with the Government or its staff to defraud the Government is guilty.

  • All those who held receptions for the dishonest, irresponsible people in Government, which led us into this chaos either because they were old schoolmates or because they belonged to the same association or club or same religious organizations or Churches or because they came from the same town or village are all culprits.

  • All, who maintained association with them without pointing to them the evil of their reign and the resulting suffering on the populace, are also guilty.

  • Any employer who takes the advantage of the general state of the difficulty in the country to cheat, oppress, pay its staff poorly or refuse to pay salaries as of when due is a culprit and he is guilty.

  • Everyone who behaved in a difficult manner, in order to extort his other fellow citizens, either to his benefit or to the benefit of the Government, while doing Government's duty is guilty.

  • All those who take money from politicians are largely responsible for our calamity.

To be continued

Sam Aweda is President & Snr. Pastor, Jesus for the World Revival Mission

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