Stand up to be counted

“...How long will you halt and limp between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him!
But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.”(1Kg18:22amp)

Thank God Nigeria is 50years old. Despite many predictions and permutations we made it!
Isn’t God wonderful after all? Considering many of the atrocities, bickering, nepotisms and
the different unimaginable schisms that have been perpetuated in our nation, it is indeed a
miracle we are still a nation. That is one of the reasons I want to believe that God really have
the plan in using this nation for His end time programme, were it not so, I do not see any
reason why we should still remain one.

From the news gathered about other nations that have divided up or are riddled with civil
war, Nigeria has already over stepped her threshold of survival yet we are still standing, not
by the ingenuity of our confused and selfish leaders (rulers). Considering their many crazy
acts and utterances it is obvious they do not mean well for the nation, I doubt that they care
for their immediate family, they only think of number one (themselves). Were they to care
for their family, especially their children, they should have known that whatever they do
now makes the future bleak for them. The long and short of the matter is that Nigeria
remains a nation only by the grace of God alone. The statement may sound like a religious
cliché, but sincerely can you explain by what other reasons we should still be as a nation?

For those of us who believe in the Bible, fifty stand for Jubilee. That is the time according to
God’s ordinances to the Israelites when every one’s debt is forgiven and cancelled, those in
slavery released and it is time when the Earth of its self yield its increase. Jubilee is the
period of proclamation of liberty, deliverance; it is also a time of celebration. We can
automatically term it a time of new beginning. But since the death, burial and resurrection
of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, everyday is a Jubilee for the child of God, and it starts
for anyone the day he/she gives it all up for Christ. Halleluyah!!!

Since Nigeria as a nation is not yet born again, we might as well use this opportunity to
declare her Jubilee. How so? I believe it is time for us to turn a new leaf. It has been said
that it is only insanity that will make a man (even a nation) to keep doing the same thing and
expect different results, so for the change we need, we must need change the way we act.
This is very important and very necessary before we can see and experience the change.
Nigeria must be born again indeed. We have been praying and I believe God have granted
some of our requests, it is just that God still needs human vessel to effect His will in the
nation and as long as no one is listening to what He has to say or none is willing to obey, we
might as well keep pray wishing but nothing will happen. For example, many of us believed
that it was God that delivered us from that gap toothed sit tight military president, He
likewise came to our rescue from the dark glassed head of state, but what did we make of
those changes?

God has been so good to us, but what do we do with His interventions? Nothing, we need
do things differently and that includes every one of us. For example, most of us have been
calling our leaders every inconceivable name, maybe we need to change our stand
concerning them. Instead we may need to encourage them more and make them realise we
know the enormity of the challenges facing them, that it will be impossible to satisfy
everybody and that we know that there are too many pressure groups pressing on them at
one time or the other. We need to let them know that we know that they are but mortals
and that they are fallible, so we are willing to over-look some of their fallings. Some of you
may be wondering if I am a Nigerian, you bet I am. In actual fact I am an unrepentant
optimist that Nigeria will be great again. I am suggesting this new line of action because I
believe this change (Jubilee) concerns us all, both the populace and the leadership and
moreover, our insults have not materialised in change in their actions.

It is time to detribalise Nigeria. One of our greatest undoing is tribalism; we are more
interested in our tribal people in the place of power. Even when we know they are not able,
we support them even when they are wrong. Rather than allow truth be told we question
the challenges against our tribes man, as if as long it’s our man he cannot be wrong. It is
time to stop putting undue pressure on our tribesman in place of power. Many of us expect
anyone we know to become a thief, we are directly and indirectly telling them it is time for
them to partake of the national cake. When any gets a national assignment and they do not
acquire wealth we call such them fools, we expect them to employ people who are not
qualified for a position because we recommended them and we all expect to be awarded
contract which are inflated because ‘our man’ is in power, how then do we expect a
change?

I will elaborate further on this new line of thought using our base scripture. This is one of
the epic true life stories in the Bible, where an individual demonstrated the Excellency,
majesty and power of God. Elijah remains one of the all time greats among the many in the
Bible. Here was a man who because of the great injustice of the leadership (Ahab and
Jezebel) declared a famine on the land and it was so, yet he had more than enough to eat.
When God in His infinite mercies considered that the nation had suffered enough asked him
to present himself to the king. “The moment Ahab saw Elijah he said, "So it's you, old
troublemaker!" "It's not I who has caused trouble in Israel," said Elijah, "but you and your
government--you've dumped GOD's ways and commands and run off after the local gods,
the Baals.”(1Kg18:17,18msg) King Ahab considered him the source of the woes the nation
was going through, but Elijah made him realise it was the wrong government that was the
issue.

In the same vein some of us think those who are opposing the wrongs of the government or
those talking against their misdeed are distracting them, it may not always be so. If the
people in government are doing it rightly the opposition will be few though not totally
eliminated (because you can’t please everybody) Notice, the error in Ahab government was
their neglect of God’s way to believing in other gods’ ways. The major problem in our nation
is because our leaders consider all other ways to govern us aside from God. Their gods are
money, power, benefits of office, self aggrandisement, cunning craftiness and every other
devilish scheming to get things for their benefit alone. So government is the major problem
of the nation, it is not even God, why would God be wrought with a nation that is doing the
right thing? Sometimes it seem to me we are disturbing God with our prayers instead of
doing the right thing. The attitude and behaviours of our leaders therefore determines the
kind of spirit prevailing in our nation. They are the root cause of the rot and decadence in
the nation.

The next things Elijah demanded for was a confrontation with the (spiritual) advisers of the
government and the people of the nation. Put another way, he confronted what was
influencing the government, which are the “god fathers” who are controlling things from
behind.” Like Elijah, before we can indeed experience our jubilee, we must confront what is
influencing our government (leaders) because it is the root of our deliverance. As long as we
are not ready to confront the spirit controlling the government we might as well keep saying
“ini mini miny moh” and nothing will change still. For nobody acts independent of his
influence, we might not see anything around them; definitely something is motivating every
action you see. If you don’t know, for the past years it has been a select few who had been
determining who rules this nation, and they have great influence on whomever they ‘select,’
they are the spirit governing this nation, they are the unseen hand controlling and directing
us.

It is important to notice that at the place of confrontation, not only did Ahab bring forth the
800 influencer of the government he also sent for the people of the nation. When Elijah got
to the place of confrontation, he first turned to the people and asked, "How long are you
going to sit on the fence? If GOD is the real God, follow him; if it's Baal, follow him. Make up
your minds!" (1Kg18:21msg) Even though he called the government the trouble of the
nation, at the place of confrontation he asked the people to make up their mind where they
belonged. The truth in his question is that it is the people in the long run that determine the
spirit that influences the government and the nation as a whole.

We shall consider this statement in two folds; firstly government is made up with people
and these people interacted one way or the other with their environment before they got to
the place of power, so whatever they exhibits is just what is generally acceptable by the
populace. Secondly, a government will only thrive based on the consent of the people
directly or indirectly. Hence the saying, “like the people like the government”, so whatever
we consider wrong that is pervading the nation is indicating that the people are sitting on
the fence. That is, it is either they are totally in agreement with it or they are indifferent
about it. As long as we are not contending with negative ruler ship, we are in agreement.

We have lost the sense of right and wrong, nothing seems to be absolute anymore. When a
sect of people does wrong we react in anger when our people do same we look the other
way. If we are to see change in our nation therefore, evil must be condemned no matter
who does it. Justice should be upheld even in the home. Right and wrong should not be
selective. Every individual must stand up to be counted for truth. Truth should be our watch
word from our homes to our places of work to the government. As long as we refuse to
correct our tradition that permits fathers to maltreat their wives and children we are not
ready to change. As long as our traditional rulers and religious leaders are not corrected in
their excesses then we are not ready for change.
As long as we still allow the spirit of mammon (money) to carry the day evil will consistently
be perpetuated; once trust and truth are easily watered down evil will reigns, “Mean-
spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth
to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom--its animal
cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the
better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats. Real wisdom,
God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is
gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the
next, not two-faced.” (James3;14-17msg)

As long as we want change and we still expect our brothers in government to steal with
impunity change will not come. As long as we keep calling those who refuse to compromise
their standard fools change will not come. As long as we don’t vote for the right people but
instead we pray for a wrong man to change, change will not come. As long as we have not
understood that our vote is our franchise that must be protected sometimes with our blood
change will not come. It is time to declare our Jubilee (a spiritual change) not just as a
celebration, but it must be a proclamation and emancipation from the tyrannical spirit
holding us bound and an experience reality. God bless our great country Nigeria and may
this independent day mark when we shall begin to see the needed change in spirit and
attitude in our lifetime so we don’t keep perpetuating error of our fathers. HAPPY
INDEPENDENCE DAY TO YOU ALL!!!!