Date Published: 01/04/10
THE POWER OF FORTY YEARS: 2010 STARTS THE MAKING OR BREAKING OF THINGS FOR NIGERIA By Temple Chima Ubochi
If not you, then who? If not now, then when? (Hillel)
The Promised Land always lies on the other side of a Wilderness. (Henry Ellis)
If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. (Tony Robbins)
While waiting for a Moses to lead us into the promised land, we have forgotten how to walk. ( Wendell Johnson)
I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land! I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
The Israelites set out on a great exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land, but their journey took a dramatic detour that lead them through adversity and 40 years of wandering in the desert. Each of us is on a journey through life where there are times of adversity and wandering. (River Ridge Church)
Permit me to welcome everybody to 2010 and we pray that all our good intentions and aims for the year and beyond would be realised. So many things went wrong in 2009, we still thank God for it, but, we don’t pray for such a year again. This writer used to travel home every year for the Christmas and New Year celebrations, but, was adviced by his family not to dare come home for the 2009 Christmas because of the menace of kidnapping and armed robbery. This writer knows that many other Nigerians abroad were also adviced the same by their respective families at home. That’s not how we want to live our lives. Let 2010 brings back the love, peace and happiness we once knew, cherished and shared.
It's now 40 years since the end of the fratricidal civil war in which about 3.1 million Ndiigbo were slaughtered or allowed to starve/raped to death. Because of the sins committed by Nigeria under the leadership of the Sokoto caliphate and the northern traditional, military and political oligarchy, God Has allowed Nigeria's status to continue to diminish in the comity of nations. Due to the sins of all Nigerians, in one way or the other, Nigeria had not been able to achieve all its potentials, as a land having an abundant material and human resources. But God is finally reconciling Nigerians to Himself this year, this writer strongly believes. So this year is the year of liberation for Nigeria and if we fail for whatever reason(s) to start making headway as from this year, then we might as well kiss Nigeria goodbye. Then all the predictions made so far that Nigeria would not outlast few years to come, might as well be fulfilled. There's going to be no more concession, no half-hearted measures, no trial and errors again, it's either Nigeria starts making it from 2010 or start breaking immediately. Prof Tam David-West captured the essence of Nigeria of yesteryears when he said: “A colleague of mine once said that people dance and sing so much, but they cannot revolt. They love pleasure too much. People that enjoy so much pleasure cannot be revolutionaries. Nigeria will not drive revolution. The future of this country is bleak. Nigeria is patch-patch and will collapse like this one day” (Guardian 29.12, 2009). This writer hopes that from this 2010, Nigerians would change this “want-to-go-to-heaven-but-do-not-want-to-die” mindset.
Wayne Blank in his article, “A Journey Without A Destination”, wrote: “If one looks at a map of the region between Egypt and Israel, the question of why it took 40 years to travel a straight-line distance of only about 240 miles is rather startling. Why an average of only 6 miles per year, which seems incredibly slow, even for people on foot?
Numbers chapters 13 and 14 describes how, as the Israelites were approaching their entry into Promised Land, from the south, through the Negev Desert (Numbers 13:17), 12 Israelite scouts were sent ahead to gather information. What they found truly was a land blessed with milk and honey (Numbers 13:27). However, it was also occupied by formidable Canaanite forces (Numbers 13:28-29), which caused all of the scouts, except Joshua and Caleb, to lose courage (while ignoring the fact that with God fighting their battles for them they were undefeatable), so they gave a false report to the people. It was a very costly mistake”.
Nevada York on July 05, 2006 wrote: “It is remarkable how in today’s world, people do the same thing as the Children of Israel did in the past. Evangelist Joyce Meyers believes that many have their eyes on the “giants” (fear of rejection, fear of failure, loneliness, stress, struggles) in our life instead of having our eyes on God. We must learn to keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus instead of concentrating all of our focus on what seems to be a major obstacle (i.e. giant). In doing so, we come one step closer to the Promised Land.
The Israelites continued to make excuses not to do things they knew God told them to do. When God has put something on your heart to do and you don’t do it, you are putting yourself in bondage by making excuses not to be obedient. When you are going through the wilderness, don’t complain, have a good attitude, and do not fall into unbelief because if you do, you will never make it to the Promised Land. Don’t wander in the desert for forty years, going around the same mountain, when you could have already made it to your destination in the Promised Land”.
This is one of the feedbacks this writer received for one of his articles (December 17, 2009: A black Thursday for Nigeria). It came from Geoff Ugwudindu in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He wrote:
“In George Orwell’s political satire, he says that ´´all animals are equal but some are more equal than others`` that can well be portrayed in that nation called Nigeria. Some political juggernauts like Iboris, Obasanjos, chimarokes, kalus, Atikus, YarÁduas etc. are all above the law.
Let me in the first place say that an institution or a body will only function well if the intention and spirit of the founders are for good. What am I trying to depict is that Obasanjo’s intention of forming EFCC is just to witch-hunt political opponents. It came to pass that he used it in ousting DSP Alamieseyeigha from office simply because the man was not dancing to his tune. We know from day one that EFCC is just a tool for OBJ. And it will wither away like flower. In chemistry, there is what we called an electrochemical series. In that series, iron stronger than its neighbour must displace it from its salt when chemical reaction is on. And that is what we see in Nigeria today because executive, legislative and judiciary are all in the same boat.
Some say that Nigeria since independence is 49 but for me Nigeria is 39 because Nigeria matured in 1970, that’s the year Biafra war, came to an end. There is a saying that life starts from 40. There is also another saying that a fool at 40 is a fool forever. So next year, Nigeria will be 40, two things must occur next year, either Nigeria start life or becomes fool forever.
Noah’s life was transformed by 40 days of rain.
Moses was transformed by 40 days on Mount Sinai.
The spies were transformed 40 days in the promise land.
David was transformed by Goliath’s 40-day challenge.
Elijah was transformed when God gave him 40 days of strength from a single meal.
The entire city of Nineveh was transformed when God gave the people 40 days to change.
Jesus was empowered by 40 days in the wilderness.
The disciples were transformed by 40 days with Jesus after resurrection.
Instead of 40 days journey from Egypt to Cannon, God made it to be 40 years for the Israelites. Nigeria’s journey in wilderness will end next year 2010 maybe in a blessing or in a curse. Let’s pray. Thanks for loving your country. Merry Xmas and a blessed new year. Geoff Ugwudindu, Sao Paulo Brazil "
The Prelate, Methodist Church, Nigeria, His Eminence Sunday Ola Makinde, lent credence to this topic on December 31, 2009, when he said that the year 2010 will mark the beginning of new things in which Nigerians will break and cover new grounds. Makinde said:
"For our dear country-Nigeria; it will be the year that we would begin to move in the right direction in our quest for a better nation. No doubt, for us as a nation, 2009 came to us with a number of challenges such as the unending power failure which led to the collapse of several companies and failure of many businesses, rising number of unemployed graduates who continue to roam major streets in cities like Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Abuja, a healthcare system that is not delivering, the extreme deplorable conditions of our roads which claimed many lives and rendered some incapacitated, avoidable strikes in our universities, which in many ways set our children back as it concerns their dates of graduation, sectarian and religious crisis which claimed many lives and left properties and valuables destroyed, while the unfortunate internationalisation of religious terrorism by a Nigerian recently arrested in the United States of America is most embarrassing. Equally, the current fuel scarcity which is not only avoidable but most unwarranted if the Federal Government will see reason and repair our refineries and make best use of the abundant natural resources given to us by God, which should be a blessing and not a curse just like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and a host of other oil producing nations around the world have done. But in all of these uncertainties, our faithful and ever present God was our companion and he is prepared to abide with us in this New Year and take us to new and unprecedented heights." (ThisDay 01.01.2010)
In this 2010, politicians and government officials should not loot or embezzle the wealth entrusted into their care; Nigerians should stop dealing on human parts, Nigerians at home or abroad should desist from drug peddling, pushing or couriering; should avoid getting involved in credit cards and other frauds; should stop preying on people as 419ners; should avoid all crimes, because any Nigerian who engages in any of these crimes and succeeds, should know that the money made from such illicit business or deal will not be useful to the person in anyway. The whole illicit effort would also end in failure. This is the time for us to set our heart right and start living piously so that God would lead us into the Promised Land. We have wandered off and round and round for too long, now is time to come home into the land of milk and honey.
This writer agrees with Rev. Titus Oyeyemi, President of African Foundation for Peace and Love Initiatives (AFPLI), when he said that political leaders care only about their personal interests and are therefore responsible for many of the nation's woes. That those who are in leadership positions in the country have no interest in leading the nation out of darkness!
Instead, they are bent on plunging the nation into the abyss. That they think that if Nigeria fails, their ill-gotten wealth and riches will deliver them! By their actions, leaders in the 6th Republic do not deserve to be called Nigerians because they wallow in selfishness, greed, covetousness and corruption.
The cleric reminded politicians of the past they had enjoyed and charged them to provide the necessities of life to citizens. In his words:
“There were no incessant power failures, prolonged teachers' strikes and dilapidated classrooms during their days. Food was in abundance, roads were good, economic and statistical data were reliable and funds were available to pay scholarships. Now that it is their turn to provide leadership for the country, they begin to squander opportunities, mismanage resources. They have constituted themselves as hindrances for posterity."
Oyeyemi said the task to chart a new direction for the country was one that needed to be done. (Guardian 01.01.2010)
This writer is advising the constitution review committee to call for a constitutional and Sovereign Conference, where every issue militating against the progress of Nigeria would be thrashed out, or else they might be engaging in an exercise in futility. Nigeria should revert to the strong-regions-and-weak-centre system and if we can accept our mistake (s), let's change to parliamentary system, because, the presidential system seems too expensive for Nigeria or on the other hand, the legislators in all tiers of government could be only part-timers, because, they’re doing virtually nothing in there, from year to year, for the people while drawing huge salary, allowances (recompense).
The General overseer of the Word Base Assembly, Rev. Humphrey Erumaka, concurs here when he suggested that political offices should be made less attractive. He said that the government must minimise the cost of being elected into public offices. We live in a time when election has become highly monetised. People spend much to get into office and so the primary assignment is to recoup. Erumaka noted that unlike in the United States of America where a candidate seeks elected office with the monies of people who share a common ideology, the reverse is the case in Nigeria. In his words: "You are running with the money of all the people who believe in the ideology. They do not contribute in order to be refunded. But here, you borrow from the bank, sell property or do whatever thing that is necessary to get into power. Your sense of commerce will tell you that you need to recoup that money by all means". (Guardian 31.12.2009)
In one of his articles, this writer summed what he means thus: What we’re talking about here is the going back to the regional structure in place prior to 1966 where we had strong regions and weak centre. What we need now in addition to the preceding point are a national military, but, with strong regional commands; federal customs and immigrations; regional courts and police. The regions will then be funding the centre instead of the other way round as it’s obtained now. All these will put away ethnic bickering and animosities and will take away all the pressures on oil as the major foreign income earner. Prior to the exploration and exportation of oil, Nigeria boosted its foreign earnings through the export of wide arrays of cash crops, we should go back to them, our soil can still grow them. With those cash crops before the exploration and exportation of oil in commercial quantity began, Nigeria achieved more development and helped its citizens the more than now. Even when oil alone is bringing in more money than all the cash crops combined did then, Nigerians are worse off now than then. Many of the landmarks that stood the test of time in Nigeria were built when Nigeria depended on agricultural products for export and the citizens were happier and fulfilled then than now. There was then free education at all levels, Nigerians received free medical services, the infrastructure was at their best; paradoxically things are in the opposite now that we’re earning more money from oil.
Since things don’t change, let’s go back to what we knew before that worked better for all of us. Let the regions revert to the products and commodities they were known for. Let the north rehabilitate the groundnut, hides and skins and other major income earners from the zone. We long to see again the groundnut pyramids the north was famous for; the north will then also intensify the mining of the solid minerals they are sitting on top of. The south west should re-establish and reinvigorate the cocoa plantations for cocoa produce in addition to kola nut and other agricultural products that will be exported from that zone. The eastern part should go back to the era of palm plantations for the production of palm oil and kernel for export. The eastern region then included greater part of today’s Niger Delta area; so oil and other sea foods and products will form the bedrock of export from there. The Midwestern region should resuscitate the rubber plantations for the production of crude rubber for export and for internal industrial usage. The timbers of Sapele will serve both internal and external markets. With these, all parts of the country will be contributing one thing or the other to the project called Nigeria and will no longer depend almost solely on oil.
This goodwill and seasonal greetings/message came from a reader, OLADEJO TITILOPE, and he wrote:
“Mr. Temple,
My family and I wish you and your family a merry Xmas and a prosperous New Year in Jesus name.
Can you remind everyone in Nigeria about the need to start doing things right in Nigeria? This is the New Year coming, every New Year, individual always say New Year, new resolution. I know many people like me are already fed up with the same old story for this country, Nigeria. Are we still asking, "When will the beautiful ones be born? Are we saying the beautiful ones are not yet born? All we need is truth and equal opportunity for all. Remind them again of the need for national constitution and regional constitution.
Ever since I have known my right hand from my left hand, I’ve been dreaming of good things for my country, Nigeria. I always think of the day I will open my eyes and all that I will see will be things of beauty which gives joy forever.
It is time for everyone (the citizens) to start to love others to make Nigeria great. God has equal love for everyone. God is God of beauty. When we love beauty, we do everything possible to beautify ourselves. This time around, it is better to beautify all our environments with tarred roads, electricity, pipe borne water, telephone booths, post offices, trees, flowers, beautiful schools, hospitals, proper layouts. The senators and representatives, please fight for peoples' rights and not your own rights. You are there to serve the nation.
1). Let there be light everywhere, generator is not good at all for house use.
2). Let there be water everywhere. Are you okay seeing your people going to the stream carrying pails on their heads with water from the stream or river around in this 21st century?
3). Let all our roads be tarred whether rural or urban with good covered drainage. Are you not fed up with dusts everywhere at all times that wears away the beauty of vehicles and houses, even human beings, that gives cough and catarrh to people, that makes all our environment to be dirty?
4). Let there be uniformity instead of favouring one side at the expense of the other. Create a conducive environment for people to develop their potentials. When will the good dreams of the good people of Nigeria come true? If the government will not change their ways by Independence Day, then I think we should separate. Thank you and God bless you. Good bye"
In this 2010 and beyond: If you’re an armed or pen robber, kidnapper, government official or police personnel who extorts the people, all of you should repent by forsaking your bad way(s). He who ignores this call, should then not invest his/her “booty” in any thing or on somebody (son, daughter, wife, self, brother, sister etc). Otherwise he/she might be invoking “fire and brimstone” on his/her head and those of others on whom he/she invested the illicit acquired wealth (thorn will pierce the soul of evil doers, most especially, looters of our commonwealth in this 2010 and beyond).
We want a comparatively crime-free Nigeria in this 2010 and beyond and God will not spare anybody who tries to impede this.
To end this piece, this writer concurs with Pope Benedict who once said: "Our hearts cannot find peace while there are still brothers and sisters who suffer from lack of food, work, shelter or other fundamental goods. If I may be permitted to make one last appeal, I would ask that the just realisation of the fundamental aspirations of the most needy peoples should be the principal concern of those in public office." For the Pope: The revenues from the sale of the resources should be used to improve the lives of the people.
Let 2010 be the year of breakthrough for Nigeria and Nigerians.
THE THANXS IS ALL YOURS!!!
Temple Chima Ubochi writes from Bonn, Germany, through ubochit@yahoo.com
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