{"id":64979,"date":"2019-02-21T21:14:43","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T20:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=64979"},"modified":"2019-02-21T21:14:43","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T20:14:43","slug":"2019-elections-and-ex-president-jonathans-sermons-of-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/2019-elections-and-ex-president-jonathans-sermons-of-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"2019 Elections and ex-President Jonathan\u2019s Sermons of Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n
By wealth Dickson Ominabo<\/p>\n

Down the Southern part of Nigeria is a humble man with a temperament of
\npeace. With a political philosophy of humanism, he goes about preaching
\npeace to the world and urging his friends, brothers and of humanity to
\nsee peace as their kinsmen and harmony as their in- law.<\/p>\n

He is a fellow who lives out the attributes of the beatitude daily. He
\nscores the reproach of defeat and vilification just to maintain the
\nclimate of peace in his environment. He is a sermonist, he speaks in the
\nmanner of John Donne, Martin Luther King Jnr and
\nDesmond Tutu.\u00a0 Although not a full-time member of the ecclesiastics, his
\nmessages are always refreshing and didactic.<\/p>\n

Recently in Abuja and Yenagoa, I listened to him speak, his messages
\ntonics for national peace. At a time when the most popular messages by
\npoliticians have been sermons of \u2018body bags\u2019 and \u2018shoot at sight.\u2019 He
\ncontinues to give sermons of peace and love. Even when friends and
\nassociates go to him with itching ears, wanting to make remarks that will
\nsend a strong signal to his political detractors who have taken upon
\nthemselves the iniquity of insulting him at every opportunity and
\nassassinate his character, his utterances are always seasoned with the
\nsalt and savour of love.<\/p>\n

In Abuja, about a fortnight ago in a conference organised by the Goodluck
\nJonathan Foundation (GJF), he spoke alongside Bishop Matthew Hassan
\nKukah,Gen.Abdulsalami Abububakar, Dr. Amos Sawyer, Dr.Fidele Sarassoro and
\nProf Al-Hassan Conteh on peaceful elections and national development. He
\nspoke on the link between peace and national prosperity as well as the
\nreproach of conflict and wars.\u00a0 The minutes that he spoke, were seconds of
\nattention, penitence and orientation in the hearts of the pew. It was like
\nlistening to Charles Spurgeon preach his sermon of grace or watching Billy
\nGraham on one of his evangelical outreaches.<\/p>\n

Like a revivalist he spoke, on the need for peace and good governance
\nwhich are the issues of his heart and his foundation. Hear him: “The
\nsearch for solutions to Africa\u2019s seemingly intractable challenges is at
\nthe centre of the Foundation\u2019s interest on the question of leadership and
\ngood governance. It is a known fact that Africa\u2019s relatively slow growth
\nand poor performing economies are linked to the preponderance of
\nconflicts. What many patriotic Africans will also not deny is the fact
\nthat at the root of most of the conflicts ravaging the continent is the
\ndesperation that often characterise the struggle for power.
\n\u201cNo doubt, there is a strong nexus between the struggle for power and
\nnational development. There is a vicious cycle in Africa where the
\nstruggle for political power leads to conflicts that bring up poor
\ngovernance and creates hardship which fuels the struggle for change of
\nleadership; thus, creating further conflicts and poor leadership. ”
\nLike an Apostle on a great commission Dr. Goodluck Jonathan called
\nAfricans to repentance.
\n\u201c It is my considered view that as African leaders, we must change our
\napproach and disposition towards stewardship. We must get to the stage
\nwhere we should be more interested in developing our people, rather than
\nruling or just governing them.<\/p>\n

“The ten most developed nations on this earth are those countries that
\nexperience the least conflicts while the ten least developed countries,
\nmany of them here in Africa, are the once wallowing in the worst form of
\nconflicts. The lesson in this existential reality is that any leader who
\nis committed to the development of his country will do everything to save
\nit from turmoil and conflicts. ”<\/p>\n

The most interesting part of the sermon to many was when Dr. Jonathan,
\nperhaps a good student of the Pauline Epistle, spoke in the epistolary
\nform. Just like Paul writing to Timothy of the expectations of church
\nleaders(bishop), he said:<\/p>\n

” A development-minded leader is visionary and selfless. He does not seek
\npower at all cost and will not wield it for its own sake… There is no
\ngainsaying that when politicians resort to desperate measures in the bid
\nto occupy important political positions, they run the risk of plunging
\ntheir countries into serious crises that often lead to loss of lives,
\ndegradation of values as well as destruction of private and public assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese breeds of politicians often ignore the fact that to be patriotic is
\nto love your country and be prepared to live and die for her honour,
\nreputation, freedom, progress and the ascendancy of the common good. You
\ncan restore destroyed infrastructure almost to its former state or even
\nbetter, but you cannot easily repair people\u2019s psyche, reconcile aggrieved
\npersons and restore hope in a nation, once they are damaged in destructive
\nleadership struggles. \u201c<\/p>\n

On Monday this week, when youths of the Niger Delta region led by the
\nPresident of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Barr. Pereotubo Oweilaemi paid
\nhim a courtesy call. Dr. Jonathan re-enforced his message of peace;
\ncharging the youths to prioritise peace always especially during the
\nelections. His message was a call for democratic humanism or better put a
\ncharge for Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of ubuntu.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime someone dies extra-judicially it reduces the integrity of the
\ncountry. So, if our security personnel are interested in peace, especially
\nduring this electioneering, then they must do everything to suppress
\nextra-judicial killings; because when one person is killed unlawfully, it
\naffects everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

As we go for elections beginning from this weekend, leaders and followers
\nalike should take to heart the sermons of Jonathan and when he said no
\nambition is worth his blood.<\/p>\n

*Wealth Dickson Ominabo is an Abuja-based journalist<\/p>\n

Twitter @wealthdickson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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