NIGERIA AT 62: ISSUES FOR CHRISTIAN CITIZENS AHEAD OF THE 2023 GENERAL ELECTIONS

 NIGERIA AT 62: ISSUES FOR CHRISTIAN CITIZENS AHEAD OF THE 2023 GENERAL ELECTIONS

[A personal and reflective speech initially presented during Nigeria’s Independence Day Celebration, 1st October 2022 now edited for the Eve of Nigeria’s National Elections, 24 February 2023]

by

Zwandien Bobai

The nomenclature, “Nigeria” today resonates with so much mixed-feeling! Sometimes it does not sound again as a country but merely a bunch of jokes. Some people hear it and are proud but others hear it and have a feeling of disdain and shame. Those who hear or bear the name and are proud are obviously those who do not know from where the country emanates. This is true to a very large extent.

The patriots of old, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Obafemi Awolowo or even Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto would have been crying today if they had survived to see us the way we are presently. The country for which they died is now in great shambles! It is no longer what they envisaged it to be! When they insisted and finally gained Independence in 1960, some 62 years ago, they did not know we were turning dependent within a time. Personally, there are moments in which I pause to ask if Nigeria is truly independent!?  Many Nigerians, Africans and even Europeans see Nigeria’s independence as a mere mirage; a dream and not a reality.

But what is independence? What does it mean to be independent? Several groups or schools of thought would define the concept from different point of views by using different or several words. Some are of the opinion that independence is freedom from political control by some foreign countries; while others look at it as the freedom to organise one’s life, make personal decisions without soliciting helps from other countries, international organisations, corporate bodies, etc.

Nigeria’s Independence appears to be a mirage especially to the poor masses; independence for self-enrichment and not for development? Independence where the rich get richer and the poor perpetually get poorer and relegated to the background? Ours is independence from other countries and dependence on some unscrupulous money-mongering leaders and their allies? Yes, as a nation we are free from political oppression, yet Nigerians are bound by some individuals.

After sixty-two years of independence, we still have nothing tangible to show for it!? Leaders jubilate and enjoy independence and yet have no development whatsoever to show. Shall we remain stagnant with no growth? Every now and then we cry for change but we ourselves do not want to change our beliefs and practices. How can we experience changes when we have the wrong stimuli (leaders) for change? How do you expect one who bribed people to be elected into an office to work towards the good of his electorates? If Nigerians are independent, why are they still under the apron strings of some selfish and unwholesome daredevils who claim to be leaders? The rich in Nigeria are obviously the independent people; for the poor, they are still far away from attaining independence!

Sixty-two years of independence are merely years of hardship to the poor masses. Sixty-two years of hunger and thirst. This has been a period when the poor masses have been clamouring and craving for the National Cake and drinks of this country. It has been a period when the ordinary Nigerian is been denied some rights that should ordinarily be his. Sixty-two years today to the poor are all years of social and educational inequality. Independence that preaches segregation rather than unity as people of one nation is the kind we have in Nigeria. When would this country attend the developmental level of other independent countries in Africa and the world over? When would the poor man sleep with both eyes closed in Nigeria? These are the questions of the poor man in the streets of this country. They are the pleas of the ordinary Nigerian; his desires and cries.

Sometimes I wonder if the National Anthem and its corresponding Pledge make any sense again! I wonder if the singers of those national emblems even derive any meaning from the same! For instance, what is the meaning of the phrase, “the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain,” in the National Anthem and “to be faithful, loyal and honest” in the National Pledge? Our patriots of old would be in great pain now if only they could see what Nigeria has become! The conclusion would be that their “labour” is obviously now in VAIN! They laboured indeed, but only in vain. 

Nowadays, it is common knowledge in Nigeria that faithful, loyal and honest people like we sing in the Pledge do not exist, earnestly! We rather have citizens who are unfaithful, disloyal and dishonest! If one is tempted to think that unfaithful, disloyal and dishonest people only exist in the world outside of the church, such maybe grossly wrong! Check around today and even in the church, all we have is a collection of people who are unfaithful, disloyal and dishonest! In the church today, there are people who even preach or play roles therein just because of what they stand to gain! It is no longer ministry as usual! It is now ministry for self-satisfaction and financial aggrandisement! And this is why even in the church we hear stories of corruption—sin and financial misappropriation and embezzlements! These are vices that should not be mentioned within the church walls, but we are not different today!

The nickname of Nigeria as “the giant of Africa” is no longer tenable! To claim that almost sounds or looks childish and anathemic! We have the population! We have the money! We have the natural endowments and human resources that leading countries of the world only dream about! See the oil deposits in Nigeria as an instance! One would expect that Nigeria would be at the top of the table when it comes to ranking of good countries in the world. When you leave Nigeria for another African country or off the shores of Africa, people associate you with greatness because even in the foreign land, if they hear “Nigeria,” they remember that there are great things the people are capable of doing. They either have some good professors or they run the best businesses around. Sometimes, they have the best estates in cities around the world. It appears that indeed, Nigeria is a GIANT but only in terms of disparaging events. Or we could argue like it is often said that Nigeria is “a sleeping giant!” Yes, we are still giants but giants in corruption; giants in senseless killings and massacres; giants in religious fanaticism; and giants in all that is against humanity and the world order and the God of Creation.

The 2023 general elections are here and now! Electioneering campaigns came to an end this week! If you check around, there are many billboards and perhaps posters flying for candidates vying positions at different levels. The trend is that candidates and their supporters get dirty with politics in that they end up castigating/insulting one another from start to finish of the campaigns. They come to the common people, the electorates and the masses just to say how bad the other candidate is without telling us what they would do for us if elected. We clap our hands and hail them for such foolhardiness.

As an ardent observer of the Nigerian political milieu, I dare say that even the intellectuals and the schooled have been drawn into such dirty politics. Instead of campaigns to be issues-based, they are merely aimed at discrediting opposing candidates! In Nigeria today and sadly, religion is now a major factor in politicking and governance as a whole. To a large extent, one’s religion (Christianity or Islam) determines such person’s winning or losing election in some parts of this country. And it is better for people to belong to at least one of these two major religions.

It is a known fact that the ruling party in Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress (APC) decided to field a Muslim-Muslim ticket come 2023 general elections! The major opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is going with the Muslim-Christian ticket. Yet, the PDP is no longer the only opposition party; the conspicuous Labour Party (LP) is a major force to reckon with. The earlier the APC, PDP and Nigerians in general realise this fact, the better for the future of Nigeria. The LP is a movement of mostly young Nigerians who are convinced with the potentials of Mr Peter Obi (President Candidate) and his running mate, Dr. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed to deliver the dividends of democracy to the teaming youth in particular and population of Nigeria in general. To these young people, the candidacies of Atiku Abubakar and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu are questionable since these two have been part of the problems of Nigeria instead of their solution. Over the democratic regimes in Nigeria, the problems have been systemic in that potentials abound in almost all strata of society, not merely depending on individual’s political party or platform.

The church in Nigeria or at least the one in my area is now tended towards the candidacy of Peter Obi as a “saviour” which agrees with the notion purported by the youths in Nigeria. Some proponents even refer to him as the “Moses of modern Nigeria.” Potentially, everyone would attest that Obi’s aspirations are good! His track records speak for themselves! We often than not concentrate on things we are able to see not minding what we cannot see as a people in the candidates, though! 

As at 2015, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was still strong, hale and hearty. He possessed every good potential! Yet Nigerians insisted that they needed a change. Like the proverbial Israel, the people said to their spiritual leader, Samuel: “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have” (1 Sam 8:5). Obviously, at that time of their history, God was regarded as King. It was an anomaly. The people were warned by Prophet Samuel but they insisted. The Bible says, “And the LORD told him: ‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights’” (1 Sam 8:7-9).

It is not lost on me that many people preached using their pulpits against the potential emergence of Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 and 2019. Majority of those people warned the seeming ignorant and the naive of the uncivilised policies of the Buhari military administration in the early 1980s, but like the Igbos would say, “the stubborn fly goes to the grave with the corpse,” they refused to listen. And we are here today, mourning happenings in the country. Like Israel of old, we were told the possibilities in such administration, but we turned deaf ears. Today, even those who turned diehard fans and supporters of Buhari are regretting and now live in great shame for their roles in his emergence! Would the story in 2023 be the same with Nigeria and Nigerians? Are we even ready to do the right thing?

Sadly, when such opportunities for elections come, we tend to focus merely on quantifiable indices, potentials we are able to see with our eyes. Still, like the proverbial Israel in 1 Samuel 16, Samuel the Priest and Jesse the father of those young and potential leaders in Israel thought the outward appearances were definite things to behold! It is said concerning Eliab, “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart’” (1 Sam 16:7). Many times, we pick people based upon those human potentialities. But that appears to be the only way for us; who are we to know the heart of a man? In Nigeria today, and especially when Jonathan and Buhari’s administrations are compared, we would say that we are able to know a man’s heart by the things they do. Now that both of them have tasted and tried power, some Nigerians now claim that there are positives to derive from Jonathan’s administration than there are in the current Buhari’s administration.

Potentials are good! But it is true like Prof. Patrice LO Lumumba would argue, Africans love people without ideas. If the opportunity is given to Africans to select who becomes a President between the man with and the one without ideas, their affinity to the latter is just amazing. The case of Jonathan-Buhari in 2015 serves a good example here. Imagine Nigerians letting go a man with a PhD and grabbing a man whose secondary school certificate remains questionable!?

As we go to the polls tomorrow, how would we avoid the mistake of the past? Would we not make another mistake in trying to avoid a previous one? The PDP and the LP and other political parties are pushing hard to ensure that APC does not continue. There is nothing wrong in such aspiration! But would that be congruent with God’s agenda for Nigeria and Nigerians? Some people argue for the PDP that we should go for them because they have decided to go for a Muslim-Christian ticket to portray the religious diversity of Nigeria. Same argument applies to other political parties except the ruling APC. In their own case, they go for a Muslim Presidential Candidate and a Muslim Vice Presidential Candidate. Some Nigerians of conscience think that is a gross mistake that should not happen in a country that is largely made of Christians and Muslims shared across the population and spread across all parts of the country.

The narrative or trend in the church today is the supposed “Islamisation Agenda” by the Buhari administration which is further buttressed by the selection of the APC’s flag-bearers. Some Christians have been so naive as to believe that “Islamisation” is something that could be done by mere “announcement” or “forceful conversion” as the case is often painted to look like. Lately, such discussions and the need to elect a Christian President have dominated discourses on the pulpits. Some Christians now feel that Nigeria is their HEAVEN to have and to hold. They do not even remember that we are merely passersby and that we are on a transit to heaven. 

One key reason for which Christians here think it is good and necessary if not timely to have a Christian President, is the matter of persecution of the church. To this people, we have gone through enough in Nigeria; and enough is enough! But if the church does not face challenges and persecutions as a result of government policies, would it still be the church at all? If you expect the church to be without persecution, would it still be the church? If you expect leaders of the church to be found at the corridors of powers in governments that be, would they still represent the church? If you expect Peter Obi for instance, to be the President of Nigeria, would he still represent the church or Jesus Christ? Is God incapable of using a Muslim or an atheist to bring about His will today in Nigeria? If we elect a Christian President today in Nigeria, would it solve our multifaceted problems? If we elect a Christian President in Nigeria, would that make Nigeria our long awaited heaven? Would Christians forfeit going to heaven to stay and enjoy a Christian President or would still head home? If you are familiar with church history, you would know that Christianity has always prospered under non-Christian rulers. Persecution is the bricks with which Christianity is built.

Nevertheless, it remains a noble course when Christians desire good governance! But that does not come only from Christians! You would remember that although Umaru Musa Yar’adua did not live long as President of Nigeria, he meant well for all and sundry! His brief stint and legacies remain so cherished by both Christians and Muslims! And that goes to prove that good governance could come from just any person; the one God is willing to use! As a Christian and citizen of Nigeria, it is your civic responsibility to take part in all the processes brining about leaders, especially as we begin tomorrow. It is good to vote people according to their potentials! However, we must bear in mind that potentials could be deceitful like it happened in the emergence of David in 1 Samuel 16.

Again, I submit to you today that it is good to think about electing good leaders in Nigeria come 2023. It is quite critical for us as far this generation is concerned. Our children and children’s children would not forgive us if we repeat the mistakes of the past years in 2023. But the good leader must not be a Christian or a Muslim! The good leader may even be an atheist whom God is ready and willing to use! The Bible is replete of those examples of non-Jewish leaders God used for His glory! But how would we know? We would not know if we allow RELIGION to be the determining factor in our coming elections! We would only know when we allow God to decide for us! How would we allow God decide for us? We should pray to Him! When that happens, He will direct us to do what we can! Whoever God decides for His glory should be our choice! That is why, instead of the frenzy that we see today on social media and other platforms, Christians should take out time to pray more about 2023 in Nigeria.

With this, I invite you ALL to participate in the elections beginning tomorrow (25 February 2023). VOTER APATHY WOULD NOT HELP US! May Nigeria succeed to the glory of God!

DISCLAIMER: The views herewith presented, are solely mine! They do not represent the views of any persons or organisations. Such personal reflections must not align with popular opinions. If you have any disagreements go ahead and express them in such a way that is respectful and cordial.