O Nigeria, return to the LORD! - Esesien Ita

Congratulations Nigeria! Fifty five years of Independence have rolled by. Reflecting on a period like this, opinions are bound to be diverse. Some believe we have cause to celebrate. Others think there is nothing to cheer. To this writer, there are both things to cheer and to lament.

First, we must thank God for the relative unity and peace we have enjoyed. We say ‘relative’ because we have not yet arrived at where we can proudly say Nigeria is truly one. Ethnic and religious affinities and sentiments still line the implementation of our national policies. But we must still be grateful to God that, unlike how such sentiments tear other nations apart, Nigeria has been held on as one by the hand of Providence. And like former military President, Ibrahim Babangida said during the

Centenary celebration of 2014, in response to those who keep lamenting the Amalgamation of 1914, a marriage that has lasted 100 years should no longer be considered a mistake. It is now left to the partners who have laughed and cried together to continue to work out that desired oneness.

Our national peace has taken a similar path to our unity, that is, both are relative. If one is to trace it from pre-Independence era, we may even say there was greater peace before Independence than after. From the First Republic in 1963 to the present, political and religious violence have dogged our national life like a shadow. We have even fought a civil war. Yet, again, we have been kept as one nation. Some countries which may not have experienced a fraction of the turmoil we have experienced have already reached their elastic limit and have snapped into fragments. So there’s still something to cheer. There is hope for Nigeria.

Particularly must we thank God that the prophecy of doom about the country – that Nigeria will break up in 2015 – did not come to pass. God did not allow it. Though enemies of Dr Goodluck Jonathan and the spiritually blind fail to see how God used the man in stabilizing the country during the 2015 Presidential election, the fact remains that Jonathan wrote his name in gold as one of the great architects of a united Nigeria by accepting defeat in the election and congratulating the winner, Muhammadu Buhari, a fact Buhari himself acknowledged in his inaugural speech.

Second, we must thank God for the abundance of human and natural resources in our land. Every State has, imbedded in its land or water, good resources which, when properly utilized and managed, could make each State self-sufficient. Equally so, States have good human resources which, if well harnessed, could help them rise economically. This has not been the case because all looked to oil wealth, and some to foreign technical aid. But now that oil is said to be drying up and foreign reserve becoming thinner, perhaps all will now look inwards.

We hear and sympathize with those countries that suffer heavy losses from natural disasters. We join with the rest of humanity in sending relief to ameliorate the suffering of our fellows. When we consider the multi-dimensional trauma these brothers and sisters go through, for no fault of theirs but that they only belong to that part of the planet, we must be grateful to God that we do not have such painful experiences. Apart from erosion and moderate floods we have not experienced such things as tsunamis, earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruption, or such floods that submerge whole villages and towns. Certainly we have things to cheer. It has not been all gloom with Nigeria. You probably can make out other things to celebrate our dear country.

Then, too, we know where the shoe pinches us as Nigerians. Perhaps we seem to know this more than where it does not. Those woes include tribalism, nepotism, religious bigotry and intolerance, insurgency, social violence, injustice, bad leadership, mismanagement of resources, corruption, poverty, you name it. Except God had been with us, we would have been consumed in these iniquities of ours.

As we mark our 55^th anniversary as an independent nation we must move away from the bad and ugly to the good. We must move toward God and away from the devil, the world and self, all of which breed the vices that have been devouring us as a people.

                              

                          (O Nigeria!) Return to the LORD your God    Joel 2: 13                          

           

It is not enough to identify with a religion or hold unto dogma. We must be conscience-driven practitioners of the good we profess. If even 50% of the citizens of this country do that, Nigeria will rise to be truly great. This is because the light that will shine out from those who practise righteousness will put out the darkness of those who don’t, and may even draw them closer to God too. For so the Scripture says, “The light shines in darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it” (John 1: 5). Knowledge of the LORD and the practice of righteousness will stem the evil tide of corruption, insurgency, and other violent crimes. It will enthrone a clean, humane and productive leadership. It will grow our economy, create jobs for the unemployed, and reduce poverty. It will align the nation with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which is the global body’s current successor programme to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which expire this year. The SDGs aims at eliminating poverty and reducing inequalities. A return to the LORD will bring it to pass, for, “it is not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of the LORD” (Zechariah 4: 6). “Except the LORD builds the house they labour in vain that build it” (Psalm 127: 1).

No individual, no matter how good intentioned, can correct the woes of a nation. Only God can do that, using human instruments. The instruments are all of us. Identify your role in a new Nigeria. If hitherto we have been part of Nigeria’s problem, perhaps joining the bandwagon in financial misappropriation and other forms of official corruption, withholding of workers and retirees’ entitlements, official and political victimization, cheating of employers or employees, exam malpractice, violent crimes even if veiled as religion, oil theft, and the like, it is time to turn around and forsake evil. Embrace God and righteousness in Christ today. That is the solution to our problems as a nation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD. May the LORD build Nigeria for us.

Ita Literature congratulates every Nigerian as we celebrate our God-given 55 years of freedom. It shall be well with the nation as we draw closer to God and practise righteousness. There is hope for Nigeria. Nigeria shall rise and be great because God Almighty is her God. O LORD, have mercy on us. Peace unto all who love Nigeria! Shalom!