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“Mr. President must galvanize his team to get the job done; square pegs in round holes must be removed or put in appropriate places; the wicked who surround the righteous must be led away from the presence of the king. Those who cannot stand the heat must get out of the kitchen.
It is time to demonstrate leadership, wise judgment and astute public policy that guarantees stable and prosperous nationhood upon a foundation of peace; it is time to build a well-ordered nation with strong institutions dispensing justice; it is time to arise with patriotic zeal to build a great nation such that, years from now, generations yet unborn will look back at their history, not with disdain, but with gratitude to God that our generation preceded theirs.”
The above statement was an excerpts from the closing remarks of Pastor Tunde Bakare’s State of the Nation address entitled ‘Roadmap to successful Change’. If there is one thing that Nigerians must be grateful to God for, it is the fact that there are still men of God in this country who can speak the truth to power. In a country where Men of God have become mouthpiece for politicians rather than for God, in a nation where Men of God scramble for crumbs that falls from the tables of corrupt politicians, the likes of Pastor Bakare have shown what it truly means to remain committed to the cause of ensuring a better nation, a just and egalitarian society that works for everyone, rather than the few.
What Pastor Tunde Bakare is doing is not different from what the men of old (Prophets of God) did in the bible. Samuel challenged king Saul when he went against the ordinance of God, Nathan was sent to David to bring him back to order, Elijah faced King Ahab and Jezebel her Queen who were practicing totalitarianism, Jeremiah faced King Zedekiah, Daniel challenged the authority of King Nebuchadnezzar. Even in the New Testament, John the Baptist opposed the totalitarian rule of King Herod (Antipas), the Apostle Paul challenged the authority of the Roman government in his days and so on. These are classic examples of how Men of God were used to right the wrongs, and help shape the directions of political leaders and authorities in their days. But the reverse is the case nowadays. The bible admonished that “we should pray for those in the position of authority”, but never said we should be afraid to tell them the truth when necessary.
Once again, the issue of restructuring Nigeria has come to the fore. Just like I raise in my last piece “Is It Time to Re-examine Nigeria’s Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress” (http://witicles.com/its-time-to-reexamine-nigerias-unity-and-faith-peace-progress-once-again-24463.html) that the current state in which the country is will not foster her progress. There is an urgent need to challenge the status quo through a major restructuring. Men of God, politicians, interest groups have all at one point or the other called for the restructuring of the nation. Deputy Senate President, Ekweremadu similarly maintained that unless “Nigeria is restructured to make it more efficient and productive, it would be difficult for the country to wriggle out of security challenges, pervasive poverty, and retarded growth, as successive leaders would only be dealing with the symptoms, not the root causes of a festering illness.”
In the words of the Cleric, “The notion that the Nigerian nation is non-negotiable will remain contested through agitations, until we summon enough courage to put it to the test, and prove, through the outcome, that we are indeed prepared to become a truly united nation.” We cannot continue to pretend that all is well with Nigeria when indeed, everything is wrong with it. Just as it has been reiterated, our leaders must summon courage to do the needful. Whether we like it or not, this administration also has got limited time. There is no better time to recast the direction we want this country to take. The United Kingdom had done it, Scotland and Italy also did it at some point. There is nothing that stops from doing it as well.
There is a saying that it is only a fool that repeat the same action over and over again and expects a different outcome. As a nation as well, we cannot continue to repeat the same mistakes over and over again and expect a miracle to come down from heaven. It is time that we take our destiny into our hands. It is time to persuade our leaders to do the right thing. Restructuring of the country is the way to go. Thank you for reading, and do enjoy the rest of your week.