THE owl is a ferocious and wild bird, yet it seldom acts wild. It is a wise bird, yet it seldom speaks. The less it speaks the more it learns. The more it speaks, the less it learns. Sit around the owl and prod the birdie to deliver its message. Wisdom whirls from the sage creature like a rushing mighty wind. Among the 9,000 species created by the miraculous hands of our God, the owl stands out in wisdom when it speaks.
Wherever you find the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, explicating and expounding in his quasi-baritone voice, the ambience is always an entrenched presence of steadfast humility and wisdom. These are rare virtues deposited in the man of God. The gifts have drawn plaudits from all spheres of life, not just from pentecostal amphitheatres. He is a father to millions, a coach to a multitude and a mentor to mentors in the purlieu of power. Adeboye never speaks to partisan politics; and he’s made it clear: “I am not and will never be a politician. I am a pastor – that is what God has called me to be. My assignment is to be a pastor; to pray for you, to pray for nations, including Nigeria. I have no anointed candidate”.
Nigerian politics is full of ugly dramas, so Adeboye austerely discusses government drama. He only often speaks on nation-building when he has to. Recent events of horror and shame ravaging Nigeria spurred the man of God into speaking a few days ago. Bandits now rule the nation by perturbing proxy. Killers have upper hands over the Nigerian military. Pastor Adeboye must have been pushed to the brinks. With sagacity and in measured delivery he communicated his message without calling anybody ‘a goat.’ And the world heard him loud and clear. But did Pastor Adeboye just preach to the tone-deaf in power?
“For now, so many things are on my mind! Most especially, the attacks on Kaduna State. Why Kaduna? Who is trying to isolate Kaduna and why? And after Kaduna, which state is next?,”Adeboye queried.
The wicked agenda of terrorising bandits is not just corralling Kaduna but wrapping the entire North around their blood-blotched fingers. Whether Buhari and his government agree with this or not, Boko Haram is back in the North. The killer group is returning this time with more vicious weapons of mass destruction and sharpened logistics. They want their kingdom inside of Nigeria and parallel to the Nigerian government. And unfortunately, the Nigerian military is unable to hedge these fools despite hundreds of billions of naira committed to security by the regime of Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). What Pastor Adeboye said was good preaching. But did he just preach to the deaf in power?
Pastor Adeboye reminded Nigerians that we are neck-deep in the valley of the shadow of debt. How close is Nigeria to becoming as a few African nations now enslaved by their creditors, especially China?
“We are borrowing more and according to a friend of mine, we are moving steadily towards a state of bankruptcy, a whole nation…More than 90 per cent of our income is used to pay interest on the money we have borrowed, we are borrowing more, we are moving steadily to bankruptcy, and your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren will be paying debt.”
Nigeria’s current public debt profile stands at N39.55 trillion as of December 2021. According to Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, debt rose by 22.47 per cent. It is already getting tough servicing the loans as the Nigerian government keeps borrowing to meet the finance deficit. Nigeria under Buhari is sitting nauseatingly deep in the valley of the shadow of debt. When do we leave the valley alone and move on to the mountaintop? I hope Pastor Adeboye is not just preaching to the deaf in power.
The discovery of crude oil by any nation is the discovery of oil of gladness. Unfortunately for Nigeria, the discovery of crude oil has brought much sadness instead. A few families are sitting on our mainstay, stealing and pilfering the proceeds. Adeboye addressed that, he said, “It is in the news and nobody has denied it that as of now more than 80 per cent of the oil we are producing is being stolen… that leads me to several questions…Who is stealing the oil? Where is the money going? What do they want to do with the money? Who are the foreign nations buying this stolen oil?”.
Stealing is part of the Nigerian government culture. Public servants steal public funds, they steal pension funds from retirees and strip older folk naked. They steal from workers by denying them their salaries. They steal the futures of generations yet unborn and there is no comeuppance. Big thieves always get away with stealing. A country that should be the continental fountainhead has become a pinnata of disgrace. Daily and disgracefully she glides crabwise with dimming hope and fading dreams. Men and women in power are provocateurs of perversion; wanton breakers of rules they made; and saboteurs of the existentialism of a nation going somewhere.
Pastor Adeboye asked a question in his sermonette: “Where is our oil money? Who took them? For what reason?” I am sure the revered mathematician knows that between 1960 and 2005, $20 trillion was stolen by public office holders. Stealing continues till today even under the watch of a president who loudly boasted before he got elected that he hates stealing and promised to bring all erring government thieves to justice. The combined wealth of Nigeria’s five richest men which totals $29.9 billion could end extreme poverty in the nation. All of these characters have their loins attached to the government.
Many present-day Nigerian leaders are largely arrogant and arrogating. In power, they believe everything including government properties are their personal possessions. Life is all about them and the massive wealth they acquire through corruption. In Nigeria, poverty is still alive and growing as the crime rate continues to spike furiously. Lives of many citizens are stalled and stuck in reprehensible rut.
Nigeria, a few years ago before Buhari came onboard, was a stench. The country today under Sai Baba is in the gory gutters of crippling conundrum. Nobody and nowhere is safe. Economic growth has grounded. Morality has evanesced. Patriotism is in peremptory interment. And the sacredness of life is gone with the wildest wind. In every aspect of our national life; it is renditions of lullabies of pain and suffering. Is Pastor Adeboye preaching to the deaf in power? Pastor, please keep preaching. Maybe one day, deaf ears will pop open and hear your wise words of reform for a deformed nation.
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