RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS A NATION

Dearly Beloved,
RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS A NATION
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34 NIV).
I have to change the message to be sent out this week again because of an ugly incident that happened last Friday as Nigeria was celebrating the golden jubilee of her independence as a sovereign nation. As many as fifteen people died in twin car-bomb blasts a few metres away from the Eagle Square, Abuja, the main centre of the celebration. Interestingly, a group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), had warned the Nigerian federal government that it would disrupt the celebration by planting bombs around the Eagle Square, and warned people not to be in the area at a specific time that they had set for the explosions of the bombs. The group based its warning on the fact that there was nothing to celebrate in Nigeria’s fifty years of independence, and the fact that the Niger Delta has been unfairly treated in spite of the crude oil that is being produced in the oil-rich area.
That incident and the claims of the group are thought provoking. The people of Nigeria in general have suffered enough in the hands of their political leaders since 1960 that the country gained her independence. There are no good social amenities like road, electricity, drinkable water, and the likes. Private schools and hospitals are thriving because government-owned schools and hospitals are not well catered for or accessible. Most of the youth are unemployed, even those that are employed are not well remunerated. The best brains of the country have gone abroad for greener pastures. An average Nigerian cannot boast of three square meals a day. In fact, Nigeria is a rich nation, but most of her citizens are living in abject poverty. Corruption has been institutionalized. Religious and ethnic disturbances are rampant in the north while hostage taking and kidnapping have made people insecure in the south. The political leaders and their cronies are freely looting the resources of the nation. They pretend as if they do not know the plight of the common man. They are recycling themselves in the corridor of power. There is no guarantee for free and fair election to put right people in position of leadership in the country. All these and many other reasons made some people to argue that there is nothing to celebrate after fifty years of Nigeria’s independence.
However, violence does not resolve a problem. In fact, it worsens the problem! Those that were behind the bomb blasts may have good intention, but killing innocent people and destruction of properties are not the right ways to make known one’s grievances. Two wrongs can never make a right. We have to be more cautious in agitating for a better Nigeria. Those that are in positions of authority should know that God allows them to be there for a purpose (see Romans 13:1; Daniel 2:21; 4:32; John 19:11). They should know that they are there to serve the people they are leading. Both the government and the citizenry should make righteousness their watchword. Righteousness, indeed, exalts a nation!
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
NB
I dedicate this message to all that were affected in the Friday October 1, 2010 bomb blasts in Abuja, Nigeria.