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The Senate President Godswill Akpabio must have endeared himself to many Nigerians with his New Year show of magnanimity and compassion to some individuals he had court cases bordering on defamation, lying and slander. Akpabio’s epiphany or sudden change of heart for those people that caused him immense pain, distress and anxiety came through the sermon of the Parish Priest of the Sacred Heart Parish, and Vicar-General of the Catholic Diocese of Uyo, the Very Revered Father Donatus Udoette during the New Year mass. According to the priest, “You have to let go of the past, no matter what it was. All of us carry some luggage of pain and hurt. You have to let go if you want to move on.”
The Reverend Father spoke about the need for forgiveness and the urgency to let go of past events and enter the New Year without bearing the grudges of last year. As the man of God was preaching the sermon, the Senate President reportedly felt that God was talking to him directly through the priest. This moment appeared to him like an epiphany and he felt the need to forgive his traducers and move on with his life in the New Year. He wants to let go of the bad and ugly past. He doesn’t want to enter the New Year with the luggage of pain and hurt.
Akpabio obeyed his inner voice and heeded the message of God’s grace from the mouth of the Catholic priest. But he felt the message was for him. There was no need to delay. He there and then ordered his lawyers to withdraw all the nine cases in court with some individuals over defamation and other matters. The Senate President was not the only person in that mass. He was the only one who came out boldly to announce his forgiveness. He has found a space in his heart to forgive his enemies. He will merit mercy too. He also probably felt that the 10th Senate should be spared of another round of litigations over unanimities and frivolities arising from a mere routine change of sitting arrangement in the Red Chamber which eventually culminated in the opening of can of worms.
Such change of sitting arrangement should not have provoked the kind of fiery and chaotic rhetoric it generated as well as the feminist and international dimensions of the salacious and amorous discourse. It hugged media headlines for weeks. It takes lots of strength and willingness to forgive those who hit you below the belt and wanted to tarnish your hard-earned reputation as was as the entertainment content the whole sexy saga generated. The entire episode was shameful to the Senate and the nation. There are matters that should not be discussed openly. There are issues that should be handled discreetly without being over-dramatized in the media considering that the parties involved in the matter are family friends and adults.
It takes an uncommon grace and resolve to even forgive one’s arch enemies and intentional traducers, who were out to make a mountain out of a mole hill. Even along the line, some professional mourners who weep louder than the bereaved joined the fray to take their own pound of flesh from the Senate President, the major target of the circus show. The underdogs normally have public sympathy in a matter like this and some commentators make conclusions on the matter based on this paradigm. That is why men are advised not to engage in any fight with women, especially if such women are beautiful and charming. If a man fights with a woman, even if the woman is at fault, the society will blame the man for fighting with a woman, who is deemed physically to be the weaker sex.
It is good that the Senate President has chosen the path of forgiveness over the long-winding road of litigation, which nobody is sure when it will end. In Nigeria, the wheel of justice grinds so slowly that such matters can take up to 10 or more years to end. Apart from election matters, which are resolved within stipulate timeframes, other civil matters can last for eternity. I think that the Senate under the leadership of Godswill Akpabio should do something about the slow pace of our criminal justice system. Cases should not drag for eternity in our courts.
The New Year sermon by the Catholic priest made Akpabio to reflect on the power of forgiveness. It made Akpabio to realize that forgiveness is not weakness as some people up there might think. For Akpabio, forgiveness is emotionally and psychologically liberating from a distressing situation or episode in one’s life. How many years will a man live that he will devote some to unending litigation of unedifying salacious matters that cannot add any value or virtue to our national development? “I had almost nine cases in court against some individuals who defamed me, who lied against me, who slandered my name.
But I listened to the priest and suddenly realized he was talking to me, so I hereby direct my solicitor to withdraw all lawsuits against them,” Akpabio stated. What Akpabio has done in this instance by withdrawing the nine cases in court is noble and worthy of emulation. It is both symbolic and significant. Beyond its symbolism is the apt demonstration of the power of forgiveness over hate, hurt and pain. Its significance lies in the fact that forgiveness is not a mark of weakness. It is rather a mark of strength. Forgiveness engenders healing and societal well-being. It is victory against revenge and retribution. It is good for all the parties involved and the society as well.
Besides, forgiveness is the foundation of Christian living. While the first Adam failed and brought death to mankind, the second Adam reconciled mankind to God through death on the Cross and brought salvation to the world through His resurrection. Forgiveness has no limit. “Peter came up and said to him, Lord, “How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven,” Matthew 18:21-22. Let other Nigerians emulate the Senate President in this show of mercy and forgiveness.
Apart from the altruistic show of forgiveness, the Senate President and the 10th Senate should indeed make laws that will improve the lives of millions of people in the country who are suffering from the policies of this administration. The economic hardship is telling on the people in the streets. Nigerians are grappling with basic needs like water, security, food, housing, healthcare, and good schools, which are provided in other countries.
