Things we didn’t pray for

“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, Overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in summer, And gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of they sleep?” (Proverbs 6:6-9 King James Version). As a praying nation, full of prayer warriors and men and women of God, including general overseers, daddy and mummy GOs and revered men and women of other faiths, I deliberately want to start this article with the profound quotation from the Bible.

I first learnt of this bible passage from our secondary school principal, who used it for exhortation during morning prayers/assembly. Since then, I found the passage handy in dealing with certain situations in life, including instructing others to learn useful organizational lessons from the ants. As little as ants are, they accomplish mighty things even without government, leaders and rulers, and provide for their needs in summer and harvest. In doing so, I believe that my country men and women, including our political leaders and their fanatical supporters will learn one or two lessons from the organizational abilities of the ants as depicted in the passage above and do likewise.

There are many things that distinguish Nigerians from other people in the world. We used to be the happiest people in the world but not any longer. We are among the most industrious people on earth and among the easiest to govern. We are among the most prayerful nations. The country is among the most corrupt in the world and the most terrorized. I can go on and on but let me stop here. Our being rated among the happiest people in the world is understandable considering that God gave us virtually everything we need, and endowed us with human and material resources far beyond our imagination.

We have good weather, arable land and aquatic splendor, crude oil and solid minerals. Every state in Nigeria has enough solid minerals and agricultural products that can transform the nation and make it the envy of other nations, yet we are unprepared to harness our resources and attain greatness God destined us with. Instead of using our heads and hands to organize ourselves and use what God has given us to make us great, most of us are daily praying, binding and casting demons and asking God to do everything for us, including giving us food, scholarship and visa to migrate to United states, United Kingdom, Canada, China, India, Ukraine and Russia. Some of our people pray to migrate to Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic to escape the suffering in Nigeria instituted by bad governance and hostile and greedy leaders.

After the 10 days of rage protest, the country has never been the same. And it can never be the same again. So many things have happened in quick succession either for good or bad or both. I want to believe that our leaders have learnt many lessons from the hunger protest. I also want to believe that the police and other security agencies have learnt plenty lessons from the protest. It will be a great tragedy if they didn’t learn lessons from the hunger protest. Since 1999 when we commenced this democratic journey, we have witnessed many things we asked for and things didn’t ask for. We have made modest achievements. We have also made blunders and even bastardized the democratic process. What is happening in Nigeria of today could only have been imagined. But today, they are boldly staring us in the face.

What we are presently witnessing in Nigeria today are basically things we didn’t ask for. In fact, we didn’t bargain for them. Consider the recent seizure of our three presidential jets in France by a Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment over a failed business deal with Ogun State government. The government of Gbenga Daniel had around 2007 entered agreement with the Chinese company to build and manage the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone. Under Governor Ibikunle Amosun, the deal failed and the Chinese were driven away. Both Daniel and Amosun will explain more on the failed deal.

The firm sued Ogun State government in Paris and obtained judgement against it and by extension the federal government of Nigeria. Arising from this judgement, the firm embarrassed us by seizing three Nigerian presidential jets, a Dassault Falcon 7X, a Boeing 737-7N6 and an Airbus A330, the newly acquired presidential aircraft, which was released to enable President Bola Tinubu travel to France. There are reports that the Chinese firm is moving to seize our assets in UK, US and other jurisdictions to recoup the $74.5 million compensation the UK court awarded to it.

How Ogun State government and Nigeria will wriggle out of this self-imposed ‘wahala’ is yet to be ascertained. I pray this case does not degenerate to another P& ID case which Nigeria later reversed and won in UK. The Ogun State vs. Chinese firm case borders on lack of diligence in contract agreements, fidelity and absence of continuity in our governance model. This can explain why there are many abandoned projects across the country.

In a period of mass hunger, the government purchased a new presidential jet at a whopping cost while it approved a paltry N70,000 new minimum wage in place of the N250,000 demanded by Nigerian workers. This is a country where a 50kg bag of rice is selling for N90,000 and above. Despite the removal of fuel subsidy Nigerians now buy a litre of fuel N950 at independent outlets and N1,400/litre in the black market. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) which reportedly made humongous profits and paid huge dividends is yet to ensure steady supply of petrol. I hope we didn’t pray for a day like this.

At times we get what we asked for. And at times we get what we didn’t even ask for or ever envisaged. At certain period we get the things we hate and detest. There was a time the NNPCL said it will sell shares to Nigerians through initial public offer but nothing of such happened to the best of my knowledge. Who owns the NNPCL? Who are the shareholders? Is our crude oil a blessing or a curse? We didn’t pray for these oddities in our land.

Consider also the ever-ending crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It is not unexpected. There is no pity for the party. It is bountifully reaping what it sowed in its 2023 presidential primaries in Abuja. Any other party that committed the same atrocities the PDP committed will reap the same calamity. The party is disintegrating and will continue to disintegrate. Until they appease the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and resolve its internal contradictions, the party will continue to be in crisis. Things will continue to fall apart in PDP. I learnt some people want to drag former President Goodluck Jonathan into the 2027 presidential race. My advice to him is to reject such moves. Those cajoling him to run in 2027 will throw him under the bus again.

The other day, the police entered the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) headquarters in Abuja looking for a foreign national said to be a fugitive and criminal of terror dimension. Nobody is sure whether the police saw the suspect there or not. Some days later, the Police invited NLC leader Joe Ajaero over terrorism financing allegation. Nigerians are surprised at this development. Notwithstanding, the NLC leader will honour police invitation next week Thursday. Meanwhile, the NLC has alerted its affiliations and organs for a nationwide strike should its leader be detained by the police. How will the federal government grapple with all this?

What is Kayode Egbetokun-led police up to? Are we fast degenerating to a police state or fascism? Is this a banana republic? Are these the things we pray for? Democracy ensures respect for human rights. Freedom of expression thrives under democratic government. The brazen muzzling of press freedom and intolerance of dissent and opposition now witnessed in Nigeria can only fester in a totalitarian state.

If we must develop like other developed nations under democracy, we must be humble enough to go to the ants and learn useful lessons on leadership and organization. At present, we are totally disorganized. That is why things are not working. That is why instead of working, we have resorted to praying, casting and binding of devil and evil spirits. Yet our problems are geometrically multiplying on a daily basis instead of abating. The problem is in us and not in our stars. Let’s do more work and pray less. The most prayerful nations are the least developed. They are sites of hunger, misery, poverty, corruption, terrorism and bad governance. The government should attend to the demands of the hunger protesters to avert the looming ‘Fearless in October’ protest. It is time for Tinubu to overhaul his cabinet and give Nigerians what they actually prayed for. Enough of these things we didn’t pray for.