The threat to LOVE

I stumbled on a book titled “The Cross and Crescent” written by Colin Chapman, a lecturer in a theological school in Beirut Lebanon. This book could not have come to me at a better time as it focuses on the accurate response to the the challenge of Islam especially as my city is just recovering from the worst ethno-religious crisis since it resurfaced in Jos in September 2001. The main challenge faced by Christians and indeed the whole church today is how to relate with Muslims. If what i hear and see around me is anything to go by, may Christians in the nation and even the world over seem to have forgotten the legacy left for us by our Lord that we should love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us. Hatred will never be right for a believer in Christ as it will be contrary to our very nature which is love. Colin Chapman was asked by a Christian once how we should approach a Muslim, Colin’s answer was “Say Hello, How are you!

This simple truth is eluding many believers today especially in my city and we need to be reminded that  Muslims are first and foremost human beings before they are Muslims just as we are primarily humans before we are Christians. The Bible never said that God so loved the Church, rather it says “For God so loved the world (Muslims and all non Christians inclusive) . The Bible warned us ahead of time that LAWLESSNESS WILL ABOUND AND BECAUSE OF THIS THE LOVE OF MANY WILL GROW COLD. This prophecy is being fulfilled right before our eyes as many fear filled and hatred inspired prophecies come forth from many Christians and Churches.

I know that by this time many of my readers would be wondering if I am still a Christian or whether I am endorsing the violence unleashed on my beloved city by these religious hoodlums, on the contrary. Violence will never be right but it is not a valid enough reason for us to allow the love of God in our hearts to leak. You might also ask the question whether I am preaching pacifism, God forbid as that will make me a heretic preacher. But my point is that we should never allow happenings around us to make us wander from the path of understanding as this will be a violation of our true identity – GOD IS LOVE and those who know Him also ought to walk as He walked. We should rather than hate Muslims take responsibility as a Church for the wave of Islamic terrorism being unleashed on our city because God silenced Islam for decades in this country especially in this region, God opened doors for missionary funds and activities to flow into Jos and this region, but what did we do with do with it, we built Church buildings without building people and earned for ourselves the accolade of the most religious state in the federation.

what we need to do rather than walking in hatred and reactions is to repent and do the first works of empowering people who will take their rightful places.

It is not too late, God is still the God of Jonah…

man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.

in search of safety!

I sit here in my sisters apartment preparing for my flight back to Jos City, Nigeria (the city that my family and I have come to adopt as our home) inundated with boxes of items (we love boxes in Nigeria not bombs) I am taking back to my loved ones at home especially for Justice the new addition to the family. I am also inundated with situation back home in Jos with the recent ethno-religious crisis that rocked the city in my absence. Someone posted on my facebook page that I am not coming back to the Jos City which I left behind three weeks ago and that as a matter of fact many state governments especially from the south have sent buses to evacuate their citizens back “home”; I even read about the resolution passed by the Bauchi state assembly asking all Plateau state indigenes to leave with the state within a specified time frame. My concern and question in moments like this is where exactly can one find and be assured of safety. As I gave a deep thought to this, the Lord brought back to my mind a phrase that one of my associate pastors used many years ago while teaching on the subject of the will of God and the need for believers who desire to amount to anything in the hand of  to passionately pursue it regardless of the pressures and pains that this pursuit might bring. He went on during this discourse to impress on our hearts the wide scope of the will of God to the point that there is an aspect of the will of God which he referred to as the GEOGRAPHICAL WILL OF GOD which means that the will and call of God for a person’s life has a geographical content in the sense that this will can only carried out in a particular geographical location.

This truth is more relevant today as people all over the world are searching for safe zones, safe cities and safe countries and every nation on this planet seem to be more concerned about security of human lives in the face of Islamic terrorism. This is the time for believers to seek God for His “GEOGRAPHICAL WILL”that is – where exactly would God have us reside, where is He desiring to plant us so that we can do His will. We cannot afford at this time to judge by the sight of our natural eyes or make decisions based on newspaper reports and rumours.

It is my belief that God will sustain us where we are planted and nourish us as He did prophet Elijah who made a trip to Zarephath where everybody was deserting because of the famine, I guess a lot of State governments might have sent buses to rapture their citizens in those days too.

What is the geographical will of God for you?

Mine is Jos City & there I choose to stay

Blessings

The Politics of Terrorism

The US government and other governments in the world will begin to make meaningful progress in their quest to solving the problem of terrorism when they stop playing politics with this global challenge. I will start from my nation Nigeria as we have now found ourselves in the middle of the whole terrorism saga being classified as a nation that constitutes a risk to the civilised world. The spate of religious crises has continued unabated in the country ( as i write this piece, my city, Jos is still observing curfew from midnight to six am since November 2008 as a result of religious riots) because our government’s penchant for political correctness; they continue to deny the fact that certain Islamic extremists are in the habit of unleashing terror on innocent people in their quest to Islamize the world through violence called Jihad rather our governments will prefer to regard these violent acts as being political rather what it really is – JIHAD ( Islamization through violence). The government will prefer to allow the trend to continue because of votes; the US government and other western governments will also choose to turn away because of crude oil.

The point must be made that the problem of terrorism is an Islamic problem, why cant we see it?  Why can’t Nigeria and other nations of the world just make bold to say and declare the obvious rather than focusing on measures that will never work. We are asked to remove our shoes in the airports after a Muslim guy hid explosives in his shoe; we are not allowed to enjoy our musical devices on flights because some violent Muslim guy used the mobile phone to detonate a bomb; we are being stripped naked now, after it was discovered that Farouk hid explosives in his underpants, i don’t what will happen next. Is it not obvious enough that this is an Islamic initiative? I have not seen any one of any other faith being arrested for terrorism expect Muslims even their numerous videos from the grave confirms this but our world leaders refuse to accept this obvious fact.

I know by now may readers will be saying that I am biased against Muslims, but on the contrary, I must state here that there millions of peace loving and civilised Muslims all over the world and I happen to know quite a few of them and my heart goes out to them, but the fact must be stated and I make bold to say for their sakes.

The only power that can defeat Islamic terrorism as I choose to call this plague is in the hands of millions of peace loving and civilised Muslims who are by far in the majority; they must now arise and confront those using their faith to unleash terror on the civilised world. But these guys will not see the need to fight this battle as long as the powers that be continue to deny the obvious

Terrorism is an ideology , it is a belief and the Obamas and the Browns of this world must know that there are no bombs or any weapon at that that can destroy ideas. It will take another idea and belief to conquer it.

May I conclude this piece by calling on the US government to properly define the classification of Nigeria as a terrorist nation. If it is to serve as a challenge for the government to deal with her domestic terrorism challenge, it is perfectly in order, but to use it humiliate Nigerians at airports would be totally out of place. Nigerians are peace and fun loving people, to even stage a protest against a corrupt government is a major challenge talk less of carrying bomb, the Farouk incident MUST BE SEEN AS AN ISOLATED CASE which it is.

Where is our President?

I was so delighted yesterday when I saw Femi Falana, the President of West African Bar Association and some other chieftains of the Nigerian Bar Association took the protest against the unconstitutional conduct of our president to the law courts yesterday. I was beginning to exercise the fear that this issue might just go away and Nigerians continue their “normal life”as other equally critical issues go in Nigeria, but I am hopeful that our attitude is changing. We, Nigerians have this laid back attitude against injustice, we tend to just don’t want anything that will disturb the rhythm of societal decay. When there is no power from Power Holding Company, we buy generator; when there is no fuel in the pump stations, we are quick to adjust our pockets even it means getting into debt to purchase from the black market touts. This is one attitude that we desperately need to change.

Our President has been out of the country since the 23rd of November 2009 and his where about  is unknown; it has also been claimed in the media that one of the reasons why the US government was quick to classify Nigeria as a terrorist nation is because there is no credible person to negotiate with on the issue as we have become a body without a head.

The call for this “run away” president to do what is right by handing over the reigns of government to the Vice President must not allow to die until he does the right thing. It is true that the President is human and can be ill and i think this is major reason why the position of the Vice President was created in the first place, but Mr Yar’Adua is making us believe the contrary now & his mouthpiece, Mr Andoakaa is portraying the nation as a nation of barbarians by saying that the President can rule from anywhere in the world.

My prayers for Nigeria this year is for the nation to learn how to say “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”; we need to learn the language of protest, let us take a cue from Iran. These so called leaders will not stop taking us for a ride if we we don’t rise up as responsible and civilised people.

We can only overcome by “not loving our lives even unto death” (Revelations 12:11)

Nigeria on Terrorist Nations List

The United States recently revised her list of nations considered to be sympathetic towards terrorist activities and decided to include Nigeria as a reaction to the recent terrorist attempt by Al Qaeda sponsored Farouk Mutallab. As expected the Nigerian government is crying foul and condemning the decision but as far as I am concerned, this is more like crying over spilled milk. It does not as surprise to someone like me who resides in Jos City in the North Central region of Nigeria but more like a welcome relief because the domestic terrorism that has been unleashed on this region by Islamic fundamentalists is at last getting international attention. I wrote on this page in December 2008 after the Jos ethno-religious crisis that the crisis in Jos is part of a global initiative to Islamise the world (please read the entire blog below). This same government did nothing when Churches were burnt and innocent citizens murdered in the Northern part of Nigeria when a Western media did a cartoon on Mohammed portraying him as a bomber. When the world trade centre was bombed in September 2001, there was celebration in Zamfara state but our government did not know that the world was watching; when Israel attacked the Gaza strip, there was tension and sporadic demonstrations in some Northern States of Nigeria, our government did not make any statement condemning such an act.

The problem with our leaders is that they are so consumed with their treasury looting and power grabbing agenda that they are totally unaware that the world changed after the US 9/11 event, as far as they are concerned, governance is still a domestic affair, that whatever happens here is a private affair. While the Information Minister was condemning the decision of the US in blacklisting Nigeria, a Muslim cleric in Kaduna was being interviewed by CNN and he claimed that the Nigerian Muslims are affected when Muslims are oppressed any where in the world and that they cannot fold their arms and watch, in other words they are part of the global agenda to protect the Islamic faith and the Jihad agenda - this sounds very much like Osama Bn Laden to me.

I must however state categorically here that Nigeria is not an Islamic nation and therefore must not be categorised as a terrorist nation, when we take a close look at the population spread in Nigeria and add up the number of Christians, traditional worshippers with those without any religious inclination and add those of the Islamic faith who are not Jihadists especially in the Southern part of the country (Northern Muslims do not consider them to be Muslims, many of them were killed during the recent Jos crisis; infact I once heard a Hausa Muslim said that he cannot worship in a mosque where the Imam is non Hausa)  they by far outnumber these Muslims but the fact remains that the irresponsibility of those entrusted with political powers in Nigeria has allowed Islamic terrorists to thrive in the country as culprits go unpunished.

The point must be made loud and clear that Islam is terrorism and this must be borne in mind when decisions are made concerning terrorism; I have not seen any Michael, Johnson being arrested for a terrorist act, it has always been the Farouks, Mohammeds and all the Abduls, please let’s call a spade a spade and deal with the issue as it is.

This classification of Nigeria as a breeding ground for terrorism is a good omen for Nigeria as it provides an opportunity for our government to at least once stand up for our citizens who are being humiliated daily within and outside the nation. A visit to any embassy in the country will confirm this humiliation.

To the international community, I say that Nigerians are fun and God loving people; they hate to die, they love life. Please exercise restraint in relating with us at immigration points, the terrorists are in a very very small minority.

The Nigerian Bomber

The utterance of Nigerian government officials on this terror suspect saga is worrisome and does not paint our dear country Nigeria in good light.

I cannot understand the rationale behind Mrs Akunyili's (the information Minister) statement that the suspect "sneaked into the country", i thought this man is a Nigerian & i believe carries a Nigerian passport. Mr Demuren (The Director of Civil Aviation) even said that his office will investigate whether the man is a Nigerian & that he actually travelled from Nigeria when it has been proven that this man actually did. While this act is condemnable, our officials should not deny their own citizen but assist the US government in their investigation. These utterances are quite disturbing as it shows the level of quality we have in our government. The international community should also show restraint in dealing with Nigerians travelling to the West and the US as this incident cannot in any way be said to be a reflection of a larger Nigerian involvement in terrorism, the action of Alhaji Mutalab, the suspects father, in reporting his son to the US embassy speak volumes about the integrity of Nigerians and the extent to which our citizens can go to prevent senseless and wanton destruction of lives, his action should be commended indeed.

The IRAN PROTEST, lessons for Nigeria

I followed the recently concluded elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran at least from the time that the protests started and it got me thinking about my dear country. What really got my attention was the way the opposition staged their protest especially its spontaneity which lends credence to its validity and a true reflection of the aspirations of the people.

My focus in this write up is the lessons that Nigeria can learn from the recent event, I am not superstitious or else I would have said the election being held on the 12^th of June speaks volume to Nigeria but I guess it was just a coincidence, but our June 12 1993 which was adjudged to be the best election held in Nigeria produced in us as a nation something that this same election produced in the Islamic republic – A PROTEST MENTALITY – this we seem to have lost over the years and I believe it is one BIG REASON why our governments continue in their irresponsibility.

We Nigerians are quick to look for the quickest & comfortable alternative every time our governments fail to provide the necessary facilities that make for civilised living – the generator for normal power supply, the rush for the hiked “black market” fuel when marketers choose to make more money in the name of fuel scarcity and many more.

I wonder if we will ever be able to stand up to protest in this country again, stage a well organised and sustained protest such as we had in Iran in the past few weeks that got the attention of the government; such as we had during the “Frank Kokori led strike” that paralysed the nation in reaction to the annulment of the June 12 election in 1993. I sincerely believe that Nigerians were ready to end up like Lady Neda the now icon of the Iran protest. We were ready then to dare armoured tanks like the Chinese student I saw on CNN.

What we have allowed these political charlatans to do to our psyche has encouraged them to continue to subjugate us in our nation, putting the worst the nation can get in the most sensitive positions.

There is really nothing much to expect from a president like Umaru Yar’adua accomplish in a world where the Obamas lead nations; we seem to just have found a way into the Stone Age due to our quest for the easy life of what Fela Anikulapo Kuti will call “Suffering and Smiling”.

It is unbelievable that we still have a situation where University lecturers go on strike for months to press home demands for better conditions of service; I actually see this as a deliberated strategy to deny the nation credible university graduates as that will keep this political opportunists to perpetuate themselves in office and keep the nation in darkness.

We cannot afford to continue to accept this MESS as normal but it is going to require a mentality that shuns comfort and embrace the spirit of sacrifice.

Our leaders (or better still rulers) are riding on our addiction for convinience and love for life; Jesus says that those who love their lives will lose, while those who put theirs on the line for a good cause will find it. This ancient wisdom is still much valid today as when it was written.

We need to get our bearing back and it must start with a general call for the PRESIDENT TO RESIGN as he has no clue as to what it takes to take this country out this economic, social and economic doldrums.

I know you are thinking the same thing