I WILL SING By Edith Garba.

Edith Garba

Life, they say, is not a bed of roses. And most times, life is not fair. But I do believe that all things work for the good of those that love God, those called according to His divine purpose—I'm one of those called!

     I have had so much physical and emotional pain lately, so much that people are amazed that I'm still alive. Friends, relations and neighbours come around and, even before a word is said, I only have to gaze into their eyes to see how bad my condition is. I look at them and I see so much pity and, in some, I see compassion.

      I got a glimpse at compassion the other day when my cousin came to visit with his friend, Fidelis. Fidelis couldn't tear his eyes away from me. He must have seen a portrait of me and couldn't reconcile the emaciated body strewn on the bed with the pretty lively face he saw smiling in the picture that hung on the wall. I perceived he couldn't believe I was one and same person. The compassion in his eyes was self-evident. It seems to yarn to either take away my pain or, at least, share in it. When they were about to leave, Fidelis surprised me with a gift of a thousand naira. Although it wasn't much, the love that came with it surely magnified it. Such is the great difference between pity and compassion: Pity feels sorry, but compassion not only feels sorry, it stretches out an arm and help.

     Life has taught me so much. It has taught me, most especially, about people. I have learned that the only thing constant in life is change. We are surrounded by a lot of fair weather friends. Some would say, “Oh, she's my best friend,” when the sun is shining so brightly in your life but will abscond at the slightest sign of stormy weather. Some come around, size you up and conclude this is the end of road for you. Some say they love you but, in truth, they do not.

     A lack of depth and vision has made some people myopic in their judgment. I've heard people make silly remarks like: ''when we think you would die, then we wake up every morning and find you are still alive". What cheek! As if they are the air I breathe! When in fact I look at them and I see I have more life in me than they have. Though my body is afflicted, my spirit-man is renewed daily. Assuredly, in my physical weakness there is a vibrant and rejuvenated spirit inside of me.

     In the mist of all the pain I’m going through, I will sing! In my tempestuous encounter with life and people, I will sing! I will sing because I know who I am, I know whose daughter I am. My father is Ebenezer (The Lord My Help), The Owner of The Universe, The Bread of Life, the Almighty God.

Edith and friends

    He has promised me so much. He said though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death that I should fear nothing, that even when I walk through fire it shall not burn me, not even the water of life can drown me. I heard Him clearly and I can not remember Him saying all would be rosy, but He has declared me more than a conqueror, a winner, long before the battle begun. He says I'm a victor!

     Weeping may endure for a night (sometimes a very long night) but joy certainly comes in the morning if you keep hope and faith alive. God has turned my mourning into dancing, my darkness into light, and my disappointment into a blessing.

     When I think of the His goodness and all He has done for me, I will sing! When I think of where I am and where He has brought me from, and through, I will sing. When I think of His promises and where He is taking me to, I will sing. I will sing because I know I am not alone.  Even though I may be lonely I have a friend in Jesus; I will sing. In spite of the present circumstance, the pain and the hurt, I will sing. When I pinch myself and I feel pain, I will sing.

     Even though my voice is cracked and hoarse, I will sing. I will make melody in my heart, shout His praise in the congregation of His saints because He is the essence of my being, my hope, my expectation, my today and tomorrow, the air I breath, my life, my beginning and my end, my all in all.

     When I remember that through the good and the bad God remains the same, I just want to sing and you know what? I will sing. When I think of the good life that awaits me I just want to shout a song and make a joyful noise.

     Hallelujah somebody!

SYSTEMATIC GENOCIDE IN SOUTHERN KADUNA: A CONSPIRACY THEORY By John Danfulani

Governor Yero of Kaduna State

The topmost proviso of social contracts in a post-Hobsian State of Nature is the protection of the lives of the citizens of a nation by its government. Due to the importance attached to this, it is referred to as the Traditional Duty of government. For a while now, we have seen how this chief duty is becoming too hard for the government of Kaduna State to perform vis-a-vis the genocide going on in Southern Kaduna. From the onset, we were tempted to believe that the magnitude and sophistication of the genocidal strategy currently being executed in Southern Kaduna caught the government unawares, thus its barren initiative to truncate this diabolical agenda using the security agencies. But now, we think otherwise. We greatly doubt the sincerity of the state government in tackling this menace.

     For fear of getting overwhelmed in a catalogue of events and losing sight of facts and curious coincidences, let us not stretch too far by chronicling events that transpired years ago. A few weeks ago, Aduwan village in Zangon Kataf LGA was attacked, lives were lost, and properties destroyed. What was the government’s reaction? It took the Kaduna State government days to visit the areas ravaged by a marauding militia to commiserate with the victims. When state officials finally visited, what were their words and actions? They stated that the survivors of the terrorist attack be referred to advanced medical facilities in Kaduna metropolis! What did the government spokesperson tell the world? "We shall hunt down perpetrators of these acts and punish them". This statement didn't condemn the act but rather tried to create scapegoats from those accusing government of negligence in the handling of the security situation in the area.

     As the state government’s hunting of terrorists, killers of the Aduwan people, was going on, Attakar villages in Kaura LGA were being savagely attacked, with dozens killed (mostly women and children), and even more uprooted from their ancestral homes and forced to seek refuge in IDP camps. For days, the whole world was denied the knowledge of this atrocity by some ‘official cover-up’. The world only got to hear of it when the Center for Development and Rights Advocacy (CEDRA) went to the ravaged communities with journalists and relief materials. That bold step by CEDRA forced government to act by physically visiting and dragging state and national emergency bodies along. True to type, in the IDP camps, the government sang the, now familiar, song of, “hunting and punishing the perpetrators”.

     Now this genocide scheme has been transferred, in the form of arm banditry, from villages in the hinterland of Southern Kaduna to all highways leading to it. Last week, a senior NNPC staff was attacked and killed on one such highway. After that nasty wasting of a promising engineer, there are so-called daily robberies that occur in all the routes leading to Southern Kaduna. In all robbery incidences, lives and properties are lost. Still, the Kaduna State Government and security agencies sing the same old sad song: "we will hunt and prosecute perpetrators of these acts".

     These incidences clearly show that there are loose ends in the administrative and physical security arrangement in the state. There is no clear congruence between the quantum of resources oozing through the pipeline of security votes and the actual security people are (not) enjoying in the southern part of the state. It's now difficult to extricate government from being consciously or unwittingly complacent in this reign of impunity that is akin to the formative stages of a genocidal scheme. As this reign of impunity persists, the assaults, killings, and so-called robbery in Southern Kaduna are taking the pattern of events that may climax with a Rwanda-like genocide.

     If there aren't skeletons in government's cupboard, if they want to set themselves free from the conspiracy theory making the rounds, they should, with immediate alacrity, form a powerful committee to look into allegations of a genocide scheme targeting the people of Southern Kaduna. Anything short of this will proof right the allegation of the state government's complacency.

CHRISTIANS IN POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE: SERVING WITH INTEGRITY? By Anyim Pius Anyim

In articulating my thoughts on this critical issue of leadership, I am going to be mindful of my audience. Accordingly, I believe my audience—the ECWA Community in Nigeria—would want to know why the failure of leadership in Nigeria; even among Christians. You would want to know whether the fault is ours or God’s. You would want to be reminded of what God says about leadership and where we missed the mark. You would want to know why or if integrity is not inherent in every Christian’s life. You may wish to know the appropriate description of the work of a public officer i.e. whether his/her work could be described as service or ‘rulership’. I believe that a conscious effort to find answers to these questions will adequately address the topic Christians In Politics And Governance: Serving With Integrity?

    In approaching this topic, I shall not waste much time in definitions. I shall therefore just attempt the ordinary meaning of the key words since I believe that we all understand the spirit and the challenge that gave rise to the topic or even the reason for asking me to speak on this topic. I shall then raise key issues in leadership, highlight what God says and allow you to draw your conclusions.

Definition

a.       A Christian means a follower of Jesus Christ, the son of the God of heaven. Someone who has resolved on his own conviction to be like Jesus Christ in words, actions and deeds.

b.       Politics is the art of managing public affairs. That is, the art of managing the destinies of many people with their consent. It means the art of exercising authority as mandated by the people to be affected by such exercise of authority. In ordinary parlance, the person exercising authority on behalf of others is commonly referred to as the leader of those people. It is believed that since the leader is usually mandated to perform the functions of his authority by people that he, in true sense, is serving the people.

c.        Governance means to rule over others. I must say that lack of integrity in public service accounts for the failure of leadership in our country today.

The Nature Of Rulership

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Gen 1:26-28, RSV)

Please note:

1.       After creation, God did not make provision for man to rule over its kind. Man was to rule over all that was created and the language of ‘rulership’ was to SUBDUE and to DOMINATE.  

2.       God created man to be His pet. i.e. he was to rule (guide) man by Himself.

“And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed” (Genesis 2:8)

“And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:8).

3.       The need for man to rule man arose as the human race increased in numbers and establishes societies,

When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, the daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose. Then the LORD said, “My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years”. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown. The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen 6:1-5)

We can see from the above that the issue of rulership over man was an exclusive reserve of God, (Palm 62:11). Therefore for man to rule man, it is not enough that he is mandated by the people, he must be delegated by God because he is going to assume the position of God over man. “Once God has spoken, twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God” (Psalm 62:11).

If a ruler is not delegated by God, two things will happen,

-          He will apply the language of rulership (over other creatures) maximally on man -  subdue, dominate etc

-          He will really think that he has become God unto his subjects and he will start to play God. I must say at this point, that any man, who does not know God and find himself in the corridors of power, is a dangerous weapon in the hand of the devil. In dealing with the people there cannot be integrity in him, such a person will trust in oppression and robbery to make himself richer and richer but the LORD advised him thus: “Put no confidence in extortion, set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them” (Psalm 62:10).

It is not possible for a man to be righteous with power except he is delegated by God,

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the Earth, and it grieved him to his heart (Gen 6:5).

-          The idea of democracy and rule of law is founded on the realization of this scripture, because no man can be perfect, it is therefore thought that people should come together and set out rules (law) guiding every conduct and when the ruler is elected, he must not be above those rules (law) for no matter how good-natured a man must be, he cannot be God, as his heart is continually evil, particularly when endowed with power over others.

Who Can Rule?

“Men of low estate are but a breath, men of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. Put no confidence in extortion, set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them. Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God; and that to thee, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For thou dost requite a man according to his work” (Psalm 62:9-12)

-          You cannot do the job because you are  lowly placed

-          You cannot do the job because you are highly  placed

-          You cannot do the job because you have authority to oppress

-          You cannot do the job because you are rich

     The only person who can do the job perfectly well is God because it is reserved for him and so only he can delegate the function. It may be necessary to point out why power is reserved for God.

-          Because mercy belongs to him (Psalm 62:12)

-          Because he is a just God (Psalm 62:12)

-          Because he is a righteous God. “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan” (Prov. 29:2).

Who Is Qualified To Be Delegated By God?

-          A man who fears God. “The God of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me: when one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he draws on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth upon a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth” (2 Samuel 23:34)

-          It is only a man who fears God that can be righteous because Jesus is our righteousness. “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan” (Prov. 29:2).

-          He must know God and the power of His might otherwise the fear of being brought down will make him to seek help from outside God and the devil will take him over. “How long will you set upon a man to shatter him, all of you, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? They only plan to thrust him down from his eminence. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly, they curse”(Psalm 62:3-4).

While I was in office, I served with integrity because I not only know God, I fear Him. 

This article is culled from the book, "SERVICE WITH INTEGRITY The Christian In The Nigerian Project," published in November 2008 by ECWA Goodnews Church Ungwar Rimi Kaduna. It is published here with the permission of the publisher.

WE ARE CALLED TO BE BOLD! By Yorbin Wayo

Doesn’t it amaze and, sometimes, even annoy you when you see people who seem to have it 'all together’? Everything they do just seems to be cool.  Sometimes we tend to think, “If I was as rich and beautiful as she is, I'll be just like her.” What if I told you, you can also have it 'all together'?

     I’ve found one common trait among people who’re widely admired. They’ve great self-confidence. A good sense of self-worth makes all the difference.  Try saying something wrong with confidence, even if it is something most people know isn’t true. You’ll find that, sometimes, even those who know the right thing may be unsure of it because you sound so confident.  I’ve also noticed that people love confident children. They simply amuse and amaze us. They say what they think even though their frankness can sometimes embarrass us. They’re refreshingly interesting and you know upfront what they’re thinking.

      Timidity, I’m sure you’ll agree, is unattractive.

      One amazing thing I’ve discovered is that God actually expects us to be self-confident. We’re told to love our neighbours as ourselves. This surely implies that we’ve to love ourselves. Loving ourselves has a lot to do with what we think of ourselves, doesn’t it? We’re created by the Almighty God. We’re his own original idea. Psalm 126 shows that we’re not just some whimsical idea God had. He knows us intimately and is mindful of us in spite of the ‘evil’ we may’ve committed. The creator and controller of the greatest men we’ve ever known or heard about, knows us by name and loves us to the point of giving up His life so that we can live. Isn't that kind of love a great foundation on which to build our self-confidence?

     The scripture implores us to come before God with boldness. Therefore, stand up and shine!

     We won’t do anyone (not even ourselves) any good by cowering in one corner of our room like scared little cats. Let us straighten our back and face the world each day with boldness. The King of the universe is before us, with us, and behind us.  

     Don’t get me wrong; we may not build our self-confidence in one day but trust me, today is a good day to start. 

     “What about the part of scripture which says we should, ‘be humble,’” you may ask.  What is humility in the first place? Being humble does not equate to timidity. Humility means stepping aside to see the smallness of our greatness when we consider the one who gave us the ability to become great.  Let us believe in ourselves; we’re the beloved of God, aren’t we? Our father has promised that even if we fall seven times we’ll surely rise again.

     Take a good look at the illustration above again and take a few minutes to meditate on it.

     In deed we are called to be BOLD! 

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