Beyond bad leadership…

One of our pastors gave an insightful testimony of his life. He had started smoking Indian hemp in secondary school and really got addicted to hard drugs while schooling in a notorious polytechnic in the North. He became a cult member and the head of drug addicts in the school. Although very mischievous, he was very brilliant and did very well in his studies. By providence he served with YMCA in Ibadan, Oyo State, and later got a job in a card company where they paid him N20,000 monthly. After spending a short while there, he got another job (factory manager) in a multinational company based in Lagos, where his monthly salary was N97,000. Thereafter, his life began to unravel deviously. Hear him.

“Brethren, when the Lagos offer came in 1990, I didn’t even know what to tell the card company. I just told them that my mother was dying and she wanted me to come and bury her. I was an unbeliever, so the lie flowed freely. People of God, the very first day I resumed at the multinational, just about two hours on the job, I started stealing. I didn’t plan to steal. What happened!? The General Manager (GM) – a white man – sent for me, and asked me to find out why the workers were scampering about as he approached the factory.

When I got into the factory, two directors of the company (Nigerians) came into my office. They put an envelope on my table and said, “You have to help us. That’s #850,000.” They told me what to write in my report (a big lie). I complied. Remember, I was an unbelieving sinner and lying was no big deal for me. When I came out of the GM’s office, the directors gave me another #150,000 for a job well done. So, on my first day at work, I went home with #1m. That’s how I joined them in stealing and defrauding the company.

I didn’t touch my salary at all the first two years, so much so that the bank sent one of their staff to our office to make enquiry about the anomaly. Fortunately for me, the lady they spoke with was my girlfriend, and she cooked up another lie to cover me. Otherwise, the company would have known there was something seriously wrong, and that could have led to further investigation, and the probable termination of my appointment. As the factory manager of an organization that made over 500 products, everybody wanted to relate with me. Before GOD, and I lie not, every day, I got nothing less than 1.8m in bribes. And I worked in that company for 4 years.”

The bubble burst when the directors of the company (18 of them, all Nigerians) tried to forcefully initiate him into their ogboni cult just to be sure he’ll never betray them, because they were diverting company goods (worth billions, even back then) to other places for person benefits. At the birthday party of one the directors’ children, they called him into a private room, and asked him to enter into a blood covenant with them. He refused. Then and there, they threatened to chop off his head with an axe, before one of them informed the others that he didn’t come to the party alone. Meanwhile, our brother was screaming frantically as he searched for an escape route. Luckily, he got out, but the following day, he met a freshly chopped off head of a dog on his table at work, meaning, ‘We can reach you even behind closed doors. Leave! We don’t want you here anymore!” Thus began his travails and frustrations in the office, leading to his exit from the multinational, and eventual Salvation and transformation. Today, he preaches the Gospel of our Lord JESUS CHRIST. Praise the LORD!

However, his story reveals to us why the likes of Michelin, Dunlop, Exide Batteries, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Leyland, Steyr, and many other multinationals have folded up, and become history in Nigeria. ‘Ajewonrun ni!’, meaning, we ‘ate’ them to destruction! There are many such unrepentant ‘eaters’ in churches and mosques all over the country today. These are co-destroyers of Nigeria.

Question: Are you building or destroying the country, state, your employer, your family, yourself and future generations by your actions (lifestyle) of today? Our problem is not only bad leadership; beyond that, many Nigerians are too self-serving and avaricious beyond sensibility. We ‘kill’ industries and establishments that should serve generations with our greed and lust for ill-gotten wealth. Let the real change begin with you and me. Let our churches, mosques, spiritual leaders, and all ‘faithfuls’ of the different religions in Nigeria, return to the Living God, and treat one another with brotherly love and kindness. As we celebrate our 62nd Independence Anniversary, let’s stop our religious hypocrisy and lead lives that truly bring Glory, Praise and Honour to our God.

“Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free (be delivered) – Proverbs 11:21 (NIV).

WHAT ARE WE DOING?

I saw him as I walked towards the estate gate yesterday. I was going to work, and he was just about five feet behind me, going to school. He was smartly dressed in his well ironed uniform, and cut the picture of a happy little boy. He’s probably eight or nine years old. What I saw on his head made me to slow down a bit so he could catch up with me. Looking at him, I said, You’re a boy, aren’t you?” He smiled, and said, “Yes.” Obviously amused by the sight I was beholding, I asked him, “So, why are you wearing braids (the type our grandmas used to don in those days which consists of wrapping sectioned hair in black threads)?” The cute little thing, hands in his pockets, just kept on smiling.

Hmmm! ‘Nkan be!’

I really don’t blame the boy and his parents (and, they are very culpable). I blame the school (a private nursery and primary) that allows a child – one of their own students, in their uniform – to come into their premises and classroom, looking like that! What?!!!!!

I mean, where would you get that temerity, effrontery, and stupidity, in my day to go to school (primary or secondary) with such hairdo!? Where?! You wouldn’t dare! Any of Messrs Ogunyemi, Ijilusi, Onabolu or Ikuomola, would have you caned to death at the school gate, and the principal or headmaster would be there to supervise your burial.

What is wrong with this generation/society? What are we doing? Where are we headed? See what cable television, social media, unholy reality shows, and unscrupulous role models are doing to our children. Have you noticed that many of our boys, even pastors sons, are now madly in love with the ‘shaggy’ hairstyle – the type that makes them look like a madman who has lost/broken his comb! Let’s not even talk about the rising homosexuality among our youths, the piercing and tattooing of their bodies, their ‘marriage’ to social media, their rudeness and unthankfulness towards parents and teachers, etc.

Where are we going?! Do we still have schools and real teachers in this country? Our educational and moral standards keep declining, and we all (government, parents, and other stakeholders) continue to move on as if all is well. It’s particularly worse in money-minded privately owned schools.
Who shall save us from this decadence? The LORD, and parents, and teachers, and religious institutions, and the government. That’s the answer! Let’s ARISE, and stem this rising tide! There is HOPE!
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6.
Selah!

HE’LL BUY YOU TIME!

Michael and his wife got married in 2011, but didn’t get to carry their own babies until 2020. They had waited on the LORD for nine years. In his testimony, he said, “The only time my wife conceived, it was ectopic pregnancy, and that was in 2013.

One day we went out on outreach, my wife was with me, and there were some children in our team. As three of them handed out tracts to some people, one asked the children, “Is that man your father?” The children answered, “Yes.” Someone else remarked, “No, this woman doesn’t have a child.” I wasn’t angry with them, although I felt it. I simply turned to them and said, “Thank you for reminding GOD what needs to be done.” And we continued with the outreach.

Then we sought prayers from our pastor who assured my wife that the case had been settled. And we have come with the settlement; GOD didn’t just give us a child, He gave us children: two boys and a girl. Praise the LORD!”

Sometimes, GOD will let them mock you before He makes you. He does/allows it so the enemy’s mouth would open wider when He’s done transforming your life. GOD comes bigger when reasoning says it’s getting late. Remember, Isaac, Joseph, Samuel, and John the Baptist, were all born after a seemingly long delay, but see what they became. Likewise, when your desire is granted, it shall be BIG (i.e. Bigger, Incredible and Greater than them all). The Restorer of lost years will buy you time. For thus saith the LORD concerning you, and Nigeria, “Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.” – Isaiah 61:7.
Amen.