God so love Nigeria that He gave us large crude oil but our leaders preferred to refine the oil abroad only to import it at high cost to enable them benefit from it. And most Nigerians cannot afford enough of the products for their use. This corruption has been accepted as a normalcy up to this day.

     Nigerians are great potentials that make us great: our medical doctors, fashion designers, lecturers, engineers and many more are doing well in abroad but they are not well recognized or well-paid here in Nigeria. More so, some of those who are trained and became jobless here try to make ends meet by committing fraud here and there. And we all blame them rather than encourage our leaders to attract foreigners to establish factories here in Nigeria. Today, we import matches from China without shame. So, our children have to labor in factories abroad to survive.   

     God in His mercy and love enriched our nation with many gifts more than other nations but we abandoned His commands in preference to corruption and other evil did: both the leaders and the led have turned our back to God. Rather than crying about our economic crisis, insecurity and other problems, let us resolve to change from our evil ways and repent sincerely for God to recue us from the hands of these leaders who are there for their personal gains. Jn. 16.20 says “You will cry and weep, but the world will be glad; you will be sad; but your sadness will turn into gladness”

    God wants to change Nigeria for GOOD but we have to work with Him as His children by living righteously. “Now you are sad, but I will see you again, and your hearts will be filled with gladness, the kind of gladness that no one can take away from you” John 16:22.  We are over 200 million people in Nigeria but can God find enough righteous people among us today? Abraham pleaded with God to spear Sodom if he finds 50, later 40, then 30 and lastly 10 righteous people and The Lord said, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” In Nigeria of today, most people have refused to live as righteous people mostly now that insecurity, corruption and economic hardship have come to stay. But God is telling us in 2 Cor 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

     There are forces behind a situation where everybody is working against God’s command. And when you allow this situation to depress you to the extent that you have to be cheating others, kidnapping, killing, telling lies, living corrupt life, etc. rather than run to God as David used to do when faced with problems, you will contradict the principles of righteousness. David never looked back nor gave up his hope and trust in God irrespective of his situation.

      If you have in any way created division in your family, call for reconciliation and ask God for forgiveness. If you have cheated those who trusted you why not return to them what you took from them? When your brother died, rather than help his children, you sold his landed properties to sustain your family. Zacchaeus said to Jesus, “Listen, Sir! I will give half my belongings to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone I will pay him back four times as much” Lk 19:8.

     It has been said that some political leaders have been supporting bandits but the Federal Government have not reacted to this ugly menace. “Don’t put your trust in human leaders; no human being can save you” Ps 146:3. Remember how Judas betrayed his Master, Jesus the Son of God who made him His apostle and treasurer. “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money; nor he who loves wealth, with gain: this also is vanity” says Eccl 5:10.

      Now that we are tired of the growing frustration among we the ordinary Nigerians over the rising wave of banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, injustice, human right abuse and many more that continue to plague different regions of Nigeria, let each of us repent sincerely and wait on God to forgive and change our ugly situations.

    John Mason once said, “The man who believes in nothing but himself lives in a small world. The best way to be happy is to forget yourself and focus on other people. The higher you go in life, the more dependent you become on other people. Work together with others. Remember the banana: every time it leaves the bunch it gets peeled and eaten.”

    To live the fullness of life, we should face the reality of life, life in God which will make us remain alive. Other things such as money, power and position are good but they will fail and fade away because we merely acquire them for a short term use: they do not last but spirituality does.

    When President Buhari was on the throne, ASUU strike lasted for 10 months, the longest ever in Nigeria history and it had negative impact on Nigerians. In 2020, many were massacred during EndSARS protest at Lekki. Recently, many hunger protesters were killed while others were arrested and dealt with. So, irrespective of the economic hardship in the country no one is willing to protest again. But Mt. 10:28 says, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

     Nigeria belong to all of us, hence the need for dialogue between the political leaders and the electorates for our common good. Yes! Let there be dialogue between the Government and the people at all levels to enable Nigeria move forward. I encourage all religious groups to associate with one another through dialogue for our unity to bring about a better Nigeria. It will be easy for us to deal with our common challenges if our ethnic and religious groups unite as one.

     Government at all levels should lead us to value our unity by making the necessary sacrifices in sincerity for the purpose of making  Nigeria a better and safe place to live. If we all avoid tribal and religious defense and focus on our common good as one Nigeria, it will enable us to experience the democracy we so desire!