“Every kingdom divided against itself will be
ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.”
That was a very profound statement made by Jesus
Christ of Nazareth thousands years ago and remains eternally indisputable.
Also several centuries later, on June 16 1868,
Abraham Lincoln borrowed from the same statement in one of his acclaimed top three
speeches, delivered at the Republican Party’s state convention in Illinois, as
he addressed one of the most contentious issues in the United States of America
at the time – the slave trade. Hear him:
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe
this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not
expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either
the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place
it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of
ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new -- North as well as South.”
Lincoln lost the election into the United States
senate that year to the Democratic candidate – Stephen A. Douglas. Why? He had
spoken the truth, but the statement was not politically correct. Yes he lost,
but the urgency of the situation was not lost on him, and he would rather lose
than not stand for the truth at the time. Consequently, discussing the speech
with his law partner, William Herndon, before delivering the speech, he had argued:
"The proposition is indisputably
true ... and I will deliver it as written. I want to use some universally known
figure, expressed in simple language as universally known, that it may strike
home to the minds of men in order to rouse them to the peril of the
times."
Does
Nigeria need this kind of rousing at this time!
In
times of critical national emergencies such as being witnessed in Nigeria and
several parts of Africa, what is required is personal and collective sacrifice
on the part of the citizenry. The political class especially needs to
subordinate political expediency or correctness to national interest. Largeness
of heart is required of the ruling class who are undoubtedly the greatest
beneficiaries of the state. Unity and love of country is required to engage and
contain the forces of darkness who thrive in their dark machinations.
Unfortunately,
this sacrifice of personal interest and political correctness; this unity and
love of one another and of the state have been conspicuously wanting in
Nigeria. Consequently, the problem of insurgency has become intractable in
Nigeria and is likely to remain so for as long as this house remains divided
against itself. Now, this is not a prophecy like a religious prophecy. It is
rather a statement of fact, corroborated by hard facts. Check out all the
countries where insurgencies thrive – Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Syria,
Central African Republic, Bosnia, Somalia, Sudan etc. I am pretty sure you can
see a common narrative! On the other hand, take a look at all the countries
that have relative peace – America, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, South
Africa etc. The difference is clear. America, hated by so many, is one of the
places the insurgents would want to destroy the most. But since love conquers
all (I love my bible – it gives me answers to all questions of life, and you
are quite free to disagree with me), they are not finding it easy to inflict as
much damage to the country as they would want.
Nigeria
is clearly in need of a couple of Lincolns, who would rather lose elections but
rouse people to positive action than say only the politically correct things
and damn the consequences.
Thank
God recently, I saw a glimmer of hope, and that glimmer came at, and courtesy
of some the most dastardly acts of the insurgents. It was shortly after the
Nyanya bomb blast. Most people may not have noticed it. But the keen observers surely
will not miss it.
To
be continued…
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