Reminiscing on this scripture generates a deeper understanding of the connection between man and the Spirit of God. The scripture relates how man communicates and transacts dealings with God, by His Spirit. Literally the scripture explains that it is the spirit of a man that operates as God's compass and search light. In other words, it acts to illuminate the internal parts and depths of a man's being to locate the true intents which lies deeply in places that cannot be easily accessed.
Accessing these places is not even easy for the man involved himself, since he doesn’t even know that they exist. Prov 24:12 sheds light on man's ignorance - "if you say, 'surely we did not know this,' "Does not He who weighs the heart consider it? He who keeps your soul does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?" The ability to discover the hidden things of the heart is non-existing. The mandate of a man's spirit is primarily a tool for searching, as the lamp of the LORD.
What are the implications of this activity? Man is known to operate many a times without due recourse to well thought out plans. Activities are embarked on with the end product being more detrimental to the collective and progressive emancipation of mankind. For instance, in a bid to keep a few privileged humans in a state of excessive luxury, mankind will by his activities jeopardize her overall collective and continued existence.
It is known that the green house effect which presently is sending global weather on an unpredictable, abnormal and uncontrollable downward spiral was primarily caused and presently aggravated by economic policies relating to the manufacturing industries in so called advanced nations. These policies allow industries in these nations to operate their plants with cheaper technology devoid of adequate emission procedures which ensure that these industries will reduce to its barest minimum toxic waste and pollutants released into the atmosphere. By these corrupt practices of a few nations, the whole of humanity is subject to extinction. Of cause as you will note, it is the less privileged and weaker nations that firstly feel the effects of these inordinate policies. Eventually it will affect the initiators themselves, then, mankind will self-destruct.
Come home to Africa, where corruption is endemic. Man’s inability to visualize and reason deeply places him in a most unenviable position defined simply as avarice. Miserable African, who he is, with a less than sane mind, lacks understanding that people who live in glass houses don’t throw stones. The African, apart from being the greatest exploiter of his fellow African, can be myopic. He kills to seize political power to loot the state treasury. With the funds looted, he builds a massive house in his village, and the money which is meant to build a road to get to the house is squandered. He then buys a jeep to get to the house on an un-tarred road. He squanders the money to develop the power sector. Obasanjo’s government spent over 4.2 billion dollars on the quest to improve power supply, but it’s obvious that huge sums went into private pockets. Power supply is still epileptic and there seem to be no hope in sight. The response of our policy makers and the populace is to expend 67 billion naira every year on generating sets. What a most abnormal line of thought. He quickens his death sentence by polluting his environment with carbon monoxide and the noise produced from the generating plants, of course will not allow him to hear the voice of the spirit; so he operates in the natural.
It is obvious that man in his inability to locate the deepest recesses of his own innermost being cannot subject the elements of this dwelling to selfless scrutiny; thereby defining their true nature; with the final intent that after critical analysis using parameters generated by the LORD, to further generate the action which will place the collective good of humanity as the foremost priority.
Now it needs be understood that the nature of the parameters utilized in this critical analysis will determine the final outcome of the thought process, which is the generator for man's activities. It is true that it will be the nature of the LORD that stands as a determining factor for the nature of the parameters.
Furthermore, if the nature of the LORD in itself is corrupt and devoid of truth, then the final outcome will bear the same nature. However, the LORD as we have come to know Him, not only by the scriptures, but also by experiential and revelatory knowledge possesses a fundamental attribute, which is incorruptibility and truth.
Therefore, critical analysis of the contents of the innermost being of man, once subjected to thorough scrutiny, using parameters generated from the LORD, will be accurately judged; if it is corrupt or incorrupt, since, to know incorruptibility or corruptibility the deepest musings of the heart must be subject to the scrutiny of incorruptibility.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Plea on Behalf of Opeloyeru Community, Orile-Iganmu, Lagos
I had received a phone call to attend the monthly meeting of Opeloyeru Community Development Association in Orile.
I packed my car on Babs Animashaun Street, Surulere and made my way by foot to the house of Chief Savage on Opeloyeru Road, the venue of the meeting.
Opeloyeru road is one of main roads running through Orile, which motorists except big trucks had long abandoned due to its deplorable state.
In a good condition, Opeloyeru Street serves as a alternative to decongest the traffic bottleneck at Doyin-Orile bus-stop and goes all the way to Coker, Aguda.
As I stood at the entrance of Opeloyeru road, I was faced with a sea of water as far as the eye could see as it had been raining almost non-stop for about 3 days. The only way to get to the venue of the meeting was to take off my sandals and preferably my trousers and wade through the water. Around me, men, women, and children going back and forth on the road were stripping and putting their clothing and shoes on their heads to come out or enter
the community. Before my eyes, young girls and women who would ensure
that you ordinarily needed a microscope to see their legs were exposing themselves.
Imagine having your bath, putting on good attire, and leaving home to attend a function, only to get to the main road and strip to wade through filthy and foul
smelling water.
The last time I had done such was about 19 years earlier during my NYSC in Borno State when I needed to cross a river that had no bridge to inspect a land that was in dispute. Not prepared to take that risk again, I searched for an alternative and that was how I met Ralph, a teacher with a bucket full of dirty water at the back of a house close to the road. I enquired of him if there was an alternative route to avoid the river on Opeloyeru road, and he offered to
take me through the corridor of the tenement where he rents a room.
Taking this unusual route would ensure I avoided the deep side of what I now referred to as river Opeloyeru and pass the front of other tenements to get to my
destination. I noticed that the house which was at the back of the Orile canal had also been flooded as the canal had overflowed with water due to blockages.
The flooding in the house had been so bad that water had risen as high as the knobs on the doors completely soaking, and damaging properties and other items. Ralph informed me that he had completely abandoned his room for the past four days and had taken temporary refuge in his church. Aside from having not properly slept, he had been wearing the same shirt and trouser during this period and since 5.00am that day had been bailing water out
of his room.
Other residents in the tenement were doing likewise, and the doors of some of the rooms were still under lock indicating that other tenants were yet to show up. He pointed out his room to me with his furniture, electronics, and clothing still floating on water and the other rooms that were opened were in a similar state.
He also showed me the toilet in the tenement that discharged its contents directly into the canal, but with the canal overflowing some of its contents had swam back. I grimed trying to block out from my imagination pictures of the stuff that was floating in the water in which I was wading through in that tenement. Speaking on behalf of the other residents, Ralph explained how the slumlord of the tenement had misled them into believing that the tenement was not prone to
flooding.
They now knew better, but there was no escaping the present reality as the slumlord was not prepared to make any refunds and neither could they raise fresh funds to relocate.
I remembered that I was on my way to a meeting, so I invited Ralph to come along with me since he was not aware that a CDA existed on his street to state his predicament. At the CDA meeting the issue of the havoc been caused by the flooding was the main subject of discussion.
It turned out that the canal, which receives floodwater from some parts of Surulere, was blocked at its point of discharge.
When it rains, the accumulated water ends up discharging onto Orile, and Opeloyeru Street, which is closest to the canal, is the worst off for it. Complaints to the local council were met with the retort that there was no money as the Federal Government was yet to release LG funds belonging to Lagos councils.
Therefore, the CDA decided to impose a levy of N500 per house to engage local contractors to clear one of the blocked drains for the discharge of the canal water. Yes the community had bad roads, lack of pipe borne water, insecurity, but the flooding was causing them much anguish, and to them they needed to rise up to this challenge.
When I asked if a preliminary, costing was done toaffect the discharge of the blocked drain, the answer was in the negative as they were too weary to wait for that. Ralph was happy to hear this and promised to mobilize those in his tenement as they were already raising N750 per room to raise a wall between their tenement and the canal. It was at this point that one of the CDA officials stood up to thank me for attending the meeting and made a statement that captured their state of mind.
According to him, the community does not know whether to curse God anytime it rains as this brings flooding, which in turn comes with anguish.
I was quick to add that their problem was man made, and that God who causes rain to fall on both the good and the bad, is a good God.
In my heart, I was saying that the people who deserve to be cursed are leaders who end up converting to their personal use monies intended for development purposes. However, I remember the injunction, which enjoins us to pray for those who are in authority.
As I left Orile I knew that was one prayer point that no one would enjoy praying but Ralph was too much in a buoyant mood to notice.
I packed my car on Babs Animashaun Street, Surulere and made my way by foot to the house of Chief Savage on Opeloyeru Road, the venue of the meeting.
Opeloyeru road is one of main roads running through Orile, which motorists except big trucks had long abandoned due to its deplorable state.
In a good condition, Opeloyeru Street serves as a alternative to decongest the traffic bottleneck at Doyin-Orile bus-stop and goes all the way to Coker, Aguda.
As I stood at the entrance of Opeloyeru road, I was faced with a sea of water as far as the eye could see as it had been raining almost non-stop for about 3 days. The only way to get to the venue of the meeting was to take off my sandals and preferably my trousers and wade through the water. Around me, men, women, and children going back and forth on the road were stripping and putting their clothing and shoes on their heads to come out or enter
the community. Before my eyes, young girls and women who would ensure
that you ordinarily needed a microscope to see their legs were exposing themselves.
Imagine having your bath, putting on good attire, and leaving home to attend a function, only to get to the main road and strip to wade through filthy and foul
smelling water.
The last time I had done such was about 19 years earlier during my NYSC in Borno State when I needed to cross a river that had no bridge to inspect a land that was in dispute. Not prepared to take that risk again, I searched for an alternative and that was how I met Ralph, a teacher with a bucket full of dirty water at the back of a house close to the road. I enquired of him if there was an alternative route to avoid the river on Opeloyeru road, and he offered to
take me through the corridor of the tenement where he rents a room.
Taking this unusual route would ensure I avoided the deep side of what I now referred to as river Opeloyeru and pass the front of other tenements to get to my
destination. I noticed that the house which was at the back of the Orile canal had also been flooded as the canal had overflowed with water due to blockages.
The flooding in the house had been so bad that water had risen as high as the knobs on the doors completely soaking, and damaging properties and other items. Ralph informed me that he had completely abandoned his room for the past four days and had taken temporary refuge in his church. Aside from having not properly slept, he had been wearing the same shirt and trouser during this period and since 5.00am that day had been bailing water out
of his room.
Other residents in the tenement were doing likewise, and the doors of some of the rooms were still under lock indicating that other tenants were yet to show up. He pointed out his room to me with his furniture, electronics, and clothing still floating on water and the other rooms that were opened were in a similar state.
He also showed me the toilet in the tenement that discharged its contents directly into the canal, but with the canal overflowing some of its contents had swam back. I grimed trying to block out from my imagination pictures of the stuff that was floating in the water in which I was wading through in that tenement. Speaking on behalf of the other residents, Ralph explained how the slumlord of the tenement had misled them into believing that the tenement was not prone to
flooding.
They now knew better, but there was no escaping the present reality as the slumlord was not prepared to make any refunds and neither could they raise fresh funds to relocate.
I remembered that I was on my way to a meeting, so I invited Ralph to come along with me since he was not aware that a CDA existed on his street to state his predicament. At the CDA meeting the issue of the havoc been caused by the flooding was the main subject of discussion.
It turned out that the canal, which receives floodwater from some parts of Surulere, was blocked at its point of discharge.
When it rains, the accumulated water ends up discharging onto Orile, and Opeloyeru Street, which is closest to the canal, is the worst off for it. Complaints to the local council were met with the retort that there was no money as the Federal Government was yet to release LG funds belonging to Lagos councils.
Therefore, the CDA decided to impose a levy of N500 per house to engage local contractors to clear one of the blocked drains for the discharge of the canal water. Yes the community had bad roads, lack of pipe borne water, insecurity, but the flooding was causing them much anguish, and to them they needed to rise up to this challenge.
When I asked if a preliminary, costing was done toaffect the discharge of the blocked drain, the answer was in the negative as they were too weary to wait for that. Ralph was happy to hear this and promised to mobilize those in his tenement as they were already raising N750 per room to raise a wall between their tenement and the canal. It was at this point that one of the CDA officials stood up to thank me for attending the meeting and made a statement that captured their state of mind.
According to him, the community does not know whether to curse God anytime it rains as this brings flooding, which in turn comes with anguish.
I was quick to add that their problem was man made, and that God who causes rain to fall on both the good and the bad, is a good God.
In my heart, I was saying that the people who deserve to be cursed are leaders who end up converting to their personal use monies intended for development purposes. However, I remember the injunction, which enjoins us to pray for those who are in authority.
As I left Orile I knew that was one prayer point that no one would enjoy praying but Ralph was too much in a buoyant mood to notice.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Change Not, Live Not
“Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
The year I studied Macbeth was a year before I sat for my School Certificate exams at the C.M.S. (Church Missionary Society) Grammar School in Lagos. These were days when schools were still schools in Nigeria. Standards were still high, comparable with any in the universe. Days when you were sure of getting a sound education up to tertiary level. I fell in love with Macbeth. However, the next year, my final o'level year, found me studying Twelfth Night. My disposition certainly was not compatible with Twelfth Night. Macbeth was filled with intrigues and sinister plots. It had this michaevillian dimension to it, which described life as it is really lived by her denizens.
Unlike Macbeth, Twelfth Night depicted the lighter side of life and had a humourous note to it. It was like an anti-climax to Macbeth. I felt I should have studied Twelfth Night before Macbeth. I would certainly have done better with my final score if it had been so. Macbeth stuck in my memory like a leach. It portrayed the vagaries and vicissitudes of life. It was filled with passion and obsession. It fitted the human nature like a glove.
The quote above depicts the uncertainty of life and its transitory nature. With this perfect understanding, I ask myself the question, why the running around from pillar to post in the quest for food to power. If you look at life from a fatalistic view, you'll probably acquiesce to that which life brings and accept the negative as yours. On the other side, if you seek to seize the forces of life and channel them to negotiate a pathway that seems promising and positive then you'll probably run from the reality of the downward sides of life. Which ever way you look at it, Macbeth's quote above clearly defines the nature of life.
For us here in this part of the world - sub-saharan Africa - where life can be short and brutish, we have come to learn that there are no negatives. The Spirit of the Creator does not do wrong. Evil in itself has a purpose. There's nothing which exists that exists in nothingness, without purpose. One must not be distracted by it, since it abounds around us and seeks to always reach out its ugly hands making a grasp for us. Goodness must cut her way through it, like a hot knife through butter to reach that light which is unquenchable and unapproachable by nature as this light is designed to overshadow the whole earth.
We will not say again like everyone else "with the resources abounding in Africa, the African should not know poverty, howbeit abject". We will say, that which we stand for, and possibly die for, is to see providence permeate the earth and totally obliterate evil whether in Africa or elsewhere.
By Wisdom the Lord founded the earth....by knowledge He established it....by understanding He filled it with riches......this is our lot....Shalom!
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