We have read in the Holy Book about weaklings defeating the mighty, the great kingdoms built on God’s laws and principles surviving at the times of hardships such as flood, drought and pestilence and we have heard and seen healings and miraculous deeds by the ordained men of God globally. These signs are true enough for every person and nation to want to embark on a journey, no matter the distance and kilometer, in search for God as our incumbent President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has done.
The Nigerian President remains a man after God’s own heart! He is still a man revered by me for his leadership style and intelligence which have projected Nigeria as a country whose governance style is worth emulating by other countries of the world!
President Jonathan has since his assumption of office as the Vice President to the late former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of blessed memory and later, as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2011, been a role model to someone like me and these breakthroughs were indications that everyone has the potential to become what they desire to become in life if they can hang onto God as our President is doing right now!
I respect the God that the Nigerian President serve because He is the only one who can uplift someone that had ‘no shoes’ to become a giver of shoes and President of Nigeria, a country of over 170 million people! President Jonathan is today the number one citizen and this has only been through God and God alone. So, why would President Jonathan not go to, Jerusalem, Israel?
Jerusalem is the world’s most holy land for the Christians, just as Mecca is for the Muslims. Jerusalem is a strong city in Israel and has hardly been defeated by other countries in war for many centuries according to History. God is believed to reside in Jerusalem and willing to answer anybody that visits and seeks His help either in times of trials and challenges. It must have been this God that our well-meaning President has gone to seek in order to deliver Nigeria from drowning: at least during his regime or tenure. Jerusalem is a peaceful land and all peace lovers yearn to experience this land. I am glad that the President is volunteering in the collective interests of all Nigerians!
However, this sudden search for the eyes of God in Jerusalem can generate national suspicion or make one to want to ask questions such as: why did the President decide to visit Jerusalem for Prayer at this time? Is it truly for the sake of delivering Nigeria of all its challenges or for the fulfillment of a personal goal or ambition?
The problems faced by Nigeria did not just begin; they had been with the country for several decades and have outlived both the military and civilian regimes the country had experienced since independence in 1960. The plights of Nigeria were glaring during the time President Jonathan was Vice to late President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua and after the death of Yar’ Adua in May, 2010, and Jonathan became interim President of the country, these problems were still with us and things were even getting worse, with no effort made to prevent the country from sinking!
In 2011, the election that confirmed President Jonathan as a full President of Nigeria was conducted and the consequence of this victory was the incessant shedding of blood; the massive killing of the serving innocent youth corps members in the Northern part of the country, a scenario which I was a survivor of. Not long after this subsided, the country began to experience on a very large scale the incessant killing of worshippers including the Christmas Day and the setting of fires on properties which people had toiled for decades to acquire by the mysterious insurgency- Boko Haram- in the Northern part of the country.
In addition, while these incidences that have made the world to perceive Nigeria as an abode for terrorists continued, the killing of four promising young men by the people of Aluu community in River State, Port Harcourt, was staged: these young men were set on fire and burnt to ashes by fellow Nigerians and we hear nothing about the murderers. About months after that, a village called Baga, Borno State, was burnt to ashes (about 2000 houses were destroyed) and close to 187 people were killed during the clash between the President’s deployed Joint Task Force and the Boko Haram insurgency. And between 2011 and 2013, there had been series of protests over price increment or subsidy removal and currently Nigerian Universities have been shut down indefinitely for over four months now because of the Federal Government’s alleged refusal to pay the agreed salaries of the Universities lecturers. The rate of youth’s unemployment has increased geometrically from what it was and many more precarious events had hit the country under the eye of our President. Hence, while all these were happening, where was Mr. President? Why did the Mr. President not travel to Israel to pray for Nigeria during these most challenging times and periods in the political history of Nigeria? Why now?
It will be biased to state categorically that the President’s journey to Israel is devoid of his genuine intention to save Nigeria, however, there might be more to this. Though time will tell whether President Jonathan is nurturing the ambition to run for second term in 2015 or will vacate the office after this tenure, his sudden search for the God of Israel in 2013: the Israel that existed several years since his assumption of office but refused to visit, says a lot about the President’s hidden agenda and serves as an indication that the President’s trip to Israel is a mere political ploy or propaganda to win, once more, the loyalty of poor Nigerian masses to support his hidden 2015 political ambition.
Therefore, if we continue to wait for President Jonathan’s return from Israel to lay his anointed hands on us, the God of Israel might jeer at us all! Nigeria needs freshest air!
Bello writes from Switzerland and can be contacted through; taiwoola83@yahoo.com.
