[ad_1]
Every nation desires to be great. Greatness does not generate itself, it is a product of hard-work. Hard-work connects people to the source of greatness. In the life of so many people, it is a tradition to clink glasses of wine at a particular time in their lives, especially at times of achievements. The year 2010 marks the Golden Jubilee of Nigeria’s existence as a nation, and activities have been in top gear to celebrate this important period of Nigeria’s independence from the colonial masters.
People who invented the idea of marking occasions with wine, especially those with alcohol, had in mind that as people celebrate and drink, they drink away their past mistakes and hardships, to face a future that is void of troubles. The Bible tells us that wine is a mocker, and anyone that is entangled by it, is not wise. Wine mocks, and can lead a man to a point of intoxication.
I believe in celebrating excellence, as God did not make us Nigerians to simply occupy spaces. I think there is an expectation. That expectation is constantly declaring the glory of God. Of course, God made us to declare His glory! For us, it is tempting to always point to the sins of our leaders both past and present, but when talking about repenting, we exclude ourselves. True repentance involves all of us – the leaders and the led. It is our duty to bring about the needed change. God’s great faithfulness gives us the courage to face our sins and mistakes of the past individually and collectively.
Nigeria right from onset has been made to believe so many lies. Lies that emanate from myopic leadership to self-centered followership. I do not believe we have ourselves the whole truth as Nigerians. We are still seen as the same people all year round and one wonders if there is anything to truly pop wine for, after 50 years of just existing? What we actually need now is serious prayer, not a bottle of “something”. We must bear in mind that the paradox of alcohol is that for many, it quenches thirst, but can trigger a compulsion to uncontrolled drinking. It, according to you, is medicinal, but it can also cause blood, liver and heart disorder. Can anything be more paradoxical?
Rather than submerge us further into more problems, why not take this period to pray for this nation – NIGERIA? This country needs you as you need her. The problem now is that we have bemoaned ourselves for too long and as result we want to force everything down on our throats to wallow continuously in the mess that is already built up. Nigerians, now is the time for us wake up to positive work; we have stayed on the drawing board for too long. I am so worried about wine because we actually do not need further intoxication. Like every other well-meaning country man, I belong to the place of honour and I feel honoured, when every other person present, is honoured. Looking into the horizon, I see beyond time into eternity – a brighter future for all of us – Nigerians. This shows that we cannot afford to join the bandwagon to believe that wine can make us better when we drink it and get tipsy. We would be compounding our problems. This is the time to leave the drawing board alone, and get something doing.
Finally, the age of 50 is a good age for us to face our problems squarely and get them solved. Instead of taking the wrong route, we can begin to talk one on one now and get our fatherland lifted up to greatness! This is actually what God wants from us.
[ad_2]
Source by Vitus Ejiogu