Nigeria in a season of change

Nigeria in a season of change
Change as it is believed is the only thing that is constant. It is not only removing people from power, but it also includes changes in peoples’ attitude and ways of doing things. The change in Nigeria can only be sustained if Nigerians will show the right attitude. In this write-up our Editorial Adviser, EJIKEME OMENAZU, takes a look at the current change sweeping across our country today.

President Buhari

Nigeria is in a season of change. On Friday May 29, 2015, the country witnessed a change from one Presidency to another; the President Goodluck Jonathan administration to that of President Muhammadu Buhari.
   The country also witnessed a change from the sixteen years of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rule to the All Progressives Congress (APC) regime. This change led to several other fundamental ones in the polity, especially in the Executive and the Legislature. The wind of change is still blowing, and it is bound to touch almost all strata of Nigerians’ lives.
    My table dictionary defines change as: “making something to become different,” “to transform or alter.” Change does not really come easy, especially when it affects people’s lives, and ways of doing things. So, the change that has taken place in Nigeria did not come easy. It took time. It took guts. It took sacrifices by several people and groups. It took the realignment of political forces. A lot of efforts were put in by the victorious party and its leaders to carry Nigerians along for it to successfully occur. They made the people to see the need for change and believed in the party as the harbinger of the change.
    Biblically, the change that brought Christianity to the world did not come easy. God had to give His only son, Jesus Christ, who in turn gave up His exalted position in heaven and took up a human nature to come and die in place of mankind. It was His coming that brought the church into existence.
     When Christ died, and resurrected, before He returned to heaven, He promised the disciples a Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit. This was fulfilled among the apostles and the believers on the Pentecost. From there, the gospel changed and took a new phase. Love, peace, unity which were not there before, came into the church. The apostles were then empowered to live like Christ, with the fruits of the Holy Spirit like love, gentleness, joy, peace, long suffering and temperance, among others. That is where the power of the Law was broken and everything took a new dimension.
    With the change in the political arena, political offices changed hands. The current change in the nation is significant. It is a period whereby power changed hands. Moreover, unity, love and unity seem to have been ushered into the land. The situation is expected to unite Nigerians the more. This is the time Nigerians will believe more in the Lord and in their leaders. That is the new trend in the country. God is about to give the nation a new beginning, a new life that will usher in love, tolerance and temperance.
       Nigerians seem ready for the change. They are ready to give their support to the new Government, which seems poised to deal with corruption in the land. Nigerians will now enjoy a Government that hates evil, with the combination of a devout Muslim, President Muhammadu Buhari, and a Pastor cum Professor, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at the centre. As love will make the two to work together for the good of the nation, love will hold them and the nation together. They will usher in the love of God, which will lead to the love for the people. The All Progressive Congress (APC) stands for change. The party is in government, as everyone had prayed, and they will not fail Nigerians. But Nigerians should give them some time to study the situation and see how they will correct things. Patience is the sacrifice Nigerians have to give for the envisaged change. They may not correct everything, but the change has started.
      That APC’s slogan of change is an inspiration. It is divine. It was revealed to many people, especially men of God that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would split. That was why the slogan paid off for APC. When the people heard it, they connected to it because it was divine. After a long suffering, the Nigerian society was in dire need of change. That was why they keyed into the change being promised by the APC during the campaigns, hence the party’s victory at the poll. That is why the party’s leaders and the government must offer or provide the promised change. It will be a very hazardous thing if they fail to deliver the change. Nigerians are waiting eagerly for the testimonies of the change. I believe that they will have it.
        For this change that Nigerians are envisaging to become real, it must first touch on electricity. There must be power. Before the change is feasible, there must be light. If that is achieved, there will be revival. If they fail to do so, even the government will be frustrated. The government, as well as the industries, artisans, information and communication technology (ICT), all need light and power to survive. The government needs to touch the work force. Let the government create an environment that will attract new factories, companies, investors. These will definitely create more job opportunities for the Nigerian masses.
      They should look at the education sector, let there be good welfare package for the citizens. All the oil producing nations have welfare packages for their citizens. Nigerian should not be different. The government should reorganize the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC). Let the government use the one year to empower the graduates with skills, and at the end of the one year skill acquisition program, the graduates should be given soft loans. This effort will make them not to be in the job market after the service period. Rather, they will become employers of labor. That is how to rebuild the nation.
       The season of change in Nigeria is not just ordinary. It is indeed spiritual and biblical. When Saul was not doing well, God chose another person. That was why David was anointed. Although Saul fought to stop David, he could not. David ruled well with the counsels of people like Ahitophel. During the time of Eli, when Eli and his family lost the glory of the Lord, God chose Samuel to succeed him. In the kingdom of Israel, there were changes. When the kings or priests were not doing well, the people demanded for change. When the change came, and the people embraced it, it turned things around for the better. It was David that brought the change that pulled down Goliath and the Philistines, and from then, the Israelites witnessed peace.
     I believe that this change in Nigeria will destroy all the Goliaths troubling Nigeria. Coming to the mundane world we live in, Abraham Lincoln advocated change, and when he won, there was manifestation of the change. So, change is spiritual and corporate. Change commands grace that brings it to reality. At times, people resist change, but when they embrace it, the change is holistic. Change does not come easy. But when it comes, it has to be supported and sustained for continuity.
      For this change to become a permanent phenomenon in Nigeria, the people have to agree with the change. The leaders have to agree with the people vice versa. The leaders must carry the people along. The PDP failed because they did not carry the people along. At a point, the people revolted against the party and withdrew the mandate from them and gave it APC, which presented itself as the agents of change. The government officials should not only protect themselves while the people are being terrorized by hoodlums. If the leaders eat, they must feed the people too. Jesus fed the people and did not leave them hungry. The people called what He did when He used five loaves of bread and two fishes too feed them a miracle, and as such they brought more people because they were happy.
      Nigerians want that type of miracle from the new government. The APC, should prove that the people did not make any mistake by voting them in. I believe Nigerians are thanking God for this opportunity given to them for change to take place. They are also thanking God for not allowing the former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to resist the change. Some of his sycophants expected him to resist it. You recall that during the campaigns, Muhammadu Buhari was always speaking against the programs and policies of PDP and not Jonathan as a person. He has nothing against Jonathan, who I know, must have believed in change. To the best of my knowledge, Jonathan is a good man, but only found himself among the wrong party.
      By this change, Nigeria should no longer be an indebted nation, but will be free by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is not the time for Nigeria to be under the control of the so called cabals, but the time to give her its right of place. God is bringing back Nigeria’s lost glory, and I believe it will happen. As a prophet in the land, I believe it will come to pass, and the water from above will water the ground. Bad management brings about debts, but good management offsets debts. The cankerworms will no longer eat our land. As Jesus rebuked the swine and they were sent packing from the land, so the things troubling Nigeria will be removed. I see a brand new Nigeria. The current fuel scarcity is a passing phase. One hopes Buhari and Osinbajo will have good outing for the benefit of Nigerians. May God be with them and use them as channels of blessings for this nation.
•Omenazu, a seasoned journalist and Pastor, writes in from Lagos. Email: ejike_omenazu@yahoo.com Tel: 08060766311, 08023609241