Category Archives: National Development

The Full Title of this text is “The Practice of Development: The Hard work of loving the Poor.”  Of recent, a pastor friend of mine recounted how delighted he was to hear another pastor teach that it could be better to give to the poor than to one’s pastor. Both men were coming from the context that giving to those who do not have is much valued in the sight of God than to a pastor who obviously has enough; I quite agree. It is very important that church leaders be provided for by the congregation, a truth both men ascribe to; hence, their posture wasn’t to cast aspersions on the character of leadership.

It is no longer news that most Africans live below the poverty line; what is news is that a lot of leaders (spiritual and political) do not really know why the status quo remains. It cannot be the will of God, He has blessed us sufficiently; on the other hand, our leaders cannot bear to think that they could be the problem, hence, the preponderance of “prayer” in the scheme of things. Now, what exactly should the prayer points be?

Understanding What to Pray for

Good prayers are products of good understanding. There are many reasons for the poverty in Africa and one of it is that on the average, the businesses in Africa are not sufficient and productive enough to meet the demands of the population.

If you’re not working for an organisation (public or private), then you are operating one yourself; otherwise, you are one of those still enjoying the efforts of parents and guardians, blessed are thou but please read on.

Consider the public sector for instance, nearly all the State governments in Nigeria rely on Federal allocations to meet their obligations; in other words, as a productive entity they do not have sufficient revenue generating capacity to even meet overhead. What this means is that the State governments, in productivity terms, are appendages of the Federal government. They are the cost-centres (cash-leaking parts) of the Federal Government.

Now, the Federal Government, is a big bureaucracy whose main source of funds is from one industry – oil and gas; and if you look close enough, ten firms; or less. Yes, the oil majors in Nigeria represent the pay masters of the entire bureaucracy. Do not let the flashy cars and slogans of State governments fool you, until States can cater for themselves, the less than ten firms in the Niger Delta are the ones paying all their bills.

Now, very few people are employed by the Oil and Gas Industry; so, all the money there goes to the FG and the less than ten firms doing the hard work. Chances are that you are not in government or in the oil and gas industry.

Now, it is important you note that the oil and gas industry in Nigeria is not as competitive as her counterparts abroad (we export only crude materials); if we weren’t, many more folks would have been employed by the value chain.

Before we continue, let’s summarise: “the entire bureaucracy in Nigeria (almost the 15Trillion Naira Government budgets) is mainly sponsored by the few firms in the oil and gas sector. We didn’t bother to shine a torch on the labour issues in the industry, but suffix to say that apart from what the government gets, the rest goes to the foreign firms who repatriate their cash.

Now, a very large chunk of the business community in Nigeria thrive by either doing contracts for the government or taking the few dollars government have and importing items (exporting the jobs), even items we can make here. Before, we blame the importers, it is important to note that it is not entirely their faults…it is easier to do so. Like water, they understandable took the part of least resistance.

The other chunk of the business community is either into Agriculture, trading or servicing these main sectors. When the volume of individuals in a sector is huge, the earnings in those industries would be relatively smaller. Hence, development is achieved when the productivity of particular industries is increased per capita. So, we must develop other sectors…there is no other way.

A good prayer on this subject, in my humble opinion, should be industry specific. Imagine that half of Nigeria’s forex earnings this year would be spent importing petroleum products…meaning that if we fix that industry, and refuse to import anything in its place, the dollar rate would practically half (that’s crude economics, but you get the point).

Giving, therefore, should be focused on this hard work of helping folks build capacity and not to feed consumerism. My heart bleeds at the level of consumerism in our places of worship, the crude oil money (remember where the cash is coming from) that could be used to develop people (assets) are used to buy clothes, sound equipment and build structures that are essentially liabilities.

Before someone reminds me of the incidence of Jesus and Mary’s alabaster box, it should be noted that the passion of Christ for which Mary prepared Him for was a singularity; the “poor you would always have with you” statement tells us of what should be the constant posture of our heart.

On Giving in the Places of Worship

Ideally, the Church of Christ represents the communion of the saints; hence, when we sign in with a Church, the brotherhood shares in our challenges. The community should care for her membership, enough to help each other socioeconomically. This is not to say that the Church is a welfare state; but that by definition, her Mandate does not exclude such. Hence, leadership should see to it that those with the gift of Administration and Help focus their energies on helping the community reach peak performance; this is difficult if the Church focuses her resources on maintaining physical structures and maintaining the lifestyle of the “chief servant”, as is observed in certain settings.

It is important to understand the general posture of the church leadership in this respect, to enable us commit to the important prayer of asking God if supporting such a posture is good stewardship. It is not necessarily wisdom to feed consumerism, under any guise; that posture is contributing a great deal to the current poverty level and is not helping the poor.

We have a similar problem in Northern Nigeria, the Emir of Kano recently asked for places of worship to be converted to learning centres. What he was saying essentially is that the resources spent on worship could as well support mental development. Resources are scarce, so we must choose wisely; right now, we have fantastic religious edifices and under performing industries…it is a choice, that’s the point I am trying hard to make; we chose this status quo. Loving our neighbours and helping the poor in our generation involves a great deal of faith and work; it is my conviction that we are very much equipped for the task.

Conclusion

The poor need help to develop and if such help is not given; very soon, we would all be poor. The dependency rate in Africa is very high, and without any constructive and well-thought out development plan, the level of dependency will only increase as this very youthful population begin to hit the golden age of forty. By 2050, Nigeria would have a population of nearly 400 million people; that’s 200 million more dependents in the next 35 years. So, we do have an emergency in our hands, hence, the need to speak the truth to ourselves in love.

I know a man, my dad to be precise who has a jealous love for his hometown – particularly, my village, Isichukwu; it means a lot to him. I also know another man whose dream is to help our town – Ekwulummili, (consisting of four villages) achieve their pride of place in the state, Anambra State. I’ve also met another man who though cares as much as these first two men, but cares more for the entire Igbo race, he wouldn’t limit his passion to just one State. In fact, he could die for it.

All these men are good men; I’ve also met similar good men whose hearts beat for the entire nation – not just for their tribe (ranging from big to small tribes) or state. For some, this choice is a necessary one. When your tribe is merely 20% of one state, you need to grow a big heart. The point is that all these men are passionate, disciplined and focused; beyond talk, they are all doing something about these passions of theirs.

I’ve also met men who don’t really care much about States, tribe or even nation, they just love their science, to them, their science community is the nation, they do not have boundaries; for others it is not science, it is business. By now, I hope you are beginning to get my point; it is easy for any of these men to belittle the other…to call them names and the like. You must have heard folks compare between Ojukwu and Zik; reading an interview on Zik of late, I couldn’t but hail the man; he really did have a large heart. Beyond his One Nigeria stance, is his passion for Africa. Some say he was before his time; he wasn’t, but we all remember differently, so let’s not argue the point. Zik, was for Africa and I bear not just his name – Nnamdi, but also his passion, add the Mandela part to it and you find the full weight of my persuasions.

Now, these passions of ours, if we really think about it are occasioned by the possibilities we see; if the challenges of a nation overwhelm you, it would be best to start with a State; if you can do little about a State, then a town will do just fine. We somehow choose these focuses based on our current and envisaged capacities; we want to count, to leave a mark, to make a difference. Not just we, but others too; the Chinese want to be competitive, so, they do their best, even if their best might inadvertently hurt the economies of other nations. Like my Tie and Dye friends at Kano, the Chinese imports really isn’t helping matters, though these guys don’t hate China, it is hard to love them right now…it is this competition of sorts, for scarce resources that make these passions urgent; “we must have it now”, our change must come now…we must build civilisation, even if we have to die building it, even if it kills us…we say so, because we don’t know ourselves, indeed we do not.

Men build civilisations, but civilisations are temporal; ancient Rome was glorious, but that Rome is no more…yea, Athens and the British empire too; and now we worry that the great America will go the same way. No race, no tribe, no nation or creed has built that lasting utopia; yet we still try, like the many before us, praying that the God who made us great shall make us greater still, we want to hold the wind.

History tells us nay, that this cannot be home; this civilisation cannot be home…though we must make the best of it, yet, we must do so as travellers passing by, on a common history…the best of us sojourners are those who recognise that where we began and where we are going are common…nothing will change that. If you miss this, what can we say to you?

It is on such note of contemplation that I consider again the neighbour question; a righteous man had been told by the Lord that the greatest commandment was to love God and to love his neighbour. A wise man, he wanted to know who this his neighbour was…apparently the God part was easier, and it indeed is. Hence, the story of the good Samaritan; the Good Lord by that story shatters our assumptions of good neighbourliness; our neighbour as defined by the Lord, is that person whom our action and inactions will affect positively or negatively, he need not be of the same race, creed, tribe or nation.

Our boundary, therefore is at this boundary of neighbour loving; we do so because we all are eternal, Rome is gone, but the Romans still are. Soon, your civilization, this our hustle and bustle will want men to even remember them. Don’t take it personal, but this doesn’t matter much, a great man was once asked, “what do you know now, that you wished you would have known as a teenager?” He gave an insightful answer: “I wish I knew that when you get to the top, there is nothing there”. True, there is nothing there but a good perspective, which I must say is something…at the top, we find a better perspective; hence, the wisdom of hearkening to the Lord, the one who made the top.

Finally, He speaks to us as individuals, not as groups, you came alone dear, and shall stand alone at the end.

“God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of slave trade and the reformation of manners”

William Wilberforce (1759 -1833)

At age 21, William Wilberforce was a member of the British Parliament, a self-described whoring playboy. On having a life changing conversion experience in 1785, he thought to do the most rational thing; resign from the British Parliament and pursue a more “holy” calling. God had a better plan and with the instrumentality of former slave trader, John Newton, Wilberforce was convinced to stay on in politics and to seek God’s will for his life. Two years later, he entered the above in his diary – “God has set before me two great objects…” and for the next twenty years and much more, Britain saw a determined Parliamentarian argue with evidence and against many oppositions, the abolition of slavery. He was just twenty-eight years old when he took on the odds, and thank God he did.

Just three days after the passage of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833; William Wilberforce passed on, his eyes had indeed seen the salvation of the Lord. Before then, a minor victory had come in the form of the Slave Trade Act of 1807 which though abolished slavery on British soil did not stop it from happening elsewhere.

With the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, Britain made herself the conscience of the world and literally stamped out transatlantic slave trade.

His story remains a classic example to all believers who are seeking God’s will for their lives and provides much lessons on classic Christian advocacy in the public square. It took a pretty long time, however, Wilberforce lived those years with purpose and with vigour. He showed that the minority once their purposes are founded on truth and executed with truthfulness and vigour can indeed attain to the promises of God in their heart.

Is there a Specific Call on Your Life?

Yes, there is; the parable of the ten talents tell us there is. It tells us that though God’s guidance and presence is available to all of us, there is a dimension of God’s dealings with us that is a lot entrepreneurial and if I would dare say, unguided. The servants of the master got their talents from the king and he expected them to use their initiative in the right direction.

To show the intentionality of the exercise, he came back for evaluation. Our callings are in a way, our tests. Hence, though they are different, the rewards are quite commensurate to individual performances.

Like the one talent individual, not all gifts are dramatic; yet they all provide us with an opportunity to partake of what is in the mind of the giver. Wilberforce was already in the Parliament, astute politician, it took him two years to figure out that God had a plan for his political platform.

His obedience and faithfulness affected all of us in Africa, in fact, one could stretch it to say that the world would have been a lot different if not for the responsiveness of one man.

William Wilberforce was Caucasian yet God called him to fight for the Negro cause; I believe many more Christians in Nigeria are called to the Nigerian cause by no other person than God Himself.

You Probably Are Not Called to the “Ministry”

Personally, I almost made the same mistake to think of my calling as entirely ministerial – that is, of being a pastor in a church. Though there is nothing wrong in being a pastor or serving in the ministry – Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers; we often restrict these gifting to the local church assembly. In a sense they extend beyond those; for me, I am a teacher both to the body of Christ and to the entire nation. God has gifted us uniquely and responsibly. The life of faith can be lived as a farmer with as much relevance and recognition in the sight of God as an ordained pastor. Abraham’s story is quite remarkable; his entire walk of faith was more of the sojourn of one family, yet he is the father of faith. We should look to him.

Do What You Are and Make Thy Tents

Just like we would expect a teacher to teach and the gifted musician to sing; there is a bubbling forth of the gifting of God in your life that is almost unmistakable. Please attend to it; and while you are it, do note that this fallen world cannot fulfill you; in other words, don’t expect that it is your calling that would necessarily put food on your table. Apostle Paul made tents for a reason, to keep body and soul together. Some of the challenges we see in the body of Christ today is because of the false notion that our callings must feed us; a lot of today’s secular musicians started in the church but eventually migrated to a more lucrative genre – Paul knew better, preaching or singing could be done even if something else pays the bills.

Personally, I am persuaded that once we adopt this posture of making tents and yet attending to the most important part of our calling, we more easily achieve a robust and very sustainable influence that is not bound to the whims of our audience. Don’t forget, we all are full time Christians, all of us and until we see ourselves like that, our light would not shine as it ought to. Yes, the calling includes our occupation but occupations are not necessarily at the heart of our call; for some others, it is.

“Calling is living before the audience of one” Dr. O.S. Guinness

At the end of the day, it is the “well-done…” from God that would make the difference. There is no calling without a Caller and God is that Caller.

May you live to find and fulfill the calling of God for your life in Jesus name!