Dele Momodu's Exposé On Jonathan's Journey To Israel

 

Our dear President, allow me to personally welcome you back from Jerusalem, a place regarded as heaven on earth by Christians. I’m certainly persuaded that, like me, you must have fantasized a lot about that monumental city while growing up as a Sunday school pupil in your church. I still vividly recollect that the place was made popular by the triumphant entry of our Lord Jesus Christ. I used to picture in my mind the kind of tumultuous and overzealous religious crowd that must have welcomed the very young Jesus who performed so many spectacular miracles, the sort we’ve never seen again. 

But despite the big reception he got, Jesus did not indulge those who had turned the temple into a market place. He chased them out because, according to him, they had turned it into a den of thieves, just like some politicians have turned Nigeria into a colony of armed robbers at this moment.

This is one lesson I hope you brought back on this trip.

I’ve never been to Jerusalem, or anywhere near Israel for that matter, but your visit has generated enough hoopla and substantial attention that I can’t wait to board the next plane ASAP to go on my own pilgrimage. Such is the awesome influence of a President, more so that of Africa’s most populous nation.

Sir, you cannot blame them for this cynical attitude. Most Nigerians today are generally stressed and would pounce on anyone for sweet revenge. They have largely traced their misery to the lack of good governance. While they might not be able to hold you personally responsible for these woes, they think you’ve have not shown sufficient capacity and determination to lead us out of the doldrums and the suffocating quagmire we’ve buried ourselves in. It is that lack of trust that has permeated all the negative attacks that you tend to get with regularity these days. Going to Israel at this time was therefore seen as another wasteful jamboree of no useful gain other than a photo opportunity to distract the people from the many terrible problems confronting them.

Since you’re not likely to be properly and truthfully briefed by your friends and aides about the real reactions of the people, please let me volunteer to tell you a bit of it. The picture that generated the most hits on the social media was the one where you were being prayed for in what seemed to be a marathon supernatural session. Many wondered why the same faces they were familiar with back home were the same people laying hands on you in far-away Israel. What happened to Israeli priests, the original custodians of the Christian Faith? Was this an attestation to the fact that our land has become too desecrated by evil and wickedness that it would be too difficult, if not impossible, for prayers to be answered? They wondered why none of the many holy lands that dot the landscape of Nigeria could not be used for this spiritual exercise.

While that debate raged on the clincher was the picture of the Governors who accompanied you and the expression of piety on their faces as they prayed right in front of cameras. The most famous question on Twitter at that time was if the Governors would be able to convince God that 16 is now higher than 19 in Nigeria, a veiled indictment of their role in claiming a victory in an election that was lost before God and man. Most of the commentators believe no man can seek and find the favour of God until he’s willing and ready to change his ungodly way. Their position is simply that God is omnivident and cannot be deceived by dramatic acts of atonement when in reality nothing will change and things might even get worse.

One other question that featured prominently was if you will seize the opportunity of this spiritual excursion to reconcile with all your enemies as directed in the scriptures where you are expected to forgive seventy times seven times. Your fellow citizens were also concerned and visibly agitated by the unprecedented prodigality going on at all levels of government in Nigeria. No amount is too big to be wasted on frivolous projects by those entrusted with our common wealth. Our people are wondering if your trip to Israel would open up your eyes to the abysmal suffering of Nigerians in the midst of plenty and open up your heart to their bitter wailing and tears. They were praying that the teachings of Jesus Christ and his humble disposition would rub off on you as you visit historic sites in Israel.

On a very serious note, Nigerians expect to see some visible changes in your style of governance henceforth. It would be nice and rewarding if you can rededicate your life to serving Nigeria with all your faith and strength and no longer by mere words. To achieve this would require painful sacrifice and on the part of your family, friends and associates. You’re the barometer by which most of our leaders measure and copy bad or good manners. No nation is led by a multitude. A nation is controlled by one great or useless shepherd. If you are frugal, most of your operatives would notice and struggle to follow your template. 

But if you’re profligate, it is natural for everyone to adopt a reckless disposition to power and the finances that go with it. Power is often abused in a state of lawlessness. There is no country in the world that would have frittered away trillions of Naira on a phantom subsidy and life would still go on as normal. Such possibilities send wrong signals to sensible people that it does not pay to be reasonable in a place where warlords control all the perks.

It would also be nice to see how you will handle the matter of your second term ambition. Will you leave it entirely in the hands of God who has brought you this far without ever lifting a finger or transfer the project into the hands of infidels who would do anything and everything to attain and retain power. If you ask my free opinion, I will suggest you follow your original pattern where good things drop on your laps without ever fighting like most of your peers. The God who has brought you into this stupendous achievement will never abandon you in the lions’ den, if you abide by his injunctions. But if you decide to continue with the business as usual inclination, you will fail woefully like most of your predecessors.

Nigerians are not asking you to raise Lazarus from the dead but they expect you to uplift them from abject poverty and horrible ignorance that has encircled our national life. They are requesting and expecting you to deliver on some of your campaign promises if not all. We are tired of promises that would never fly because a few people with access to power have cornered what belongs to all.

I will suggest again, with all due respect, that you urgently embark on cost-cutting moves. The world will applaud you when you show that you’re not in power for your personal aggrandisement but to diligently serve man and God. The country has already provided maximum comfort for you and your team; you need not go overboard by frittering our resources away as if money is going out of vogue. What is written all over your government and supporters today is an attitude of it-is-our-turn-to-share-the-national-cake-and-God-forbid-anyone-trying-to-stop-us-from-eating-it-well-or-even-totally-afterall-the-oil-is-ours! That is so sad.

You promised last year to reduce how you used to travel before the fuel subsidy crisis but your trips have actually increased as if with a vengeance. No leader is ever respected when he hardly sits at home to mind the business for which he was elected. It is a sign of lack of seriousness to gallivant about while leaving behind our magnitude of gargantuan problems. No sincere leader who cares for his people would feel comfortable to go on a binge while university students have not attended schools in over four months and those on campus are being slaughtered like rams by Boko Haram.