JESUS POLITICIANS MINISTRY: A Piece Of Advice To Senator Godiya Akwashiki And His Colleagues: Don’t Be The Cause Of “Xenophobia”
Introduction
I’m sending this piece of advice personally to Distinguished senator Godiya Akwashiki as my son in the Lord. I want to advise him because I want him to succeed as a Senator. Many have been in the Senate for years yet they have nothing to show that they deserve the choice of their people! Their people dared all sorts of obstacles/challenges during elections (the heat of the sun, rain, attacks by political thugs, etc) to make their dreams come true. But today the very people that voted for them are left to suffer in abject poverty! They have cheated and disappointed their people. I want Senator Godiya Akwashiki to be different! I don’t want you my son to be held responsible for the sin of “xenophobia”
I will be brief in this message with emphasis on “xenophobia.” I will define it, state its causes and show how to curb it or end it, and then release my advice! Oh how I wish Senator Godiya Akwashiki and his fellow Senators will receive my advice! A new dawn for Nigeria is on the horizon!
Xenophobia
What is “xenophobia”? It’s what some of us may call “big grammar” or “dogon Turanci”, (a strange and difficult English word or expression). So I quickly turned, to some dictionaries for its meaning. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines it as “fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners”. The Encarta English Dictionary has its meaning as “intense fear” or “dislike” of foreign people.
Putting these together we can apply these definitions to our local situations without restriction to “foreigners”. There is “xenophobia” in every tribe in Nigeria. The Hausa, the Igbo, the Fulani, the Yoruba, etc have “a spirit” of xenophobia in their hearts!
“Xenophobia” was the cause of Nigerian civil war in the 70’s. At the State level, some State Governors can be regarded as “xenophobes” (Governors who hate certain people in their States). Nasarawa State for instance was governed by some xenophobic governors in the past. There was one Governor that came out with a hateful policy of “Go Back to Your Local Government”. Civil servants of Eggon extraction were forced out of their places of work in other LGAs by other ethnic groups with a horrendous shout! “Go Back to Your Local Government”! The result was xenophobic attacks on the Eggon people! Another Governor considered that policy too soft, and so he embarked on a campaign of complete extermination of the same ethnic group! So he resorted to hiring “mercenaries in different forms, deferent shapes to attack them” (Verbatim, Nov. 18, 2013). Therefore we can now understand that “xenophobia” is not “dogon Turanci” after all. It is practiced in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Australia, yes, in all the nations of the world! It is embedded in man’s sinful nature!
Causes of Xenophobia
What is happening in South Africa today can be traced to Nigerian social, religious and economic situations. I agree with O. H. Obaze that “Nigeria has failed its masses, causing many to migrate or in the local parlance, “check out”. Nigeria’s failed domestic policies, youth unemployment, insecurity, absence of enabling environment are combined drivers that push Nigerians to seek for greener pastures”. (THE NATION, SEPT. 12, 2019).
The dispersion of Nigerians among the nations of the world – South Africa, Libya, U.S.A, etc is God’s judgment against the sins of our leaders, especially their selfishness, greed, corruption, cultic practices, etc)! I can hear God speaking to us in Ezekiel 30:23 as He spoke to the Egyptians. “I will disperse the Nigerians among the nations and scatter them through the countries!”. Forgive us, o God! I don’t need to add anything more except to refer you to my previous message titled “God’s Call To A Sinful Nation: Deliver Yourself From Destruction” (Eggonnews, Sept. 2019).
How to Curb Xenophobia
Develop the land with its abundant economic resources instead of destroying or vandalizing it through corrupt practices (stealing, embezzlement of public funds, ghost workers, fake contract awards, etc). I always like to use the example of Israel as a nation became I visited it in 2003. Our group was in Israel for two weeks, touring historical sites mentioned in the Bible. Israel, a small country with a tiny land mass and very little rainfall in the year (one single day rainfall in Nigeria is equal to a whole year rainfall in Israel). Yet, it can feed the whole of Africa!
Why can’t we develop our country and work toward becoming self-sufficient in everything? There will be no need for Nigerian youths to go abroad in search for greener pastures; there will be no need for Nigerian ladies to spread prostitution around the world in the name of greener pastures, of course!.
My Advice to Senator Akwashiki and Colleagues
My dear Distinguished senator Akwashiki, I believe you know the poverty of your people at Angba Iggah very well! For years they have been deprived of some basic and essential social amenities, such as potable drinking water, good roads, electricity, etc. Let me suggest some of the things you can do for your people while in the senate:
Construction of Good Roads
Industrialization is impossible without good roads. Roads leading to Angba Iggah are in deplorable conditions! No Nigerian Senator will like to travel through them! May I advise Senator Akwashiki to plead with His Excellency, Governor A.A Sule, to kindly extend the Kagbu A – Atsoko – Kagbu Wana road to Angba Iggah!, (EYEWITNESS Sept. 9- 15, 2019). Farmers who have been finding it difficult to transport their abundant food stuff to Mada station, and then to Nasarawa Eggon will hail you as their hero forever!
- Reducing Unemployment
Unemployment is a national problem, but it seems to be worst at Angba Iggah! Educated, talented young people are being wasted at home! But Angba is one of the places in Nasarawa State that are blessed with rich, fertile land suitable for all types of modern farming! Seek the support of the State Governor to include Angba Iggah in his industrialization plan, e.g. one of his agro–based companies that has the capacity of packaging agricultural products can be established there! (Eyewitness Newspaper Sept. 9 – 15-2019.
- Electrification Project.
Senator Akwashiki, that electrification project between Mada Station, and Angba Iggah is absolutely essential for industrial projects. Please work with those who initiated it to finish it.
- 4. Eschew Greed, Covetousness/Selfishness!
Don’t be like the rich fool in the Bible (Luke 12:16-21), who was obsessed by covetousness, (a mind set on possessions – more and more houses, more and more cars, more and more fields, etc). Many Nigerian political leaders are plagued with this disease!
My son, you are not in the senate to enrich yourself corruptly, but to make life better for others. Imitate great philanthropists like Aliko Dangote who has been making millionaires of many Nigerians today. He single handedly spent Six Million U.S Dollars in rehabilitating universities in Nigeria!. (A radio com. on philanthropists). If Nigerian politicians have this quality of generosity in them, there will be no unemployment in Nigeria; Nigerian youths will not have to face xenophobic attacks in south Africa, or elsewhere in the world, or die on the high seas yearly as deportees!
Conclusion
What I say to Senator Akwashiki, I say it to all! Please, let us provide green pastures, for youths in Nigeria! Let us try to be righteous, for “righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Pr. 14:34).
May the Almighty God give him the wisdom to rule his people and electorate to an extent level Amen.
Thus, I want to note that no matter what he will not satisfy all, so we should pray for him. I strongly believe that distinguished senator Akwashaki will to some extent liberate his people.