Do you know one thing I like about Nigeria? It’s effortless to sit down in our houses and criticize the government or stay in our oyibo home and make noise online. And I’m guilty of one of these two sins. Let it suck in, but silence is never an alternative here. So, let me say my mind here.
This night, prophetic utterances will be made about this nation during the crossover Night, as they call it these days. I just wonder what we are crossing over to.
Will tomorrow be longer than today or shorter than yesterday?
What happened to all the fortune-telling we received last year?
What baffles me most is that we pretend not to practice what our ancestors did. The only difference is that they didn’t pretend like we do today. They had real native doctors who told them what the ancestors and the spirits told them. And they requested fowls and other materials before telling their fortunes.
Today, our pastors and priests have killed the careers of our native doctors and wrongfully appropriated those jobs. What is funny is that we often accuse the West of cultural appropriation, but we do it too. From where did we get this nonsense called prophecy night? Of course, it was practised by our native doctors. We simply stole it from them.
Go through your Bible and tell me where Jesus practiced crossover night within his 3 years of ministry on earth.
Tell me where the Apostles did that. I know some of you will go and dig for irrelevant passages from the Old Testament books to justify your craving for idolatry.
Do you think the Apostles wouldn’t have practised them if it were a necessity?
Do you believe that the early Church would never have thought of it if it were critical to our faith?
And why do you think it’s peculiar to us? Let me tell you, then!
It is because it justifies our old ways of life. It corresponds to the consulting of native doctors as we saw our ancestors practice it. Furthermore, it’s our modern way of drawing a fortune card and looking for fortune-tellers.
That’s not Christianity, no matter who practises it. This is not far from what St Paul stopped in Acts 16:16–18. The only difference is that the lady saw things, unlike your pastors and priests. They are only good at guesswork.
And as I said at the beginning, we like to sit down from our houses and speak against the government. Maybe we should learn to do it otherwise.
I like the guts of a few bishops, like the Bishop of Sokoto and that of the Nsukka diocese. Kaigama and Onayeikan are also good ones. These men are not afraid to say their minds, and we are proud of that.
However, I sometimes think they are guilty of not doing it the right way. How many times has the Bishop of Nsukka spoken against the governor of Enugu State? Get me right here. I have very great respect for Bishop Onah. He is a mentor, but even at that, we should be able to analyze his methods. He is a man who doesn’t fear anyone. Yet, he can speak from this year to the next three years, and Bubu will not even now he is there, or at least, he will pretend like he doesn’t hear him. What if Bishop Onah and the other bishops in the state, including the Anglican bishops, started by speaking the truth to our governor?
You might ask me what they should tell him. Yes, I know he is a good man. Our governor is a God-fearing man. He goes from one church to the other and welcomes both the bishops and our big pastors. He even believes that Enugu State is in the hands of God.
Yet, we all know that he has spent all his time sharing money like peanuts. He went to my village yesterday, and I’m sure he gave us some millions too. Am I against that? Hell, No! I thank him for visiting us. But I’m just against the idea of dashing money to leaders who will embezzle it afterward. Every leader in Enugu State – both religious and secular – has received millions, and no one cares how they spend it. That’s not leadership but buying the other leaders.
Thus, you go to consult your fortune-teller this night and close your eyes to receive your glories from those native doctors on suits or cassocks. Tell yourself that any change that might come your way in 2021 must come from your effort to be strong, faithful, and hardworking.
Tell yourself that your leaders need to work harder for a better community, local government and the state.
Tell your pastors or parish priests to focus their attention on condemning the recklessness of your village leaders. Let every man and woman of God talk to those who really will listen to them, instead of wasting their energy speaking to a man who no longer understands English. Let them awake the village leaders, and they will, in turn, awake the local government leaders, who will awaken the state governors and senators and let’s see if Bubu is invincible.
Happy New Year 2020!
