THE WORDS NIGERIANS SPEAK HAVE POWER OVER NIGERIA’S DESTINY
As Nigeria turns 58, I want to dedicate this week to addressing the question of economic growth, while debunking a major myth that has kept us bound and underachieving for many decades.
Since my secondary school days in the eighties, I kept on hearing statements like the Nigerian economy is 75% dependent on oil. This famous cliché about the Nigerian economy has grown over the years, so much that when everything changed about the Nigerian economy, nobody seemed to take notice. People continued to make ungrounded claims without bothering to do any research or investigation, on the subject matter.
It becomes even more alarming, when government officials, ministers, members of cabinet, parliamentarians, make such ungrounded and uneducated claims. Having lived outside of Nigeria for the past 30 years of my life, I am always amazed at the ignorance of an average Nigerian about their country.
The level of self-bashing and tongue lashing by Nigerians about themselves and their country is simply disgraceful. I actually think we are the ones who give outsiders the wrong impression that Nigerians are evil people through our negative talk about our country.
I don’t know about you, but from my own interactions and knowledge of Nigerians, I think it is a wrong notion to think that Nigerians are mainly bad people. Personally I have met overwhelmingly greater percentage of good Nigerians as against the bad ones. In my own experience, the ratio would be 95:5. Meaning 95% good, 5% bad eggs.
“A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Prov. 18:20-21
If we are to relate the above scripture to a nation, it would probably read somehow like this “A nation’s destiny, shall be gratified by the words of her citizens. With the produce of their lips, a country shall be filled.”
From this my paraphrase, we could go further to expatiate that the destiny of each nation is shaped by the words coming from the mouth of her citizens. This means that it is what we mainly speak, good or evil about our land, that our land produces and becomes. Our words, attitudes and actions produce the fruit that litter the nation. That is according to verse 20 of proverbs 18.
This lesson from the wisest man that ever lived, King Solomon, becomes much more vivid in verse 21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. However, to me the second part of that verse is the most telling “and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Meaning those who love to speak evil will definitely be fed by the fruits of evil, those who love to confess death shall eventually reap death. The opposite is also true. Those who love to speak and confess life would reap the fruit thereof. Those who proclaim good and only good about themselves and their nations, will inherit good.
What a stunning submission, both death and life are in the power of a man’s tongue. He himself, determines what he fills his life, his family, his nation and his destiny with. My fellow Nigerians, let us chose life. Let us begin to speak the truth about our country. Let us begin to speak life upon our nation!!!
To be continued tomorrow…
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHURCH AND NATION
By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.
