The True Spirit of God and Nigeria
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Readings: 2 Samuel 5:1-3; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43
Theme: The True Spirit of God and Nigeria
Beloved parishioners of St. Luke’s Parish, Kubwa, to you and your parish priest, Fr. Celestine Eze, and his assistant, Fr. Peter Odogwu, may the peace of Christ the Universal King come down upon you all.
Today, as you know, the Universal Church celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, and it is the last Sunday of the liturgical year. I am happy to celebrate this feast with you. Usually, I celebrate it at the Pro-Cathedral. But this year, I decided to celebrate it with you, considering that you have 500 to be confirmed on this great day. My Auxiliary Bishop will preside in the Pro-Cathedral.
Our feast today was instituted by Pope Pius XI, 100 years exactly this year, to counter the rejection of God and the deplorable consequences of war and man’s inhumanity to man. There was a mass of evils which had invaded the earth. The Pope thought that to enjoy lasting peace, we need to go back to the source, Jesus Christ Himself.
The world is still groping in darkness; peace, in many cases, seems to be elusive. The inspired words of the Prophets seem to have been written expressly for our own times: “We looked for peace but no good came: for a time of healing, but behold terror!” (Jer. 8:15); “for the time of healing, and behold trouble” (Jer. 14:19). That is because, many people have still not allowed the true spirit of God to rule their hearts and their lives and so they go on perpetrating evil.
Today, we seem to approach God in a schizophrenic manner. We bow, kneel, clap, and call His name so loudly, while elegantly dressed on days of worship, but go on behaving as if He does not exist in our homes and places of work outside of our places of worship. For some today, God is treated as if He is a policeman (I am talking of a policeman with integrity) who is approached only when there is trouble or crisis.
Nigerians were once known as the happiest people on earth. Today, certainly, we should be the saddest nation in the world, considering all that has happened since the kidnapping of young, innocent Chibok girls. At some time, too, Nigeria was said to be the “most religious” nation on earth. The question, “Is our religiosity only about filling up mosques and churches with numbers or indeed allowing ourselves to be led by the Spirit of God to act justly, to love one another tenderly, and to walk in humble fellowship with our God?” (cf. Micah 6:8).
A time like this calls for national introspection, confession, and perhaps “social dialysis.” It is time to ask, who are the mysterious persons who violate the sanctity of the lives of Nigerians and the space we call Nigeria, and have gotten away freely all the time? We should be forced by all this, to do an objective national reflection. Since 1960 to date, we have allowed tribal and religious sentiments to rule our politics, and even the distribution of power and wealth of the nation. Sacred cows have been bred that some people from certain ethnic or religious groups are untouchables. Have you seen a past leader, whether civilian or military, ever being prosecuted? That you were once a leader, or presently a leader, does not mean you are beyond prosecution. In Nigeria, we talk more of persecution and hardly of prosecution.
Whether it is in the Churches and Mosques, the Judiciary, the National Assembly, the Presidency, or within the security agencies, the highest bidder seems to be the most respected. The law catches only the feeble. Those with access to power or financial means, those who own large profits of the oil we have; those who bulldoze their way into power by hook or by crook, do so hysterically because it provides them with unfettered access to amass wealth beyond what they need in their lifetime or those of their children and grand/great grandchildren.
Governments after Governments ignore calling such people to book. Agencies set up to prosecute corruption are said to end up trapped in the complex webs of corruption that you can hardly recognize them. In our country, the more you become a major beneficiary of the exploitative system, the more awards, doctorates, traditional titles, and high national awards you get. We never stop to question why we are not able to have basic amenities work for us – basic good water supply, usable road network, constant electricity, etc. Why are we the only country where many citizens have to pay for personal security, provide their own water through boreholes, take their children outside the country or to private health or educational facilities, and fly to hospitals abroad instead of providing the same facilities here? After all, we have all it takes- intellectual capacity and resources.
We seem to be so traumatized by how badly we are treated that we hardly ask tough questions. We are too polite and gentle to those who glaringly rob the people of their patrimony. We are afraid that if a southern Nigerian is questioned about criminal issues, his or her people will rise, their associations, chiefs, and youths will fight for their man or woman, even if they know he or she is not innocent. If a northerner is reprimanded for doing criminal things, all interest groups or personalities will start to lobby or threaten fire and brimstone should any punishment be meted out to the person. Shall we ever go beyond these myopic sentiments? In other countries, we have seen current or former heads of state or senior officials arrested or indicted for various crimes and corruption: South Korea, France, Bolivia, Israel, South Africa, Brazil, Peru, Mauritania, Sudan. Some found guilty of corruption of very small amounts of money were caught and paraded as criminals in their countries. Try that in Nigeria with even a former local government chairman, or any highly positioned leader, and you will experience armageddon.
In today’s society, we no longer build new statues, but we worship idols, political leaders, powers, technology, money, pleasure, and self.
These are subtle ways of rejecting God.
If we know, love, and serve God, whether in Christianity or Islam, the two religions we parade as our dominant religions in Nigeria, then that God must become the King of our hearts, of our discussions, of our decisions, plans, etc. But some of us misinterpret His will for us, and that gives rise to everyone holding tenaciously and sometimes fanatically to his or her religious views, so that we become too intolerant of one another. Therefore, if God is King, our plans, our pride, and our money cannot rule us more than He does. All these must surrender to His ultimate rule. If God is King, we cannot live as though Sunday or Friday belong to God and the rest of the week belongs to us. We go to Church or Mosque on Sundays or Fridays, but on other days, we live nominally as people of religion. What we sometimes do in the dark or even in the open is mind-boggling.
Our transparency and accountability levels are far below expectations. When it comes to government admissions, recruitments, appointments, or the distribution of goodies, we are not guided by needs or merit but by which religion or tribe should dominate over the other. This happens even in our composition or leadership of political parties.
Externally, we appear to be progressing religiously, but we refuse to allow God’s word to transform our lives. The question is no longer, “Is God King?” but “Is He the King of my life as a Nigerian?”
The gospel places before us a surprising scene where Christ’s Kingship seems to be a paradox of power. As King, Jesus reigns from a Cross, not a throne, not even a palace, as is conventional. Jesus did not take life. He gave it. He wore no crown of gold but one of thorns. He did not exploit people but spoke sympathetically of the widow’s mite, the prodigal son, the good Samaritan, and poor farmers. He was praised by the crowds but mocked by leaders.
As we Christians proclaim Him King, so we must learn from His servant-leadership style. Christ’s kingship was not built on domination but on self-giving love; not on violence but on sacrifice; not on fear but on forgiveness.
In a world where many leaders cling to power and privilege, Jesus rules by laying down His life. His kingdom breaks down tribal walls, ethnic divisions, political bitterness, social injustices, and religious hatred. In a nation often torn by tension, distrust, and economic distress, the feast of Christ the King calls us to build a society where truth is spoken without fear, justice is pursued without compromise, compassion is shown without discrimination, and leadership is exercised with integrity.
The kingdom of Christ must challenge us to reject hatred just because one is of the other religion or tribe; corruption, because government money is no one’s money; violence, greed, and the culture of impunity. Christ the King must reign in our hearts and homes and in our public life.
Our prayer to Christ the King today is: Let those in captivity be released. Recently, 25 students from Kebbi, worshippers in Eruku, Kwara state, were killed and several abducted; 315 abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School, Papiri, Niger State, Kontagora Diocese, one priest kidnapped in Kaduna Archdiocese, the recent killing by terrorists of a serving General, the killing of the brother to a priest by the same Kaduna kidnappers who kidnapped the priest, etc. We pray that God will bring back safely to their families those kidnapped and grant eternal rest to the dead. May our security personnel be successful in their operation and in ensuring that the lives and properties of all are protected.
While we pray with Ps 70:1, “O God come to our assistance, O Lord make haste to help us,” we must ask where the help America announced and raised the hopes of many Nigerians that a major revolution was about to happen in Nigeria is? Despite the assurances, the criminals have redoubled their negative efforts. How soon and when will this help come? In what ways? Will bombs, guns, and drones be more effective than uprooting the root causes of why Nigeria, despite her resources, refuses to function for the good of all her citizens? Could America utilize her rich intelligence network to tell us what we don’t know of or the truth we refuse to tell ourselves about who, really, are the enemies of Nigeria?
Could America, with the same intelligence network, help us to discover those who have monopolized our patrimony? Where are they keeping their humongous treasure? Who supplies the weapons and logistics to criminals? Who comes in helicopters for our valuable minerals? Who are those who monopolized or still monopolize the wealth of this country through illegal means and keep wealth here and abroad, that they don’t need, while the poor agonize in inexplicable poverty?
Dubai started as a little fishing village in 1833, but by 1966, with the discovery of oil, it was booming and smelling of wealth, and the well-being of its citizens is topmost on their social agenda. Their rulers strategically used the oil proceeds to invest heavily in infrastructure and transform the city into a global hub for trade, tourism, and finance. Imagine how we Nigerians rush to shop or buy properties in a place that was once a fishing village, but today it has become a super-modern city!
We thought our Abuja would evolve into a sort of Dubai! Unfortunately, what we are known for is that we transfer our wealth from Nigeria to such places as Dubai or to other expensive cities around the globe.
A place where God reigns is a place of peace, unity, participation, reverence in worship, charity toward the poor, and support for all, irrespective of tribe or religion. Can we begin to teach our children differently about the superiority or inferiority of tribes and religion?
Our children grow up with so much hatred, prejudice, and indoctrination that even when they become governors, ministers, or generals, these hardly leave their psyche.
You can see that today, instead of preaching only to you the parishioners of St. Luke to remain a parish united in heart and purpose, I am challenging and inviting all Nigerians to live in truth and to be guided in all their actions by mercy and love.
Who rules your heart? Who rules your home? Who rules your place of work? Who rules your business? Is it God? Or is it fear, hatred, anger, greed, selfishness, resentment, or worldly ambition?
May God, the Father of mercy, the Creator and King of heaven and earth, reign in the hearts of all Nigerians, the homes of all Nigerians, in all our communities in Nigeria (not polarized by religion or tribe); our local governments, our states, our nation, and indeed, our world. Let our nation experience peace and stability. May our leaders, whether religious, political, or traditional, not only demand service but be ready to stoop to serve all Nigerian citizens equally and not selectively, and may each Nigerian only allow the peace of God to prevail in our country, rather than the evil contrived by self or by other Nigerians against fellow Nigerians.
Peace be with you.
