Opinion
Wike: A Man With A New Vision

Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has every reason to celebrate the first anniversary of his second tenure as the Governor of Rivers State. From every political calculation and calibration, the unequivocal conclusion is that he is a man of the people who emblematizes the Divine injunction that “Power comes from God alone.”
Throwback to 2015: Governor Nyesom Wike, then a Minister of Education, found himself in the eye of a raging political storm, contrived and fermented by treacherous forces, who betrayed a political vision and threatened to completely overturn and dismantle a well nurtured political agenda to achieve their own selfish power grabbing ambitions.
Pitted against the backdrop of a manipulated and deviously translated zonal power sharing arrangement and confronted by the real threat of political annihilation in the face of a viscous opposition that will stop at nothing to secure victory, Governor Wike found himself literally and practically isolated and surrounded as the last man standing and the only hope for the redemption and protection of the political soul of Rivers State.
However, he was greatly loved, admired and adored by the people of Rivers State as their champion. Nyesom Wike took on the opposition, both within and externally, battled them to a standstill, defeated them on all fronts and won the election convincingly. Governor Nyesom Wike ascended the throne, carrying the hopes and aspirations of Rivers people on his broad shoulders.
Fast forward to 2019: The viscious, acrimonious opposition, now emboldened with Federal might and empowered with the added authority of directing their second term campaign, deployed the full weight of both mercenary and compromised military might to the political battlefield. Traditional war songs reigned and echoed ominously at the venues of every campaign stomp and the poisoned manifesto rhetoric reeked of bitterness, inciting anger, unbridled hatred and imageries of political purgatory worse than Dante’s inferno, in the event of political defeat.
But Governor Wike was fully prepared and ready for them and believing in his superior strategic plans and greatly buoyed by the resilient will of the people, the tide would once again turn to victory in the quite remarkable life of this political Colossus. The opposition had already perfected their machinery or so they thought, to arrest and detain top people, cause disruptions of the electoral process instigate unrest to nullify voting in certain areas, abduct and hold electoral officials hostage replacing them with compromised lackeys and aid the snatching of election materials by unknown persons. All these were in their handbook of practical guidelines on Election Day and were implemented to the letter.
The last straw was in the Federal High Court, Abuja where they had all hoped that on March 8th, the day before the governorship and state assembly elections, the Court would give judgment in their favour, in a suit seeking to disqualify Governor Wike from contesting the March 9th election.
At the end of the elections however, 37 innocent Rivers people had been killed in Abonnema alone. Many more had been maimed and wounded across the state and at least 187 people had been arrested by soldiers, and detained. The harassment was unparalleled, but the people stood firm behind Wike, especially the heroic courageous women of Okirika and Ogu, who formed a human shield to prevent the military from hijacking their ballot boxes and their votes.
Indeed, as destiny would have it, the Divine hand of fate, had once again already played another master stroke and the monumental miscalculation and failure of the opposition, which had already taken place even before the first ballot was cast, can be summed up in the following Biblical verses:
Exodus 23 vs 27: I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
Deuteronomy 28:7 The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.
Isaiah 19:3-4: Then our enemies (the Egyptians) shall fight themselves rather than fighting us. I will confuse their strategy and they will tremble and fail, they will consult each others demonic powers to no avail”
So, Governor Ezenwo Wike has a plethora of reasons to celebrate the first anniversary of his second tenure in office, but in typical charismatic, all action fashion, the Rivers Governor, who was Christianed as “Mr. Projects” by none other than the Vice President of the country, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, simply rolled up his sleeves and knuckled down to the business of delivering the dividends of democracy to the good people of Rivers State.
At the end of the first year of his second tenure, the gains of the first term were solidly consolidated upon, but addressing Rivers people in a statewide broadcast to mark the first year of his second term in office, Governor honestly confessed that normally, the State should be celebrating this important milestone with the commissioning of completed projects and correlated social activities, but these are abnormal times and moments like this call for subdued feelings and thankful prayers to God for His abundant grace and mercy upon the State and on the lives of Rivers people.
That preamble set the tone for the summary of the achievements and engagements of the Governor Wike administration in the first year of his second term and starting with the solemn declaration that, every life matters; and every Rivers life lost is a monumental tragedy, not only to the immediate families, but also to all of humanity. The Governor confirmed that as at May 29, 2020, Rivers State had painfully lost 12 persons, and probably more, to the death pangs of the deadly coronavirus pandemic which has ravaged the entire world with devastating effect for over six months now.
The scorecard on the last one year has however been replete with outstanding achievements, ground breaking events and the initiation of legacy projects which have not only transformed the landscape of the state impressively but also ensured the comprehensive sustenance of the well-being of the people in line with the development blue-print released for the second term in office, which reiterated the commitment and determination of the administration to work and serve Rivers people as if it was still the administration’s first term.
A summary reveals that virtually every area and sector has been positively impacted upon in the last year. The urban renewal programme in the capital city have progressed at an amazing place as the restoration works, including underground drains, sidewalks, green areas and street lights on most of the roads in both the old and new Government Reservation Areas are at very advanced stages of completion.
The construction of the three multi-billion-naira flyover projects at Rebisi, Okoro-nu-odo and Rumuogba, all progressing simultaneously, is an architectural wonder to behold and are expected to be delivered within schedule by Julius Berger Nigeria Limited and this is even as work on the construction of the 4th flyover bridge across GRA junction and accompanying dualization of Ezimgbu (Mummy B) road are also underway.
The dualization of several critical roads across the state, including Tombia Extension, GRA to link Ikwerre road, Kira Sapkenwa Bori Kono, straddling three Local Government Areas in Ogoni heartland are progressing satisfactorily with some having reached 92 per cent completion, all to be delivered on schedule. This is in addition to the construction of Oyigbo (Mbano camp) to Iriebe, linking Oyigbo and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas of the State, which has already been completed.
Still on infrastructure delivery, the Alesa – Agbonchia – Oyigbo road linking Eleme and Oyigbo Local Government Areas of the State; and the Rumuakunde and Isioudu communities roads in Emohua Local Government Areas of the State, as well as the 2nd phase of Isiokpo community internal roads in Ikwerre Local Government Areas has been completed, while construction works on the 16.85 kilometers Rumuji Ibaa Isiokpo road in Emohua and Ikwerre Local Government Areas have reached 90 percent completion level, and the dualization of the 23 kilometers Omoku Egbema road in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area has progressed beyond 50 per cent.
The Odufor/Akpoku/Umuoye road in Etche Local Government Area, spanning 21.3 kilometers has crossed 70 percent construction level, while the Aker-base road in Obio/Akpor Local Government, the Ula Ehuda-Odioku-Anwunugboko-Ubeta-Ihuechi-Odiereke road, the Odiokwu internal road network in Ahoada West Area as well as the Abonnema ring road in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area, and the Sime Eteo Nonwa road connecting Tai and Eleme Local Government Areas, have all progressed to between 80 and 85 percent completion.
The administration in the last one year, accelerated work on the long-abandoned roads to the coastal communities of Opobo and Andoni in Opobo/Nkoro and Andoni Local Government Areas of the State with appreciable work already done on the Ogoni Andoni Opobo (Unity) road the commitment to deliver on the promise to complete these landmark projects and actualize the age-long yearnings of the indigenes and residents of these local government areas to connect and access the rest of the State by tarred road, has been the prime motivating factor driving the zeal and energy to complete these projects and bring joy to the people. In fact, the people of the Ancient Opobo Kingdom drove home for the first time last year.
Apart from roads, significant progress was also made in the delivery of Health Care and Education Infrastructure and Services. The mother and child hospital is virtually completed, fully furnished, equipped and only undergoing necessary testing and preparations for commissioning. Also completed is the Comprehensive Health Centre at Odiokwu in Ahoada West Local Government Area.
Braithwaite Memorial Hospital (popularly known as BMH) was upgraded, completely equipped and converted to the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, which is not only reckoned as one the best in the country, but has led to the accreditation of the programmes of that facility for the training of medical students by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. Also, the furnishing and equipping of the regional referral hospitals in Degema and Bori in Degema and Khana Local Government Areas respectively, which commenced in the first year of the second term is progressing smoothly, while structural work is continuing on the ones located in Omoku and Okehi in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni and Etche Local Government areas.
In the area of Education, the strategic intervention of the administration in the restoration, upgrade and expansion of secondary schools across the State, commenced in the first term, continues to deliver remarkable results and improvements in the quality of public education system, as funds have already been released for the comprehensive restoration and upgrade of scores of dilapidated secondary schools across the State, including: renowned schools like Enitonna High School and Government Comprehensive High School, Borikiri in Port Harcourt Local Government Area.
Renovation and upgrading of Obama High School, Degema and Model Secondary School, Tombia, all in Degema Local Government Area, as well as Community Secondary School, Omuanwa in Ikwerre Local Government Area, the famous Kalabari National College, Buguma in Asari Toru Local Government Area, Community Secondary School, Kugbo in Abua/Odual Local Government Area, Community Secondary School, Obeakpu in Oyigbo Local Government Area, and Community Secondary Schoo, Eteo in Eleme Local Government Area, have all been more than 85 per cent completed.
On the international front, the construction of students hostels for the state of the art, visionary Real Madrid Football Academy is progressing with admirable speed and consistency and the academy will soon open its doors for simultaneous academic and football and related training and mentoring programmes.
In the area of Agriculture and in line with the administration’s promise to refocus on agricultural development, the Datco cassava processing plant, with guaranteed off-taker opportunities for over 3000 local cassava farmers, and inspiring capacity to stimulate the cassava revolution in the State and related industries and create thousands of direct and indirect jobs for our people is coming on stream.
Indeed the last one year of the second tenure has been hallmarked with a commitment to the promise on inauguration day to provide first-class socio-economic infrastructure and keep the State and businesses safe, secure, achieved through hard work and the accomplishment of more with less resources and a year cut short so dramatically by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and its attendant debilitating consequences.
This progressive trajectory will definitely continue into the second year and while it is already clear that it is not going to be easy given the very poor state of the national economy and the spin-off effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the zeal and dedication to do more and recommit to work harder and deliver greater development to Rivers people is already evident in the work going on all over the state.
Governor Nyesom Wike himself puts it succinctly: “As a government, we welcome constructive and frank criticisms devoid of politics and mischievousness, because they serve to make us better performers. At any rate, this is a time for governance, not for politics, and we welcome everyone onboard to enable us to create an environment that promotes balanced economic growth, thriving private investments and good jobs; to build a State of shared prosperity; a place of boundless opportunity for all residents; and a State we can truly call our native home, our pride, our heritage, while looking into the future with optimism.
“For us, nothing matters more than Rivers State, our people, our interests, our treasures, our enormous resources and assets, our accomplishments and our greatness. And so, as we look forward to the next twelve months, all I can say is that we are inspired by your continuous support and prayers to believe that our best days are ahead of us, and working together, we will surely do more to move Rivers State forward.”
Paulinus Nsirim is the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Rivers State.
By Paulinus Nsirim
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Opinion
184 Days of the Locust in Rivers State

Quote:”Sadly, what Rivers State experienced during the emergency rule was more than the devastating effects of a plague of locusts. The tragedy is that the “alien” invasion left a developmentally retarded landscape and a psychologically traumatized people in its wake.”
Locusts are infamous for their devastating impact on agriculture and food security, especially when they enter their gregarious phase. At this stage, they form large, migratory swarms and move with rapid speed, covering up to 150 kilometers in a day. As a result, they strike without warning and make early control very difficult. One locust can eat the equivalent of its body weight in plant materials daily. Its diet includes wheat, maize, rice, fruits, vegetables, and even tree leaves. Locust outbreaks can cripple subsistence farming communities and cause damage that could lead to food shortages, economic losses, and humanitarian crises. Adjudged one of nature’s shapeshifters, the locus leaves a devastated landscape in its wake. The declaration of state of emergency in Rivers State from March 18 to September 17, 2025, crippled the otherwise smooth-functioning bureaucratic institutions and many aspects of life in the state.
The first salvo, which heralded the “locust effect” was the appropriation of N30bn to acquire gunboats. Rivers people wondered aloud if their State had a navy or was at war. Again, N22bn was expended on installing a new close circuit television (CCTV) in a Government House that already had an effectively functional CCTV. Regarding this, Kenneth Okonkwo jocularly asked if they are “trying to see the [genitals] of an ant”. That was an anomaly given the fact that the administration was a stopgap measure. Not a few Rivers people questioned the motive behind the installation, in view of the sensitivity of security; this fact remains very worrisome. Like the shape-shifting locust, the Sole Administrator (SOLAD) consistently shifted from the authoritarianism of military demeanor to the multi-tongued man-of-many-words mien of politicians.
Between these two behavioral extremities of the SOLAD, Rivers people groped in the dark and lived in confusion; they ached from the antics of an admix of “a bird of passage” and “soldier of fortune” who responded only to directives from his masters voice from a distant land. Consequently, non-indigenes began making decisions for Rivers State: Bola Tinubu (Lagos State), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Tajudeen Abass (Kaduna State) and Kudirat Kekere-Ekun (Lagos State). The SOLAD’s mindset became akin to that of an imperial officer assigned to milk a colonial outpost. Resultantly, a non-indigene was appointed to the sensitive position of Chairman, Rivers State Electoral Commission; the position of Chief of Staff went to another non-indigene and, and, and. In the end, it was a classical case of two brothers fighting over inheritance and a stranger stealthily steals it.
In line with the “imperial officer” metaphor, the SOLAD arrogantly and audaciously said that he is not accountable to anybody other than President Tinubu. Incidentally and quite tragically, when asked how the days of the plague will affect the people of Rivers State, one of the SOLAD’s masters gutturally bellowed thus: “To hell with them”. To hell with Rivers people?!! Of course, subsequently, salaries were delayed till the 34th or later in the months. As at September 18 when the days of the locust ended, many workers and pensioners were not paid for August thereby extending the month of August beyond 49 days. This was a sad reminder of the grueling yesteryears of agony occasioned by bureaucratic bottlenecks in salary administration, organizational recklessness and systematized insensitivity to the plight of the people.
In what Rivers people viewed as an adventure of “Alibaba and the Forty Thieves”, the Senate of the Federal Republic approved a budget of a whopping N1.48 trillion for an emergency rule of six months. A clear case of anomalous overreach and an outrage given the fact that the suspended governor was vilified for operating a budget approved by a factional section of the house. Even with the humongous budget, projects across the state were abandoned thereby affecting the economy of the state negatively. Meanwhile, Reuben Abati informs that “over N400bn” was spent within the days of the locust. On September 5, the agony of the ignominious experience of going on holiday without salary, a phenomenon that stopped when Fubara ascended the position of Governor of Rivers State, raised its ugly head again and Rivers people celebrated Id el Maulud empty handed. In other words, Rivers people celebrated “Sallah without Salary”.
Soothingly, the Rivers State House of Assembly has expressed the intention of probing the finances of the State during the emergency rule. Whether anything positive will come out of it is another matter. For Abati, “Ibok Ette Ibas must be prepared to give proper account”. Here is a call to duty for civic groups in Rivers State. Sadly, what Rivers State experienced during the emergency rule was more than the devastating effects of a plague of locusts. The tragedy is that the “alien” invasion left a developmentally retarded landscape and a psychologically traumatized people in its wake. Certainly, March 18 to September 17, 2025 has gone down in the history of Rivers State as 184 days of the locust. No wonder Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe said that “Nigeria’s problem is not the absence of resources, but the presence of too many resourceful thieves”. Again, skeptical of the then novel concept of democracy, Socrates projected that: “thieves and fraudsters will want important government functions, and democracy will give it to them…when they finally democratically take authority…there will be worse dictatorship than in the time of any monarchy or oligarchy”.
It is however, consoling that, following his reinstatement on September 18, Governor Fubara “directed the immediate payment of pensioners August salary”. Regarding this directive, an author asserts that “This swift action underscores Fubara’s commitment to the welfare of employees and ensuring financial accountability in the state”. What there is to take home from the swiftness of this action is that Fubara is not only simple and humble, he harbors a humane heart. Doubtlessly, the “grasses” of Rivers State have been brutalized and traumatized in the supremacy fight between two elephants. The prayer now is that the actors in the ring and those in the wings, including the millions of cheerleaders on both sides of the amphitheater, should sheath their swords.
By: Jason Osai
Opinion
94 Years From A Turning Point

Quote:”What the time demands is not the old strategy of might and arbitrary power claiming right, but balancing of past acts of arbitrariness, subterfuge and live by what the current period demands would fare better and not want to create more entanglements and encumberances.”
Astrology and astronomy may be regarded as being more of speculative than empirical fields of studies, but same can hardly be said about astrophysics. Thus there is an atomic principle known as stellar Activity Cycle (SAC) which stipulates that everything composed of atoms or matter has a duration or time of expiration. Thus all things that exist in physical forms must at a certain stage shed such forms, in preparation for another cycle in an evolutionary movement. A process of re-embodiment is provided for in the evolutionary cycles, which also have duration of time attached to each cycle of movement. Attempts have been made to estimate the age of the earth as a planet, using some plausible assumptions and data, including studies of old rocks. In this way the age of the earth is given as about 4.5 million years, ever though humans came much later when conditions of the environment could accommodate human life form.
Throughout the long period of the earth’s existence there had been cycles of changes meant to prepare conducive environment for human habitation. There had also been other races of different anatomical features floors. There are stones about Lemurians and Athlanteans. Ancient races of previous cycles reached the peak of their civilisations and then gave way for another cycle of which present races of mankind may not bethe last. The story of Noah in the scriptures illustrates how an old order can give way for a new cycle to evolve. Nature does not show that anything in physical form lasts forever; nor does the form of the earth remain same always. Revolutionary movement of the earth in relation to other planets and solar systems, is governed and controlled by strict and accurate order, such that no unintended occurrence ever takes place. Where disasters and calamities occur, the purposes are usually intended to correct some imbalances and arbitrariness caused by human activities and volition.
Thus apart from the cyclic movements in the whole of creation, there are also regulatory movements, meant to restore imbalances and regenerate the system. Specifically, by 21st July 1929, the earth experienced a significant turning point, whose purpose include a comprehensive purification and balancing of imbalances, brought about by humans, over past cycles of existence. What some religious sects called End of the World, War ( 1914-1945) were marked as a period of great expectations, actually ushered in a new turning point for humans, even though the actual event remains unknown to many people. In cosmic events marking major turning points, human concept of time can create misleading ideas, such that a thousand years expressed as one day, can cause confusions.
There are minor and major turning points whose occurrences follow some cyclic order, depending on the maturation and evolutionary movements of various celestial bodies. Such turning points and the changes which accompany them are not accidents but signify various segments in the march towards progressive perfection. Sadly humans usually lag behind in the process of improved status, while the earth follows its marked steps of revolutionary movement. Sweeping changes which become painful calamities are usually the results of human negligence, derelictions and ignorance. There is a strong scientific opinion currently that the earth’s orbit is widening fast, causing the earth to move further away from its central axis (The Sun) and resulting in climate changes and global warning.
From such changes, the earth is likely to reach a stage of catastrophe, with its climate unable to support life as we know it now. While anxiety may be uncalled for with regards to cosmic designs and turning points, it is important to note that human recalcitrance make the application of forceful means to restore order inevitable. The likelihood is that such use of force is called for, now. In the long history of the involution and evolution of man on earth, there was a period of deviation or fall, resulting in attachment to physical demands and over-cultivation of the sensory faculty. Gradually and over a long time, natural intuitive faculty was left unutilized, thus bringing about a grossly limited range of perception, It is to be expected that any ability or endowment that is not used zealously and in the right way must gradually become dormant and lost.
So it was that through personal volition and choice humans became more and more myopic and restricted in perceptive capacity. While the cosmic cycles of revolutionary movements and maturation went on unhindered, the pace of human maturity and transformation became stuggish and encumbered. Having entered a new phase in the revolutionary movement, but with the humans therein lagging behind in the pace of development, the earth bears a pressure too high for humans to endure. This imbalance results in accelerated pace of events and experiences, forcing humans into a state of panic, stress and having to make up for past negligences. Everything dormant now rises to a boiling point. Thus apparently inexplicable events taking place all over the globe currently, are the result of accelerated rays of the new turning point, in which the status of man falls short of what time demands
94 years from 1929 should be long enough a time from anyone to know that humanity is at the beginning of a new era having to do with the cleansing of impurities, to restore good health. What the time demands is not the old strategy of might and arbitrary power claiming right, but balancing of past acts of arbitrariness, subterfuge and live by what the current period demands would fare better and not want to create more entanglements and encumberances. But those who would want to carry on with business as usual are more likely to meet with surprises and frustrations that would force them to find right answers to perplexities of the present time. Experience will be the best teacher of recalcitrant humans. More recalcitrance, more pain!
Vital lessons to learn include the truth that God’s Will manifests as three laws: Sowing and Reaping; Attraction and Repulsion, and rising and sinking; all powered by a cyclic, rhythmic motion, which sustains justice, harmony and equity in creation. Man’s wrong use of his free will brings about contrariness and disharmony, which he must rectify sooner or later, to be able to free himself from burdens. Some drastic measures would feature in the cleansing process which the new turning point entails, so that those striving seriously towards improvement can be protected from recalcitrant ones. The pace of the law of sowing and reaping will be accelerated to an alarming degree! Turning point demands shifting of ground, to have a balance.
By: Bright Amirize
Opinion
Man and Lessons from the Lion
Quote:“Be not deceived; God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth so shall he reap also (Gal 6:7)”
The lion (Panthera leo) is a large carnivorous mammal belonging to the Felidae family. Though native primarily to sub-Saharan Africa, a small population also exists in the Gir Forest of India. Known as the “king of the jungle,” lions are iconic symbols of strength, courage, and majesty. Male lions are distinguished by their prominent manes, which vary in color and size. Their tawny coats help them blend into dry grasslands and savannas. Lions are apex predators, hunting mainly large herbivores such as zebras, antelopes, and buffaloes. They have been reverred in mythology, religion, and heraldry across cultures for millennia and they continue to feature prominently in literature, film, and national symbols around the world. Irrespective of how long the strongest lion lives and reigns in the animal kingdom, it inevitably eventually loses strength, becomes vulnerable and dies, miserably. That is the unavoidable harsh reality of this animal kingdom we call our world. As it is with the lion so it is with man and all mammals.
At the peak of the reign of the lion, it chases, catches, devours and gulps down the remains of other animals; it leaves the crumbs for hyenas in an act of generosity. However, in time, the inevitable natural occurrence takes place. The lion succumbs to the brutal reality of the aging process. It comes face to face with the realities of life after power: It can’t hunt, can’t kill or even defend itself. It roams on limbs enfeebled by time; the roars, which naturally came effortlessly thundering through the forest proclaiming its supreme reign, now require enormous effort to achieve; even a decibel audible enough to proclaim its kingship within the immediate surroundings has become a Herculean task. At this stage, the king of the jungle routinely climbs and takes refuge on trees during the day, away from hyenas that have become the predators. It is the existential reality of this stage in its life that informed the Igbo aphorism that translates thus: “Ukwu ji agu, mgbada abiaya ugwo” meaning when the lion is enfeebled, antelopes come to demand debts.
Everything it does now is with a lot of effort until it runs out of luck. The lion is cornered by a clan of hyenas that turns into a cackle with the mocking laughing-like vocalizations that characterize hyenas. The king is nibbled at and eaten alive by those it used to leave crumbs for. The hyenas won’t even let it die before they methodically dismember it thereby subjecting the “king” to the same treatment it subjected its preys during its reign. That is retributive justice. For both lion and man, life is short and physical beauty and strength are short-lived; they are ephemeral. Restated, as it is with the lion so it is with man especially those who rise to positions of great authority and enormous power in the affairs of man; more so with those who use it with reckless abandon without caring whose ox is gored. Everyone who lives long enough will naturally become weak, very vulnerable and, at some point, helpless. Therefore, let us be humble, simple and treat our fellow human beings with respect and compassion knowing that retributive justice is an immutable natural law.
Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891), the Russian philosopher and writer, who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875, and a key figure in introducing Eastern spirituality to the Western world, holds that every thought and act throughout life affect other members of the human family. A crime once committed and an evil thought sent out from the mind, are past recall; no amount of repentance can wipe out their results in the future. While repentance, if sincere, will deter a man from repeating errors, it cannot save him or others from the effects of those thoughts and actions; they will undoubtedly overtake him either in this life or in the next rebirth. Here lies the falsehood of vicarious remission of sins as touted in Abrahamic religions. The above highly spiritual deposition echoes the essence of the immutable law of nature, which applies to all, irrespective of station, location, color or creed. St. Paul admonished thus: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth so shall he reap also (Gal 6:7).
Jesus informs thus: “I come quickly with my rewards in my hands. To give unto each man according as his works shall be (Rev. 22:12). The universality of these Biblical injunctions is found in their focus on “a man” and “each man”, respectively. Again, hinging on “soweth” and “works”, both admonitions emphasize DEEDS as the basis for salvation. History is replete with accounts of conquerors who captured vast lands, subdued millions of people and acquired stupendous wealth but who, eventually, went the way of the “King of the Jungle”. Is anyone listening? Is the roaring lion, whose thunderous voice currently permeates and sends the shivers across the length and breath of this tiny little minuscule corner of our planet, listening? Egbema people say that if a man fights different people during nine consecutive market days and his opponents are guilty every time, his kinsmen call him aside and advise him not to fight again irrespective of how right he is always.
A major difference between man and the lion is that man knows when to sheathe his sword and let peace reign. Peace is priceless and development thrives only in peaceful environments.
By: Jason Osai
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