OPINION: AFRICA NEEDS A BLACK JESUS

The Church; contrary to public opinion, is a physical representation of a divine body whose primary duty goes beyond the setting of mere religious activities to promoting tranquility. As some would have it, her role cannot be over emphasized in the development of a nation and so could not be brushed aside. The Church in its true definition is regarded as an agent of change, and as against the obnoxious way of life, her voice is firmly built on promoting justice, equity, love, peace and the transformation of human life. And because this is the core foundation for every true development, the Church therefore becomes a force to be reckoned with in nation building.
There are so many people today whose opinion about the Church have created a great dispute about whether or not the Church is relevant in nation building, however, extinguishing the Church is deliberately charting the nation to a dead end for no nation can survive too long without building spiritual stability.
Nations who try to do so have merely performed their own funerals; for true national development occurs when the citizens are reformed in their minds which in turn result to a positive change in their behavior.
Do we say that the church has no role in the development of the nation? No, for every citizen who has adopted the teachings of Christ and live by them are truly like an olive tree, their life and lifestyle create a positive influence in the development of the nation.
Critics of the church says that the teachings of the church are nuisance and cannot really produce the desired change a nation pined for, they argue that education alone imbued in rationality should be what the nation needs to survive but taking a keen look at the development that has taken place in the history of man, one will agree that there are many unresolved problems that beats human understanding. As important is education is to nation building, creating balance with spirituality is equally of necessity.
In our today’s world, the critics of the church fight against the existence of the church and wish for its extinction, to these people, they are fighting because they have not come to understand what the Church represents or that they are simply trying to establish Lucifer’s doctrine.
Truthfully, no true development can occur in a nation without a considerable amount of investment on the spiritual values of her people except that we are looking at development from a different perspective without considering the human factor which is my major discuss in this piece. And every meaningful change that must occur in a nation must begin from the people. It is therefore wise for any nation who wants to attain the height of true development to channel her energy in educating and reorienting her citizens.
Arguably, every nation of the world has a spiritual representation, a representation such as determine the livelihood of her citizens. To say that spirituality has no place in the affair of a nation is to deny an integral component that a nation rests upon, for no nation can exist without an affiliation to spiritual powers.
Although not all spiritual powers are tranquil in themselves, yet, a nation that must keep its existence and attain significance must be subjected to a power that is higher than her physical components. This truth is only accepted among the few who understood the essence of power and rulership.
Development on the other hand is not only concerned with advancement of technological achievements; innovations; and intellectual prowess but on investment on values and establishment of godly character and conduct. The asset of every nation is her people. Investing on the spirituality of the people therefore is the foundation for every true development. So, when the leader of a nation invest only on infrastructures to determining national development, the nation invariably becomes infested with moral decadence but when a considerably large amount of investment is made on educating the people appropriately, then, the nation is built and firmly established .
Education on this note is not merely on academic works but an enlightenment of one’s true self. As Plato will have it say; Oh man, know thyself. Plainly speaking, this realization can only come by spiritual enlightenment. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Individual freedom which is the end product of spiritual enlightenment is therefore an essential ingredient for national development; for no nation can boldly speak of development when her people is under the bondage of oppression, injustice, civil unrest and obnoxious living.
The wolves in the Church
It may not seem true for many critics of the Church but it’s true that the wolves in sheep’s clothing that pretends to be serving the interest of the people are birthed by the nation’s incapacity to provide the good life for her citizen, many have however resolved to pretending to be good leaders in the veil to extort from people what they refuse to share with all. I strongly believe that unemployment and other problems are a pivotal which drives some of these hungry men to own their temples.
When the nation cannot provide for her people, the people seek for alternatives to survive the hardship and since the church gives room for giving to the shepherds who ministers on the altar, it is therefore an added advantage for this warmongers to seize the opportunity in exploiting the people clearly violating the objectives of the Church.
Is eradicating the church the way forward? Absolutely no! As I rightly establish before now, eradicating the church is deliberately eradicating individual reformation. I am of the opinion that the two bodies that are set up to see to the character building and reformation of lives in its true sense are the School and the Church. Both have their functions, while the school’s objective is to build academic prowess, the church is committed to building the spiritual stability of the people. However, to say academic achievement alone is all there is to have in promoting national development is like building a house without a foundation for it is a well known fact; man consist not only of the intellect, primarily, he is a sprit with a soul and a body.
Considering the state of our academic world, one will be quick to say that it is nothing to write home about. The decline in moral behavior has been a major problem militating against national development. Take for instance; ask an average youth what he would do when he gets to any political office, your guess is as good as mine. In fact, I believe schools are really missing out on what education really should be; and have turned it into money making venture rather than a place of self discovery.
On the other hand, the church is a place where you can get in touch with your true self. The church’s primary motive is to debunk every idea of moral decadence and help the individual come to the place of true discovery of self. The church is the place where you become connected with the truth. Take for instance, the society we live in today celebrate corrupt practices in its slightest form, they give accolades and respect to those who are really smart by cunningly abusing other people’s rights but the church speaks against that. The church believes in equity, love and respect for everyone and practices that in lifestyle.

In this regard, what do we do with the exploiter of men?. The word of Jesus clearly warns us to let the weeds and the wheat grow together in the last day, they shall be separated.
These species of wolves in sheep’s clothing are not new to our present generation; just that they have become rampart due to the nation’s negligence and insensitive. The world of Jesus already warned those who care to listen that. By their fruits you shall know them.

THE CHURCH; A CATALYST FOR CHANGE
The Church is a collection of transformed individuals who have come to a spiritual enlightenment of who they are and are living a changed life. This group of people represents a divine body and is compelled to extend such life to the world of men.
Jesus commanded us, go into the world and preach the Gospel. The gospel in this regard means the preaching and teaching of liberty; the declaration and establishment of peace, lending the voice of justice for the poor, delivery those who are oppressed and preaching against violence, injustice, wickedness and above all living an ungodly [unhealthy] life. This core message is what stands the church out amongst the rest of the cooperate entities in a nation. If the church’s interest is in promoting individual change, I belive it is with the nation in view. Why then do we fight it? It could only mean that we do not know what we wanted or we do not know how to get it.
Regardless of the development that may have surfaced in the world in recent times, it is understandably true that the world is decaying and dying. The Western World with their philosophies is drowning, so are the Asian countries and the African continents. It is a common belief that no one can live beyond the spiritual sphere of her nation. Those who understand this singular truth lead a kind of life different from the ordinary life. A larger percentage of the population suffers because they lack this truth and so they have become entangled to mental slavery rather than enjoy true freedom. Jesus clearly states; he who the son of man shall set free shall be free indeed.
In defiant to this reality, the general population of the people in a given nation is categorized under the umbrella of the innocent; the wicked; and the saints. The innocents in this view are people who lack spiritual knowledge and are usually the scapegoat for the wicked who strongly desire wealth, fame and power. The innocents live an ordinary life and do not really have an understanding of the spiritual sphere of her nation. The wicked on the other hand are the men of darkness. This men hunt for innocent souls and lure them into their snare for sacrifices on the altar of the god of this world. Unfortunately our nation is filled with these set of people. And lastly are the saints; this group of people are the ones who have embraced the higher life. They are called to live a life far above the physical realm.
To this end, a nation like ours is often filled with men who are struggling to survive and these men are willing to do anything just to fit into the already chaotic environment.
A nation where wickedness prevails is therefore far from national development. The reason is that wicked men protest against true development because men are perpetually kept under their oppressing torture.
I am of the opinion that the spirit of wickedness has possessed more of our men than necessary, and these spirits now rule dominantly in our political sphere. When talking about a nation’s development, it is a wise thing therefore to annihilate their power through the preaching of liberty. Righteousness exalts a nation and sin brings reproach to her.
This sums up that no matter the investment on national development, a nation which survives largely on the practice of injustice, oppression, ignorance and promotion of perverted imageries will only crumble beneath her feet. The point here is that, camouflaging national development on the building of infrastructures is like raising a castle in the sky. The truth be told, no nation can rise above her people.

CHANGE YOURSELF FIRST
I have heard this statement change yourself countless of time, but the question I kept asking is this; can a man really change himself? If truly we could change ourselves, then it becomes a major sin for everybody who have either heard the word or read the word but still remain unchanged. Except the statement carries with it a different inclination which is nearly not too obvious, no man leaving on planet earth can change himself without first understanding the ingredients necessary for propelling this change. As I wrote in my book; why man behave the way they do, every human behave in certain ways because they often believe that their behaviors will always get them what they wanted and are not willing to change such behavior until such behaviors stop getting them what they wanted. This is one major reason we have a lot of people going to either the church, or mosque, school but are not really changing in behavior.
In other words, changing one’s self becomes an impossible statement without meeting certain criteria. I have heard people talk about changing the world and making it a better place, yet our world is full of many irresolvable problems. We solve a problem to enter into a larger problem.
Let’s ask a more sincere question from the tycoons of our world and see their opinion about a peaceful and an ideal world free of chaos, injustice and moral decay, you will be shocked to realize that the problems in the world is really the source of their wealth. Many people today have become wealthy through unjust practices, molestation, abuse, modern slavery, war, etc. their source of wealth is connected to the problems in the world. So, ask them if they would want the world to change, and watch to see the reactions
Again, for there to be a significant change in both a nation and an individual, such a nation or an individual must be willing to conform himself to a higher truth; truth which brings everyone to an equal stand before the creator. God [truth] is no respecter of person -this is one major problem many today are battling with.
In most society today, the rich and the wealthy have always prey on the poor and the weak, relegate them to the background and do with them as they would to any of their slaves. In country like Nigeria, the law is only effective when it involves the poor masses because they are poor and are not well connected while on the other hand, the rich can do as they so wish because they are well connected. No wander we lack growth in all ramification basically because we celebrate thieves, tyrants and corrupt leaders, we have all together been infested with that ideology of corruption-it has become a norm in our society.
How do you change yourself then, knowing that the only constant thing in life is change, at least change for the better and not some philosophical statements which are in themselves corrupt and vain? To change yourself therefore requires that you mirror yourself in a truth that is universal, a truth that is above all cultural practices therein in this world; a truth that speak volume against obnoxious lifestyle and give room for love, peace, tranquility, morality and healthy practices. To begin with, you can change yourself by allowing the words that created the world to become your standard for living.
Only the truth can change man; not philosophical concepts
Philosophies are concepts created by man and they are based on reasoning.
To a rational thinker, reason is the highest faculty of man and the realm of intellect is the greatest good for him. To build our life around reasoning alone is to build a world of thoughts based on assumptions. Reasoning has its own good, am not saying it is totally bad in itself for to reason is to be human however, there are certain truth that are beyond logical reasoning, this truth is what forms our true essence as human; for man is not just the soul [realm of thought and reasoning], he is primarily a spirit being with a soul and housed in a body.
What is the truth?
From the standard of God, the truth is anything that mirrors the character of divinity; this could be summed up to two, at least for the benefit of our discussion—His word and His ways. The truth in this regard is generally heard but rarely followed the reason is because God’s ways are clearly not our ways.
Over the years, man has constantly devised a better way of living completely annihilating God while those who follows and preach his ways are seen to be practicing religious bigotry.
Takes for instance, the stoic view of a deity is a principle, in essence, a logical principle. The stoics hereby submit that logical principles does not issue commands, or mete out rewards and punishments, or take a personal interest in individuals. To the stoics’ logos is a concept, a theoretical idea employed to systematize an account of the natural order.
In considering the way of thinking made possible by stoic metaphysics and ethics one will quickly deduce majority of the stoics who are largely educated people of the ancient world don’t really believe in a God.
Again, Epicurus teaches that if at all there is a deity, it is a blessed and tranquil being, not concerned with the burden of administering the world—for the world governs itself according to the law of nature, consisting as it does of nothing more than physical objects and the void—and therefore a deity is not actuated by anger or favor, nor possessed of any interest in imposing requirement of any kind on us. From such the Epicurus says that we have nothing to fear.
Following the two injunctions by the stoics and Epicurus, can we really agree on the note that God [deity] really does not exist and that if he does, he is truly not concern in administering the affairs of the world?
God spoke to the inhabitant of the earth through prophet Isaiah that He [God] rules in the affairs of men. How does he do that? This is a big question and it needs to be looked into from different angles.
The conditional word if at the beginning statement of Epicurus shows that his opinion of a deity really does not exist, and if he does, he is less concerned in governing the world. Many scholars and philosopher over the years have debated the existence of God; while some argues that reason is the highest feature of man and that he needs no God to be human and that this principle of order and unity is called reason yet there are many more who believes in the existence of God and that the entire universe is a proof of His glory.
Is there really no God?
Jesus was clear on the subject when he said; I am the way the truth and the life, no one gets to the father except through me.
Considering this statements of Jesus, it is clear that man has designed a way for themselves to find what is true. Well, the scripture says, there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end is destruction.
Again, He [God] submits that His ways are not our ways in other words, to find the truth which leads to life; we must be willing to walk in His ways.

OPINION: WE NEED A BLACK JESUS
Considering the future of many African nations, I strongly believe that we need a black Jesus who will whip out of office the ludicrous political leaders who patrol themselves as Pharisees and Sadducees in the country; a savoir who will mend our constitution and bridge the rigorous gap between the rich and the poor. We need a savior who will see the masses as part of the state and not as money making machine; the nation needs a savior who will save her from feudal lords.
This group of leaders careless of a better African nation, they are not willing to enter into the future and are preventing others from doing so. They are too far from seeing the great future the African nation holds and therefore have no clue on how to implement the desired change.
What is the problem?
It is true that over the years, the nation has clamored for significant change in both her political and economic sphere; many well meaning statesmen have anchored the movement for change at different levels with little or no result. Change is somewhat sung by all, but welcomed and embraced by few.
The problem with many African nations is that a larger percentage of the populace do not really understands what change really is. Though we want and desired change, yet we are not willing to pay the price for it; our clamor for change therefore becomes mere noise.
Again, change is collective rather than individual. One major reason we haven’t gotten the change we desired holds to the fact that only few individuals who have truly understood what change demands have truly taken the responsibility to air their anger on the obnoxious lifestyle of our political leaders the rest of us are comfortable with shouting, groaning and lamenting from our homes while we hide our heads from true responsibility. Significantly, no change will occur without a collective fight for that which we want and no meaning progress will emerge until we are willing to kill our excuses for suffering.
Is change really possible?
The pessimist will say am not sure Nigeria will ever change considering the several movements for change that has been aborted the truth is, do we give up trying merely because we have been denied before? Well, weather we believe in the possibility for change or not, the problem lies with all of us agreeing to embracing the desired change and taking the pain all together to paying the price it demands - I mean every single one of us.
So, the question is not whether or not change is possible, but that by ourselves, we must work out our own salvation with preciseness and fearlessness