Goodluck Jonathan's Critics: Using the Barometer of Removing the Speck in your own eyes as a Scale

Goodluck Jonathan's Critics: Using the Barometer of Removing the Speck in your own eyes as a Scale

by Eromose Ileso

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Matthew 7:4-6

When it comes to issues dealing with several aspect of Nigerian society, this passage of the Bible is apt in certain respect. 

Firstly, the Nigerian society is awashed with people who carry a tag of holier than thou attitude, and this is more prevalent in no other place than in the day to day life of ordinary Nigerians.

For starters, the upcoming elections have divided opinions against the pro and anti Jonathan groups, while I am neither a supporter of any of them, as I am a firm believer in the tenets that every individual is a government of is own, because there are so few things that the government in this part of world actually does for it citizens.

Yet, the stick that has been used to beat the present administration are numerous. The corruption allegations are there, the mismanaged economy is being felt by everybody, that reliable electricity that is only available through the avenue of generator sets cannot be overemphasised, the set of flummox in the oil sector, the insecurity is there as well as other things that have become the tool that is used to attack the government of the day.

Without trying to mix word, most of the criticisms are without an iota of doubt fully justified; however it has not entirely been Groundhog Day as there are few lights even though it is at best modicum to say the least.

Where I am coming from however, is the angle of the morality of an average Nigerian. There are many Nigerians that are so morally bankrupt that they lack the standing to criticise the government of the day. A Nigerian that employs people and refuses to pay salary even when the business is making profit, should not be criticising the government, because in his own little circle of government , he or she have failed to be responsible to it employees.

A community leader that converts the wealth of a community to his personal use should not be seen crucifying the government that they are corrupt.

A person that sells one land to more than one person should look at himself when he is attacking the government.

A person that converts a drain to 

his refuse dump when there is rainfall should not attack the government that the drains are blocked.

The list of the dark arts found in the hands of most Nigerians are endless. They are so numerous that they can fill up an ocean.

Most Nigerians should look at themselves as Jesus Christ said in that passage of scripture before attacking the government, that a government is bad should not be a pretext for a private citizen to embezzle community funds, and the fact that there is corruption in government should not be a reason why a person would convert a public drainage to a refuse dump.

There are several persons that use different standard in determining the morality of government and in those in public institutions and that of a private citizen. 

This is so, because some believe that a government should be a paragon of good virtue by leading by example. Yet while there are responsibilities that are required of a government after they have been elected into office, the same applies to every private citizen. 

While these responsibilities differs, there is this attitude that everything should be blamed on the government even when it has nothing to do with the government. 

Those that have issues with their girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands and wives would not hesitate to blame the government. While public and private morality is a different circle, yet there is a meeting point for both, and they are linked in many ways especially when it comes to certain aspect of our societal responses. Nigerians should look at themselves before attacking the government at every juncture.

It can be claimed that where public institutions are in order, citizens would normally be upright in their behavioural pattern, yet how strong a public institution is would not stop a community leader from embezzling community funds neither would it prevent a person from throwing refuse into public drain. It is a double edge sword that has limitless boundaries, but there is so little a government can do in determining how a person relates with others in everyday life. 

The tendency to be sinister is an innate trait that is found in most Nigerians. Which is why every criticism should be weighed against the ratio of the skeleton in a person’s cupboard whether it is a public or private cupboard.

There is so much hypocrisy in the Nigerian society, and so much double standard. It is imperative that this holier than thou attitude that is a common trend amongst Nigerians in every facet of life whether in politics, social life, economy and all other aspects of society should be nip in the bud as everybody has a speck in their eyes that they should remove before looking at those in others.

As Jesus Christ aptly puts it, he who is without sin should cast the first stone.

  

Reconciling Survival with Salvation

RECONCILING SURVIVAL WITH SALVATION

by Eromose Ileso

The cliché that unfolds like a smoke from the chimney of many places is that the means justifies the end. Yet, the question remains whether a moral high ground should always be pursued when trying to evaluate what type of means leads to an end? 

To many the crave for survival from a difficult situation most times leads to a relegation of moral standards which in itself means many do not bother about salvation when it comes to the issue of survival. This has fostered a situation where many pursue a means that is not pure to achieve their desired end. That is one side of the coin. The other side of the coin is a situation where a person finds himself in a situation which he cannot explain, as the scenario below depicts.

A man gets both his limbs amputated as a result of an accident. When you approach him by saying, give your life to Christ and you would have the opportunity of walking with Jesus in heaven. For a man that just lost his limbs, telling him about walking seems fanciful at best at such a moment. 

The realist in the amputee, first and foremost is to survive and where possible put is life back on track, and most probably not a narrative on salvation. Though, the state of mind of such a person ultimately determines whether he would readily take the salvation narrative to heart. No doubt to a realist the first instinct is pursuing a course of survival, but one who has the graces to see beyond it would embrace salvation in spite of the complicated nature of such a situation.

Coming down to a more common appraisal in daily life is this: There are many in the society today who are jobless. And they find themselves in a forlorn situation. Most persons in such situation pursue a survival first instinct before salvation comes into play. To this extent they often pursue any road of survival whether or not it furthers the cause of moral insolvency. It is not unusual to see many engage in many nefarious activities all in a bid to survive thereby relegating salvation to the back burner.

Though, from the parlance of divinity, it is never a good thing to sacrifice salvation at the altar of survival. Yet, many in today's society do not care. All they concern themselves about is to irk out a living. 

Yet, this is not to say that there are no persons who do not see salvation as a first option no matter the situation.

Why there is never a justification for engaging in activities that is against morality and law when trying to survive, a question however springs to mind, would the society blame a person who steals to satisfy is hunger? 

Islamic Law provides a window of escape in such situation. It exempts a person who steals because of hunger from the prescribed punishment of stealing. Most people that steal for hunger are usually amoral; choosing instead to satisfy their belly before bearing what consequences awaits them. Yet stealing for whatever reason is immoral.

The cliché that the quickest way to a man's loyalty is through his belly hold sway. Which means many will prioritize their personal needs via trying to survive. This is were survival comes into it. The reality is that many people cannot attain stability in their lives if their very survival is threatened by a lack of the basic things of life.

When trying to a draw a line between salvation and survival, many in the society today, wants to survive first before they seek salvation.

In reality, you cannot blame such a person who assumes that position by being judgmental. Because in hindsight, it is difficult to say to a man who has not eaten anything for days, that he should give his life to Christ and that God will put food on his table. For such a man, at that moment, such narrative is illogical to him. It is survival first, and giving such a person food at the first instance eventually makes the salvation message to be readily acceptable. 

Jesus Christ recognized this while on earth through the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes after teaching the multitude that where gathered.

Without doubt the nature of a society vis-à-vis the standard of living determines how people approach these two issues. There will always be persons who will do anything to survive whether it defeats morals before they countenance salvation.

It takes the graces to seek salvation in a path of labyrinth.

Some will say salvation can be sought at anytime as survival is it first, even when the eyes might close and never opens by which time salvation becomes eternally impossible.