The Reign of Earthly Kings Versus Leadership Greatness? ( Part 4) By Felix N. Jarikre.

Emperor Haile Selassie.

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?                 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,                                    Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.          He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. (Psalm 2:1-6)

And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shall destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them. (Deut.7: 24)

One certain thing that cannot escape your attention as you go through the consistent thread of biblical scriptures is that the Maker of the Universe makes no attempt to hide his deep antipathy, contempt and violent dislike for earthly kings. Why is this so? Because they set themselves up in opposition to God’s purpose of leadership as they belittle and undervalue the people’s capacity to be inwardly motivated, innovative and enterprising. The culture implanted by earthly kings makes the people hold contemptuous, adulterated opinions about themselves. Bound by fear and insecurity, the modicum of initiative the people have does not stretch them beyond their capacity to feed and clothe themselves.

The unconscionable insensitivity of earthly kings to treat people as piece of bread was exposed when the king of Sodom tried to exchange goods for persons on the table of negotiation with Abraham. Truly they treat their people as commodities to be traded when it is convenient. Their tyranny is despicable and deeply disturbing. When King Ahab’s request to purchase a coveted piece of land was turned down by Naboth, he went into a prolonged depression. It took the king’s wife, Jezebel’s mischievous intervention concerning Ahab’s unrestricted power for the tables to be turned against Naboth. The hapless man was stoned to death on false charges.

When King David’s eyes wandered to catch the glorious naked beauty of Bathsheba, he wanted her without hesitation. The king could not be denied or refused. He got her pregnant. To cover the shame, her husband, Urriah, was sent into the heat of battle, defence withdrawn, and he was summarily killed.

Emperor Haile Selassie and queen with royal guests.

Nebuchadnezzer languished in the wilderness as a wild beast for seven years for being oppressive and arbitrary.  Diabolical plots, coups and counter-coups, intrigues, deceptions, subterfuges, propaganda, misinformation and miseducation, witchcraft practices and enchantments, murders and rapes, summary executions, there is no depth of depravity ambitious contenders would not plumb in their vicious contests for thrones. Half of it has not been told in Games of Thrones!  Stealing the hearts of the people, Absalom plotted and overthrew his father. To reclaim the throne, the son was hacked down. Adonijah, feeling entitled, moved fast and proclaimed himself king, even while weakened but alert David was still on the throne. Adonijah, first son –natural heir – did not escape the wrath of King Solomon, and it was only a matter of time before he was wasted.  To secure the throne in Solomon’s hand, antagonists, men with suspected loyalty, and pockets of opposition, overt and covert, were methodically hacked down and eliminated. It was a bloody mess all the way.

Yes, books would be written to justify or condemn the various actors on the stage of power-plays, the losers especially getting the short end of the stick. It’s not for nothing they say history has never been fair to losers in the power-games. Having to lose means, of course, they would have scanty resources to tell their stories effectively. Winners, on the other hand, has immense patronage to dispense,  enabling  writers and recorders of history to spin and magnify the rationale and result of the brutal contests  – favourably, inevitably for the winners. Indeed, philosophies and doctrines – slanted or false – would be articulated and forcefully propagated to rehabilitate and maintain the new ruling order. Governmental forces and weapons would be deployed to uphold the official propaganda. People who want to be respectable and elevated learn to quickly adjust and benefit from the status quo. Ultimately, though, it’s all a farce.

In all this, to ancient observers and discerners of world history, the distaste and hatred of the Maker of the Universe towards earthly kings was never in doubt. We cannot bring this post to a close without a special mention of King Solomon. Before we go further, let me quickly say when he was told to depart and move into a new land, meant to be inherited by Abraham’s seed , God had no mind or interest in retaining the presence of earthly kings in the promised land. Jehovah’s objective in having everyone to be kings and priests – drawing creativity, strength, intelligence and authority from heaven – in this new land is inexorable and paramount. 

That’s why he commanded Israel to destroy all the kings of the land that He delivered into their hand. And the children of Israel were never encouraged to have an earthly king until the clamour that brought Saul about. Though he was rejected, God made sure his counsel for heavenly kingship was articulated and flaunted before the people; so everyone was inexcusable.  Not Jonathan but David who replaced Saul. David wanted to build a house for God, but his request was turned down because the king’s hand was full of blood. 

 

King Solomon

Solomon sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings, and he personally was thoroughly empowered. Having rehearsed an unprecedented speech about how he lacked the knowledge to judge the immeasurable, priceless people of God, Jehovah was moved, impressed. It was inspirational. Asked to make a request, the king said he wanted an “understanding heart.” This is not a human, but divine prayer; and also a very dangerous prayer!  That would require Solomon to stake his existence for the empowerment of his own people, and terminate the reign of earthly kingship over Israel. Was the king willing to make himself a living sacrifice so that his people could become enriched?  If he had pursued, interrogated and pushed further, Solomon would have discovered he was being prodded to lay down his life. Jehovah said: “I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.”  Time for Solomon to step aside; Jehovah wanted to take back His throne!  Clueless, and consumed with pleasures and majesty of office, Solomon went ahead to build a magnificent physical temple, where even the priests could not stand to minister! 

Now we know Jehovah was not interested in a physical temple, no matter how splendid or beautiful it stood. Jehovah wanted to make Solomon’s body His temple to dwell in; a place of rest! That would have required certainly the earthly king to sacrifice himself! He clearly never knew he was dealing with a Creator who had the power to resurrect the dead! 

But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet. Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: What house will ye build me? Saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ear, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did, so do ye. (Act 7:47-51) 

What a stinging rebuke!

It is instructive that after Solomon, Israel’s monarchy fragmented and disintegrated, falling inexorably into a bottomless pit of anarchy, chaos and catastrophe, never to be rehabilitated.

Yes, today, you can talk about how great and wealthy you are: but to those of you who aspire to leadership greatness, how many people can you say you have made great as a result of your direct interventions in their lives? How many have you rescued from the torment of poverty? Yes, how many have you restored and empowered by presenting your body a living sacrifice ? How many can point you out as you go by: “There goes my messiah and my king!” 

Our church universal, biblically illiterate, deliberately ignorant, blinded, lacking  historical and factual context, has continued to lead the people on a never-land of fantasies where reasoned and robust arguments calling out for the true empowerment of the people are fiercely resisted. Why?  Because by dispositions and attitudes, our so-called pastors and bishops (you will be offended if you know within yourself you fall into this category!) are no different from earthly kings that should be despised and annihilated.

Arrest Ex-president Jonathan and Throw Nigeria Into Confusion - Northern CAN warns.

Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan.

Warning against purported moves to arrest former President Goodluck Jonathan, regarded by many as the “hero of democracy,” the Northern branch of Christians Association of Nigeria, CAN, yesterday advised President Buhari that it is a misadventure capable of setting the country into confusion. 

The body tasked President Buhari to pay attention towards arresting the menace of murderous herdsmen, epileptic power supply and economy that got weaker since his assumption of office. 

CAN, in a statement in Kaduna by its Public Relations Officer PRO, Rev. John Joseph Hayab, one-time Adviser on Religious Affairs (Christians) to two Governors of Kaduna State, said: “Every honest Nigerian knows that the feelers on the ground are that this administration’s popularity is dwindling rapidly among the Nigeria people. It is therefore not advisable to think or plan to arrest former President Goodluck Jonathan. Let me warn that such a misadventure will set a wrong precedent and only open door for mischievous people to set this nation into confusion. 

“What Nigerians need urgently is availability of fuel, electricity, prompt salary, security of lives and properties etc. If the purported plan to arrest Jonathan is to please the international community and prove to them that we are fighting corruption, then let us know that these same international community are busy celebrating him as hero of democracy and even those who seriously wanted him to go for a change to happen are now singing a new song about him.

“Former President Jonathan is deservedly seen in Nigeria and beyond as a hero of democracy because of his actions before, during and after the 2015 elections. As such, it will be curious for the Buhari administration to initiate the arrest of such a statesman. Government must know that there are individuals serving today that have also been accused of corruption, but since there are claims that nothing has been established against them, they are walking and speaking like saints. 

“While ignoring all these people, government now wants to arrest a man of peace like Jonathan?” 

According to the statement, CAN Northern States wishes to advice that such an action, if actualized, has the capacity to lead to serious confusion that will affect Nigeria economically or otherwise. 

“We are afraid that such an action may spark a chain reaction. If our President wants to arrest anything for now, then he should arrest the incessant spate of herdsmen attacks in Nigeria which has led to the deaths of almost a thousand innocent Nigerians under his watch.

“He should arrest the dangerous slide in the power sector; he should arrest the slide in the economy. We believe at this time, and with the current realities, our former president must not be denigrated but honoured because honour must be given to whom it is due.”

Wanted: A Miracle Worker, Not a Demagogue, As Nigeria's Leader. By Felix N. Jarikre.

President Muhammed Buhari.

If you thought the desperation, fierce determination, remorseless propaganda, seductive promises, and Buhari’s endless personal presidential ambition with which APC pushed in 2015 to defeat Goodluck Jonathan were easily convertible as currency to perform in office, you might be forgiven for having hope that Nigeria’s massive development was assured in Buhari’s hand.

But it seems it is easier to get power than to know what to do with it. Could this be likened to what Dele Momodu, Ovation publisher, suggested when he quoted a book, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by Brazilian author, Paulo Freire? He said that the oppressor is waiting for the opportunity to become an oppressor. “The only dream he has in his life is: I just want to be great, I want to get to power.” Of course, not knowing what to do with power to improve and empower the people, he becomes an oppressor! 

Nigerians had never witnessed an election that was as fiercely fought as the election that brought Buhari to power. In the Second Republic, the political contest was essentially that of ideologies and values. The opposition provided by Chief Obafemi Awolowo was strong, agenda-setting, intellectual yet not shy of practical solutions, sometimes visceral, but never descending to the level of abuse and condescension against President Shehu Shagari. GNPP’s Ibrahim Waziri was ever mindful of his mantra: “Politics without bitterness.” Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of NPP was ready to find accommodation with Shagari’s NPN. PRP’s Aminu Kano was devoid of malice in his political criticisms, ever mindful of how to lift his followers from the pit of poverty and illiteracy. But not so for APC of today. They brought a level of aggression and abusive recriminations to their political campaign that was unprecedented.

 They went all out to recruit disgruntled, but influential top politicians from the PDP camp. Old enemies became new friends under APC banner, bonded together in their mutual hatred and contempt for Goodluck Jonathan. No matter the merits, they castigated, ridiculed and tore to shreds any policy or action coming from Jonathan’s government. Having no qualm in making Jonathan an object of mockery, they gave him the tag of being “clueless and incompetent.” Playing on Buhari’s tenuous, unverifiable “integrity”, they held him up as a man of simple tastes and modest means who was willing and ready  to rescue Nigeria from waste, official corruption and impunity of any kind. From Rotimi Amaechi threatening that APC would form a parallel government if they were not allowed to win the election, to Jonathan’s official campaign being resisted with sponsored violence in some parts of the North like Bauchi, it was a recipe for conflagration.  

Despite the anger, pain and disappointment of many Jonathan’s supporters, tension was reduced and relief swept through the land when Jonathan made that famous and heroic phone call to Buhari, conceding defeat. Perhaps frightened by the swirl of expectations thrown up by the pedagogy which they had played to the hilt, it did not take long after he was sworn into office before Buhari said he was not a “miracle worker.”  Of course, we were supposed to relate with the fact that a human was not meant to be a miracle worker!  So it’s easy to make peace with Buhari’s self-confession that he was not a miracle worker.

   

Here again we are confronted with the sad spectacle of a man who canvassed for power but wants to make himself excusable from the inescapable responsibility of putting the people he leads first. Why do you want to lead if you have no solutions to the problems confronting your community or nation? Ambition should be made of sterner stuff. A leadership that is just pretending to rise above self-aggrandizement is a joke meant to be trashed.

We did not elect a president that would tell us that not much could be done to develop infrastructure because the country is broke. Being broke is not a lexicon tolerated by a sound mind. We want a president that would inspire us to discover the gold in the dust, and recover the gain embedded in a pain. Where there is no water in the desert, we want a president, like Moses in the Bible, that will fetch water from the rock for the people to drink! A president that would decry the wastefulness of maintaining 10 private presidential jets during the election campaign – just to make a show of his famed frugality – then go ahead to retain same now in office, leaves much to be desired. The new official excuse that the presidential fleet is maintained by the Air Force/Defence Ministry is not acceptable. Beyond the galling hypocrisy of it all, it shows utter contempt for the people before whom he made a show of pretence in order to gain their trust and vote. Indeed, it falls squarely into the same category of the much vilified Jonathan’s line: “I-don’t give a damn!”   

We did not elect a president who is pre-occupied with trading blames, and continually traced every challenge he faced to the failures of an administration he supplanted. It not only breeds resentment and contempt among those who were not supporters of the president in the first place, it also exposes the ugly fact of a leader craving to be excused from facing the responsibility of being a solution-provider.  Mr. President, there is no free-pass here, fix the problem! Barrack Obama in 2008 found in his hand a tattered economy and a nation that was war-weary. Obama, far from being a pedagogue, refused to trade blames, despite every temptation to do so. He was graceful and grateful enough to know he was elected to fix the problems he inherited. So instead of haunting George H. Bush, and boring the nation to tears with sad tales of the ex-president’s failures, Obama knew the time to govern does not give room for bitter recriminations. Refusing to mess with the blame-game, he went ahead to fix the problems.

Dele Momodu, in his incisive interview with Sunday Punch of April 23,2016 said: “ People saw Buhari as a magician, either rightly or wrongly. So they expected him to perform miracles. I told him that Nigerians expected him to perform the miracle of Jesus Christ raising Lazarus  from the dead because Nigeria was virtually comatose.” I couldn’t agree more. Buhari should be told he has just three more years to prove what he could do with power. His rent at Aso Rock expires in 2019. The thinking, sponsored by the ruling party, APC,  that he has an automatic renewal awaiting him is a false, arrogant concept that must be punctured before it develops. 

A piece of advice: with a stout resolve on the part of Buhari administration to do away with the blame-game, the president may just find himself turning out to be the miracle-worker he was elected to be!                                      

Unforgettable Secrets To Achieve Leadership Greatness. (Part 3)

Jesus Christ on the Cross: Picture of Victory!

There is a kind of leader who is validated and energized by the humiliation, enslavement and oppression of others. The Pharaohs, Mugabes, Saddam Husseins, and the Mobutus of this world fall into this category. Reproach is the garment of those who follow them.

There is another kind of leader who is only validated and enthused by the empowerment of others; he looks for avenues to tap and unleash the creative energies of his followers, constantly affirming their worth and nobility. He does not wait to be served. His authority comes from being a servant. He is willing and ready to impoverish himself so that others can be enriched. He puts himself last so that others can come first, in perking orders of privilege. Grace is the garment of his followers. Because it is rare, the world is in desperate need of this kind of leader.

In the Garden of Eden, these two distinct strands of leadership were represented in the twin personalities that inhabited it. We had traditionally been taught that Adam was the only male in Eden, but that’s not true. The serpent that came tempting Eve was not just another long, twisting, creeping reptile, but a full grown man, clothed in the finest of garments, radiating wealth, power and influence. (Of the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus called out: “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?” see Matt.23:33)

The serpent called variously  Satan, Prince of Darkness, man of sin, son of perdition, old dragon, was already established as the King of the earth. By natural rights bestowed by the Creator, the wealth and riches of the earth belonged to him. He stole none. He also had the power of death. He was crafty and intelligent. Wisdom was native to him. He was arrogant and supremely confident in the delusion of his mind.

Adam, on the other hand, Prince of Light and son of salvation, was poor, weak, foolish; but he was the one who had the blessing from the Creator. What it meant was Adam had dominion over everything, and also the capability to subdue anything that proved to be an obstruction.

Interestingly, while the prince of darkness,  clueless,  considered Adam’s presence an intrusion, there was nothing he could do about it. The serpent was caught in some sort of mental paralysis, a moronic and robotic personality, no less. Even though he was hungry, he could not feed on anything without Adam’s go-ahead.

The stage was set for an epic confrontation. Now his work of dressing and keeping the Garden entailed virtually that Adam would be the last person to feed and clothe himself. A fasting rehearsal was on. Perplexity hung in the air. Besides, no one had any knowledge of what was right to eat! All they had to go on was: “You shall die the day you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”  You know the rest of the story. The son of perdition, dipping into his bag of trickery and deception, managed to get the woman to think she was stupid and taken advantage of. Easy to believe this magnificent looking man in comparison to her dirt-poor husband! 

Adam flunked the test. If he had passed the test, it would have been Adam’s responsibility to destroy the Man of Sin, and eliminate the power of darkness.

For Adam, to remain with his earthly component would make him flounder like a fish out of water. The earth was only needed to give Adam a shape and form. Other than that, the earth was superfluous, an excess baggage whose expiry or terminal date was inevitable. Not so for the Prince of Darkness whose natural habitat was the earth where he could flourish and breathe easily. 

(For clues, read: “And the children struggled together within her, and she said, if it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manners of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people: and the elder shall serve the younger.” – Genesis 25:22-23.) 

Indeed if the earthly component of Adam was not destroyed and annihilated, the cluelessness, destitution and weakness of the earth would have shaded his perspective, and made him to misbehave or malfunction.  That, of course, would not have been acceptable. Still, without attempting to rig the results, God was careful for Adam to take responsibility for every step he took. Let it be noted though that Adam was not able to receive his kingdom from heaven before he fell. 

Now the fear of death had all along prevented the elect of God from reaching for the extraordinary freedom and unsearchable riches that lay on the other side of death. Adam failed. King Solomon, another epochal figure assigned in line to lay down his life, and put off the toga of an earthly king, allowed personal pleasures to break his focus. No man being excusable today for mental laziness, Jesus Christ, exercising his authority to lay down his life, had destroyed Satan who had the power of death: the freedom is within reach for the elect to achieve leadership greatness, instead of grovelling on the floor of mediocrity.

Two things not to be neglected on the path to achieving leadership greatness:

1.       Law of Perspective: This law states that unlike the Maker who gives you the latitude to see whatever is available, your preference not discounted, Satan has no interest in leaving you with any choice, but with diabolical manipulation, he attempts always to force you to shift your perspective to align with his. In other words, Satan wants you to see the way and things that he is capable of seeing. If he could get you to do this, you become neutralized as you feel disadvantaged. When the woman in Eden was manipulated by the serpent to lock her attention on the forbidden tree, she started feeling stupid and neutralized. When the 10 spies saw the promised land of wealth and plenty from a belittled satanic perspective, they saw themselves as pathetic grasshoppers instead of giant-killers, and their faith was overthrown. What Prophet Jeremiah was able to see would receive a hastened performance! 

No one should force you to see things the way they see. You are at liberty to discount what everyone else is seeing, especially if it is contradictory to God’s perspective. You have your eyes. What you see with them is entirely your responsibility, not anyone else. You have your vision. Let your vision speak more eloquently than your adverse circumstance. Whatever you do, see things from a heavenly perspective. Unlike the elect, Satan remains blinded, incapable of seeing what God can see!  Again, take note: it’s not about your imagination which can fail you. It’s about your capacity to apprehend and capture with your mental eye only what the Creator is capable of seeing.

2.     Ask No Questions in the Time of Perplexity is called Praise, not Prayer:  The Word of God heard is not subject to EXAMINATION or QUESTIONS, but only meant for OBEDIENCE. Questioning, a by-product of the tree of knowledge, represents doubt, unbelief and instability. If Adam had embraced as his security the Word of God that came to him even to the point of perishing, spurning any satanic interrogation, we would have been telling a different story today.

When Abraham was asked to sacrifice his Isaac, he asked no question, but went ahead to obey. Even Jesus found out in the depth of profound agony that the only way to victory is his death sacrifice. That his Father would not rig the results. Prayer cannot change God’s instruction: at critical moments on the path of leadership greatness. When you cannot maintain silence, and find yourself trying to scream out in perplexity, open your mouth and praise instead! What you have to go through, you must go through!  (To be continued)