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The parable of the rejected stone

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2 years ago

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?…

“Come and see” – John 1:46

Of the four candidates who contested for the exalted office of President, he was the most vilified. His speech slurs became part of the national derisive lexicon. Songs were composed to parody his gaffes. The Pyrates Confraternity composed a special song to deride him and highlight his health issues. His capacity to withstand the rigours of a punishing campaign streak was doubted. Yet, he traversed the length and breadth of Nigeria campaigning and did not once slump during any campaign. None of his opponents visited every state like he did. He was criminalized on several fronts, with people digging up so much dirt about him, yet unable to make any of the allegations stick or pass the rigour of judicial scrutiny. It was even rumoured that he died abroad while seeking medical attention. His photo in his gym during physical exercise couldn’t convince his distractors.

Prayers and prophecies were unleashed to blur the possibilities of his emergence. Some said he would lose outrightly. Others said he would win but would never be sworn into office because he would either die before that date or the inauguration would not happen. One person even said he would be arrested on the inauguration day. I personally confess that I didn’t think (not by prophecy though) that he would even scale through the party primaries talk less of winning the Presidency. How could one man take such flak and still be standing?

Notwithstanding, like the proverbial cat with nine lives, hedefied all odds and appeared to have used all the mud thrown at him to make bricks. He won the election with the required national spread. None of the other contestants could achieve that.

Consequently, as at today, and until the courts rule otherwise, or there is a “deus ex machina” factor (which we know as divine intervention or a stroke of the “hand of God”), the JabaganBorgu, Ashiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu GCFR, the one tagged «weak», «unwell» and «worn out», “town hall balablu” etc., is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the next four years.

We can pray, but we don›t choose how God answers our prayers. This is what makes God SOVEREIGN. Israel needed and prayed for a Messiah. But they also seemed to have given God his specifications. So when Jesus came, He didn›t fit the bill, and they wasted no time in letting God know – even till today!

Several years ago, I prayed to have a Mercedes 200. I had a clear picture of the car in my head. Ox-blood red. But my pocket fought the picture. I prayed for money to buy the car, but money did not come! Our church started about a year before then and every kobo we had went into the work. I had a two-door Toyota Corolla that was more fanciful than functional. Then the Holy Spirit gently asked me, «You want the money or you want yourcar?» I answered that I wanted the car. Two weeks later, I ran into my protégé at that time, who was to later becomeEkiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose. He asked if I planned to change my car. Then he told me of a Mercedes 200 that he bought for his wife but which she hardly used because she preferred something smaller. He wanted to sell it. The price was reasonable but my account wasn›t. He offered to take my car at an agreed, generous value and give me the Benz while I was to pay the balance as convenient. So I got my Benz, the exact colour! But for that to happen, I had to change my perspective.

Now Nigeria has a President. Many of us may not like him, but if we are truly believers in God›s SOVEREIGNTY , we must know that He still works all things according to the counsel of His will. After all, He said His ways are very far from ours!

Will President Tinubu perform? Can he deliver on the mandate,or will it just be hype? It is still too early to tell.

The best we can do is that God would grant him and his cabinet the wisdom to serve the nation in a way that elevates Nigeria beyond even our wildest imagination or at least lay the foundation for a better nation. Going forward, we must however, understand that Tinubu or any politician is not NIGERIA, but they are Nigerians. And so are WE.

In my undergraduate years, I was a politician and won Student Union elections by a landslide. I can tell you a few things about politics and you can take them to the bank. Ashiwaju’sexperience underscores the oft-ignored fact that politics is not a sporadic, flash-in-pan fancy of intellectual dialectics or debatesby chicken-hearted people in a university Staff Club or a streetside bar over plates of fish pepper soup washed down with several bottles of liquor. It is hard, rigorous, sometimes back-breaking work. It is expensive. It is tasking. It is sweat. It is tears. It is sleepless nights. The kitchen of politics is not for those who have an aversion to its heat. Not for bolekajaeconomists and moral, but detached pundits who pontificate on national TV and streetside bars.

Victory in any election is not a function of the most well-crafted manifesto. In politics, your supporters can›t see your flaws even if it›s injurious to them and your opponents won›t see your strengths even if you had used it to favour them in time past.

Politics does not reward academic sophistry, statistical exactitudes, or intellectual sagacity. It holds no candle to emotive, truculent arguments and rabble-rousing as we saw from supporters of a particular candidate. Its crown is never placed on the head of the disconnected commentator who merely sits on sidelines to throw stones, or the football spectator who sits in the stadium while criticizing the moves of the world’s crowned Greatest Footballer!

The harvest of politics is reserved for bridge-builders – if you cannot connect with people across the board or you are irritated by the presence of some people who don’t subscribe to your core values, exit the game. Democracy is a game of numbers. Voters are PEOPLE. If you can’t connect with them, you can’t collect (votes) from them. People vote for a PERSON before they accept his programme. Politics favours forward-givers who have no problems bending their backs for others to climb on. They know how to use people power to get things done. So they deliberately raise people who eventually become their foot soldiers. Politics favours strategic, intelligent thinkers who are constantly brainstorming on strategic moves to checkmate their adversary. Politics will also favour those are more focused on the goal than they are on the process because they know that when they have power, they can alter process!

Finally, money is ALWAYS an issue in any election worldwide. You either have it or you are connected to those who do and are willing to give it to you! All these played out on February 25, 2023!

Congratulations Mr. President! Congratulations Nigeria!

Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!

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