By Francis Ewherido
Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, which signals the beginning of Lent. Lent is a solemn season when Christians, especially of the orthodox fold, engage in fasting (some denominations have already commenced their fasting), abstinence, repentance, moderation, mortification of the flesh and almsgiving. Usually, many people fast and abstain from certain activities (not necessarily sinful) that have become part of their regular living.
The whole idea is to make sacrifices, mortify the flesh and show God that you are sorry for your sins. In the process, people make savings from fasting and abstinence. These savings should be channeled to putting smiles on the faces of the less privileged among us. They might be family members or total strangers, orphanages or old people’s homes, young and old; the bottom line is to spread joy in a depressed world.
Lent is a time of forgiving and asking for forgiveness. It is a time for healing fractured relationships, especially within the family. Charity, they say, begins at home. This year’s Lent coincides with our election period. It starts 10 days after the presidential and national assembly elections and four days before the governorship and state houses of assembly elections. The campaigns have been cantankerous, fierce and divisive. Family ties and friendships have been destroyed in the process.
I have seen the agony of defeat and ecstasy of victory. Magnanimity in victory and humility in defeat are still scarce. Usually, after an election, the healing process commences and all are supposed to come together as one to move the nation, state or local unit forward. But I can tell you that the bitterness of 2015 was raw and remained intact for many people until 2019. Only God knows for how long some people will harbour the bitterness, hate and anger from the 2019 elections. The wounds are very deep, but they must be healed and Lent offers us the opportunity to start the healing process.
The healing is going to be tough though because in this part of the world, we lay foundations with injustice and try to build peace on the foundation and that is a big problem. Some of the victories being celebrated now were secured with bare-faced criminality and fraud and they are being attributed to God! Many lives were lost in the presidential and national assembly elections. These lives were lost mainly in parts of the south dominated by Christians and there is a real possibility that blood was shed to procure some of these victories being attributed to God.
The bible says the earth with all that is in it is God’s and nothing happens without God’s knowledge. So in a way all victors might be right in attributing their victories to God (and I congratulate all of them), but that does not exonerate those who shed blood or subverted the process to get their victory. This year’s Lent took time in commencing and started during our election period. I do not believe it is a coincidence. It is God’s special design to give those of us who have soiled our hands the opportunity to purify ourselves and ask for forgiveness and pardon in this solemn period of prayers, fasting and abstinence.
Politics in Nigeria is like wading through the mud. It is not possible for anybody to go through unscathed; potopoto must rub you. But that must not dissuade Christians and people of goodwill from taking part in politics. Christians and all those who know the essence of political office must strive to work and clean the system. No society can get to its Eldorado by playing politics and running governments the way we do in this part of the world.
Time is running out for our generation, but we must strive to bequeath a better society to our children. For this to happen, Christ must begin to reflect in the way Christians go about their politics. They must become the light – even if it is small like candlelight – of politics and the salt of politics. If not, the real essence of going into politics (the common good) is defeated.
Next Saturday, Nigerians head to the polls again, this time to elect state governors and house of assembly members. For many people, the stakes are higher, because these elected officials are closer to the grass root than the Abuja-bound people we voted for last Saturday. State capitals are closer to the people and many of the people we are going to elect this Saturday live among their people. Beyond those contesting, there are those positioning themselves for board appointments, special assistants, special advisers, commissionership positions and other political appendages.
Without political appointments, some of these people are like fish out of water; totally useless to themselves and the society. So, you can see the stakes are very high. Will the Christians among them allow this holy season to guide their conduct? I doubt; the immediate and material stakes are too high. Winning your unit, ward and local government increases your bargaining power, so it is a task that must be accomplished by hook or crook. Truth will be turned on its head, evil behavior will be rationalized and rigging will be legalized and moralized. Where possible, the will of the voters will either be bought or subverted.
But please as much as possible, eschew taking lives. Too many people died last Saturday. These deaths were avoidable; they also have multiplier effects. These victims were fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, sons, daughters, cousins and breadwinners. Beyond the deep sense of loss, their dependents now face an uncertain future.
There was a photo that trended recently: a dead hen with its chicks surrounding it, some of them perching on top of the dead mother hen. Those of us, who are familiar with rearing of fowls the local way, know that some of those chicks will die of cold, others will be killed by rival hens, while the rest of them will be food for birds of prey and snakes. None of them will get to adulthood. It is not the same for humans, but not too far away. So soon 2023 will be here; let us take it easy.
Anyway, when we are done with all the orukuruku and magomago (manipulations) next Saturday, let us remember to take advantage of the holy season and ask for forgiveness and pardon. Hopefully we shall still be alive to do that. The only little snag is that even after God’s forgiveness, the consequences of sin still linger. If in doubt, ask King David what happened to the product of his adulterous liaison with Beersheba, after all his fasting, wearing of sack cloths and rolling on the ground. Naija… may God not deal with us according to our sins and iniquities. Amen.