A New Social Paradigm?
I have watched in apparent bewilderment and sadness as what seems like a new social paradigm unfolds worldwide, currently more so in some countries than in others. It has been my observation that the further a society drifts from the truth, the more that society would hate those that speak it. The trend noticeable worldwide today seems to be one of leadership mingled with behavior that pays no attention to hardship, mass poverty, crime, insecurity, and God. I am deeply concerned about this turn of events or new paradigm spreading worldwide like wildfire. Am I hallucinating or am I seeing a new normal reality edging out what has been a social paradigm that emphasized and practiced social responsibility of government and business to citizens of countries? Is this replacement social paradigm one in which avarice of powerful individuals has engendered insensitivity and inattention to the suffering majority of citizens? I don’t know, but this is one of the instances I hope I am wrong!
Are You Or Are You Not A Christian?
I came across this reflection by Pope John Paul II: “May prayers give wings to work, purify intentions, and be a defense against the longings of materialism. And may work in its turn lead to the refreshing encounter with God in which humanity covers its primordial vocation and the true meaning of its existence.” For a long time now, I have been emphasizing the need to follow up prayer with Action, because it is in action that the miracle of God is embedded in answer to our prayer. You do not pray and sit back and expect miracles without yourself initiating action. Little David prayed before he went out with his slingshot to face Goliath the giant. When he stretched out his slingshot with its pebble in place, God turned that potential energy in the stretched-out slingshot into kinetic energy suffused with God’s omnipotence that struck down the Philistine great warrior and giant. David did not sit back after praying without initiating action. As Mahatma Gandhi had said before me, there are seven things that will destroy us: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, religion without sacrifice, politics without principle, science without humanity, business without ethics. And to these I add, education without humility or tolerance, faith without conviction, life and living without the fear of God. The same Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu, was quoted as having stated publicly that “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike Christ.” Bara Dada, another Indian and philosopher, made a similar remark in the mid-1920s, that “Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians, you are not like Him.” Be informed that the church is not a museum for sins; rather, it is a hospital for sinners. Know better than to use the church as a hideout and cover for your evil life. The church is rather a hospital if you genuinely want to be healed. As Pope Paul VI remarked, the Church reminds and admonishes us as Christians to be conscious of our state, consistent, faithful, and strong. Precisely, the Church tells Christians to be Christians who do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God.
This prompts me to wonder if what we do after church services is to leave Jesus behind in the house of God and go about treating people unlike the loving and forgiving way Jesus treats us. A quintessential example of the loving and forgiving way Jesus treats us is with the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees cited the Law in which they claimed Moses commanded that such a woman should be stoned to death. In response, Jesus said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” As the crowd dispersed without a single one of them stoning the woman, Jesus asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? The woman responded, “No one, Sir.” And Jesus declared, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8: 10-11). You see, Christianity as a religion, is neither about you nor I, but about goodness, love, integrity, observing the Golden Rule, honesty, good interpersonal relationships, forgiveness, righteousness, doing the right thing, peaceful coexistence, live and let live, equanimity, understanding, gratitude, humility, simplicity, modesty, compassion, empathy, keeping the ten commandments, and the fear of the triune mystery consisting of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. It has been said that throughout the history of Christianity, it has been a practiced ideal to make room for the stranger until that stranger is not only a friend, but indeed, a member of the family. This conjures up the notion of servant leadership.
Whither Leadership?
Are you a leader, state governor, the President of a country, Christian, or Muslim? If you are, then it behooves you to know that leadership is an opportunity to serve, not a trumpet call to self-importance. Need I remind you that failure to denounce and oppose evil is failure to obey God/Allah? Strive always to use your position as a leader, governor, or President to serve, not to lord it over the people you serve. It is nice to be important, but it is even more important to be nice to your citizens or those you serve. Leadership is neither a business opportunity to amass personal wealth with public resources and finances, nor is it avenue for self-aggrandizement. As a leader or President, do you splurge in ostentatious opulence while your people or citizens languish in hardship, destitution, and squalor? Does it not matter to you that your people or citizens are being killed, maimed, kidnapped daily by bandits, terrorists, miscreants, and so many taking their own lives because they can’t feed their families, and you are not doing the needful to address a seemingly unmitigated lawlessness? I know that in most countries in Africa, it is culturally shameful and a thing of ridicule for a man not to be able to feed his family. I applaud the current administration in Nigeria for reinstating the good old national anthem of “Nigeria we hail thee.” Let’s remember the anthem was penned by Ms. Lilian Jean Williams, a British expatriate, and composed by Mrs. Charles Kernot—aka Frances Benda, also an expatriate to constantly remind us to guard against political instability and continued exploitation that the British desired when they intentionally amalgamated disparate peoples to form a country eponymous of the River Niger in 1914. These two women knew their male British politician brothers were up to no good when they impressed disparate peoples into a country and wanted this anthem to keep the inhabitants of the new country on guard so as to avoid the detrimental consequences of British subterfuge to assure political instability and continued exploitation of the vast resources of the land. In spite of this warning inherent in the lyrics of this anthem, Nigeria, like an unobservant grasshopper, has remained shackled in its current trajectory that can only lead to handing on to our children and grandchildren a banner full of stains.
Finally, let me point out that the highest obligation of government is not necessarily love, but are, among other things, justice and security for all. The many traits of leadership that I have come across do not include tribalism, nepotism, favoritism, or the accommodation of sinecure positions in government, business enterprises, or nonprofit organizations. I am certain there is a higher court than courts of justice, which is the court of conscience. This court of conscience, Mahatma Gandhi maintained, supersedes all other courts. If you escape human retribution on earth because you set yourselves above the law and constitution binding on you and everybody else, you will be accountable for your actions on earth to the Supreme Being, and in God’s case there is no appeal. You cannot bribe your way through to Heaven.
Professor Akubue wrote in from the USA
Friday, April 18, 2025
