The Prince On Foot

The Prince On Foot

Leonard Karshima Shilgba

I have seen very busy activities by Nigerian professional politicians lately; they work towards achieving their political desires in 2015. I have seen the prince on foot. President Goodluck Jonathan is on foot. I see him walking on foot, without any human security, towards the palace. The gate of the palace is shut against him. Yes, there are guards standing at the gate but no one opens for him. He turns around looking displeased and hopeless at this unexpected treatment.

Now, small aircrafts, in quick spinning succession, taxi on the runway and take off. They are certainly running away from danger. A man is forced on his knees and his head is being chopped off with an axe of judgment. Why are these fellows laboring and planning for what they cannot achieve?

The man in the North-East shall die in seven months, I am told. July, 2013 shall be it? But why is this so? I am told, “It shall be to your benefit.” My benefit, our benefit? They plan like they are divine beings who have control of the future. Terrible things shall happen. It shall not be the usual way. The princes shall cry; terror shall strike through them. I warned in 2010; I alerted in 2009. I speak again what I have seen. Can the wise understand? Will they ignore? Well, it is time to rescue the nation. This year is a year of judgment. But there are some who can’t discern. But we warn all the same.

The coalition of political parties whose only objective is to displace the ruling party shall fail. Their driving passion is too simplistic. Their objective should have been to win over the people. The people do not see an alternative to the ruling party. By the way, the men and women in those opposition parties, where have they come from? What is their pedigree? What have they said in the past? Which political parties have they migrated from? The PDP is a failure. The opposition parties, have they fared better?

I wrote thus shortly after the mass protest in 2012 against the removal of fuel subsidy by President Jonathan:

“Western education or the lack thereof cannot explain the contradictions I see. A man should know their basic interest at least. Probably, the more sophisticated or, let me say, the latent, may escape public consciousness, and this can be excused. But how am I supposed to excuse betrayal? I should expect Nigerians to realize that we have made the society we live in. Does poverty make men foolish; or does it impart madness? I know that poverty can inject the virus of anger, and we are today witnesses to this. But a mixture of anger and foolishness hardly yields dividend. I believe that the story of Nigeria cannot be true without a chapter on the betrayal of courage.

We have lost (and still do) heroes to the opposing camp. Every hero lost does damage to the confidence the people have in the army of patriots that remain in the trenches. The opposing camp is the camp with supposedly delegated power to wrest for the people the right and means to live the dream of humanity on the planet of divinity. I know that desperation can be very deceptive not only for the individual but also for the people that place their hopes in the individual. When the opposing camp has won more converts than it has lost the future of that nation becomes much bleaker.

Desperation for change and national redemption must diminish neither our perception of the price for our labor nor the danger of unequal yoking. When sincere zeal teams up with cunning pretentious resolve a nation loses her heroes; and no nation makes progress that kills off her heroes this way. It always remains true that evil communication corrupts good morals.

I am not against offering public service for public good. But when personal service to a sinking monarch or head of state is disguised in the garb of public service an insidious poison has been concocted. The hero must value his service and dispense it when certain minimal conditions are met, otherwise his service shall be trampled upon and he suffers loss. The next few years under the same leadership in Nigeria shall confer only damage. I see no sincerity in the present Nigerian government; for this the future is not bright. I see only darkness for the next few years unless the Nigerians pick up courage and pile pressure on Jonathan’s government to do what is right; and what is right is quite obvious.”

A new crop of leadership shall emerge out of the darkness of judgment. I should proclaim to Nigerians who are watching, watchmen at the gate of righteousness, lift up your heads for your redemption draws near. Tame your lusts; watch out for traps. It shall turn into bitterness in their mouths. They shall pour out in the streets. And we all shall see it. It shall not be the usual way. You will all see it; then understanding shall replace the present puerile ignorance. Welcome to the morning!

Leonard Shilgba is an Associate Professor of Mathematics with the American University of Nigeria and Founder/Overseer of the Bible Clinic Ministries. He also serves as the chairman of the Middle Belt Alliance