THE CHALLENGE OF THE PRESENT GENERATION OF NIGERIANS. By Joshua Madami

There has never been a period in the human history like our present generation when the demand character is totally absent among our political leaders and the subjects alike.

That is why there is no period in human history that has seen poverty and suffering in the many forms and in the midst of plenty than our time.

The irony of it all is that we seem to have more of everything in today's world than in any period and yet we lack many things in life which to me is as a result of failed parental responsibility.

Our generation has more Churches and Mosques but we more spiritually bankrupt.

There are more schools today but we have become more illiterate.

We have more hospitals and clinics with all the sophistication of modern medicine but our health has become worse with more diseases and more unidentified causes of our increased rate of sudden deaths.

We claim to be more civilized now than before and yet our civilization has witnessed more dehumanization, more individualism, more moral decadent, more materialism, more secularization and more dechristianization of our cherished Christian heritage as well as our religious values.

With the rapid erosion of many cherished religious values our situation has degenerated into increasing loss of genuine confidence in spiritual matters.

But we are too quick to forget that we human beings are created as free moral agents to make choices in life and face the consequences of our decisions taken within the laws which govern the divine-human encounter.

That was precisely where our primordial parents failed when they saw their freedom in themselves and for what they want for themselves and not within the context of their relationship with the God who created them and gave a garden of life in its fullness.

Unfortunately, that sense of egocentric freedom is still with us and many in our time will not hesitate to jump at any thing that will guarantee such freedom.

Forgetting that any freedom that is not subject to control is bondage and self destructive in itself.

And that is why the human desire for sin of self glorification readily welcome any system that claims to offer the individual an unlimited opportunity to do whatever may be pleasing to the human ego.

The tragedy, of course , is that rather than being truly free, the individual becomes a prisoner of self-interest, a form of captivity capable of destroying societal values and one's sense of the divine presence.

Hence one is not surprised about this development since the last decade has witnessed an unprecedented victory for materialism over genuine spirituality and sound morality. Unfortunately, this has also led to the elevation of material wealth and economic power to the status of being the only yardstick for measuring the greatness of an individual or that of a Nation, while other values of life are relegated to the background.

This tragedy has become a societal colossus as many Individuals and nations aspiring to be economically great or buoyant now put their hope purely on stealing of public funds rather than God for the realization of their economic dream. On this note, one can understand why the defining characteristic of our contemporary world is uncertainty and frustration.

However, in spite of the enormity of our challenges, we must admit that we can find our own solutions by ourselves while looking up to God for divine wisdom and guidance.

We must therefore take a bold step in the right direction without waiting for any approval from any international community.

Our bold step to solving our problems will undoubtedly at one point or the other, hurt some of our international friends or foes alike and this we must understand as somehow necessary since no responsible nation on earth will abandon the realization of it's national dreams and destiny to the dictates of outsiders, no matter how influential they may be.
In the course of shaping our own destiny, we may learn from their mistakes and strong points but they must not be allowed or permitted to define our agenda and drag us to their destination.

An essential element of God's gift to very nation, is the responsibility to identify God's purpose for that particular nation and to make use of God–given resources within that nation to realize one's national objectives.

There is also the need to cooperate with others as responsible partners in God's own world while we work towards attaining national objective.

It must be noted that the so-called powerful nations of the world today were not given a global agenda or political ideology dictated by any international group or body in their mission to define their own national goals and destiny.

Indeed, their leaders, carried their citizens along with sheer determination, national will and patriotic fervour, coupled with religious zeal.

The immediate challenge before us now is to take up our own Political cross as we look up to God while pulling our resources together and with collective sense of national mission usher ourselves into a new era of genuine emancipation from all forms of bondage to a life of peace, unity and progress.

This task, we must pursue at all reasonable costs and without further delay if we are serious in our desire  to be truly a liberated people, redeeming our past, accepting the challenges of our present history while finding necessary solutions to our problems and at the same time, mapping out new strategies for a golden greater tomorrow for all Nigerians.

In conclusion, it is noteworthy to recall that the root of civilization and developments of Western nations is traceable only to a life self-discipline, personal sacrifice, dedication and commitment to a socio-political redemptive struggle for survival and a sustained sense of patriotism well anchored in sincere and deep faith in God, in whom they believed and accept as their creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer.

What our leaders need to hear most today is the warning that if anything is going to destroy Nigeria, it is not going to come from outside but from within. It is when people turn away from God and from commitment to their national ideals in pursuit of an irrelevant political system that they set in motion internal sociopolitical combustions that will eventually destroy the very foundation of their society.

At the point that people of some nations thinks they have arrived at the golden age, they ban the teaching of religious values in public schools and it is being replaced by moral instruction.

Of course, the sad thing is that moral instruction without religious basis is at best abstract principles of good intention which leave the individual morally powerless, spiritually blind and the society more morally bankrupt.

If we young Nigerians do not raise to resist and correct these abnormalities, Nigeria is gradually heading towards a godless evil society.

May God show Nigeria mercy.

God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Madami Sarkinnoma Joshua nomanson2020@live.com
 08034652635