WorldStage Newsonline– Activist clergyman, philanthropist and founder of Living Water Church, Lagos, Pastor Ladi Thompson has given his opinion on the socio-economic crises in Nigeria, recommending that what the nation needed now was a surgical scalpel rather than a machete treatment to surmount the many daunting challenges being faced by the country.
The clergyman, who spoke from Canada during a hectic travel schedules, however regretted that such architecture of thought was elusive on the African continent and that there was no point in losing more lives in demonstrations against a government that did not have the answers because of the global situation she’s enmeshed in.
In expressions that tended toward a poetic approach, Mr. Thompson stated: “Somewhere on the globe, in a dimly lit room an array of silver screens flicker with images from all over Nigeria showing the protests as covered by public media houses and a few covert satellites.
“Nodding their heads with satisfaction, the scanty mix of men, women and gender indeterminate persons smile at one another across the ivory table. “Everything is going exactly as planned” a deep voice growls puffing at his Havana cigar.
“Has the Emir of Aso Rock reacted yet?” Oh yes, came a response and his national address was exactly what we predicted. Another voice cut in; “his delivery reminded me of the crocodile of blessed memory just that Pieter Botha was much more direct in his threats to unleash the iron fist.
“Good thing that the Emirof Aso Rock did not give them any concessions, now let’s move on to more serious matters. Forex projections? AI disruptions? Influx of terrorists still going unnoticed? Statistics of farmers displaced? Boosting of the entertainment industry as distraction?
This may read like a scene from some B movie but Nigeria really has to invest a lot more in thinking deeply about its future because the present disruptions are predictable events that must accompany our nations programmed trajectory. Blinded by ambitions, the political class cannot see beyond its nose.
“Under pressure and completely disenfranchised another generation of youths are arising to react instead of responding to the national confusion. Nigeria was designed to keep failing without falling but the divide-and-rule program at work was unwittingly fractured by the presidential ambitions of one man and his deft use of inducements.
“Now, he has the tiger by the tail and the days ahead promise to be more interesting unless something drastic is done.
“As a result of the seismic geo-political shifts triggered by the last election, Nigeria has now become a simultaneous equation that can only be resolved if our leadership can be educated to see the bigger picture from both ends of the equation.
“It’s difficult to find men like Kwame Nkrumah in this generation of African leaders. The Ghanaian luminary was a mix of intellectual brilliance and political pragmatism. Yet this is what Nigeria needs right now as we have to balance our internal solutions with the external dynamics at play.
“Difficult it is but not impossible. More so if the younger generations cam muster the maturity to read the whole picture. The 1960 counsel of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa for the deployment of eternal truths is now more pertinent than ever.
“There is no point in losing more lives in demonstrations against a government that does not have the answers because we are enmeshed in a glocal situation. Global problems with local implications and local challenges with global drivers that have to be addressed at the same time.
Right now we need a surgical scalpel rather than a machete but such architecture of thought is elusive on the African continent.”
