About Me

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Antioch, California, United States
John is the under-shepherd of Agape International Church & Ministries Inc, Antioch, California and the President of Agape International Ministries Foundation, Inc (www.agapebfm.net) John has been a Preacher, Bible Teacher, Counselor and a mission-minded servant of God from 1984 till the present time. Married to Alice since 1987, he enjoys being a father to 2 sons and 1 daughter. He is available to preach, participate in evangelistic crusades and revivals, lead or participate in a Marriage Enrichment program internationally. John preaches on a weekly radio broadcast called "KNOW THE TRUTH" (Based on John 8:32)and the broadcast is aired every Sunday at Radio KDIA 1640AM. The broadcast is also accessible through the website of the radio station: www.kdia.com. You can follow him on twitter @agapebfm

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Nigeria at 50: The Way Forward

Nigeria at 50: The Way Forward
Philippians 3:13-14 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 


I originally planned to have this write-up available on October 1st, but certain family emergency arose and it prevented me from completing the write-up. That is why it was not ready on October 1. At any rate, the devil is a liar. Here is the inspirational message. Better late than never

Introduction:  It is just like yesterday that Nigeria became an independent nation; emancipated to be in charge of its own destiny. Prior to her independence, Nigeria was colonized by Britain, her colonial master of many years. Many notable Nigerian statesmen relentlessly strived to bring about an independent Nigeria. On October 1, 1960, their dream came true. What an august achievement. The aspiration of most nations that yearned for independence is freedom to democratize and better the lives of their own people, more so that they are stakeholders in the outcome of their nation. The events that transpired following the independence proved any notion of the aforementioned postulation, wrong. Immediately following the independence, there were several political unrests that was brought about by what I called “power struggles” among the elites of the first republic who wanted to rule the people at all cost. Many things occurred around the early part of the 1960’s that one would not be proud of as a Nigerian. As the history unfolds, there was the first Nigerian military coup-de-tat of 1966 and subsequently the Nigerian civil war. Since that time till date, Nigeria has experienced changes from one government to the other. Now, Nigeria is celebrating her 50th independence. Some of my friends have told me that we have nothing to celebrate because the life of an average Nigerian has not improved. But whatever our differences might be, I still believe that we have many causes to praise God for during a time like this.  As I pondered on what I will like to share about the 50th independence of Nigeria, Apostle Paul’s charge to the Philippians came to mind. He says, Philippians 3:13-14 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

From these two verses, I have four principles that Nigeria could adopt in order to move forward.

1.       We must not embrace the notion that we have arrived. “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.”
We should never be satisfied with the present state of things no matter how great they may appear. There should be room for improvement. Only a fool would think that Nigeria of today has reached its highest pedestal and needs no improvement.

2.       We must not be haunted by our Past. “Forgetting what is behind”
Our past is part of us. It is an undeniable fact that our history is hard to ignore. But on the other hand, we must never hold on too much to the past to the detriment of the present and the future. We should learn from our mistakes and then move on. Those who refuse to learn from their past will definitely repeat the mistakes of the past.

3.       We must be Optimistic about the future. “straining toward what is ahead,”
Pessimism is an enemy of advancement. It is admittedly true that Nigeria has had terrible leaders in the past. It is also true that most of the present leaders are corrupt and unreliable. But two wrongs never make one right. No matter how bad things may look like today, I am a very firm believer of a revived and prosperous Nigeria. Let us be optimistic.

4.       We must not give-up on a dream for a Revitalized Nigeria. “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
We must never stop dreaming about a revitalized Nigeria. A person who stops dreaming would be living an aimless life. Nigeria is still able to change. We just need to have a very firm goal of what we hope to become in the future. The Bible says, (Prov 29:18 KJV) Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.


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