Judgment Comes

Most times in life, we do things believing it’s a free world and as adults, we are not accountable to anyone. I must remind you here that you are accountable to God and if you are one of those who don’t believe in the existence of that Supreme Being, your children are there to be considered before engaging in those things. As a human being, you don’t have to live your life just for you and now; there is more to live for after your demise.

People get so excited when they find themselves in any uniform job. I have come to realise that they are not getting excited because they are privileged to be called to serve their nation. They don’t get excited because they want to lay down their lives for their nation. They go to church and do thanksgiving and later throw larvish parties because they don’t understand the reason for that call.

Americans shed tears when they are called to serve because they are very patriotic and are ready to lay down their lives for the service of humanity. But our own people throw parties and wear aso ebi when they are called to serve because they see it as an opportunity to acquire wealth and share in the national cake. They see the call to service as an avenue to terrorise innocent masses and take bribes from widows and orphans.

I remember an incident that took place recently around Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in Ikeja. I was on my way for a meeting when I saw an elderly woman cry her heart out because a KAI (Kick Against Indiscipline) official threw away her basket of moin-moin. From this woman’s cry, you could easily tell that all hope was lost. I couldn’t help asking my driver to stop and from the little I had in my bag, I paid her for everything that was thrown away. The only word I dropped for the KAI official was this, “you are working for the Lagos State government, but they won’t be there when generations after you will start paying for this day.” As usual, he insulted me, but I thank God, I told him the truth.

A public commentator, Mr. Raphael Opara, said on a television talk show, Inside Out with Agatha, that he witnessed an incident where some KAI officials stopped somewhere around Baruwa, walked straight to an old woman who started frying akara by the corner of her house after her shop was demolished and took the tray of the stuff into their truck.

If you are reading this today, I want you to pass it across to any uniform man or government officials around you. The LASTMA and other law enforcement bodies in Lagos State are doing well, but a good number of them, even their bosses, see it as an avenue to steal from and torture the masses. You are in uniform today behaving and doing whatever you like; people come to you with cases and because of money, you sell your conscience.

We were talking about a rape case recently when we suggested the girl report at the nearest police station, but to the surprise of everyone, the girl refused to do that because, according to her, they are going to make life miserable for her with the words that will come from their mouth and in the process, the rapist, who is rich, will be allowed to go free.

Customs officers are not left out as people’s goods have been auctioned just because they could not afford the amount of money required as bribe.

Some KAI officials pack people’s foodstuffs to their houses all in the name of working for the state government.

I have seen widows run to police stations for the police to help them fight their cases against some wicked in-laws, but the Nigerian Police, being what it is, turns its back against them just because the in-laws approached them with money. You may not know this, but the hearts of the helpless widows and their children will cry to God against you.

You find yourself in government and see it as an avenue to deal with your political opponents and unfriendly neighbours. You are there today, enjoy it while it lasts, but don’t forget that judgment day is coming. You pull down people’s houses and demolish properties just to get at one person who did not support you during your campaign. What a pity and what a helpless situation we have found ourselves? I thought they say politics is just a game; I don’t think it is judging from what I see in Nigeria and Lagos State in particular.

I feel so sad when I enter Alausa and see very old men and women being talked down on by one young man or woman just because he or she is in a position of authority. I think you better respect age even if you don’t respect God. And this goes to people who fight their aged parents and in-laws; you will get to be like them some day and whatever you sow now is waiting to for you to harvest.

A widow narrated how she went to the Ministry of Justice in Alausa and when she got to the particular lawyer she was directed to by the authority, she was asked for some bribe and because she couldn’t afford it, she said she left victimised and with injustice and, according to her, even her son has not stopped placing curses on that very lawyer. He or she may not pay for it, but generations after him will.

When people give you the bribe you ask for just because they must get their documents signed and released by you, they go back and even right there in your office, they rain endless curses on you. You are enjoying your ill-gotten wealth, but your children are paying for it one way or the other. You can send them to the best schools in the world, but at the end of the day, they become sources of pain to you and thorns in your flesh. Check out the children of our police men; children of the honest ones do exceptionally well in life while majority spend the later part of their lives in pain.

Check out our politicians, with all their wealth and stolen money; how many of them have you heard of their children coming back to give something meaningful to the nation? Have you wondered why most of our force men and women die empty? What is happening to the families of top government officials and company directors whose children are supposed to run with their vision?

Are our preachers left out when their children turn out to mock the gospel they preach with some refusing to go to church at the end? I know there are some good ones that the devil came back to fight through their children, but a good number of them refuse to serve the same God their father is serving because of the games and deceit they see.

This is not a matter of born again; God will forgive you, but you must make restitution. Are you aware that the day you took away the bread that poor woman was selling and fed your family with it, her own children slept hungry? Are you aware that your late brother’s wife you maltreated and denied of her rights is somewhere prostituting just to feed her children? Don’t you know that the man whose promotion you are sitting on is regularly crying to God for help? As a school principal, someone donated books and uniforms for the students and instead of you using it for the purpose it was meant for, you saw it as an avenue for wealth. You don’t even let the poor children be after your evil act; you continue to punish them for books that someone had already provided.

As a hard drug baron or courier, do you know how many lives with great destinies that have been wasted just because of that white powder you carry about? You are involved in fraud and you are enjoying it because of all the chieftaincy titles attached to your name; your wife is enjoying her place as the lolo. Look into your home and family and tell me if you are really happy; your children are paying in one way or the other and the blood of those whose children are in psychiatric homes and those whose husbands took their lives are crying to God daily against you.

You can go ahead running from one prayer house to the other seeking for solutions, but your solution lies in your ability to make restitution.