What has Jeremiah got to do with Nigeria?

A few days ago, a friend called my attention to an article written on President Buhari's performance in office so far. The writer of the article minced no words in calling out Buhari for his lopsided appointments, inept policies and general disconnect with the suffering of the masses. 

Of course comments received were numerous, but what struck me as funny was that the writer was berated by some for coming out so strongly on such a national issue because of his 'position', lest he be accused of heating up the polity. In summary he was not allowed to have or divulge a position on the state of the nation because of his 'position'.

Meditating on the prophecy of Jeremiah  today, I saw a lot of similarities.

Why do I say so?

For those who are familiar with the prophets, Jeremiah could be considered as one of the unfortunate ones and I will explain why.

Jeremiah was called by God, before he was even born, to be a prophet; but he started his prophetic ministry as a teenager. The summary of his message to the people of Judah at the time was that if they did not repent of their evil ways, their towns will be plundered and everything destroyed. Not even their previous temple will be spared. And after the destruction, those who are left will be taken into exile to work as slaves. Imagine yourself as the bearer of this message; unfortunately the lot fell to the teenager Jeremiah. And he was not sent to his fellow senior prophets which perhaps may have been easier for him. God sent him to give this message to the elders and rulers of the people. 

Of course no one believed him. He was too young to be a prophet, and how dare he utter such calamitous words about the chosen ones of God and of Jerusalem, the city of God? For daring to do this, Jeremiah was oppressed and punished by the people and the elders several times. In fact, he was treated as a pariah. 

Jeremiah was not indifferent to this maltreatment because several times he would complain to God, even accusing him of deceiving and seducing him into proclaiming messages of doom. But he also accepted he had no choice; if he did not proclaim the message, it will burn up from deep within him until it came out.

So what has Jeremiah got to do with Nigeria?

Everything.

Perhaps we are in similar times as the people of Judah. Our country is racked with suffering, poverty, corruption, greed, tribalism, racism, religious intolerance, terrorism; everything that can go wrong seems to be going wrong with our country. We all see it, we all know it.

However while some people are choosing to speak up about it, others have chosen to be deaf, dumb, blind and mute and as if that is not bad enough, want others to act the same. But whether we like it or not, we all know the truth because it is written in our hearts and it gives us only two choices - speak up and let it out no matter what the message is, or keep it in until it consumes you like a burning fire. 

And when we speak up there are benefits - the truth is told, errors can be rebuked, faults can be corrected and instructions can be given that can set things right.

In the end, it always works out best.