In Christianity, we see drift as a terrifying fact. Fearful because men don’t back down, they become atheists or swindlers in one jump. It’s a slow occurrence. Little by little you go into it until the worst happens. In reality, drifters are nice, affable, well-meaning people, with no intention of doing anything wrong; perhaps without a very strong resolution to go to the right.

I have closely watched the activities of our leaders over the past several years. Like Nigeria, for example, being a wounded nation with human and material resources; with people who seem very innocent physically as leaders, people still yearn for better leaders. Most of their previous leaders, no matter how pretty or ugly their physical appearance, braces or not, still see themselves as unqualified to lead people to greatness. To them, they are just trying to maintain the status quo, while what the people need is CHANGE. Although it is very painful, change brings out the best in people. With a good leader, who would not be intimidated by the evils of the past, Nigeria will become a kind of refuge. The lack of vision on the part of so many previous leaders and their failure to agree with other people’s ideas and programs did much to land us all in the myriad of problems we experience today. Proleptic pronouncements in various quarters regarding this great nation have certainly not helped matters.

Nigeria is a good land made up of great men and women, hence the motto: GOOD PEOPLE, GREAT NATION. God created and blessed Nigeria greatly with so many good things, that Nigerians would have no reason to go to bed hungry. No Nigerian would have needed to go to school and pay through the nose for fees or become homeless. While we commend the efforts of our founding fathers for an independent but not yet united Nigeria, there is a need to take a critical look at the foundations and structural balance of the country. Most people have ridiculed any suggestion of the purity and tenderness of a united Nigeria, and apparently do not believe that the nationals can be anything but a plaything or a victim of their leaders, never their peers or friends. The wrong foundation or structural design can ruin an empire. The wrong foundation established the class difference between the leaders and the led. While the leaders spend extravagantly on resources, the led are busy digging through the rubble, capitalizing on misgovernment to make the nation even more ungovernable.

Bad leaders are those who boldly tell their followers that it is better to spend more than one can afford, going into debt, rather than live on bread and oats. That is why we continuously fight against a stubborn corruption that refuses to budge. Corruption will not go away if we continue to fill our hearts with anxiety and are tempted to take money that does not belong to us to satisfy our pressing but selfish demands. The habit of gambling with our precious resources has left love and nation sacrificed on the altar of selfishness and greed. Businesses and the loyalty we have for people are neglected. People rise to positions of leadership today because there is always the feverish hope of a windfall and getting money without giving any service equivalent to it. Who says we are not adrift?

My second look at the milky atmosphere shows a town led by regular players who drink themselves to a stupor with power. I see a people in the throes of delirium although pure, true and responsible, but without direction. I saw people with a beautiful appetite and a desire to ascend the throne of being the lord of life, but they lack the common ingredients of love, peace, unity, faith and progress. The stage can never stay in bad light. Our lot as a people of this great nation has only 24 hours in a day. No day can borrow extra seconds to perpetuate itself. The darkest hour, people say, is the closest to dawn. I think there is a way out of this mess. We as a people can choose to be focused if we can avoid the society of those who are familiar with the ways of darkness and impurity. It is not necessary to continually give in to temptation, but we can ask God today to help us overcome these temptations. Until we have done this, we will continue to deviate from what is right and gain momentum that we cannot stop.