Woe to you, O land (nation), when your king (leader) is a child (babe), And your princes (rulers) feast in the morning! Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, And your princes feast at the proper time — For strength and not for drunkenness!
Ecclesiastes 10:16-17
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Psalms 127:3-5
And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came. Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. And thesons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel bylying with Jacob's daughter, a thing which ought not to be done.
Genesis 34:5-8
From the Scriptures above; it becomes clear that the true strength of any nation lies in the quantity and quality of her sons. The more and better they are; the stronger and better any nation will be. May I clarify for this point, the concept of sons –as this has nothing to do with gender; rather, about maturity and soundness (in understanding, knowledge, skill and wisdom).
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called…
Isaiah 9:6
Although, that talked about Jesus Christ; however, it quietly reveals certain truth about sons. Among others;
- Sons are gifts;
- Sons are responsible;
- Sons have specific assignments to their carryout in their generations.
Looking at the Genesis 34:5-7, an incidence occurred, which we could refer to as anational assault or a national reproach; the national leader kept quiet, simply because ofthe absence of sons. And really, many things are wrong in this nation (Nigeria) today, and awhole lot of people are expecting the leader(s) to say or do something – and the leaders are keeping mute; simply because, the true sons of Nigeria are not available!Bible records that when the sons of Israel returned from the field (“are raised up from their trainings”), and heard about what happened; they were shocked and furious. Really, that is typical of sons – unlike babes that merely cry and complain. Rather, sons take responsibility to avert, remove or repair national reproaches.
And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem hisson; every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem's house, and went out.
Genesis 34:24-26
No nation attacks another nation with sons hastily. Sons protect, preserve and provides for the nation. Sons hate reproaches – it shocks and makes them furious.It therefore becomes clear that the basic reason for enormous reproaches (such as unemployment, infrastructural decay, high cost of governance, election rigging, corruption,etc.) in Nigeria, is the dearth of the sons of Nigeria. Really, examine all the developed nations of the world; each one developed simply because their citizens took responsibility for the growth and development of their nation.
A particular president of United States of America noted, “Ask not what your country can do for you; but what you can do for your country!” That is a major shift from being babes to being sons. Sons do not bother about what to receive; but what to give. If we must therefore grow as a nation, Nigerians must get to a point of asking howthey can individually contribute their quota to the growth peace and progress of thisnation: For the true development that we desire is never in any leadership; but in us – and until we all grow up in our minds and hearts; Nigeria will remain a dwarf among the nations of the world. Our national growth can only be triggered and sustained by strong collective collaboration of minds and hearts. As a nation, we must embrace creativity and excellence.
Men and women should be coming up with great ideas – innovative thoughts. Let Nigerians take responsibility for the peace and progress of Nigeria: For there lies the untapped possibility for our national growth and development. The truth is, everyone of us is gifted in something, no matter how small; let us therefore use our gifts to solve specific national problems. Let us channel our enormous human and material resources to heal the wounds of our nation. Let us use our God-given talents to be a blessing to our nation: For God knew ahead of time that we shall be Nigerians, and He kept the solution to our national problems inside each citizen of Nigeria. Awake! Sons of Nigeria! Awake to responsibility – be a blessing, and leave a worthy legacy behind you when you die!
