The Nigerian state and its organs are not different from the man robbed and wounded on his way to Jericho from Jerusalem in Luke 10:30-36. The Bible says that the bandits left the man half dead. Almost all the public sectors are half dead in Nigeria just like our national power grid. If we sum up all the performance in various sectors, we have a nation half dead. A half dead cannot function perfectly, and death will certainly come very soon if the half dead gets no adequate attention.
I know parents who pay more than $1000 (N714,000 in the parallel market) per term in schools that do not offer the quality of secondary education many of us got for stipends years back. But, painfully, most leaders in Nigeria (appointed or elected) posing as the good Samaritan to save our half dead nation lacked the character of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:30-36.
Compassion summarizes the character of the good Samaritan. He had compassion for the half-dead man. Unfortunately, faking as a good Samaritan in the media without doing the work is all that satisfies most of our so-called leaders. For example, they commission roads and projects that they are aware that the quality is sub-standards quality. In my view, they are taking a selfie with a half-dead man without offering any help.
Many things indicated that the good Samaritan was compassionate. Leading among them was that he bound the wounds of the half dead man (Luke 10:34). Unlike the good Samaritan, our leaders make our half dead state bleed more financially. The recent discovery of the fraud allegedly carried out by the former accountant general of the federation lends credence to this. Therefore, the leader who meets a bleeding and half dead state/parastatal/ agency/ministry/ board/council, to mention a few, and what they do is to bleed her more are not good Samaritan.
The good Samaritan offered his beast as the vehicle to take the half-dead man to the hospital. This indicates using personal assets as a resource to rescue the half-dead state. During the regional government, it was reported chief Obafemi Awolowo lived in his own house without giving the region additional burden of his accommodation. Inversely, the present good Samaritan in the Nigerian state prefers to ride on the half-dead as though they were beasts and save their own beast. They even search if the half-dead has anything they can take from him to buy more beasts in their names.
Apart from offering the half dead man first aid, the good Samaritan brought him to an inn. In their time, an inn was where he was confident the half-dead man would get good care. When a road is terrible, patching it is first aid. When it is time to award the construction or reconstruction contract, awarding to a competent contractor after the due and plain process is taking the half dead road to the inn. On the other ignoring competent contractors and awarding to incompetent ones means not taking the half dead to the inn.
The good Samaritan passed the night with the half dead man at the inn (Luke 10:35). He witnessed and supported (physically and emotionally) the caregivers while they were reviving the half dead man. Our leaders are not involved in restoring our half dead state in the same manner. For example, they do not receive health care in the half dead health sector they claim they are reviving for the citizens. If the medical directors demand more staff, they would question the number because they have not lost any close family members because of the shortage of staff like ordinary citizen.
This is also consistent with the half dead education sector, which their children avoid. They are not consumers of the education that they claim they are reviving. The meals our leader give to the children of the poor in the school feeding program cannot be fed the pet they hated most in their house.
When the good Samaritan wanted to depart the inn in the morning, he gave the caregivers two pieces of silver. He also promised to pay them whatever they would spend extra when he came again. I wanted to view the pieces of silver as ideas brought into governance. The National Health Insurance Scheme is a type of the two pieces of silver. Professor Eyitayo Lambo was the minister of health in Nigeria in 2003 and presented the NHIS initiative to his boss.
The (NHIS) initiative has offered access to quality health care since its inception to those in the formal and non-formal sectors. The minister knew what he must contribute and had a boss that yielded. Anyone elected or appointed to head a half dead organization must come with two pieces of silver to revive the organization.
Teach for Nigeria, is like the two pieces of silver that a private organization is contributing to the half dead public education. This scheme employs graduate teachers in crucial subjects where the government schools are short-staffed and take responsibility of their remuneration. This shows that citizens and public sectors have something to contribute to the half dead institutions/sectors in Nigeria.
If you are reading this and you have not told Jesus to come into your heart as your Lord and saviour you are not half dead but dead.
Tell Jesus to come into your heart he will take away your sin make you alive
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