God will not do what muscle can do with a miracle -By Tife Owolabi

This title was taken from recent preaching by Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Citadel Global Community Church, CGCC, where he was talking about money as a tool, trial and test. He further said money reveals the heart of man and his true character and that money will destroy those who love it. Also, he added money has wings and riches will perish through misfortune. But the point that catches my fancy is that “miracles don’t just happen and God will not do what muscle can do for a miracle.” In essence God in his infinite mercy doesn’t just perform a miracle where he can use his physical power to bring something to bear. For instance, rather than healing a dying man of starvation, he provides him with a job to earn a living. He will not cure the dying man of hunger just to depend solely on prayers.

The same applies to Nigeria situation. We are in a dire strait following the avalanche of insecurity and economic woes that the citizens are being faced with each passing day. Virtually all the 36 states include Abuja are experiencing one form of turmoil or upheavals rising from the political crisis with economic consequences or economic crisis with political attendance which have put the citizens on the edge as many people have resorted to self-help just to escape the twin maladies dwarfing the nation, the harsh economy and insecurity across the nooks and crannies of the country.

The media landscape is also laced and fill with obituary announcements of people being killed on daily basis kidnapped, rape cases and It appears that there is nothing else to report than obsequies of casualties by bandits on a killing spree or ransom demands from kidnappers who have taken the sovereignty of the country for granted and appears the state autonomy for coercion has been captured.

So, rather than solve the social ills with cognitive capacities God has tremendously endowed us with some jokers are busy conducting prayers to put an end to humanly errors that can be fixed by mortal men. No doubt there is a place of prayers particular in a society like ours when no one can make a statement without starting with God or ends with God. But what God can do with muscle He won’t use a miracle. There is a place of muscle and miracle. What we need are not mere prayers but the mojo of humans capabilities. The problems are political and economic development. The contradictions and perceived inequalities from the allocation of resources and power tussle. The Security problems can be fixed with political and economic mechanisms. That money you budgeted for prayers can be used to create jobs, innovations and technologies. The federal government need to use the autonomy coercive power of the state to crush anyone fomenting chaos and stop patronising marabout. it does work that way.

The crisis can be solved through tripod security, political and economic. When Politic fails it affects the economy and the economy continues in a downward trend it comes with repercussions insecurity and the solution is in the use of force with the institution of state apparatus to be provided with an adequate tool to combat the insurgents and banditry except that the prayers are just jamboree.

Tife Owolabi is an MSc candidate at the Department of Political Science in the University Port-Harcourt, Rivers state.