God said, “The cries of the victims in Sodom and Gomorrah are deafening; the sin of those cities is immense. I’m going down to see for myself, see if what they’re doing is as bad as it sounds. Then I’ll know.”

The men set out for Sodom, but Abraham stood in God’s path, blocking his way.

Abraham confronted him, “Are you serious? Are you planning on getting rid of the good people right along with the bad? What if there are fifty decent people left in the city; will you lump the good with the bad and get rid of the lot? Wouldn’t you spare the city for the sake of those fifty innocents? I can’t believe you’d do that, kill off the good and the bad alike as if there were no difference between them. Doesn’t the Judge of all the Earth judge with justice?”

God said, “If I find fifty decent people in the city of Sodom, I’ll spare the place just for them.”

Abraham came back, “Do I, a mere mortal made from a handful of dirt, dare open my mouth again to my Master? What if the fifty fall short by five—would you destroy the city because of those missing five?”

He said, “I won’t destroy it if there are forty-five.”

Abraham spoke up again, “What if you only find forty?”

“Neither will I destroy it if for forty.”

He said, “Master, don’t be irritated with me, but what if only thirty are found?”

“No, I won’t do it if I find thirty.”

He pushed on, “I know I’m trying your patience, Master, but how about for twenty?”

“I won’t destroy it for twenty.”

He wouldn’t quit, “Don’t get angry, Master—this is the last time. What if you only come up with ten?”
“For the sake of only ten, I won’t destroy the city.”

Recently the state of Nigeria has really got me frightened. The thing is that most people can’t tell that there is an almost imperceptible change in the atmosphere, there is a bubbling discontent in all factions of the nation, worse than before, that confirms Mr.Achebe’s sentiments that we are “No Longer at Ease.” The scripture above is from Genesis 18:20 to the end, it always makes me smile and more and more it has been a source of comfort because I remember this and I say, “As long as someone keeps praying, God will not let a war break out in Nigeria.” But someone has to pray, someone has to pay the price. So many of us are gambling with the state of the nation, the state of our lives and this is just such a dangerous thing to do.

I remember hearing a story of a girl who forgot to get a visa to the USA. She schooled in one of the Caribbean Islands and figured she wouldn’t need a visa for America as she had a visa for the Island…forgetting she is a Nigerian, meaning visa ncessaire always! So, predictably, she got stuck at the border at the JFK airport in New York when her flight landed well past midnight. The authorities appropriately locked her up and began the process for her immediate deportation to the motherland. She managed to get word out to her parents in Nigeria via text and her parents went into prayer-overdrive; they poured out their hearts to God, “Yes she’s made a mistake but please help her God, please keep her safe. She is alone and frightened.” For hours they prayed and amazingly, the customs agents let this girl go with a warning and a promise to go to the embassy and sort out her visa! The moral of the story is this, someone paid the price for that girl. Some of us, our mums do not stop praying on our behalf and things keep working out for us and we don’t even know how! But think how many people (1) do NOT know how to pay the price on their behalf and (2) have no one paying the price on their behalf?

For Nigeria, Christians have to pay the price in prayer, for the safety of the nation.

Nigeria’s Christians have to wake up and pray because things are getting more ridiculous by the day. What totally breaks my heart is that in this day when Christians are called to stand in the gap for the nation and pray for God’s mercies and help, hurch leaders are buying and trading in private jets, embezzling funds, ‘businessising’ christianity, preaching only prosperity, fighting people for irrelevancies such as wearing trousers, fraternizing with corrupt politicians…and the nation is dying. The Christians are sleeping while more and more radicalised factions of Islam are brewing. New militant groups with perverse doctrines are growing in Northern Nigeria and instead of sensitising people, our pastors are preaching hatred for people with different religions, how is that the answer?

Christians everywhere need to wake up to our responsibility. The purpose of our faith is not just for us; it’s not to get God to pay our bills, heal our illnesses, give us more money, blah, blah, blah. We have a higher calling, a bigger responsibility; we are called for more than ourselves. The nation needs us and Christians must walk the talk. Let us stop talking about it and BE about this salvation, this holiness, this mercy and kindness that we prach. We can’t call out to God for change while simultaneously causing problems for our fellow Nigerians by engaging in all sorts of questionable activities…too many atrocities are committed in Nigeria by religious people. Therein lies the problem. And I am not even preaching, this message is for and about everyone including me…especially me. It is a daily struggle. It is hard to live in Nigeria and live above corruption in every form; moral, physical, spiritual and emotional. Very hard.

Nigeria sha, we hail thee.

*Retires to bed, bone tired and soul -weary*

“Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, … Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so … Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

– Hebrews 13:1 – 6