NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: THE ROLES OF THE CHURCH VOLUME 2

Some opinion holders have harangued that being the largest Black Country in the world, Nigeria may be the next world power. Successive Nigerian governments have desired to have Nigeria a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and to be listed among world’s 20 strongest economies by 2020. Such desires have been matched with almost flawless planning but something almost always go wrong at the execution of such lofty agendas. A cursory look at Nigeria, reputed to have over 160million population, depicts the peoples as intensely religious, worshipping varied deities and demonstrating uncommon passion and commitment to their chosen faith but divided along tribal, religious and socio-economic lines. Since exponents of religion contend that religions are intended to infuse divinity into humanity, making humans less barbaric and more humane in their relationships with one another, it is expected that there would be some cultural overflow of religious legacies into the psychosocial and political atmosphere of the country. This was certainly the case in the early years of Nigeria’s independence. This was a time of relative peace, a season devoid of armed banditry and pen robbery as we see since the 1980s. Given the present scenario of underdevelopment of Nigeria coupled with negative image peddled about Nigerians in the diaspora and prevailing religious bigotry, it becomes expedient to review the place of Christianity (which incidentally is the foremost in terms of spread and influence) in sustainable national development in Nigeria. Globally, Christian nations seem to fair better socioeconomically and politically than others. It is also taken in Nigeria that Christians are the more educated, perhaps more exposed than other religious adherents. The Bible also list Christians as the light of the world and the salt of the earth. The premise here is that as the Church became engrossed in materialistic cares of the world system, she became an offence to God, thus persecution became a pattern more in Northern Nigeria and is fast spreading even to traditional Christian enclaves in southern Nigeria today. Darkness naturally takes centre stage whenever light recedes, so is the case of Nigeria in contemporary times. Moral conscience for which many of the tribes and races were known for has become strange to the succeeding generations. Thus, it is commonplace today for cult groups and witchcraft societies to flaunt their paraphernalia publicly, acts which were not socially acceptable in the yesteryears. To whom much is given, much is expected. If Christianity gave United Kingdom, United States of America and other western nations of the world a head start, in sustainable socio-economic and political development, over other nations of the world, Nigeria may also leverage the Christian faith for her development, which has been more of a mirage for succeeding governments. All depends on the moral courage and readiness of the Church to carve a niche for herself in the sands of time. Repentance is the key to revival and revamping Nigeria and her ailing economy. This well-articulated book, Role of the Church in Sustainable National Development, seeks to answer the question of bringing Nigeria out of the woods utilising the instrumentality of Christianity. Starting out from the place of prophecy in national development, a lot has been said concerning the place of Nigeria in God’s end time programme. It will take only a revived, purposeful and united church to make the Word of God a reality for Nigeria. Christian youths must begin to showcase Christ for others to see and come to the light of Christ. This book is a must-have for everyone who is depressed about the present state of the black man and seriously wants answers to the question, “What is the matter with the black man?” The glorious light of the gospel must begin to shine all over for the present darkness to be wiped out. The end of this age is at hand; in order not to be caught napping when Jesus Christ returns the second time, we need to set our lives, families, and indeed our country Nigeria in order