THEME: THE RESTORATION OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY THROUGH DIVINE ALIGNMENT

“The Lord hath sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength: surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat of thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast labored. But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of My holiness.” (Isaiah 62: 8-9 KJV) 

Long before I became a Minister of Christ, I held the view that Africa’s destiny has been dragged along the shores of oceans and the banks of rivers. That Africa’s wealth—of silver and gold, of men and materials, of food, wood and labor—has been bagged for export and use to buttress the economies of less endowed countries in Europe in the name of commerce and trade, colonialism and imperialism, and later capitalism, socialism, and democratic governance. Africa’s soul, spirit, and hope for dignity and glory have been held captive at the mercy of Europe and subsequently the European run economies such as the USA and Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, South Africa, the Rhodesia (Zambia-Zimbabwe) and Kenya in Africa. 

Unfortunately, religion has proved weak. It could not bring hope of redemption or relief from the spiritual and cultural darkness as well as the politico-economic woes of Africa. African traditional religion—steeped deep in satanism, idol worship, blood sacrifices, superstition, and demonic control—had no answer to human perversion, man’s inhumanity to man, and the foreign politico-economic exploitation and oppression. The church in Europe on the other hand had been rendered weak and impotent due to diversion from Divine truth, power, and godly kingdom order to philosophical speculation, human wisdom and social power, compounded by internal feuds, open and disjointed conflicts and dissent. Similarly, although Islam had overrun North Africa, she could not deliver her from the captive economic arrangements and African dark and death alleys. 

That is to say, God was virtually removed from the center of political and economic decisions-making and activities in Europe, Africa, and the rest of the world. Today, the so-called modern secular state has greater and heavier adherence and support than the Divine government and its kingdom order of peace, righteousness, justice, joy, love, liberty, prosperity, progress, and goodwill in the knowledge of God. 

Unfortunately, in spite of the advancement of the so-called ‘political kingdom,’ independence did not bring an end to the heritage of institutionalized hemorrhage of blood, spirit, and power. Nor did it stop the lopsided transfer of resources, treasure, and wealth to Europe.  Africa’s political economy still remains captive to foreign manipulation and control. Meanwhile, the new political power was not mobilized to break the woes of the past. Political power became a device either to create and enhance new centers of political gravity or to enhance, strengthen, and perpetuate traditional tribal/ethnic rivalries, superiority, and control. 

Energies spent on maintaining political power have drained African countries of spirit, power, and strength to heal the internal weakness and wounds and to confront the external challenges and foreign control. 

Consequently, international and global institutional arrangements, bilateral and multinational agreements are heavily weighted against Africa. There appears to be an “unseen controlling hand” in the marketplace, disbursing and distributing resources not so much by factual input and need, as by distorted price mechanism and manipulated comparative advantage system. For example, the Breton Woods institutions and multi-national operations have kept the “sacred cow” under control in the name of market, commerce, trade, finance, and investment, democracy, and good governance. 

It must be emphasized that the Marxist-Communist-Socialist arrangements operate in the same Euro-bearish manner as the liberal-capitalist system. Africa has remained producers of primary goods and transferers of wealth.  Indeed, upon close examination, it can be argued that African politicians and governments are also held tight in the “captive cage” in the culture of courtship and expansion of aid and donor arrangements. African politicians and the administration they run can therefore be classified simply as workers for foreign countries and foreign visitors with no serious residential nor loyalty status. It may be suggested further that the economic and military establishments—and often academic and religious institutions—in Africa have also been invariably turned into agents of foreign operations and watchmen for foreign interests in Africa. The philosophies, theories, and methods of academia and professional practice, the theology, doctrine and practice and social order as espoused by many a religious body in Africa are often based on imitations and directives from foreign masters, ecclesiastic, and political. 

It is not surprising, then, that African countries professing to be independent and sovereign are plagued with the lack of vision, knowledge, power, and initiative. There is a failure to provide a creative and meaningful response to the woes in Africa. Politics and governance have become an art in dangling to tunes, corruption and wealth acquisition, while the sun shines. 

Personal development, capital formation, consistent productive performance, and wealth creation via creative enterprise initiative and honest pursuit of goals are yet to develop and help break the chains of captivity, the dependence syndrome, and the parasitical lifecycle.  

April 16, 2010