By Moses Aransiola
October is a special season in the national calendar of Nigeria. The first of October is the nation’s independence anniversary and, for 56 years, we have been ‘celebrating’ this anniversary in a ritual of military, police parades, and public holidays. There are only two days in the Nigerian calendar that people celebrate with parades and public holidays: May 1 and October 1. Beyond the parades, however, these again are the two days when Nigerians do the most soul-searching. Anyone following the corporate journey of Nigeria from independence is bound to develop a growing sense of alarm over the kind of ‘progress’ we seem to have been making. There is a continuing rumbling among the people, which seems to grow louder every year. If we give voice to the sound, what it is saying is: what are we really celebrating? A more sententious version of this voice simply concludes that there is nothing to celebrate.
If we focus on the physical evidence around us, most people would feel justified to say there is nothing to celebrate in Nigeria. There are just too many dislocations, and it seems things would never quite sort themselves out to give us the peace and progress dividends we all need. But anyone who is able to see the big picture would understand that Nigeria is too precious to give up on. What I intend to do in this brief essay is to unwrap the divine decrees hanging over Nigeria and proffer a practical explanation for why things are the way they are and how to change them for good.
I did say that Nigeria is a precious country. It is very precious to God and to the rest of the human race. It may not look like it now, but it is true nonetheless. The reason Nigeria is so precious is that it is a nation of destiny. Just as individuals have destinies – great or small; nations also have their destinies. But when we talk of ‘nations of destiny’, there are only five in the whole world; and Nigeria is the fifth, the very last one. You cannot understand the nature of challenges Nigeria is going through now unless you have a basic understanding of the peculiarities of the nations of destiny.
Before examining these special nations, it is necessary to bear in mind that destiny is not what many think it is. It certainly is not coming into some good fortune, fame or wealth. It is far deeper than that. Destiny is one’s job or assignment on earth. It is the very thing one was created to be or do – the very purpose for one’s existence. Therefore, it is possible for someone to be ‘successful’ in life and yet not fulfil destiny. Indeed, most people on earth never fulfil their destinies partly because they do not even know what it is all about.
It is about four decades now that many of us intercessors on the nation’s university campuses began a movement of prayer mobilization for Nigeria. Among the leading lights of this movement were Barr. Emeka Nwankpa, Pastor Austen Ukachi, Engr. Steve Okitika (now Olumuyiwa), Dr. Kole Akinboboye and several others. What we did then as students has become a national phenomenon. But why were we so passionate about praying for a country that many people curse on a daily basis. The reason was because we had a prophetic insight into the nations of the world, which had been confirmed and attested to by apostolic fathers and global prophets, many of whom are non- Nigerians. Every country has a measure of glory, but very few have the distinction of being destiny nations. We, therefore, knew it as our duty to stand in the gap in sustained prayers for the glory of Nigeria to be birthed.
In God’s divine agenda for mankind and nations, He created two categories of nations: general nations and special or chosen nations. Chosen nations or nations of destiny are never geographical accidents, but nations intentionally put together by God to fulfil His special agenda for mankind.
A nation of destiny is special to God. It is a designated or chosen nation,a missionary nation.It is a nation that has a redemptive calling to fulfil in the general purpose and plan of God for the world. This role is not self-assigned. Nobody worked or signed for it. It is ordained of God for His own purpose. In the entire human history, only five nations are said carry this prophetic destiny. They are: Israel, Great Britain, The United States of America, South Korea and Nigeria
The primary purpose of Israel was to serve as a beacon, a chosen people among whom God was to bring forth the Messiah. It was because of this prophetic destiny that Israel experienced some of the worst tribulations in human history. Yet, it fulfilled and still is fulfilling its destiny and has become a blessing to the whole world.
If we consider the land size and population of Great Britain, we ought to wonder how so small an island enclave could conquer and colonize more than half of the globe, including mighty America. What happened simply was that God has used Great Britain, through colonization for several centuries to spread the gospel massively throughout many nations of the world. The burden of the gospel was borne across the world on the back of the British tongue, the English Language. British colonization of more than half of the world made the English Language the lingua franca or the national or second language of most countries of the world. For this reason, over 80 per cent of world scientific knowledge is conveyed in English.
Therefore, as the British colonial conquests opened the floodgate to the spread of the English Language, so did it also open the door for the evangelization of these colonies. That was how the fire of the gospel spread to India, Burma, Solomon Islands, Australia, the far and remote islands of the Pacific in the Caribbean. At one time, Britain had more missionaries in different parts of the world than any other nation. This is how Britain fulfilled its own redemptive mandate.
The next nation of destiny, which took over after Britain relapsed into lukewarmness, is the United States of America. It is not for fun that America was built up into a global power with a commanding economy. And, it was not by coincidence that it emerged precisely at the point where Britain’s place in global affairs could no longer be sustained. Of course, Russia also built itself up into a counterpoise, turning the earth into a bi-polar world. But no destiny assignment was committed to Russia. So what happened? Russia disintegrated. And just as the burden of global affairs was borne on the back of the British language, so too was it borne on the back of the American dollar. The dollar did not become a global currency because of America. No. Who owns the Federal Reserve Bank of America – our own equivalent of the Central Bank? The American government or any government for that matter does not own it. The Federal Reserve Bank is only federal in name; a few private individuals own it. Yet the economy has held out as a bulwark against the global economy. The dollar has remained a global currency. We must note that this is not the design of man. It is because of the destiny assignment committed to America. And how has America justified or fulfilled this commission? Up till now, the USA pumps so much money and resources into the gospel. If you must know, America has influenced the gospel and the face of Christianity all over the world more than any other nation in the last century.
South Korea is the fourth nation of destiny and it has fulfilled this role by becoming a missionary nation. After America, South Korea has the largest number of serving missionaries all over the world. And they are a praying nation as well. Its emergence in the Asian world, pushing North Korea into the past, taking over a huge chunk of the Japanese automobile, electronics and heavy machinery market globally and giving China a run for its money is not by a fluke. South Korea is being powered from on high because of its destiny assignment.
Nigeria is the last nation that God ordained as a nation of destiny. Looking at the world map, one can see that God literally handpicked a nation from each continental block: Israel representing the Middle East; Britain representing Europe; USA representing the Americas; South Korea representing Asia and Nigeria representing the black race. This is the reason why no man, no power and no group of people can ever dismember or fragment Nigeria. Nigeria is God’s doing and she will stand forever. But why is it that all these other countries have made giant strides and Nigeria is still groaning in poverty and corporate wretchedness?
To be concluded tomorrow
Rev’d Dr. Aransiola is the President, Gethsemane Prayer Ministry, National Director, Nigeria Prays