By Paul Ejime
Lagos, Dec. 26, 2023 – Our digital World with the accompanying advanced technology has unleashed innumerable benefits on humanity. Yet, our quest for justice and equity, satisfaction, good health, sound sleep, healing, peace, and happiness, remains insatiable and endless.
For many, the Year 2023 started with tribulations and anxiety, particularly from the reverberations of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is almost two years old and counting, with the attendant economic hardship even for countries that are thousands of kilometres away.
Yes, it is a digital age where information/news travels faster than ever and tasks are easily facilitated. However, conflicts, chaos, hypocrisy, perfidy, inconsistency, covetousness, trust deficit and cheating have also multiplied, no thanks to globalising liberalism, the collapse of multilateralism and the rise of multipolarities aggravated by wars and asymmetric threat vectors, such as terrorism, religious extremism, separatist agitations, cyber warfare, and social media.
The World had not fully recovered from the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Even the year 2023 refused to be outdone with the 7th of October deadly and unprecedent raid on Israel by Hamas militants that left more than 1,000 Israelis dead and hundreds of others of various nationalities abducted.
Israel’s Defence Forces have responded with venom killing more than 20,000 Palestinians in a continuing carpet air, land, and sea onslaught by the 22nd of December 2023, according to Palestinian sources. Not even the United Nations, the organisation set up for World peace, has been able to negotiate a ceasefire, from numerous unbinding Resolutions.
Meanwhile, unrelenting conflicts, some deadlier than the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas fighting combined, in developing countries, especially in Africa, have attracted less international attention, perhaps, because Africa matters very little or is not a priority on the World agenda.
Apart from violent conflicts involving the use of kinetics, Africa is also awash with diseases, crimes as well as man-made and natural disasters.
But the tragic irony of international relations is that while a growing number of African countries such as Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, the two Congos, Gabon, Chad, Mali, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, and Niger are battling existential crises, including a resurgence of military coups, the EU, and their American ally, are demanding Africa’s support in the Russia-Ukraine war.
From disheartening images of the carnage in the theatres of World conflicts, it is obvious that humanity has lost its soul and moral compass. Human life does not matter anymore.
It would appear that no useful lessons were drawn from previous misadventures in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, or Libya.
The interests and profits of Western defence and blue-chip industries appear to be the main triggers or drivers of World conflicts, with the secret agenda to “destroy and reconstruct later!”
The bottom line, my dear people, is that humanity is losing its fundamental values, the ingredients for human existence, and this can be traced to the collapse of the family system.
The family dysfunction has smeared the entire fabric of society from the individual to corporate levels and contaminated the national, regional, and global space. The rich are richer and the poor poorer.
Corporate executives are no longer answerable to their employees, nor are governments accountable to the people. Parents have abandoned their responsibilities to their children and wards, while the children and young people have lost respect for their parents and the elderly.
The falcon can no longer hear the falconer and things are desperately falling apart!
So, Ethiopia must teach its Tigray tribe the lesson of their lives, for daring to dream of self-determination; for invading Ukraine, Russia must be degraded militarily and economically, meanwhile, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya had been invaded in the past without consequences for the allied invaders.
For daring to humiliate the once-feared Israeli defence system, Hamas must be annihilated, the massacre of innocent civilians is immaterial since in war, the use of disproportionate force is not an issue, as the World watches in conspiratorial silence.
Back in Africa, a young General Mahamat Idris Derby can seize power unconstitutionally and succeed his elected father President assassinated by rebels, and be treated as a celebrity, but soldiers in Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso must face sanctions for toppling elected governments. Indeed, coup leaders in Niger, were to face the wrath of a regional military force, until reason finally prevailed.
It is rather unfortunate that humans have become too impatient, with many on the short-fuse, aggressive and trigger-happy, pursuing ruthless vengeance with an unforgiving spirit. Pacification, endurance, forgiveness, joy, happiness, generosity, and consideration for others have taken flight.
Therefore, in this Special Season, my dear people, I wanted us to reflect on the virtues of forbearance, joy, and forgiveness as vehicles for healing the brokenness of our individual personalities, nations, and the World at large.
Bad governance compounded by socio-economic hardship, injustices, disaffection, and frustrations have forced many into hopelessness and resort to self-help, resulting in high crime rates and suicide cases in many societies.
Religion, often considered as the “opium of the masses,” is no longer a panacea, because it has become an industry and practised more in breach without any depth of spirituality.
Still, for believers, Scripture injunctions remain sacred and sacrosanct. For instance, Christians are enjoined 365 times in the Holy Bible to “fear not” or “do not be afraid.” That is a divine assurance every day of the year!
This is also followed in *Ephesians 5:20 and 1 Thessalonians 5:18* with another exhortation “to give thanks to God in all circumstances.” It might sound difficult, but that is the assured way of God, which is not that of man (or woman). The verse “without me (God our Creature) (we) can do nothing,” which appears 27 times in the Holy Bible, including in *John 15:5,* requires us to believe and trust in God always.
In doing so, we cannot be too hard on ourselves or judgemental of others. Anger, self-defeat, greed, desperation, impatience or undue haste, intolerance and unforgiveness only trigger or reinforce hurt and pain in us and around us.
Forgiveness, joyfulness, compassion, consideration, and love for others will engender healing and internal happiness, which we are required to radiate and share with others. (GBN)
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to Everyone!
*From Ejime Family*
