Are you conversant with the African proverb that says “It takes a village to raise a child”?
It is believed that the upbringing of a child is not just the responsibility of its parents, it takes an entire community to cater to and provide a safe and conducive environment for the proper upbringing of a child.
And in this case study, our country Nigeria is the “child”. When we talk about building or raising our nation from where it is to where we want it to be it is important to note that it is not a duty restricted for politicians or political parties nor is it tribally nor religiously limited.
It is the duty of a village, a village that encompasses you and me, the masses and the elites, as well as the young and the old.
To build the strong, healthy, and bountiful country we all so desire we have to imbibe certain characteristics that are attributed to nation builders and here at Realstar they are found in the word “REALITIES”.
Realities is an acronym that we’d be exploring shortly and to do that let’s start with the letter “R”.
The letter ‘R’ symbolizes ‘Righteousness’. Why Righteousness? Because the word has been stripped of its actual meaning and is now used in a religious context and it shouldn’t be so.
For us to delve deeper we must understand what righteousness means and if you ask me, I’d say righteousness is the quality of being morally right, honest, and holy with strong moral principles. Unlike how the contemporary world today defines righteousness you can see from the definition that you do not have to be of a particular religion to be righteous.
In the book of Proverbs 14:34, the wise King Solomon says “Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people”. This simple verse is a clear indication that without righteousness the nation will crumble, there are no in-betweens, a nation is either elated or rebuked and righteousness is the determinant of that.
The Bible also records in Proverbs 29:2 and says “When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice but when the wicked rule the people mourn”. Paul went on to say in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that we are the righteousness of God and we should be emulating this by being in the authority he has set out for us.
Remember that when a nation is elevated so are its citizens and when there is elevation there is joy, increased productivity, growth, and stability in the country across all sectors like technology, economy, security, and much more.
Now let’s look at ways we can imbibe the culture to be morally principled and just like everything in life it is a step-by-step process. It starts with documenting what you want, and how you expect to be treated by others and the next step is to begin to treat others exactly how you’d like to be treated.
Just like the scripture admonishes us in Mark 12:31 saying we should love our neighbors just as we love ourselves as there is NO commandment greater than these.
Recall that there is no other way to move forward or experience peace as a nation with the word righteousness as our backing. So, when next you see or use the word righteousness, I’d like you to look at it beyond religion but as a key to building a great nation.
In conclusion, the change we hope to see in our nation begins with us, it begins with putting aside our selfish needs and wants and being more considerate to our neighbors.
Join us in the next episode of “Steps towards a New Nigeria as we’d be looking at the next letter ‘E’ in the acronym “REALITIES”.
Thank you for your time, until we come your way next time.
