By Dare Oduwole
“And he said unto him, say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? Wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered I dwell among mine own people.” (2 Kings 4:13).
It is a privilege to dwell among one’s people, proudly eking out an honest livelihood while simultaneously contributing to the physical development and human advancement in the sacred space that God has graciously allotted one’s race on earth, for in this process lies the lifelong fulfilment that many subconsciously seek, but tend to find elusive.
It is an unfortunate display of ignorance about purpose on earth to define success in terms of amassment of wealth or enjoyment of affluence in the course of a lifetime for these only represent a means to an end and not an end in themselves.
Indeed if these were to be a measure of success, our Lord Jesus Christ will be considered a monumental failure, considering that his life was an austere one.
Contrarily, the Lord’s life and death is representative of absolute success for within a short lifespan of 33 years, he fulfilled his purpose of showing humanity the acceptable way to seek, find and maintain peace with God, the creator of all.
In the light of our Lord’s life, therefore, success can only be defined in terms of the impact of a life and fulfilment of divine purposes, while a life of affluence or wealth may or may not be required in the process of fulfilment of divine purposes on earth.
Suffice it to say that a life that largely boasts wealth and affluence with minimal tangible impact attributable to the acquired wealth is a life representative of diversion of purpose for we are created by the maker to fulfil individual purposes on earth and failure to fulfil these purposes leaves many disoriented and confused about the essence of life itself.
Since one’s place of divine purpose is often within one’s home country or continent, it is natural to have a sense of restlessness and inadequacy when domiciled outside of one’s purpose space and this explains why many Nigerians in diaspora tend to forlornly long for their home country in spite of improved quality of life in a foreign country.
Unfortunately, many have courageously and optimistically returned from sojourning abroad, endeavouring to make a life in the country only to be disappointed with the level of systemic decadence and hardship experienced daily, forcing them to wearily return to the white man’s continent to gratefully resume their sojourn.
For instance, during the presidential tenure of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007), many Nigerians returned from sojourns abroad while others prepared to return by investing firstly in the system to facilitate their reintegration.
Among this group was a Christian friend of mine of the Methodist denomination who promptly secured a job in the construction industry, being a civil engineer, and returned from Europe to resume life with his family in Abuja, Nigeria’s metropolis.
In spite of adequate preparation for this relocation, making decent ends meet in the metropolis proved difficult after a while as the construction company failed to meet the employment terms, while survival in an expensive and middle-class neighbourhood with poor facility services spooked the wife who was bitter about the poor living condition, and eventually returned to Europe with her children leaving the devoted husband with no other choice than to reluctantly resign his job and join his family abroad. Interestingly, a situation such as this will often beg the question, ‘How are Nigerians coping in this country?’
Well, for those of us living at home and loving it, it is common knowledge that there are certain issues to be addressed before settling down to life in the country can be found rewarding.
Firstly, the need to adopt a functional spirituality (to mitigate inevitable spiritual challenges) cannot be overemphasised as our environment and society is spiritually vibrant, Hoodoo being the predominant and secret religion of the larger populace.
Considering that Hoodoo encourages preying on the spiritually weak (for meeting life energy needs) in the course of advancing adherents’ interests, a display of spiritual laxity will often attract spiritual predators, resulting in victims experiencing various physical and spiritual problems which many often tend to naively blame on the national system.
Also notable is the local environment which is laden with negative energy of poverty occasioned not only by Hoodoo but also a result of centuries of Voodoo practice that makes an honest life of comfort or affluence almost a mirage.
This being the case, a Christian interested in subsisting in our country would be one practising a functional Christianity involving Christian disciplines such as contemplation, watching, fasting, and a regimented prayer life rather than one of mainly church attendance.
Secondly, the issue of housing must be addressed because a series of challenges may easily follow the acquiring, renting, and occupying of a spiritually jinxed or inappropriate property. Considering that God warned the ancient Jews against occupying certain properties in the land of Canaan as a result of spiritual corruption (Lev. 14:33), eagerly acquiring any property in our society without seeking the counsel of the Lord before purchase will be foolhardy.
While Christians living at home must necessarily manage this issue, returning from a sojourn abroad to resettle at home without an appreciation of the housing issue could ultimately become the albatross with the ability to send the returnee back abroad since unlike many countries of the Western world where properties are often constructed and sold by the state, most properties in the country are constructed and sold by individuals who culturally dedicate such buildings to various deities and spirits that tend to covertly torment the innocent occupants by causing failure in marriages, health, and ventures.
It is, therefore, advisable to strive to own a property before returning from a sojourn abroad or rent from trusted sources assured that many domiciled at home tend to hastily acquire residential properties for the same reason.
Thirdly, the locality of domicile is to be selected with advice as locality could also influence the fortune of ventures in our country since our environment is a spiritually vibrant one differently charged by energies of Hoodoo and Voodoo thereby making some localities more favourable for humans and physical advancement than others.
For instance, I lived in New-Wuse, Niger State for over a decade and while residing in this locality that is rife with advantages, running a good business in the same locality is often a misadventure as both small and large-scale businesses (ranging from churches, banks, service stations, private hospitals and schools, supermarkets, business centres to cold rooms) tend to fail for various physical reasons.
However, rest assured that the truth about this massive failure lies in the spirituality of the environment since everyone could not be wrong every time.
Curiously, government concerns have continued to thrive in this locality while the only private concern, not only thriving but thriving phenomenally in the locality would be the Abuja Iron and Steel Company, a factory managed by Hindu Indians.
This reality is instructively suggestive of the superiority of the Hindu spiritual strength over our native spirituality, Hoodoo which seems to be more about sheer wickedness than prosperity.
Dare Oduwole is a Nouthetic Christian Counsellor and founder of Godly Counsel Christian Foundation, Abuja. She can be contacted via 08027291632.
