Judgment day is here

The Bible says that we must not judge so that we will not be judged. For this reason, when the evil deeds of a religious professor dance naked in broad daylight, everyone is enjoined to shut up and only pray for the man or woman involved in the ugly saga. Those who cannot hold it in speak only in whispers to avoid being reprimanded for talking out of turn. Sometimes they are slammed for gossip.

I think this mentality is against nature and goes against the principles that lead to building a just and progressive society. Judgment is part of the make-up of every human being. It is expected that from infancy everyone begins to learn judgment and justice. This is accomplished by watching older people deliver judgment on various issues in their bid to maintain balance and equity. These judgments are based on certain norms and rules which have been accepted and upheld by the people over time.

It is actually through the process of judgment that every child gets to learn what is acceptable in the family or in the society. A child who refuses to greet his parents and other elders is judged harshly and punished until he learns to do the right thing. When he has learnt it, he takes up the job of ensuring that other young people greet their elders. By the time one attains adulthood, it is expected that he should have learnt the basic tenets of good conduct. He is also expected by society to be a good judge as a responsible citizen.

My point is that we all must judge and be judged for society to be properly organized. The truth is that whether we believe it or not, we are being judged by other people and nothing can be done to stop it. We must also get actively involved in the process of judging others for the purpose of correcting one another towards achieving a better society.

We should not shy away from judging the pastor or imam who says or does something contrary to natural justice or common sense. It is our sacred duty to do so. We must judge characters and determine who among a number of contestants is deserving of our votes in social clubs, churches, town union and government positions.

When we have put people in various offices, it is also our duty to judge their performance critically and based on our judgments, we decide whether these people deserve kudos or knocks. It is also our duty to execute this verdict to a logical conclusion. By this I mean that anyone who deserves kudos should be celebrated and rewarded with re-election, awards, knighthoods, chieftaincy titles, etc. Those who deserve knocks should be given knocks with the full weight of the community and commensurate with the crimes they committed against the people.

It is unpardonable evil against ourselves to excuse the failures of a political representative for whatever reason, and still decorate him with all kinds of accolades and awards. There is only one factor that unites all Nigerians, irrespective of tribe or tongue differences. We all acknowledge that our system is corrupt and our leaders are insensitive towards the sufferings of the masses. We agree that our leaders seem to be under some kind of oath to make life as miserable as possible for the ordinary citizen while amassing enormous wealth for their own families and close friends.

Against this backdrop of certain knowledge, it is mind-boggling to see these same oppressed people falling over themselves to give awards, laurels and all kinds of unmerited accolades to these same people who have been judged and found wanting in the peoples’ court. If we truly desire a good society, we must realize that it is in our hands to execute judgment on our oppressors. They may have all the money, but we can make them bow and tremble before us by taking the right actions.

The festive season is here again. It is the time the looters of our commonwealth come home to showcase their wealth. It is also a time when the masses on whose heads they rode to sudden wealth are expected to line up at their doorsteps to ask for crumbs.

I wish to urge communities to invoke their norms and values and use them to pass judgment on their representatives who have failed them. If the verdict of the people is that these people have failed, then apply the hammer of the law without sentiments. Boycott the many feasts in his house. Resist any attempt to give him a chieftaincy title. Tell the priest in charge that you will not be part of any move to give him a religious honour or title. Refuse to be intimidated or bought over. All these must be by united mass action, that is, in groups. By the time they wait in vain for the people to come and pay homage and lick their boots as at other times, they will realize that the drumbeats have changed and the dance steps must also change.

We must take our destiny in our own hands. Actually, it is the citizens that must change the fortunes of this country through effective use of mass action. Betrayal and sycophancy are major issues in taking mass action but every youth group, women group, social club or town union must device a means of detecting and dealing decisively with traitors. They should not be deterred by such hollow fellows who are usually consigned to the dustbin of history at the end of a worthless life of feeding from crumbs.

The time calls for stern judges who can fearlessly call a spade a spade. We do not need to be trained lawyers before we can do this job. It is a natural call of God and we will be failing in our duties if we refuse to shine our eyes, judge and execute judgments wherever we find ourselves.

NNENNA Ihebom