Between Thamud and the mansions of our multi-billionaires
In the life of the people of Thamud there is yet another history: that when carefully pondered the Almighty, in relation to His creatures, is like a gardener and his garden. The gardener’s sole desire is to have a beautiful garden; a garden that would be well kept and healthy. This usually entails clearing of the weeds that are harmful for the good plants. The gardener has to trim branches and leaves to maintain their good health. He has to water the garden when needed, or withhold it when that becomes useful. It is because of such good care that his garden remains beautiful and healthy. The removal of iniquitous nations from the earth therefore may actually be for the protection of this ‘garden’, this earth, from implosion and self destruction.
Brethren, while the gardener does his job, it is possible that that the weeds or plants that the ‘garderner’ removes or the leaves and branches that he trims may suffer much pain. In such situations, their instincts are bound to react to their own physical needs since they have little or no understanding of their surroundings, let alone the rest of the garden. They may complain about their immediate needs and sufferings and do not know what is ultimately good for even themselves, much less the entire garden. While dealing with the iniquitous, humanity may raise their voices in empathy; each time retribution comes to the sinner, the righteous is often the first to pay a visit in sympathy.
We may, however, expand the regions of the similitude to the current “gardeners” in charge of this ‘garden’, Nigeria. The sense one gets is that of a style of governance which sees majority of the populace as ‘weeds’ in the garden while the political class is seen as the ‘flowers’. While the populace sleeps in darkness, they are budgeting millions of naira for the purchase of generators; while the populace sleep in the open spaces, they are busy building mansions which shall be occupied by termites sooner or later.
This concludes Mr. Oladosu’s article which started on this page last week