Easter: For A Nigeria That Rises From The Tomb

AN English translation of an Easter chant bearing the Latin title, Victimae Paschalilaudes, attributed to a certain Wipo of Burgundy, chaplain to Roman Emperor Conrad II, and estimated by historians to have been composed in the 11th century, describes the meaning of Easter in these words: “Death and life were locked together in a unique struggle. Life’s captain died; now he reigns, never more to die.” The words of that chant offers the meaning of Easter on Christianity’s own terms.

Easter is the commemorative and celebrative proclamation of thechristian belief that Jesus rose from the dead. Itis an acknowledgement that life is a struggle, quite often a life and death struggle, in which life wins in the end. For Christians, belief that Jesus rose from the dead is not denial of evil but acknowledgement of evil as that which is conquered in the end. Indeed, given a world history marked with tragedy on each of its pages, it is difficult to believe that victory is possible in the life and death struggle that human existence is. There was and there still is a lot in the world that threaten to defeat the human spirit. Human beings find themselves in a world of hardships, a world of disease and distress, ofpersecution of victims and of violence visited on the defenceless, a world of want and hunger, a world in which it takes an indomitable faith to believe that the worst will not occur.

We in Nigeria live in a country that has had and continues to have more than her fair share of adversity. We have lived through the tension of the First Republic, we have passed through decades of military rule that led toyears of a civil war, a war that could have been avoided if wise counsel had prevailed on both sides. At the end of the first bout of military rule came years of a shortlived Second Republic, followed by a second bout of repressive military rule. We entered the current dispensation of dissatisfaction in 1999. We have lived through decades of wastage of God- given resources.

Nigeria has always found herself in the sepulchre of absurdity. She has repeatedly presented herself in the comity of nations as an under- achiever, a fertile land inhabited by the hungry, a land of riches inhabited by the impoverished, a country where no one knows where and when the next fracas will occur, a country immensely blessed with energy resources but undergoing recurrent and repeated power outage, a country of intellectually endowed citizens in need of competent leadership. Nigeria typifies a mysterious duel between death and life, a combat of opposites. Little wonder then that, for many Nigerians, especially the young, the temptation to lose hope is almost irresistible. This loss of hope has as its symptom thejapa Syndrome afflicting young Nigerians. Out of frustration, many await the next available opportunity to leave their fatherland, seeking greener pastures in countries that are often hostile and xenophobic.

However, faced with what comes across as a gloomy future, confronted by the evil of bad governance, ethnic mistrust, religious intolerance and unhealthy regional rivalry, and all that seem to have buried the hope of many Nigerians, the meaning of Easter is that while adversity may have a pyrrhic victory, it will not have a definitive victory. Nigerians are in dire need of rekindled hope, and, in the meaning of Easter, Nigerians can find renewed motivation to build, in the words of our national anthem, “one nation bound in freedom, peace and unity”.

Nigeria will rise from the tomb if necessary steps to greatness are taken by leaders and the led. A certain religious tendency would leave the task to God. But we cannot build Nigeria by outsourcing the land to God, even as God created the land on which we live. The task at hand, a task which cannot be accomplished by pessimists, requires that Nigerians cooperate with God by thinking well and acting well. It would be irresponsible to continue to act in ways that are contrary to the good the Creator has willed for this land by blessing her with so many human and natural resources.

At Easter, we must tow a new path. It is the path toa new Nigeria, and it begins with fundamental attitudinal changes on the part of each Nigerian. But those who govern the land must be at the vanguard of this march into a new Nigeria. Correction of the bad behavior of the political class in Nigeria is a necessary albeit insufficient condition for the emergence of Nigeria from the tomb of hopelessness. Bad behavior buries a nation. Good conduct resuscitates her. Whether or not we are Christians, we need to be part of this struggle for a new Nigeria. Whether or not they are Christians, Easter is the victory of all who struggle for justice in a country where justice is hard to find, victory of all who struggle to overcome hatred with love, of all who struggle to conquer pessimism with hope. Easter is faith in a new life. It is the victory of Nigerians who believe that a new Nigeria is possible. Having this faith is a necessary condition for motivation to build a new Nigeria, a Nigeria that rises from the tomb, a land where all things that radically contradict a truly happy life is conquered.