By Sunday James Akinloye
Like many Nigerians, I have read the constant comparisons between Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Moses in the Bible. Most of these writers have little knowledge about the character of Moses, but for some reasons they believe that they have earned the right to misconstrue people.
In all fairness, I don’t know where the comparison between Moses and Prof. Osinbajo started but one thing is clear, the writers didn’t attend Sunday School as kids and have also spent very little time reading the Bible.
Like Moses, Prof. Osinbajo alongside President Muhammadu Buhari liberated Nigeria from the hands of corrupt rulers that had ruled for 16 years. Nigeria was on the brink and God needed to send someone to salvage the situation. He looked at the land and picked two men of integrity.
Unlike Moses, Prof. Osinbajo is not the outright leader here, he is the deputy to the leader, a role similar to that of Aaron but that has never been the basis for these writers who are bent on twisting the narrative of the Bible.
The question none of them will never answer is why did the children of Israel spend 40 years in the wilderness when they should have spent just 40 days? It was due to their disobedience and unbelief. Are you seeing a pattern here?
God has sent two men of integrity to free Nigeria from the shackles but there are some that will complain until they force God to do the unthinkable. Despite all what Moses did, there were some children of Israel who were wise in their own eyes and who questioned Moses and God.
Upon their arrival at Kadesh Barnea, twelve spies were sent to survey the Promise Land and its people (Numbers 13:18-25) but the spies returned after forty days of exploration. Ten of the spies had a bad report: “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. All the people we saw were of great size. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes” (Numbers 13:31-33).
Only Joshua and Caleb dissented (Numbers 14:6-7). Believing the report of the ten doubters, the people lost heart and rebelled. They “raised their voices and wept aloud,” grumbling against Moses and Aaron, saying, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword” (Numbers 14:1-2, emphasis added).
Again, do you see a pattern? These writers have often pontificated on how the PDP years were ‘better’, they even had a hashtag #BringBackOurCorruption to go with it. On how money was flowing everywhere, on how PPP is better than government’s direct involvement in infrastructure, among others. Just like the children of Israel, nothing is ever enough.
Here’s what happened next, Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them” (Numbers 14:11).
Moses once again interceded for his people and turned away the wrath of God (Numbers 14:13-20). Although God did forgive them, He decided that “not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it” (Numbers 14:23). Rather, they would suffer by wandering in the wilderness for forty years, one year for each of the forty days they explored the land (Numbers 14:34).
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Here is another pattern. Some people do not even know that they have incurred the wrath of God in Nigeria and would not reach the Promise Land as it is; they are still nagging God and the men he sent to take us to our Promise Land. Like the saying goes, “Good things come to those who wait” but not these ones.
Back to the Bible, God would give them what they asked for: “I will do the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall, every one of you twenty years old or more” (Numbers 14:28-29).
The ten men who had given the bad report were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord (Numbers 14:37). Only Joshua and Caleb survived, the two faithful spies who believed God’s promise to give the land over to them.
There is a learning here, not only is the comparison of Prof. Osinbajo and Moses not accurate, those who nagged, moaned and groaned against God and his servant didn’t get to the Promise Land. Don’t get me wrong, it’s okay to criticize the leaders and even pastors, just know that there is a price if you do it with a wrong motive.
Like the saying goes, “A word is enough for the wise”.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
