By Obiku Godwill
God is perfect. Man is not.
This single asymmetry explains all the noise on earth, Nigeria inclusive. Mistakes, confusion, fights, quarrels, and man’s inhumanity to man are the results of the imperfection of man.
Because man is imperfect, wise men have spent all of history searching for one thing: a five-lettered word called “Truth.”
This search forced the invention of corrections, amendments, and upgrades. It also gave birth to religions, cultures, laws, traditions, and constitutions. All are attempts to bridge the gap between imperfect man and perfect God.
Every healthy relationship proves this law: There must be friction. Misunderstanding. Quarrel. Amendment. Reconciliation, because without friction, there is no polishing. Without truth, there is no justice. Trying to have a relationship without truth is like trying to breathe without air: you will suffocate, no matter how strong or rich you are.
And so it is with bewilderment and deep pain that I watch my country ambush truth, prevent it, resist it, cover it, kidnap it, when that same truth could easily heal us and give us peace.
Men use positions to oppress the less privileged. They use big grammar and language to turn evil into good. They use brotherhood to bury conscience.
1. WHAT TRUTH REALLY IS
We have romanticised truth as sweet. It is not.
Truth is bitter. Truth is expensive. Truth is not for cheap people.
Maturity, real civilisation, is the capacity to endure your neighbour’s excesses for peace. But maturity is not stupid. When excess evil-doing becomes a pattern, a recurring decimal, endurance must end. The fuse must blow. Otherwise, you are not peaceful; you are complicit.
Any man who resists truth is immature, irresponsible, and uncivilised. He may win today, but he has signed a contract with nature, and nature never loses a case. If society does not correct him, nature will, in the long run, by destroying him.
No family grows without correction. No company grows without audit. No nation grows without truth. Development is not a prayer point; it is a product of constant changing, amending, upgrading, and embracing hard truths.
2. THE NEW RELIGION: CALLING TRUTH HATE SPEECH
This is the most dangerous invention of our age.
When you tell a thief he is a thief, they say you are using hate speech. When you tell a tribal bigot, his bigotry will kill the nation; they say you are fanning embers of disunity. When you tell a corrupt elite, he is corrupt; they say your words are harsh, derogatory, and uncivilised.
We have created a sophisticated dictionary to criminalise truth.
And worse are those who cover truth in the name of brotherhood: “He is our brother, don’t expose him. He is our church member. He is from our zone. He is our party man.” Those people are not brothers; they are undertakers of a nation; they are the real enemies of the nation. Posterity will judge them, so do not envy them.
Scripture warned us: He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them. Proverbs 24:24-25
To call evil good because the evil-doer is your brother is to invite the curse of nations upon your own head.
3. NIGERIA: A NATION DYING FROM TRUTH-AVOIDANCE
Nigeria is not dying because we lack oil, brains, or prayers. Nigeria is dying because greedy people shy away from truth to avoid retaliation, blackmail, and to protect temporary evil gains.
Let us ask plain questions:
How can conscience be healed without truth?
How can justice exist without truth?
How can equality exist without truth?
How can we watch gross misbehaviour, ballot snatching, oil theft, certificate forgery, pulpit lies, and keep quiet because we fear being labelled?
It is shameful to remain quiet in the face of evil. It is even more shameful when prominent Nigerians, professors, SANs, bishops, imams, and elders paint lies with beautiful colours and call it diplomacy, unity, or maturity. They forget a law that nature does not forget. Nemesis does not expire.
He who sees evil and refuses to stand against it, in his own small way, in his office, in his mosque/church, in his village meeting, will eventually drink from that evil. Nature will ensure he pays for his silence. You can not plant silence in the season of evil and harvest peace in the season of consequence.
Where then is our dignity? Where is our integrity? We blame leaders in Aso Rock, but we cannot tell ourselves the truth in our compounds because we want favour, contract, and promotion through the back door. We should bury our heads in shame.
Nobody is above mistakes. Mistakes can be corrected. So why defend lies? Why protect evil?
4. THE LAW THAT NEVER FAILS
Let every truth-hater remember this: Nothing is lost on Mother Earth. You will reap what you sow; it is inevitable, very compulsory. Galatians 6:7: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
God is not a man. He abhors evil. He sees deceitful hearts and hidden agendas. He will reward accordingly, at His own time, not ours.
Those who hate truth should stop being Truth-Phobic. Change. Do the needful that makes truth your friend, not your enemy.
Those seeking favour or prominence should not kill their neighbours by supporting evil conspiracies or by showing partiality in matters heaven has already judged wrong.
Your evil does not end with you. It brings shame to your children, your surname, your religion, your ethnic group, and your club. When they gossip about you tomorrow, remember you caused it by ambushing truth today.
And finally: Truth can never be killed. You can delay it, jail it, bribe against it, kill the messenger. But like a cork pressed under water, it must resurface, and when it does, it shames its killers. It can only be delayed to the extent permitted by God.
Righteousness and truth exalt a nation, but lies and ambush of truth bring reproach and ruin.
Only truth and willingness to repent will heal Nigeria.
This is not an essay. It is a wake-up call. Stop partiality. Stop adding fuel to the fire. Stop supporting evil. Stop escalating non-issues. Nobody is perfect. Errors are meant to be corrected, not covered.
May Almighty God bless Nigeria and heal our love for truth. Amen.