Succeeding Where Others Failed

 David was not the first king of Israel; he was not even the second. Gideon started the move, and Abimelech followed in his footsteps. Their experiment failed massively, and they ended up losing many family members for even trying.

 With King Saul, the tables turned because he had a divine mandate backed by prophet Samuel who was a hugely respected figure in Israel. When David was chosen to lead, his mandate was not only divine, it was well-honed to take power. David had men who were loyal to him and trained to lead. They had all been through the flames of adversity Joab, Abiathar, David's Mighty men and David's Valiant men. David had all sorts of characters in his cabinet as a King. The men earned their stripes and they understood the mandate of the King, this was the foundation of the success that David enjoyed. He was historically the most successful King in Israel. A lot of leaders can learn from this, the heart of King David is very important, it was as important as his policies.

The people knew their king was for them and not for himself. They warmed up to his policies and this created a victorious mindset that reverberated throughout the Kingdom. It was not flawless, Joab was loyal until he started going on revenge missions and illegal kingmaking mandates that had no backing for the King. Absalom and Adonijah tested the loyalty of David's men with different degrees of success. For Absalom, it was the burning of the farm of Joab that brought him back into the country after he had masterminded the death of Amnon, the crown prince who raped Tamar, his sister. For Adonijah, it was a matter of age, he was the oldest living son of David and felt he was supposed to be the next in line for the throne. The help he solicited backfired as Bathsheba and Prophet Nathan had other plans, they felt the only way they could keep their lives was to make Solomon the King after David.

 Fighting for your life and fighting for a position seem to have different levels of driving desires, Bathsheba won the contest and Adonijah lost. The loss of the mandate of Adonijah led to the death of Joab and the ostracization of Abiathar. We learned from this the fact that who you join forces with is as important as who you should join forces with. You can be a good man who would lose out for being loyal to the wrong team and you can be a bad man who finds himself protected by being aligned with the right team.

 Politics is such a dirty game. Innovative disruptors like Hushai who was sent to Absalom's court at the asking of David made great impacts against traditional advisers like Ahitophel. Politics is such a funny game In Nigeria, the current government is making a mistake, they kept the government expenditures up while trying hard to set policies aright which is costing the people so much in terms of inflation and austerity.

 The psychology of change is as important as the policies that will lead to change. Buying a new private jet for the presidency is a bad idea, even if one can reason that the president needs comfort to do a good job. The job makes young men age so soon that anyone who desires to live long should be wary of holding such a position. However, perception is everything. The people are going through record levels of inflation and pain. The government, from the House of Assembly in the states to the governors to the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the presidency should read the room and do better. The price of fuel moved from affordable to unaffordable. If the nation has been asked to bear it while it lasts, the leadership should lead by example. Going austere and cutting the bureaucratic tape in making government more efficient is not a crime, it is wisdom. Defying the people is the reason the democratic government in America was voted out Joe Biden and Kamala Harris went off the fringes by implementing policies that benefitted the few as opposed to the majority. They went for DEI, abortion and Transgender issues which favoured the few as against the desire of the majority to have a secured border, food on the table, killing inflation and ensuring that the whole nation is satisfied rather than patting themselves on the back for fulfilling their agendas and gaslighting the majority. The majority voted for their right, the same right the minority had but which they couldn't secure the election for because they were minorities! One percent of a population should not dictate to the majority what is good for them. To ensure that the minority is not forgotten, activism and protest were allowed in a democracy. The minority can express their neglect through these means and ensure that they have a voice in the government, they however should not be treated as a majority. The people should not be called names and demonized for saying they didn't want something or the other to please the minority. The same applies to Nigeria. The people are suffering, the government believed that they were resetting the nation so that another season of prosperity could come sooner because previous leaders had dug the nation into the grave. This is understandable but the message is not being communicated clearly by the inconsistent behaviour of the leadership. You cannot pretend we are rich if you told me we had gone broke, I would have to believe you were lying to me and denying me my privileges so that you could feed fat off me, it is a natural reaction. If you indeed believe the policies you are espousing are good for me, you must lead by example. Joe Biden and Harris didn't and they paid the price for it.

The current Nigerian government must do the same if there is a hope to set the country on the right path to economic recovery LEAD BY EXAMPLE! There are many bigots however who believe their candidate should win the elections simply because of their tribe or their language. They are the minority and their thinking pattern is the reason their candidate will always fail. Their candidate should also learn to keep quiet the more he speaks, the more he loses ground as a politician, just like Kamala Harris Silence is golden, except when you are campaigning to be the president of a nation. Nobody should be given a position except such merits it. Getting into a position simply because of your identity as a member of the minority is not good enough to bring the majority of the people to heel. The presidency of a nation should not be a consolation price, it must be merited. The candidate must take the time to do the groundwork, build a strong coalition and win over other regions to lead.

 America's democratic party tried to gaslight the white men and white women by calling them "privileged" and selling the story that they should give minorities a chance at their detriment. It backfired! The money in people's wallets speaks louder than sentiments as a reason to choose a leader in any country. The current Nigerian government should do better, their results must show not in the handouts they are giving some people in terms of student loans and other Greek gifts but in the wallet of every Nigerian. The cost of fuel and the exchange rate are issues that must be dealt with quickly. The increase in salaries would not be of any help when people consider how much they are paying now for rent, fuel and groceries. The economy must be turned around soon, manufacturing companies must be brought back into the country by the drove. Electricity must be brought back and it must become stable. People must be able to afford gas and food and to pay school fees, rent and keep their cars on the road.

The government may mean well but we have not reached rock bottom and another government with another agenda may decide to offer the people quick fixes which would give them a momentary reprieve but destroy the country economically in the future. If people decide to buy into this, the government and its good intentions, good policies and badly implemented policies may come to nothing Like King Hezekiah, the people may choose to live now and suffer later, they may even choose to enjoy now and leave the suffering to the coming generations. We must not treat these concerns as inconsequential, say what you mean by living in the same reality as the people or lead them to believe they are being taken advantage of and they will give you the finger. There is a lot of groaning all over the nation already. When people groan, they expect some form of relief. Would you be like Rehoboam and multiply their stress or offer them some relief? or would you push through your agendas by gaslighting them and watching as they go the way of Jeroboam?

 The actions of the government going forward will speak volumes. If you think you are safe and secure because your political party is the dominant party in the nation, please remember this scripture from 1 Thessalonians 5:3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. This is my counsel to the Nigerian government.

 PS: I still believe that the present government is the government that deserves to lead the nation based on the antecedent of the present president. I know many people disagree with me and I respect that. I didn't believe the current president should be there based on tribal sentiment. He is a builder of men, men who build men across tribes and genders are naturally good leaders. Men who didn't build men even when they had the opportunity to do so are not natural leaders. You cannot be a governor for eight years or a Vice President for eight years and fail to build those who worked for you and worked with you and then expect me to see you as a nation-builder. A nation builder builds men. The men build other men, the other men then build other men who build infrastructures. If you run on sentiment, you will lose on sentiment. If you run on an anti-opposition mandate you will have nothing for the people to look forward to as a candidate. If you run on policies with men you built holding your mandate, then you should lead. This is still my position I may be wrong, as I do not write from a spiritual perspective. This is my logical and human observation as I study the pulse of nations.
 -GSW-