2015: Blessings in an “Annus Horribilis”

While marking her 40th anniversary on the throne of England, Queen Elizabeth II reflected that 1992 wasn’t a year she would look back on with “undiluted pleasure. That year her first son Charles, the Prince of Wales, separated from Diana his first wife; her daughter Princess Anne finalized her own divorce from her husband Captain […]

While marking her 40th anniversary on the throne of England, Queen Elizabeth II reflected that 1992 wasn’t a year she would look back on with “undiluted pleasure. That year her first son Charles, the Prince of Wales, separated from Diana his first wife; her daughter Princess Anne finalized her own divorce from her husband Captain Mark Phillips; and her other daughter-in-law Sarah, the recently estranged wife of her son Andrew, was pictured sunbathing topless and engaging in inappropriate public behaviour.  Worse still invaluable heirlooms were lost when fire burned down one of her favourite residences Windsor Castle.
Regarded as perhaps the most diligent and decorous monarch in the world, the Queen accepted press intrusion into her private life saying “No Institution or Monarch should expect to be free from the scrutiny of those who give it their loyalty and support, not to mention those who don’t.” She famously referred to the year as an “Annus Horriblis”, a Latin phrase meaning “horrible year”. There is little doubt 2015 was an “Annus Horriblis” for the bulk of Nigerians.
Boko Haram atrocities, unpaid salaries and pensions, unemployment, corruption, perpetual fuel queues, failing infrastructure and increasing poverty were rampant,  the health and education sectors remained disgracefully sub-standard, the environment remained generally squalid and unhygienic, and our national football team the (not so) Super Eagles continued their free fall down the FIFA rankings. Despite all this, most Nigerians still have reasons to be grateful and count their blessings.
Everyone reading this column should be grateful because they are more blessed than over 2 Billion people who can’t read or write.  Those with food in their refrigerator, clothes on their back, a roof over their head and a place to sleep should be grateful because they are better off than 75% of people in the world. Those with money in the bank should be grateful because they live above the poverty line.
Those who haven’t experienced the dangers and horrors of war, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, should be grateful because they are better off than 500 million people on the planet. Everyone who woke up this morning is more blessed than the approximately 150,000 people worldwide who passed away daily.
Everyone who can move about freely without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death is better off than over 3 Billion persecuted people in the world. On a less spiritual level Nigerians must also be grateful to two key players in the 2015 national elections.
Firstly Professor Attahiru Jega. Although he was unable to cure all the ills of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as evidenced by their performance in the Rivers, Kogi and Bayelsa State elections, he had the maturity and composure to withstand the “Garage Boy” behaviour of “Elder” Orubebe whose shameless antics threatened to derail the electoral process.  Secondly Goodluck Jonathan who conceded defeat and walked quietly away from the Presidency.
Revelations from the “Armsgate Scandal” where hundreds of millions of dollars was misappropriated – supposedly for the war against terror – then scandalously disbursed to supporters, exemplifies the uncontrolled sleaze under his watch. 
Amongst the more unfortunate scandals of 2015 was the manner in which foremost Nigerian Pentecostal Church leaders disgraced their calling by unnecessarily dabbling into politics with ludicrous financially induced “prophesies” that Goodluck Jonathan was “ordained by God” to win the election and continue to lead the nation. While the quiet spoken Pastor Osibanjo became Vice-President the more vociferous “Superstar” Pastors fared poorly.
Pastor TB Joshua was indicted in the building collapse which claimed the lives of close to 120 people, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor implicated in use of his aircraft to illegally ferry millions of dollars in cash to South-Africa, and Pastor Chris Oyakhilome threatened with jail by the South African Commission for Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities which is investigating the commercialization of religion and abuse of people’s beliefs. In the good old days the poor could find succour in the Church.
Regrettably the new trend in Nigeria is that Churches minimize assistance to the suffering and concentrate on collecting money from the poor under the guise of “sowing seeds”.
Special offering seeds, first fruit seed, redemption seed, thanksgiving seed, harvest seed, Church building seed, yet at the end of the day the money collected is used to purchase private jets and live lives of luxury.  2015 was the year Nigeria was predicted to break up, but it didn’t happen.
Despite all the negative reports and forecasts endless opportunities abound if change can be truly effected. The biggest blessing of the year may be yet to manifest itself if the emergence of President Muhammad Buhari ensures that 2016- 2019 will not be as disastrous as 2011-2015.