Lift up your heads and take courage

Col. Yohanna Madaki. Engr Stephen Shekari. Charles Garba Ali Madaki. Sir Patrick Yakowa. All gone. And now ICB – Isaiah Chawai Balat– a gentleman per excellence, our people’s Emblem of Honour; a man who would not play Gehazi for a mesh of potage – dead!
Numbing shock. Bewilderment. The head turns – spins around. “What’s happening?” I ask, askance. Ah, the gaping hole made on the chalice of this Distinguished Senator’s bountiful life by the chilly hands of death has drained its contents, leaving my people aghast. The lone star has dimmed – gone out, taken off. The starry Heavens have turned in their lights. The Eternal One has, it seems, withdrawn his benevolent smile on His people. “You are on your own now. Your God has left you;” comes the mocking tones of man’s chief mortal enemy. A thick, palpable pall of darkness envelops the land. Who will the path to the Promised Land show us now?Heads dropped, hands wringing in despondence,we timidly question why this rare gift to the people of Kaduna State in particular, and Nigeria in general, should be sent home too early. But that thisshould happen now is hardly surprising. It is almost a given that the good hardly live long “Ashamzzwaishiyat mam ba”, is the way my people put it. Check the records again.
I speak with you, ICB; just reminiscing. Though orphaned at infancy, you were, from that tender age, determined to lay aside the yoke of poverty. You would take your place among the affluent and princes – nothing else would do! Looking at Poverty in the face, you said, as it were, “I will not cast my lot with you. Get thee behind me!” And so, you carved for yourself and for us a place of honour among the peoples of our country, thereby becoming our Emblem of Honour. ICB, you served us well. Thank you.
In times like this, it is onerously tasking to express oneself. Grief denies the heart words to convey its dark contents. But we must be quick to take solace in the words of one of the heroes of our Faith – DiettrichBonhoeffer: “Death is hell and night and cold, if it is not transformed by our Faith; but that is just what is so marvelous: that we can transform death.” Of course, Dietrich was merely echoing Paul’s admonition to Christians: “Do not grieve like the unbelievers do who have no hope”, for “God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him” (1 Thes. 4: 13-14).
I have had the privilege of reading comments on ICB’s Condolence Register, newspapers and side talks. They are all agreed that our father, husband, uncle, brother and friend (or whatever relationship he might have had with you), was a man of peace who gave his life in the course of its pursuit. In seeking peace, he was only living out the biblical injunction to Christians: “Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34: 14. See also1 Pet. 3: 11). It is therefore no idle talk when people refer to him as a man of peace and bridge-builder. Indeed, if the late Senator sought to achieve a peaceful Kaduna State and Nigeria as a country, he was merely exhibiting the character of God’s expectations on everyone of us:“Blessed are the peace makers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5: 9). Therefore, the best tribute we could offer ICB is to heed this injunction: Pursue peace! The theme is echoed in Professor Yusuf Turaki’s book Tainted Legacy, where he remarks, “Peace is rooted in justice, and conflict in injustice. We must move to an appreciation of the positive contributions of each other’s faith [as Christians and Muslims]. The solution to the problems of Nigeria is not exclusively Islamic, Christian or traditional. We must all, together, find ways of enhancing, promoting and protecting our common destiny as humans and Nigerians. We must affirm those of our religious values that promote our common well-being and put aside those that promote hate and discrimination.”
But, comeo, how could this happen to us? Has God indeed abandoned us? My reverie attacks again, re-awaking in me a stubborn faith in the faithfulness of the Creator of the Universe to step into situations which, to the human eye, are impossible.With God all things are possible, He assures us. Therefore, the death of ICB and the other heroes who preceded him cannotbe the seal to our collective hope and aspiration as a people. God has not abandoned us. Has He not said that He is the Portion of His people? We are His people. We bear His Name. Therefore, wail, wail my people, wail! Take up a repentant lamentation. Perhaps Light will our way break forth again; perhaps the Lord will look our way again, for His compassion faileth not for those who trust in Him.
Adieu, ICB, adieu. Remember to put in a word for your people before Him who is able to set free those under the yoke. Plead the precedence of the children of Israel in Egypt.
Sleep well. Fare thee well.
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