Lord, Tell Them We Are Not Cowards

Dear Father,

A respectable gentleman walked into my office threatening war if the 2011 elections do not go the way he thinks. Days earlier, a reputable football star was heard telling his followers that defeat is not an option for them.

He said there is no way they were going to accept defeat if the head of the chief of the voting house did not roll. The renowned football star also threatened the repeat of unfolding in one of our village neighbors.

But that was after a renowned lawyer had also called for the head of the chief of the voting house and his associates to roll. There have been several calls, ending with threats of chaos.

Then entered the TV man who has vowed to lead a one million man march, with accompanying “hidden agenda”- For this TV man, it appears that he had been waiting for a license from the voting house to go wide under the guise of politics-he needs some taming maybe.

It’s like those who drink alcohol. Someone said those who drink and talk know exactly what they are saying. The person said the alcohol only makes them brave to say some of the things they will not say under sober conditions.

Father, don’t they sound foolish, when they make these kinds of threats of violent and destruction? Or is it the greed for power judging from advancement in age that those who claimed to love this village and want to rule its people will achieve same through intimidation?

Can you imagine this strategy Father, the methods and tactics they want to implore to ascend to state power?

But my son, don’t you know this has worked before in this village? Where were you when the Ray Head Man used this in 1997, to grab power in the village, wasn’t it the same methods of intimidation? “Vote for peace” –meaning if you don’t vote for me, I will go back in the bush and continue my terror against you people and nobody will live in peace here.

But Father, when the people voted for him, did the village really have peace under him? Was he not going around terrorizing people, something that saw him being chased out of this village like a little rat? So why the people who called themselves ambassadors of peace should be adopting the same methods and strategies?

It is often taught that history is a best teacher, because it tells you what has happened in the past whether good or bad. A preacher once said that God is no longer in the business of inventing new lessons. He said everything that we need to know has already been provided-meaning people who have gone before us are examples of good and bad.

For example, if you wanted to be a town crier, you need to look at the life style of town criers before you and see how they ended up, including the mistakes they made and ask yourself “do I still want to be a town crier?” If your answer is yes, then there are things you must do and avoid to ensure that you do not end up negatively, like some who now roam the streets begging.  And these are things that have already been practiced so it is not new.

So, Father, the people in this village have already learned a bitter lesson from voting for people because of fear that if they don’t vote for them there will be war or violence.

Father, frankly speaking, I don’t think those who want to rule us in this village should use war scares to solicit our votes. Because the mere fact that they can intimidate us into voting them in power, they can also use the method of intimidation to rule over us like tyrants.

If the only campaign message is violence, then I think the people of this village should not heed to these devices.

There is a saying that cowards died many times before their deaths. And surely, if the fear is losing the 2011 elections, then intimidation should not be a tactic use in diverting that fear of losing to the poor people in this village. There are more positive tactics that you can employ to remain competitive in the race and canvass for more support than to start intimidating the people of this village into voting for you, making it to appear like you are rather intimidating the people at the voting house.

Nobody is going to yield to the threats of violence here. And if the war drums beaters want prophecy, let me assure all that if you think you will sit in your comfortable seats, use threats of intimidation to win elections here, that is a big lie and you are seeking your own destruction, because the people of this village are tire of war and want peace, if you don’t love peace then you don’t belong here. A word to the wise is quite sufficient!