This piece is not a religious bigotry, it is about a moral issue that concerns Nigerians across the board. Zacchaeus was one of the first bible character I knew. Even before I knew his whole story, I had known him as a man of little build. Back then in the 70’s, in my elementary school – Government demonstration School, Onitolo Street, Surulere, Lagos, there was a non academic staff member we used to sarcastically call Zacchaeus.
We all knew it was derogatory, so we would hide or simply call him behind. Children can be mischievous! In a nutshell the name was synonymous to small height. Then every short man was a Zacchaeus. Even after knowing his story, very often, we focus on his small stature without giving any thought to the tall aspect of him.
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We focus on the physical traits as if it is only the physique that makes a man. The story is incomplete and meaningless when you think only about his height. It was a story of a small man with huge endowment, a petite man with a great accomplishment, a tiny man with a giant dream, an undersized man with a great initiative, a small man with an enormous divine favour. A diminutive man with a large heart who was ready to re-write his sad past for a bright future. Even in the present day, many of the greatest men in the world are small-statured. President Arroyo of Philippines, Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy (who also doubled as the country richest man) and many not ‘very tall’ Nigerians have contributed greatly to the development of the society. For this piece to be understood, it is important to read the 10 verses dedicated to Zacchaeus in the Holy Book. Luke 19:1-10 He entered Jericho and was passing through it.
A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost." Reading through the passage, there is no doubt about Zacchaeus’ stature. He was such a short man. He wanted to see Jesus but he couldn't see over the people in front of him. He didn't just give up and go home. No way, he looked for a way out to solve his problem. He had an idea. He would run ahead of the crowd and climb up the sycamore tree that was beside the path where Jesus would walk. What an excellent place! We could say he had a "front row seat". As short as he was physically, he was tall and very tall in some areas of life. He was tall in riches, deeply tall indeed. He was tall in position and social class. He was a chief tax collector that can be likened to a Comptroller in the Nigeria Custom. He was tall in initiative. He knew what he needed to do to make up for his miniature size to beat the crowd. He was tall in his humility towards Christ because regardless of his elevated social status, he humbled himself to climb a tree just to see Jesus. And after climbing the tree, he was apparently taller than anyone.
And most of all, he was tall in his lesson for Nigerians and probably the tallest teacher that has ever lived in this lesson for fellow countrymen. As a chief tax collector, he was a wealthy man who was hated because he had cheated people by collecting more than he should. He would give part of the money to the government and keep the rest for himself just like a typical Nigerian. Zacchaeus made so much money but apparently realized that life is not all about money. There is much more to life than money. Money is not everything. Money has power but also has limit. Money can bring people around but cannot buy love nor true friends, it can buy a house but not a home, it can bring smile but cannot buy joy nor happiness, it can buy the best medical care but cannot buy good health nor sanity, it can solve some problems but cannot buy peace, it can pay children fees in the best schools but cannot buy good children and above all it cannot buy life nor eternity. Materialism is all vanity. After meeting with Jesus, Zacchaeus was so excited. The people who knew him to be a wicked and oppressive man began to murmur about His association with a sinner but Zacchaeus was sorry for the bad things he had done. As people began to criticize Jesus, Zacchaeus repented. He told the Lord that he would give half of his possessions to the poor, and if he had cheated anybody out of anything, he would give back four times that amount. Jesus was pleased with his excellent attitude of heart. He said, "Today salvation has come to this house." There are two great lessons for us here. The first is that Zacchaeus promised to give half of his possessions to the poor.
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Having realized that accumulating material wealth is all vanity, he decided to do something more profitable and more fulfilling with his wealth. His action can be likened to that of the billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman, Warren Buffett who in 2006, in one swoop gave $31 billion (60% of his net worth) to the Gates Foundation in supporting their philanthropic work. In my last article (http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=58221486905&topic=8517) , I wrote so much about giving back. The second lesson from Zacchaeus is his act of restitution. ‘and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much’. From his words, we gather that • he had been guilty of defrauding people, • he was remorseful over his past actions, and • he was committed to making restitution. He was sincere and had an immediate desire to make restitution. Here was a man who was penitent and contrite, and was ready to prove his conversion by his resolve to atone, as much as possible, for past sins. He desired to re-write his past and right his wrongs. Genuine repentance leads to a desire to redress wrongs. When someone is repentant, he will have a desire born of deep conviction to do good, and that includes making restoration whenever possible. Let us bring this home. Statistics show that Nigeria has earned the equivalent in today’s terms of nearly $1.2 trillion from oil production over the past four decades. This sort of money has enabled oil-producing nations like Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, Bahrain, Qatar and even Libya to transform their economies. We do not have much to show for ours. Most of the earnings ended up in private pockets of individual and according to Mr. Memedu Andrew of ACTIONAID, in 48 years of Nigeria’s existence, more than 64 trillion naira (about Nigeria’s Federal Budget for 20 years) has disappeared into thin air. There is no doubt that Nigeria is plagued by corruption in the high and low places. From the President to the Porter, from the Minister to the Messenger, from the Chief of staff to the least of staff, from the Inspector General to Constable, from General to Private, from CEO to the Gateman and from the General Overseer and Chief Imam to the Clerk.
Nuhu Ribadu, the former EFCC boss claimed that about $2 billion had been recovered from Abacha’s family and cronies as at Dec. 2006. Was Abacha the only corrupt past President? How much such money is with Babangida? Are his hands so clean that he has no case to answer even up till today. What about Abdulsalam, a saint? And of course, Obasanjo and even Yar’Adua? What about the past and present Vice presidents, governors and other public office holders. The Legislators, the Civil Servants and the government contractors, the military men, Custom officers, Policemen, Immigration officials, Judiciary, CBN, all officials of government parastatals, local government officials, foreign mission, foreign contractors like Siemens, Halliburton etc. and even the private sector. Corruption has eaten deep into the system such that no sector is spared – not even the religious organizations. With this depth of corruption, even a serious government that is serious about fighting it may not find it practicable to bring all culprits to book. The cost of prosecution will be too enormous and the time will be too overwhelming. Why can’t we learn from Zacchaeus and start returning the loots back to the system to please our creator even if not in four folds like he did? And why can’t the government use South African model of Truth and Reconciliatory Commission (TRC) to get the loots back so that we can have a fresh start. TRC was a court-like body assembled in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid. Anyone who felt that he or she was a victim of its violence was invited to come forward and be heard. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from prosecution.
Despite some flaws, it is generally thought to have been successful. It was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa. In Nigeria, we can have a Restitution Commission where all who have stolen and defrauded the nation will remorsefully come and make restitution in exchange for amnesty. Only those who fail to cooperate will be prosecuted. Most Nigerians professed Christianity and Islam. These two faiths require the practitioners to live in clear conscience. Why can’t we just live to the tenets of our faith and stop being hypocrites. Why do we fill the Mosques and the Churches on weekends as saints only to return to our posts on Monday as looters. God Bless Nigeria! Nigeria Go Better! Rufus Kayode Oteniya ([email protected]) is a Milan, Italy based businessman and social affairs commentator.
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