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The Resurrection Of Dame Lazarina Patience Faka By Prince Charles Dickson

February 24, 2013

A certain man had died
In the town of Bethany
And Lazarus was his name
The Bible says he was
A man that Jesus loved
And his sisters thought
It was a shame
Mary and Martha longed
For Jesus healing touch
To come and raise their brother
Cause they loved that boy so much

A certain man had died
In the town of Bethany
And Lazarus was his name
The Bible says he was
A man that Jesus loved
And his sisters thought
It was a shame
Mary and Martha longed
For Jesus healing touch
To come and raise their brother
Cause they loved that boy so much

With the above lyrics of a song by Carmelo Domenic Licciardello known by his stage name, Carman. I start this week's admonition...very quickly let me say that 'Lazarina' is the female version of the name Lazarus as coined by me. Lazarus is the subject of a miracle of resurrection in the Christian Holy Book the bible, for additional reading and understanding; you may want to see John 11 for the full story.

While the biblical Lazarus was dead for four days; our own Nigerian version, Lazarina took it full throttle--seven whole days. Well the truth however is that I am not concerned about whether my president's wife died, whether she is dying or otherwise, I am however concerned how her story is a metaphor for all that is wrong, and though I have discussed similar issues and in the last one week there has been several commentaries on the matter, I won't relent in repeating them.
 
I am told a lie is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement, especially with the intention to deceive others. To lie is to state something with disregard to the truth with the intention that people will accept the statement as truth.
 
A liar is a person who is lying, who has previously lied, or who tends by nature to lie repeatedly—even when not necessary.
 
The three definitions suit the current group we call leaders...particularly the third one. I really do not blame them so much because as a people we have become accustomed to accepting lies as statements of truth.
 
There are several types of lies...like the big lie, a lie which attempts to trick the victim into believing something major and likely be contradicted by some information the victim already possesses, or by their common sense. When the lie is of sufficient magnitude it may succeed due to the victim's reluctance to believe that an untruth on such a grand scale would indeed be fabricated.


So why do our leaders and their ilk lie--they simply lie because they simply have no regard for those they govern, it is a reflection of their style of governance and the kind of value system that they have built.


El-Rufai, writes his book, for many it's not just about the accidental public servant, it is about accidental lies told in the book. Obasanjo lies, Atiku lied, IBB lied, and Jonathan and his cassava bread empire are lying every day. They lie about who signed an accord and who did not accord it honour, almost the whole 36 governors lie, they are lying and continue to lie.


Lying has become a national pastime, they steal monies for development go abroad to cool off but they lie that they are seeking partnerships and foreign investors. A pen robber steals billions, lies about his innocence and goes to court seeking an injunction stopping his arrest/trial to prove the same innocence.


As parents we tell bared-faced lies to our kids, even the old age culture of explaining to our loved ones by truth that finances are poor has long deserted us. So we lie to the poor kids about school tuition by telling them tomorrow when indeed tomorrow never ends-- some call it faith. You answer a mobile call while in Garki, Abuja and lie that you are in Yenogoa  Bayelsa.


We are lied to about Boko Haram, they hate education but never have attacked the University of Maidugiri, they are Islamic fundamentalists, yet the entire Koran nowhere supports suicide, or robbing of banks, or attacking an emir.


We are a generation of liars, that's why ’their god" blesses them with private jets while the congregation treks and are disciples of unbearable hardship.



They lie about subsidy, about PIB; we are treated to all sorts of lies that deny pensioners their sweat at old age while higher beings with the ability to lie loot them blind.



The metaphor of Dame Lazarina is a reflection of our nation, many of us out of our religious sanctimonious behavior advocate thanking God for her life but forget the place of liars as advocated by the Holy Bible--"All liars would go to hell".



As much as I am miffed about our leadership that lies, what about followers that are products of lies. Indeed Lazarus rose from the dead, and we can read the whole story and context, but how about the 9-Times-A-Month-Surgery resurrection story of Lazarina, and her friends who were already selling her properties?



And you tell the world how they loot, buy houses, cars, and jewelries, they call us opposition and see-no-good followers and noise making citizens. But while they are yet dead, their friends start to sell properties they initially claim they do not have.

This admonition is not just about lying, the lies and the liars, it is so much what the product of these lies have become…The implication of Dame Lazarina’s resurrection, are many but not limited to the few I will just mention.
 
When they resurrect from their mind-blowing death—they boast that 100 political parties put together can never defeat the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, come 2015 presidential election.
 
For those of us that have not died and resurrected you may not really understand the way of the dead, they not only see ghosts, they are used to illusions whether true or false, imagined or real. Bode George resurrected from Prison, we know where he is now.
 
Tony Anenih has resurrected and maybe PDP Board of Trustee chairman. Did you see how Bamanga Tukur resurrected, or is it the resurrection of Ahmadu Ali, Journalists call it the return, those who know better call it resurrection so are you surprised when billions disappear, it is simply the way of ghosts—the way of people that resurrect. Monies meant for development simply disappear, they lie, they die and again they resurrect, the circle continues. When a goat's day “to die” arrives, it says there is nothing a butcher can do to it. Whether we keep listening to Dame Lazarina’s resurrection tales only time will tell.
 
 

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The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters

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