“You are preaching your gospel; I am preaching my own gospel,” the officer said to me. We were in his office in the presence of other clients when I came to request that he inspect the land we intended to build a bungalow on, and he publicly demanded money before doing his job. “I am a Christian!” I protested, to which he responded in such a brazen, shocking manner. And that publicly. I approached my in-law, who was a senior staff of that Local Government headquarters, to intervene on my behalf. He knew our faith, our stand against corruption, but to my utter disappointment, he said, “There is no rectum you examine you won’t find faeces. I can’t help you.” We had signed an undertaking to vacate the flat, which had curiously been reallocated whilst we still occupied it. By the sheer mercy and intervention of God, the police were stopped from throwing us out. What would I do now? It was the bid to avoid bribing an official of the State Housing Development Corporation to retain us in the Real Estate apartments that drove us to develop my parents’ property. My father had rented the apartment for three and a half decades, and we were occupying it and paying rent in his name. My stoic wife was pregnant with our second baby and lost weight with all the stress. With our own eyes, we had seen a neighbour’s property thrown out and another person pack in. The amount to give as a bribe was well known. Upon our refusal to give a bribe, a relation called me a fool. Did I not consider my pregnant wife, or did I have even fifty thousand naira to build? 1Cor 3:18-19(ESV) Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” An uncle offered to give the bribe on our behalf, but was restrained when I told him, “If you do, the consequences will come on your own head.” It took help from the Lord to stand. Renting another place wasn’t palatable, so we sought to build. Just a 2-room bungalow to lay our heads in peace. A beloved brother drew the architectural plans, and we trusted God to build it. The pressure was enormous but my wife was resolute. Something had to give.
I went to the church that day and submitted
the man’s name, not for him to fall down and die, but that God would intervene.
We also called on God to intervene. Ps
112:4 (ESV) Light
dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. When God
wants to act on one man’s behalf, he can affect a whole nation: the new
military ruler, General Abdulsalammi Abubakar, sacked all local government
chairmen across the nation, giving them a week to round up every activity. So I
returned to the office and was offered a ride in the official car to inspect
the land! I only had to fuel the vehicle (Nigeria was in the throes of fuel
scarcity then). Following the inspection, the chairman’s signature was first,
even though it should have been the last. As I passed through other desks, the
officers signed without a fuss until the health officer demanded money.
He then quickly signed, saying, “I have signed now, give me something.”
No money was given to him either.
Following the permit, the builder went to
work in July, and six weeks later, by September, we moved into our own place. 1Cor 1:25(ESV) For the
foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than
men. We had been pressured into our own blessing, and were no longer tenants
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