BY UBON MARCUS
1.0) I ended my piece last night with the phrase “time will tell”. Truly, time unfolds truth and brings the true nature of things to bare. Its been over 24 hours after the incident and I can tell you that the past 24 hours have been quite a busy one. Investigations have been carried out and based on premises gathered from authentic and verifiable sources, THE BISHOPRIC ENTHRONEMENT DID NOT TAKE PLACE; neither at the church backyard as widely circulated nor in a location at Abak. Indisputable sources have it that the Rev. gentleman suffered some casualties also and was rushed unconscious out of the church after the building collapsed.
I am also aware that some very close people to him have lost their lives: his cousin, brother’s friend who came in from overseas, etc. Recuperating pictures of the Rev. gentleman have surfaced online. For very obvious and sensitive reasons, I choose not to post them here. I recognize the right of some people to have a contrary opinion in this regard but the existence of such opinion cannot deny my legal right to a differing opinion based on conclusive premises.
This has once again re-echoed the need for opinion leaders and people capable of influencing public opinion and subsequent reaction to exercise such ability with utmost caution and only make conclusions after thorough investigation while taking varied perspectives into consideration. Sadly, most people who fall into this category failed in this regard. We allowed our emotions to get the better part of us and made hasty conclusions. This is a lesson we all must learn.
I am aware that members of the Reigners Bible Church gathered today to pray and thereafter visited various hospitals in solidarity with the victims while some of them volunteered to donate blood as well as offer varied forms of assistance. This courageous act is commendable and will no doubt assuage some hard feelings.
2.0) I must commend His Excellency Gov. Udom Emmanuel for steps taken so far to address this issue. Government has declared a two-day mourning period culminating in a prayer session by 4pm on Mon. 12th Dec. at the govt. house banquet hall. Already, the State Govt. has undertaken the medical treatment of the victims while a high-powered panel of enquiry has been constituted to ascertain the immediate and remote factors leading to the collapse of the church building with a view to forestall the re-occurrence of such incident and bring to book persons found to have compromised professional standards in the construction of the building. I thank God for sparing the lives of the survivors and that of the Governor. Indeed, they have been preserved for a purpose.
We Failed Humanity
3.0) There are lessons to be learnt from this tragedy and I must share them here. While it seems okay for anyone to sit in the comfort of his/home and dish out blames, may I make it known to you that many of us knowingly or unknowingly played a role in the calamity of that day either through our actions or inactions. Lemme explain:
3.1) Upon hearing the news, most people drove down to the church and parked their vehicles indiscriminately blocking traffic flow. Oga that vehicle of yours hindered ambulances from accessing the scene to extract victims on time. It made it impossible for vehicles willing to help to get into the scene and take casualties out to hospitals promptly. It also delayed the cranes from accessing the scene early enough to lift the wreckage for people to be rescued. If you fall into this category just know that while you sit there feeling good and saying things, YOU ARE ALSO GUILTY.
3.2) The number of people who trooped to the scene were so many and enough to effect prompt extraction of victims had they all decided to be of help. Guess what many people were doing there while the victims were under the wreckage with agonizing screams for help renting the air? THEY WERE BUSY TAKING SELFIES, SNAPPING THE VICTIMS SO AS TO POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND INCREASE THEIR NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS AND LIKES WHILE PEOPLE LIKE THEM WERE DYING.
I know what I am saying, I was there live. A lady who managed to crawl out of the wreckage collapsed right infront of me and people just stood there snapping pictures. I raised an alarm, rushed to lift her but could not do so due to her weight but thankfully after some time Road Safety personnel hurled her into their van and drove off. Who knows if she survived or not? How else do you think the many pictures flooding social media came about? I just could not believe my eyes that people were busy taking pictures while others were dying. How did we sink this low? Again, if you fall into this category know that YOU ARE ALSO GUILTY.
3.3) If you were in Uyo on Saturday Dec.10 and you did not do anything to assist when you could do so, YOU ARE ALSO GUILTY. Hold on, I know you have excuses. Did you at least visit hospitals to donate blood as requested by the NMA? YOU ARE ALSO GUILTY. Step aside please.
3.4) I am told the building collapsed either while offering was ongoing or immediately after offering. Ask yourself, WHERE IS THE OFFERING MONEY RIGHT NOW? WHERE ALSO ARE THE PERSONAL PROPERTIES OF THE DECEASED? Friends while others were busy trying to save lives, some people were rummaging through handbags, searching pockets, stealing phones, money, wristwatches, and other personal effects. Don’t even think of arguing with me, I KNOW WHAT I SAW. I could not believe my eyes. People are so wicked. AGAIN, IF YOU FALL INTO THIS CATEGORY, YOU ARE SO GUILTY.
4.0) A CALL TO PRAYER:
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” – Ephesians 6:12
Friends, if you are reading this post and you are a christian you need to pray immediately. This is the end of the year and the forces of darkness are at work. You must “pray without ceasing” (1Thessalonians 5:17). You must pray because “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal” (2 Corinthians 10:4). You may think that this is the business of Reigners Bible Church alone but I tell you it isn’t. Light and darkness have always been in contention but we have an assurance as Christ said “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail” (Matt. 16:18)
Does God Exist?
I ended part 2 by opining that the unfortunate incident has far reaching impacts on Christianity. Permit me to postulate thus:
5.0) ATHEISM: this occurrence is capable of challenging one’s faith in God. Atheists will be emboldened in their argument on the existence of God. Does GOD really exist? If He does, does He care? If He cares why did he not prevent it from happening or protect everybody as recorded in Acts 27:44 when Paul and others were involved in a shipwreck? If God exists how do we know and does He possess the attributes ascribed to Him? Is He all knowing? If he is, why was the calamity not revealed to the clergy men who were there? So does He love those that survived more than those that died or are the sins of the deceased more than that of others?
This is not my submission, I am only voicing the likely postulations of atheists and bringing the likely thoughts of the victims of this disaster to the fore. This can affect their faith in God. I almost did not believe that God existed when I lost my mum in 2002. I could not come to terms with how a merciful God would look the other way while my dear mum passed on in tough circumstances knowing the hardship that would mete on us. Earnestly, I thought God was wicked. I left church and nothing else mattered to me. Thank God for His redemption, I now realise how wrong I was.
I pray nobody’s faith gets destroyed by this incident. We need to pray that God strengthens them. We need to pray for the Governor and ask God to give him wisdom to handle this calamity, we need to pray for those battling for their lives in hospitals, we must ask God to console the bereaved, we must pray that affliction must not arise a second time (Nahum 1:9), and finally we must pray for Rev. Akan weeks and the entire Reigners’ family. I know some of you will not want to hear this. We must strengthen the brethren and take heed lest they fall.
6.0) FINALLY, pray that ye may not fall into temptation for these are perilous times. My heart goes out to the victims of this calamity. May we learn lessons and be better guided in making decisions and choosing our respective paths of life. YOU WILL CROSS INTO 2017, say Amen.
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