Abstract: The regular statement, ‘they kept us as we are today’ is a dictum on the lips of any average conscious Nigerian in any unpleasant retrospection into the past, from the present situation of the country. This statement lays claim to the fact that some inconsiderable leaders have, in the past, disgruntled the growth of the country and as a result, caused what the country is at the present, suffering. But the accusation would be complete if electorates or better termed, the masses of the present time, are also included in the share of the blames. In so far as some leaders were and are not being credible, one may ask: what are the masses doing in their own great capacity to remedy the horrible situation? If they are the ones to vote-in any leader, haven’t they the capacity of choosing the right leader, irrespective of election manoeuverings? Are the past politicians the hoodlums on the highways or are these hoodlums the masses? Could it be true that the past politicians are also the lecturers who extort students at schools? Again, could one say that the mistakes of the early missionaries to Nigeria are responsible for many religious aberrations today? Did they teach the churches in Nigeria extortions, false prophecy and hypocrisy? This write-up does not deny the truth that our ugly situation today has a link with the mistakes of our past leaders and masses (i.e. “the parents have eaten sour grapes and children teeth are set on edge” cf. Ezekiel. 18:2b) but tries to state that it is high time we learned from the past occurrences and started being realistic enough to blame ourselves for many great evils befalling us because, we have regularly failed to improve from our past. The dictum ‘they kept us as we are today’ should be a forgone statement in our midst but we should be ever ready to bear the responsibility of our misfortunes. (cf. Ezekiel. 18:3).
This work will analyze the Nigerian situation in the light of the biblical change on the statement, “the parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” Thus, it now becomes; “As I live, says the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel…it is only the person who sins that shall die.”[1]Therefore, the blame of Nigerian retarded growth should dangle between both the past and the present but especially, to the present.
Keywords: PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, Blaming the Past Syndrome, electorates.
Title: PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN EZEKIEL 18:2b -4 A Response To ‘Blaming The Past Syndrome’ In Nigerian Religious- Political Contexts
Author: ELUKE PATRICK (PhD)
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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