By Isaac Asabor
It definitely will not be misnomer to say that not few people that catch a glimpse of the foregoing headline will erroneously portray this writer to be sanctimonious. Be that as it may, it is expedient to say in this context that emancipation musical albums in the tune of Lamentation of Sodom and Gomorrah have for the umpteenth time been waxed by various talented reggae musicians in Nigeria, and beyond.
One of such musicians is Tera Kota (Femi Gboyega) who in 1984 released a reggae album he aptly dubbed “Lamentation for Sodom”. In this album, the artist compares the Nigerian situation in the 1980s to the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah where sin and corruption were rife, while in the same breath resenting the unspeakable economic situation and oppression of the poor by the rich. As the album title suggests, “Sodom is Tera Kota’s reaction to what Jamaicans call Babylon.
The album was no doubt dominated by social consciousness lyrics. “Lamentations for Sodom” made mockery of the social decadence in our society at the time. Particularly sang to high heaven at the time, the music conveyed salient lyrical messages that spoke volumes about the parlous economy, the corruption that unarguably mirrored what canker worm is, and the public morale that was literarily putrid, and sunk into a bottomless sewage. In fact, the album was released at a time when root reggae became the voice that expressed the collective frustration and disillusion of people in a failing nation.
It was at the time when root reggae musicians lyrically projected socio-political messages in their music and eventually pushed the genre to the mainstream in the early 1990s. Among them was Ras Kimono whose 1989 Under Pressure album includes emancipatory classics such as “Shitstem” and “Gimme Likkle Sugar.” Other reggae classics with similar conscious depth include Majek Fashek’s “Police Brutality” and Blackky’s “Cost of Living.”
At this juncture, it is expedient to say that the signs that inspired musicians close to 40 years today to lament that Nigeria was becoming like or was already like Sodom and Gomorrah still persist.
Yes, the signs still persist as the Bible says long before Sodom and Gomorrah were going to be destroyed by fire that “The men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord” (Gen 13:13). Without doubt Nigeria is by each passing day becoming like Sodom as not few Nigerians are today compromising when it comes to committing sin. This conciliatory situation with the devil is not different from the situation that made Lot choose to dwell in the sinful land because it is was well watered. Today, people deliberately commit sins as long as there is money in any activity that will lead them to sin. In fact, Lot chose to plant his family near to Sodom, and started compromising, and instead of avoiding the sinful city of Sodom, “Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom” (Gen 13:12), or right next to it. Before you know it, Lot started sitting at the city gate, where the cities leaders and business men met (Gen 10:1), so Lot was not only in Sodom but Sodom was also in him! Lot was compromising with sin and if not for the two angels taking him by force, he and his family members would have died in the coming fire (Gen 19:16).
Without laying claim to high moral standard, it is not an exaggeration to say that people were a lot more morally upright compared to what people are today. In as much as the youths that grew up, say 10 or 20 years ago to large extent never committed the kinds of crimes that the youths of today are committing, it is enough in this context to opine that crimes been committed these days, are unprecedented, condemnable and of reprehensible degree. It has gone so bad that even teenagers have equally become culprits in the killing of their mothers, fathers, girlfriends and others for money rituals.
In the area of leadership, Sodom and Gomorrah were such evil nations that anyone that is conversant with the bible would be tempted to unmistakably conjecture that their business practices were evil as well. It is very possible that their political leaders would have been bribed by special interest groups. Without doubt, the kind of sins that were committed with impunity in the biblical days of Sodom and Gomorrah are committed today with blinking of eyes so much that sins are been replicated even by some political leaders. The political leaders in Nigeria have resorted to corrupt practices and keep making promises they know cannot be fulfilled.
When the two angels came to rescue Lot, they wanted to spend the night in the town square (Gen 19:2), but Lot knew it was too dangerous, but “the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house” (Gen 19:4), and these men angrily cried out, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them” (Gen 19:5), which clearly means they wanted to have homosexual relationships with the men (who were actually angels), but Lot told them no. The men didn’t take no for an answer and so “they pressed hard against Lot, and drew near to break the door down” (Gen 19:9). What used to be called evil is called good, and what used to be good is now evil. Looking at Nigeria today, particularly when seen from the perspectives of news reports that are daily published on Metro section of the media, the fact that nation is becoming very much like Sodom and Gomorrah cannot be controverted.
In fact, there is a Bible reference that indicates what society can become over time. It says that they forgot how to blush, meaning, they so flaunted their sexuality that they had no shame and were not embarrassed about anything anymore. It is as if anything goes these days. Sex sells, but the payday is horrific. For those who are involved in sexual immorality, including the unmarried and those involved in sex outside of marriage (adultery), God gives them no assurance that they are going to be saved. When a nation grows so evil that sex is brazenly posted and advertised, then that is a sign that the nation is becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah, and we all know what happened to them.
When a person or nation does not fear God, they have zero chance of having biblical wisdom, because the very beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10). What seems right to us is often contrary to the will and Word of God, but when any nation no longer fear God, then that nation is headed for God’s judgment, just as surely as Sodom and Gomorrah had. The fear that the Bible speaks about is not a fear of being struck dead or of God being angry at anyone. The fear of God is a deep, holy, abiding respect and reverence for God and His Word. Here is why it is a good thing to fear God: “The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom” (Proverbs 15:33a), and “The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm” (Proverbs 19:23). When a nation no longer fear God, nothing works as been presently witnessed in Nigeria today.
Ruminating over the foregoing, there is no denying the fact that Nigeria of today is literarily filled with so much violence, filthy language, and nudity, that if our great grandparents or grandparents could see it, they would probably throw up, and turn in their graves. It would make them sick to their stomach. Today, Nigerians are unarguably compromising or rather playing with sin, and consequently leading the country to downward slide of immorality with corruption saturating every nook and cranny of the business and political atmospheres, even with the youths and teenagers quickly imbibing the faulty values therein. Without sounding sanctimonious, the foregoing signs unarguably indicate that the nation is fast heading towards the same fate as Sodom and Gomorrah. So, if you ask this writer whether Nigeria is becoming like Sodom or Gomorrah, his answer would definitely be in the affirmative. Be that as it may, we should not forget that these nations; Sodom and Gomorrah were forever wiped off from the face of the earth.
