By Amb Rikwense Muri
The Almighty God from the beginning had the plan to fill the earth with humans. He also had the capacity to do it at once because He is a mighty God who can do anything and everything as He desire. He is the Great Supreme that can do and undo. Yet, despite His plan and the infinite capacity to execute it once, our God chose to lay down a principle for all his creation, which is, he want them to appreciate SMALL BEGINNING, GROWTH, FRUITFULNESS and MULTIPLICATION. That was why he started with just one man and his wife, Adam and Eve, with the mandate to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth". This comes with patience and agenda for sustainability.
Again, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the living God and the Messiah of mankind from sin, had a mandate from his Father to come into the world and rescue it from the grip of satan. He had the power and the capacity to destroy Satan immediately and declare humanity free from sin and death. He also had the power to send his innumerable angels across the world to supernaturally convert the world and brings the reign of Satan to a hault at once. But he didn't do it that way. He choose only 12 disciples, mentored them, died the painful death that sin brought to humanity to fulfil the justice requirement of the law, handed over the gospel work to humans and urged them to start from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the end of the end of the world. This was the requirement before his second coming to end Satan, sin and death. What a process set by the all-powerful God just to destroy Satan and end sin.
The point I am trying to make is this, it's in God's plan that we think big but start small. It doesn't matter how powerful you are or the resources at your disposal, if you want to build legacies, you must think big, but start small. Anything that starts big, always crash because that is not the way God plan life to be. It's God's plan that we grow with a principle of better days ahead. Beware of those leaders whose priority is to offer you the fun and joy of the moment without any agenda for growth and sustainability. Anything that will last, should have a developmental master plan for growth and sustainability. Without such in place, it may just be a fanfare and waste of resources.
This is why if you read through the Holy Bible you will see that the major difference between King David and King Solomon was their ability to plan ahead and think about sustainability of the Kingdom. While King David put in place plans and resources for the future, King Solomon was more concerned about having the best life now without any agenda for sustainability. Despite the wealth and wisdom, he wasted the resources on vanity and died without honour and leaving behind a huge tax and debt for the nation. He was succeeded by his spoilt child Rehoboam who lacked wisdom and leadership skills to keep the kingdom together. To maintain the extravagance and lavished lifestyle of his father Solomon, Rehoboam began raise the tax of the populace. He ignored the elders and surrounded himself with young people who have no experience on the implications of government action. He talked to the tribal leaders rudely with audacity to inflict more pains. This led to revolution led by his father's former Labour Minister, Jeroboam and the collapse of the Kingdom of Israel into two Kingdoms.
When the beginning is too big and lavished without a plan for growth and sustainability, it won't last. Most of the extravagant and glamorous weddings we attends don't translate into a sustainable marriages at last. Those businesses that starts big, mostly do crash while those companies like Facebook and Google, which started small at Garage or at the hostel, ends up taking over the world.
To think big is obviously better than starting big. Jesus Christ always serve the best wine, last. Though men may complain, but that is how it should be. The Bible says "Do not despise the days of small beginnings" (Zechariah 4:10). Growth, sustainability and multiplication should be our agenda, not fanfare and celebration of the moment without a solid master plan for the future. If that project doesn't outlive you, you have failed as a leader.
Why am I saying all these? I am very happy and excited that the Taraba State Governor, His Excellency Dr Agbu Kefas is bringing back Nwonyo Fishing and Cultural Festival at Nwonyo Lake in Ibi. But I am worried and concerned because it is just starting big without a big plan on ground for its growth and sustainability with community ownership of the festival. This is disturbing and worrisome to me. If General T.Y Danjuma will chair this year's Nwonyo Festival and the Governor will direct his Deputy to distribute invitation letters to dignitaries, it means next year we should be expecting the President of the country to Chair such event. This is because we have to keep raising the bar and the standard as we go. This is why thinking big and starting small is so interesting as you watch yourself move from grass to grace and evaluate your growth.
To understand me, we must ask ourselves difficult critical questions like: Who are those behind the planning, and organization, of the Nwonyo Fishing and Cultural Festival? What is the sustainability of everything that is going on as preparation for the Festival? Does it look like something that is going to grow or something that is dependant on the mood of the government of the day? Once a cultural festival is dependent on the mood of the government of the day and not on commitment and the capacity of the people and community hosting it, this sustainability will be difficult. Could this be the reason why such interesting festivals will be coming up once in 13 years and get ignored once government look the other way?
For instance, right now, the Chairman of the organizing committee is from the Mambila, the leader of the delegation for letter distribution is the Deputy Governor from Zing, while the leader of the committee that will tell us what to expect at the festival is my brother Hon Nelson Len from Ngoruje. I am not saying that it is wrong to involve outsiders, but all I'm saying it is wrong for the outsiders to take the lead in planning for a cultural festival. The real indigenous people organizing the festival are been told what to do by people who have no connection with the history, culture and tradition of the Nwunyo Festival. This create a sense of dissatisfaction which can affect the sustainability of such events.
How sure are we that the next Nwonyo Fishing and Cultural Festival will be better? How will it still hold after Dr Agbu Kefas administration? Will the festival still hold once government pull out of it? Will the organization, the fanfare and glamour grow or diminish? If without a budget, the state government was able to spend this much on the ongoing planning of Nwunyo Festival without much commercial sponsors, how much will it spend on it when it truly budget for it? Should we keep encouraging government to be run by the mood of the governor without adequate planning and proper budgetry allocation of resources? How sustainable are all these jamborees events?
How I wish His Excellency's first year prioritize infrastructure and solid foundation for sustainable governance of our state which clearly the most backward state in the northeast. The energy and determination of the governor cannot be questioned, but the agenda for growth and sustainability seems not to be there. Being a leader who took over power from a deplorable state left behind by Arc Darius Ishaku (DDI cannot be prosecuted because he has the same godfather with the current Governor), I expect nothing less than for the government to have a state wide approach to issues, to lay a solid foundation that will restore the hope of Tarabans back to government with sustainability approach to everything we do so as to build a state that will become the envy of modern Nigeria. Laying solid foundation with a strategic investment on roads linking all over local governments areas to each other and the state capital, healthcare, education, civil service reforms, transportation reform, local government funding/administration, agricultural development, IDP Reintegration, justice/peace, diversity management/audit of all cultural festivals in the state for government support, and infrastructural development, will go a long way to showcase our seriousness to move forward.
I believe that there is capacity to achieve a lot under Dr Agbu Kefas but lack of priority can distract him without knowing it. The best way to go about it is to think big, plan big, but start small and ensure that there are proper allocations of resources to things that matters most at our current state towards sustainable development and governance.
Let's move forward. Let's think big but start small. With commitment and dedication, we shall get there. God bless Taraba State and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Amb Rikwense Muri
President, Southern Taraba Youths Coalition for Peace (STYCOP)
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