THE EXCESSES OF KING SOLOMON AND THE NIGERIAN LEADERSHIP QUESTION
Born in 848 BC, King Solomon was touted as the wisest and richest king that ever lived on planet earth! His Flamboyancy was unparalleled. His exploits
with the opposites sex unrivalled! King Solomon, did indeed set records which few men had attempted to beat. But the question on my mind as i write this piece is: - Was king Solomon highly corrupt?
Solomon almost didn't become king of Israel. While his father lay dying, one of his elder brothers, Adonijah, had himself declared ruler. When king David was told about it, he called the priests and had Solomon crowned in front of all the people at the age of 12. Solomon wanted to be a good King like his father. Thus, when God appeared before him in a dream and asked him to make a request for himself. Solomon requested for wisdom. God was marvelled by his request since he could have asked for material things like wealth. Hence God gave him the wisdom he requested as well as riches and honor. (1 kings 3vs7-13).
During his 40 year reign. King Solomon's 'administration' recorded several achievements. But the crowning achievement of Solomon's 'regime' was the building of the Temple in Jerusalem which his father David, had dreamt about, but was barred by God from building because he was a warrior who has so there was much blood on his hands.
Apart from the temple, Solomon's administration was credited with creating an atmosphere of peace with neighbouring countries. More so, his kingdom flourished and was prosperous in all fields. He built numerous cities, constructed copper smelting furnaces in the Negev. In fact, my research showed that the Income per capita for the average Israeli under King Solomon was more than that of Luxembourg which is the highest in the world today. But he was not able to sustain the positive indices for a long time...
King Solomon though asked for wisdom from God, but he 'lacked enough wisdom' to understand, the FEAR OF GOD is the beginning of the WISDOM he requested. In order words, Solomon would have been better off if he had asked God to inculcate his fear in him at all times!
Thus in the mist of affluence King Solomon thought he had become a demigod. Why? Because he had so much power and influence, not just in his country but on the international scene. Kings and Queens courted his friendship. He was throwing lavish parties every moment, particularly when a head of state came calling. As it happened during the visit of the Queen of Sheba - where King SOlomon expended "billions of naira" on her reception fanfare.
And to compound his problems, he violated the Torah's prohibition by taking too many wives and amassing so much wealth; many of the women were from foreign lands. In fact, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. In summation, Solomon had 1000 women who warmed his bed! Whereas the Torah recommends not more than 18 women. This lifestyle brought a lot of stress on the spiritual and economic lives of his people - first, many of the women he married brought with them their religious beliefs which was alien to the Jewish people and against the laws of God. Second, the numerous wives means more expenses for his government as each of his wives has to run an office (each had a women empowerment and betterlife project) with a number of aides which wont be less than five or ten as her pet project requires. So, assuming each wife was entitled to Two million naira per month, while each concubine gets one million naira per month, multiply it by 700 and 300 respectively it amounts to - One billion, four hundred million Naira per month. And Three hundred million naira per month respectively, then multiply each by 12 months. This will give you the amount the Isreali economy was coughing out to service King Solomon's wives alone not to talk of other excesses of his regime. It wasn't surprising when the economy became sickly and poverty forced a lot of his subjects to look for succour from opposition leaders and his enemies which resulted in the alienation of northern Israel and the revolt of Jeroboam his brother! Thus there was secession as it happened in Nigeria in the 60's (that led to the Biafran war).
Solomon died at age 52 after reigning for forty years and for me he was lucky to have lived up to 52 because no man with the number of women he had would live up to that age in our world of today! Moreover, if it were in our world of today or in the present Israel, King Solomon would have ended up in Jail on the charges of corruption and abuse of office!
Looking at Nigeria today, one would see a similarity in most actions of our government officials and that of King Solomon of biblical times. Gross abuse of office is the order of the day. King Solomon was even good to women - because he makes the women he comes across his own, by including them either as wives or concubines. But in Nigeria many of our leaders, sleep with girls their daughters age and dump them like objects. If King Solomon amassed wealth, there was no record anywhere to suggest he stashed his loots in foreign banks despite marrying foreign women, so the money was within Israel and was revolving within the economy. But here the loots are stashed away in foreign banks with pseudo or fictitious names thereby depriving the economy of much needed funds.
At least King Solomon led his people through a period of economic buoyancy before his excesses led to economic downturn or financial crisis as we call it today. But in Nigeria's case the citizens have never had it good - prices of goods have never decreased after an increment. It as been one form of economic program to the other, from SAP (by which our economy was sapped) to the current transformation program, yet there is nothing to show for them. But why is it so? Because like king Solomon in the latter days, our leaders right from day one start with grand corruption, initiating policies and programs that will benefits them and their cronies to the detriment of the masses. Each year a budget is presented, but my research shows that most of the projects are never executed and most of the funds are not returned to the national treasury. Nigeria is one of the countries where an individual is richer than a state - showing unequal income distribution of the highest order! Here the rich get richer while the poor gets poorer!
When Solomon began, it was on a good note - giving his people a 'real breath of fresh air'. But in Nigeria's case, even though they had promised a ' breath of fresh air' but what we are getting so far are 'corrupt and choking air!" We are witnessing 'corruption' in grand style in all facets of our national life. In fact, corruption as at now has become compelling and bewitching, so much that one could say, it has become the' spice' of our national life - the "Aji no moto" of our daily coexistence.
The question we should therefore ask is: which way out?
I still maintain (like many scholars had suggested too), that the best way to tackle corruption is by strengthening existing government institutions by depriving them of the influence of the government of the day in any form, creating a prosperous economy by embarking on massive industrialization as no nation can prosper as a consuming economy, investing in infrastructure and establishing good moral foundation for our children right from the kindergarten. But these can only be done by a good leader, so where are the good leaders? Can we get them in 2015? Let our good conscience guide us as we seek an answer to this question. God bless Nigeria!
Born in 848 BC, King Solomon was touted as the wisest and richest king that ever lived on planet earth! His Flamboyancy was unparalleled. His exploits
with the opposites sex unrivalled! King Solomon, did indeed set records which few men had attempted to beat. But the question on my mind as i write this piece is: - Was king Solomon highly corrupt?
Solomon almost didn't become king of Israel. While his father lay dying, one of his elder brothers, Adonijah, had himself declared ruler. When king David was told about it, he called the priests and had Solomon crowned in front of all the people at the age of 12. Solomon wanted to be a good King like his father. Thus, when God appeared before him in a dream and asked him to make a request for himself. Solomon requested for wisdom. God was marvelled by his request since he could have asked for material things like wealth. Hence God gave him the wisdom he requested as well as riches and honor. (1 kings 3vs7-13).
During his 40 year reign. King Solomon's 'administration' recorded several achievements. But the crowning achievement of Solomon's 'regime' was the building of the Temple in Jerusalem which his father David, had dreamt about, but was barred by God from building because he was a warrior who has so there was much blood on his hands.
Apart from the temple, Solomon's administration was credited with creating an atmosphere of peace with neighbouring countries. More so, his kingdom flourished and was prosperous in all fields. He built numerous cities, constructed copper smelting furnaces in the Negev. In fact, my research showed that the Income per capita for the average Israeli under King Solomon was more than that of Luxembourg which is the highest in the world today. But he was not able to sustain the positive indices for a long time...
King Solomon though asked for wisdom from God, but he 'lacked enough wisdom' to understand, the FEAR OF GOD is the beginning of the WISDOM he requested. In order words, Solomon would have been better off if he had asked God to inculcate his fear in him at all times!
Thus in the mist of affluence King Solomon thought he had become a demigod. Why? Because he had so much power and influence, not just in his country but on the international scene. Kings and Queens courted his friendship. He was throwing lavish parties every moment, particularly when a head of state came calling. As it happened during the visit of the Queen of Sheba - where King SOlomon expended "billions of naira" on her reception fanfare.
And to compound his problems, he violated the Torah's prohibition by taking too many wives and amassing so much wealth; many of the women were from foreign lands. In fact, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. In summation, Solomon had 1000 women who warmed his bed! Whereas the Torah recommends not more than 18 women. This lifestyle brought a lot of stress on the spiritual and economic lives of his people - first, many of the women he married brought with them their religious beliefs which was alien to the Jewish people and against the laws of God. Second, the numerous wives means more expenses for his government as each of his wives has to run an office (each had a women empowerment and betterlife project) with a number of aides which wont be less than five or ten as her pet project requires. So, assuming each wife was entitled to Two million naira per month, while each concubine gets one million naira per month, multiply it by 700 and 300 respectively it amounts to - One billion, four hundred million Naira per month. And Three hundred million naira per month respectively, then multiply each by 12 months. This will give you the amount the Isreali economy was coughing out to service King Solomon's wives alone not to talk of other excesses of his regime. It wasn't surprising when the economy became sickly and poverty forced a lot of his subjects to look for succour from opposition leaders and his enemies which resulted in the alienation of northern Israel and the revolt of Jeroboam his brother! Thus there was secession as it happened in Nigeria in the 60's (that led to the Biafran war).
Solomon died at age 52 after reigning for forty years and for me he was lucky to have lived up to 52 because no man with the number of women he had would live up to that age in our world of today! Moreover, if it were in our world of today or in the present Israel, King Solomon would have ended up in Jail on the charges of corruption and abuse of office!
Looking at Nigeria today, one would see a similarity in most actions of our government officials and that of King Solomon of biblical times. Gross abuse of office is the order of the day. King Solomon was even good to women - because he makes the women he comes across his own, by including them either as wives or concubines. But in Nigeria many of our leaders, sleep with girls their daughters age and dump them like objects. If King Solomon amassed wealth, there was no record anywhere to suggest he stashed his loots in foreign banks despite marrying foreign women, so the money was within Israel and was revolving within the economy. But here the loots are stashed away in foreign banks with pseudo or fictitious names thereby depriving the economy of much needed funds.
At least King Solomon led his people through a period of economic buoyancy before his excesses led to economic downturn or financial crisis as we call it today. But in Nigeria's case the citizens have never had it good - prices of goods have never decreased after an increment. It as been one form of economic program to the other, from SAP (by which our economy was sapped) to the current transformation program, yet there is nothing to show for them. But why is it so? Because like king Solomon in the latter days, our leaders right from day one start with grand corruption, initiating policies and programs that will benefits them and their cronies to the detriment of the masses. Each year a budget is presented, but my research shows that most of the projects are never executed and most of the funds are not returned to the national treasury. Nigeria is one of the countries where an individual is richer than a state - showing unequal income distribution of the highest order! Here the rich get richer while the poor gets poorer!
When Solomon began, it was on a good note - giving his people a 'real breath of fresh air'. But in Nigeria's case, even though they had promised a ' breath of fresh air' but what we are getting so far are 'corrupt and choking air!" We are witnessing 'corruption' in grand style in all facets of our national life. In fact, corruption as at now has become compelling and bewitching, so much that one could say, it has become the' spice' of our national life - the "Aji no moto" of our daily coexistence.
The question we should therefore ask is: which way out?
I still maintain (like many scholars had suggested too), that the best way to tackle corruption is by strengthening existing government institutions by depriving them of the influence of the government of the day in any form, creating a prosperous economy by embarking on massive industrialization as no nation can prosper as a consuming economy, investing in infrastructure and establishing good moral foundation for our children right from the kindergarten. But these can only be done by a good leader, so where are the good leaders? Can we get them in 2015? Let our good conscience guide us as we seek an answer to this question. God bless Nigeria!
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