Author: Deji Okegbile

It is an understatement to say that my beloved country Nigeria, the largest black nation on earth blessed with almost every known mineral resources is in crisis.[1] The question is what type of crisis? The quick answer would be economic and political crisis. Leading academics Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson in their book, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, provides a helpful reflection on the state of things in Nigeria. According to them, the nations are failing not due to ‘climate, geography or culture, but institutions.’  Acemoglu and Robinson shows  that to invest and prosper, people need to know that if they work hard, they can make money and actually keep it – and this means sound institutions that allow  virtuous circles of innovations, economic expansion, more widely-held wealth, and peace. The truth is that a theology of institution points to incubators of innovation, reconciliation and redemption. David Harts’s book ‘Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies argues that Christian institutions are founded on love of neighbour and the only genuine revolution in Western history. Among the unmatched moral triumphs of the church is its care of widows and orphans, its alms houses, hospitals, foundling houses, schools, shelters, relief organisations, soup kitchens, medical missions, and charitable societies. The colonial era of Nigeria was not without some negative carry overs including a seemingly imported...

It is 15 years since the 9/11 attacks when ‘a group of small and hateful minds conspired to threaten the very fiber’ of United State and the world in general, … ‘seeking to break the’ world spirit and destroy our common good. According to President Barack Obama, ‘from the Atlantic to the Pacific, Americans were struck with grief as devastation and senseless loss of innocent human life unfolded. In the empty shadow of the World Trade Center, the remains of the Pentagon, and a charred Pennsylvania field where courageous passengers saved countless lives, what emerged from the ashes of that day was not defeat — it was the heroism, compassion, and unity of the American people, which no act of terror or hate could ever take away.’ It was indeed the most devastating attack on American soil since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor seventy-five years ago, December 7, 1941.  President Obama has declared Friday 9th to 11th September , 2016 as National Days of Prayer and Remembrance. A total of 2,996 people were killed in America on that day and more than 6,000 others were injured by the deadliest terrorist attack in world history. As we pay tribute to the total loss of  2, 996 people and more than 6,000 others injured and reflect on the treasured memories of the victims and their families, let us pray for mercy upon the IS...