“Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute” (Psalm 82:3).
The Benue State SUBEB Boss released a shocking News, that more than 20,000 children were forced out of school due to herdsmen and farmer’s crisis. This does not include the number of Internally Displaced persons. The so-called ‘foreign herdsmen’ keep slaughtering and dislodging people from their homeland. Yet, none of these murderers have been arrested or prosecuted. Instead, our soldiers who would have secured the country’s borders are seen in most cities across the nation where they are now mounting road blocks causing unnecessary tension and obstructions to innocent road users.
Human life has no more value in our country today. People are butchered and brutalized indiscriminately. We have recorded so many Mass burials as a result of these insurgents. You can imagine the number of orphans and widows this crisis has produced. I attended the mass burial that was conducted in Benue. That was the day two Reverend Fathers were buried alongside with fifteen lay faithful. The burial was well organized and well attended. The governor and even the Vice President attended the burial. Most of the Religious and traditional leaders were all there.
The prominent people were given the opportunity to address the people before the final commendation. They all gave resounding speech, the Vice President even quoted the Holy Father, Pope Francis, while appealing to the people on the importance of forgiveness. The bishops insisted that the perpetrators should be brought to book. In this well organized burial, something was still missing.
The family members of the victim, especially the widows and the orphans, were not given the opportunity to express themselves. They were not even allowed to present an ordinary tribute to their dead fathers or husbands. One of them managed to express her feeling through the social media. These orphans will never have another opportunity in their life time to bury their parents. As people were crying indiscriminately and uncontrollably, I did not even know who were the real orphans and widows of the victims. For me, this is an act of injustice.
I expected the Vice President or even the governor to declare scholarship for the orphans whose parents were murdered in cold blood. If the Church leaders themselves consider human being as the ‘Body of Christ’ (Church) maybe, they would have compelled the governor or the Vice President to grant scholarship to the orphans and vulnerable youths, I mean, children of the victims. These are the same children that are forced out of school as the SUBEB Boss rightly observed! Without proper education and training, some of these children will join kidnappers, robbers, militants and they will in turn start terrorizing the society.
After attending the mass burial at Benue I decided to channel my prayers and preaching to justice for the poor orphans and vulnerable youths, whose parents were murdered either by the herdsmen, Boko Harram or other insurgencies across the nation. We even have a registered orphanage home that caters for such orphans and vulnerable youths.
A Lawyer, I was told, sued the FG over herdsmen killings, seeking N200bn compensation for victims’ relatives. He blamed the killings on the failure of the federal government to discharge their constitutional responsibility. This, for me, is a welcome development. The government and Church leaders should not pay deaf ears to the plight of the numerous orphans and widows in our country today. We should not be insensitive to the needs of the orphans, widows and vulnerable widows.
The Islamic Qur’an encourages its members to “Give food to the needy, the orphan and the captives, saying, ‘we feed you only for the countenance (approval) of Allah. We wish not from you reward or gratitude.” (Surah 76:8-9). If the Qur’an advocates care for orphans and even the captives during war, how much more free innocent citizens whose parents were murdered as a result of insurgents.
The Psalmist describes God as the Father of the Fatherless: “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows, is God in his holy habitation.” (Psalm 68:5). Whereas Psalm 10:14 describe God as the helper of the fatherless children: “But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted. You consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.” The Lord will surely help the orphans and the fatherless children in the world. He is the One that even provides for their daily bread.
The orphans and the widow are among those whom the Lord provides for the their daily bread in the book of Deuteronomy 14:29: “And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.” The more we feed the orphans, the widows and even the refugee and the Internally Displaced people the more God will release his blessings upon us.
If God is the Father of the fatherless, the Helper of the fatherless and the protector of widows, He will never allow the widows and the orphans to suffer any form of injustice. That is why the author of Deuteronomy 10:18 declares, “He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.” The Lord will not allow the orphans and the widows to suffer as a result of injustice. And as long as God is concerned the orphans and widows deserve justice, equity and respect.
In his famous book, Orphan Justice: How to Care for Orphans Beyond Adopting Johnny Carr, declares, “We need “Orphan-focused Sundays,” but we also need far more—we need orphan-focused churches. Choosing to stand by and do nothing where we see injustice, suffering, and evil is wrong. It is sin. We must take active steps to care for orphans. To do anything less is blatant disobedience.” Orphan based Church is a Church that preaches the gospel of hope to orphans and vulnerable children. It is a Church that has the interest of the orphans at heart. It is also a church that presents God as the Father of the orphans. It is the Church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who said, “Unless you become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” and “whoever welcome one of these little ones in my name welcomes me.” This is what the Church is all about. Any institution or religion that neglects the orphans neglects God’s command.
The Christian Bible went as far as declaring the care for orphans and widows as the essence of pure religion: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27). This is one thing most religious leaders are taking for granted. We collect tithe and offerings from the people but we are finding it very difficult to cater for the orphans and widows. Yet, the care for orphans and widows is not just an optional ministry it is actually the essence of every religion. As St. James rightly wrote, if we want our religion to be pure and undefiled then must be ready to care for the orphans and widows. If the government fails the Church should not fail!
Incidentally, September 21st is international day of peace. Peace and justice are interrelated. Peace can never exist in unjust society. There will be no peace in this country unless the right and dignity of orphans, widows and vulnerable youth are established and guaranteed. people like Nafisa Joseph are right in their assertion that “The greatest injustice in the world is to bring a child into the world, and not be able to offer it peace.” Worst still, to deny a child the basic education and basic training is indeed the peak of injustice and inhuman behaviour. Justice for one is indeed justice for all.
