"For I looked, and there was no man. I looked among them, but there was no counselor” (Isaiah 41:28)

The desperate need of the hour in Nigeria, across all racial and religious boundaries is the rising and repositioning of males into kingdom men. God is always looking for men, and not just males. Males are not scarce. Men are scarce. God is calling Christian men across the length and breadth of Nigeria to wake up, rise and rescue this sinking Nigerian ship to harbour. In the church, we need men of integrity. At home, we need men of integrity. In government and politics, we need men of integrity. In academia, we need men of integrity. Nigeria, at all levels, is on the verge of total value extinction.

Our young girls are swimming in prostitution; our young men are swimming in internet fraud; our politicians are eating up the present and the future of our children; our pastors are falling down the hill of sound values. In general, “Culture is declining” and “Morals are failing.” Why? Men are failing in their responsibilities to shape the right values. No nation can be greater than the quality of her values. It is instructive to glean wisdom from the account of the fall of Adam in Genesis. After Adam sinned against God by eating from the forbidden tree, the voice of God echoed through the garden of Eden,

Adam, where are you? (Genesis 3:9).

Do not forget that God was the one who planted Adam in the garden. So, Adam was essentially living in God’s house. By implication, God could not have been searching for Adam right inside his own house. Let me make it simple for you, “Adam where are you” does not speak of location but of positioning. God was asking Adam the question God has inspired me to ask men across Nigeria. Nigerian Christian Men, where are you? Where do you stand? Are you a male or a man? Do you know what it takes to be a man, a kingdom man, for that matter? Where do you stand in truth? Where do you stand in raising godly marriages? Where do you stand in raising sound churches that are built on truth? Where do you stand in raising a nation of godly leaders at all levels?

NIGERIAN MEN, WHERE ARE YOU?

I am not just speaking to males, but men, because you can be a male and not be a man. Manhood speaks to purposefulness. Manhood speaks to taking responsibility. Manhood speaks to maturity. Manhood speaks to integrity. Manhood speaks to strategic thinking, being driven by the desire to not just impact your current generation, but to also preserve the next generation.

But here is the sad narrative of the days of Adam, which is reminiscent of the Nigerian society. At a critical time when God needed Adam to be a man over his home, he failed God, his generation, and the entire world, very woefully. Thankfully, it took the last Adam, the Lord, Jesus to solve the problems created by the first Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45)

The United States Census Bureau recently reported that the absence of the father in homes is the single most important cause of poverty and crime in the United States. In fact, Robert Rector, in one of his scholarly findings, stretched it further when he said

"Problems with children from fatherless families can continue into adulthood with these children being three times more likely to end up in jail by the time they reach age 30 than children raised in intact families".

How many of you grew up without your father?

Dr Tony Evans, an American bible teacher recently visited a prison facility in a particular US state. He gathered some of the inmates together and asked them a fundamental question: “How many of you grew up without your father? Ninety percent of the men raised up their hand. Nigeria will never rise until men of integrity rise in Nigeria.

Sadly, popular culture has taken up the task of demoting and upstaging the strategic role and functions of men and fathers in the society. Karl Marx was an historian who pioneered the socialist movement in Europe. Historically, one of Karl Marx's goals of entrenching socialism in the politics of Western nations was to eliminate the leadership role of men in marriages by stripping them of their leadership influence on their wives and children. Marx and his colleagues were so audacious to the extent of asking women to strip themselves of the burden of submitting to the leadership of the men at home.

Who should lead the home?

According to Marx, the freer the wife and the children are from men's leadership influence, the freer and healthier the society will be. In other words, men and fathers were perceived from a socialist's worldview as major obstacles to the advancement of freedom and equality in a modern society. The negative effect of Marx’s satanic ideology on western civilization, till date, remains significant. In fact, many historians have unanimously said, "Marx is still ruling from the grave". And why not? Satan is still making him rule from the grave because things have become much worse for men in the 21st century than it was in the past.

Societal expectations, family responsibilities and the laws of many nations are now putting men under significant pressure.

The bible, to which I subscribe, and which shapes my thoughts and values more than anything else is very sacrosanct about the role of men in virtually every stratum of life and nation building. Men are leaders at home, leaders in the church and leaders in government. For every home that failed in scriptures, God held the men accountable for the failure.

Men are held accountable for the failure of nations

Such was the example of Eli who was judged and disciplined by God in 1 Samuel 2 for abandoning his disciplinary role at home. Similarly, for every nation that failed in scriptures, God held the men (fathers) accountable. Such was God's judgement on several kings of Israel such as Ahab and Saul, both of whom were held accountable by God for the failure of their nations. And finally, for every crisis and trouble in the early church, God held men like Peter and Paul, accountable. In fact, it was the teaching and manuscripts of the early church fathers that formed the basis for the canonization of the New Testament. In other words, God only allowed the manuscripts of men to be included in the twenty-seven books of the New Testament cannon. These speak volumes!

Fathers are strategic to national development

The roles of fathers are strategic, and the consequences of their actions and inactions are not just generational, but trans-generational. At the moment, we live in a world that is constantly shaped by controversial worldviews, such as feminism, universalism, socialism and co, all of which have now led to the production of fathers who are constantly feeding on sour grapes. The bible says, "When fathers feed on sour grapes, the children's teeth will be set on edge" (Ezekiel 18:2).

As a Nigerian man,

You are eating sour grapes when, rather than building values for your children, you are building wealth. You forget that the children you fail to build will one day come back to sell the building you have built.
You are eating sour grapes as a father when, rather than showing your children how to take care of their mum by loving and caring for her, all you do is to daily load her with physical and mental punches. You forget that as you punch their mums on the face, you are raising children who will not just punch their wives, but will also shoot her.
You are eating sour grapes as a father when, rather than training your children to walk in the fear of God by speaking the truth, all your children see you do is to tell lies to them and to their mothers.
You are eating sour grapes as a father when, rather than working hard to show your children the virtues of hard work as a critical nation-building value system, you are cutting corners and modelling crookedness in your children.

No nation can be greater than the quality of her men

No nation can be greater than the quality of her men. No marriage can be stronger than the quality of the husbands. When fathers fail, nations fail. When husbands fail, marriages fail. Fathers shape values faster and stronger in children and societies than any other method. Real men who are not in the business of eating sour grapes are now needed in our society. These are kingdom men. Men who carry the spirit of excellence and the touches of grace. Men who are more concerned with leaving values for their children than leaving houses and cars.

Men who will not just be men because they wear trousers but will be men and fathers because they mirror and model Christlike values in their homes and in the larger society!

•Ayo Akerele, a leadership and system development strategist and minister of the word holds a doctorate degree in employee turnover and human capital development from the prestigious Edinburgh Business School, Edinburgh, Scotland. He is based in Canada and can be reached at: ayoakerele2012@gmail.com

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