Nigeria at the Brink: Lessons from Atlantis, Sodom, and Noah’s Ark for Our Nation’s Survival

Mythically, we hear of the Lost City of Atlantis, which suddenly became submerged and was never seen again. Plato’s story is an allegory for a society’s potential downfall due to its actions, a cautionary tale that we should heed in our current situation in Nigeria.

The story of the lost city of Atlantis was an allegory and a conceptual utopia. In his works, Plato dreamed of an ideal state with strength and character, which he saw in Ancient Athens. Plato professed that in an attempt for Atlantis to conquer Ancient Athens, it fell out of favor with the deities and, in the process, got submerged into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Lost City of Atlantis had an allegorical semblance to Sodom and Gomorrah in the holy scriptures. The Lost City of Atlantis, just like Sodom and Gomorrah, became “greedy, petty, morally bankrupt, and the gods “became angry, and as punishment, the gods sent “one terrible night of fire and earthquakes” that caused the City of Atlantis to sink into the sea.”(www.nationalgeographic.com)

We could also relate these stories to Noah’s assignment to build the ark. While he was building the ark, the people mocked him. They went about their easy-virtue ways. Even when the flood was threatening, some were in bars drinking. They took no heed of the impending doom.

For me, what I am seeing in Nigeria today scares me stiff. People are hungry, angry, and devastated by multi-dimensional poverty. We are grappling with issues such as a high inflation rate, increasing unemployment, and rising out-of-school children, and yet, those who should know and be worried are carrying on as if nothing is happening.

If greediness, pettiness, moral bankruptcy, and corruption led to the submerging of the City of Atlantis under the Atlantic Ocean, sins led to the people of the days of Noah drowning in their millions, and the Sodom and Gomorrah punished for their ungodly ways, do we think that God is happy with what we have made of children, widows, orphans, the poor and the vulnerable in this country and that someday he won’t vent his anger on us? I am not a prophet who sees tomorrow, but the optics do not look nice and attractive.

Despite the current challenges, we can still correct our mistakes. The time to start is not tomorrow but today. Let’s remember that change is not the responsibility of a few but the collective duty of all. Let’s work together to build a better future for the next generation.

Grace and peace!!!