We are approaching the zero hour in the jungle of Nigerian politics where primitive greed seems to be the common denominator. In place of the rule of law, what we see is the "survival of the fittest," as the powerful crush the weak without any sense of remorse, and as the winner takes all and consigns the losers in the dirty power game to the margins of society. We are approaching the zero hour, as the little flickers of light are being put out by the storm troopers, and absolute darkness is now threatening to envelop the entire landscape.

We are approaching the zero hour when injustice becomes more and more the norm, and the fraudulent exploiters, the violent conquerors and the callous manipulators become the heroes and heroines in our land. We are approaching the zero hour when lies are dressed in purple, the zero hour when deceit puts on the royal garb, the zero hour when falsehood is coronated, the zero hour when sycophancy and idolatry climb the bench, the zero hour when political prostitution and manipulation are decorated and enthroned on the sacred pedestal of the nation's sovereignty.

The zero hour is the end of the road for my deluded confrairs who thought they could lead a life of bliss in a palace of peace that is built atop a monument of fraud. We are about to arrive at the dangerous crossroad, and we must act now or be consumed by our own ineptitude, for as they say, "if you do not change your course, you are bound to end up where you are headed." We are now face to face with the dreaded precipice, gazing peremptorily at the abyss, and we must take a stand or be forever doomed by our own ambivalence. True, we are confronted with the zero hour, and we cannot afford to remain apathetic or despondent. We must each stand up and take a position one way or the other, or we shall be swept away by the eye of the vengeful storm.

The choice before my country men and women is not between violence and non-violence. The choice before Nigerians is not even between military dictatorship and democracy. The choice we must make today is between the falsehood that enslaves and the truth that liberates. The choice we must make is between the poisonous gas of deceit and mischief which has suffocated the few who have catapulted themselves to the seat of power and domesticated the national treasury, and the liberating oxygen of truth and love which alone sets one free. The choice we must make is between the death-dealing machinery of oppression and manipulation which has muzzled and manacled the Nigerian polity and the gentle hand of freedom and justice which make for peace and prosperity.

The zero hour is the hour of truth, the truth which the men and women of this country have always sought to evade, the truth our leaders habitually violate. Over and over again the Nigerian military and political elite have sort to sacrifice truth on the altar of greed and lust for power. They have regularly attempted to mortgage truth for a life of debauchery. They have repeatedly attempted a definition of truth along the parameters of political expediency and economic gain. Over and over again, our leaders have painted for the people the picture of a state of affairs which is antithetical to the reality on the ground. But the violation of truth carries with it unwholesome consequences not only for the victims but also for the perpetrators. As the zero hour approaches those who genuinely seek peace should look upon falsehood as a plague which must be avoided at all costs, because falsehood is a primary violence, and when the falsehood is built into the very political, social and economic structure of society, an explosion of violence soon occurs, as is cleverly demonstrated in the biblical epic of the Tower of Babel. To build a nation on a foundation of lies is to sow in the emerging nation the seed of its own destruction.

In the midst of the incredible darkness that covers the land, those calling for justice, genuine reconciliation and true democracy are branded dissidents, detractors, fomenters of trouble, unpatriotic elements and enemies of peace. We are told today to settle for a fraudulent consensus in order to avoid an outbreak of violence and have peace. But what manner of peace are we seeking for in Nigeria? Is it the false peace that comes via the suppression of the people's will or the graveyard peace that thrives amidst the silencing of legitimate democratic aspirations? What manner of unity do we want for Nigeria? Is it the delicate unity that comes via the intimidation of minority groups and opinions, or the fragile unity that thrives amidst primitive ethnicism, senseless statism and irrational religious bigotry? Those who are selling the idea that under the present circumstances "in order to avoid chaos and anarchy" we should accept one more structure of lies, are under the peculiar illusion that the flower of peace can emerge out of the debris of the monumental falsehood that has thrived in the land. But this is only an illusion.

We are today face to face with the zero hour, the hour of truth. We are about to take a lesson on the resilience of truth. Truth is inviolable. Immortal truth is indomitable. As often as truth is crucified, so often shall it rise again. Persecutors of truth always end up being confounded and humiliated by the obstinacy of truth. Truth is a the child of freedom, and it remains free in spite of all pretensions to cage or imprison it. Truth is inflammable. It is highly combustible. Those who attempt to seal up or suppress truth often discover in truth a potent explosive which is less dangerous when exposed and contended with, than when sealed up or set aside.

Like truth itself, the truth-bearer is a child of freedom and shall always remain free in spite of all the efforts of the enemies of truth to use all the available instruments of coercion to imprison, proscribe or silence him or her. As long as a person remains on the side of truth, he or she shall remain free. The ongoing attempt in Nigeria to suppress truth and discredit, malign, and when possible, silence the bearers of truth will have a boomerang effect: truth shall bounce back with a vengeance.

As the zero hour arrives for our country, we must all be prepared for the vengeful judgement of truth. Those who have always cast their votes for truth need fear no harm, for the zero hour, the hour of judgement, is also the hour of vindication and consolation. In the zero hour, the light of truth shall shine through the encircling darkness, and the father of lies who has haunted this land for so long shall be finally dislodged. In the zero hour, the remnant faithful shall rebuild the ruined temple of truth, making it possible for those humiliated today to have the last laugh.