Amos’ Oracle on Injustice in Amos 2:6 and Its Implications for Leadership in Nigeria
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Date
2021
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Nasara Journal of Humanities. A Publication of Faculty of Arts Nasarawa State University
Abstract
Prophets were restive whenever people and nations were not in right standing with Yahweh. Prophetic vocation comes to the fore when people abandon the way of Yahweh. Amos’ message for Israelite leaders on injustice in the eight century BC has been rated as the most explicit, detailed and timely prophetic warning in the Bible to the leaders and the reflections of the issues addressed by him in any nation have been treated with the utmost caution. Existing studies on injustice in the book of Amos have situated the cause of injustice in bad governance with little or no attention paid to the socio-economic dimension which are central to the understanding of injustice been perpetrated by the leaders in Nigeria today. This paper examined the Socio-economic dimension of injustice in Amos 2: 6 with the view of establishing parallel between the socio-religious landscapes in ancient Israel and contemporary Nigerian society. This is done through the use of the inculturation method which many African Scholars believe to be the way of making the Bible relevant in any generation. It was discovered that the situation in Amos’ time was similar with the present Nigerian society. There is oppression, injustice and moral decadence in Nigeria. This is as a result of greed, bad and corrupt leadership. The rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. The church and her leaders who are supposed to play the role of the Prophets in Nigeria have failed because they are beneficiaries of the loot of corrupt and bad leaders in the society. This situation has hampered development in the land. For any nation to experience meaningful development; the human resources must be properly built up. In this building process, acceptable social norms and values must be operational. It is only with these we can build a virile nation.