Some Christians may have embarked on a guilt trip after humanists castigated the sharing or celebration of testimonies involving survival from fatal accidents that claimed the lives of others. Debates around the issue became so heated online that this essayist was prompted to pen a piece titled, “Trying to Terminate Testimonies with Emotional Intelligence.” Part of my argument was that empathy and gratitude are not mutually exclusive.

Fortuitously, Nigerians have just been treated to a poetic illustration of that point. This came when Madam Olufunmilayo Adelabu, mother of the immediate past Minister of Power, Chief Bayo Adelabu, reacted to the safe return of her daughter, Busayo John-Paul, and grandsons from the kidnappers’ den. The matriarch was not so carried away by excitement that she made the moment solely about her family; rather, she highlighted the plight of the abducted Oyo schoolchildren in the process.

Recall that scores of bandits, on Friday, May 15, 2026, invaded Yawota Baptist Nursery and Primary School as well as Community High School, Ahoro-Esinle, in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. In an operation that claimed the life of a teacher, the terrorists rounded up 39 pupils and students, including toddlers, along with seven teachers, herding them into the forest. They later beheaded an abducted male teacher, while one pupil was also reported dead.

“A day before my children’s ordeal, I wept bitterly when I saw those abducted Oriire schoolchildren on television, not knowing that the same thing would happen to me the following day,” Madam Adelabu said at her Ibadan residence while speaking with reporters following the release—or rescue—of her children. She went further, praying not only for the Oriire victims but for the safe return of all kidnap victims across the country.

Suffice it to say that vulnerability to violence and economic deprivation has become part of what it means for Nigeria to happen to someone. The expression has evolved into a euphemism for maladministration, state failure, and the dysfunctional system upon which Nigeria currently runs.

According to the former minister’s mother, “My joy will be complete when every victim still in captivity regains freedom and returns home safely.” How graceful!

Yet there is a deeper lesson every believer can draw from this faith-filled grandmother. It is the importance of not giving up on God, regardless of what life throws at you. The devastating economic hardship in the country can indeed make people misdirect their frustrations toward God, who has absolutely nothing to do with their suffering.

We have seen Nigerians who, upon relocating to better-governed societies, come online to confess that they no longer see the need to spend hours—or entire nights—praying because many of the prayer points that once consumed them back home are taken for granted in their new countries of residence.

This brings to mind the viral video of a distraught Nigerian woman who lamented being abandoned by the Almighty and vowed to sever her relationship with Him. Here was her lament:

“I’m not praying to God for anything in this world again. Whatever has to happen, let it happen. The prayers I’ve been making—where have they led me? God is in heaven looking at me while I suffer. He has done nothing about it. He just keeps quiet and allows me to suffer like this. And they say we should believe in God. God who allows His children to suffer. I don’t understand.”

The unnamed young woman recorded herself saying those words and posted the video on social media. As one commenter rightly observed, she should consider herself fortunate to have a smartphone and data with which to make the video. Some poverty-stricken individuals have long sold their phones to meet pressing needs or simply survive.

The question begging for answers is this: can Nigeria’s biting hardship—including its intractable insecurity—be separated from the poor choices of governments and the citizens who elect them, or from the apathy of those who refuse to participate in the democratic process? It is often said that God will not do for you what He has empowered you to do for yourself. Selah.

Meanwhile, believing in God is certainly not for the faint-hearted. That is the testimony of Madam Adelabu. Imagine remaining steadfast in faith after the burden you had carried in prayer for others suddenly became your own reality. Yet she continued “praying for them too, just as I prayed for my children over the past five days,” declaring that, “The God who freed my children from bondage will free others too. None of them will die there. They will all come home safely.”

What remarkable faith!

Not many Christians continue trusting God when the very thing they have been praying against strikes close to home. As the challenge closes in, they lose sight of Paul the Apostle’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:13:

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Rather than resent God or pick a quarrel with Him, the believer who feels overwhelmed should press on in faith and seek the promised way of escape. Holding God to His Word always works because He and His Word are inseparable.

As I noted earlier, the elderly woman spoke of “weeping bitterly” while praying for the abducted pupils, only for the same poisoned chalice to be handed to her family a day later. Yet her faith remained unwavering.

Proverbs 24:10 hardly applies to believers like Madam Adelabu because her strength did not prove small when it mattered most. This is someone who might have felt she had every reason to stop trusting God. Her son, Bayo, who had been aspiring to become governor of Oyo State, failed to secure his party’s APC ticket not long ago. While there are few people as optimistic as the typical Nigerian politician, one can reasonably assume that his confidence—strong enough to prompt his resignation from the highly coveted office of Minister of Power—was reinforced by his mother’s prayers and faith in the realization of that ambition.

Alas, that gubernatorial aspiration went up in smoke. Yet the disappointment did not weaken the matriarch’s faith. Today, we see what many would describe as God showing up for her in a profound way.

Freethinkers and sceptics may be quick to remove God from the equation, arguing that the payment of ransom must have secured the trio’s freedom. Yet have there not been instances where ransom was paid only for families to recover the corpses of their loved ones? Neither can the safe return of Busayo and her twin boys be attributed solely to their privileged status. More prominent individuals have been abducted and never lived to tell their stories.

Only yesterday, the Defence Headquarters announced the death of a former Director of Defence Information while in bandits’ captivity. The retired major general was reportedly kidnapped alongside his wife while travelling through Katsina State last month.

If Nigeria can happen to a former spokesman of its military high command, then those who refuse to acknowledge the hand of God in the rescue of the John-Pauls are likely agnostics with whom it is pointless to argue. Nevertheless, the truth remains that “it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”

It is this mercy of the Lord that believers must remain mindful of and cling to, even when everything appears to be working against them. The person who remains strong in faith, giving glory to God amid adversity, will eventually discover that all things work together for good to those who love God.

When confronted with hardship, it is far wiser to follow the path of the elderly woman than that of the younger one. There are still blessings to count even when, upon life’s billows, you are tempest-tossed.

The counsel of the biblical character who endured some of history’s greatest suffering still rings true today:

“Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.” (Job 22:21).

Verily, verily, I say unto you, the safety, restoration, and change in fortune you seek may well be found in reconciliation with God. It begins with believing in and confessing the resurrected Jesus Christ as Lord over your life.

VIS Ugochukwu is a sage, storyteller, and branding strategist who welcomes feedback via nmiringwu@gmail.com.