Solomon’s Reign and the Divided Kingdom: Lessons for Restructuring of the Nigerian Nation

Abstract

The issue of restructuring and resource control have become one of a twin point of discussion in the present-day political dispensation in Nigeria. Can the reign of King Solomon, the acclaimed wisest man and king of Israel give a clue on how to handle this riddle of restructuring and its attendant resource control among other issues? It is on this note that this paper looks at “King Solomon’s Reign and the Divided Kingdom: Lessons for Restructuring of the Nigerian Nation.” Using hermeneutical tools of biblical interpretation as the principle of interpreting some Old Testament texts which deal with the reign of Solomon and content analysis as the method of gathering materials, the paper noticed that, despite all that Solomon did to boost Israel's economy, his expenditure must have outweighed the income.His oriental luxury of the imperial court’s life which reflected heavily on his marriage (c.f. 1Kings 10:16-22); heavy taxation, exploitation of the copper mines which demanded forced labour (cf. 1Kings 4:7; 5:13-18), etc. all impacted negatively in his administration and that of his successor, who happed to be his son. Even though the Masoretic Text shows no outright rebellion against Solomon, but the exile of Jeroboam and the outcry in the days of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son and successor were pointers that Solomon though acclaimed the wisest person in the Jewish history laid the foundation for the restructuring of the Jewish kingdom, i.e., the divided kingdom. This paper avers that, Nigeria can learn lessons from Solomon’s high-handed reign in respect of her quest for restructuring.