Religion – A major part of the Nigerian Problem
Firstly,. I will like to state that I am a very religious Christian who believes that Christ died for the sins of the world and I believe in the full existence of God and creation. Everything written in this write-up are strictly my views and do not project the views of any other persons or group of persons. That said, let’s get realistic:
After many years of aching and soul searching, I have come to the conclusion that religion is one of greatest enemies of our dear country Nigeria. I have been to a few African and European countries, and read/heard a lot about American countries, in all my observations, I have come to the realisation that God never builds a Nation, the people of a Nation build the Nation themselves. It is however sad to note that in the past (at the least) 25 years, Nigeria has not had a leader whose name is written in the sands of time, a leader whose good deeds live on after him, what we have had is a bunch of irresponsible people, and in many cases touts, leading our Nation.
Where then does the blame lie? At the feet of these leaders many will say, but I choose to differ. I lay the blame at the feet of the generations past, our fathers and grandfathers. They refused to pay the price, that would have ensured a better future for our generation, the usual saying: “politics is a dirty game, don’t get involved’, the Government doesn’t provide electricity, buy a generator, the government doesn’t provide water, dig a borehole and pump your water, the government doesn’t build good roads, buy a 4-runner jeep.. and so.. we are where we are today, if the generations past had called the government to question, stood up to get their rights, if they stood up for a right to quality education, we wouldn’t need to go abroad to get quality education, if they stood up for good roads, good health facilities, electricity etc, we wouldn’t be where we are today. It is a shame that a country like Nigeria, with its vast wealth, still cannot provide basic amenities to its citizens.
But most of all, if they didn’t always rely on God, we wouldn’t be where we are today. The average Nigerian, knows the roads aren’t good, so we PRAY for safe journey, we know our generator can always malfunction and lead to a fire outbreak, so we pray for Gods protection on our house, we know there are many jobless youths who are into armed robbery, we pray for protection against thieves, for miraculous visas to get out of the country, for a miraculous job because job opportunities are few, even the few that are available we cannot get because we lack the needed education to do the job, and most annoying of all, instead of going out to vote and make sure our voices are heard, we pray for God to put the right person there. Where has this sole reliance on religion gotten us to... NOWHERE.
This generation, my generation, cannot afford to fail the generations to come, we have to start facing reality now, we have to stand up and let our voices be heard, we have to start going out to vote, making our views known, speaking out against irresponsible governance, getting involved in politics and running for political positions, we have to stop waiting for God to put the right person in Government, or for God to protect against thieves, we have to start asking questions of our leaders, we should make use of tweeter, facebook, YouTube, MySpace etc, not just for the quizzes and fun, but for making our voices heard, we should come together as one body, with one voice, setting aside our differences, religion and tribal sentiments, and forging a common front against this scoundrels that have eaten deep into our nations coffers, it is high time we put an end to this.
It will not be done in one day, neither will it be an easy road, but surely we will get there with perseverance. If we do not take a stand now, our children will lay the blame right at our feet. We have to reject the status quo, and start insisting things run how they are supposed to run.
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