Religion: Are We A Reflection Of What Jesus Christ Or The Prophet Muhammed Once Preached? -By Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh

Another Easter is here and as expected Nigerians are much occupied with the social side of the commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What to eat, drink or wear are top on the minds of many. Even the few that understood that Easter is about the stocktaking of ones life and the condition of the inner man are themselves concerned as well about their social status.

This brings us to the question of what religion really means to an average Nigerian. For me, based on my observation of the average Nigerian – that included me – religion is nothing more than some form of pleasure that holds the mind of a Nigerian for as long as it lasted and then loses it powers the moment its duration expired. No wonder, the famous revolutionary once described it as the opiate of the masses.

Opium has powers. Its powers last as long as the consumption period after which it subsides. Imagine employees and job seekers being told to pay certain sums of money before they could be employed. Imagine job seekers being told to surrender to the sexual urge of the ‘oga at the top’ before they are handed letters of employment. Imagine an undergraduate being asked to bribe or surrender to sex for marks.

In Nigeria, imaginations are always a reality; meaning that atrocities are commonplace here despite the religiosity and all the hype about it. Peace and progress are eluding us because we have fallen into the abyss of filth and allowed our hearts to bring forth abominable things that the ears hear and can’t help but tingle. As a people, our hearts have imagined wickedness therefore the country today is a product of collective greed.

Folks compete with one another over who can do more wickedly. The Holy Bible – for me – is a manual for living right. It is a book that told us what God approved of as far as existing in this planet was concerned. Unfortunately, people do not feel it was convenient for them to emulate some or even all of those heroes that are mentioned in the scriptures. I always ask this question: Will Jesus Christ be proud to identify with me?

With the way I think, with the way I talked and with the way I behaved; will Jesus Christ be proud to associate with my kind of Christianity, our kind of Christianity? It is clear that this kind of Christianity that we tightly held on to has not and can not help us as a country. In the same manner, what has become of Islam in Nigeria deviates from what obtained from the Quran. Muslims do not want to embrace the part that told them to ACT RIGHT.

The truth is that whoever did wickedly has left the purview of the Bible completely. Hence, those that continue to siphon public monies into their private accounts ARE NOT Christians neither are they Muslims. They are not even pagans but belonged to those who are called GODLESS; that is, those who already rejected DIVINE AUTHORITY.

Now, there are many godless countries today that are so prosperous. Do you know why it is so? The reason is simple; they have what I called COMMON SENSE that enabled them to know and to do the right things. Look at the countries within the Asian Triangle; they are not jim jim church-goers neither are they jim jim mosque-goers yet their identity is largely defined as prosperous.

Mortality rate in those countries are quite low and you can find many folks who die at a hundred years and above. In fact, it is common to find folks who lived above a century. The question is: why is that so? Is the reason for these good things because the people over there had 10 functional heads? Is it because they practiced communism or socialism or democracy? Is it because they have good population? Or are not multiethnic like we are?

Is it because they have no history of racial, religious or ideological crisis like we have had the Civil War? Is it because there are no Christians or Muslims or pagans there? Folks, do not be deceived I have found out that even after the fall of Adam; man still possessed some of the original sense that made him behave like God. This is why the men who invented the television, the mobile phone or the automobile are not pastors or imams.

If man activated that sense for the good of mankind, he does wonderful things but if he refuses to activate it or use it like the Nigerian people have refused to activate that original sense for the good of every citizen; he remained in the grip of poverty, disease and war with his witchcraft mentality. This Easter I decided to share this message to my friends and ill-wishers. The message reads, “Jesus showed us that sacrifice is a necessary proof of TRUE LOVE. At Easter we are reminded to love NIGERIA by DOING THE RIGHT THING. HAPPY EASTER 2U & FAMILY.”

I opted to do this because I observed that Nigerians held on to religion in a way that is quite dangerous to real life and there is this blindness about that stance that I wished to just talk about. The truth is, if our religion does not add value to our real life existence then it is nothing more than poison. If our religion cannot spur us to do the right things; it is nothing more than anachronistic culture or witchcraft mentality.

With the way we held religion, the world is since expecting to see technological breakthroughs and innovations on already existing technologies come from Nigeria. But what are they getting? Nigeria is presently exporting indiscipline and perversion. You saw the cult clash between Nigerians – who are mostly illegal migrants – in Malaysia recently. You see how Nigeria has managed self since post-Civil War.  

In the face of all these societal maladies, Nigeria has refused to accept the one and only potent solution and which is DOING THE RIGHT THING. We can build all the mosques and all the churches that money can afford but the reality remains that until WE CHANGED OUR MINDSET to do what is right to everyone – whether Christian or Muslim; Nigerian or non-Nigerian – our darkness will only thicken. Countries that are godless at least have common sense. Which do we have? This is my Easter message.           

Comrade Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh is an advocate for attitudinal change, a researcher and author. 08062577718.