In the context of human life on earth three things are essential to his endeavor namely: money, sex and power. The trio unmistakably or as a matter of fact, naturally dominate the interests or results of everything that people do on earth.
Fortunately, God who created the world and governs it in His infinite mercy and love for mankind provides them at will to all people. Religiously, people know that God laid the precept on how to genuinely derive them through the Holy Books as Bible and Koran without engaging in all manners of evil acts such as lying, stealing, kidnapping, cheating, defrauding, raping and killing of their fellow human beings etc.
All readers and advocates of Bible and Koran know about this: that God with all powers to meet the needs of those that trust in Him is against lying, stealing, kidnapping, cheating, defrauding, raping, and killing for the purpose of going after money, sex and power. In the context of the New Testament version of the Bible, those who engage in the listed manners of evil are subject of condemnation into the hell fire.
Using the Holy Books as guide post here, God mandates people to get something doing to be able to make money and sustain their lives. God also mandates people to get married and have sex to reproduce and in the same vein enthrones people as leaders or shepherds to take care of others as congregation, community or nation.
Naturally it is expected that the listed manners of evil acts cannot be part of the people in a place like Nigeria where people are massively readers and advocates of Bible and Koran. It baffles one that upon all the Churches and Mosques in all nooks and crannies of the cities and villages across Nigeria the acts of ungodliness are on the increase by day.
The rate of greed, lying, stealing, corruption, raping and indiscriminate sex including homosexual and killings are alarming. Bible and Koran critics or religious critics so to say are questioning the reality of the content and context of the Books while looking at what is happening in Nigeria upon all the Churches and Mosques that exist.
A Medical Doctor and critic of Christians and Moslems who didn’t want his name printed observed, “it is either that the content and context of the so called Bible and Koran are not real or that those who are reading and preaching them don’t have the true knowledge and understanding of what they are all about”.
A renowned journalist Steve Nwosu in an article published in Daily Sun Newspaper argued that Nigerians particularly the political class are agents of darkness who are neither Christians nor Moslems in the real sense. Nwosu wrote by observation that their interests are money and power and they patronize things like Okija shrines in pursuit even though they claim to be either Christians or Moslems.
Take the activities of politicians toward the forthcoming general elections in the country as a case study. Politicians in their movements, characters, behaviors, statements, utterances and overall attitude toward the elections demonstrate no evidence of Godliness as either Christians or Moslems who read Bible and Koran respectively.
The rate of desperation to remain in power by those already there and those who want to lay hands on power show no signs that these politicians actually know God. The level of greed among them are terribly dangerous. There is no sign of contentment among them. If not, why should some people go for third term, fourth term or even fifth term in office in a developing country like Nigeria?.
There are people who have consistently held elective positions since the return of democracy in the country in 1999 and yet they have come out to run for another in 2015. Is such positions your birthright? Why for goodness sake should somebody who consecutively served in Federal House of Reps for good eight years, served as governor of a state for another good eight years set his eyes on the senate? It is pure greed and unacceptable in a growing country.
Why should some people who have tested power for sixteen years in a row aspire to go back instead of sitting back to serve as mentors and advisers to the developing generation? Must you be president? No, of course you must not be especially when the atmosphere is not disposed to your favor. People should endeavor to be contented with what they are and what they have especially those who have been massively blessed by this country.
In a bid to defend their greedy interest to remain in power, they say that their political experiences are needed in the system. But is that enough reason? Not at all. We have seen people who had no political experience before being elected as governor and they performed well in office. Former governor of Anambra state Mr Peter Obi is an example of this. Obi had no experience in politics before he was elected as governor but he did very well in office.
We can borrow from their experiences as mentors and advisers and not allow them to continue to sit tight and recycle from one elective post to another. It is not acceptable to observe that virtually all the holders of elective offices in the entire country are in the race either to retain their offices or recycle from governor to senate, Senate to governor or from State Assembly to National Assembly.
We are aware that in civilized democracy like the United States of America, people stay long in office as legislators but the truth of the matter is that we are yet to reach to that level. People who have tested power should allow others the opportunity to run for election and be elected.
People like Senator Mike Ajegbo who declined to run for senate after just one tenure 1999-2003 and Hon. Okwudili Uzoka who declined to run for third term after serving two in the federal house of reps 1999-2007 have to be copied and emulated.
People are worried at the high rate of desperation with which these sit tight politicians are seeking to remain in power. With so much money they are ready to go extra miles to manipulate their way through at the polls to get favorable results as winners of elections come rain or shine.
An average Nigerian, who is politically aware, is pessimistic of the forthcoming election because of the way these desperate politicians are going about their interests. There is fear of rigging and outbreak of violence like what happened in some parts of the North in 2011. But God forbid.
And for God to forbid such ugly development, religious leaders in the country have to rise up to the occasion to check the excesses of these politicians ahead of time. It is obvious that some of the religious leaders are interested only in what they can gain from politicians. They are not interested in preaching the message of contentment, sacrifice and given chance to others after spending some time like Senator Ajegbo and Hon. Uzoka.
Religious leaders should rise up to the occasion to enforce the message of life after death, message of vanity upon vanity to these power hungry politicians and message of righteousness not supporting their desperate interest with the aim of getting money from them to build church or mosque or school.
A good religious leader cannot be determined by the number of buildings he put in place as church or school but by his ability to convert people into contentment and righteousness of God, making them to discover a place that is far more better than the earth and avoid greed, corruption and sit tight syndrome.
Religious leaders should device means with immediate effect to make impact on the Nigeria system at this point in time by challenging these politicians on the danger surrounding their aspirations to remain in power by all means and by so doing they will be living up expectation of the people of this country who massively believe in their abilities to turn things around.
The message of contentment should also be extended to other stakeholders like security and judiciary operatives.Yes it is high time for the large religious bodies in Nigeria to rise and make a strong case and strong move to effective deal with the Nigeria situation to the glory of God.
People have it on view that Boko Haram is thriving because religious groups are yet to wage a strong case against them before God in Prayers. Boko Haram are not stronger than King Pharaoh of Egypt and his soldiers who were drowned in the Red Sea.
Some Christians have the revelation that Africa has been called as God’s battle axe for global evangelism with Nigeria as the trigger. This revelation simply indicates that Nigeria churches have a serious assignment for God. And like them say charity begins at home. Nigerian Churches, therefore, should rise up to trigger revolution against corruption, Boko Haram, election failure, election violence and against any attempt to divide the country by agents of the devil.
Theo Rays Ejikeme, a religious analyst writes from Onitsha.
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