DOES NIGERIA TRULY NEED PRAYERS?
OF COURSE, WE DO!
Too much of everything is good – save for prayers – ANON
Once – on a sunny morning – during my
secondary school days, I met a man – old, but educated – at a local restaurant
behind my school. My going to the restaurant on the said day was illegal on two
grounds – one, it was during school hour, and two, the route to the place was
banned for use by the school management. But, whether the food was charmed or
the aroma was irresistible, students would always crowd the place to fill their
stomach, in fact, before filling school register. Most importantly, however, I was
there, and I met this man. No, I heard this man.
This sparsely old man was just like any
regular old retiree who would become regular analysts at newspaper stands, just
that he has chosen home instead. One thing that keeps this man in my memories
was a remark he made on this day. When, jokingly, the mama put asked for his opinion on a then trending issue, he
remarked; I no longer listen to news, too
many sad stories these days, and I’m scared to listen. Although I finished
up my food satisfyingly, the man’s remarks stuck still, because he was right –
too much of sad news. Then, it was about the Sokka Kidnappings, Bokoharam
insurgents…
Nigeria is like a story – a plot – that
keeps unfolding with events, just that these events are a repetition of self.
For years, the country has been gyrating back and forth on the grounds of
failure, ranging from losing world cup to the prevalence of corruption, to
insecurity, to underdevelopment and poverty, despite her being replete with
natural resources, and now to avoidable killings and tragedies. The loss of lives in these past days has been
alarming so much so that any unconcerned person would now be woke. From the
plateau killings to the petrol tanker accident, many lives have been forced to
early reunion with their creator. Yet, we ask, does Nigeria need prayers? Any
patriot would answer in the affirmative.
Before
anyone jumps from a 10 storey building of impatience into the pool of
conclusion, let it be clear that today, we are not asking whether Nigerians
need only prayers, but whether prayers are needed at all. My lords, the role of
prayers cannot be downplayed in solving problems as complicated as that of
Nigeria. As such, it is paramount to ask, have we been praying? No I don’t
think so. Although Nigeria brims with mosques, churches and other places of
worship, the true essence of prayer is not entrenched within the citizenry. A
prayer is defined, according to dictionary.com, as a devout petition to God or
an object of worship. The import of devout, here, shows that a prayer is not
one where true and deep commitment is not invested. It is not just about throwing
heads and arms in churches or garnishing oneself in beautiful jalamias on Fridays; prayer is a thing
of the mind – a thing of commitment. This one thing, Nigerians lack.
The number of churches and mosques in
Nigeria are recorded to be more the schools we have, showing how seemingly
religious Nigerians are. Yet, Nigeria is one of the least safe countries to
live, as reported by Daily times. The perpetrators of these evils go to
churches and mosques too, the officers who allow non-motorable tankers move
around are part of us, and the government that fails to address insurgent
groups constitute religious members as well. My lords, is God alive? Yes, are
we praying? No – because prayer is not one when not complemented by
corresponding actions. You cannot ask for yam, when you plant onions.
More than ever before, Nigeria needs prayers. And this is
not to say that we have not been praying, rather to underline the need to pray
more fervently. It should be noted that although Nigeria reeks with many
tragedies, we are not totally ripped apart by wars. When compared to some other
countries, Nigeria is relatively manageable. This is not only because certain
people are taking actions to ensure the country moves forward, it is also
because the prayers we have, so far, been saying did manifest. Thus, prayers
have helped, they can help, and if more religiously practised, they would help
the more.
In the end, whatever action
we ask of Nigerians to supposedly replace prayers, they are valid so long they
are reasonable. However, they can only work alongside prayers. They cannot take
its place, as prayer is in itself a form of action. Too much of other things
may be bad, but not prayer, my lords – not prayer. So, once again – pray for
Nigeria, and act your prayers. Prayers is like GodPrayer alongside other
actions.
 |
WAIT…HAVEN’T WE BEEN PRAYING?
“…Verily, God does not
change a people’s lot unless they change what is in their hearts.” (Qur’an 13,
Suratur-Rad, Verse 11)
This
past week, a picture of the President and his comment on the recent horrors
pinning the back of the nation to the wall stole the attention of habitants of
the internet. The graphic carried the insignia of the Guardian Newspaper and in
it, the picture of the President was moderately splashed. Bespectacled and
decked on his trademark well-starched patterned cap, the President’s wrinkled
cheek ran diagonal race to form a conical (and maybe comical too!) shape with
his about-to-speak mouth. There, he, reportedly, said: “Nobody can say we
haven’t done well in terms of security; we have done our best. But the way the
situation is now, we have to pray. Pray – this is where I’m going.
The
President asks us to pray. But do we need to pray truly? Are the ugly scenes
and the horrific situations been splashed on our national dailies and social
media treads as a result of our failure to pray? Your Honour, we need not look
too far, ours is a nation where when we say “men of God” we meant “god of men”.
Ours is a nation where celebrating completion of a multimillion naira church
building is darer to us than breathing life into our schools on life support.
Ours is a nation where the number of worship centres outrightly outnumbers that
of schools and health centres. In essence, we have been praying. What we have
not been doing is working. And the latter is what we need – not the former
which is already in excess.
Of
course, I’m not downplaying the God factor in the equation of things. I think I
have not lost my senses to do that. Your Honour, all I’m saying is that we may
pray but we must have done our assignments well enough before we look forward
to fallen manna from heaven. Call it cliché; heaven hasn’t stopped helping
those who help themselves. And, see, it is clear, great things are not done by
impulse; they are done by showing up, doing the needful and giving great deal
of effort.
In
fact, the statement of the President and his ilk schooled in that school of
thought – of which my co-Scribe belongs – is on slanted lane of thinking and it
is a hypocritically postured. Would my co-Scribe because of a poor grade
resolve to prayers when he hasn’t done the needed reading he ought to do and
expect to have a better grade? Of course, not. And if he does, you know what?
He will have a poorer grade. Why didn’t the President himself bank on prayers
to treat himself when he took ill for more than 100 days? If he had, he
probably would have sipped the last straw of breath into his nostrils! Prayer
works where work is in motion.
Moving
a step further, some nations of the world have shown that prayers are not what
Nigeria need. In a survey conducted by WIN/Gallup International Poll and
published by The Independent, China, Japan, France, Czech Republic, Australia,
Iceland are the top six countries in the world with the most ‘convinced atheists’.
Surprisingly, all except China and Czech Republic are among the top 23 most
peaceful country. Also, all 6, save for China and France, are among the 13
least corrupt nations! Have you now seen?
In
our case the indexes are not favouring us. In the 2017 Corruption Perception
Index, Nigeria is ranked 148th least corrupt country. We sit around the tail of
Press Freedom ladder at 119th of 180. This year, Nigeria’s budget to education
is only a paltry 7.07% of the nation’s total N8.612 trillion while 26% should
be our benchmark. Our health sector is in itself in need of medical aid. Yet
the President says “the way the situation is now, we have to pray”? Come on, is
he joking or what?
Coasting home, prayers are not all that we
need; we need players. Yes, players. We need economic players who have the
wherewithal to form a formidable defensive line against any economic downturn.
We need shrewd political players who are not clueless on the running of
governance, those who have an eye for goal and can dribble their way past any
impending turmoil. What we need is not building megachurches or megamosques;
what we need is strengthening our institutions – making them a place where
love, equity, fairness and justice is ingrained in the DNA of all Nigerians.
Your Honour, that is what we need: players – not prayers. I take a bow.
CONCLUSION: This column is about you; it presents the two
sides of a case courtesy of two writers from different schools of thought. “Audi
alterampartem” means hear the other side before passing your judgment.
Take the gavel, make your decision and slam because you are the judge in this
courtroom. You can also vote for the
scribe whose argument you adjudge better by using the vote toggle on the
website: www.courtroomng.org
DOES NIGERIA TRULY NEED PRAYERS?
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