Okenyi Kenechi
Jesus chased merchants who sold items away from the synagogue. Who will chase away Nigerian pastors hawking fake ‘blessings’ and fake protective bangles, stickers, handkerchiefs and fake motivational books from the church that they built with looted funds donated by corrupt politicians and the deceived members of the public who pay tithes?
In my essay ‘The Bandits’ I wrote that to absolve the Nigerian Church and Islam from the moral decadence that has stunted our national growth and development, is akin to doing violence to common sense. It is, to say the least, impossible.
If you think that it is not the responsibility of the church to build schools and hospitals but mega church auditoriums; if you think that you owe yourself a responsibility to donate to a church for the construction of an auditorium and not to a cancer research centre; if you think that the building of schools is the responsibility of the government alone while building churches is your responsibility, I wonder which church or prayers will save you when you have cancer. I also wonder which church will save you from the ignorance of self-harm.
A politician or a government contractor donates 100 million to a church. 100 youths in his Constituency are looking for 1 million each to buy equipment to enhance their skills. Since they can’t get the money, they go into kidnapping and armed robbery. Politician cuts the funds meant for the general hospital and schools to fortify his security. That is after donating 100 million to a pastor for protection. The pastor also uses half of the money donated by the politician to fortify his security. The other half is for the church building.
On Sunday, he emotionally manipulates the rest of the members to pay tithe. He uses the Bible to justify his hustle. He says that if you don’t pay tithe, you will remain poor. Someone who earns 10 000 in Buhari’s Nigeria, gives pastor 1000 and goes home to cry from hunger.
The 100 youths who are now into armed robbery would have used the money to improve and employ at least two persons each. That is 300 persons feeding comfortable from a government empowerment program that landed in the hands of the church of which the pastor will use to build an auditorium for casting and binding of the devil that is within.
The money cut from the hospital, the doctors go on strike. Some leave the country. You have malaria, no hospital to treat you. The private hospitals are expensive. You don’t even know the ones that are quarks. You die. Your village people are blamed.
The early missionaries came to Nigeria with their bibles, books and syringes. These schools and hospitals left to their Nigerian successors are nothing but shadows of their original selves. The only thing that matters now is how big the church auditorium is.
Does God live inside the church or in the heart?
I am from Nsukka and I can tell you that the easiest way to die is to visit Bishop Shanahan Hospital. That hospital was the pride of the zone in the 70s according to the oral account of emeritus Prof Christopher Nwodo. But the same St Theresa’s cathedral has been building one of the largest cathedral auditoria in Nigeria since 1988. I repeat — 1988.
The money dumped there would build a mini-University.
Prayers from pastors can’t even save you from malaria. Malaria kills more people in Nigeria than HIV aids yet we have churches everywhere.
90 per cent of our problems are not due to lack of prayers but lack of basic facilities that will make us look more humanely.
The politicians have failed, no doubt. The so-called religious leaders who are supposed to be the moral compass of the society and ensure that politicians do not stray causes have joined them in bed.
Did you see the calibre of personalities during the launching of the biggest church auditorium in Abuja yesterday?
Nigerian doctors are leaving the country in droves because of poor working conditions but the working conditions of the churches are getting better with increased facilities. This has become our new national philosophy.
Your pastor and politician will hop on the next available jet to treat a mere headache in a German, Saudi or Dubai hospital.
But you, small malaria breeze and you are dead and your relatives will start blaming imaginary village people.
Let me tell you something, and for free! Nobody blames village people in Denmark, Sweden, Canada etc. Science defines everything there. Or do you hear of polio, malaria, Lassa fever decimating millions in the above-mentioned countries?
Your village people are bad because Nigerian institutions, facilities are not working.
I am not against going to church. I am against putting religion first before national growth and development.
We are only religious and not Godly or Godlike.
