I was born in the '80s, in the South Eastern Nigeria and into a Christian (Roman Catholic) family. My family is not only Roman Catholic but, a highly dedicated one.
Over the years, all things considered, I have found out that Nigeria, my country, is being ravaged day after day by an evil many have seen to be a blessing. The evil ravaging Nigeria is pragmatically, Religion. Doubt if it's true or not? Grab a seat, let's take a ride...a long one, surely.
Nigerian population according to the 2006 Population Census is about 170 000 000. The country is sharply divided into the Moslem North and the Christian South, with the North harboring majority of the total population. The 2010 UN report on Nigeria's religionism, holds that 45% of the country's total population are adherents of Islamic religion, while 37% are Christians, with the remaining 18% practicing other religions but mostly Traditional. In Nigeria, there exist three major types of religion; Islam, Christianity and Traditional religion...though there are other tiny groups, whose activities are more or less insignificant.
What actually is religion? Religion, according to the 6th edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary is, the belief in the existence of a god or gods, and the activities that are connected with the worship of them. Karl Marx defined it as the Opium of the masses, and I see it that way. May be you don't.
Christianity, which will form the basis of my argument, is arguably the most modern of all religions and to the best of my knowledge, the religion with the highest number of adherents in our time. It was introduced into our society by the Portuguese. Before the advent of Christianity, our people practiced traditional religion, lived happily in harmony with little or no disorder.
Then, there was nothing like Nigeria. People were identified by the tribe which they came from, not the state or country.
Later, came the European Merchants who for economic interest, tried to penetrate into the hinterlands of our society with force but, were resisted by our people. They found out that it would be nearly impossible to penetrate our society with the use of force, they retreated but, returned for a second missionary journey, using Christianity as the principle element. They came, saw and conquered. When they came, our people gave them the 'evil forests' for settlement and accommodation, with the impression that they were spirits. They had this impression because the white men wore shoes, our people knew nothing like that...they lived bare footed. Since the white men's feet were covered in shoes and cannot be seen, they were spirits. Therefore, they gave them the evil forests with the believe that the evil spirits in the evil forests would destroy them. They were wrong!
What actually are evil forests? Evil forests are those thick forests, which the people found very difficult to harness and exploit. The white men settled and lived there, exploiting our untapped natural resources. Their farms produced the best of yams, cassava, vegetables, etc. because, the lands were highly fertile due to their untapped nature. When our people discovered that the white men overcame the evil forests and that the spirits of their 'so called' evil forests could not destroy them, they saw them as supernatural men...believing every single thing they said. Seeing the gullibility of our people, they introduced their own ideas; social, political and religious and our people accepted them in utmost faith. This is otherwise known as Imperialism. They then started holding classes, where they teach our people the principles of the new religion. Though some resisted but, majority accepted them. With that, they found it easier to penetrate our lands. While our people were busy attending 'conversion classes' held by priests, the merchants went into our lands, exploited our resources and moved them to the sea shores for export as no one would see or stop them.
Ever asked yourself why most Nigerians find it difficult to resist or reject western articles and ideologies but, easily reject anything made in Nigeria? That is the origin of our inferiority complex. We see the whites as superiors in every facet of living.
Christianity grew, flourished and spread to all corners of our society and beyond as one religion with one belief, serving the same God. Years passed, seasons passed, still Christianity remained but, there came modifications. These modifications saw to the creation of sects within the Christendom. These sects then saw and are seeing to the birth of new principles, ideas and beliefs which were never part of the teachings and principles of the originators. This act of invention-cum-rebirth has brought conflicts and war into the organization. These sects have become rivals to one another, fighting for power, population, perimeter, etc. Catholics, for example, see other Christian sects as infidels and vice versa. Inter-sectarian marriages happen only by the 'greatest' grace of God. I remember some verse in the Bible where Jesus Christ's disciples told him that they saw someone casting out demons in his name and they tried to stop him but, he told them that there's nobody who uses his name to cast out demons that will turn around to be against him. He then told them that he that is not against them is for them.
Most times I wonder if the leaders of the Christian sects have ever seen that verse or they deliberately turn a blind eye. They call themselves Christians, which means followers of Christ, yet, they segregate and discriminate amongst themselves. Someone told me someday that except for whoever that will marry her attends her church, she'll not get married because anybody else is an 'unbeliever'.
I keep wondering; you people use the same holy book, worship the same God, follow the teachings of the same Jesus Christ and share common belief...why then the rivalry, the discrimination, what are you fighting for? These questions have remained unanswered and incomprehensible to me. There is Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and at the same time, Association of Pentecostal 'whatever' in Nigeria…for what? Are the Pentecostal churches not part of Christianity or is theirs different?
I once had a girlfriend, she was attending House On The Rock, don't know about now. I was Catholic and I still am. She tried dragging me down to her 'House On The Rock' church times without number but I refused...thanks to my stubborn nature. She would tell me our wedding would not be in Catholic and that she'll never follow me to Catholic..."that's not where my faith is", she would add. I wondered how and why people would put their faith in churches instead of God. I tried to contain the situation, still stood my grounds. One day she told me she was quitting the relationship. One of the principle reasons she gave me was that I refused to leave Catholic for her 'House On The Rock' church despite her immense attempts.
Be that as it may, I am not trying to tell my life story but, to lay bare the canker religion has developed in our society. As a matter of fact, religion has done more harm than good in this country. Every little thing that we are supposed to take care of, we tend to leave it to God. God in turn leaves it to us because, it's out of his area of jurisdiction...and this leaves that particular thing unattended to. That Nigeria is doomed today is because of religion. Not like there is no Christianity in other countries that do well politically and economically. The problem with Nigerian Christians is that they worship their Churches, Pastors and Priests more than they worship God and I think that is the reason why some of the Clergies acquire Private Jets every now and then at the expense of the poor. Private Jet acquisition is currently a contest among Nigerian Pastors. Like I tell my friends, there are two easiest ways through which one can live in affluence in Nigeria...become a politician, or establish a church and exploit even the politicians.
Nigeria is one of the most religious countries in the world but ironically, despite our exploits in religion, we are a people with little godliness, a people with devilish and satanic minds, a people without scruples. It is rare to do business with a Nigerian pastor, priest, deacon, bishop, knight, elder, brother, sister without the person laying landmines of bribes and deception on your path. We call it facilitation fee, processing fee, transport money, financial engineering, deal, or whatever but, if it does not change hands, no show! And when it is amassed, we say it is “God’s blessings.” Some people assume that sleaze is a problem of public functionaries only, but, the private sector seems to be worse than the public sector these days.
One would have assumed that the more churches spring up in every nook and cranny of Nigeria, the higher the morals in our society. It is not so! The situation is that the more religious we get, the baser we become.
As a matter of fact, since over twenty years of my stay in this country, Catholics have always said prayers for Nigeria in distress, daily. People have been saying these prayers years (uncountable) before my birth. Yet, Nigeria has gone from good to worst or may be dead. In fact, I am one of the scholars that have refused to say anymore prayer for Nigeria in distress. I always tell people to stop asking God to do what their leaders or put more aptly, rulers, are supposed to do.
God cannot come down from heaven to construct roads and railways for you, give you uninterrupted power supply or do other things necessary for our economic development. He cannot come down to protest against bad/insane leadership, electoral malpractices because, it is not his duty.
After creation, there was a separation of powers and duties between God and man. Take it or leave it, everyone has a role to play in life and there is no interference between them. So, if one fails to do his duty, it remains like that till the day he realizes it is his duty. God will not change Nigeria, he would only help us in the process of change but, if we do not change Nigeria, it will remain like this...if not worse and we are the only ones at the receiving end. God is in heaven, very comfortable and happy. He will never come down here. India is better today not because God descended from heaven to restructure her, but because she has patriotic and dedicated citizens. Same with Japan, China, Malaysia, etc.
Sometimes I hear Pastors and Priests telling people that God will revolutionize Nigeria someday. Excuse me! Anyone who tells you that is a beautiful liar. The other day some Christ Embassy girl told me that she can never be economically greater than her pastor, she can't use a car when her pastor has none...that it's what they teach them in church. Is that not Internal Colonialism? Now, that in itself is evil and needs to be exorcized because it encourages laziness...denying the society and humanity the inputs required for development. Take for example, tenants who don't live in the same building with their landlord. Their electricity or water gets disconnected because they didn't pay their bills and they wait for their landlord to offset the bills for them. How long do you think they would wait? Eternity, I guess, because it does not affect the landlord in anyway. Wait for him and stay in darkness, don't wait for him and enjoy life. That is how it is between God and us.
I can go on and on and on but, I think these are sufficient, if we are ready for change. These are just about Christianity and Christians. Christianity and other religions especially Islam is nothing to write home about. I think I have done enough preaching and one thing is imminent...Nigeria will definitely sink if we do nothing and continue waiting on God. I rest my case.

Emeka Muoka.