By Rev. Fr. Evans Offor

Nigeria has no historical agreement of any sort before its conjugality; no common creed, or system of beliefs to which all Nigerians subscribed to. The word, Nigeria, was dishonestly invented by an adulterous Flora Shaw in 1914, when most of those claiming to love Nigeria were not even congenital. Consequent upon this unhallowed deal, there has continued to be various and an assortment of frictional and suspecting voices, outrageous indices of ethnicity, religious bad blood, nepotism, marginalization and injustice of extraordinary enormousness.  Our religious sects should at it were, and if we really do have unaffected adherents, should be able to be sufficient to meet the fundamental needs of all peoples of Nigeria. Every religion in Nigeria emphasizes the right way of living, and at times, seems to cuddle as many religious responses as there are human essentials.

They keep convinced sets of documents which are considered as assigning distinctive divine truths which need to be known by our political leaders for salvation and right living, yet all to no avail.  As they deceptively applaud to have been exquisitely adopted and enthused to say the truth and work for the common good, but as adherents do not keep to these truths and injunctions by divine assignments.

As all religions in the world have shown, in their long history incredible predispositions to, espousing rather than discounting other religions and peoples currents which were once considered to be truths and matters of real faith, Nigeria should not be an exception. For instance, the Sermon on the Mount, should help Christians and Muslims in politics to insist on drafting and instigating laws and good actions that will lead to progress of the nation.

They should influence near-perfect leadership and non-violent revolutions. Jesus would have died in pointlessness, if he did not help to his actions based on eternally standardizing the whole life of humanity by the interminable commandment of love. Jesus should play a great part in their lives. His ideals and attitude to life should transmute our attitudes towards our general society. We should hold in higher esteem his high regards and selfless efforts and concern for inner peace of the world based not on profusely robotic or covetous political mendacity, but on self-purification, patronage, love and empathy for all. 

Our mutual philosophy, of all peoples and groups, must be infused with such love of Christ and thoughtfulness of his self-sacrifice, community, adoration, and equivalence of all.  We listen to the Holy Spirit and respectable cryptograph of credence of different religions and the Church, our brashness must change for better.

We must esteem and discern the prized and tactful hush of veneration. Our political beliefs must be deprived of sullenness, meanness and odium. I can see Muslims stop on roads to say a prayer to Allah whom they said begot Mohammed, a prophet of love and justice, equality and equity. Why then do we turn the truth into lies and oppressive. I wonder reasons for going for pilgrimages and mecca, when the so-called JPs and Mallams are not even trying to replicate their masters practices of love and kindness, truth and justice, instead continue to marginalize, oppress, tyrannize and ethicize their subjects.

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Why do we go ahead silencing some ethnic groups and denying rotational presidency or equalization of the political climate. If we have gone to see Jesus historical sights and gone up the Islamic mountain to stone to death the devil, why the infliction of the masses with unstoppable rounds of insecurity, inflation, criminalities, poverty, unemployment, etc. if Jesus and Mohammed were to be alive today, will they be happy with the kind of wicked and ruthless politics some Christian and Islamic politicians are playing. Will some of these players be comfortable to proudly say that they are their followers? Will they be happy to witness avalanches of kidnapped citizens from their schools, even seminarians and Islamic adherents being captured in the centres of their worship? Some girls have been missing for over six years and have been married off to insurgents and the Federal Government could not rescue them. If Jesus and Mohammed were to be around, how would our leaders explain the bloodbath in the country? At least God warned that we should not kill, but we allow people to be massacred by criminals. Will Jesus or Mohammed and their prophets veto people or groups from enjoying their fundamental human rights? What have we learnt from these prophets, international laws, concords and constitutions, especially the UN Declarations and African Charters, etc.? Apart from these elements, have we reasoned why we were born into some religions, especially the major ones, Christianity, Islam and traditional ones.

Tell me one thing we have been able to learn from them. For instance, Christ was going about doing good to people, healing, feeding the hungry and doing all manner of miracles. Okay, now you are a Christian politician, what good have you done to your citizenry since years of selfish service you have cantered exultantly on the annexes of political pecking order. Are you as a religious being say with a former American president, do not always ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

You have been into service for donkey years but you cannot boast of how many cost-effective things you have done for your districts. Are you not using religion as a political channel of insecurity, marginalization and injustice? How many times have religious leaders talked about marginalization, injustice, inequity, nepotism, and oppression of some ethnic groups in this country. How many times have we heard the crying voices of the Sultan, Emirs and Priests condemning these signs of illegitimate principles and projects perpetrated by our adherents? So I want to know which religion, Christianity or Islam, that promotes and encourages criminalities, bad governance, oppression, nepotism, marginalization and human rights violation and assassinations of its worshippers. Which religion does not support freedom, reconciliation, dialogue, forgiveness, and restructuring? How many of our religions have insisted on making our country gloss out in good governance, freedom and respect to all ethnic groups. 

How many times have the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) discussed enslavement of prisoners of conscience, the abandoned issues of CONFAB 2014 and the infamous 3Rs-Reconsruction, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction? Are the Igbo people not building houses and Churches all over the country and promote socio-economic strides. Why their cases should be overlooked by different religions in Nigeria.

How many times have different Islamic Associations condemned injustice, inequity, marginalization and oppression?  Are all religions not meant for establishing peace and love, hope and charity, but here we talk of North and South clashing metamorphoses. I wonder, why Christians and Muslims have continued to be living perpetually like cat and mouse in an unofficial fusion. For example, Christians and non-Muslims are being massacred in the South, and yet we have not heard these Islamic Associations condemn such inanity openly. 

Why can’t these major religions come together to assist these craggily minded political leaders misleading us. Why can’t they call their political rulers and catechize their mundane and bizarre sentiments in order to live above board and be able to afford socio-economic and political solutions to our problems. It is the work of these religious leaders to tell these political rulers to follow the part of affability and integrity. Christian leaders must as a matter of life and death call their Christian politicians to order, while Islamic leaders should do the same with Muslim political players. Keeping quiet and watch these fellows continue to misrule, disorganize and deceive Nigerians will only be an injury to God that we all serve. Religious silence and inaction are our curses and disquiet. They should work for the release of freedom fighters.

• Fr. Offor writes from Enugu