(By Okenyi Kenechi) – I have
never seen a dilapidated church. I have seen hundreds of dilapidated schools.
In my home town, the schools
are rotting away while church buildings are growing bigger. No industries, just
churches.
I once told someone that if the
churches in Port Harcourt were to be transformed into industries, unemployment
will vanish within one year and crime will be brought to a screeching halt. He
agreed.
Truth is, if a politician asks
a certain village what they will prefer to be built for them, chances that they
will chose a church will be higher.
Doubt me? Gitto in a bid to
show appreciation to former president Goodluck Jonathan, asked him to chose one
thing they will build for his village people and he chose a church. I don't
know if there are world class hospitals in Otuoke or standard schools but he
chose a church.
I also know that the former
governor, DSP Alameiseiya died on the way while being ferried to UPTH when he
had a heart attack. In the whole of Bayelsa, no hospital could handle emergency
situations.
In Abonnema on Wednesday, a
young man shot by soldiers attached to the area died on the way to UPTH.
Follow East-West road to
Bayelsa and Warri. If you happen to have an accident on that road stretch, the
nearest hospital is UPTH and chances of survival is narrow. The road is bad.
But there are hundreds of churches along that road yet kidnapping and rape,
killing etc is the order of the day.
From Port to Aba, you only find
casket companies along the road. If you happen to have an accident. You will be
ferried to those casket companies for swift burial. Yet churches litter
everywhere. What are we even talking about?
Buhari runs to mosques on
Friday and run straight to London hospital on Saturday. Are we normal?
Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy
president of the Senate invited Presidents, ministers, Senators etc to the
opening of an Anglican Church he built for his village people. Schools there
are in tatters.
Vita Abah, former PDP chairman
in Enugu built a gigantic Church in his village. Community secondary school Ede
Oballa is nothing but an eyesore. His children are abroad.
In the North, a governor once
used 600 million naira to hire prayer warriors and imams to pray against boko
Haram attacks. The same state had disease outbreaks that led to multiple
deaths.
In the same North, Governors
spend millions on recitation of religious texts while the schools are dying.
They also spend millions on emirs and imams. One reportedly bought a 600
million naira house for the sultan of Sokoto in Abuja earlier this year. He is
among those saying that he can't pay 30k minimum wage. Imagine the nonsense.
This is in a country where
teachers are paid peanuts. But they all have one thing in common: all their
children are schooling abroad while they make sure yours go to church every
day.
Go to your village and see if
the biggest buildings there are not religious houses. How does a nation develop
without the education of the citizens? Education is empowerment. It opens
doors. An educated mind is a liberated mind. A religious mind is a shackled
mind. Or didn't you read of the attack inside Nigeria Law School because someone
felt someone abused Mohammed? In Sokoto, I saw it first hand.
The truth is: if I become the
president of this country one day, I will ban religious activities in the
schools. No religious houses will be found in university campuses. I schooled
in University of Port Harcourt and I know how students' church activities
distract academic activities.
In this same country,
government pay hugely for people to go Mecca and Medina to stone the Devil and to
Jerusalem to talk to the Wall. How much development has that brought us? How
has that reduced religious tension in the country? Only an unwise person will
not see how our government is dashing money to other countries through these
journeys. The government has no business funding it but this is Nigeria.
This is same country that has
never met the UNESCO prescribed 26% annual budget for education.
You see! I am not against
anyone fighting for the church but how the church has benefited the country
should be a topic for rigorous academic exercise.
A nation that cannot educate
its citizens is a rogue country. A nation that pays more attention to religion
instead of all round education of her citizens is a rogue and mediocre nation.
If you want to truly understand
the politicisation of religion in Nigeria, watch how they never utter a word
against misrule in Nigeria. If they talk, politicians will stop donating money
to them abi you think that it is your 5000 tithe that built the largest church
auditorium in Nigeria?
Nigerians are opening churches
while Chinese, Lebanese etc run our economy.
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