Nigerians and the Problem of Religious Surrender Part 1

They gather us into Retreats and tell us to Surrender all.

Excerpt from Something to Believe in: Religious Surrender and the Decline of Problem Solving in Nigeria. Originally posted Nov 10, 2018.

The painfully slow pace of economic and infrastructural development in Nigeria creates a feeling of futility and despondency that pushes its citizens towards the one place that sells endless hope – religious houses. The tougher things get in the society, the more people lean into their religion for succor. It wraps them in a blanket of comfort and grants them a sense of purpose to carry on in the face of hardship.

Unfortunately, because innovation requires an element of intelligent independence, proactive thinking and a great deal of curiosity, this pacifying hope continues to hinder tangible development in the country, as we are told to surrender all to God and he will take care of everything for us. This encourages that tendency to abandon personal responsibility towards our communities and its inhabitants, for a belief in the supernatural, that fosters an atmosphere of complacency and reduces the drive to innovate.

The world is changing fast, with technological advancement in all areas of life, helping to solve simple and complex problems in our world today. Nigeria is the most populous black nation, with access to vast human and natural resources, which its’ so-called leaders have been unable to harness, for the good of everyone in the country. There are Nigerians all over the world getting recognition for their talent and brilliance, largely because they go and fit themselves into societies where the citizens feel a sense of compassion and responsibility towards their fellow humans and have already come together to support each other in building equitable functional communities.

The irony is, a great deal of time and energy is expended in prayer to God every hour, seeking his face and mercy, but the people are unable to look in the faces of their fellow countrymen with compassion, as selfishness and greed rules the day. The citizens are ready to pack up and walk away from the struggle for an egalitarian state, once individual needs are met, which is usually money. The selfish pursuit of money has ruined the nation and brought it to its knees. The rise of prosperity preachers has exacerbated this problem, with their wanton display of wealth and irresponsible promise that everyone can achieve sudden affluence, if they worship, tithe and pray hard enough. 

So, while Nigerians are a hardworking and resourceful people, who are willing to do what it takes to succeed individually, ours is a country lacking direction, unable to solve its problems, because we’re so eager to show we are doing better than the next person, that we’re are yet to figure out (or see how), working together with sustained effort can benefit and uplift everybody. We need to start asking ourselves if we are content to sit and watch the world pass us by, while feeling helpless and endlessly waiting for others to come to our rescue. Our society is highly religious, yet is lacking in morals and integrity. With the massive amount of brain drain from the country; the “powers that be” have a lock on the growth and development of the system because they benefit from the chaos. A people deserve their leaders is a phrase most apt in Nigeria as the citizens have lost concept of “The Common Good”.

Over the last few hundred years, we have become increasingly reluctant and afraid to explore our origins. We denounce our ancestors, belittle and demonize our history, and continue to look to others for validation and solutions to problems we have the capability to take care of by ourselves, if we just learn to trust, listen and work with one another once more.

We aspire to own high-tech gadgets, fly in air planes, drive nice cars and live in a society that is functional, equitable and just, but still carry the belief that these are foreign ideas too abstract for us to develop and achieve for ourselves. We seem to have given up on our possibilities as a society and readily dismiss calls to action, often afraid, reluctant or unaware of the need to ask pertinent questions on issues that affect us. We would rather avoid or ignore truth and reality if it makes us uncomfortable, allowing unsavory characters to drown out the reasonable voices in our midst and destroy the country we call home.

The patience to see through developmental processes, intellectual deliberation, attention to details (that make the whole) and sustained maintenance of public and private systems, is a proven area of failure for us. We have put up communication barriers between community members due to our focus on ‘spiritual battles’, where the next person is seen as more of a stumbling block than a stepping stone and are focused more on the things that separate us than those that bring us together.

We do not hold ourselves accountable and let people get away with crimes against the society, because we surrender legal justice, time and again to God’s will. We’re still helpless in the face of rising dissatisfaction with our country and even when prompted or given the opportunity to make a change, we remain reluctant to contribute ideas or change personal attitudes that could lead to progress, because we assume it would not amount to much. This reluctance has opened up opportunities to a select few, to do with the country what they wish. whilst the rest of us – who could be mobilized as a powerful force for change – desperately look for other countries to run to.

Determination to change and evolve are virtues embraced by any society that is serious about improving the lot of its people. We are, unfortunately, afraid to support dissenters and agitators because we think they will not succeed, without realizing that our lack of support is the very reason for their failure. It is made worse if these agitators do not proclaim to do their work in the name of one religion or the other. We condemn them as unbelievers, even if their ideas, when implemented with the support of the citizens, could give us (within our own country) the kind of life we desire and admire in the countries that we run to.

This is a call to action, a call to rattle those mental cages and break free of the bonds that’s holding us back. If for over 50 years we have been praying and the country continues to deteriorate, then it time to try something else. It is not impossible or beyond our capability!