Nigeria: Between Spirituality and Nation Building
Ugo Aliogo, who was at a lecture held to commemorate Nigeria’s 57th independence anniversary in Lagos, reports
It was a huge gathering and the purpose was to commemorate Nigeria’s 57th independence anniversary. The venue was Ebenezer Baptist Church, Lagos. Dr. Tunji Olaopa, Vice Chairman Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP), a think tank dedicated to research and governance and public policy, was the guest lecturer. His task was to dissect the state of the nation using the topic; ‘Ruling in the Affairs of Men: God, Spirituality and Good Governance in Nigeria.’ With a rich profile, which include his spell as Permanent Secretary, federal ministry of communications, where he contributed to fashioning key institutional framework such as the Development of National Public Service Reform Strategy and the Conception of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) in 2003 and the National Strategy for Public Service Reform (NSPSR) in 2009, Olaopa was good choice for the lecture.
A recipient of many honours and awards, including the 2012 Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Distinguished Public Service Order of Merit Award, Olaopa began the lecture with a deep reflection on issues bordering on the national question, noting that ‘on account of nation building, the country is referred to as a project.”
Olaopa’s view on the term ‘project’ is that it is something not to be interpreted in different dimensions, but the underlying tensions in the polity have made it so.
One of his interpretations of the term is that it is a weak commitment to the entity known as Nigeria by ethnic nationalities who have kept almost intact their deep fears and insidious biases with regard to their future in a fledging federation.
Amidst the various interpretations which he outlined, his stance is positive and logical because of his conviction that Nigeria’s manifold problems are solvable as they are man made.
“The challenges are however confounding only because the core political elites seem to have an incredible misconception of what leadership responsibilities are by dodging in the precipice of a salient dimension. If Nigerians will continue to stay together, they must similarly have honest conversation on the how, the terms and the conditions of continuing co-existence,” he noted.
To buttress his point further, he took an introspective look at the difference between insurgency and religion, his assertion is that there is the classic social dimension where there is a direct proportion of the relationship between the proliferation of churches and mosques to the level of corruption and poverty in the society.
Olaopa argued that when logic is applied to politics and the Nigeria state, it is easy to observe that whereas the country is a secular state, yet her constitutional etiquette and nationalist rituals are religious rhetoric.
He posited thus: “Our national anthem and national pledge contain invocation of God. The 2nd stanza of the national anthem is a direct prayer to God. But it does not seem that we are in spirit and truth willing to allow the God we are calling when we sing the anthem to rule in our affairs.
“The state of politics has become so disagreeable and disturbing that for many, politics is something we do not want to think about yet we wish daily that God should take our nation to the place of greatness.
“Whereas the religions are supposed to be the moral compass, but what do we find? We have religious leaders who have equally joined in that free-for-all corrupt enterprise, as well as those who have turned the pulpits into a business venture in the name of prosperity message and miracle mentality.
“In October 2014, a New York-based online media survey revealed that five of the top 10 richest pastors in the world are Nigerians. While some religious leaders worldwide are serving humanity by providing spiritual and moral guidance to people across religious and social divides, others are becoming suspiciously rich through their churches and investments.”
Olaopa’s final analysis on the subject-matter of religion and politics is that both have not made significant impact in the issue of good governance, “the good that religion and politics ought to have done have been destroyed in the hands of those who ought to know better.”
He said that the politics is too important to be left to politicians all alone; therefore citizens have a role to play instead of complaining about the antics of corrupt politicians.
Despite the myriads of problems facing the country in these trying times, Olaopa posited that there is hope for the country, if public office holders and the citizens are desirous of transformation from the past to a better future.
He argued that Nigerians should first understand that the country’s trajectory to the present predicament is not ingrained in superstition, therefore the fault is “in us as a people irrespective of our social standings. We are morally responsible for most of our failings even if a number of these problems are ingrained in our colonial history.”
He added: “We must start from the basic fundamentals. We must go back to God, purge ourselves so He can use us. We must then bear fruits of the spirit that then supply enablement to overcome the culture of impunity.
“We need to drop the culture of waste that drives corruption among us. We must overcome the virtual lack of fear of God that creates in us a mismatch between what we say with our mouth and what are in our hearts, a culture of religiousity that is bereft of spirituality, an instrumental perception of success in the short-term rather than the long-term or the absence of a culture of deferred gratification.
“Christianity makes no room for crooks and fraudsters. It has no place for those who offer or receive bribe. It has no place for those who would lie and cheat. It is a challenge. The challenge consists in standing as a Christian without what we have dubbed the ‘Nigeria Factor’.
“We need to constantly nurture in ourselves and those coming behind us a sense of history, through critical reflection on how we got to this point as social history and what it will require to salvage it.
“We need to overcome the virtual lack of fear of God that creates in us a mismatch between what we say with our mouth and what are in our heart; a culture of religiosity that is bereft of spirituality; an instrumental perception of success in the short-term rather than the long term or the absence of a culture of deferred gratification, the ‘now and here reward’ mentality that discounts the value of eternal reward.”