Why Are Nigerians So Religious?

According to a report by the BBC news in 2004, Nigeria is the most religious nation in the world (Source)

I had a discussion with a dear friend recently and he asked a simple but powerful question 'Why are Nigerians so religious?

In my opinion, there are two main reasons for this, please see below my responses to him, feel free to disagree with me.

       My number one reason is Bad governance and the horrible state of the nation: You might not agree with me but the main reason for our high level of religious activities is bad leadership. The Government has failed us, nothing works, poverty is rife in the land and people feel the need to depend on the ‘supernatural’ for hope of a better life.

 A good example is travelling long distances in Nigeria, it is not uncommon for people to fast and pray for days before embarking on a long distance journey in Nigeria. Why? Roads are bad, drivers are unregulated, cars are not road worthy, insecurity on highways and nothing much is being done about these vices. Let’s assume for a second that all this is taking away and we have good secure roads,  will anyone really need to fast and pray to bind ‘blood sucking demons’ on Nigerian highways? What are the ‘blood sucking demons’? I am sure you will agree with me that I have listed them above. 

Do the people in government think? If the entire population whether employed or unemployed had access to at least food and shelter, what will that guarantee? It guarantees that the security issues in the country will be half solved.  Developed countries have welfare systems in place to cater for citizens; this ensures that no one has to go to bed without food except they choose to by wasting their resources. This doesn't totally eradicate the issue of crime but significantly reduces it. We need to start from somewhere.

When citizens have a better quality of life without the need to worry about the next meal, bad healthcare systems, bad infrastructure, insecurity of lives and property, injustice by employers and in general they feel valued as citizens of a nation, there will be less dependence on religion to solve any problems. Religion is then used for what it is really meant for which is ‘Service to Humanity’ and not for selfish gain or propagating ‘false hopes’ which is the case in Nigeria.

Every Nigerian is vulnerable; no matter your level of wealth or fame: you are vulnerable to armed robbery, accidents due to bad roads, illnesses due to pollution etc. In summary, the vulnerability of the average Nigerian means religious promises are very attractive as it gives hope of a better life and future, when the causes of vulnerability are resolved we start to see a shift in culture.

Re: Nigeria, An Open Letter to Religious Leaders

I will like to say a big thank you to the owners of the following blogs; www.stelladimokokorkus.com, www.diarybyemmy.com and www.misspetitenigeria.blogspot.co.uk for publishing my article ‘Nigeria: An Open Letter to Religious Leaders. I have read all the comments carefully, pondered on them and decided to address all the issues raised.

When I wrote the article, I expected a lot more lashing than I got, I am very aware that Nigerians and religion are intertwined and I joked to myself that if I survive this, it is meant to be.

I was pleasantly surprised by some of the comments and it gave me joy to know that several people understand. A comment from Nkem on Stella’s blog made my day , it summarised my analysis of the whole situation. She said ‘All the writer has done is challenge our mentality! The average Nigerian will not help himself but will wait for God even when God has given him the senses and resources to help himself’. My aim is to challenge our thinking and reasoning, we need to view things more physically and stop assuming everything is spiritual and requires prayers.  Let’s stop being ‘intellectually lazy’ and start being realistic. We need to ‘loosen up spiritually’because MOST situations require us to use our God given intellect to make choices and be responsible for the choices  we make, without laying the blame on spiritual forces.  This is applicable to our personal lives and to Nigeria as a nation. Let’s not go off topic.

Please be aware that I am not asking for religion to be taken away from our country, that is infact impossible as religion is deeply embedded in Nigeria. The point is how can we use it as a positive tool to turn the situation of the country around for good?

Firstly, what can religious leaders do?

Nigeria: An Open Letter to Religious Leaders

Since the recent bombings in Abuja Nigeria, emotions have been running high with so many citizens expressing their anger online and offline. In the midst of it all, I have watched carefully and searched for any statement from religious leaders.

 For two days, I saw nothing except from a certain Pastor that claims to have prophesied the incident. That was not going to help in anyway so I ignored that and kept on searching. Finally, after two days the President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Orisetjafor released a statement; how happy was I? but after reading it, I must confess I have been left deflated and disappointed. He didn't suggest any solutions to the Boko Haram issue but simply condemned the act and placed a curse on the perpetrators. Whether that will solve our immediate problems is left for you to decide depending on your belief.

Since the unfortunate incident happened on Monday, I have seen comments from several religious Nigerians online, these comments include: ‘pray for Nigeria’, ‘let’s keep praying for Nigeria’, ‘don’t stop praying for Nigeria’ and the most disturbing for me came from IK Osakioduwa of Rhythm FM suggesting that the issue of Boko Haram is spiritual and we need to intensify our prayers. If I may ask, are we the only nation in the world? Why has the devil chosen Nigeria? Is the issue of epileptic power supply spiritual? the issue of bad roads, spiritual? the issue of insecurity?  how about the issue of corruption and missing funds? and the educational sector? unemployment? NIS recruitment tragedy?  ARE ALL THE ISSUES FACING NIGERIA SPIRITUAL?