For God and politics

Whoever said religion is the opium of the masses must have been
thinking about Nigerians. Religion is the one thing that destroys
rationality faster than an ice cube on a hot toaster and this why most
democratically inclined nations try to keep God and government apart.
Nigeria, the home of churches and mosques which sit astride side by
side, states simply and with rare precision in Section 10 of the 1999
Constitution that “the Government of the Federation or of a State
shall not adopt any religion as State Religion”.

Our federal and state governments have been repeatedly blessed by
self-acclaimed men of God, so although we have no state religion, we
supposedly have God’s chosen people working amongst us. Somehow
though, we have been exalted with being at the bottom of every human
and social development index. It is hard to imagine how much worse
things could be if these men were not so consecrated.

Slowly but surely, since the zoning argument for PDP failed, the April
elections have swung to being a little bit about religion (even though
no one will admit it). For over a year, President Jonathan has been
the acclaimed chosen one to rule Nigeria – placed against all odds in
one of the most powerful positions in the country. His story is the
stuff on which drinking myths are spun. The quiet, unknown deputy to
the only state governor impeached and removed for corruption during
the Obasanjo administration, he becomes Governor of Bayelsa. Then he
is selected out of many eager volunteers to become the unthreatening
vice president to the ailing presidential candidate, Alhaji Umaru Musa
Yar’adua. It must have been surreal to everyone close to him. What I
remember most vividly about those first few months of the Yar’adua
administration was how surprised and even startled Vice President
Goodluck Jonathan looked in all the pictures…it was almost like he
could not believe where he was. And then barely two years later,
President Yar’adua dies and against all plots, schemes and sincere
conniving, the vice president becomes the president. It is easy to
understand why people might consider him the one anointed.

However, there are several problems with self anointment and the
inclusion of religion in politics. The first is that anyone can claim
to be anointed. You do not need any specific qualifications or ideas
or even a patent – you can just say you have been chosen to lead and
there isn’t much that can be said about that. But what does it say
about us as a nation that we welcome or listen to politicians who say
they are the chosen ones? Nigeria is in such dire straits that it is
forgivable to think the solutions lie in a miracle but it is unlikely
that one man can wave a wand and solve our problems; but tell that to
the pastors, reverends and people who have proclaimed that all our
troubles will be solved once President Jonathan is re-elected.


The second is that religion dictates the acceptability and suitability
of our political candidates but not our assessment of their
capabilities. We all know that in Nigeria the winning ticket for the
presidential elections must have a Christian and a Muslim. And no,
Abiola-Kingibe is not the exception because they were never sworn in
and it was never intended that they would be. It is not about how
good the president and vice president can be or have been in their
public and private lives – it matters more if they are the right
religion.

The third problem is that religion provides ‘winning’ candidates with
the cloak of inevitability and prevents us from asking what winning
really is. The mosques and the churches are loud with discussions and
sermons about God and politics. The Pastor says ‘when God says yes,
nobody can say no’. The Imam says ‘when God says a person will achieve
something or get something, nobody, repeat, nobody can do anything to
change it’. These are messages for winners and losers alike. Even when
you cheat, steal and kill – it matters not if you win because winning
is everything and everyone, including God, loves winners. And if you
lose? Well, even if you are a saint who has done absolutely nothing
wrong other than being born a Nigerian, you are on your own because
nobody loves a loser.

Fourth, religion is an effective mask to cover up everything bad under
the sun because at the end of the day no one knows the mind of another
except they ‘display’ it with their actions. Which is why in corrupt
ministries, departments and agencies around the country, the employees
make a show of piety. Opening prayer before we share the contracts and
squander the money meant for Nigerians and closing prayers to protect
us and our loot as we ride through the electricity deprived streets
and slums that line the road to our mansions. Meanwhile mosques and
churches shamelessly reserve the front rows and seats for these same
people; making it clear that our practice of religion is not to uplift
and inspire us but to deceive us and keep us docile (except when we
are needed for so-called ‘religious crisis’).

And finally, the fifth problem is that religion as practiced in
Nigeria strips us of responsibility. We, as a people, can fold our
arms and do absolutely nothing and then we say ‘God is in control’.
God has given man reason for a purpose; he has given us great skills
and intellect to help our communities and ourselves yet we abdicate
all obligation. Months ago before the ‘God for Jonathan’ campaigns
started in earnest journalists asked the same ex-president Obasanjo
who was responsible for foisting Yar’adua on us as President, “on
2011, where do you stand? Are you for Jonathan, IBB, Atiku or Gusau?”
And Obasanjo’s response: “I stand where God stands”.
This is the man who is responsible for most of the political
dysfunction and the most criminal elections we have ever held in
Nigeria so far (2007). This is a man who is responsible for
manipulating the primaries in his home state, Ogun. And this is a man
who is using the same battle cry he used in 2007 saying the 2011
elections are a ‘do-or-die affair’. And this is a man who stands where
God stands?

Let us beware of politicians who mention God all the time when we live
in a godless society. Let us beware of pastors, priests and imams who
endorse politicians and most of all let us beware of our own
susceptibilities which might make us believe these people even against
all the evidence around us. The 2011 election is the opportunity to
make rational and logical choices about where we go as a nation and
while we pray in private for God’s guidance, we must not abdicate our
responsibility and let self proclaimed anointed ones steal the
elections and continue to rob generations of a decent future in
Nigeria.