The thousands of “Amen” that followed the prayer were disturbing as I scrolled up to ensure I saw the prayer right. Now, the Danfo conveying me and other passengers headed for the bridge that led to the mainland that busy evening. The moment was a very hectic one for me, considering the conventional lies of a typical Lagos conductor who would chant “one more passenger”, where actually eight more are needed to fill up the bus, then to the indiscriminate hooting of the vehicles. Soon, the thought of the moment was overtaken by the knowledge of having to wake as early as 4:am the following morning to queue with other athletes in the race of life, to the realization that I would one day tell my unborn children that the traffic congestion in Lagos also has its share of some precious moments of my life. It goes on and on. This is Lagos or maybe Nigeria is more apt.

As expected, the bus halted after moving for few seconds due to the traffic congestion. Right on my left shoulder, her head sought solace as the old woman was forced by nature to have a rhythmic snore in the hot danfo. While some passengers saw the moment as an avenue to discuss the regularity or otherwise of the Ekiti election, some were staring at my newly adopted “danfo mother” who would probably not prefer a better resting place to my left shoulder. Some were quick to launch offensive statements at the government of the day for their personal woes; the others were the mute type. Ordinarily, I should have been in the class of the mute ones but I was not, although I was silent but a lot was going through my mind. Who is the poor old woman by my side? Where does she live? What about her children? Why would she be working at her age or perhaps where was she coming from at 9pm in the night? When no answer appeared to be coming, I concentrated on my phone and now the “Amen” comments were almost thirty seven thousand in less than twenty minutes and I was wondering what would happen to America if thirty seven thousand Nigerians eventually travelled down there only in the month of June as the pastor prayed.

This is Nigeria, big people, great nation. This is Nigeria where we believe so much in the existence of a Supreme Being that we expect Him to do the smallest of things for us, we expect Him to put our breakfast on the table, join us in plotting the downfall of our perceived enemy and even bring down our boss to get us promoted. The list continues. It is not limited to any religion; the two dominant religions share it. If you can take the pain to go close to some Nigerians, be it a Christian or a Muslim and hear what they demand God to do all in the name of prayers, you may be standing trial for murder if you are the short tempered type. These people are worse than the problem of Nigeria itself, they cannot strike a balance between God and a common magician commanding the presence of trivial things and creating illusion through a magic wand. To them, they stand to show the magnificence of the Omnipotent by calling on Him for everything even without making an effort. It is the doctrine and habit of a person blended in the existence of God to commit all his doings to God’s hands but this category of believers are different. They want a good job, but they will neither apply for any nor strive to meet the requirements, they want a better Nigeria but they will neither perform their civic responsibilities nor obey the laws of the land but they can break laws and inflict injuries to get to a religious gathering on time. They are the leaders, they bow before every Pastor and Imam to be blessed to be a successful leader, but they will never consider the interests of the followers. How pathetic are the children of the sleeping god!

On January 1st 2014, while scrolling down my Facebook page to observe posts and comments of my friends, I came across an update of a popular church where the pastor prayed against unemployment, inconsiderate government policies, violence and poverty. In less than an hour, thousands of Amen followed the post. I am sure of one thing; among those Amen chanters, some wanted unemployment to be a past thing in their life but they neither have the academic requirements nor engage in any menial labour; some want violence to get eroded away from our nation, but he will still punch several people on the face for trivial issues after typing that Amen, the affluent among the Amen singers are close to the Government. In fact, they are given the duty of executing some of the harsh policies-they will not tell the Government the policies are villainous or inconsiderate but they will type Amen on the social networks and yell same in the places of worship. They are ready to shout Amen to prayers against bad governance and lose their voices in the process, yet they will rather exchange their votes for bags of rice instead of voting to achieve good governance. They are the children of the sleeping god!

Again, few days back, I came across another post by a pastor who prayed that anybody that types Amen would not labour to succeed, he further said they shall not strive to make it. The pastor forgot, he forgot that before the green grasses become adorable in our sights, the seed was buried under the soil; the seed was denied seeing the light, but it endured the hard moment and eventually blooms. He forgot that before the sun radiates to beautify the day, it took it the patience to plan and wait for the moon throughout the night. He forgot that before the world came to existence, it took God six days to work it out. He forgot that magical successes are best appreciated in teenager’s novel. He forgot that the road to success is full of roughs, curves and toughs. The pastor forgot; he forgot that for the sea to flow, water molecules must accelerate under the influence of a force. A true Christian or Muslim understands this, but the children of the sleeping god do not.

Neither the Bible nor the Quran preaches a magical style of doctrine or the type that calls on God to leave serious minded people and make a lazy sleeper and hypocrite wake to a fulfilled world. The models in both religions were noted for hard work, focus and determination. I wonder who started the abuse of Amen and how majority got infected. It is not uncharacteristic to call on God to help after one has played his part. A jobless man cannot wake one morning to be offered appointment in a firm he neither applied to nor show interest in working for. Such can only happen if he did the required before going to bed. No amount of shouting of Amen would move God to help a man who does not deserve one. God is neither blind nor deaf, so the shout of Amen to me nears an insult to his person than a prayer we take it to be. As a matter of fact, it suffices to think it, and leave him to do it, as long as we have what it takes to get it. By shouting that Amen, by indication, one is either talking to a deaf god or a sleeping one. God hears the most silent of whispers and even the thoughts of the heart. It is only the sleeping God that needs to be attracted by noise and not the all sufficient Creator we are all in awe of.

Hidentity is an African.

Nice piece.... true words!

...nigerians are lost!

Hmmm. Children of an imaginary god...!!!

I once collected a pamphlet from one winners member and read a shocking testimony of one brother who didn't apply for any job buh was consistent in their worship sessions, sowed a seed and.. voila.. received a call from one nameless multinational company and is now earning 8figures. for the record, .... i don't believe such poo.. i know a lie when i see one. nice writeup bro. d gods have their business, we have ours. DO yours and let the gods do theirs