Nigeria, one of the most sophisticated country on planet earth. A country so diverse that even within one community in a local government area, there are people and tribes who see themselves as majority and see others as minority. The diversity doesn’t stop there, in fact that is the least of it. Inarguably, the greatest weakness of the Nigerian people is diversity, videlicet religion, tribe, ethnic group and so on. More so, there are tribes that are perceived as being more prominent than the others. The list isn’t just going to end! The diversity leads to one struggle or the other, and how can a country grow amidst struggles?

However, the Nigerian populace have also successfully managed to make religion a weakness. There is always a struggle of superiority between the two most prominent religions (Islam and Christianity) in the country. The politicians always use this as a leverage. They capitalize on it at the slightest chance they get. Well, who would blame them? They know how gullible most of the populace are. And to catch a thief, you have to act like one. The moment the religion card has been played and the politicians have achieved their goals, they forget about the people that was played to get to wherever they are, and they start to think they are doing us a favour by being our leader.

In places where a particular religion is dominant, the other cry foul, telling the whole country they have been marginalized. The federal government observe the struggle as it enfolds every day, instead of them to take a neutral stand and remain unbiased, they can’t, because they know how they played their way to the top. Anyways, it’s a win-win situation for them. They know how to press repeat when it’s election’s time.

The on-going senseless and inhumane attacks in Southern Kaduna has already put the leaders of the two religions and the politicians alike at loggerhead, thus turning the ever sensitive country into a state of turmoil, and giving the opposition another thing to put on their to-do list for the campaign of the next general election. The controversy is the talk of the town: how the current government is trying to Islamize the country, how the Christians should fight back to avoid that from happening, how the governor of the state is funding the Fulani Herdsmen. With all the recent happenings in Southern Kaduna, can one really disagree with these allegations?

My plea is for us to be rational and logical as Nigerians, for how long are we going to allow these people to keep using the gullibility of the masses against us? How come we fail to see that the killings in Southern Kaduna is against humanity as a whole? Or are we going to say that 100% of the people living in Southern Kaduna are Christians? What about other people from other religions living there? Are we less bothered about them because it doesn’t suit our narratives? During the peak of Boko Haram menace, some people were crying foul, saying the Former President was trying to reduce the population of the North by being nonchalant to their attacks so that the Majority Christian South can take over the country. Now, we are treading that part again. Instead of calling the government of the day to order and making them responsible for the damages being done there, we have found a way to exonerate them and turn it to a power struggle by calling for violence against a group of people or another. Wars doesn’t determine who is right, it determines who is left. I’m sure we all don’t want wars, we are just electronic-warriors trying to be heard.

It’s high time our leaders realized they are there to govern and protect the people. It’s pathetic seeing the government of the day making the same mistake the past administration made. If we don’t stand up as one and speak up against their incompetency in protecting the good people of this country, it’s not going to stop. Who knows whose turn it is tomorrow? Let us unify and stop being hypocritical. Nigerians should understand that the nationality of this country is not built on a particular ethnic or religious group, therefore, learning to accommodate one another means we have to address all issues as one. However, the accusations and counter-accusations from these religious bodies should be put to rest because they are truly unhealthy to our cooperate existence. Nigeria belongs to neither the Christians alone nor to the Muslims alone. Let us learn to love, cherish and accommodate one another.

God bless The Federal Republic of Nigeria!

Ridwan Abd'Mumeen writes from Lagos.

SOURCE: http://itzrealone..com.ng/2017/02/nigeria-and-hypocrisy-of-her-citizen.html?spref=tw
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