“IT IS NOT OUR PORTION”, SAYS WHO?
All over the world Nigerians have being ascribed as a people with strong emotional attachments to religion. This affiliation is so glaring to the extent that we see nothing practically offensive to the way we outwardly profess our various faiths. No doubt, it is incontrovertible that religion plays a significant role in the lives of several people all over the world and as such, reinforces the understanding that it is a “programming tool” which helps to shape the way people behave in the society. The number of churches, mosques and spiritual homes in the country underscores how Nigerians align largely with religion. Indeed, in a recent survey conducted by British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC); Nigeria topped other countries by having the highest percentage of people who believe in God yet, the country is rated as one of the most corrupt nation in the world. What a paradox!
In Nigeria, one cannot invalidate the influence of religion in the arrangements of our national lives. The most terrible person professes to be a strong adherent to their religion. It is no news that we have become so fond of misusing scriptural portions and statements to support our “religiosity”. For emphasis, we are in the habit of echoing “it is not our portion”, even to the very things that will eventually turn out to be our portion by reasons of our notorious behaviours, actions and neglect to issues of concerns. This product of hypocrisy is not limited to the citizens alone as national, state and local governments herald their events with prayers to hypocritically commit things into the hands of God but when actually in reality, the outcome of such occasion had been pre-determined by men whose intentions and purposes are far from being rated godly.
Ordinarily, it is not suppose to be an issue talking positive but of a truth, clear instances should reveal that you have laboured adequately to be rewarded with such conception. A situation where we sound out “ it is not our portion” without recourse to whether appropriate efforts were put in place are actually worrisome, incoherent with logic and completely unreasonable. It simply defaults common sense as it is not enough to talk positive; believing expectations will come to pass when in actual sense, the effort put in place is either limited or absent. This basically has to some extent undermined the nation’s advancement simply because each time we exhibit nonchalant to things that are of significance we get in return low standard in education, increase poverty, high rate in unemployment, insecurity and continuous romance with impunity.
The nation has suffered for so long undue setbacks as a result of this unconnected philosophy. In Nigeria today, it is very hard to command support or win elections without aligning with a religious group or faith. The idea is mostly that you will be perceived as a believer and hence should understand the peoples’ feelings (being a ‘religious’ person) and could possibly deliver adequately as against a person whose affiliation is not compatible to any known and recognised faith. Ironically, the cases have turned out to be that those who claim to be outwardly religious are unfortunately the ones exhibiting worst political, social and economic conducts. They have in no small ways raped our existence by manners of their various corruptive tendencies and successfully mortgaged our future.
The present security challenges underscore the very essence of this discussion. So many years ago, at least before 2009, it was difficult to imagine that the country’s security crisis will in anyway grow to this horrendous magnitude. We were limited by the thinking that terrorism and insurgencies of this scale were alien to us. At that point, prophesy towards what is facing the country at the moment could have been rebuked with “it’s not our portion”. Apparently, the current situation appears horrific. Terrorism and high level insurgencies have practically grown into an alarming rate and calculations. Ever since Boko Haram grew in proportion, composition, structure and tactics, the country’s airways has been awash with tales of horrendous atrocities committed by blood thirsty hoodlums.
The country is facing this calamity because overtime the government have failed to do the needful, to at the very beginning nip the situation in the bud. Now reality has set in and in our very eyes, Boko Haram has taken over some parts in the northern hemisphere. The increased rate of the catastrophe in that part of the country has caused devastating conditions for thousands of people living in that region. As a result of the continued and unjustified killings and bombings, it has compelled alot of northerners to relocate from their homes to other parts; causing more hardship to their already afflicted well beings. Many have lost their loved ones and friends and from the present indication, more undue calamity may still visit them if the government fold it arms to do nothing! What a shame that those the people are looking up to are the ones exchanging accusations and counter-accusations, as if that is meant to provide peace for the affected areas and victims.
Today, Nigeria is a collection of 170 million people or more and that humane character that was embedded in our cultures to be “our brothers’ keeper” has been replaced with “every man for himself”! Those who occupy the institutions of government operate without principles, accountability and responsibility. The country is experiencing hardship. Those in power are more after enriching themselves at the expense of the collective Nigerians. It is not strange that our leaders have this much unbridled appetite for materialism and opulence. Stealing is now a legitimate venture and where a person tries to speak against it, such is told to shut up for such alarming frustration or eliminated. The above plays host to the emptiness in our self professed religious characters; the more we ‘pray’ for the country, the more prey we become. Going by the unpromising status of the nation, it is not difficult to verify our hypocrisy.
The point that is been made here is not just to be prophetic by way of prophesying benefitting benedictions but to be responsible to our personal and national fulfilments. Faith without work is dead, that is what the bible says. Our moral fibres have been badly nurtured to the extent that it is so difficult to water it with lovely dreams about the country. Many have become disillusioned and disoriented and so lost hopes in the system. The driver (government) is busy driving the nation to an unknown destination and the passengers (Nigerians) lack the cooperation to compel it to drive towards the desired destination. Rather, we are busy echoing and re-echoing “it is not our portion”.
Furthermore, may it be known that it will continue to be our portion if we refuse to confess our sins before the very alter of oneness surrounded by the principles of rule of law, constitutionalism, democratisation and very importantly, empathy. Empathy here is key because the ability to feel the pains and traumas of others are totally dead in us. We should stop perceiving the institutions of government as a private limited companies remoulded to deliberately favour selves and cronies. This accounts for why every sane and ‘insane’ wants to venture into politics.
Nigeria can become great if the proper mindset is produced. Once we condition our minds to doing the right things, surely, good things shall follow us. A clear example is the way the government gave the dreaded Ebola disease a combat from spreading across the nation. Nigerian government through the ministry of health and particularly Late (Dr.) Mrs. Stella Ameyo Adedavoh proactively ensured that the epidemic did not consume the nation. It is believed that the spread could have led to a colossal lose. Now, the situation is under control with increased vigilance and programmes and adverts to sensitize the people about the Ebola disease.
These efforts have attracted commendations from the international community especially from critics who thought our country would not have been able to handle the situation because of probably, the unattractive records of negligence and callousness. It is clear that we can always do things once the political will is activated. Surely, where there is a will, there will certainly be a way! A strong will was invested to contain the spread of the disease and by that we can boldly affirm “Ebola is not our portion” because the right measures are been put in place. We need to reinvent ourselves rather than remain stereotype. Development is usually achieved by a serious group of people living in a serious country whilst improving on everyday activities.
Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with the Nigerian anatomy. Perhaps, the issue lies with the ideology which has affected our philosophy. A scenario where we have fully become a national space without consequences for unbridled criminality is to say the least appalling. We arrogantly cite yesterday as a justification for today’s crimes. This is one country where a minister will conveniently dish out constipated data about how many jobs and electricity poles have been provided, whereas the reality reveals the opposite. Are these really not worrisome? Yes indeed, they are.
It is high time we realise that God Almighty has endowed us with the senses to transform our country. We should be seen working out developments instead of that lame echo “it is not our portion” because the follow up question will be, says who?

The present security challenges underscore the very essence of this discussion. So many years ago, at least before 2009, it was difficult to imagine that the country’s security crisis will in anyway grow to this horrendous magnitude. We were limited by the thinking that terrorism and insurgencies of this scale were alien to us. At that point, prophesy towards what is facing the country at the moment could have been rebuked with “it’s not our portion”. Apparently, the current situation appears horrific. Terrorism and high level insurgencies have practically grown into an alarming rate and calculations. Ever since Boko Haram grew in proportion, composition, structure and tactics, the country’s airways has been awash with tales of horrendous atrocities committed by blood thirsty hoodlums.

The country is facing this calamity because overtime the government have failed to do the needful, to at the very beginning nip the situation in the bud. Now reality has set in and in our very eyes, Boko Haram has taken over some parts in the northern hemisphere. The increased rate of the catastrophe in that part of the country has caused devastating conditions for thousands of people living in that region. As a result of the continued and unjustified killings and bombings, it has compelled alot of northerners to relocate from their homes to other parts; causing more hardship to their already afflicted well beings. Many have lost their loved ones and friends and from the present indication, more undue calamity may still visit them if the government fold it arms to do nothing! What a shame that those the people are looking up to are the ones exchanging accusations and counter-accusations, as if that is meant to provide peace for the affected areas and victims.

“IT IS NOT OUR PORTION”, SAYS WHO?
All over the world Nigerians have being ascribed as a people with strong emotional attachments to religion. This affiliation is so glaring to the extent that we see nothing practically offensive to the way we outwardly profess our various faiths. No doubt, it is incontrovertible that religion plays a significant role in the lives of several people all over the world and as such, reinforces the understanding that it is a “programming tool” which helps to shape the way people behave in the society. The number of churches, mosques and spiritual homes in the country underscores how Nigerians align largely with religion. Indeed, in a recent survey conducted by British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC); Nigeria topped other countries by having the highest percentage of people who believe in God yet, the country is rated as one of the most corrupt nation in the world. What a paradox!
In Nigeria, one cannot invalidate the influence of religion in the arrangements of our national lives. The most terrible person professes to be a strong adherent to their religion. It is no news that we have become so fond of misusing scriptural portions and statements to support our “religiosity”. For emphasis, we are in the habit of echoing “it is not our portion”, even to the very things that will eventually turn out to be our portion by reasons of our notorious behaviours, actions and neglect to issues of concerns. This product of hypocrisy is not limited to the citizens alone as national, state and local governments herald their events with prayers to hypocritically commit things into the hands of God but when actually in reality, the outcome of such occasion had been pre-determined by men whose intentions and purposes are far from being rated godly.
Ordinarily, it is not suppose to be an issue talking positive but of a truth, clear instances should reveal that you have laboured adequately to be rewarded with such conception. A situation where we sound out “ it is not our portion” without recourse to whether appropriate efforts were put in place are actually worrisome, incoherent with logic and completely unreasonable. It simply defaults common sense as it is not enough to talk positive; believing expectations will come to pass when in actual sense, the effort put in place is either limited or absent. This basically has to some extent undermined the nation’s advancement simply because each time we exhibit nonchalant to things that are of significance we get in return low standard in education, increase poverty, high rate in unemployment, insecurity and continuous romance with impunity.
The nation has suffered for so long undue setbacks as a result of this unconnected philosophy. In Nigeria today, it is very hard to command support or win elections without aligning with a religious group or faith. The idea is mostly that you will be perceived as a believer and hence should understand the peoples’ feelings (being a ‘religious’ person) and could possibly deliver adequately as against a person whose affiliation is not compatible to any known and recognised faith. Ironically, the cases have turned out to be that those who claim to be outwardly religious are unfortunately the ones exhibiting worst political, social and economic conducts. They have in no small ways raped our existence by manners of their various corruptive tendencies and successfully mortgaged our future.