cold: I have often wondered if Karl Marx had a vision of present day Nigeria when he postulated that religion is the opium of the masses
Seriously,Nigeria is probably the most religious nation on earth. Every nook and cranny is dotted with spires,domes and turrets. Churches and Mosques undulate to calls to prayer and evangelical music.A pilgrimage to Mecca or Jerusalem is a badge of religious devotion sought after with great zeal alongside the much needed appellations like Bishop,Pastor,Alhaji,Deacon etc.
Today in Nigeria being born again is now socially acceptable and even politically correct in certain quarters.as a matter of fact,there are more churches and mosques in Nigeria today than industries and schools put together (disprove me if you dare)

One would expect with this spread of churches,mosques and prayer houses that there should be an accompanying growth in morals in the society but alas this is not the case.The religious boom has been paralleled by a growth of a far less desirable kind.A decline in moral values creating an intriguing spectacle of more religion and less morality.Take Nigeria's abysmal rating on the global corruption index or the uncontrollable levels of insecurity for instance and paradoxically compare it with its rating as the most religious nation on earth.There is a profound dissonance between the spread of religion and the moral decline that has promoted corruption from a malaise confined to the epochal heights of governance to a full blown social plague.For all the religious fervour in the nation,faith has little or no social expression

But why is this important at all?Like Nairalanders are wont to ask.
In truth,religion has become Nigeria's greatest problem.A religious movement can develop a narcissistic obsession with its own mythology.Its adherents can become blinded by a creed of materialistic self involvement to the problems of a society which they are meant to heal.Religion as we have come to know it today,for the most part,has become an impediment to culture change.Its ways and its means have become obsolete.
At the risk of sounding off,let me pause here but not before I state that the Nigerian religious establishment is ripe for a reformation as is the society as a whole. The much touted recovery envisaged in the political and economic spheres cannot be attained without a recovery of values.A reform of existing religious strains could be the much needed springboard for a mass mobilisation of civil society to protest the many ills plaguing our society