FIXING NIGERIA SERIES I-IV -By CHRIS MUSTAPHA NWAOKOBIA JNR

DECONSTRUCTING A NATION'S ANATHEMA (DNA), RELIGION, REGION AND ETHNICITY IN FOCUS I

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." - Albert Einstein.

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Unknown.

I am compelled to attempt this humble series, believing that men and women of good conscience and that Nigerians with a living soul, shall congregate and aggregate a NEW THINKING that must deconstruct our nation's DNA, understanding that a highly progressive world is fast living us and our proudly held biases of religion, region and ethnicity behind.

On Fridays and Sundays, our Muslim and Christian Compatriots gather in places of worship to commune with the Almighty, they preach about and pray to a universal God/Allah, yet against the injunctions of the Holy Koran and the Holy Bible, they discriminate against each other.

The Christian undermines the teachings of Jesus The Christ, throwing away the wisdom in the homily of THE GOOD SAMARITAN, and they jettison the pungent admonition of I CORINTHIANS 13 (Please Read It). I dare say that a Christian who cannot genuinely and without prejudice love, protect and defend a Muslim, is not a true

CHRISTIAN.

To the Muslim I bring the great teachings of the Holy Koran in Surah Al-Baqarah 2:62-71 (Please Read It), when you do, you will find out that no true Muslim can genuinely hold a faith based bias against a Christian.

So, what is wrong with us? Please stay tuned!

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FIXING NIGERIA SERIES II: DECONSTRUCTING A NATION'S ANATHEMA (DNA), RELIGION, REGION AND ETHNICITY IN FOCUS II

"For the scripture says, 'YOU SHALL NO MUZZLE THE OX WHILE IT IS TREADING OUT THE GRAIN [to keep it from eating],' and, 'The worker is worthy of his wages [he deserves fair compensation].'" The Bible {I Timothy 5:18}.

"Do not withhold from the people the things that are their due" Quran: Surah 7:85.

Prophet Mohammed PBUH said, "Give the wages of employee before his sweat dry" (Ibn Majah, Hadith no. 2468).

We live in a Country that mouths religion to the heavens, a nation predominated by godists without godliness. We have Clergies and Clerics consistently in cahoots with political operators to deny the people their citizenship rights, to deny the workers their wages, and they keep Nigeria down for selfish ends.

Yet blinded by religion, my generation defends self-serving religionists and political leaders who employ religion for private profit. We are so oblivious of the true essence of FAITH, that selfishness comes before LOVE. And so sad, we give vent to religion as tool for division and exclusion.

We are too lazy at research that names like Martin Luther King Jr, Elijah Mohammed, Ahmed Deedat, Desmond Tutu, and closer home, Olubunmi Okojie, Gabriel Osu, Sheik Ahmad Gumi et al means little, but like their masters Jesus The Christ, and Prophet Mohammed PBUH, they fought against injustice and oppression knowing the essence of FAITH.

Compatriots, we must rework the fabrics of FAITH, and challenge the Clergy/Cleric in this clime to stand for what is right and SPEAK TRUTH to power.

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DECONSTRUCTING A NATION'S ANATHEMA (DNA), RELIGION, REGION AND ETHNICITY IN FOCUS III

I am encouraged by the huge response to this series, and I must assure my readers and followers that we shall yet come to the issues of region and ethnicity. In the interim, religion has the floor.

Our nation bleeds because the Clergy/Cleric and the laity observe religion without the true essence of FAITH. In Part II of this series, I gave Biblical and Koranic verses where the wellbeing of the masses and the welfare of workers is accorded primacy. But in Nigeria, Prayer Homes, Special Miracle Services and Consultation Centres sprout on matters that responsible and responsive leadership can handle.

Which is easier, to fast and pray for unpaid salaries to be paid, or for the Clergy/Cleric to unite and speak truth to power? Why not stop 'Leaders' who do not pay workers their wages from occupying front pews and front mats in places of worship? Do they care?

It is evident in the teachings of Jesus The Christ, and Prophet Mohammed PBUH, that true religion must influence politics, but must not be political. True religion must work as a politico-social barometer. True religion is the question-mark on the conscience of leadership, and must not serve clannish political interests.

Sadly, we see everywhere people who profess faiths rooted in the Koran and the Bible, excavating reasons why humans are killed for cows and for farmlands, as the Christian pleads self-defense, and the Muslim pleads provocation, and vice versa.

So, what happened to true religion? And, what happened to true LOVE?

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FIXING NIGERIA SERIES IV: DECONSTRUCTING A NATION'S ANATHEMA (DNA), RELIGION, REGION AND ETHNICITY IN FOCUS IV

We are too obsessed about religion that we forget that at the core of FAITH is LOVE for humankind, indiscriminate of creed, clan or character. LOVE FOR ALL, IS IT.

Have you wondered what will happen if all our Priests were to repudiate with vehemence the killings and corruption in the land? Have you wondered what will happen, if all our Imams were to condemn the bloodshed everywhere, and repudiate the looting of our collective till?

Have you pondered, if truly religion is meant to liberate the soul, why do you hate or despise the Christian, why do you discriminate and despise the Muslim, why do you allow ethnicity or nepotism, why do you excuse murder, for cows and farmlands, and why do you stoke the flames of discord? We must accept our collective guilt, and begin a holistic rework of our values.

Nigeria is in dire need of Clergies and Clerics, who will speak like sincere protagonists of FAITH. Men and women who against religious biases will stand for TRUTH. And a People who believe in our common humanity, who truly will say, though tongue and tribe may differ, in brotherhood we stand.

Like Jesus The Christ, and Prophet Mohammed PBUH, would say 'woe unto those who loot and impoverish the people', our Clergies/Clerics must do likewise.

The way out is the BALLOT not the BULLET, so please GO REGISTER AND GET YOUR PVC.

Kindly drop your comments.