Religion; More harm than good in Africa.
Before the European scramble for Africa in the 19th Century, there were vastly more diverse groups of ethnicities across the continent, each for the most part with their own unique religions and customs. In the area that would later be named “Nigeria” by the British, there existed at least two hundred and fifty different ethnic groups with the Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, and Fulani being the most populous amongst them. For this reason, when I speak of traditional Nigerian religions henceforth, I refer to the religions attached to these popular ethnic groups, and my use should not be misinterpreted as a catch-all term for all Nigerian groups and their respective beliefs.
Nigeria is an especially interesting case study when it comes to religion and its impacts because of its reputation as a very religious yet highly corrupt society. Which is somewhat ironic when you consider one of the dominant religions in the country is Christianity. There is no sound scientific data or study to back this up, but any observation across most parts of Lagos (Africa’s most populous city) will show a huge disparity between the number of religious institutions, and the number of social infrastructure like schools, hospitals, banks, and recreation centers. Nigerians spend more money building world-record breaking places of worship and paying reverence to gods and spirits, than they do building decent hospitals and well-equipped schools. I have personally counted 32 churches and mosques along an untarred 2.5km stretch of road in my home area just outside the city of Lagos. The number of schools on the same road? Five. The number of Hospitals? One.
This statistic should be very frightening to anyone concerned about the development of the nation. Now you might be thinking “and so what?” “how does that affect you?” “What business of yours is it if Churches are more than schools?”. To this my answer is simply; Belief. It matters to me because most of us believe it, and the things we believe influence our actions. A hard hitting example of this fact in the recent past is the resurgence of Polio in northern Nigeria. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative was a program setup by the World Health Organization to eradicate Polio worldwide by 2005. It was well on its way to accomplishing this objective until it began to face serious challenges with a resurgence of the polio virus originating from Nigeria and spreading in twenty-five previously polio-free countries in Africa and beyond. The number of reported Wild Polio Virus cases in the country increased by over five hundred percent between 2002 and 2006 following the suspension of immunization campaigns in northern Nigeria. Erroneous beliefs and unfounded rumors that vaccines were evil missiles deployed by foreigners and the evil Christian southerners to keep people infertile, curtail the local population and other such nonsense were the reasons for the halt in the vaccine program. So Polio recovers in someone and because it is highly contagious, spreads, and other members of the society become at risk. This is a real life example from the recent past of how wrong beliefs and their resulting actions on an individual level can have huge consequences on the societal and global scale. The actions of these people in some states in Northern Nigeria had an impact on twenty five other countries in Africa and beyond.
That most parts of the country have a similar Church/Mosque to school ratio isn’t surprising to the average Nigerian. If global statistics were available, they would probably have Nigeria ranked somewhere in the top ten most religious countries of the world. Some of the largest Churches on the planet are headquartered in the country. MFM, RCCG, TREM, Christ Embassy, SCOAN are all examples of churches of Nigerian origin with some measure of visibility internationally. Christianity along with Islam is the most dominant religion in Nigeria and both are often touted as religions with strong moral compasses. The Judeo-Christian god gives down his tenets in the ten commandments in the Bible, the Islamic god gives down his tenets in the Quran. Since adherents of these religions make up the vast majority of the country, it should be reasonable to expect a high level of moral integrity in the society. Alas when we take a closer look, the opposite seems to be the case. What then is the impact of religious beliefs in our society?
To that I say look at the frequency of ritual and juju killings. How many lives have been ended in horrible ways because of the misguided notion that performing such inhumane acts would somehow lead to stacks of money appearing in their wardrobes regularly, a notion that is perpetuated by Nollywood, and religious institutions. A similar kind of illogical reasoning and set of fallacies is in play when pastors perform "healings" and "miracles". Playing on the congregation's mood, conditioning, and using paid collaborators to get otherwise reasonable people to buy their snake oil.
I say look at the frequent accounts of people, especially minors persecuted by their families and guardians because they believe them to be Witches/Wizards working against the family’s progress. A narrative that is often created and reinforced in places like Churches and Mosques. I could paint a gory picture of the kinds of evils that are done to these minors in the name of “casting out” the “powers and presences” in them, but I’ll leave you instead to google “child witchcraft” and go down that rabbit hole of your own choosing.
Look at the diversion of public funds for the construction of places of worship, and for the purchase of private jets as gifts to Pastors. Of all the possible infrastructure a government can build for its citizenry this has to be the one of, if not the most useless things imaginable. A country with the debt profile and economic frailty of ours should not be putting billions of naira of public funds into building a worship center in Akwa ibom.
The Consumer Protection Council is responsible for protecting the general public from fake products, and false advertisements claims by businesses. NAFDAC is responsible for protecting the Nigerian public from fake claims by pharmaceutical companies on the drugs they provide. Imagine a world where Panadol runs adverts across Tv stations nationwide falsely claiming their tablets cure Cancer, Aids, Alzheimer’s and can even regrow limbs. Because of this, patients with these illnesses across the country stop their treatments and opt for Panadol, their conditions worsen and eventually the death toll rises.
This is exactly the same sort of damage that happens every time a church or mosque throws a crusade or program with promises or claims of miraculous healings. Inviting and actively encouraging people in some instances to forsake the advice of their doctors because “Faith can move mountains' and what’s a little terminal illness against a mountain. Take for instance Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s Healing school, they screen the kinds of sick people they allow into their program, cripples aren’t accepted (whatever happened to Faith moving mountains), people with illnesses that have nothing to do with wheelchairs are encouraged to use them so the “Man of God'' can appear to heal cripples when he commands them to stand and walk towards him in front of Tv cameras during their “special healing programs''. No one ever seems to bother to ask why quadriplegics and paraplegics are never among the people seated in the front rows for healing.
One day, we’ll apply critical thinking as a society and see these frauds for what they are. Till then, I'll keep writing, speaking, and raging against the machine holding us back in my own little way. Stay safe and vote wisely next year.