NIGERIANS AND THEIR LOVE FOR GOD

                                                                   

One of the very first things that surprised me when I first came to the “WEST” long ago was when a white boy said to me “I don’t believe there is God”! I could not believe my ears, and no matter what I said to him he just won’t not change his mind or beliefs, he simply said “I don’t believe there is God, but I am not a bad person and I treat people right” This bothered me a lot because I came from a very religious country called Nigeria and my people love God so much that we mention his name in nearly every situation.

Yes Nigerians don’t joke with God, because he means everything to us. As a youth in Nigeria, if you want to know if someone is
telling you the truth, you simple say “True to?  Once the person answers “GOD!” you know that person is telling you the truth so it is very common to hear Nigerians use the name of God in basically everything.

Now as I grow older and re-examine our love for God compared with the reality of things happening around us, I begin to question myself. As Nigerians, do we truly believe there is God?  The share evil and wickedness among-st our people! The greed! The enviousness of so many... Yet the name of God has never ceased from our lips. Armed robbers pray and call God before they go and wreak havoc on people’s lives. The politician loots the treasury to the tune of billions of dollars and he goes to church to celebrate and do thanks giving! A so called prophet was caught with a human skull and he said “Actually I have two professions, I am a native doctor and also a prophet”

We see share evil happening before us and instead of correcting or doing something about it, we simply say “God day!”  Meanwhile the very ones who tell us they visit GOD in heaven and regularly communicate with him directly are not left out, a lot of them are now celebrities flaunting their wealth at the poverty stricken public while competing with the likes of Jay Z and Kanye West. Yet, the name of GOD is constantly on their lips, so I begin to ask and question myself, as Nigerians, do we truly believe there is God? Not the God we made up in our minds, but the one we read about in the scriptures! 

Honestly I truly can’t say we believe there is GOD because he doesn't reflect in our hearts or lifestyles. GOD is just a name we love to mention to either defraud or impress others that we are pious and holy, or simply because we are used to the name. Saying “Baba God I praise your name” won’t stop us from betraying our friends, It won’t stop us from hating our fellow man/woman, It won’t stop us from being jealous of our fellow man/woman, it won’t stop us from lying against them, it won’t stop us from back-biting and backstabbing them, it won’t stop some pastors from coning out new theories every day to enrich themselves at the expense of their church members, and it definitely won’t stop politicians from killing and looting the country dry.

Presently I don’t see any difference between the white boy (that said to me so many years ago “I don’t believe there is GOD”) and so many of us, the only difference is he doesn't allow his unbelief affect the way he treats his fellow man/woman. Maybe if we treat our fellow men/women right instead of calling the name of GOD every time we will be fine. Our actions are far more important than the name of God we call every single minute, because action truly speaks louder than words. Be the change you seek in this world.