IN DISTRESS

"All powerful and merciful father, you are the God of justice love and peace. You rule over all the Nations of Earth. Power and Might are in your hands and no one can withstand you. We present our country Nigeria before you."  

These are the first few words from the 'Prayer for Nigeria in Distress'. It's been prayed by millions of Catholics in Nigeria for over twenty-five years. And it's recited after the reception of the Holy Communion- which is believed to be the Body and Blood of Christ. In otherwords, it's recited at about the time one is in his/her highest state of grace.
There are hundreds of other prayers recited for Nigeria, both composed and spontaneous, by different churches, and maybe mosques. But has Nigeria been saved from distress?
The problem with this country isn't religion. Because when one understands what religion is really all about we know that we're not a religious people. Rather we're people who like to erect structures to accomodate us for those moments we wish to gather to task our selves with noise making and funds for more projects. We're just noise makers. The problem with this country borders from mental to psychological imbalance, if not both.
Just praying doesn't solve any problem. Prayer is a psychological tool, used to set our minds at ease. Just like the placebo effect of medicines, prayer makes you believe it has solved your problem, but really what has solved your problem is that effort you put in. Since only prayer doesn't solve our problems why don't we find working solutions to our problems? It is the same tongue we use to pray for Nigeria that we use to say Nigeria is a dead country. It is the same mouth you use to say: let's just vote for the devil we know, and when such a person behaves like what you've called him or her, you go to whereever to use that same mouth to pray for liberation from the shackles you bound yourself in. Aghotaro m anyi. I don't understand us. Why don't we vote for people with credibility?
As it's said, 'Charity begins at home'. This charity or to appropriately put it, 'dis-charity' of just praying for Nigeria actually started with just praying for ourselves. We pray, that God blesses the work of our hands when our hands aren't doing any work. We pray for our efforts to be crowned with success when the highest effort we put in is in that prayer itself. We pray for a lot of things without doing anything. I just wonder, isn't it madness?
Do you know how many 'crusades' are conducted in this country? Thousands! (Let's ignore the fact that most people do not know the meaning of crusades, including those who add it to the theme of an event). If only half the resources used in organising these crusades,  vigils and what-not could be used in organizing human empowerment programs.
I just wish we'd work more than we pray. A country is it's people. Nigeria moved from developing to under-developed because while other countries work to improve themselves as individuals, we pray. If we were organised enough and made money off 'religion' like Rome and Mecca, I may feel better. But the money we make, we send it to other countries. Even the money they send to us through online scam is sent back to them through purchase of cars, devices, vacations etc. (I understand that people who justify internet fraud do so on the premise that they're only taking back money that was taken from their fore fathers by the white people. What I'm yet to get an explanation for is when it's their fellow black people that is being defrauded.)
Search the internet for the most developed countries in the world, most of them 'don't carry religion on their head'. With the policies the Rwandan government is making with respect to religion, I'm certain Rwanda will excel greatly under the administration of this present government, ceteris paribus. I just wish Nigerian government could adopt the same policy, but let our president understand what 'livestock' is first then I'd be certain he won't go over-board when he decides to implement such policy.
The summary of this article is this: pray hard, work harder. Stop telling God to do what you should do for yourself.