IT is no exaggeration that Nigerians see themselves as a deeply religious people, at least in the manner they outwardly profess their religions. It is, therefore not surprising that whether they are winning or losing, they see the divine hand in their affairs. And whether they are even cheating others or are being cheated, they also see the divine hand. Politicians are the greatest proponents of this mentality. Once elected, they see their victory as divine; threatened, they see their enemies as enemies of God. In short, God has become indistinguishable from the Nigerian politician and leader, or his servant.
Embattled Abia State governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, fighting to keep his seat against the challenger Uche Ugah, vigorously asserted that his mandate was authored by God. “It is not a battle against me;” said the governor of his sack by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, “it is a battle against the Office of the Governor of Abia State, which I occupy by the grace of God.” Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State also speaks of divine mandates. Responding to the protests led by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against his government, in particular asking him to step down, the governor anchored his election and stay in office on God. “It is only if it was not God that brought me here that will make them (protesters) to succeed. It was God that made me governor…You can hold your protest for the next months, they will only continue to ridicule themselves because Ekiti people have given me their mandate. Those fighting me are fighting God.”
But it is not only elected officials and politicians that keep seeing the divine hand. Even militants and agitators, such as the pro-Biafra groups that have become very active in recent months, also see the divine hand. Reacting to President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration last week that Nigeria’s unity was non-negotiable, and in particular his constant references to apparently pro-secessionist movements, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) also declared that God was involved in their cause and success was guaranteed. Making allusions to the biblical account of how the Egyptian Pharaoh met his doom, the MASSOB spokesman Uchenna Madu asserted: “No man born of a woman can crush Biafra because God, history and humanity are on our side.”
Flowing from these statements and arguments, it is not just obvious that Nigeria is a deeply religious society, it is clear it is also a superstitious one. By what conceivable means, for instance, could Mr Fayose invoke the name of God to defend his mandate exclusive of the atrocities he has committed with the mandate? There may be questions as to the legality and morality of the APC and the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) wanting to unseat the Ekiti governor before the next polls, but there can be no question whatsoever that given the general understanding of who God is, it is indeed foolish to bring Him into the messy and thieving situation cynically and malevolently conjured by Mr Fayose. Perhaps it is high time Nigerians, especially politicians, began to take to heart the admonition to separate state and religion. Instead of anchoring their base desires on divine approbation,