WHY I SAY RELIGION IS NOT NIGERIA'S PROBLEM BUT A LAZY, FEARFUL INTELLECTUAL CLASS.

 WHY I SAY RELIGION IS NOT NIGERIA'S PROBLEM BUT A LAZY, FEARFUL INTELLECTUAL CLASS.

By Felix Nyerhovwo Jarikre. 

...Until Nigerian Christians organize themselves with an objective to capture political power and form government over Nigeria, they can never realise the power of the Holy Spirit. We should quit the arresting illusion that the Holy Spirit is ever going to back or facilitate our self-serving aspirations or agendas with His power. Never. That's not going to happen.  

It's only by exercising political power to form a central government that Nigerian Christians can prepare themselves to receive the divine personage, Christ, whom they call their Lord at His anticipated Last Coming to judge and cast the children of perdition including the False Prophet along with their father, Satan, into the Lake of fire and  brimstone. 

Right now, Nigerian Christians are bumbling neophytes, confused, conflicted, ignorant  and irresolute when it comes to political engagement of national affairs. 

As 'salt of the earth, and light of the world,' Nigerian Christians should never deny or apologise for their divine responsibility of providing political leadership for the country.  

Asking that Christians sponsor and vote only political leaders with shared  Christian values is not bigotry, but godly wisdom and spiritual discipline...

The above is extracted from one of my unpublished articles. It's articulated from my reading of the same Bible available to you and I. 

If eventually it is published, I would not be surprised if you, my dear brother,  join the ranks of those trashing it as unreasonable and unrealistic. They would not hesitate to call it the ranting of a fanatic.  

Having become a Christian convert, it didn't take long for me to realise that many of the things we regarded as fundamental Christian practices were dead wrong, conflicting with inexorable scriptures. So what do I do? Backing away from my faith as a Christian was never an option. I had seen enough to realise it was folly to question my understanding of the awesome personage of Jesus Christ. 

Biblical scriptures are divinely inspired. This is not debatable. Mine is not blind conviction but enlightened understanding. Some Christians think they can cherry pick their way through the Bible, or parse the scriptures to fit their modern philosophical conveniences. I have no time for these lots. 

Why this preamble? Because I'm a Christian. That's my spiritual constituency as a member of the body of Christ.  An Urhobo nationalist,  citizen of Nigeria. 

As a Christian, I'm trained to look out for only solutions, and avoid complaining or blame games.  

So constantly I asked how my adversity as a Nigerian face up to my scriptural revelations. How can my revelations wipe out my adversity as a Nigerian? 

I say Nigerian intellectuals are lazy and fearful because they fail to realise the POWER OF IDEAS, and the FIGHT IT TAKES TO IMPLEMENT IDEAS.

Historically, the men who bear rule in human society are always terrified and suspicious of new ideas. Expectedly, to implement any new idea entails a change of the status quo. An old order will die, a new one will emerge.  

 So it's not surprising that squelching new ideas can be a preoccupation with those who hold power.  

A university professor who belongs to a church is never prevented from exploring and expanding his understanding of his discipline. Nobody stops him from coming out with a new invention  or publishing a barrier-breaking book on thought-leadership.

A Nigerian professor who is a Christian running for a political office is more likely to adopt  Machiavelli as playbook instead of his Bible. Is religion his problem and not his hypocrisy? 

A Nigerian Christian would prefer to castigate me for saying we must bring our Christian leadership values into politics because he is afraid that would alienate Muslim voters. 

He forgets that Muslims are greatly politically organized to entrench their religious persuasion, having captured political office. I say that's all well and good. 

Christians should do same, or perish in hypocrisy.  

Let atheists organize politically too, and stop trying to deceive Christians to remove the "religious card" from the political game.

Before you know it, they would come up with a bogeyman of someone trying to establish a "THEOCRACY". 

Yet in the Bible that I know, the Master of Creation, God, is only interested in PROMOTING DEMOCRACY as a means of godly people providing political leadership for the nations. 

Why do I know this while others are blind to it? 

Is it religion that is preventing people from searching the Bible in order to come into precise knowledge of the truth ? No, people are simply caught up by their selfish ambitions. 

America is a deeply religious society.  It doesn't stop the Steve Jobs or Bill Gates of this world from doing their thing.  

Let Nigerians stop being busy bodies, and concentrate on their assignments. No more excuses.  People should stay on their lanes, and work their fields.