Between God and man

As desirable as this may be, religion cannot be totally be separated from the State because there are basic religious issues such as school prayers, sex education, prayers before public meetings, and going to war that has a moral aspect; therefore politics and religion are intertwined by default through morality. Although good political leadership must […]

As desirable as this may be, religion cannot be totally be separated from the State because there are basic religious issues such as school prayers, sex education, prayers before public meetings, and going to war that has a moral aspect; therefore politics and religion are intertwined by default through morality. Although good political leadership must involve some sort of ideology, morality and integrity Nigerian political leaders have been winning elections over the years without principles or ideology. Even though politics involves some elements of religion such as ethics, principles, and ideological leadership, belonging to any particular religion should not influence the implementation of government policies.
There is no historical or contemporary leader who governed well and brought prosperity, peace and progress to their people on account of religious piety alone.  In a nation where political leaders attend Churches and Mosques with much fanfare and pomp, mindless materialism still rules their thoughts and actions. They have without exception failed to practice the self-discipline, temperance, tolerance, and restraint inherent in both these religions. All our past leaders have been devoutly religious yet what positive legacies have they left behind?  President Jonathan’s spiritual life is between him and God and he must appreciate that being a good Christian or not has nothing to do with good governance. Despite the fact that at least half the citizens of the nation are Moslem our president increasingly addresses the nation from the church pulpit. No person or persons wishing to lead this country should do so on the basis of religion or ethnicity. It is apparent that Presidential spokespersons have not been able to convince the Nigerian public of his sincerity of purpose and good intentions therefore he is trying to do it himself. . Anyone observing our President’s character would be hard pressed to conclude that he is the mean-hearted, demonized, avaricious, vindictive, or uncompassionate the opposition claims him to be. He comes across as an ineloquent uninspiring individual yet a good man who means well but is over-whelmed by the task in front of him and who unfortunately is surrounded by and places his trust in those who do not share his transformation vision. Not only is President Jonathan fond of talking from the pulpit he seems not particularly concerned as to which one.
Addressing the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in a service to mark the first Sunday in the New Year, he said his administration will do its best to ensure that Boko Haram becomes a thing of the past.”  Blasphemously referring to him as “God’s gift” to Nigeria the Pastor commended him for his “giant strides”. At a Christmas Day service at the Cathedral Church of the Advent Jonathan thanked the clergy for their constant prayers which he said has so far helped to save Nigeria from plunging into war.  He stepped dangerously close to campaigning in a holy place when he said despite the numerous challenges his administration was striving to deliver what Nigerians truly deserve.  Our president used yet another church forum to issue another political statement. During a service at the Apostolic Faith Church to mark the last Sunday of 2013, he advised those seeking the political break-up of the nation that the amalgamation of Nigeria was “not a mistake but an act of God”. At yet another church, the Redeemed Church of God, Jonathan was photographed during a “Holy Ghost Congress” in ritualistic pose kneeling before an “anointed man of God”. He is also on record as speaking at the Our Lady Queen of Nigeria pro-cathedral where he attended the New Year Service. It is unfortunate that rather than condemning the use of the pulpit for politicking the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor has joined the bandwagon and now “preaches” in open support of Jonathan’s political objectives. It is vitally important that CAN realize not all Christians support Jonathan or PDP and therefore Oritsejafor is expected to emulate his holiness the Pope, the Dalai Lama, the Archbishop of Canterbury, or any other major religious leader in the world by shying away from political commentary and remaining unbiased. Unfortunately when President Jonathan decided to lead a bloated delegation to an extended pilgrimage in Israel, the CAN President played a prominent role despite recent revelations that many in the delegation are far from godly in their dealings with public funds. If President Jonathan has made a pact with God to run the country to the best of his ability it concerns himself and no one else.  It is an agreement between god and man.
During Christmas, he said “As we commemorate the birth of the prince of peace, let us all honour him more by living our lives as he taught, by making personal sacrifice for the good of others, by showing greater love for others by being fairer and more honest in our dealings with others, by being ever willing to forgive those who offended us and by always extending goodwill towards others”. The barbaric, unconstitutional, tear-gas-sing and disbursing of an opposition rally in Port Harcourt, the failure to bring transparency to the fraud ridden oil and gas industry, and the suppressed anti-corruption war all indicate that Jonathan must learn to practice what he preaches.
  Nigeria problems are man made by leaders who pay only lip service to the dictates of their religious conscience. The President must go to church to supplicate himself to his God not to profile his status or address the nation. He must ensure in 2014 that his vision, intellect, sincerity of purpose and the compassion of his religion is translated into solid achievements by his administration.