Of course there will be foolish nigerians asking foolish questions.

Mr Op, you have written a very wonderful piece. Let him who have sense reason. Let us keep enlightening the blind until their eyes open.

Nice write up OP.

I think Religion is the problem we have in the country and not just the church. Nigerians are too religious and that has affected the way we all think.

Everyone thinks the politicians are thieves and detestable but these same politicians come to the church to campaign and the leaders allow it. The leaders even urge the church through brain washing influence to vote for the criminal politician...

We are too religious in this country and its killing us.

What baffles me is how someone is ready to die for a religion that your forefathers were forced and sometimes killed for?
I see no difference between this and slavery...

Afolabimills:
God bless u sir pls tell that mumu d truth

God bless you too

Beautifully crafted..

All those jet-setting miracle pastors must be feeling the pinch during the current Corona virus mandatory lock-down, since the congregations they milk for free cash, have ceased to exist, for the time being.

It has got to be very traumatic for anyone who has become used to tricking people out of their paychecks by promising them back-stage passes to Heaven, only to wake up one day and find out that all the brainwashed cash donors have vanished like a wet dream at the break of dawn.

sammychimex:
You see this factories and insurance companies that closed down, it wasn't church that closed it, it was closed down by a combination of bad govt policies, lack of electricity, lack of forsight on the part of the owners, INDISCIPLINE, LACK OFACCOUNTABILIT. We need to stop all this foolishness of blaming church for the state of the nation.
For example using the current govt as case study, we are paying more tax than we have ever done before yet we have never borrowed the way this govt is borrowing now. The major issue with Nigeria is bad govt policies, Monopoly by certain cabals,sabotage and of course financial impropriety. It actually benefits the govt when we leave the govt from whom we should demand accountability from and start blaming religious organisations who have found a way to thrive in the midst of caos, rather we should actually understudy some of this successful churches to understand what makes them successful and find ways to applying it on the economy.

There is no successful church in Nigeria. What we have are successful pastors n prophets. This is because the members of the church are still the poor citizens in the society. It's just like capitalism. Even in the poorest countries of this world there are very rich people. Is that country rich?

What the op is saying is that how come Nigeria was better when we had more industries n fewer churches? Are we not doing something wrong? Is this not a case of misplaced priority?

Those places mentioned by the op where the industrial hubs of Nigeria. Today they are no more. I grew up in Lagos I know what those places use to look like before.

The more mosques n churches we have the more the society deteriorates....Is anything wrong if we ask ourselves some home grown questions?

emilas1979:
They built industries, we built churches. They paid taxes, we paid tithes.
Truth as you know is bitter. We are a well endowed Nation that is groaning under a heavy yoke. We are a blessed Nation that is facing the wrong direction on our journey to nationhood. At Oba Akran Avenue Ikeja, I wept when I realised that factories that employed thousands of people are all closed and their premises converted to churches, insurance companies and banks. It is the same in Ogba, Isolo, Ilupeju and Apapa all in Lagos and Sango Otta in Ogun state. Hundreds of factories shut, which means loss of jobs.

Then the same trip to Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Shenzhen etc., it is a different story altogether. While they were building factories, we were building churches, while they were paying taxes, we were paying tithes when they started employing more people, we started disengaging our people, when they started exporting, we started importing, when they started getting richer, we began to get poorer, when they were rich enough to lend, we became poor enough to borrow, when they began to export technology and experts, we started importing their expertise and technology, when they moved to first world country, we are receding into a “fourth” world.

While we say they are Ungodly and we are Godly, they live in wealth and we live in poverty. In their cities, the production factory noises fill the air, in our cities, church and mosque noises fill they air. At the end of the week or month, they wait for their salaries and profits, we wait for miracles. China has more than 10 tyre manufacturing companies, South Africa nearby has 4 tyre manufacturing companies, Ghana the same and Nigeria with an estimated population of over 200 million people with millions of cars has no single tyre manufacturing company. Michelin and Dunlop formerly here relocated to South Africa and appointed distributors in Nigeria where the main market is. As big as we are, with such a huge population, we have no more than a textile mill as at the last time I checked.

Yet we go about as if all is well. In one Street near me, I counted 15 churches. On the major road of two kilometres, I counted 25 churches, some as big as a moderate factory and some as small as one room shop. All put together, does not employ a single person. Everything is by volunteers. In China, the same would have been at least 30 factories both big and small. What grows the economy are the very small cottage industries whose products are mopped up for exports. They would employ at least 300 people. Those workers will sing God’s praises, our own people are hungry and their prayers are constantly harrasing God, accusing Him of not listening or listening but not responding even to outright accusation of partiality.
#HappySunday
#copied

The kind of article the keep me in Nairaland back in the days.

Good job OP!!

Jakumo:
All those jet-setting miracle pastors must be feeling the pinch during the current Corona virus mandatory lock-down, since the congregations they milk for free cash, have ceased to exist, for the time being.

It has got to be very traumatic for anyone who has become used to tricking people out of their paychecks by promising them back-stage passes to Heaven, only to wake up one day and find out that all the brainwashed cash donors have vanished like a wet dream at the break of dawn.

.
Guy no kill me with laughter.
The funny thing is. people don't even understand the God they claimed to serve.
Or should I say they read the Bible but they don't understand the word?..
How can this be?, that the country that we called ungodly, prosper while a religious country like ours sinks into poverty.
The truth is that Nigeria is an ungodly nation, that is possed by the spirit of religion.
Morally and spiritually bankrupt people, looking in wrong places, for God that actually lives in them.

destinychildolu:

I bet to disagree with you sir. The church is part of those or should I say a major culprit. They keep telling us that it is God that chooses leaders during election. Does that means that God has been choosing bad leaders for us ? They keep telling us to pray for our leaders and they organise prayer and fast for different governments. Has that changed anything? We have all bèn praying for our country to change and for God to give us good leaders for over 50 years, yet, nothing has changed. It seems no one in Nigeria is righteous after all including the pastor's because the bible says the prayers of the righteous availeth much.

While you are correct, it is still our fault for listening to what church tells us as Ex says below, since we are the one's who decide to listen to what church tells us.

Exmilitant:
Op, church no be our problem. Government no be our problem. Our problem na we.

Thanks Ex! May our senses someday open.

budaatum:

While you are correct, it is still our fault for listening to what church tells us as Ex says below, since we are the one's who decide to listen to what church tells us.


Thanks Ex! May our senses someday open.

my senses are open sir. Just that those with locked senses are in the majority.. Its frustrating trying to open their senses.

Okoroawusa:

There is no successful church in Nigeria. What we have are successful pastors n prophets. This is because the members of the church are still the poor citizens in the society. It's just like capitalism. Even in the poorest countries of this world there are very rich people. Is that country rich?

What the op is saying is that how come Nigeria was better when we had more industries n fewer churches? Are we not doing something wrong? Is this not a case of misplaced priority?

Those places mentioned by the op where the industrial hubs of Nigeria. Today they are no more. I grew up in Lagos I know what those places use to look like before.

The more mosques n churches we have the more the society deteriorates....Is anything wrong if we ask ourselves some home grown questions?

The principles for growth and prosperity is universal, they work in every area of aspect of life.
the home grown question then should be what are we not doing right, because church is not meant to replace industries,

the products of this industries are the no longer in demand? Of course they are

did the industrialist sell of to the pastors? No

So has the church choked up the industries ? No

Or us it that you guys don't know that lack of electricity was the major factor that killed this industries, or us the church responsible for electricity?

Bro the industries couldn't survive because of certain reasons. Like bad governance, lack of investment in man power development, improving of the industrial/production processes. so when efficient and more economical ways of producing the same products came they had to close down. It's wickedness to blame the church for the irresponsibility of both the govt and industrialists.

sammychimex:



And who said churches in Nigeria doesn't do charity? When salvation ministry built a home for the elderly you didn't see it? When they built a student hostel and donated it to a govt owned tertiary institution you didn't see it, when Chris oyakilome donated a faculty building worth 1billionb naira you didn't hear it, when winners built a federal road you sure didn't see that, when dunamis was donating medical supplies and foodstuff to the govt you didn't hear that? When Dominion city was sharing palliatives you didn't see that. The church has been more responsible than the govt. Far more without the church things would be far more unbearable.



By the way I am an engineer not a pastor.

Oga pastor you don't even understand what charity is.. Do we pay tithe once? Is it not every month we pay tax? I am telling you charity of taking care of refugees, poor people, and less previledged and even give them pocket money housing and everyday food. You talking of building road and thing they do once in almost a life time.. Only 6 months of taking care of the poor and giving them good life do u know how much? In Germany churches are also transparent nothing to hide.. Oga if they will be doing these things you are talking that they did which is 1ce in a blue moon I think we should also pay tithe once in a blue moon.