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Voice of Emancipation: Motivation For Religiosity In Nigeria

Published

4 years ago

January 1, 2022

Eric

By Kayode Emola

The average person in Nigeria claims membership of one of the three major religions prevalent across the country: Christianity, Islam or Traditional worship. Some even concurrently subscribe to more than one, as they see fit. In view of this, it is safe to say 90 – 99 percent of Nigerians are ‘religious’. However, before I go any further, we ought to clarify what is meant by the term “religion”, in order to help us understand whether we in Nigeria are truly religious or not.

Religion has been defined as a set of organised beliefs and practices, usually shared by a community or group. In this case, we can expect that those belonging to any one group would behave in the same manner, reason and act alike for the mutual good of said group. I am not very versed in the Qur’an, so I will limit my exposition on that area; however, I do know a few verses in the Bible, and I wonder if those of us who claim to be Christian truly live by the beliefs and practices of Christianity.

For instance, in order to demonstrate our piety to the world, we make our public officials swear on the Bible or Qur’an during the oath of office ceremony. However, I do not think this is a proper thing to do unless we have really grasped what was written in those holy books.

Part of the Bible contains the Ten Commandments, among which are found the “thou shall not”s. These list the things we as individuals must not do, such as stealing, lying, covetousness, bearing false witness etc. Yet those people holding high office of state consistently fail to uphold these Commandments, as so a disregard for their value thus permeates into every aspect of our society. When we wonder why we have a degenerative society today, we have failed to look at where our problem really started. Those in authority who should know better have disregarded their duty to be the shining light that society can rely on.

Apart from the African traditional worship we inherited from our ancestors, Islam and Christianity were both alien religions brought to our shores by foreigners who had their own ulterior motives. In the case of radical Islam, there are people who believe that it is their duty to kill infidels in the name of Jihad, in order to secure their place in paradise. How killing a fellow human being can be considered a laudable act, that can make someone deserving of paradise, remains to be seen.

In the case of Christianity, many countries in the world today have written their constitution based on the tenets prescribed by the Bible, thanks to the European explorers. The Europeans who introduced Christianity also told us that we serve a forgiving God who is willing to forgive us our trespasses every time we commit an offence. As true as this may be, we need to look at the motives underlying the introduction of such religious sentiments.

When we Africans were practicing our traditional worship, we were morally upright and everyone was ready to tell the truth if a matter needed to be taken to the deities for resolution. This was not always borne of our free volition, but rather because circumstances compelled us to, for fear of repercussion from the gods if we did not. However, when the Europeans brought in Christianity and the all-forgiving God, and we did not need to go to the shrines anymore, our true human nature of self-aggrandisement began to reveal itself.

This newfound religion of Christianity, brought to us by the Europeans, allows us to commit sometimes heinous crimes and still be forgiven without repercussions. This today is one of the main motivations for religiosity in Nigeria. Many of us claim to be Christians, however do nothing in our everyday life to demonstrate that we actually follow the tenets laid down in the Bible. It is the reason a politician can get into office and be ready to steal the collective wealth of the people, thereby wantonly breaking one of the Bible’s golden rules. After stealing the wealth, they then go on to lie about it to the people, thus breaking another golden rule. Before you know it, they are wilfully breaking all the rules of same Holy Bible that they swore by.

Considering that this immoral religiosity in Nigeria is the bane of many of our problems, perhaps we need to discontinue this practice of people swearing on the Bible when they take public office. After all, requiring people to swear on any object or religious material throughout this last century has not brought us anything tangible other than looters and liars.

We need now more than ever to build a new society based on heeding our moral conscience to inform us of the right thing. We need to begin a critical education from the cradle in the minds of our people to know that being religious is insufficient to build a decent society. Our people need to know that it is far more imperative that we strive to build a strong moral society for the betterment of all, rather than a corrupt society that only serves a few.

It is a shame that, as much as I believe this is the right way to build a society, the moral degeneration that pervades every aspect of life in Nigeria will make it difficult to achieve. Therefore, as we journey to our new Yoruba nation, it is far better to teach the coming generations that religion cannot be the sole basis for building a morally upright society. Particularly considering the damage that religion has done to the Nigerian state and several other African countries.

Yoruba people must realise that those who brought Islam and Christianity were never motivated by desiring to develop our minds, but rather to capture our hearts. We must now rediscover our purpose as a people and redefine our values based on respect for one another and our society. This stands in stark contrast to the selfishness of our hearts that brings nothing but deprivation, ridicule and shame both to ourselves and to our wider communities.

The truth is, as much good as Christianity and Islam have done for us in Nigeria, we have looked for loopholes in them to destroy our very own society. We must begin to examine for ourselves whether we truly are religious, following the commandments as laid down in the Bible and Qur’an, or whether we are using religion to justify doing our own selfish bidding. If the answer is the latter – which I believe it is for many – then maybe it is time to re-evaluate who really are Christians, Muslims or Traditionalist.

It may be that we can only truly call ourselves religious if we are among those who follow all the principles as laid down in these holy books. Amongst the entire population of Nigeria , they might not even be up to 5%. This is the very reason that we have an immoral society living in denial.

As we enter the new year, seeking also to enter our new nation, let us take time to truly inspect the content of our hearts and the motivation for following our chosen religion. Then let us examine the actions of our leaders, testing whether they measure up to the doctrines to which they claim to subscribe. When we find that they do not, we must take action to root out this disease and ensure that those we imbue with authority in the Yoruba nation are those with strong and sound morals, upright hearts and righteous character, whatever their religion.

Corruption can only take hold in our new nation if we permit it; so it is the duty of every one of us to ensure that we do not. Let us make this new year and new nation one of radical new foundations: foundations of upstanding morals and transparent honesty in all things.

Headline

Israeli Ambassador Accuses Iran of Spreading Terror, Sponsoring Extremist Activities in Nigeria

Published

19 hours ago

March 6, 2026

Eric

Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, has accused Iran of sponsoring extremist activities in Nigeria and other parts of the world, alleging that Tehran supports groups aimed at destabilising countries while pursuing its hostility against Israel.

Freeman made the remarks on Friday while speaking during an interview on The Morning Show on Arise News.

The envoy claimed that Iran is the only country within the United Nations that openly expresses a desire to destroy another sovereign state, referring to repeated threats against Israel.

According to him, the Iranian government has, over several decades, supported militant groups and terror organisations around the world in pursuit of that objective.

Freeman alleged that Iran has backed groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, adding that Tehran was also behind the October 7 attack carried out by Hamas against Israel.

He further claimed that Iranian activities aimed at spreading instability have been observed across several regions, including Europe, Australia, and parts of Africa.

Speaking specifically about Nigeria, the Israeli ambassador alleged that the Islamic Movement of Nigeria receives backing from the Iranian government.

According to Freeman, statements of support from Iran’s leadership, including posts by Ali Khamenei on social media, have openly indicated such ties.

He said: “The issue here is about Iran. Iran is the only country in the world, in the United Nations, who expressly desires to wipe another country off the face of the earth. Iran has stated its very policy is to destroy Israel. Is to wipe Israel off the map is to make sure they kill every single person and no regime, no country that has an express desire to destroy Israel, and it’s not only an expressed desire.

“We’ve seen over 47 years, they’ve taken all the actions they can in order for that to happen. We’ve seen them sponsor terror organizations. They were behind October the seventh massacre of Hamas. We’ve seen them sponsoring Hezbollah. We’ve seen them acting in Europe. We’ve seen them acting in Australia. We’ve seen them acting in Nigeria.

“We’ve seen these people acting all across the world in order to spread disturbance for them to try and carry out their aim of destroying Israel, and Israel will not allow another country to have nuclear weapons when they’ve expressly stated they want those weapons to destroy Israel”.

“I think that it is well documented. We know that there are certain movements, for example, the Islamic movement of Nigeria is sponsored and is backed by the Iranian regime. This is not me saying this, we’ve seen that documented by the Iranian regime.

The Supreme Leader posted on X his support and his backing there. So that’s very open. And there are other areas as well that Iran is working for, destabilizing, not only Nigeria, but all of West Africa.”

Headline

Why Nigerians Must Reject INEC’s Revised Timetable – ADC

Published

7 days ago

February 28, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), during the week, released a fresh elections timetable, with major amendments to accommodate the just passed and signed Electoral Act 2026 by the National Assembly and President Bola Tinubu respectively.

Following the repeal of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the enactment of the Electoral Act, 2026, which introduced adjustments to statutory timelines governing pre-election and electoral activities, the Commission has reviewed and realigned the Schedule to ensure full compliance with the new legal framework.

Accordingly, the Commission has resolved as follows:

Presidential and National Assembly Elections will now hold on Saturday, 16th January 2027 as against the earlier stated February 20, 2027
Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections will now hold on Saturday, 6th February 2027 as against the former date of March 6, 2027

Also in accordance with the approved Schedule of Activities, the electoral bidy noted in the revised timetable that:

Conduct of Party Primaries, including resolution of disputes arising from primaries, will commence on 23rd April 2026 and end on 30th May 2026.

Presidential and National Assembly campaigns will commence on 19th August 2026.

Governorship and State Houses of Assembly campaigns will commence on 9th September 2026.

As provided by law, campaigns shall end 24 hours before Election Day. Political parties are strongly advised to adhere strictly to these timelines. The Commission will enforce compliance with the law.

But in a swift reaction, the opposition coalition, African Democratic Congress (ADC), rejected the revised 2026–2027 general election timetable, describing it as a politically biased schedule designed to favour the re-election agenda of President Bola Tinubu, and calling on all Nigerians to speak up enmasse to reject the revised timetable.

The ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Friday argued that the new deadlines and compliance requirements under the Electoral Act 2026 create near-impossible hurdles for opposition parties seeking to field candidates.

On February 13, INEC initially scheduled the 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections for February 20, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections were fixed for March 6, 2027.

The timetable, however, faced objections from some Muslim stakeholders who noted that the dates coincided with the 2027 Ramadan period.

Following the concerns, the National Assembly amended Clause 28 of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, reducing the required election notice period from 360 to 300 days, allowing INEC to adjust the election dates.

Subsequently, INEC released a revised schedule on Thursday, signed by its Chairman, Joash Amupitan, moving the Presidential and National Assembly elections to January 16, 2027, and the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections to February 6, 2027.

Reacting, the ADC said the requirement that political parties submit a comprehensive digital membership register by April 2, 2026, effectively bars opposition parties from participating.

The party stated: “The African Democratic Congress rejects the updated 2026–2027 electoral timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission. What has been presented as a routine administrative schedule of the upcoming general elections is, in fact, a political instrument carefully structured to narrow democratic space and strengthen the incumbent administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“According to the timetable, party primaries are to be conducted between April 23 and May 30, 2026, just 55 to 92 days from today. However, more significant is that, pursuant to Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties are required to submit their digital membership registers to INEC not later than April 2, 2026.

“That is only about 34 days away. Section 77(7) further provides that any party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated time shall not be eligible to field a candidate. These are not routine administrative rules but are deliberately constructed barriers designed to exclude the opposition from participating in the election.”

The party further noted that Section 77(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 requires the digital register of members to contain name, sex, date of birth, address, state, local government, ward, polling unit, National Identification Number (NIN) and photograph in both hard and soft copies, while Section 77(6) prohibits the use of any pre-existing register that does not contain the specified information. It warned that failure to meet these requirements would lead to disqualification.

The ADC questioned the fairness of the digital membership requirement, noting that the ruling All Progressives Congress began its registration process in February 2025, long before the requirement became mandatory.

“It is not a product of foresight but insider advantage. They knew what was coming. They therefore had one full year to carry out an exercise that other political parties are expected to complete in one month, during which they must collect, process, collate and transmit large volumes of digital data to INEC under the threat of exclusion. This is practically impossible.

“Democratic competition is based on a level playing field that does not give any contestant an undue advantage. A system where one party exploits incumbency to gain a one-year head start on a requirement that other parties only became aware of when it was nearly too late is a rigged system.”

The ADC said it has joined other opposition parties in rejecting the Electoral Act 2026, adding that the INEC timetable is equally rejected as it appears designed to serve what it described as a self-succession agenda.

“Let it be clear that ADC will not take any action that appears to confer legitimacy on a fraudulent system. We are reviewing our options and will make our position known in the coming days,” the party said.

The party also called on civil society organisations, democratic stakeholders and Nigerians to scrutinise the timetable and demand fairness, stressing that democracy cannot survive when electoral rules are structured to produce predetermined outcomes.

The party has consistently accused the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) of scheming to silence the opposition as the 2027 General Elections draw closer, citing his manipulation of state governors and Assembly members from jumping ship, and settling with the ruling party.

Presently, the president’s party has a total of 31 out of 36 states governors, more than majority of the national and states Houses of Assembly.

A frontline publisher and chieftain of the ADC, Chief Dele Momodu, has warned that Tinubu is gradually transforming into full-blown dictatorship, stressing that his second term in office would turn state governors into ‘total slaves’.

Headline

Second Term for Tinubu Will Turn Governors into Total Slaves, Dele Momodu Warns

Published

7 days ago

February 28, 2026

Eric

Chairman, Ovation Media Group, and former presidential aspirant, Aare Dele Momodu, has expressed strong concern over what he described as growing political support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu among state governors across the country.

Speaking during an interview on News Central TV, Momodu said he was shocked by the level of backing the president is reportedly receiving, warning that Nigeria’s democracy could face serious risks if the current political trend continues.

The media entrepreneur cautioned that allowing Tinubu to secure a second term in 2027 could, in his view, lead to excessive concentration of power. He particularly criticized what he described as a growing wave of opposition figures aligning with the ruling All Progressives Congress> (APC).

Momodu referenced reports of opposition governors, including Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, allegedly moving closer to the ruling party, describing the development as politically troubling.

According to him, some governors are allegedly competing to demonstrate loyalty to the president ahead of future elections.

“The governors are fighting to ensure Tinubu wins a second term, fighting to be the biggest thug for him. If a man in his first term can capture the bodies and souls of Nigerians this way, imagine what he would do with a second term. It will be a full-blown dictatorship, and the governors will regret it as they become total slaves to him,” Momodu said.

He concluded by urging Nigerians to remain vigilant and actively protect democratic institutions, warning that unchecked consolidation of political power could threaten the nation’s democracy and future stability.

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