18 Feb 2009 |
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SUFFERING AND SMILING Prince Chinedu Igwenazor According to recent surveys, Nigerians are among (if not) the happiest people on earth today. Marvellous is it not? Day after day, the news is full of dying hopes, of people succumbing to the pangs of hunger, of people falling victims to innumerable crimes and of debilitating diseases mowing them down. Despite all these or in spite of all these indices, study after study puts us ahead of other nations in the calibration of the happy in the world. So between chuckles and utter bewilderment one is forced to ask how the researchers come to this ludicrous and puzzling conclusion? I may be wrong but I would like to venture that the truth behind our “happiness” is that we can no longer differentiate between happiness and sadness. For us the world of hope has meshed itself into the realm of hopelessness that we do not give a thought to the differences between optimism and pessimism. However the better submission is that we live in a state of induced stupor, of make-believe nurtured by years of brain-washing, grooming and mass hypnotism in the hands of real and pseudo-religious entities that have succeeded in leaving us in a state of the ever-hopefuls. This position is supported by the finding that those up on the scale of happy people are more religious than those at the other end of the scala. Yes indeed we are happy!! Happiness my foot. How can we be happy when poverty is all that we know? How can we be happy when the only song we know is the refrain from our empty stomach? How can we be happy when the most known verse in the country is “give us this day our daily bread” How can we be the happiest people on earth today when our hopes are worse than that of the living dead? Alas, this is no thanks to unprecedented and unquestioned religious activities that have only succeeded in turning us into walking zombies leaving us in an automated existence marked by a defeatist stoicism- “wetin man go do?” “Man no die, man no rotten”. From this we have graduated to metaphors of higher hopes because “once there is life there is hope”; for we have experienced so much that we are now immunised against the feelings of suffering thereby suppressing any outward exhibition of the pains associated with it. Thus we take an uncomfortable refuge in the fallacy that “money no be everything” because “money no go fit buy happiness”. I know that some people would like me to accept the stupid argument that money is not everything or that money cannot buy happiness. I cannot agree for the fact that those who propagate this argument do not believe in the truth of their assertion. Mostly they are the wealthy. And their philosophy is “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” But if indeed they sincerely believe in their argument let them give all their wealth away and follow me. I bet they will not. Unsurprisingly some moralists find consolation in the argument that money is the roots of all evil. This may be true in the Nigerian society where the rich or the want to be rich are ready to do any imaginable thing in order to retain their wealth or to get wealthier or join the rank of the rich. Agreed. Wealth defined as money on its own is not a guarantee for happiness but it is a fundamental requirement towards a qualitative life. However, if it is accepted that money is the root of all evil is the church or religion as a whole the harbinger of evil? This question arises from the fact that religious organisations in what ever form are the richest organisations and their leaders are almost always amongst the wealthiest in the Nigerian experience. Could this explain the fundamental malaise in our society? That the foundation of our existence as a society, our moral base; Religion; is laid on evil. Too much religion; so much evil? What an irony. May be Nigeria will really be a nation of happy people without religion as we know and practice it today. This is because religion in Nigeria has become a commercial enterprise and like any commercial activity the practitioners are pursuing their personal objective with all ruthlessness and all imaginable sharp practices. To them the sufferings of the people are inconsequential so far their pockets are filled to the brim and over-flowing. To keep the people under continued and continuing servitude they propagate the philosophy that we should be happy in suffering because our reward is in heaven, but they cannot wait for the kingdom to come before they claim their own heritage here on earth; Hypocrites? This is not to suggest that established religion is evil or that we should do away with religious practices. No. Religion is not inherently evil but is painted a scary hue by the way it is pursued and the aims some of the religious leaders seek to achieve. It has become a camouflage for many illicit activities and questionable characters that it is no longer separable from many business entities. Therefore, I support the proposition that religious institutions should be treated like any other commercial enterprise. In my view it is unacceptable that religious leaders bilk their followers, amass mind-boggling wealth, and contribute little or nothing to the growth of the nation or to the welfare of their suffering followers. The only consolation they offer them is the false hope of a better life hereafter when they and all theirs’ live a putrefic opulent life here and now. As such especially in the face of the current economic down turn, we should put our hands where our mouths are. And were else can we look to than to what we have in abundance; Religion. Consequently, I propose a new source of revenue for the Government; a religion practitioners’ tax system. They should be required to pay business premises tax, income tax; based on the strength of their congregations, profit tax; based on their weekly intakes, environmental tax for both environmental and noise pollution and associated nuisance and highway tax for those who indulge in blocking our highways. The money “harvested” from these taxes should be invested in educating and re-educating the people. This is to free them from the shackles of blind-followership for illiteracy is the fodder on which these scavengers are nourished. If this is done the wool will fall from their eyes and they will be able to decipher between the sheep and the wolves in sheep’ clothing. And maybe Nigerians will one day stand out in truth as the happiest people on earth. The potential is there.
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