Nigeria: The advent of our Dark Ages is upon us

The life of a discussion

A discussion on Twitter has a tendency to grow legs and we wander off to places that could obfuscate or bring more clarity to issues sometimes forgetting how we ended up where we are.

One such discussion started off when I wrote about the particular, the case of Senator Sani Yerima’s daughter being married off at the age of 16 with a particular focus on advocacy and activism for the education of the girlchild. [AkinBlog]

Much as I thought my points were so clearly made, I ended up in a discussion where some took a contrarian view more towards extrapolation, generalisation and indifference.

Idealism absent of realism

However, what struck me was the view that Nigeria needs a radical reorientation, and there is no doubt that the citizenry need greater awareness of their place in Nigeria, the direction we want the country to move in and that should hopefully extend to how we choose our leaders, the way policy is formulated and maybe some progress towards realising the potential Nigeria always had but never exploited.

We then ended in the argument and counterargument of who was being idealist and who was being a realist. Whilst I could be either, depending on the perspective of an issue, I do always hope that I have the ability to see more than the obvious and think beyond the things that could inform my bias and prejudices, I hope I am more of a pragmatist.

Though the issue of the reorientation of Nigerians is critical, I am of the view that it is not something that can be realised in the short term, a view I do not think my assailants shared, which could leave them sitting on the bench of the idealist far removed from the reality that in a population of over 160 million with the issues to do to leadership, religion, tribalism, education, health, politics and corruption, this concept called Nigeria is one massive ocean liner than cannot be manoeuvred like a racing car.

Nothing in the horizon for change

Much as the views of a Tim Newman who made insightful observations of Nigeria and Nigerians after a stint as an oil industry professional might put us on the defensive, there is no doubt that along with those in leadership today, there does not seem crop of Nigerians that could be randomly picked from any walk of life with the wherewithal to act any differently from the brigandage in power and that is looking down generations to come already. [Sahara Reporters]

Teju Cole, an author and insightful commentator on issues Nigerian and African in a recent interview said he was more interested in African realism than African Optimism. [Africa Book Club]

I have many a time commented on the fact that we seem to exhibit such vacuous optimism in expectation of sudden miracles fuelled by heightened hopes for the impossible that the reasonable will find improbable and the rational might just ridicule as foolish that we are left with two traits that Lord Lugard observed of us as far back as 1922 in his book, the Dual Mandate, when he said – “Perhaps the two traits which have impressed me as those most characteristic of the African native are his lack of apprehension and his lack of ability to visualize the future.” [AkinBlog]

Our Dark Ages have begun

It was in a discussion last night that all these thoughts came together when @cchukudebelu said to me on Twitter – ‘You know how the "Dark Ages" destroyed European society - something similar is happening in Nigeria.’ [Twitter]

The penny dropped, because this seemed to define the gradual decline of Nigeria in all facets of societal, economic, social, religious, political and infrastructural needs of our dear country. This has been going on for over a generation and it will not be turned around anytime soon, though we can start the journey to a new future from today if the will and the wherewithal exists for such to happen

A long hard look at ourselves would indicate, we are complacently and recklessly descending into Armageddon with the brakes having failed, and the country in the hands of an unconscionable kakistocracy bent on retaining power at any cost with the man in charge not giving a damn about the consequences.

Our claims have been disclaimed

The honest truth is that 2015 provides no year of the Messiah and whilst we pine and wait in vain for deliverance coming for somewhere besides ourselves we will simply be chroniclers of the advent of our version of the Dark Ages, it will be left to history to judge if we have been benevolent, treacherous or indifferent with the legacy of a nation bequeathed to us by our founding fathers.

On the 1^st of October, 1960, this is what Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa said, “So that we find ourselves today being tested to the utmost, we are called upon immediately to show that our claims to responsible government are well-founded, and having been accepted as an independent state we must at once play an active part in maintaining the peace of the world and in preserving civilisation. I promise you, we shall not fail for want of determination.” [AkinBlog]

It goes without saying that our claims to responsible government have been found wanting and we have failed with every determination and opportunity presented to bring Nigeria round to the vision, optimism and hope that greeted our independence and our people when we stood as a nation ready to take its place in the commonwealth of our global humanity.

Knowing the context of our Dark Ages

Lest we be at a loss as to what the Dark Ages means, the following dictionary definitions should help us understand the task we have ahead of us, that it would be step changes, little alterations, tinkering and activism on a whole range of little issues that could create great impact that will be the parts from which a sum and product of total reorientation will emerge – there is no telling which generation in the near or distant future will really see the Nigeria we have yearned for all our lives, for those before us and those that come after us.

Dark Ages [The Free Dictionary]

An era of ignorance, superstition, or social chaos or repression.

The early or crude stage in the history or development of something.

The entire Middle Ages, especially when viewed as a troubled period marked by the loss of classical learning.

There is plenty of ignorance to go round as there is atrocious superstition, with social chaos and repression in Nigeria today and whether we are learning anything new to bring about change is as debatable as it can be until the world comes to an end.

Encapsulating Tweets

These series of Tweets I posted will help close this discussion.

@DoubleEph It suddenly dawns on you that Nigeria has a generational societal burden that we believe will dissipate with good 2015 elections.

It took the description "Dark Ages" by @cchukudebelu for me to confirm Nigeria is in a generational rut with no turnaround in sight.

There is no new leadership in the waiting that suggests Nigeria is on the cusp for radical and generational change.

I fear that we might just be chroniclers of Nigeria's descent into total anarchy with the kind of leadership we have.

We are so apart from the ideal we seek and the cohesion necessary to give Nigeria a heading towards it.

Whilst Nigeria is not a lost cause there is little reason for great optimism in the quagmire of our stark realities.

We have become the passengers of the times, whether history will judge us as benevolent or treacherous is another thing.

@kayodebakre8 We constantly make the mistake that a Messiah exists that we overlook other potentially able leadership.@KwamiAdadevoh

I fear that what appears in the current Nigerian intellectual is the adulation of people, the revising of event and very little in ideas.

Welcome to the advent of Nigeria’s Dark Ages.

Impian Stories: Dreaming of a new way

Dream control

Long ago, Impian realised the potency of dreams, dreams being events he quite vividly remembers when he wakes up, he almost always analyses what he has dreamt about as a playback to appreciate and understand what has been going on in his quite fertile imagination.

Besides this, after watching a film about using scientific methods to enter the dreams of others, he somehow took away from that experience, the ability to control to some extent the plot in his dreams like getting himself out of danger, knowing when he was dreaming, in a trance or experiencing reality and having the ability to break out of a dream waking up spontaneously to extricate himself out of a sticky situation.

I guess everyone knows if you flick a switch in a dream and the lights do not come on, you are in a dream, the funny thing is his mind will inform him in him dream that he is dreaming, the lights will not come on, and if the lights are requirement for that setting, rather than roam in the dark to experience lurking wonders, the self-preservation and failsafe facility kicks in, he will most likely wake up.

Closed up dreams

One area of he dreams he was yet to master was the one to do with enclosed spaces, whilst he had already found coping mechanisms for conscious claustrophobia, his subconscious claustrophobia had gotten worse, he always found him in a maze, unable to retrace his steps and caught in a tight place with no means of escape – very scary.

Houses all seemed to end up like rooms on a spiral stairs with ever-decreasing room to manoeuvre until a point that the space was literally too tight to get the body through, almost like a well-built house had suffered some structural damage after he gained entry that he was in need of a rescue – this was becoming unreasonable because houses are not build like that and why is it that the most interesting rooms were always at the other side of a constricted passage that claustrophobia kept him from exploring.

Rethinking the dream

Then, he had this dream, where the spiral staircase of rooms became an impediment and hindrance, he woke and reasoned, the spiral staircase was a fiction of the mind, houses are not built into a conundrum of impassable passages unless to anyone but those who could slither through like serpents, these were built by human-beings for the use of human-beings and the rooms regardless of how they are laid out will always be properly accessible.

He fell asleep again and picked up the dream where it had left off, only this time, the rooms were all accessible, he had deal with the subconscious claustrophobia by rationalisation and reason, this might well have opened up a neural pathway to exploring other abilities underdeveloped by reason of that impediment.

Methinks, Impian is on a new journey of discovery having opened up a new channel for adventure in his dreams.

Nigeria: Atrocious Abuse in the Church Remains a Problem

Cruel and unjust punishments

With the way we espouse religion to a fundamentalist and extremist extent, it is important to highlight elements of our association with Christianity as practiced that must be condemned in totality.

First, the case of witchcraft exorcisms where two teenagers possibly stigmatised and victimised by their community were placed in the hands of psychotic, sociopathic and sadistic church leaders who bound them and starved them for 3 days leading to the death of one.

I am at pains to find the manual of exorcism these people used to go about this bizarre activity that just demonstrates cruelty unspeakable, all in the name of God.

False teachings and devilish acts

Whilst there might be passages in the Scripture that address witchcraft, the exorcism act which is called deliverance should not constitute harmful and cruel punishments with torture techniques that one will not find in a gulag, all in the name of God.

The idea that a somewhat spiritual affliction can be fought with physical means is foolish, if not idiotic, but we are held in trawl of these fantastic and spectacular acts that leave us in dread of the supernatural from a bad perspective rather than be in awe of the miraculous, if that is what is to be expected.

Wrong treatment for a problem

Then again, in another development, a mentally-ill man was taken to a church for prayers and possible help, which that pastor suggested could be offered, all in the name of God.

Being left in the care of the pastor, by circumstance, happenstance or carelessness, the man having been prayed for and then taken for psychiatric help was left in the care of a stranger and eventually went missing.

Whilst, there is nothing to suggest the pastor is responsible for the disappearance of the man, we live in a society superstitious enough for some to assume and suggest the man has been used for macabre ritual purposes.

Shamanism taking the fore

In fact, it is strange that the parents of the man who sought the help of a man of God for their son with faith in Christian practices now begin to believe that the disappearance of their son is linked to ritualistic purposes.

Though the pastor has been released from custody, he is at best careless considering the person put in his care was vulnerable and should have been under constant supervision, for that alone, there is a case to answer though how to follow that through is not clear.

However, the greater issue here is our lack of understanding of mental health issues which we deem spiritual and usually associate with spiritism, witchcraft, and other black arts.

Understanding mental health issues

Whilst one cannot entirely contemn this long-held belief system, we need to approach mental health from a more logical, systematic and constructive perspective, employing professional psychologists and psychiatrists to analyse, diagnose and suggest ameliorating therapies.

Besides, it is important to know what the mental disability is, which could be anything from autism, through anti-social behaviours to bipolar disorders, and many other conditions that we just lump together as madness.

Some of these conditions could be environmental or even chemical imbalances that we take to churches where people are barely trained to understand what they are tackling that they resort to shamanistic rituals pretending to alleviate suffering which they are not in fact doing.

Reread, revisit, review, repudiate

In all, if we are to rely on the miraculous for problem resolution, it is only right that we go back and study the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles to appreciate and understand what they did to help people in circumstances where modern medical practice would almost equate the kinds of miracles that were wrought then.

If any of the acts involve cruelty, punishments, force or any exertion beyond voice of command, we should begin to suspect that the purveyors of such solutions have no such power to help than to violate, brutalise and abuse the vulnerable – there is no licence given in the Scriptures for abuse nor should we condone such from any who portend to have spiritual authority over us.

Let us be smart about abuse in churches and condemn such in totality, there are many horrible things done, all in the name of God.

Opinion: How we are losing the #ChildNotBride debate to Senator Yerima

Game, Set and Match to Yerima

We are swiftly losing the plot and the battle in the debate with regards to putting up our girls for marriage as espoused and promoted by Senator Sani Yerima.

In all the media appearances that the veritable ex-governor and Sharia law advocate has attended, he has literally wiped the floor clean with all his inquisitors demonstrating a thorough grasp of the constitutional issues that allow him the pleasures he enjoys without moral reflection because he believes he is in the right.

Meanwhile with our moral indignation, passion and disdain of the man and his views, we have deployed emotion, celebrity and ignorance against a well-prepared, media-savvy, knowledgeable and formidable force of personality who once again has successfully run rings round us.

Building an unassailable profile

Sani Yerima is a problem, a developing problem with a growing followership, media profile and international recognition; the little leaven of yeast he was years ago has slowly but surely leavened the whole dough, like the little venom of a poisonous snake has fully paralysed us in debate with neurotoxins presenting death.

We are never going to win this debate if we continue to entertain Senator Sani Yerima as the clown, more so, where we must tackle him requires proper intellectual engagement of people who have studied and understood the core legal, religious and socio-economic matters that underpin what makes these practices thrive without sanction.

Atrocious figureheads ruining the plot

This is no time to roll out figurehead celebrities oblivious of data and facts debating and contributing like airheads, adding fuel to the odious glare that is giving Senator Yerima the courage to state his case on the international media without apology.

Without doubt, the man is smart, he also has amazing political nous because what he has successfully done is make his own personal interpretation of issues the core and contention of the debate; once we have absented ourselves from the core objectives to toe this line, well walked by him and less known by us, we have basically lost before the first word is spoken.

The pimping media

The media also have to excoriated about how this debate has been derailed from giving more prominence to the protection of the rights of the child from entering adulthood long before they are due just because some men have found a propensity to satisfy their evil lusts with the innocence of kids.

Yes, the media, the houses and the personalities, for ratings and involvement latching onto the notoriety of the reprehensible have not furthered the debate for the cause of humanity and what is right, but have become voyeurs of comment and counter-comment, happily thinking they are providing a platform for debate when they are no better than pimps providing board for prostitute and punter to meet.

Respect the man

We will only begin to tackle Senator Yerima properly, when we humbly respect that he is knowledgeable, informed, equipped, savvy, smart and intelligent, it means we also have polish up our act by ensuring we match each of these qualities with people who have superior intellect on all the matters constitutional, religious and otherwise – we have many, prominent of whom is Maryam Uwais who gave a well-written submission on this matter here.

Senator Yerima and Constitutional Review – Maryam Uwais

We will never be equipped for the heavy lifting of radical change in national consciousness which some people term the reorientation of the citizenry, and in my view that will take generations of re-schooling, if we have not been exercised in lesser issues like Child Marriage, Female Genital Mutilation, Maternal Mortality, Rights of the Woman and the Child, Education, Health to greater social and infrastructure issues as Power, Resource Management, Corruption or even Homosexuality - We have to work with the discreet, and individual parts of the sum to make the whole product, the whole is too unwieldy to tackle, it is a leviathan of a problem.

This David is beating us fair and square

There is much to do, but we have to start with the basic sketches, pencil marks, brush strokes and composition before we get the big picture of where we want Nigeria to be.

The Big Picture is not a screenprint, it will be slow and painstaking, one generation working with the next and preparing the one after to take over reinforcing and building on the foundations laid down now; it is not a chicken or egg matter, but a chicken and egg coexistence because the future we so desire might not come to light until the lifetime time of the grand-chick, just as dreams of our fathers before might only be realised in the lifetimes of our grandchildren, we have to build continuity into the struggle and survival of humanity for the good, the better and the best.

One final note of warning, “Those who treat their adversaries with derision are soon humiliated in the theatre of battle. Think Goliath and David.” It goes without saying that Senator Yerima is playing the part of David too well for the Goliath of our disdain to realise that the stone of Islam in the sling of the Senator’s good aim is the death of Goliath and the end of our side of the story or the protection of girls who should not be brides.

Related reading

Nigeria: Senator Yerima's Child Is a Bride on Friday the 6th of September 2013

Nigeria: On Child Marriage, The Perception Drives the Debate

Nigeria: Senator's teenage marriage is lawful though reprehensible

Nigeria: Senator's defiance makes Sharia Law untenable

The case for State law over religious guidance

Opinion: Overruling Extremist Opposition to Expert Medical Opinion

The Blood Transfusion Debate Again

Almost six years ago, I could not find the words to describe and condemn the needless death of someone by reason of extreme religious beliefs where a simple medical procedure would have saved life, avoided sorrow and provided essential parental and matrimonial succour to the children and the husband of the victim. [AkinBlog]

Then a 22-year old having given birth to twins had lost so much blood that she needed a transfusion but because she was a Jehovah’s Witness, she and her husband refused treatment that could have saved her life, she exsanguinated.

Against Expert Medical Opinion

Recently, this issue of religious belief attempting to override good medical practice came to the courts in Northern Ireland where a judge decided that a man with severe learning abilities had the right by reason of not being able to understand the consequences of adhering to a belief system that could endanger his life to be protected by the state. [CourtsNI]

He was to undergo a number of dental surgery proceedings that had outcomes that might require the use of blood products that Jehovah’s Witnesses proscribe, particularly, blood transfusions – in my 2007 blog, I did suggest that it was pragmatic to obtain blood transfusions from a patient’s bloodline.

Personal Consent is Fundamental

Crucial to this decision was that, he “is not capable of consenting to his own medical treatment” due to “a history of global developmental delay of unknown aetiology”, his mother was seeking the right to decide on his behalf positing that, he “seems to enjoy attending church and has positive social contact as a result”, thereby, he is as much bound by the belief systems she espouses to be accorded the strictures that constitute the dogma of the sect. [Wikipedia]

The judge, based his views on the ECHR suggesting ‘At least two articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) were relevant, the judge noted: the second, which guarantees the right to life, and the third, which outlaws "inhuman and degrading" treatment. But legal precedents indicated that a treatment aimed at preserving life could not be considered cruel.’ [Economist]

Anachronisms of Ancient Thought in Modern Times

Now, whilst a religious sect might have scriptural basis for whatever belief systems they espouse, as the Economist notes, “transfusion for medical reasons did not exist in Biblical times; this is one of the many difficulties that arise when codes of ethics that were devised for life in the pre-modern desert are applied to the 21st century.”

I could not have put that better in determining the reasonableness of context, application and perspective necessary for a common-sense decisions today.

The conflict between treatment necessary to preserve life and the religious freedom to determine whether to take such treatment should not exist if the person concerned is able to comprehend and use the information under medical guidance to appreciate the consequences of their decision.

Incapacity Defaults to Medical Opinion

That is usually catered for in an Advance Health Care Directive also known as a living will which “is a set of written instructions that a person gives that specify what actions should be taken for their health, if they are no longer able to make decisions due to illness or incapacity.” [Wikipedia]

However, this requires the person be full aware and capable of making the decisions in the directive prior to incapacity. Where the directive is challenged, it there is precedent where the judge has denied the execution of the Power of Attorney, requiring the patient be able to decide for themselves, failing which the law will side with expert medical opinion. [RTE]

An Uneasy Compromise

I am wont to believe that the Jehovah’s Witnesses exhibit an unsavoury kind of religious fundamentalism and extremism based on teachings and new interpretation of Scripture dating back only to 1870, even if they aver that they are “a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity.” [Wikipedia]

Much as I will like a situation where religious beliefs do not overcome reasonable medical intervention, the Economist ends their piece with this – “a consensus is emerging that people of more-or-less sound mind can, if they so choose, put their lives at risk by refusing certain treatments; but they cannot impose that risk on dependants who for one reason or another cannot decide for themselves.”

It is an uneasy compromise but the decision not to follow medical advice or extricate oneself from procedure by reason of conscience must be made by the individual concerned and should never be transferred to someone else.

Nigeria: Senator Yerima's Child Is a Bride on Friday the 6th of September 2013

Bad interview techniques

The death of Sir David Frost this morning brought into stark relief the dearth of television interviewing scholarship and skill in Nigerian media.

Prominent amongst the recollections about Sir David Frost will be his interviews of President Richard Nixon post the Watergate scandal, beyond that, he was known for getting to chat to prominent personalities and teasing out information and detail that will never be revealed if he had not done his research and placed his questions with skill.

Other interviewers with my English bias of that class will be Sir Michael Parkinson, Jeremy Paxman, Stephen Sackur, Larry King, John Humphrys and recently Piers Morgan – these are people Nigerian interviewers should study and with a sense of courage and boldness be able to address the powerful without fear to elicit facts rather than have rings run round them as they cower in fawning obsequiousness.

The debauchery of Yerima

One such notorious personality that has not only run rings round media interviewers in Nigeria but appeared smarter, articulate and more prepared for anything slung at him is Senator Sani Yerima, the one-time governor of Zamfara State in Nigeria and the proud figurehead cum advocate of prepubescent matrimony.

At 53, the man has 28 children and has satisfied himself with a full complement of wives; four at a time with decreasing age of consummation that fell to the age of 13 with anEgyptian girl in 2010, having divorced another teenager wife of a couple of years to make way for this one.

Now, nothing in the laws of Nigeria as they stand makes what he did illegal, much as it is morally reprehensible to say the least and he has been recently in the news with regards to a constitutional amendment that had nothing to do with child marriage but once it was misinterpreted and misconstrued to pertain to that, we almost had a constitutional crisis that led to the public perception and campaign labelled #ChildNotBride.

A child marriage to stop

On the 6^th of September, Sani Yerima intends to give the hand of his 16-year old daughter in marriage to someone yet to be determined by the attendant news reports.

Being a Nigerian Senator, Sani Yerima is a man of great means and wealth, having also been a governor without vouching for or against his honesty, it goes without saying that he knows the need and value of education and he is enlightened enough to do what is right without resorting to the bogeyman of religion to press his case.

We must agree that a man of the Senator’s status really has no justification taking his 16-year old daughter half-educated out of school to fulfil a marital pact under any circumstances including religion, even if he is constitutionally warranted to do such if he deems it fit.

Girls have rights too

It goes without saying that the girl at 16 who will not have completed her secondary school education will be put at a lifelong disadvantage of not being able to be of independent means if this union should fail and she is left with dependants she has to fend for.

If we cannot have senior politicians stand up for the rights of girls in the 21^st Century where our global village exposes both boy and girl to challenges that require a really good education to get ahead at anything, then that is unfortunate.

If the girl were kept in school until she finished university, she will at most be 24 years of age and 24 is not too bad an age for a Muslim girl with an overly religious father to find a man, get married and fulfil of matrimonial duties along with having a sense of achievement and independence in the community in which she exists.

What to do?

We need to place a greater value on our girls to ensure they are not commoditised as bargaining chattels for pacts of marriage and the satisfaction of the propensity for paedophiliac lusts of lewd old men like their fathers.

I do not know if this marriage in 5 days can be stopped but this provides a socio-economical angle to the debate on child marriage moving it away from the issue of religion and the lascivious lewdness of old men sampling the virginity of girls for their sexual pleasure to the primary and fundamental interests of the child.

Our right to protect girls

Any man can choose whatever beliefs he wants and use them to his satisfaction, but the state has a duty above any belief system to protect the child from exploitation, abuse and the termination of opportunity to gain the basic tools for independence such as a full education where the means exist to cover such.

On that basis alone, that marriage should be not be contracted by the force of moral responsibility, an injunction or civil intervention, this kind of impunity must have an end and who better to be made an example of than Senator Sani Yerima.

Opinion: Religious Soakaways of Talent Needed Elsewhere

Lurch from church to church

As I made for church this morning, I could not help but notice that hardly beyond my temporary abode, I could count 5 churches within the space of 50 yards.

This was no church district like some industrial or a Business Park, but a non-descript residential area with a few corner shops and a prominent fast food restaurant, to allow a liberty of description I rarely give to those places and a busy street running into a junction.

Whilst, each church had some highfalutin spiritual name, with a few of the usual suspects headed by some Nigerian folk, I could not but wonder about the variance in doctrine, dogma, diktat and culture that precipitated the deluge of mushroom churches all around London in grand buildings, converted garages, school halls or strange shelters that we so need that many.

Why this many?

Now, the revelations of Scripture might vary as one might see the dispersion of light through a prism depending on the angle of observation, but is the perspective so different that each person who seems to have the hunch must have their own church and following?

More so, I am concerned about the brain drain that this spate of churches has brought on society, I am of the opinion that many who eventually decide to enter some religious ministry is of probably some other more useful talent and ability, a professional with a different first vocation that probably has had a lot more to contribute to their field of expertise before they withdrew their services for this venture for souls.

I make bold to say that leaders of these outfits do have innate abilities of study, research, standards, articulation and communication that the wider society can so benefit from that we are now missing.

Talent at the pulpit

Academics with knowledge and perspective able to mentor impressionable young minds to excellence and genius, sometimes they could also be the level heads in dispute resolution, all withdrawn from our sadly moribund institutions that education is failing graduands at all levels.

Medical practitioners with skills that our hospitals need, considering how someone opined recently though without reference that a church in Nigeria had produced more pastors than Nigeria had produced doctors since independence.

I cannot corroborate that assertion, but when we read of health statistics and outcomes in our medical establishments that look like a published account of the road to a hellish existence, you wonder why good doctors are not in hospitals but in churches.

Skill to the versed

Engineers that we need for projects for growth and development such that me might not need foreign expertise to man the simplest activities; the engineers with their sense of precision, attention to detail and particularity have left our buildings, bridges, roads and infrastructure in the hands of others either overburdened or ignorant of what to do, some of our best engineers are building spiritual bridges to heaven.

Accountants with an eye on the figures, the costs, the budgets, gatekeepers on the judicious use of capital by reason of checks and audits, besides the ethical and principled perspective these career migrants could bring now totting up the accounts on God’s bank account in the church.

This is not to say that professions are not well manned, but we cannot ignore what has become the religious soakaway of talent where people who have a calling and gift for the society and the communities they exist in have deserted this great calling and crowded into the religious business.

Fishing for gold

This should also be bothersome because many of these crossover professionals to religion do not have formal seminary training apart from adapting the fundamentals of their profession to religious ends.

It is understandable that many professions do not offer great financial reward as it does seem that churches with the crowds that can attract depending of the charisma and the spectacular draw of the leader can become a banking breaking venture with returns that make the eyes water.

Peddling promises like croupiers in the casino of God, the followers are inspired by good talk to gamble on the assurance of better returns than any monetary system can offer, the spectre of hope dangled in sight but just a bit out of reach to keep the lure engaging enough with it being attainable.

Absent accountability

The mushroom churches also appear to have leaders that belong to no formal or established religious hierarchy, they have absented themselves from oversight of independent authority or have extricated themselves by schism from their mother congregations that they are no more accountable to any church organisation, authority or the flock that they oversee, they metamorphose from men of God to gods of men and with that comes error and more opprobrium upon the whole institution of Christianity because there is no order.

We need to get some talcum powder and antihistamine for our itching ears, our desire to seek out those who make us too comfortable to check ourselves or our leadership on the core principles of the faiths we have espoused that we become lobotomised flock conferring infallibility on our leadership excusing every indefensible thing out of dread, shame or embarrassment.

Shut these places down

It goes without need for much reason that these churches or religious establishments will first become lightning rods for public criticism and before long politicians might get interested and it would be a great pleasure to see these mushroom churches exterminated like vermin for they have become a pestilence giving haven to duplicitous leadership that act with impunity without consequence.

Let us reason about what this means for us as individuals, the way we congregate and the people we allow to hold sway in leadership over us with question or curiosity – it is an unhealthy state of affairs and repugnant beyond words.