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local government councils in
Nigeria. What the citizens need to
do is to hold their leaders
accountable. Before the last
general election, different strata
in the society were up in criticism
of the government of the day but
today what has changed? Are
there not crisis and problems
still? Why is it that the blame is
INTERVIEW
isolated at the Federal alone?
Why are we not looking at the
local government? What are they
d o i n g w i t h t h e i n c rea s e d
resources that have accrued? The
last regime was receiving
WITH
between 2.5 to 3 billion naira- but today, you
are earning over 7 billion. What has happened
to all those funds? Why are we quiet? Why are
we not talking? Yes, the removal of fuel
subsidy has brought a lot of problems
HON. ERNEST
particularly as a result of increase in
transportation which has affected almost
every aspect of life but then on the flip side of
it, subsidy has brought in more money to the
coffers of government. Government must be
ABNER DA’A
held accountable and made to create social
interventions that would help to cushion the
effects of the price hike. It is her responsibility.
If that is done, I think Nigerians would be able
to cope with this change better.
Gadfly: Thank you sir. Our country, Nigeria is
considered as one of the most religious
countries in the world. In spite of this fact, it
is sad that the positive effects of religion are
rarely seen in the country considering the
actions and thoughts of many Nigerians. As
a father and a devoted Christian, how do you
think religion should influence the lives of
Nigerians positively and not otherwise, and
how can religion bring about growth and
development in the country?
Honourable: In the course of your opening,
you made mention of
individuals being part
o f w h a t w e a r e
passing through.
Religion in general
be it Christianity,
Islam, Buddhism,
A f r i c a n
T r a d i t i o n a l
Religion and so on
abhors evil. True
religion does not
accept hurting your
neighbour and I think the
C h r i s t i a n r e l i g i o n h a s i t s
foundation basically on love, of
which Jesus Christ said "love your
neighbour as yourself and do
unto others what you want them
do unto you." If we would live
within these confines, there
wo u l d n o t h ave b e e n a ny
problems in Nigeria but that is
not the case. We experience
problems and even in-fighting
and inter denominational conflict
among members of the same
religion. For instance, Catholics,
Pentecostals, evangelicals,
Orthodox etc are all claiming to be the best
Christian religion. Even in the Islamic faith, the
different sects; the Shiites, the Sunnites, the
Izalas here in Nigeria etc have equal problems.
The problem of religion is the problem of
Nigeria. The only religion where you hardly see
these kinds of problems is the African
Traditional Religion. Even outside, you rarely
hear of problems within the Hindus or the
Buddhists or the Jews but for us here, the
competition between Christianity and Islam is
the greatest problem. We have forgotten
about serving humanity. Nigeria is led by
either a Christian or a Muslim. From
independence to date, no leader has ever
openly said that he is an African Traditional
worshipper. What can we say then?
Christianity and Islam have failed Nigeria to an
extent because they are the ones that have
governed this country and the country is
where she is as a result of their leadership.
What are the impacts of the religious
teachings on us? We should not just put the
blame on the table of the leaders only. We
have to look at the family level also. Corruption
which is the bane of our development starts
from the home and is taken out. As members
of a family, what are the things we do that are
wrong and what are the things we do that are
right? The examples we set for our children as
parents and guardians are very important. It is
what these children learn from us that they
take into the wider society; into schools, public
offices etc. If we claim to be truly religious,
then we should go by the dictates of our
religion which is love of oneself and love of
one's neighbour. If we abide by this, we would
have religious harmony and peace, and we
would not steal what belongs to our country.
Also our present day society is very evil. Every
one tends to glorify wealth and treat the poor
with contempt. Money is good but the means