I profess that there is only one God. Im a Muslim. I believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the light. Im a Christian. Either way, Im adjudged to be just and upright. I wont fall under castigation or be rebuked if I publicly declare myself as a believer of one of the two religions. These two religions are dominant in most African countries especially in Nigeria. They are referred to as the Abrahmic religion. Religion is inborn but the Abrahmic are not original. They were brought to us by whites who came originally to trade us for slavery. They bent us to their will and we were forced to renounce our traditional beliefs for theirs- it doesnt end there, we were made to switch to their culture, their governmental ways. Today, the missionaries are gone, the Arabs had absconded but their legacy remained. We do not only accept their religions, we now take their religions back to them. Wealthy Nigerian pastors now set up branches of their denominations on European soils. Famous imams now travel to deliver lectures in whites countries. Our traditional belief is abandoned. Anyone that declares himself a worshipper of Sango or a believer of Amadioha will be called a cultist, a ritualist and eventually made to face isolation. Are the Abrahmic any better than our local Oguns, Amadiohas? The largest country colonised by British in Africa is Nigeria. The largest country colonised by British in Asia is India. Nigerians left their believes and culture for the Britishs but do not embrace British technology. Indians refused British belief and culture but accepted British technology. Today, hardly will an Indian dress in suit unless for business purpose (foreign). It is as rare as group zero element to find an Indian school teach with English. Or, to see a group of Indians enjoying English delicacy. In my country Nigeria, British food is the real taste. Arabic mode of dressing is the godly style and English language is a compulsory course that must be passed in every institution of learning even though our tongues are not configured enough to support the test of orals. Nigeria hospitals are never paraded by the countrys top politicians or the wealthy sons of the land. When they fall a bit ill, british or Arabs hospital is the place to be. In india, british people come to their hospitals for medication and treatment. Would this have been if we had sticked to our believes and culture? Would it have been the same if like the Indians we accept only the British and Arabs technology? Many will argue that our diversification is the reason for not sticking to our traditional religion; that any decision made to choose one of Ogun, Sango, Obatala, Amadioha... Will result in inter-ethnic brouhaha. I want to remind them that Nigerias population of 270million is nowhere near Indias population of 1.2billion. I will let them know that Nigeria has only 250 ethnic groups, India has over one million ethnic groups. Why are we afraid to stick to our traditional religion? At least for now, the reason is not cultural diversification. Our leaders are made to swear by either the Holy Bible or the Holy Koran. It is believed that any false swear made with either of the Abrahmic holy books will result in the victim enduring an everlasting doom. I looked around the most populous African country past leaders and found no doom lurking around them. What is wrong? Have the two books lost their potency or have the politicians gotten a cheat to cheat the ominous power of the books? It will be synonymous to carrying coal to Newcastle if you tell me the God of the Abrahmic is merciful. The god of Sango is also merciful. Fable has it that when appealled, it gives baby to the seeker, protects travellers upon request, it doesnt strike the innocent and it condemns culprit immediately he commits. Why cant our leaders swear with a gun (ogun) or with an isle (sango) or by the name of Amadioha, the great Igbo ancestor? Wont they have sworn by any of these had our traditional prestige been retained? If they swore by any of these, wouldnt they be fulfilling their leadership responsibilities? May be I forgot to add this when I was giving certain statistics about India. More than 70 percent of Indians practice Hindu. Only below 30 percent embraces Abrahmic-- they are mostly Indians based in America. Indians never condemn Hinduism, Nigerians condemn Sango worshippers. Violence! The Abrahmic are breachers of this. When theres an attack on Islam in Denmark or the US, even when there is no reaction in Saudi Arabia, the Islamic headquarters, Boko Haram would be seen claiming lives in Nigeria. Over an attack on Islam in the far America. Why should our traditional religion be replaced with foreign religions that promote violence? When the Pope that resides in Rome, Italy speaks against gay or masturbation, Nigerians christian activists would be heard launching viral attacks on youtube, facebook and twitter on the Pope. Not even an European lay man would speak against the Pope. Are foreign religions doing more good than harms to our nation? Or, are you reasoning with me that they are doing more harms than good? Sometimes ago in Jos, Nigeria there was report of Northern Muslims massacring the Christians. Are these the religions we hype and praise always? Next time you find someone appealling his God via Ogun, you need not call him a ritualist if you believe our traditional religion should have stood instead of the Abrahmic. Written by Master Martins Ugwu. Thanks to Adeyinka Tajudeen ( a must read for patriot Nigerians), Kazeem Olajide for giving me few points and my brother.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 13:55:33 +0000
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