SIR: As the condolences pour in for the victims of the St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State terrorist attack in which more than 50 people lost their lives with scores injured, the rest of the country is left wondering why God would let such atrocities happen.
When people turn to criminal activity, en masse, it’s the moral obligation of the government to bring the situation under control. This is where the security services – police, army, etc – come in. Each month, state governments allocate security votes that run into billions of naira to fight crime. These monies are hardly used for the purpose it was intended for. The same can also be said for all other military and security services that are underfunded. When criminals have more firepower than the crime-fighters you have a problem. God, as you can see, has given Man the power and resources to fight crime and evil but due to the corrupt actions of a few who have diverted necessary funds, the masses will suffer hence the rise in insecurity.
The prime reason why people go into crime hasn’t been addressed. This is a country of more than 200 million inhabitants out of which more than 43% are out of work or are struggling to make ends meet. In the absence of any financial help such as welfare benefits, enjoyed by a great many in Western nations, a great many will turn to crime. Sadly, a country like Nigeria where the security services are overwhelmed, under-funded and corrupt, crime can be very lucrative. You can kill a thousand people and get away with it because the country lacks the basic forensic tools to track anybody down: the kidnapped victims of the Kaduna train bombing lives are still in limbo because nobody knows where they are…as nobody knows where the Chibok girls are….as nobody knows where Leah Sharibu is till this day.
Cultists, armed robbers and kidnappers kill people on a daily basis without the fear of ever being caught: this has nothing to do with God but everything to do with the police and security services not doing their jobs properly.
Some people are of the impression that God will miraculously fly down from Heaven and make all their wishes come true as long as they go to Church or the Mosque to pray every day. Great countries like China, that don’t even believe in God, didn’t get to where they are today waiting for God to come to their rescue – they did it themselves! When thinking of development, whether it be personal or national, people’s mindset needs to change instead of playing the victim.
And that brings me to the last question on everybody’s lips: Why does God keep on giving us bad leaders? The sad truth is God didn’t give us bad leaders. We did – ourselves! All the time the people will vote in leaders with bad track records into power and when they don’t perform well, they start moaning. A leopard never changes its spots: you get exactly what you vote into power, something that God has no hands in.
So, for all those who wonder whether God has left Nigeria or not, he hasn’t. He’s just watching as a father would watch his misbehaving children before he decides to act or not.
- Tony Ogunlowo,
Lagos.