Nigerians must avoid what appears to be the easy road to success or prominence because it ultimately undermines both the individual and the nation.
President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and Professor Pat Utomi dwelt on the ills of short-cuts, saying Nigerians are collectively guilty of it.
Oitsejafor said: “Something went wrong in Nigeria; we somehow got mixed up or messed up as far as values are concerned.”
Oritsejafor and Utomi spoke at the presentation of the book entitled, “Shunpiking; no shortcuts to God” in Abuja.
The duo said: “Don’t cut corners, don’t shortcut because you may never get to your destination. Stand out, do the right thing.
“We have gotten to a point where some people don’t even know the difference between good and bad. There are some people today who will call good bad and bad good. But my joy in all this is that the darker a room is, the brighter a little light will shine. So, today, you don’t need to have so much light to shine; that is what most people don’t know. Don’t join them; become a light where you are,” Oritsejafor said.
Prof. Utomi who compared shunpiking to the jet age said, “Even in this computer age, computer works on principles, so I see no reason why we as humans should not follow principles.
According to him, “Shunpiking is when you try to circumnavigate principles. It is not that things can be done in a more speedy way. Shunpiking reduces the time you will travel from one place to the other, when you are shunpiking, you are not necessarily saving time, it is you violating the laid down principles.
“In Nigeria today, there is a lot of shunpiking, taking shortcuts. People are not prepared for positions of leadership, they force themselves into those positions and mess a lot of people’s live. So, there is a great deal of shunpiking in our environment” he explained.
Speaking on the importance of the book authored by Reno Omokri, Oritsejafor explained that Nigerians have the potential because they leave this country to other countries and they do the right thing and if they don’t, they end up in Jail but they come back home and start doing the wrong thing.
He however expressed hope that the book will change people’s mindset. “I believe that with books like this, we will change because it is something that goes out to the world and to Nigerians. As we read this, hopefully, God can put that seed in us so that we will begin to want and desire to do the right thing”.
Speaking about his plans as the re-elected President for the Christian body, he said, “As the newly re-elected CAN President, you may say we have done it before but we have not fully done it and that is; the unity of the body. Christians must be one, so we are working on it. We must continue to work on it because it is the greatest prayer Jesus prayed, that we may be one.
We have a project now; we are building the Jubilee centre at the back of the National Christian Centre that will have rooms for people. So many people come here and they are stranded but the centre will help reduce that. Also, it has conference hall and we hope that we can dedicate it this year.
“I think what my heart is crying out for more is to be able to stand out and challenge those who find themselves in advantaged positions. What are you contributing to the betterment of other people’s lives because one day, your own life will end. Hopefully also, with our prayers, terrorism will move out of Nigeria.
Also speaking on the recent judgment passed on members of Boko Haram responsible for Suleja bombing, Oritsejafor said, “We are Christians and we are told to forgive but I think what is important is the feeling that there is justice. I think that is what it is now because those we lost in the process left people behind, some are widows while some are orphans.
“They will sit back and say if nothing else, these are the people who did this, they can stay in a place or in a room for the rest of their lives. That gives a little bit of comfort, it does not solve all the problems but I think the judgement is okay.
“On the alleged agreement that was reached between Boko and Haram and government, my question is, which Boko Haram? I am asking because there was a time they came out and said they have renounced but we still saw killings going on. Also, a week or two later, Shekau came out to say he does not know anything about those renouncing and that it is President Jonathan that needs amnesty. Again, another group came out of Shekau’s group and they kill foreigners. So right now, there are two deadly groups that we know, so which one of these had an agreement with government?
“To me, the whole agreement issue is suspect but anyone that comes out to say we are no longer interested, it is a good thing because the number of religious fanatics will reduce by one.
The Author of the book, Reno Omokri blamed the shortcuts attitude in Nigeria on the poor setup and lack of developed law enforcement system.
Omokri said, “well, it is just a way that Nigeria is setup and thank God that President Jonathan came with the transformation agenda because if he leaves Nigeria the way it is, nothing will change.
“It is just like you going to Lagos and Abuja, you see Ambassadors beating traffic light, these are things they will not do in their country because of the way the set up is, so we have to change the set up because Nigerians are not more susceptible to crime than people in America or in Japan but it is because we have not yet developed a highly developed law enforcement system and that is why you see a Nigerian leave Nigeria, goes to US or England and behaves very well.” he explained.
