Banire: How Religious Hypocrisy Is Drawing Nigeria Back |The Source

By Akinwale Kasali

Former Legal Adviser to the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muiz Banire, SAN, has urged Nigerians to shun religious hypocrisy. He said this hypocrisy has continually polarized the nation and underdeveloped it.

Banire,  Convener of the United Action for Change, UAC, says Nigerians need to stop engaging in acts of religious hypocrisy and devote their energy for productive engagements.

The former Chairman of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, made this statement  in his weekly Leadership Series on Sunday.

He decried the attitude of many Nigerians who only prayed without corresponding work.

He wrote, “Nigerians, by their nature, pretendingly pray more than even the people of the origin of the foreign religions.  Little wonder that religious centres have suddenly taken over our industries. Virtually all places of production in the past are now worship centres. The attraction is something I do not intend to deal with here.

“I, however, must not be misconstrued to be suggesting that prayers in any ramification is bad. It is good to pray and I do not only know so but believe so. In fact, it is some people’s opinion that the survival of the country today cannot be divorced from the prayers of some people, that is, the prayers of the genuine ones.

“However, prayer without, industry, character and faith, is a waste of time. That explains, possibly, the continuous poverty of Nigerians notwithstanding the number of hours spent on prayer.

“It is equally the view of others that the time spent on prayers could have been more rewarding for the people if appropriated into production. Whichever way it is viewed, my position is that everything requires moderation and faith.

“I remember when witnesses in court are asked to swear before testifying in courts, most times, they prefer to use either the Quran or the Bible. Ask them to swear in the traditional African way, they run away because they believe the repercussions of that are more potent than that of Islamic or the Christian God.

“Immediately they finish swearing on the Quran or Bible, they resort to lying right from their names. This is a further confirmation of the degree of faith they have in the religions they profess.

“The annoying one is the insistence on prayer before any formal occasion, the essence of which they do not believe. In most of my meetings, I often proceed without prayers on the assumption that if you are faithful, you should have prayed before leaving home and you can personally do your prayer without dragging others into your supposed piety.

“I probably would not have minded if they truly believe in the prayers and not just being hypocritical and ritualistic. I believe we can save time by skipping the item on the agenda.

“In recent times, I have compromised by agreeing to the recitation of the second stanza of our national anthem which I will recommend to all as it is both prayers and expressions of faith in the nation.  Let us stop being hypocritical with prayers and learn how to devote more time to productivity”.

Dr.Muiz Banire also highlighted the problem with the people’s religious insensitivity.

He said, “My great people, you are welcome to our engagement today. My point of contact today is the hypocritical nature of the Nigerian people.

“Without going in-depth into the complex areas of hypocrisy that you can recall in the history of the nation, I will treat us to what appears to be cursory but captures the message intended.

“This is in the area of religiosity or prayer and the Nigerian orientation”, he said.