By Peter N. Peters
For too long we have continued to put up with this narrative that religion must not mix with politics. And I continue to ask, whose idea is this? Is it from God or from man? A dictionary definition of religion I like to quote says: “Religion is the outward act or form by which men indicate their RECOGNITION OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD or gods having power over their destiny, to whom obedience, service and honour are due; the FEELING OR EXPRESSION OF HUMAN LOVE, FEAR, OR AWE OF SOME SUPERHUMAN AND OVERRULING POWER, whether by profession of belief, by observance of rites and ceremonies, or by the conduct of a life; a system of faith and worship; a manifestation of piety; as ethical religions; monotheistic religions; natural religion; revealed religion; the religion of the Jews; the religion of the idol worshippers.”
In our case here in Nigeria, there are two major religions: Christianity and Islam. Each of them is anchored on the “recognition of the existence of the one and only Almighty God in heaven, having power over our destiny, to which obedience, service and honour are due.” More than 90% of the people in politics in Nigeria are either Christians or Moslems. So then, if we are genuine adherents of either of these two religions, how then is it possible for us to separate what we believe in as Christians or Moslems from what we practice as politicians? Put differently, is it really practicable not to mix religion with politics?
This is why we must interrogate again the constitutional provision that says Nigeria is a secular state. This means that Nigeria rejects or does not recognize religion and religious considerations in her national affairs. How true is this in reality? It’s been a long standing tradition in this country that in every national event, including the recently concluded national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the governing party in Nigeria, opening prayers is said in the two major religions of Christianity and Islam. There is always religious consideration in appointing people into political offices, especially at the national level. Both the federal and state governments vote huge sums of money in their yearly budgets sponsoring the citizens to religious pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Mecca and Medina. It is deceitful to be doing all these and more and yet claim that Nigeria is a secular state! No, Nigeria is a country with two major religions, Christianity and Islam. This should be so reflected by the National Assembly in the ongoing constitutional review exercise.
What is politics? J.W. Burton in his book, International Relations: A General Theory, defines politics as “a struggle for power to govern the people in a democratic way.” It is therefore given that those who should be called ‘to govern people in a democratic way,’ are people who have been tried, tasted and confirmed to be strong in morals, in character and in capacity. It takes religion to shape people’s morals and character. What has gone wrong with us in our politics is not the mixing of religion with politics, but our misunderstanding of what religion is and our misapplication of religion in our political activities.
A renowned writer, human rights activist and social media influencer, Reno Omokri, said in one of his writings, and I quote: “A good relationship with God breeds good mental health.” If there be anything the politicians need to have in order to do well in their ‘career’, it is nurturing a good relationship with God which breeds good mental and spiritual health and which only religion, practiced the right way, can engender.
However, the problem with religious practices has been there right from creation of man. As a Christian, I realize that the major reason Christ came to live with us here on earth was to correct the misapplication of religion in the hands of the rulers of the time in oppressing the people; while demonstrating to us in words, practice and teachings the true meaning of religion. And He said in Matthew 5: 17: “Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” And in coming to ‘fulfill the law,’ He had the leaders of the church – the High Priests, the Scribes, the Pharisees and Sadducees to contend with. They gave Him the most trouble. In their religious practices, they oppressed the poor, they created dichotomies – Jews and Gentiles, they promoted all kinds of vices in the guise of ‘upholding the law’ – hypocrisy, hatred, jealousy, envy, deceit, etc. (Matthew 23: 13-39). Eventually they conspired, arrested, sentenced and crucified Christ, even without finding any fault in Him.
In the same way, religion in our time has become a weapon in the hands of those that rule us in both religious and political circles. In the name of religion we destroy lives and properties and create destitute. In the name of religion we forcefully drive away people from their ancestral lands and occupy them forcefully. We create divisions, we oppress the poor, we discriminate, we extort, we steal, we divide and rule, we even wage war, etc. all in the name of religion. On account of all these vices which we have deliberately created for political convenience, we say religion and politics should not mix.
As a student of the Bible, I realize that God’s intention for providing us guides through the Holy Books is that it serves as a vehicle to produce leaders who fear God and who will have the love of the people at heart while presiding over their affairs. And in doing so He charges in Matthew 5: 14 -16: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden….let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Political positions offer the best opportunity for leaders to impact the lives of the citizens positively. It offers the opportunity to harness the good of the land and distribute them equitably for the greatest good of the greatest number. Therefore the Holy Books emphasise on such virtues as love, compassion, selflessness, knowledge, wisdom, self-discipline, etc. These are virtues for righteous leadership and the bedrocks of Christ’s teaching on leadership while here on earth.
Some of the Disciples of Christ were curious about His ‘strange ways’ of handling issues of leadership and they asked him, “Master, which commandment is the most important of all?” He answered and said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10: 27). Even when the other Holy Books like the Quran may not have it so expressly stated, yet the teachings point to what we call the ‘golden rule,’ which is also a universal rule: “Do unto others as you would wish others to do unto you.” To succeed in politics, this rule must apply.
Unfortunately, in our clime this rule is observed in its complete breach. Rather than love we hate. We demonstrate the highest level of greed, deceit, hypocrisy, lies, segregation, division, etc. just like the ‘religious leaders’ of old. It would appear that the message of Christ that centres on love, compassion, forgiveness of sins, etc. bears no meaning or relevance to us. Therefore the solution is ‘don’t mix religion with politics.’
The truth however is that there’s a place for religion in politics. In fact politicians can never get it right without recognizing the place of God in their affairs. The real leader is a servant of the people and not their oppressor. The one who loves people enough to use his/her office to cater for their welfare and alleviate their sufferings is the true leader. God endorses this as the right model of leadership when He said in the book of Proverbs 29: 2,”When the righteous is on the throne, the people rejoice.” This type of leaders abound in our two major religions. But they will never be interested in politics as long as it is perceived as a ‘dirty game’. And it will remain a dirty game for as long as the politicians continue with the mindset that ‘politics is not a morality contest.’ Wow, so then what is it, immorality contest? No, if politics is the only acceptable platform to select leaders who shall be custodians of our patrimony, then we had better do a rethink. It cannot continue to be left in the hands of people without scruples and principles; people with plenty of blemishes and queries in both their public and private lives. And they go on fouling up the political atmosphere with all kinds of evil practices. Politics should be an arena occupied only by people without blots or blemishes; people with excellent track records of service to humanity. Only those with genuine love for fatherland, and genuine compassion for the people they have been elected or appointed to lead should be admitted into that arena.
What we must do is to insist on practicing our religion in accordance with God’s prescriptions. The religious leaders (priests and imams) owe the nation a duty to go back to the drawing board and clean up; see where they got it wrong over these years and begin to make amends. Rather than attempting to remove religion from politics, we should rather begin to consider these following ways one can complement the other:
The Churches and Mosques must strive to return to what it was originally meant to be: a breeding ground for leaders with excellent curriculum vitae both in character and in service that could be elected into public offices.
The political class should consider and accommodate the religious bodies as grooming ground for the recruitment of the best hands to be elected into political offices.
The religious bodies must remain non-partisan in her affairs, while acting as watch-dogs over the people they have groomed and handed to the nation to occupy elective offices. She should not hesitate to sanction any of her members found wanting in his/her activities in political office.
The political class must cooperate with the religious centres in censoring the activities of their political office holders with a view to reporting any infraction to the religious bodies for necessary sanction.
To achieve this, the Churches and Mosques must rid themselves of every vestige of mammonism and other immoral practices now prevalent in her midst. In other words, these religious centres must not continue to be safe havens for persons with questionable wealth or character
The Churches and Mosques must recognize that the rising level of crimes and criminality in Nigeria today are manifestations of failures in her duties in serving as the moral compass and conscience of the nation. There is a great deal of work to be done by the religious centres if we must ever recover from the deep hole of corruption and immorality that Nigeria has sank deep into. And the time to begin is now.
*Peters is Abuja based Media Practitioner and Executive Secretary of CoEViN (Concern for Ethics & Values in Nigeria). Feedbacks can be sent to: pnpeters22@gmail.com or SMS only to 0703 833 2221
