Friday, 29 March 2024

Pastors and their "follow-follow" Zombies: 'Femi Shodunke opens religious mental doors of the past in the midst of memory

Can we describe these new generations of religious school owners, particularly of churches, and some Islamic organisations, as “wicked” souls?

Don’t be angry with me you “follow-follow,” die-hard sympathisers of General Overseer Lagbaja, Bishop Temedu, Superior Evangelist Lakasegbe, Alfa Kandosoyiala, Missioner Kojumaribi, Chief Imam Mecca Medina and Sheik Wulampa Qudusmilahi.  Just let me speak my own, and if you like, call me a sinner or anything.  Good luck to you.

At the early stages of education in Nigeria, the churches (Catholics, Baptists, Anglicans, Methodists) and later Islamic organisations (Ansar-Ud-Deen, Ahmadiyya, and Nawair-Ud-Deen), among others, made it possible for many Nigerians to go to school to acquire western education, with affordable school fees, even at the time demands for seed money, pastor special prayer fund, anointing oil money, holy mountain prayer money, fire-consume-my-enemies donation, etc were not in vogue.

However, now that there are plenty and, in fact, unbelievable billions upon billions of naira in the churches, and some multi-millions of naira in the mosques too, it is then many of our people cannot afford tuition and fees being paid in some of these religious-owned secondary schools and universities! 

What magic was done that made fees affordable then, even for the children of the “common” parents, who sell balls of akara, loaves of bread, logs of planks, assorted clothes, and even gallons of kerosene to pay our money? 

Well, I don’t really know, but my thinking is that instead of using the money realised then to buy jets, limousines, fly all over the world in first class, building multi-million naira auditoriums to occupy more members in a deliberate “business” style to rake in humongous money, they (of the old) were using the fund to support education, which the parents of you and I could afford to an extent, and also providing other social services in the community.

What have we, nowadays, taken religions this far?  Only God can judge, but we, as mortals, can speak our minds to the best of our understanding and knowledge.  But then, to me, SOME of these religions, the churches in particular, have become something else.

Anyway, I’m just thinking aloud this Sunday, during my moment of reflection.

- Chief Femi Shodunke (Baaroyin of Igbeinland) is a Journalist and Publisher of GatewayMail newspaper in Canada
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