Nigerian Clerics Have Turned Houses Of God To Profanity – Olagoke, ex-University don

Nigerian Clerics Have Turned Houses Of God To Profanity - Olagoke, ex-University don

Professor Sabit Ariyo Olagoke, the founder and Spiritual Head of Shafaudeen In Islam Worldwide, former Dean Faculty of Engineering, Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Ogun State, is also the Ajagun Esin (Religious Warlord ) of Oyo State. In this Interview with KUNLE BAKARE, he speaks about the insecurity in Nigeria and other issues. Excerpts :

Question : The insecurity in the country today is at an alarming rate, would you advocate for a state of emergency to tackle it?

Declaring state of emergency in an environment where there is acute poverty for a large population and the situation peaked with political polarisation of hatred, tribalism and nepotism, the crop of people ruling us claiming to be our leaders in the respective geo political zones will turn the situation into that of gruesome anarchy in which those with hidden agenda of breaking the country may seize the advantage from the angle of using religion as cover up to perpetuate evil and terrorism. Also, the international warfare of the Al’ Queda, ISIS may connect with the local terrorists in the country such that the book of Chinua Achebe, “Things Fall Apart”, may now become document of prophecy. Rationally state of emergency should have been declared in the areas of education.

Question : The Chief of Defence Staff recently advised  Nigerians to engage in self defence, do you subscribe to this?

Self defence for Nigerians that are already disabled by their governments may be counter productive. In other words,  successive occurrences of self defence may make things worse in the presence circumswtance whereby more than 30 millions of arms and ammunition are already in the hands of hoodlums. If we are to agree with the Minister, professional gun runners in the name of banditry, Boko Haram imbroglio as well as cattle rearer menace will then turn every thing into an opportunity of preying on their victims even during the day light. What it also means is that the Minister as a government functionary perhaps on behalf of Nigerian leaders is now admitin that security vote been collected  is a waste. It further shows that Col. Sambo Dasuki’s 2.1 billion dollars trial is a sham with the government admitting that the Nigerian Army is not only a toothless bulldog but the government wasting the nation’s resources.

ALSO READ: Before You Lust!

Remember that year 2023 is approaching and Nigeria wiill be turned into periods of campaign to take power beyond vote buying but also extending to more purchase of illegal arms and ammunition into the country for the usual uncontrollable threat and destruction of Nigerians and their properties.

Question : There seems not to be a positive change from our politicians despite the preaching from clerics, what is your take on this?

Our religious leaders have mortgaged their conscience through unholy romance  with the politicians at the expense  of their primary duty to teach and reform their adherents who are closer to them for right attitudinal change. There is no way abandoning the scriptures and joining in the game of craze for materialism can change the wilderness of the present time not to talk of touching the heart of those who dine with the devil daily to acquire, maintain power and sustain their ill-gotten wealth.

Nobody is to be blame in an environment where people are disabled, frustrated and wallowing in abject poverty under leaders that are kleptomaniac, this is because Nigeria has no reason to be poor with the abundance of resources the Almighty blessed the country with and our leaders engaging in poor management strategy.

Question : The clamouring for Yoruba Nation is very much in the heart of many Yoruba leaders now, do you think this is the time for disintegration?

Nigerians got it wrong abinitio to have kept silent since 1914. Between 1966 and 1970 when utterances of our leaders  were always coloured with the undertone of a region dominating the others and when the economy began to nosedive, Nigerians should have cried out. Also, discrimination in artmy recruitment and promotion of officers as well as various appointments that lacked merit or  equity should have triggered into a careful plan by the regions to ease out of the contraption.

Professor Wole Soyinka gave a signal for all of us in his book, “The Man Died”,  that the man died in a man who keep mute in the face of tyrany. It is therefore unfortunate that Nigerians generally failed to understand the  issues with available data of economic benefits for the regions such that they would be able to achieve their desire to stand alone without bloodshed.

One can equally conclude that the success level and the result of the agitation may not favour any form of cessation if the attitudinal challenges are not given the right orientation. Besides this most of those who are the vanguards of this moves are not having clean hands, hence there must be caution while handling this issue

Question : Don’t you think that statements from people like Asari Dokubo can constitute a threat to the co- existence and security of the country?

The life profile of Dokubo , a former Christian who converted to Islam overnight  with his orientation in Libya and probably additional experience with arms struggle must have posed a threat to the people that know him. The vengeance of the Igbos as documented in the last book of Professor Chinua Achebe titled, “There Was Once a Country”, accusing late Chief Obafemi Awolowo of betraying the Igbos by not allowing the Yorubas to break up after assuring that the Western region will break from Nigeria if the Igbos did should be another warning for all.  Chief Awolowo did not prepare the Yorubas for any war or any form of cessation, a characteristic of a true statesman, In his wisdom, threatening the North to discourage them from allowing the Igbos to go, was purely to discourage Nigeria’s fragmentation then and that was why God used Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo to stop the war in 1970 for us to go into the process of reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation which allowed a re- integration of the Igbos into the system for one Nigeria, unfortunately this was twisted in the book .

The bitterness against the Yorubas even by the Igbos through this move as accompanied by Awo’s wisdom of stopping food supply to the enemies then always made the other regions to a mind of mistrust and distrust against the Yorubas. And the correction towards this by the Yorubas and the Igbos led to an unwritten alliance using the clamour for restructuring as a good cover up. Thus the South South alliance with the Igbos may give Asari Dokubo the opportunity to take over from Nnamdi Kanu as a tool to help the Igbos achieve their aim of restoring Biafra. No threat therefore must be underestimated.

Question : Then where is the place of religion in this, would you say it has failed the nation?

Religious leaders have failed God by not been scripture compliance, religion is expected to teach and reform the people in having right attitude through positive mindset  and the scriptures are expected to help religious leaders to be highly objective without any form of discrimination. But Nigerian religious leaders have failed in their homestead by changing the sacredness of the houses of God into that of profanity instead of living above board to be role models for the people and as authority of life to political leaders and business moguls, they prefer to live a life of materialism, transgressing with impunity and curruption which nobody will be ready to emulate.

Most of them are prophets of doom that serve God and devil every scripture is potent and no religion teaches evil. The phenomenon  like cancer has spread to all facets of life beyond the control of the present religious leaders , this is our problem.

Question : Our agricultural sector in the South West is been threatened by the invasion of the herdsmen, what do you think is the way out ?

The way out lies with our leaders, the media and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) for effective reorientation starting from charging all traditional rulers and their chiefs to be chief security officers in their domain as well as working with the police and state governments using a memorandum of understanding through the rule of law .

Question : Do you think we have what it takes to be self sufficient in the area of food production in the South West region?

Necessity is the mother of invention, China and the former Soviet Union now Russia were able to make it when they stopped importation of any foreign goods  and they charged their people to buy home made goods. Also the people of the defunct Biafra were able to survive the draught of war for almost 30 months while they faced the challenges of skilled development and conversion of initiatives to creativity. Similarly, without oil the Yorubas were able to lead in the provision of basic amenities as well as functional infrastructure based on the raw and processed agricultural proceeds. But by the time we tasted from the oil boom largesse   our leaders irrationally made us to neglect agriculture from 1973 and it became worse for us in 1975 when we began the importation of rice.

This informed the Obasanjo-led regime to put up the Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), though it was not professionally strategized to survive and achieve the aims and objectives of sustainability. Agriculture has four main divisions ranging from crop production, forestry, livestock and fisheries, if faced squarely with every available plot of land around every household it would lead to higher export index as well as meeting our home need. Indeed investing in agriculture may be a good basis for sustainable development of a region that is planning to be independent. Hard work and farming were the hallmark of our past coupled with exemplary life styles, this we must return to