THE DEVIL IS INNOCENT

THE DEVIL IS INNOCENT

It was a beautiful evening years ago when almost all the students were hurrying to leave the hostel and go to their various hideouts and start reading when Patrick (Not his real name o, so he won’t lynch me after reading this, but he knows himself) was busy arranging his Bible, prayer book and lantern. I was perplexed because there was no haste in his pace. He was relaxed.

My secondary school had this policy that everyone who was unable to have a minimum average of 50 marks when the scores of first, second and third terms were summed for each subject, especially the core science subjects would repeat the class. Many students did not plan for the average and would not put much effort for first and second terms and as such would have to work very hard to earn very high scores so that they can meet up with the 50mark cut-off when the ‘day of reckoning’ as we always called it arrives.

Now, this attitude of most students waiting for the last minute before doing what would have easily  achieved earlier and as such resulting in a last minute rush to get things done when the deadline has almost arrived is a practice virtually every Nigerian can relate with because it can be seen in virtually every fabric of the nation. That attitude is a topic for another day but it sets us back and we should evolve strategies to overcome it and imbibe the attitude of making plans early and initiating those plans. It is also the reason for our infamous ‘African Time’ still another area I wouldn’t like to delve into at the moment.

Now you can relate with my surprise at his nonchalant attitude towards his academics. My surprise was even greater because usually during the weeks preceding examinations, the school abhors spiritual programs of any sort, both Christians and Muslims. But here was Patrick, getting ready with his prayer materials.

“Pato” I asked “where are you heading to? Na Bible and prayer book you wan jack?”

“Oh boy, I dey enter chapel” he replied.

“wetin dey happen there this period wey I no know?” I inquired further and I could see I was getting on his nerves.

“I wan go pray.”

“You want to go and pray when we are all going to read for exams? You want to fail?”

“I want to seek the face of God” He blurted with confidence “ I cannot fail, reading is nothing, I have declared a one week prayer and fasting for this exams. My God cannot disappoint me, he would show me the way and point me to things I would write.” He concluded.

I was taken aback by such barefaced self-deceit.

Here was a man who had been taught just like everyone else and who needed to study harder so he could earn higher marks to meet up with the 50mark average but all he wanted to do was to declare a seven days fasting and prayer to “Seek the face of God.”

Even in our Universities, I noticed that many students who headed various fellowships performed poorly and most of them had to spill over because they had excess carry overs and as such could not graduate at the time their peers graduated because they had more interest and paid more time to the fellowship than to their academics.

Patrick failed and was told to repeat the class. Did God not answer him?

Every Sunday, Christians throng to their various places of worship and lift up holy hands and sing and shout Haleluyah and believe that their problems are over by shouting Haleluyah. Churches get filled and in one street alone you can see up to twenty churches. Infact, there is hardly a street in Nigeria without a church. The problem is that with the increase in the number and population of churches, there is increase in the problems of the country. Worst still, many Christians believe that they can shout Haleluyah and achieve success.

A big lie most Christians tell themselves.

It is not by magic that the richest black man in Africa is not a Christian. He did not become successful by lifting his hands and shouting praises.

Success comes by self-determination, hard work, inspiration and perspiration. You cannot fold your hands and become successful. Going to church should be for spiritual growth and not for material success.

We lie to ourselves about so many things and it is about time we started telling ourselves the truth. For instance, we cannot depend on prayers when we should be working on how to fix our dear country. I have looked at different developed countries and observed that when they begin to hold themselves responsible for the woes befalling them as a nation, they begin to workout modalities to fix that problem. Unlike our country where we blame everything on the devil. Herdsmen invade villages and kill people and the State Governor would tell them to pray. Really, I find that absurd and an excuse for laziness and ineptitude. Why would prayer be declared when the right thing should be to beef up the security, acquire helicopters to ease security checks and hold the security operatives responsible for any breakdown in law and order. I was not surprised when on subsequent attacks by herdsmen, a Seminarian was killed. Does it mean God did not answer their prayers? Or was it the handiwork of the devil?

Many Christians have abrogated too many powers to the devil even more that he can lay claim to and that should stop. I do not believe that the devil has any role to play in whatever concerns me. People may decide to be wicked because of their personal  aggrandizements but the devil has no such power, the devil knows nothing about me and cannot see anything about me. Infact, with the way people go about accusing him, I believe he is too busy attending to those who fan his embers to know my location. So why make him a hero and make him out to be something he is not?

The reason is simple, because we have chosen to either be lazy or to be irresponsible. When we take a look at the state of our nation with respect to basic amenities like water, power, good roads and the like we should not deceive ourselves that it is the devil at work that is stopping us from getting things right.

That would be outright cowardice, to say the least. The right people to be held responsible are those who were awarded the contracts to carry out those projects like constructing the roads, or building the power plants or water schemes and who fleeced the nation dry and made away with our commonwealth whom should be held responsible because believe it or not, the devil is innocent.

Now, to our personal lives, let us stop blaming the devil for our personal woes. You did not cheat on your spouse because the devil pushed you to do it, you did not inflate the contract or steal the billions because it is the handiwork of the devil, you did not loot the treasury or deceive the masses because it was the handiwork of the devil. Those acts were committed due to human lusts, greed and inordinate ambition and should I add wickedness? The devil did not push you to do those things, that is why there is SELF WILL, in all these accusations, the devil is innocent.

Also, you are not broke because the devil is tying down your destiny hence you need to go to church and raise your hands and shout Halleluyah and expect to become successful, NO! if you don’t have a job, look for something small you can do, start a business, think outside the box. The honest truth is that there is hardly any civil servant who is really stupendously wealthy. Such wealth mostly comes by growing a business or by providing the solution to a problem.

Please, when next you are in church and you are lifting up Holy hands, let it be because you are worshipping your God, remember that success comes by preplanned actions that is directional, it starts with the little things you do every day and is brought about by conscious efforts. Also, before you blame anyone for any misdeeds,  remember that the devil is innocent.

Thank you.