We will continue to remain underdeveloped as a nation and individuals so long as we continue with ‘leave it to God’ as if God didn’t create us all in His image. The truth is that God’s wish and will abide in us when we take the right decisions in our affairs as a nation and as individuals. But are we really reading your weekly Sunday page, particularly our leaders? Our destiny is in our hands. QED.
–Tony Enyinta, Isuikwuato, Abia State.
I sincerely share your view on leave it to God mentality. Remain blessed.
–Pastor Dan Enendu.
Abdulfatah, accept my sympathy over the loss of your friend in a motor accident along Abeokuta-Shagamu road recently. May his soul and those of others involved rest in peace. Amen. Do not blame your lost friend’s family refusing your plea to seek legal redress over the issue for two reasons.
First is on spiritual fact that when a man’s divined period on earth is over, nothing can make him live a second longer. Taking your friend’s case as an example, he had a car, which he left at the Motor Park to board the vehicle in which he died. His reason was he had no extra tyre, which he could buy on loan or even hire, to make the journey by his car, which would have saved him from the accident that terminated his life, if his term on earth were not over. The second reason was taken care of in your piece where you potently stated three reasons why people opt for “leave it to God mentality” in such circumstances. It is unquestionable that ignorance of Nigerians on their right to seek judicial redress, in such a circumstance, is obvious. The delay in judicial handling of cases generally is frustrating. Even the third insurance benefit from accident might also attract judicial contests in actualising it. Failure of the police, to prevent Nigerians from road accidents, is a recurring decimal. So, people simply opt for “leave it to God mentality” in exchange for peace of mind. Barrister Falana’s threat to sue federal government over his sustaining injury, after falling into a manhole in Abuja while going to office, sounds comical. That surely could not have been his first time of passing through that road, could it? What happened to his concentration? If Nigerians were to take such cases to court, what clownish scenery it would create? Let’s see how he does it and at what gain. Simply entertaining!
–Lai Ashadele.
It’s the delay in our court system that made people to leave ugly experiences to rather than taking the law into their own hands. There is too much oppression of the common man. Our judiciary should make itself available for the common man. Government needs to address this because if it continues like this, Nigerians will react some day. l commend Femi Falana for the good work he is doing to ensure the common man gets justice. We lack maintenance culture. Our roads need to be maintained always to avoid accidents.
–Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia.
Kindly accept my sincere and heart felt sympathy for the needless loss of the life of your dear friend in the accident you graphically described in your piece, Abdulfatah. I also pray that the Almighty God will grant his soul eternal rest. The reasons why majority of Nigerians adopt what you called the ‘Leave to God mentality’ are legion but the mention of three will suffice here: poverty, ignorance and most especially, lack of faith is in our judicial process.
We must bear in mind that man is conditioned by his environment. That is why the Nigerian who blatantly disobeys set rules here, goes to America or Europe and conducts himself or herself properly. You aptly described the trauma your friend went through when he had to compensate the man his car hit in America because insurance refused liability. Pitiable as the unfortunate incident is, it would have prompted him to drive more carefully or change his insurance policy to cover more areas if possible. Most Nigerians dread police matter let alone going to court even when it is clear as the daylight that they could succeed if they go ahead and institute a case. Others are ignorant outright of their rights and, in such a situation, the victim or the family simply bears the loss quietly and in most cases attribute the unfortunate incident to either witchcraft or the handiwork of the enemy. In other cases the victim and the family are so poor that it is just impossible to do any other thing than to leave it to God even when they are enlightened. All these happen because of the environment we find ourselves in. Naturally, very few Nigerians would want to be cheated but when for one reason or the other it becomes very difficult to assert their rights due to a clumsy process or when one reasons that pursuing the matter will induce more loss and discomforts, it becomes reasonable to let the matter be. Our system is yet to be organized in such a way that people stand up for their rights and the state and its institutions are not helping matters. A situation where a victim has to buy full scap sheets to write a report in a police station and provide transport mostly in cash for the investigating officer and so on, the average Nigerian will prefer to leave it to God and that is why some people drive carelessly and get away with whatever happens in the process; a construction company can divert traffic without signs and warnings. Ease of process, education and empowerment will definitely encourage the people to stand up for their rights and by so doing, the society will benefit. Thanks.
–Emma Okoukwu.
I am really impressed with the subject you wrote about in your Open Secret column, Sunday-Sun, November 19, 2017.
The basic problem is all about our attitude. Over the years our political, economic, social and cultural activities as a nation have shaped us on how to handle issues of general/personal responsibilities.
As you rightly pointed out: Ignorance, lack of confidence in the police, high cost of litigation, slow judicial system. The police hold the ace in such cases as your friend that died in the accident, but whereby an officer in charge is “settled” by the culprit to run things in his favour, what would you do? If you ask me, the institution is never in place for an average man/family to access in order to seek redress with a positive outcome. The “leave it to God” mentality would continue for a long time. what a shame!
As popular Femi Falana is in Nigeria and the world over, I wouldn’t be surprise if his effort for compensation is frustrated over and over again and the charges dropped over time.
There are numerous cases over the years. In the same Sunday Sun publication, page 7 “My husband’s killer has cut short my life” in Mrs Victoria Njoku’s case were is justice coming from?
I am not a pessimist but only speaking what I have seen, experienced, read, told. It will take perhaps a million years to change the Nigeria mentality in this regard through education for us to get it right.
It is pathetic, God help us. –”King” James AKASSA.
Re: Talking too much politics
I agree with you Abdulfatah, that democracy in Nigeria is 80% politics and 20% governance. No wonder, therefore, 57 years after independence, no tangible progress has been made by the nation in all meaningful aspects of our national life due to concrete planning and painstaking execution by governments. The only areas we are making visible progress are: population, duplication of government agencies to the extent that they war against themselves, building gigantic structures all over the place that are not maintained as if the structures and not the services rendered inside the structures that matter and setting up of committees to look into infractions committed by top government officials while the agencies of government set up to handle such matters are sidelined. Our brand of politics is the reason why policies put in place to address certain issues, which should be temporary, become permanent and therefore begin to cause serious distortion in the governance of the country thereby deepening the level of suspicion among the ethnic groups, regions and religious groups. Federal character and educationally disadvantaged areas policies readily come to mind here. Framers of these policies might have had genuine reasons for introducing them but certainly not intending that they should undermine merit. While we must encourage those that for one reason or the other found themselves behind to catch up, those who are ready should not be made to feel sorry for working hard.
No nation progresses with its affairs in the hands of third-rate officers. It is common knowledge that in India, high school graduates commit suicide for failing to make a particular grade; not that they fail the exams. We are not in anyway recommending that as it is an extreme action, but it highlights how seriously, scholarly efforts are taken in that clime bringing to the fore, the fact that children at that age, already appreciate the fact that with poor grades, they stand no chance in life. It involves the inculcation of the spirit of hard work and that of fair competition at an early age in children.
Politics without governance was why a military head of state in the name ridding the civil service of corruption in the 1970s, swept away the cream of the service at that time which brought about the feeling of insecurity of tenure that enthroned the unprecedented corruption in the civil service today which the country is now battling to check. As of today, the people seem not to believe the government because what the government claims, is a far cry from what was promised during the campaigns and what the people see. Food, employment, power, security and infrastructure among others, are what the citizenry need; when these are not in place, no amount of propaganda will satisfy them. No matter the dexterity with which it is deployed there will always be a doubt in people’s minds. If we are serious about forging a united and progressive nation where real governance will be enthroned, Nigeria and the well being of every citizen should be the focus and not where each person comes from or their religion. We can do it if we want. God help Nigeria. Thanks.
–Emma Okoukwu.