Etim EtimThe Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security brought an untold embarrassment and shame on Nigerians last week through an internal memo which summoned its senior staff member to “a solemn prayer session for God’s guidance and success in supporting the government’s efforts to achieve food security.’’
The memo, signed by Mrs Modupe Adedayo, Director of Human Resources, stated that the three-day prayer sessions would hold on Mondays 16th, 23rd and 30th June between 12 noon and 12.30pm each day at its Conference Hall at its headquarters in Abuja. Senior staffs from the level of directors and below were directed to “come fasting,’’ without exception for any religion. It was therefore an inter-faith initiative. The theme of the prayers was “Divine Intervention for Protection and National Development.’’ Interestingly, the Permanent Secretary and the Minister were excluded from the sessions. I wonder why.
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The document caused an instant outrage, lighting up social media platforms with all sorts of responses. I was stunned and angry; wondering if this is the quality of human beings that we employ in our bureaucracy. The idea of summoning all senior civil servants to pray for national development reflects how deeply religion has permeated the fabric of our government and how unaware we are of the fundamentals of nation-building. Those civil servants in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture must be ignorant of the essential requirements for national development and economic advancement. They ought to be ashamed of themselves for wasting our national resources on unproductive ventures.
There are many development models which many other nations have pursued successfully in the last 30 years or so and achieved quantum leap in GDP growth; poverty reduction; enhanced quality of life and increased life span of the citizens and increased productivity. Such nations have invested heavily in education; healthcare; food production; security; rule of law and other forms of Human Development Indexes. They have successfully reduced the level of corruption, incompetence and decadence in their public office (and indeed the private sector). China, India, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia are some of the Asian countries, which have recorded tremendous economic advancement without their civil servants abandoning their duty posts for prayers. They are not even Christian countries, and China, for example, has abolished religions. But they have grown rapidly and their citizens have enjoyed improved standard of living over the years; not through prayers, but by dint of hard work, honesty, dedication and focus on national ethos.Why can’t our civil servants learn from what is working well for other countries, instead of embarrassing the whole country with prayer sessions that have no bearing to fundamental principles of economic development? Let me be frank: We shall never pray our way out of underdevelopment and poverty in Nigeria. No nation ever did.
By the end of last week, the ridiculous internal memo was circulating all over the social media and has become the subject of jokes. The Ministry and its leadership had become the butt of jokes and the embarrassments were so massive that the Ministry had to walk back from memo.
In a press statement issued last Saturday by the Assistant Director of Information, Mr. Ezeaja Ikemefuna, the Ministry noted that the prayer sessions were an initiative of the Human Resources Department to address staff wellbeing, as the already existing monthly aerobics and the establishment of gymnasium in the ministry. The prayer sessions were not meant to pray for national development or food security, it said, rather it was introduced to address recent cases of sudden deaths in the Ministry. I think the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is suffering from a serious case of lack of human capacity in dealing with their problems.
In the first instance, prayers do not solve health challenges in a population. There’s a misconception amongst many Nigerians that every problem could be solved through prayers. That’s why bystanders start to pray (some pray in tongues!) when there’s a medical emergency such as a sudden loss of consciousness. For example, instead of applying CPR to someone who loses consciousness, some Nigerians are likely to call for “Holy Water’’ to sprinkle on the person. You may disagree with me, but sprinkling “Holy Water’’ or waving white handkerchief can’t help in case of medical emergency. God has given us medical science to help us deal with all sorts of medical situations. If the Ministry of Agriculture is dealing with cases of sudden deaths amongst its senior staff members, experienced medical specialists will tell you that the people are suffering from cardiovascular illnesses (there are many types); respiratory problems; neurological conditions and many other medical conditions. The solution is for each staff member to see a good medical doctor to have comprehensive medical and physical examinations. The doctor will likely advise that sudden death can be often prevented or mitigated with prompt medical attention; lifestyle changes and management of underlying health conditions. Going for prayers during office hours to prevent heart failure is simply an act of idiocy. You are essentially going to pray for what God has already availed us in the form of medical science and the knowledge and skills of medical specialists.
But because Nigerians are very superstitious and are obsessed with “super natural forces’’ and what they call “generational curses,’’ there is widespread belief that sudden deaths or any other medical condition or other unfortunate occurrences are due to witchcrafts; enemy’s attack, Satan or that envious colleague who is after your lucrative position. How often have you heard expressions like: “immediately I got my promotion, I started having attacks?’’ Superstitions are so widely entrenched in our cultures that even university professors, who should be fountains of knowledge, are themselves regular customers to “Native Doctors’’ for protection. Young people, preoccupied with the urge to make money quick, have taken to ritual killings, believing that the practices bring fortune.
The practice is promoted by our Pentecostal pastors who keep preaching about “enemies’ attacks’’ every day, infusing fears into their congregation and misleading them to believing that the “enemy’’ is all out to “attack’’ them. These deceptive and cunning pastors keep telling people that a death in the family is caused by one relative or the other. Of course, traumatized family members will fall victim to such tales. Similarly, instead of investing in regular medical preventive measures and overall lifestyle changes, senior civil servants are going for prayers on Mondays afternoon to ward off sudden deaths.
Actually, the practice of abandoning work for prayers is a regular feature in every government establishment all over the country. But has it led to increased productivity and reduction in corruption and abuse of office? I actually think that abandoning official hours to take to praying is tantamount to cheating the government; God abhors it!
Let me be clear: I am not against prayers and personal religious activities. I am against government officials abandoning work for prayers. Prayers should not take place in offices during official hours. China did not become the second largest economy in the world by abandoning work to fast and pray. Additionally, prayers cannot replace medical advice and medical help. Cases of sudden deaths are medical problems that should be handled by qualified and experienced medical specialists. The Head of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation will have to issue proper guidelines on health and religious activities during office hours.
Etim Etim
ETIM ETIM is a journalist, banker and author. He has been a member of the Editorial Board of The Guardian, a Regional Manager in Access Bank and is currently a Columnist in Prime Business Africa, The Cable and Businessday newspapers.
He is also the Chief Executive of Stein Meyer Communications, a major media consultancy and the author of the best-selling book, "Akwa Ibom Heroes: Inside Story of the Fight for Abrogation of Onshore-Offshore Oil Dichotomy" and co-author of another book, "Osinbajo Strides: Defining Moments of an Innovative Leader".
