THERE ARE three American
brands that Nigerians
patronise hugely: Facebook,
Microsoft, and Apple.
Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder
of Facebook, is an atheist; Bill
Gates, founder of Microsoft, is
an agnostic (neither believes
nor doubts the existence of
God); Steve Jobs, founder of
Apple, was a Zen Buddhist. Yet,
Nigerians love them and
patronise their products
hugely.
If these three men were
Nigerians who professed
atheism, agnosticism and Zen
Buddhism publicly, how would
many Nigerians react to them?
Last week, Zuckerberg visited
Nigeria and many Nigerians
were drooling over him for
walking and jogging in Lagos. He
left for Kenya and was pictured
eating ugali and tilapia with his
bare hands. Many Nigerians
shared the photograph and
captioned it, “Zuckerberg
enjoying Nigerian meal with his
bare hands like a true
Nigerian.”
It seemed Aso Rock was not
happy that the young billionaire
visited Nigeria without paying a
visit to the Nigerian seat of
power; for a day after leaving
Nigeria for Kenya, he returned
to Nigeria and visited Abuja,
took groupies with President
Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-
President Yemi Osinbajo. The
President and the Vice-
President were full of smiles in
the pictures they took with
Zuckerberg.
What if Zuckerberg were an
atheist and a Nigerian? Or
what if Zuckerberg were an
adherent of the African
Traditional Religion, which we
arrogantly call paganism or
idolatry?
In Nigeria there are ONLY two
religions: Christianity and
Islam. Other religions are
treated with contempt by most
Nigerians. Even the government
at all levels discriminates
against other religions. That is
why different levels of
government sponsor only
Christian and Muslim pilgrims.
The Federal Government also
gives Christians and Muslims
special concessionary dollar
rates during pilgrimages, while
leaving companies that
manufacture goods to source
their dollars at the prevailing
market rates, leading to the
shutting down of many
companies and loss of
thousands of jobs.
Imagine if a person was told to
pray at a gathering of Nigerian
politicians or business
executives in Abuja and the
person began to call on
“Amadioha” or “Ogun” and the
ancestors. Those in attendance
would not wait for him to finish
before protesting and stopping
the prayers. But if the person
had prayed the Muslim way, the
Christians would say “amen” at
the end of the prayers, even
though they don’t understand
the Arabic spoken by the
Muslim and don’t share the
beliefs of the Muslims. In the
same vein, if a Christian had
prayed, the Muslims would say
“amen” even if the Christian
ended his prayer with “through
Jesus Christ our Lord”: it would
not matter that Muslims don’t
believe in the godhead of Jesus
Christ.
Similarly, if a Muslim offers a
Christian meat from the ram
killed during sallah, the
Christian would eat. If a
Christian offers a Muslim the
meat from the goat killed
during Christmas or Easter, the
Muslim would accept and eat.
But if an adherent of the ATR
offers a Nigerian Muslim or
Christian meat from a ram
killed during the festival of
Ogwugwu or Sango, he would
most likely reject it or quietly
throw it away as “meat from an
animal sacrificed to idols.”
Therefore, the Nigerian
Christian and Muslims have
been conditioned to view each
other’s faith as acceptable
religion, even though that has
not stopped the decades of
religious violence that has
marked the religious practice
in Nigeria in the country. Any
other religion outside these
two is viewed with contempt or
outright opposition. Professing
a lack of belief in God is even
given worse treatment.
An atheist is viewed in Nigeria
as an embodiment of the devil
and everything evil. He is
believed to be an enemy that
must not be associated with to
avoid infecting others with the
“curse” he carries. He is not
expected to succeed in life. He
is not expected to be wealthy.
Even if he acquires wealth or
success “by mistake,” he is
expected to lose it soon,
because it is seen as a gift
from Satan. Any tragedy that
befalls him is seen as a
punishment from God, and he
gets little or no sympathy. Girls
would not be eager to marry
him because he is an atheist or
has a different religion from
Christianity and Islam. If he
has a product or service, many
would refuse to patronise him,
so as not to contract the
“atheist curse” that they
believe he bears.
But Nigerians hypocritically
drool over Zuckerberg. They
want to be like him: young,
handsome, intelligent, super-
rich. They forget that he is an
atheist. When they wake up,
the first thing they do is to
open their phone and visit
Zuckerberg’s business,
Facebook, to read the latest
gossip and news and exchange
pleasantries and quarrels with
friends and foes. If they are
not on Facebook, they are on
WhatsApp or Instagram, also
owned by the same atheist,
Zuckerberg. If Zuckerberg
were not married, many would
throw themselves at him even
before he proposed. If he were
to even decide to settle in
Nigeria and become a
polygamist, many Nigerian
ladies would gladly accept to be
second, third or 20th wife, if
he decided to acquire a harem,
despite all his atheism.
In the same vein, Nigerians
resume in their different
offices and spend all their day
solving problems with
Microsoft and making money
through it. They do not
remember that Bill Gates, the
founder of Microsoft, is an
agnostic, and that his faith or
lack of it has not prevented
him from being the world’s
richest man and one of the
greatest philanthropists.
Similarly, Nigerians flaunt
their iPads and iPods and
iPhones without remembering
that Steve Jobs was a Zen
Buddhist, who – as reported by
his authorised biographer,
Walter Isaacson – renounced
his Christian faith after seeing
the July 1968 Life magazine
with the cover photograph of
starving Biafran children. In
Nigeria, Zen Buddhism would be
seen as “idol worship” because
of the statues of Buddha. If
Jobs were a Nigerian and had
died of cancer, many would
have sneered that “God had
visited him with cancer for
rejecting Christianity and
embracing idolatry.”
However, because these people
are not Nigerians, whatever
they do does not matter to
many Nigerians. Just like it
does not matter if a 25-year-
old CNN broadcaster calls our
President – past or present –
“Mr Buhari” or “Mr Jonathan”
or “Mr Obasanjo.” Our
President so addressed would
accept it with a smile. But let a
Nigerian broadcaster address
our President – past or present
– as “ordinary Mr” and all hell
would be let loose.
“How dare you address a whole
army general or PhD holder as
ordinary Mr?”
We have an intolerant attitude
towards religion. We assume
that only those who practise
religion exactly the way we do
have any right to be happy and
successful. Some even believe
that only those who practise
their own brand of religion
have a right to live.
But religion should be a private
affair. Each person is supposed
to practise his or her own
religion without hindrance or
discrimination while also
allowing others to practise
theirs without any disturbance
or discrimination. Our lives
should be the gospel people
read, not our words posturing.
