Bible which is the most sacrosanct book of the Christians, God, in the first day created Heaven and Earth. From there on He worked for another six days without rest. He finally rested on the seventh day. That seventh day is revered and adored by the Christians as the most holy day in the week in which they have to sacrifice to worship the Lord. This is a fact.
Consequent upon this, Makers of civilization conceived the idea of five day-week work, leaving Saturday to be a day for the workers to get themselves ready for the Church Service on Sunday. However, for the Jews and Muslims, they have different day of worship frame. The Jews have Saturday as their own sacrosanct day to worship their God. But from Friday, late afternoon, every good Jew begins serious worshipping preparation. From about 4p.m on Friday, they go almost into seclusion to prepare themselves for next day’s worship.
On the other hand, Muslims have Friday as their own worshipping day which they reverse also. Similarly, several other religious bodies and faith have their own day they reserve and revere. Hindus, Budhists and many others have theirs.
However, what has emerged within the Christian dominated areas in Nigeria today is that they have gradually isolated Friday to be another added day to Sunday. This they reserve for burials. Thus, on a national plain, working week days have now been reduced to only Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And strictly speaking, because of the volume of burials which people have to attend on Fridays, tendencies have begun to emerge in which case Thursday has been reduced to the level of half day’s working day. Similarly, Monday, too which used to be a day for the meeting of the Management now serves as a day to prepare for Management meeting on Wednesday, the same day Exco meetings are held.
The implication of this is that on the whole productivity at the national and State levels is severely compromised. What does this mean in terms of economic national productivity is that the country’s human resources are being reduced to a mere average level.
Many years ago when burials were rare occurrences, they were mostly done by many Christians on Saturdays. But today, by implication Saturdays have been left for weddings and other social occasions.
For example, most of the traditional weddings today are held on Saturdays, even many Christians and with the acquiescence of gullible and greedy Church Priests have begun to hold Thanksgivings and Harvests on Saturdays – vital church activities that were held on Sundays. All these are in attempt to accommodate everything for mundane considerations.
This attitude has led to many strategic changes of behaviours in many Church activities. Many Priests today even have begun to schedule weddings on Sundays. Painfully, a couple of penticostal churches have tended to radicalize almost the entire traditional church activities. They often claim that they are the real modern Christians, others are outdated.
Before Sundays were devoted to purely going to service to worship God, thanking him for His grace, mercy and protection and to renew our petitions for His continued blessings and grace. After Church service, people turn their attention to visiting of hospitals to pray for the sick, comfort them and distribute gift items. In fact, when time was time, hospitals in Aba, Onitsha, Enugu usually witnessed heavy traffic of sympathizers surging in and out of various hospitals, sick bays and other places where those who require comfort and are kept.
Today, it is a different ball-game. Sundays are mostly reserved for service and after those other social activities particularly in towns, villages and community meetings including age-grade gatherings where merriments take place and other convivialities.
Principally, Fridays have completely been taken over by burials. No more, no less. In Enugu, Onistha, Aba and to lesser extent, Fridays are for burials. Offices are scarcely occupied by workers as hundred of Civil Servants travel to different places to attend various burial ceremonies. Those who may not have some burials to attend use their time to go to do some little transactions in banks particularly making some withdrawals from their savings through automatic transaction machines. Of course, that is banking even if only fifty naira and fifty kobo were withdrawn.
In the circumstances, both the government and the people are the losers because productivity is being severely compromised indeed. Government businesses are left unattended to and this affects the entire network of national economy.
This religious madness is not only restricted to the South or Christian areas of the country. One needs to be in Kano, Katsina, Kaduna or in any Northern States on any given Friday. Schools, Colleges and every government Institutution is virtually shut down as Muslim fistful troop to the mosque for Friday service.
By the time the service was over late afternoon, just only a microscopic proportion of the work force comes back to the office to continue with the government or public work of the day. Of course, Saturday is completely out of the question. Except some private enterprises such as transportation, trading, retailing and marketing services, not much is usually opened on Saturday in the North as well as in Christian areas.
The utmost sufferer of this religious attitude is the government who pays its workers on monthly basis including those days, particularly Fridays which the people now have virtually converted to worshiping days and funeral services and other burials.
Of course, one does not expect a change on this madness rise to uncontrollable number of churches being opened in towns, villages, communities, hamlets and even in unknown hovels which can accommodate at least two persons husband and wife with enough space to accommodate few sets of musical instruments to make the loudest noise to draw attention.
In all and all irrespective of the fact whether the church is one of the orthodox or the so called penticostals, the objective is the same, principally to raise money “for God’s work.” God’s work indeed.
Even in the North, make-shift mosques are being opened in their number mostly for the preaching and teaching of Islamic doctrines and messages. But these days for training of almargerines, to learn how to read and mast holy Koran and to master it.
Yes, although Nigeria is noted as a highly religious country because it provides one of the highest number of pilgrims during holy season of the Muslims and for Christians going to Jerusalem, Rome or even small other non-noteable countries with relevant and significant religious. All this for the show of affluence without any microscopic show of real sense of touch of any iota of sincere spirituality.
Through various pilgrimages, which have now become item of status symbols, governments at all levels spend millions of naira sponsoring both Christian and Muslim.
In spite of this high display of religious shows and acknowledgements, Nigeria, today in the eyes of the world is one of the worst crime countries of the world. As churches and churches, mosques and mosques everywhere yet sin, and sins abound.
Therefore, it is high time the government at all levels step in to do something about ugly scenario which is robbing the nation a lot of human and financial resources. Although the church is on its own, it does not operate in isolation. It is not above the law. Some elements of checks must be put in place to ensure that the people work for the salaries they receive at the end of the month . Afterall, it is a very grievous sin for a labourer to receive a wage he does not work for. Is this not part of the religious ethos?
