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[email protected] London, UK

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GOD, IN YOUR HANDS I PLACE NIGERIA

have this funny impression that if I had professed to be a seer, I sure will rank among the most sought-after-priests in Nigeria and my customers would cut across all professionals. Regular readers of this column would attest to the fact that my simple projections about Nigeria and Nigerians are always accurate and exact. I may not have schooled in the art of forecasting the future or be a gifted astrologer, I know my fellow country men and women so well and can predict precisely the government and the people.

When few weeks ago I said Nigeria does not deserved debt relief, some readers sort of called me a bastard while some labeled me as unpatriotic. Now that a renowned debtor has become a big lender giving as much as $45million loan to Ghana (a country with better infrastructures than Nigeria) and playing big-brother Father Christmas role to Sao Tome, could we still request for debt cancellation or relief any longer? I rest my case but honestly, the more I try to understand our leaders the more I get baffled and upset.

The summary of my recent article was about how best to launder Nigeria's dented image. I had emphasized the importance of internal image as the best option towards facilitating external impression. Rather than bore readers repeating what I wrote, I will recommend the article to those who did not read it so as to know the importance of what I am saying again today.

Okija is now a renowned shrine around the world because the news is everywhere. Rather than be a tourist attraction, it has brought further damaging impression upon Nigeria. Apparently, its discovery by the police has added to our ratings as a country of voodoo where religion and belief in deities are superior to supreme courts in the administration of justice and simple exchange of contractual agreements.

Whether anybody likes it or not, an appendix has been added to Nigeria's curriculum vitae to further showcase the country as animal kingdom. When the story of Clifford Orji the (man eater) was first broken some years ago, it was easy to defend the absurdity as a one-off case of an insane man who mistook his fellow human being for a cow meat.

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It was later followed by the "Otokoto" saga which we tried to rationalize as Ndigbo's family affair. Now that almost 50 Igbo origins have been named as clients and victims of Okija shrine where skulls and human parts are used as household paraphernalia, how do you defend Nigeria and convince investors that their skulls and private parts will not end up being a good materials for rituals business?

Let us be sincere with ourselves, assuming you and I are investors could we have decided to take our money to a country where there is no constant supply of electricity or a stable environment to do simple business of buying and selling?

As it is now, no amount of sweet talk will make some Nigerian professionals resident in UK or America to venture into any business in Nigeria how much more a British or an Americana. Which country will encourage her citizen to visit a country of shrines in this jet age when modern technology has taken off shines from shrines? Voodoo in advanced countries produces high-powered technology for the usage of mankind worldwide but in Nigeria, it is diabolically used to consume lives.

Festival or carnival in advanced countries means fun, joy, excitement and merriment. In Nigeria, carnival means cannibals; some people must be killed and roasted while festivals bring blood, death, sadness and sorrow. A festival or carnival is not concluded until there is skull to display as evidence that human sacrifice has been made to please a deity.

You can imagine what further damage these revelations has done to Nigeria's bad image within few weeks that the Okija shrine became popularly known in international community. The gory photographs of skulls displayed on the internet is a confirmation that Nigeria has as citizens some carnivorous animals in human skin whose permanent abode should be in some cages in the zoo.

British police discovered a headless torso in River Thames, London and did not waste much time in concluding that "Boy Adams" (the name given to the torso) must be a Nigerian citizen killed by another Nigerian for ritual purposes. They know what we are like; desperadoes who can kill to do a deal.

"Boy Adams' matter is yet to be concluded, investigation to ascertain the real motive behind such a dastardly act is on-going but the shame and blemish it has conferred on all Nigerians resident in United Kingdom is still following us around till date. We were in the process of exonerating Nigeria that a country is never judge by the criminality of one person or group of frustrated gang when the Okija shrine surfaced again which has served as veritable circumstantial evidence that Nigeria is an evil country where devil is supreme.

The Okija chief priest has big men as his regular customers that patronize his shrines on daily basis among them are some serving governor and their millionaire god fathers. Very soon, we shall be inundated with names of big time pastors that have derived their healing miracle power from Okija shrine. High ranking police officers, Generals in the army, fraudsters and other Nigerian big shots have also been fingered as Okija clients all in a country where many companies have closed down giving away their industrial premises to churches as house of worships.

It is about right to conclude that some priests and pastors are the one ruling Nigeria from behind the scene. The custodians of Okija shrines surely have our leaders under their control; they are financiers and backers of the priest.

In Oyo state for instance, one Shepherd "Oluso" was said to be in control of government. Contactors and appointment seekers are members of his church members by force. He is the one choosing friends for Governor Alhaji Rasheed Ladoja and have been dictating those he should keep at arms length. Nigerians would worship anything that would fetch them power and money. Such is the hypocrisy of my fellow country men and women.

Just imagine, a body that represents the Igbos (Ohaneze) telling the world to disregard what they saw as barbaric insisting that dealing in human skulls and parts is a lucrative business that cuts across the country! What a bad way to introduce politics and ethnic support for an internationally recognised criminality which is a monumental calamity upon the nation and her citizens at home and abroad.

It is blasphemy and absolute wickedness to attempt co-opting other states that make up Nigeria as members of ritual gang. In advance countries, Ohaneze members would all have been in jail for being an accomplice, collaborators and partners in crime. But in Nigeria, politics, man-know-man, long-leg, religion and ethnicity gives shield and provide immunity to people we all know are incorrigible criminals.

Like I said, we can not be wallowing in sin against God and humanity and expect prosperity. No serious country will take us serious even if we try to convince the whole world that "at last, out of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, there was one Judas and our Judases are the likes of people running Okija shrine".

What we are likely to get back in reply is that "Judas is Nigeria, the country is his abode, and the citizens are his biological family". Nigerians possess the capability of being a liability unto themselves but I have a prayer: God in your hands I place Nigeria, send to us a genuine messiah, we are tired of this counterfeit whose era has brought more shame to us.