Let He Who is without Sin Cast the First Stone

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It is almost two weeks after the Dana Air crash and I can finally pull myself together to blog about it. Call this post late, but I do feel the need to share my thoughts.

Although I didn’t lose any relative or close friend thankfully, I was quite shaken because unlike the Sosoliso and Bellview plane crashes of 2005, the Dana Air crash had someone who was connected to someone who was either a relative or a friend.

Here’s what I mean - we lost a corp member at my office, my sister-in-law’s dad lost his business partner, one of my classmates lost a friend, another classmate lost two colleagues, my friends lost friends and it goes on and on and on. It is for this reason that I was therefore shaken.

The reality is that it could have been anyone. More so, I flew back from Calabar to Lagos on 2 June while some of my colleagues who were Abuja bound had hoped they had a Dana Air (which seemed to be on time) ticket as we waited at the Calabar airport for the Arik Air aircraft to arrive from Lagos, take them to Abuja and return to Calabar to pick up myself, other colleagues and passengers to Lagos. To cut a long story short and not leave you confused, our 12.45pm flight eventually became a 4.10pm flight. And so when I heard of the plane crash the next day, I was thankful but also reminded that it could have been anyone of us.

For three nights I couldn’t find sleep as my mind roamed in search of answers to several speculations in the news about the crash. Amidst my insomnia, it occurred to me that the reason why I probably didn’t feel the loss from the Sosoliso and Bellview crashes was the fact that I wasn’t quite as advanced as I am now in my career. As at that time, I traveled by air sparingly and didn’t value human capital as much as I do today. Going by the socio-economic situation in Nigeria, I believe it would be safe to guess that most of the people onboard the Dana Air plane where young professionals and entrepreneurs probably between the ages of 25 and 45 years; the implication - shattered dreams and wasted lives of potential leaders of Nigeria. People who would have provided solutions to some of our societal problems, and probably even employers contributing to the GDP of our nation. A huge loss to a developing country like Nigeria with an almost non-existent middle class I must say!

The second significant issue for me was the looting that took place at the crash site. I still cannot fathom it. It just validated my sentiments in an earlier post in 2010 titled: Corruption in High Places. My position then was simple. I had stated that corruption is in every one of us while we continue to point accusing fingers at the government. We are largely about what we can rip-off the next person but do it at varying degrees.

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I am saddened at our degenerating values and keep wondering where we missed it. I know I will stir up a huge debate with this issue of every Nigerian being corrupt but let all who read the earlier post on corruption and are without sin cast the first stone!

Christianity and its socio-cultural context

I know this is a very touchy topic and I hope I do not offend God and man by the views I will share in this blogpost. However, I have carried the thoughts in mind for about a month now and I feel the need to let them all out this evening.

Two things happened in the month of February that led me to this reasoning. Firstly, I had cause to attend a Sunday service at a branch of a very popular Nigerian Pentecostal church in East London; secondly, I attended an International Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) conference in Lagos, a week after.

I will begin with the church service. As I walked into the auditorium that fateful Sunday, I expected to see a mammoth crowd as you would usually see if you visited the church's headquarters here in Lagos. Surprisingly, that wasn’t the case. The pews were largely empty and the aisle clear. I however got seated but what was more interesting to me was the Pastor’s message.

She enjoined the congregation to pray without ceasing stating that we wrestle against principalities and powers, and thereafter began to highlight instances during which we need to pray, but they seemed a bit mundane to me. For instance, she said – ‘If you are a woman whose pot of food constantly gets burnt, then you need to pray’.

On our way home, my BFF with whom I went to church and I reviewed the message and laughed. The message was awkward to us because in Nigeria, we are used to praying about getting jobs, spouses, financial breakthroughs, visas, protection from armed robbers etc.

Few days after I returned to Lagos, I attended an international CSR conference and the keynote speaker stated that what is considered as CSR would differ from one country to another based on the local socio-cultural influences. His classic example was the healthcare system in the UK and the US. He said that while corporations who invest heavily in health insurance for their employees in the US pride themselves on being socially responsible, that practice cannot be considered CSR in the UK because the British government has a robust healthcare system under the NHS which caters to the well-being of the populace.

This analogy got me thinking about the preaching I received in the UK, and as I pondered, I came to a conclusion that perhaps socio-cultural influences also play a role in the way Christianity is received and practised.

In a developed society where good largely thrives over evil, corruption is minimised, truth and justice prevail, people get jobs and appointments on merit, visas are obtained if you meet the stipulated requirements, food is affordable, there is security, healthcare is subsidised and the common man can secure a mortgage to purchase a home, then perhaps all you may need to pray about could be - how to be a better cook. Furthermore, I came to a realisation that those who were seated in the congregation were individuals who genuinely wanted a fellowship with God.

This again brings me back home. Would the corrupt politician who occupies a front seat in church be in church if we have a system that effectively checks corruption? Would the young school leaver be in church if he was certain that without prayers or breaking a sweat he would get a job? Would the average worker be in church if he knew he would get a promotion when it falls due? Would the mums be in church if our men were more disciplined? Would the spinsters be in church if our society did not stigmatize young unmarried ladies; and so on and so forth.

The answers to these questions will be helpful in ascertaining if we genuinely love God, or if we are just a religious people seeking miracles.