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Location: United Kingdom

A Naija Guy living (and loving) in the UK.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Nigeria leads the world!

On Religion
A survey of people's religious beliefs carried out suggests that Nigeria is the most religious nation in the world. Over 90% of Nigerians said they believed in God, prayed regularly and would die for their belief. All the survey respondents in Nigeria (100%) expressed a belief in God or a higher power. The figure was in 91% the US with the UK scoring lowest at 67%.
Over 91% of Nigerians said they regularly attended a religious service, contrasting with 21% in the UK and only 7% of Russians.

All these statistics lead me to wonder, what are the advantages of the religious fervour of Nigerians?

On Happiness
A study of more than 65 countries published in the UK's New Scientist magazine suggests that the happiest people in the world live in Nigeria - and the least happy, in Romania. So I guess that we are having some rewards for our supplication to God. One side of me however wonders whether the survey respondents are actually replying to the questions in faith (the bible states that whatsoever you profess you receive). My Grandmother (God bless her soul) would always reply to a question about money by saying "Owo po lowo mi" - there is loads of money with me - whether she was broke or not. Its just like Luther said money doesn't buy happiness as using GDP per capita Nigeria is the 19th Poorest Country in the World and 60% of the population are living below the poverty line.

On Corruption
A couple of years ago while still the Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (NOI) strongly criticised a survey by Transparency International which ranked Nigeria as the most corrupt country in Africa saying it was "fundamentally flawed". NOI said the survey failed to take into account government efforts to fight corruption. I guess this means we have a problem but are working on a cure?

So Nigerians are the worlds most religious but yet also among the most corrupt? Well at least we are the happiest! How else does Nigeria lead the world?

15 Comments:

Blogger chrome said...

lol! that is so funny and very true. everytime i turn on BEN TV there's always some armani suited guy spewing religious nonsense. we love church and money to much.

10:04 pm, July 02, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

this just goes to show that Nigeria is one big contradiction. lead the way in corruption & Religion? the priests hearing confessions must have their hands full.

11:31 am, July 03, 2006  
Blogger uknaija said...

It's not so disjointed. The same cavalier attitude to honesty that underpinsour corruption means that we lie about our religious beliefs and state of happiness as well. Or maybe that's just me me being cynical

3:36 pm, July 03, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i agree with uknaija, frustration is rife in naija. if the question was asked whether or not we know how to enjoy oursleves, then i would undoubtedly have to say i dont think any nation gets down to boogie like nigerians...but happiness is a totally different thing.

4:34 pm, July 03, 2006  
Blogger Olówó said...

The thing with Nigerians is, no matter the situation they are in, tommorow is another day and the sun will definitely shine. Nigerians (or Africans in General) are the most religious people in the world. They don't play when it comes to worship...bet it God, money etc.

5:27 pm, July 03, 2006  
Blogger Aramide said...

Wow...we are on top, i believe corruption is and has been a way of life in nigeria since God knows how long so i don't even get alarmed when i read anything about laundering, fraud, politics etc...but there is room for hope.

10:12 am, July 04, 2006  
Blogger Nneka's World said...

We are the third poorest country in the world.

We are some serious prayer warriors. We have to be to ask the lord for all the sins that we have committed or about to commit.

12:38 pm, July 04, 2006  
Blogger DiAmOnD hawk said...

well we need religion to help with our corrupt lives which keeps us happy...all makes sense really...Im babbling I know...but I wonder about the authenticity of the study re:happiness...how is happiness defined exactly and what are they happy about?

11:38 pm, July 04, 2006  
Blogger soul said...

Let's call a spade a spade, UK naija got it right.
naija folk can lie like it's going out of fashion.
We shout the highest praises in church but our attitudes reek to high heavens.
'double talk' is the order of the day for most naija folks.. i.e. say one thing, practise another.

The relationship between religion and naija folks is one of the most hypocritical, ill informed and debased relationship I have ever known.
That book (the bible) is brandished as an automatic silencer, a weapon to pierce through common sense.

12:14 am, July 05, 2006  
Blogger culturalmiscellany said...

Your religious tendencies as a nation have always puzzled me. When I visited I was very surprised to see things like 'Jesus Power Taxis' everywhere even though that goes against the 3rd Commandment?! Quite frankly at first I found the whole thing quite intimidating and questionned my own faith when I was around my Nigerian friends as they seemed to drop references to their religion into every sentence and thereby demonstrate more 'real' faith than me or thats what I thought. However, over time I have come to see a different side. I have seen some of those friends recite scripture to me like there is no tomorrow yet not be able to apply it in their own lives on a daily basis. Sometimes its seemed more of a security blanket or pleasing society action rather than heart felt worship. So, I have learnt to worry less about how I am perceived by them for being less verbal and concern myself less with what their relationship with God may be relative to mine and focus wholeheartedly on my own personal journey, after all that is what will save me, not being able to quote ten times more scriptures than the next person.

As for the other things I agree with previous posters that Nigerians seems to be a population who love to live by the extremes, its great!

5:36 pm, July 07, 2006  
Blogger Anthony Arojojoye said...

What do you expect from people who are poverty stricken? They'll turn to God for help.

But when it comes to corruption & eating up the buffet table meant for everyone, they simply put God on hibernation.

Very funny peeps.

8:32 am, September 04, 2006  
Blogger Lowla said...

Lol@ the comments..
Nigeria leads the world in being the most populous black nation again. I mean there is no country you go, you won't find a naija man. hahahaha.. Funny post.

Its been a while since I visited your blog.

4:52 am, September 11, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work
»

8:21 am, October 06, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's damn shame I recently came across a set of articles about African economic performance and Nigeria was notable by its abscence.

Africa’s Ten Most Competitive Economies for 2006

Africa's Ten Best Performing Stock Markets in 2005

Africa's Fastest Growing Economies in 2005

6:14 pm, November 25, 2006  
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2:10 am, October 21, 2015  

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