By Denrele Animasaun

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” — Nelson Mandela

There is a saying that: there is nothing to fear but fear itself. It seems that we are fearful of fear that we are unable to make decisions that can change our lives for the better.

We live on a daily diet of scaremongering, superstitions and salacious grandstanding. We worry too much, we hate too much, we love too little and expect far less from ourselves and others.

Often we are quick to support or defend people on grounds of kinship or religious beliefs or same political party membership, despite the fact that they are not suited for the job or are morally sound.

They said it’s better to work with the devil you know. Actually it is not. Why should we feel hopeless and helpless?   Why do we settle for less? We are fearful of living that we simply exist and convinced that things cannot change.

We cannot afford to go on leaping from one calamity to the next. No wonder many Nigerians can’t see the wood for the trees.  Why do we believe that things cannot change?

Things won’t change unless we become brave enough to want a change for the better. Nigerians are battling daily and relentlessly with no respite in sight. This takes a toll on the quality of life of every Nigerian (yes, even those that are morally bankrupt).

From dusk to dawn, they wake up to chaos, toil and endure frequent  power outage, bad roads, high  young people’s unemployment, insecurity, bribery, poorly  maintained schools and health care, corrupt politicians, and institutions. They return home to chaos and more the same, day in and day out.

Quality of life becomes affected with the drip- drip culmination of Nigerian daily grind. We are much stressed and this affects one physical and emotional health.This cumulative factor contributes to emotional and physical deterioration.

The side effect overload has taken a toll on our relationships, at home, work, and in our respective communities. Some illness occur because of these stresses and it can reduce our life chances as the body attempts  to adjust  but  fails to respond to the daily onslaught.

We will only begin to feel better, when we begin to look  fear squarely in the eye, it has no  control over us contrary to  what  we think. Whenever we face fear, we will begin to feel in charge and then we can become more compassionate, tolerant, understanding to ourselves, our children and each other.

Terror revisited and Terror dismantle
In  the last  couple  of days,  we were told that  the heinous leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau has been killed in a  gun battle and the grainy  picture seems to  show someone that resembles this  villainous marauder.

There are  several sources that claimed to  be responsible  for  his  death but  it  really  does not say who and where. If it is true, then many Nigerians home and abroad are better off without him.

There has been too  many killings  in the name  of  religion  and they  cannot  justify any of  this senseless killing that has left thousands in its wake. This  should  not  be allowed to happen  again,  we  need  to look  at the root  cause of radicalism in Nigeria and educate our young that terror will not and cannot win.

All roads lead to South Africa
Wole Soyinka said that “religion has entwined with politics and has created a toxic brew”.  He is right. Gone were the days of tolerance and respect for one another.

In the south in particular, it was as a common place, to have in one family of Christians and Muslims and it was the given. It was the way it was and we thought nothing of it.  It seems that is no longer the case in the south or anywhere nowadays

Last week, I was unable to comment on the case of two Nigerians and an Israeli who smuggled $9.3million into South Africa and of a private jet belonging to the National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.

I find it incredulous that the Nigerian government would think it is normal practice to turn up in another country  with cases full of cash  and it will go unreported. The South African police were right to demand an answer and to investigate why the Nigerian government did not follow the right protocol and procedure.

We can no longer run Nigeria as a fiefdom, and allow our commonwealth to be used as private expenses.  Although, the Nigerian government owned up this scandal, it does so because they were caught red handed. As far as I know, international arms’ trafficking is a crime.

The fact that the private jet involved to ferry the mysterious figures to do this shady deal is the president of CAN. By association he has brought the organisation to disrepute.

No one can come out of this lily white and ignorance is not an excuse.  The CAN organisation was after all set up to promote cooperation among Christians and to promote interfaith harmony and safeguard the welfare of all Nigerians.

In this case, its leader has failed to do so. They say “show me your friends and I will tell you who you are”. Well, if you sleep with dogs you will get fleas.  Make of it what you will, we need to begin to question our involvement, ourselves, our beliefs and be brave enough to be guided by what is right not by fear.

Pastor Chis, the man of God
The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.-Gandhi
Speaking from Pretoria some weeks back, Mr. Oyakhilome known as Pastor Chris described himself as a man of God and he warned his congregation to refrain from speaking against a man of God.

As it is common knowledge, his wife has filed for divorce in the British Courts. So he has in effect sent her to Coventry and none of his congregation is to have anything to do or say about the matter. I found his rhetoric eerily disturbing.

He has told his followers that “to speak against the man of God is to bring a curse on yourself and your children. When you hear people speaking against a man of God, move away from there. “Men of God don’t just talk. When they speak, God is forced to move.”

When will we learn to rid  ourselves of  such  fear, dogma and  when would we think  for  ourselves and know  this for certain, that  everyone will have to  find his own  way to Heaven.

We place so much prestige on our religious leaders that we fail to question anything they do or say because we fear the Repercussion. It is about time that people questioned their beliefs and devotion.

We often defend blindly and shout down any one that thinks differently and is brave enough to voice his opinions.