Karl Marx, the man who taught the world the Marxist ideology and after whom it was named, described religion as the opium (or opiate) of the people. His exact words, in his 1844 work titled “A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right”, goes thus: “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”

Is it not surprising that Marx said those words 182 years ago – and it looks as if he has just analyzed today’s living conditions of the oppressed and their oppressors? Tell me, are living conditions not making the people sigh, wail, weep, moan and mourn? Isn’t our world heartless and our leaders soulless despite our monstrous religiosity?

Today, is religion not “the sigh of the oppressed”? Always, their cry and consolation is: “God dey!” and “God will judge!” To quote the variant made popular by our erstwhile First Lady, Patience Jonathan: “There is God o!”

Leaders and vendors of religion must be heartless to keep taking from the poor, making them poorer, and giving to the rich, making them richer and widening the gulf between the rich and the poor, thereby making a mockery of the “great gulf” that the Bible says separates poor Lazarus and the rich man in the world beyond (Luke 16: 19-31).

Virtually all those stealing millions and billions and mismanaging our affairs on all fronts profess one religion or another.

Max Romeo crooned: “Stealing, stealing, stealing…Stealing in the name of the Lord…My father’s house of worship…Has become a den of robbers…They fed our mothers with sour grapes…And set our teeth on edge…Strike the hammer of justice…And set my people free…Or let my people be…They tell us of a heaven…Where milk and honey flow…They say this place called heaven…No rich man can go…Yet the reverend drives out fancy car…Buys everything tax-free…The people have to sacrifice…To give in charity…Stealing in the name of the Lord!”

Exactly what Karl Marx had said; not so?

While myopic, uninformed or deliberately mischievous religionists often (mis)quote Karl Marx and say Marxists abhor religion in its totality, what Marx actually meant – and this is a fact – is that religion, which may serve as a pain-relieving and comforting force, is also liable to being perverted and misused to dull the reasoning capabilities of the people, justify their oppression, divert their attention from discovering their real mission here on earth and, thus, prevent them from addressing the root causes of their problems and miseries. Religionists impose dogmas on the people to serve their own selfish ends.

In St. Matthew chapter 23, Jesus described the forefathers of today’s religionists severally as “hypocrites”, “attention-seekers”, “blind guides”, “fools”, “serpents”, “whited sepulchres”, and a “generation of vipers” who “strain at a gnat (but) swallow a camel”, who “clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess”, and who “bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.”

These, I dare say, were the harshest words spoken by Jesus during his earthly mission.

Like Fela also crooned, the people are taught to suffer here on earth so they can enjoy in heaven – as if there is necessarily a correlation between both! – whereas the teachers teaching them this nonsense enjoy to the hilt here on earth and still hope to live in houses built with gold in heaven!

Is religion – or, better still, spirituality – in all its forms and variants oppressive, repressive and unproductive? Not necessarily!

The disciples of Jesus Christ started out by practising communalism or Communism (Acts 4: 32-37); check it out! The Marxist creed of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”, spelt out by Marx in his 1875 “Critique of the Gotha Programme”, takes a cue from this.

Until Ananais and Sapphira showed up to torpedo it with the greed, selfishness and avarice associated with Capitalism (Acts: 5 -1-11), communal living, not Capitalism, was the form of government practised by the earliest followers of Christ. Not any more! We now live in a Capitalist world of dog-eats-dog, of survival of the wickedest, and of everyone unto himself but God for us all!

Like Caesar’s wife, religious organisations must be above board in all their dealings. They must obtain necessary approvals or permits and obey relevant building regulations.

To quote Marx again: “The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears which religion is the halo.”

Again, like Fela crooned, patrons and vendors of religion today sow “sorrow, tears, and blood”  to press the people down and hold them captive. This has become, to borrow Fela’s words, the religionists “regular trademark.”

For instance, the religion of empathy and fellow-feeling bequeathed by Jesus Christ – and this is true to a large extent of the originators of other religions – thrived in the hands of his disciples up to the point that a greedy and capitalist couple came to mess things up. Capitalism, greed, selfishness, and self-centeredness took over and that is what has survived to this day.

Patrons and vendors of religion serve the people illusions (“illusory happiness”) while keeping “real happiness” for themselves and their offsprings. And it is this that Marx described as the opium of the people. It is a religion that feeds the masses with illusions to deny them the opportunity of understanding or going after “their real happiness”, which now is the exclusive preserve of the patrons and vendors of religion.

And like their Nigerian-politician counterparts, they line up their wife and children to take over from them, turning it into something like family business!

Marx’s call, therefore, is to the masses to give up this kind or form of religion, which covers the face – and social consciousness – with illusions, so we can appreciate and contend with our real material existence. Marx’s criticism of religion, therefore, is the criticism of the dubious and deceitful cover with which the patrons and vendors of religion hypnotize the people and dull their intellect, thus holding them captive and preventing them from fulfilling their manifest destiny and realising their full potentials here on earth.

Thus, liberating the poor is the very essence of the “Liberation Theology” movement made popular in Latin America in the 1960s and 70s, which combined the Christian faith with social justice; according priority to the poor and actively fighting against all forms of oppression. This is true religion or, better still, the salvation message of Christ.

Religion, thus, is a two-edged sword which can serve both positive and negative ends. It can liberate; it can also enslave. Currently, this sword is wielded against the people by the patrons and vendors of religion. Our people, who daily troop to places of worship, hold the short end of the stick.

This was the import of a post on social media last week. Are the places of worship business outfits that should be asked to pay tax or are they charity organisations providing social services and, which, therefore, should continue to enjoy exemption from paying tax?

Catholic Archbishop Olubunmi Okogie once raised a storm when he referred to some of these religious organisations as “business centres!”

Another storm was raised when Jim Obazee, Executive Secretary/CEO of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, initiated regulations requiring religious leaders to retire after 20 years in office or upon attaining the age of 70 years. But because Nigeria is a place where the right things are seldom done, the patrons and vendors of religion stirred, Obazee was booted out of office, and his innovations died with him!

There is a reason why retirement ages are set. Old age slows down pace and agility; it compromises competence and effectiveness, thereby allowing stagnation and frustration to set in, and organisations are the worst for it. It is not only in political offices that sit-tightism should be abhorred. Leaving when the ovation is loudest is wisdom. That was the example set by the iconic South African leader, Nelson Mandela.

So my thoughts are that we should revisit the Obazee initiative again.

Places of worship proliferate all over the place, blaring megaphones and loudspeakers incessantly disturb our peace and shatter the serenity of the environment, roads are blocked by worshippers demonstrating scant regard and consideration for other road-users; yet, run-away corruption, burgeoning moral laxity, and all manners of unimaginable criminality that leave no one behind are all we have to show for our contrived piety!

If charity organisations, then religious organisations must be discouraged from encouraging capital flight. Funds raised in local assemblies should principally be retained there for their own use. Funds raised within Nigeria should remain within the country and not be moved outside.

Religious organisations that run schools – or any other business venture for that matter – should be mandated to run them as charity – no fees of any kind should be charged. Collecting money publicly and turning around to run business enterprises with such funds without accountability is unethical, if not outrightly fraudulent.

Like Caesar’s wife, religious organisations must be above board in all their dealings. They must obtain necessary approvals or permits and obey relevant building regulations. Swearing to affidavits and telling lies on oath to circumvent building regulations is a criminal act. Religious leaders should pray for, and encourage those who flock to them to shun corrupt practices as well as pay their tax. Like someone said, it is the taxes that we pay, not zakat or tithe, that will help revamp the economy.

The video that got me thinking dwelt on the life of opulence of many religious leaders in the face of the grinding poverty of their members. Same time, social media was awash with stories of the stupendous wealth of Nigerians like the late Azeez Arisekola-Alao, Christopher Alao-Akala, Chief Adeola Odutola and Herbert Wigwe!

I marvelled at the list of properties, home and abroad, attributed to these fellows. To think that they left everything behind and took nothing with them – only for gossip, controversies, and litigation to trail their exit, scarring their memories and denying them RIP!

Should religious leaders also prepare such an end for themselves?

Compliments of this season to my highly esteemed readers!

*Bolawole (turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533), former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, was also the Managing Director/ Editor-in-chief of the Westerner newsmagazine. He writes the “ON THE LORD’S DAY” column in the Sunday Tribune and “TREASURES” column in the New Telegraph newspapers. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.

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It was Karl Marx who said that religion is the opium of the people. Marx was a German Philosopher and Economist who coined the phrase in 1843. In his opinion, religion is not only used by those in power to oppress the workers, (masses) but it also makes them feel better about being oppressed when they can’t afford real opium. He thought that if the comfort blanket of religion was taken away, the workers would have to do something about their terrible condition.

In most developing countries, Nigerian included, religion has been turned into an instrument to oppress the poor. Religious leaders preach the gospel of Heaven and Hell, and in the process, abuse, oppress and subjugate their followers. Yet, John Burroughs, (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921), an American naturalist and nature essayist, described the Kingdom of Heaven as not a place, but a state of mind. Again, Benjamin Disraeli, a British statesman, Conservative politician, and writer, who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in one of his famous quotes said: ‘Where knowledge ends, religion begins’. And because we are too lazy to seek for knowledge in Africa and other developing parts of the world, we are easily deceived by many merchants of religion.

One of those merchants was Temitope Joshua, a controversial figure in life and even more in death, who took Nigeria and the religious world by storm through his activities while on Earth.

He was in the news once again last week, when the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), released a three-part documentary on his queer activities in the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN).

In the documentary, Joshua was portrayed as a fake man of God who succeeded in pulling the wool over the eyes of many, and a man who committed several atrocities using the veil of a preacher and a man of God. In the documentary, many former members of his church revealed how they were raped, abused, and isolated from friends and family members by Joshua, who turned them to his disciples. The men among them figuratively became his slaves, while the women were turned to his sex toys.

It was an extensive investigative piece of journalism excellence by the BBC that took over three years to put together. But their findings and conclusions were not new to many seasoned journalists in Nigeria who practised in the 1990s and early 2000s in Lagos State. Kola Olawuyi, a Yoruba programme presenter, did an extensive investigative report on Joshua and his Church and came up with the verdict that the man was a fake prophet. TheNews Magazine, Tell Magazine, Treasure Weekly and several others did similar exposé on the man and his Church and came up with similar verdicts. As a journalist, once you beam your search light on him and his church, Joshua would try all he could to worm his way into your heart. He would offer you money or a job with fantastic salary, depending on his fancy. If you refuse, he would use subtle threat. If eventually you publish, he would mop up all the Newspapers and Magazine from the news stand and come after you. An instance is that of Kola Olawuyi, who eventually lost his job with Radio Nigeria as a result of his programme, Nkan nbe, (Things are Happening/Strange Things) being yanked off the air from the radio station. He became an independent producer and continued the programme on Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC), Abeokuta.

There are several questions begging for answers on the life and times of this Muslim-born Church leader who did more harm to the body of Christ than good. Joshua pretended to have super natural power and deployed the gimmick to enrich himself by masquerading as a servant of God. As a reporter in the 1990s, my encounter with Joshua was also not too palatable. Working with the now defunct The Week Magazine, owned by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, I was detailed by my Editor alongside a colleague, to do an investigative report on the man and his Church in 2001. What I found out was too sordid. Many of his miracles were scripted. People were hired to pose as deaf and dumb and after waving his right hand in their direction, they would fall down and their sickness would ‘disappear’. Most of his disciples were young white ladies who worshipped the ground he walked on. Despite what I knew, I needed to get his side of the story to balance my report before publishing. I booked an interview appointment with him and on the first occasion, he kept my colleague and I waiting for over three hours despite being the one that fixed the date and time. His waiting room also had closed-circuit television cameras through which he monitored the activities and conversations of visitors while in there. After several complaints about our long wait, one of his disciples took us to their restaurant for light refreshments. He later apologised that he wouldn’t be able to keep the appointment and we agreed to reschedule, and a new date was fixed.

Long story short, the same story played out, but we succeeded in having a short meeting him. When we were eventually ushered before his presence, and after stating our mission, (his disciples had asked for a copy of our likely questions), he declined to provide answers to any of them. When I became persistent, he looked deeply into my eyes and I remember becoming uncomfortable. He then offered me a job to be part of the editorial team of his Church Magazine with a promise to pay more than what I was earning at my present job. Needless to say, I never returned and that was the end of my investigation, as I completely lost interest. However, through that route, many journalists became his friends and were placed on his payroll. So, the BCC report, to many reporters and editors in Lagos was nothing new.

In spite of the documentary, some Nigerians are still in doubt, querying the motive behind the exposé when the man was no longer around to defend himself. Some even hid under the oft misused phrase in the Bible – “Touch not my anointed, and do my prophet no harm” (Psalm 105 v 15). Bunkum.

It is unfortunate that Joshua died under not-too-clear circumstances and was able to escape paying for many of the atrocities he committed while he was on Earth. In actual fact, Joshua could have paid with his life for the numerous crimes against many of those that worshipped in his church as those close to him could have been tempted to take him out. Was his sudden death investigated and cause of death made known to Nigerians? As at the time of his death, he was a prominent figure in Nigeria and all over the world, yet no word of an autopsy conducted to determine the cause of his death. Why the rush to bury him when his faith allows that he could be interred much later?

A man without formal education, Joshua was a lucky chap who knew what he wanted in life and prepared adequately to realise his objectives. Born in Arigidi Akoko in present day Ondo State on June 12, 1963, he had his primary school education at St. Stephen Anglican Primary School but soon dropped out of secondary school as his parents could not afford his education. After doing menial work, he soon found his way to Lagos where he started a Church on a swampy area in Ikotun. Within 10 years, he had become wealthy, with foreign nationals trooping to his church for religious tourism.

The presence of white men and women around him forced many Nigerians to embrace his church, including Heads of States in Africa. But he soon ran into trouble with the authorities in Cameroon, where he was banned in 2010. His church was blacklisted, having been described as an agent of Satan, hoodwinking unsuspecting members of the public with diabolical miracles. Cameroon’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Henri Eyebe Ayissi, in a communique issued titled ‘The Devil Is In The House’, described Joshua as ‘a son of the devil pretending to be a man of God’. He warned hundreds of Cameroonians trooping to his church in Lagos for miracles to desist from taking the trip or face the consequences as the country will not stand by them.

In Nigeria, many pastors found his brand of Christianity alien and his miracles funny. They stayed away from having anything to do with his church. He likewise found them of no consequence, and stayed alone. Pastor Chris Okotie of the Household of God on several occasions described Joshua as a fake man of God and a magician. Okotie, in a one hour, 15-minute-long video posted on You Tube, referred to Joshua as the ‘Wizard of Endor’, because his church was allegedly synonymous with Endor, where people look for temporary solutions to eternal problems.

But is it only Joshua that turned many Nigerians into slaves in the name of worshipping God? The answer is a capital NO, as there are several others in league with him. Reverend King is still behind bars, awaiting the hangman’s noose after he was sentenced to death for burning one of his disciples alive, eventually leading to her death. There are several other pastors still alive and with the same mode of operation. They will acquire supernatural power; some use juju and traditional African Science to acquire power, build a Church which they soon transform into a cult group. There is no week that goes by in Nigeria now without a report of rape by one pastor or Alfa (Islamic cleric) or the other who took advantage of young and not-too-young ladies among their followers in search of prayers or miracles such as seeking for the fruit of the womb, that throng their business centres masquerading as churches and asalatu.

The crux of the matter is that we have many Nigerians who have not bothered to establish a direct relationship with God and are constantly searching for an intermediary. Yet, God is with each and everyone of us. The problem of seeking a middleman to intercede between man and God will continue to fuel cases of victimization of the poor, hungry, lazy and desperate by these so-called men of God. What is even more puzzling is that the Government seems helpless about stemming the ugly trend simply because they need the same classes of Nigerians led by these ‘men of God’, to vote them to power during elections. With high numbers of those voters in the Churches and Mosques under the leadership of General Overseers, there’s nothing to lose and everything to gain by looking the other way when votes have been gathered with the help of greedy men of God who have been settled on the sidelines by vote-seekers. Attendees of religious centres would always listen to instructions of their ‘Daddies in the Lord’ and General Overseers.

Our salvation would come the day government tackles poverty and succeeds in lifting millions out of the poverty quagmire. With the high standard of living, many of our colonisers that brought religion to Africa are dropping the holy books. Some of them don’t even believe that God exists again, if they ever did. Yet, they are prosperous and living their lives to the fullest. Religion has been sold to us in Africa and it seems to be tying down our destiny. You can forgive anyone who therefore aligns with the declaration of Karl Marx, when he described religion as the opium of the mind of the people.

See you next week.

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