Mockery of Religion: Emeifele In Many Of Us
No country is immune to corruption. The abuse of public office for private gain erodes people’s trust in government and institutions, makes public policies less effective and fair, and siphons taxpayers’ money away from schools, roads, and hospitals. Godwin Emefiele, suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), arrived at the federal high court in Ikoyi, Lagos, around 9:18 am on Tuesday, clutching the Bible. The red paperback tucked the King James Version (KJV) of the holy book inside. Emeifele took the bible along to accompany him ahead of the trial. The big question is; is religion a scam?
Religion is not a scam in itself but there are so many scammers using religion to scam people. It has come to light that certain individuals are using religion as a guise to perpetrate scams without incurring criminal charges. Their behavior is not justified by divine intervention. Who will go and ask God if he said it or not? And Israel has been a secular state for decades. Their decisions have nothing to do with religion. Corruption of church officials may concern property or the manipulation of religious teachings to fit national or political aspirations. Nonetheless, the challenge of our society is the level of Emeifele in many of us.
Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele CFR is a Nigerian politician, economist, and banker who served as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from 4 June 2014 until his suspension by President Bola Tinubu, on 9 June 2023. ‘Emperor Meffy’ Godwin Emefiele was the second-longest-serving governor of Nigeria’s central bank and oversaw its biggest economic downturn. His downfall was ultimately caused by the widely criticized currency redesign he implemented. Meffy got to unravel the key that unlocks the hearts of the Nigerian men of power. Its acronym is GGG – Graft, grits, and genuflection. Immediately after Jonathan exited as president, he effortlessly meandered into the hearts of the next holders of the reins of power. ‘Emperor Meffy’ in the eyes of the storm.
For Hon. Kazaure, a former member of the Federal House of Representatives (MHR), Meffy is the emperor in a corrupt empire where he singly decides who to turn into a billionaire overnight. What Kazaure is saying is not new. Meffy’s predecessor publicly made allusions to the trend long ago. It also formed talking points in bars and gardens around Abuja. Many people allege that Meffy’s encouragement of the parallel forex market was a window to create instant billionaires among members of his cycle within his political party.
Furthermore, Kazaure, said you could be in your bed and they send you $10m at the official CBN rate through your bank. The bank would call to inform you that you have been given $10m from the CBN at the official rate. The same bank would open an account in your name and tell you how much they will buy the dollars from you. Once you accept, your account will be credited with the difference between the CBN rate and what the bank bought from you. According to Kazaure, that is how easy it is for Meffy to create billionaires.
Enter the ‘Meffy’ syndrome’ which is synonymous with average Nigerian public office holders and their mindsets. I believe that a major root cause of our problem as a nation is our unprogressive mindset as Individuals, as a society, and as a nation. A mindset is a set of beliefs or a way of thinking that determines one’s behavior, outlook, and mental attitude. As we all know, mindsets influence the way we think, the way we do things, and ultimately, our behaviour. Our wrong mindsets have brought about wrong orientations, eroded value system, and a thwarted worldview of ourselves and issues.
Interestingly, the ‘Meffy’ syndrome’ represents the way of thinking and mindsets of many of our citizens particularly the political elites and public office holders as exemplified by the likes of Abubakar Malami, Ned Nwoko, Abdulrasheed Maina, Diezani Alison-Madueke and many others. The Nigeria Nation is indeed at crossroads and never before have we had it so colourful. Every Nigerian at home and abroad feels it so bad one way or another. But for most of us, it does seem that there is very little we can do to improve things. This is because the path to the much-needed transformation is riddled with immense difficulties with near impossibilities some will say.
In conclusion, apart from series of articles such as “Malami & Emeifele Two Public Office Holders With A Mindsets of Terrorists” I believe that in the past we have defined the origin of things like the _Meffy syndrome_ as *Acquired character Deficiency Syndrome (ACDS)*. This is the condition that leads to all symptoms we see in our society and there seems to be no effective medication for it for now!
Finally, I daresay that the ‘Meffy’ syndrome is the root cause of the problems associated with poverty, and Nigerians from across the country are lamenting the hardships in the land, crying out for urgent measures by the government at all levels to mitigate their suffering, which they said was becoming intolerable. Hence the need to reactivate the moribund NATIONAL ORIENTATION AGENCY (NOA) for efficiency and national re-birth, reorientation, ethics, and cohesion – Mind Restructuring Advocacy on my mind.
Mockery of Religion: Emeifele In Many Of Us by: Richard Odusanya is a Mind Restructuring Enthusiast.
