It's Christmas! Help someone

A few years, I got into a thought-provoking discussion with a Lebanese man whom I had come across in my line of duty. During our conversation, he told me about how he had stayed in Nigeria for quite a long time, twenty four years to be precise, and how he actually felt like a Nigerian. And then he said sometime. In his words, “one bad thing about Nigerians is that you people like to spend money on burial ceremonies than on treatment.’’ I sat back and thought deeply about what he had just said.

He made a point; a very valid point. People die in hospitals simply because they couldn’t afford the cost of treatment. Some never go to the hospital because they do not have the funds. When such men or women die, members of their nuclear and extended families hold series of meetings on how to give such individual a befitting burial. An expensive casket, made from quality wood and glass, is purchased sometimes running into tens and hundreds of thousands of naira. The cost of the attire for the deceased could pay for some of the laboratory investigation or purchase some of the drugs which could have prolonged the life of the deceased.

Furthermore, the amount required to provide food and drink to “celebrate a life well spent’’ is frightening, sometimes even absurd. And then there is the small matter of the “Aso-Ebis”. So when you take stock of the amount spent in planning a burial, you realize that the cost of keeping an individual alive is much lower when compared to carrying out the funeral rites. This is even more perplexing if the cause of death is an illness that could have been cured with a fraction of the funds which would be spent on the burial ceremony. Sensational eulogies are read about a man who many of his wealthy relatives did nothing to save.

Will the dead man be full of gratitude for the efforts his relatives put in to ensure that his burial remains the talk of the town for weeks, months or even years to come? So, while a man, who died a pauper, is lying in state in his transparent glass coffin, we should sit back in the midst of all the euphoria and ask ourselves some questions. Were we fair to this man? Could we have done more for him? Or do our actions portray us as hypocrites?

In the eyes of many, churches have become huge investment with potentials for profits. It is no longer strange to see pastors buy the most expensive cars and private jets while members of the congregation they lead live in abject poverty. In case you are unaware, many of those individual live a life of uncertainty, unaware of what the future holds. They think every day, how do I provide the next meal for my family? How do I pay my little child’s school fees or pay for her medical bills if something goes wrong? What about the utility bills and the next rent? How long will I be able to put a roof over my head? Will I ever become a proper bread winner? Don’t forget, you are expected to sow “series of seeds of faith”. The common rhetoric is if we do all these, we will be his responsibilities, he will let no harm befall us and will provide all our needs according to his riches in glory.

So I thought to myself, can’t these pastors and churches be that source of blessing to members of the congregation? For examples, can those seeds of faith be used to provide clothes, food and perhaps funds to clear bills for people that are impoverished? How will a private jet or expensive cars driven by a man of God affect the life of an individual?  This is not to say that religious organizations are not offering a helping hand. I believe that they can do so much more. Can more churches and mosques offer scholarship programmes to intelligent youths whose parents cannot afford to send them to the university? The fact that the most expensive tuition fees are being charged by schools owned by religious bodies, says it all. Can they attempt to offer hope to those who think that their tunnels have no end, not to mention light?

Finally, it is high time we realized that we are nothing without the next guy. We need a hand to keep moving and someone close to you may just need your hands to help them steady their feet and make something out of life. Christmas offers us an opportunity to reflect on these things. Hopefully, we will offer a helping hand to others in their times of difficulty.