The NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR

MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 24th - Sunday 30th June 2024

WHAT DO YORUBA PEOPLE MEAN BY “SERIA”?

This prayer call analyses the impact of political ideologies on Nigeria. There are currently two conflicting political ideologies contesting for supremacy in the constitution. The consequence of the contest is the dysfunctionality of the Nigerian state. It is in the interest of Nigerians that this contest is resolved in favour of the political ideology upon which Nigeria was established as a country.

Amongst the Yoruba people, if a parent wants to punish an erring child, or a group of people is threatened with painful punishment, the common term used is, “I will do ‘seria’ for you.” Yoruba people understand “seria” to mean excruciating pain, punishment, and affliction. What many people might not know is that seria is not a Yoruba word, but an adaption of the Arabic word “sharia”. To the Yoruba mind, seria connotes pain. A translator rendered seria to mean, “I will show you pepper”.

In some Yoruba ethnic groups, [sh] is pronounced as [s], like the “shibboleth” in Judges 12: 6.  That is how "sharia" is typically realized as “seria”.

The issue is this, Nigerians, at present, are in agony and penury, but only a few people understand the root of the problem. In the past twenty-five years, the country has been steadily marching backwards, while the intensity of the affliction on the populace has assumed infernal proportions. In this country in which the monthly salary of a university graduate was less than N500, a few years ago, N500 can no longer buy a loaf of bread. What went wrong? A political ideology that “peppers” people was illegally injected into the constitution of Nigeria. This debilitating political ideology hijacks sovereignty from the people and, under the guise of religion, concentrates it in the hands of feudal lords. They claim proprietary rights over the freedom of the people and the resources of the land. While they live in affluence and indulgence, they subject the masses to “pepper”.

The controversial Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, once said, “Zamfara started Sharia in Nigeria, today it has the highest poverty rate”. He went further to say, at the Mo Ibrahim Forum in Marrakesh, Morocco, that it was time for people to realize that “this is all deception, this is all politics, this is not religion; it is about politicians appropriating religion as a discourse for getting into power”.

Anyone who wishes to disagree with Alhaji Sanusi should consider the condition of the 12-sharia states in Nigeria. They are the emblems of poverty, human deprivation, illiteracy, violence, and death. That is the spiritual influence emanating from the 1999 Constitution foisted upon Nigeria by some power-hungry politicians under the garb of military uniform, traditional stools, and under the guise of political activism. They have one thing in common, they believe that the national treasury is their petty cash box. They are as greedy as hell.

If Nigerians do not understand the manipulation of these self-seeking elites and take steps to stop them, they will suck the life out of the citizens. Already, they have succeeded in driving multitudes of citizens out of their fatherland. The injection of sharia into the constitution has nothing to do with religion. As Alhaji Sanusi indicated, it is the political manipulation of religion for cultural and political domination. The National Christian Elders Forum has written extensively about the politics of religion as the bane of the Nigerian society.

Nigeria was established as a country with democracy and parliamentarian system of government as its national ideology. The founding fathers crafted a constitution that enabled the constituent units to thrive and develop according to their individual pace. There was an attempt to introduce sharia ideology at independence, but the move was rejected. That was the reason Sardauna introduced the Penal Code for northern Nigeria. Instead of promoting democracy and equality in the land, some political hawks sought the opportunity to play the politics of religion to dominate political power. They have largely succeeded with the 2023 elections. That election was not a democratic exercise. It was sharia. The ballot box did not produce the president. It was the court. Under democracy, the ballot box produces winners at elections. This might be one reason why much pepper is following the 2023 election.

That is not all. Nigeria gained independence as a common law country, which presupposes that the judicial and legal officers in the country would be common law lawyers. Under Buhari, both the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the Attorney General were sharia lawyers. It was an aberration. At present, the contest for supremacy between democracy and the sharia ideology in Nigeria is swinging dangerously in favour of sharia. This is the reason Nigerians are being peppered seriously. Therefore, people should understand where the pepper is coming from. It is a manipulation of religion for political domination.

Undoubtedly, apologists and beneficiaries of sharia in the constitution might argue that talking about sharia in the constitution is an infringement on their freedom of worship. Such people should be reminded that while there were a series of constitutional conferences that agreed on democracy as the national ideology of Nigeria, there was no single conference that agreed on sharia in the constitution of Nigeria. It was an imposition done with impunity.

Under the circumstances, Nigerians should focus all their attention on resolving the conflicting ideologies in the constitution in favour of democracy. The country must return to a constitution that enshrines democracy as the only national ideology, because that is the basis upon which Nigeria was established as a country. This is the only way leaders can be held accountable and the resources of the country utilized for the common good.

Interestingly, like Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, President Tinubu is toying with the idea of returning the country to regionalism. This is a tentative step in the right direction. However, there should be strident calls for a constitution that is not an adaptation of Decree 24, which produced the 1999 Constitution. There are two options to handle the constitutional impasse:

1.     A return to the 1963 Republican Constitution (with some minor amendments), or
2.     A fresh constitution negotiated by the indigenous ethnic nationalities.

All the elites, labour leaders, academics, professional bodies, and the youths should raise a clarion call for a new constitution. The seria peppering Nigerians is coming from the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The sponsors of the 1999 Constitution have seriously peppered Nigerians. The pepper in the eyes of the people is too much. 

May God have mercy upon Nigerians.

PRAYER POINTS

1).    Ps. 102: 13 
Plead with God to arise and have mercy upon Nigerians.

2).    Ps. 133 
Pray for grace that Nigerians shall be united and demand, in one accord, a new constitution. Pray against every division crafted by the forces of darkness.

3).    Exodus 2: 23 – 25
 Pray that God will have respect for the groanings and cries of Nigerians.

4).    Exodus 3: 7 – 10 
Pray that God will raise a Moses for Nigeria, who will rally the people and lead them out of the present bondage.

5).    Isaiah 28: 14-15, 18-21 
Pray that every diabolical power that the sponsors of sharia in Nigeria depend upon, shall be nullified by the Blood of Jesus.

6).    Isaiah 7: 7 
A prophecy circulated on social media that a massive mobilization of forces of destruction is waiting to be unleashed upon Nigeria. Pray and decree that it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. Bind all the forces darkness that are involved, and cast them out.

7).    Col. 2: 14 - 15; Rom. 4: 16 – 17 
Pull down the 1999 Constitution in the spirit realm and nail it, with other obnoxious ordinances in the country, to the cross of Jesus. Call forth a new constitution that will give Nigeria peace, progress, and prosperity.