society
We Keep Calling on God While We Do Nothing: Prayer Without Pausing for Action Is a Kind of Cowardice
We Keep Calling on God While We Do Nothing: Prayer Without Pausing for Action Is a Kind of Cowardice.
By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by saharaweeklyng.com
“The tragic cost of outsourcing national duty to heaven while corruption destroys institutions on earth.”
For too long Nigerians have been trapped in a pious loop: Pray, Petition, Post a prayer request, then return to business as usual. Prayer is not the enemy (it has comforted and sustained millions through grief and crisis) but when prayer becomes the substitute for responsibility, it is not FAITH, it is ABDICATION. A nation that kneels every morning yet allows its hospitals to run out of basic supplies, its youths to sit idle, its farmlands to be washed away by floods or seized by violence, cannot plausibly claim divine protection while it reflexively refuses the hard, mundane labour that secures the common good. Faith without works is hollow; petitions without policy are theater; supplication without sacrifice is moral window-dressing.
The facts that confront Nigeria demand more than incense and hashtags. Since 2018–19 an estimated tens of millions more Nigerians have been pushed into extreme poverty; recent World Bank analyses show the share of Nigerians in extreme poverty increased substantially in the aftermath of multiple shocks (economic, climate and security) reversing prior gains and leaving nearly half of Nigerians living at or below poverty lines in the most recent assessments. This is a national emergency that cannot be excused by piety.
Consider the everyday metrics of national life. Official labour surveys and analyses reveal a labour market riddled with underemployment and precarious work even when headline unemployment figures appear low or inconsistent due to methodological changes. In 2024 the National labour survey recorded unemployment upticks and youth joblessness that mask a deeper reality: millions eke out an existence on tiny, irregular incomes in the informal economy, with very few pathways to dignified, stable employment. When citizens face chronic insecurity, inflationary shocks and mass displacement, the impulse to pray is understandable, but the cure is not a prayer meeting, it is organized civic effort, systemic reform and sustained public pressure.
Security and displacement expose how prayer without practical response becomes a moral sleight of hand. In 2024 Nigeria hosted millions of internally displaced people fleeing insurgency, banditry and communal violence; families were uprooted, entire communities rendered vulnerable and dependent on intermittent humanitarian relief. Meanwhile, climate shocks (catastrophic floods in recent seasons) destroyed crops and livelihoods for millions more. These are problems that require government planning, investment in resilient infrastructure, accountable security policy and an energized citizenry that demands these things and not just petitions. When citizens believe their role is only to pray, they allow corruption, negligence and incompetence to calcify into institutions.
Corruption and impunity are not neutral bystanders; they are active enablers of national decline. Nigeria’s position in global indices of public-sector integrity remains troubling: persistent low scores and middling ranks in anti-corruption indexes reflect weak institutions and a culture of impunity that feeds mismanagement and theft of public resources. The moral language of prayer becomes particularly hollow when public funds meant for schools, hospitals and roads are diverted or squandered and yet too often the response from ordinary citizens is another round of spiritual ritual, not a mobilized demand for transparency, accountability and justice.
To be clear: THIS IS NOT AN ATTACK ON FAITH. It is a call to reconcile belief with belonging. The great Nigerian voices of conscience have long insisted that silence is not innocence. Wole Soyinka warned that “the man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny” a line that speaks directly to our time: a nation that shrinks from collective action is a nation that dies a little each day. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reminds us that “people make culture,” which means the ideas and habits that have allowed our civic life to atrophy are changeable, but only if we stop excusing inaction with devotion and start building new habits of responsibility and protest.
What does responsible citizenship look like in practice? It begins with the mundane but essential acts that sustain civic life: registering to vote and voting smartly; holding elected officials to account through sustained oversight and constituency pressure; joining or founding community organizations that repair roads, mentor youth and deliver local health and education services when the state fails; supporting independent media that uncovers mismanagement; and refusing to normalise impunity by demanding transparent procurement, audits and prosecutions when corruption is exposed. It is not about abandoning spiritual life, it is about demanding that our faith translate into ethical behaviour, public service and sacrifice. When congregations demand improved local schools or insist a community health clinic be properly staffed, that is devotion translated into duty.
Leadership matters; and leadership can be exercised without waiting for official sanction. Across Nigeria’s history, ordinary citizens have risen to extraordinary challenges by organizing cooperatives, vigilante groups (subject to rule of law), community security watches and grassroots advocacy movements. But those efforts must be anchored to law and human rights, not to vigilantism or sectarian reprisals. A Christian, Muslim, or traditional leader who prays on Sunday or Friday and on Monday tolerates vote-buying, contractor fraud, or the denial of basic services is not virtuous, they are complicit. Faith communities should be incubators for civic courage: places where moral conviction is channeled into civic projects, electoral integrity campaigns and social accountability.
Practical reform requires three simultaneous strands: INSTITUTIONAL REFORM, SOCIAL MOBILISATION and ETHICAL RENEWAL. Institutionally, Nigerians require robust public financial management, independent anti-corruption agencies with real teeth, reliable social safety nets, and a justice system that functions impartially. Social mobilisation requires sustained civic education, professionalized civil society and cross-cutting coalitions that put pressure on elites. Ethical renewal (the most intimate and hardest) calls for a cultural shift where excuses like “WE PRAYED ABOUT IT” are recognised for what they are: a way to avoid the costs of change. Scholarly and policy voices across Nigeria and the world have shown that poverty, insecurity and poor governance are solvable when there is political will, coherent policy and an organised public that refuses complacency.
Finally, let us be blunt: God does not answer for our laziness. Many clergy and faith teachers affirm that prayer is strengthened, not replaced, by action. Prayer without effort is not piety; it is a convenience that comforts those unwilling to risk for the common good. We cannot pray our way out of BROKEN SYSTEMS if we will not also build the ladders of reform, accountability and civic solidarity that allow others to climb. The test of our faith will not be how fervently we pray when the lights go out; the test will be whether we volunteer at the nearest clinic, stand up for a neighbour who was cheated by a contractor, attend a town-hall meeting, vote with conscience, or help a displaced family replant their crops.
Nigeria’s future will be forged by citizens who combine prayer with persistence, lament with labor and devotion with duty. If we continue to outsource our responsibilities to the heavens while allowing our public institutions to wither, we will deserve whatever fate befalls us. But if we recover the courage to act (to ORGANIZE, DEMAND, REFORM and SERVE) then our prayers will be accompanied by the kind of work that makes blessings plausible. As Wole Soyinka and a long lineage of Nigerian thinkers insist: silence in the face of tyranny is death. Let us stop dying on our knees and start living in the daring posture of responsible citizenship.
Banwo Questions Omokri’s Conduct After Appointment As Ambassador
Political commentator and founder of the Naija Lives Matter Organisation (NLM), Dr. Ope Banwo, has raised concerns about the conduct expected of diplomats following the appointment of Reno Omokri as Nigeria’s ambassador to Mexico.
In an article published on his website, www.mayoroffadeyi.com, Banwo argued that individuals appointed to represent Nigeria abroad are expected to maintain a level of neutrality and decorum that reflects the country’s diplomatic traditions.
The article titled “The Strange Case of Reno Omokri,” questions whether the tone of public political engagement associated with Omokri’s social media presence aligns with the expectations of diplomatic service.
Omokri, a former presidential aide who has built a strong online following through commentary on Nigerian politics and governance, was recently appointed as Nigeria’s envoy to Mexico.
According to Banwo’s article, the role of an ambassador requires a transition from partisan political commentary to broader national representation.
“An ambassador represents the entire nation and not a political party,” Banwo wrote, noting that diplomats are traditionally expected to avoid public political confrontations that could affect international perceptions of their countries.
He contrasted the roles of political campaigners and diplomats, arguing that the two require different communication styles and responsibilities.
“Politics is combative while diplomacy is measured,” Banwo stated in the article, emphasizing that ambassadors typically engage in dialogue, negotiation and relationship-building rather than domestic political disputes.
Banwo also pointed to the historical composition of Nigeria’s diplomatic corps, which has largely included career diplomats trained in international relations and protocol.
According to him, such professionals are accustomed to maintaining restraint in public communication because their statements can carry official implications.
The article also referenced the biblical book of Ecclesiastes to illustrate the author’s broader reflections on leadership and public office.
Banwo noted that the appointment of political figures to diplomatic positions is not unusual globally but stressed that such appointments usually come with expectations of behavioural adjustments.
He urged Nigerian public officials who hold diplomatic positions to prioritise the country’s international image and approach public commentary with caution.
“Nigeria deserves ambassadors who elevate the country’s image,” he wrote.
How OPay Is Turning Product Architecture Into a Customer Service Advantage
In high-volume fintech markets like Nigeria, customer service can no longer sit at the end of the business process. When a platform serves tens of millions of users and processes millions of transactions every day, the old model of customer service, call centres, long queues, and manual complaint handling quickly becomes too slow, too costly, and challenging to scale.
The future of customer service in fintech is not just about answering calls faster. It is about preventing problems before they happen. This is where product design, technology, and risk systems begin to play a bigger role. Instead of reacting to customer complaints, modern fintech platforms are now building customer protection and support directly into the app experience itself.
OPay is one of the platforms showing how this shift works in practice.
Over the past few years, OPay’s product development has followed a clear pattern. New features are not only designed to make payments easier, but also to reduce errors, prevent fraud, and lower the number of issues that customers need to complain about. In simple terms, many customer service problems are stopped before users even notice them.
One of the strongest examples of this approach is OPay’s real-time fraud and scam alerts. Traditionally, customers only contact support after money has already left their account. At that point, the damage is done, emotions are high, and recovery becomes more complex. OPay’s system works differently. When a transaction looks unusual, based on amount, timing, behaviour, or pattern, the system raises a warning before the transfer is completed. This gives users a chance to pause, review, and confirm. In many cases, this stops fraud before it happens.
For users, this feels like protection built into the app, not an emergency response after a loss. For the business, it means fewer fraud cases, fewer complaints, and less pressure on customer support teams. This proactive model aligns with global fintech best practices, which prioritise prevention over recovery.
Another important layer is step-up security for high-risk or high-value transactions. As users move more money and rely more heavily on digital wallets, security cannot be one-size-fits-all. Adding too many checks to every transaction creates frustration. Adding too few creates risk. OPay balances this by applying stronger security only when it is needed. For example, biometric verification and additional authentication steps are triggered in sensitive situations. This keeps everyday transactions smooth, while adding extra protection when the risk is higher. This approach builds trust quietly. Users may not always notice the security working in the background, but they feel the result: fewer unauthorised transfers and fewer urgent problems that require support intervention.
Beyond visible features, OPay also runs behaviour-based risk systems in the background. These systems monitor patterns such as sudden device changes, unusual login behaviour, or transaction activity that does not match a user’s normal habits. When something looks off, the system responds automatically. Most users never see these checks. But their impact shows up in fewer failed transactions, fewer reversals, and fewer cases where customers need to chase resolutions. As a result, customer service interactions shift away from crisis handling toward simple guidance and assistance.
Together, these layers form what can be called an invisible customer service system. Many issues are intercepted early, long before they become formal complaints. User sentiment on social media provides real-world signals of how this system is being experienced. On X (formerly Twitter), some users have publicly shared their experiences with OPay’s responsiveness and reliability.
One user, @ifedayo_johnson, wrote, “Opay has refunded it almost immediately. Before I even made this tweet but I didn’t notice. logged it as transfer made in error on the Opay app and they acted almost immediately. Commendable. Thank you @OPay_NG. I’m very impressed with this!”
Another user, @EgbonAduugbo, shared “The reason I love opay so much is that you hardly ever have to worry, wait or call their customer service for anything cuz everything just works!”
While social media comments are not formal performance metrics, they matter. They reflect how real users feel when systems work smoothly and issues are resolved quickly, often without friction. This product-led customer service model becomes even more important when viewed in the context of OPay’s scale. At this scale, even minor improvements in fraud prevention or transaction success rates can prevent thousands of potential complaints every day. In this context, customer service is no longer driven mainly by headcount. It is driven by engineering choices, risk models, and system design.
OPay’s journey suggests what the future of fintech in Africa may look like. The next generation of leaders will not only be those with the most users, but those whose systems are designed to protect users, resolve issues quickly, and reduce friction at scale.
society
Phillips Esther Omolara : Answering The Call To Worship And Transforming Lives Through Gospel Music
Phillips Esther Omolara : Answering The Call To Worship And Transforming Lives Through Gospel Music
Introduction : Phillips Esther Omolara (Apple Of God’s Eye) is an Inspirational and passionate Nigerian gospel music minister, singer, and songwriter dedicated to spreading the message of Christ through her songs.
Background : I was born and brought up in Lagos State. I am a devoted gospel minister and a worship leader who began her musical journey in the children choir later graduated to adult church choir at a young age, leading praises and also a vocalist in the choir.
Early Life : I was born on April 8th 1990 in Lagos, Phillips Esther Omolara is a native of Oyo state in Ogbomosho.
Family : Got married to Phillips Oluwatomisin Omobolaji from Ogun State and our union was blessed with children.
Education : I went to Duro-oyedoyin nursery and primary school Ijeshatedo, Lagos, where I laid the foundation for my academic pursuits. For my secondary education, I attended Sanya Grammer school in Ijeshatedo, Lagos.
During my high school years, I was already deeply involved in church activities. After completing my secondary education, Phillips Esther pursed higher education at Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH).
Musical Style : Known for [e.g., Inspirational songs, Contemporary Worship, Highlife, Reggae, Traditional Yoruba], and my music blends spiritual depth with creative musicality.
INSPIRATIONS AND INFLUENCES : I have no specific role model in the gospel music industry. However, I have expressed my love for songs from several Veteran gospel artists who have influenced my musical journey.
Some of the gospel artists whose music i admires include:
* Mama Bola Are
* Tope Alabi
* Omije Ojumi
* Baba Ara
* Bulky Beks
Mission : My ministry focuses on leading people to the presence of God and creating an atmosphere for miracles.
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