Nigeria, Faith, Religiosity and The Case For Pessimism

No other country parades the best credentials in faith, religiosity and its fervency and the flowing happiness like Nigeria. It has rendered us running into our religious places of worship when we can extract more from our innate creativity and the answers from researching.

There is no argument that it has robbed us and made the population vulnerable to all sort of manipulations. It just frustrates our God-given abilities and talents to dominate our environment and make us less susceptible to nature’s surprises and human anomalies.

We think it is the best of time to be pessimistic. It is revealed that pessimistic temperament is linked to creativity, conscientious and perfectionism. Adam Perkins and Philip Corr of the University of Wales found that people of high intelligence that fret, who double-check obsessively, and generally go around in a state of high alarm expecting the worst, produce better results.

They pointed out examples in Businessweek of August 24& 31 that the reverend Abraham Lincoln and Sir Winston Churchhill both brought a sober, grimlet-eyed view to their respective missions, refusing to be carried away by irrational optimism as they search the shadows for the signs of their nations’ true states.

Is it not time that we looking beyond our faith-driven optimism to the gathering clouds? These experts have pointed out that optimism is short-sighted on the gathering clouds while mistakenly fixate on miracles and unearned rewards. Beyond our acclaimed religiosity and faith, is it not time for us to focus on something else for a while? As a nation are we on the right track? Are we prepared to play come 2020? Do we understand the import of our political class recklessness and a sheeplike citizenry? It is time to think. It is time to be pessimistic. False optimism they say engenders more frustration.