What if Gov. Udom had been killed?

My heart goes out to the families and friends of those who lost their lives yesterday in the collapsed church in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. May the souls of the departed Rest In Peace.

That said, I'm now wondering what would have happened had the governor of Akwa Ibom State been killed in the disaster. I can imagine the uproar that would have followed the incident and the theories including those with political undertones which would have been propounded. Of course, Udom's political opponents would have been in hot water, to say the very least.

Thank God Mr. Udom wasn't killed. I truly thank God for his life, not because his life more precious than those who were wasted yesterday but because he is a living witness. As a witness and survivor, perhaps, he'd be more persuaded to honestly investigate the incident and bring whoever was culpable to book-including the Bishop in whose church the unfortunate incident occurred. 

This incident reminds one easily of a similar if not more tragic incident at the Synagogue of All Nations a year ago or so. Rather than speak out vehemently against the apparently poor safety conditions of the building, politicians, including the President Goodluck Jonathan, known for his strong "sentimental" (read political) attachment to churches even if he wasn't a Christian, rushed in for photo-opps with Prophet T. B. Joshua! Till date nothing has really happened beyond incessant court adjournments that will ultimately culminate in the abandonment of the case.

When will our people learn? When will our leaders learn? When will people realize that religion is politics and business rolled into one? As the opium of the people, religion is what can drive hundreds if not thousands including a sitting or standing governor and his entire cabinet under an uncompleted building to witness the ordination of a self-proclaimed bishop. It's what drives people including foreigners to check into an uncompleted hostel to lose their lives. It's the same opium that drives Islamic militants into the vain pursuit of false martyrdom. When will human beings begin to use their God-given mental faculties otherwise known as common sense to know that the love of God and fellow humans is the greatest religion ever?

The news of the Uyo church building is trending globally thanks to CNN. Because it's happening simultaneously as the bomb blasts in Adamawa, Turkey and Somalia and truck explosion in Kenya, it will soon be drowned out of reckoning and life will continue as usual. There will be a memorial service held, if care is not taken, at the same uncompleted building, and the governor, being an adherent, will be reached and nothing will happen. 

This is the reality of an unserious people. Shameful. Sad.