We Can’t Pray Nigeria’s Problems Away – Mary Njoku

Nollywood actress and filmmaker, Mary Njoku, has written to African Christians following the crisis in the country. She recently had her say via a post on her Instagram, and fans have been reacting.

Stressing that physical problems require physical solutions, Njoku insisted that even though prayer is good for every human being, issues like poverty and insecurity require deliberate action, accountability and hard work.

Emphasizing that food doesn’t appear on a plate through prayer alone, Mary added that the eater still has to plant, harvest, transport and prepare it.

Her words, “Physical problems require physical solutions. Spiritual problems require spiritual solutions.

You cannot pray food onto your plate. Someone has to plant it, harvest it, transport it, cook it, or provide the means for you to get it yourself. Even in the bible, provision often came through people, work, and practical action.

Good roads, quality healthcare, education, security, and economic growth will not appear simply because we pray about them. Prayer can guide us, strengthen us, and give us wisdom, but physical problems must also be addressed with physical action, planning, accountability, and hard work.

Dear African Christians, as we continue to pray, let us not confuse prayer with action. You cannot bind and cast away bad roads. You cannot rebuke a failing healthcare system into working. You cannot pray away the bandits who are terrorising our lives.

Faith and action are not enemies. They work together.”

WOW.

Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.

The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.

Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.

Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.