Aisha Yesufu, the outspoken Nigerian activist known for her relentless push for justice and accountability, addressed a crowded hall during a civic engagement seminar in Lagos.
Her words echoed through the room, each sentence landing like a stone in a still pond, disturbing the silence with undeniable truth.
“Bad governance isn’t just a political issue,” she began, her voice steady but intense. “It’s become a cornerstone for those who profit from people’s struggles, particularly some of our religious leaders. They need the chaos and despair that comes from poor leadership to continue selling what I call ‘cheap miracles.’”
The audience murmured in response, sensing the weight of her words. Aisha wasn’t attacking faith or true spirituality. She was addressing a darker side of society: those who exploit the vulnerable, promising quick fixes and miracles for problems rooted in a broken system.
“These so-called ‘miracles’ they sell aren’t miracles at all,” she continued, her gaze sweeping the room. “They’re shortcuts and empty promises meant to distract from the real issues. If people had jobs, education, and healthcare, if they lived in a country that met their basic needs, these leaders wouldn’t have an audience hungry for instant solutions. But bad governance keeps that desperation alive.”
Her words painted a stark picture of a society where poverty and poor governance are fertile ground for manipulation. She described the cycle: how economic instability and government negligence pushed people to search for hope, often finding it in the promises of those who claimed to have divine power. And for every prayer sold, for every “miracle” promised, the cycle continued.
“Imagine,” she urged, “if we put that same energy into demanding good governance and creating real change. Imagine if people felt empowered instead of dependent. We’d have leaders who were held accountable. We’d have institutions that worked. We wouldn’t need ‘cheap miracles’—because we’d be living our best lives.”
As the room erupted in applause, Aisha smiled, her message resonating deeply. She knew that breaking the cycle wouldn’t be easy. But she also knew that her words had planted seeds of awareness, urging people to look beyond promises and pray for a country that didn’t need miracles to survive.
