"Die by Fire": A Mentality of Nigerian Christians

(By Adesegun Damazio) - Die by fire. 

No, no one has to die by anything, not especially when death is invoked through a religion that promotes peace.

Save for a few times when I've had to attend other churches either out of compulsion or eventful engagements, I've been a Catholic all my life and owe my religious views to the teachings I've imbibed from Catholicism.

This belief, is one which triggers boredom when I come across people who pray for an unhealthily long period of time. As our faces are different, so are our needs. But on closer inspection, it's quite easy to tell that these prolonged prayers are often a repetition of litanies, with only the wordings changing. If I had my way, the Nigerian version of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal will be reformed to a point where members begin to pray more peacefully.

This belief, is one which triggers discomfort when I hear people pray death and destruction over people they consider "enemies". But then, have you ever bothered to ask why you alone might have so many enemies to start with? Could it be because you're one heck of a troublemaker yourself who can't help but offend "them" or do these "enemies" just pick on easygoing people because they can?

Of Cultures, Taboos, and Chief Priests

My father always told me that "a deity is as benevolent or fiendish as its chief priest or priestess." Recently, I was re-reading Mary Douglas's seminal work, Purity and Danger, and her analysis of how dominant sections of a society determine its taboo system reminded me of my father's wisdom. Douglas writes: "The study of taboo impinges inevitably upon philosophy of belief. The taboo-maintained rules will be as repressive as the leading members of the society want them to be. If the makers of opinion want to prevent freemen from marrying slaves, or want to maintain a complex chain of inter-generational dynastic marriages, or they want to extort crushing levies -- whether for the maintenance of the clergy or for the lavish ceremonials of royalty -- the taboo system that supports their wishes will endure. Criticisms will be suppressed, whole areas of life become unspeakable and, in consequence, unthinkable. But when the controllers of opinion want a different way of life, the taboos will lose credibility and their selected view of the universe will be revised." The mindset and worldview of these "mouthpieces" of the gods, with the support of secular powers within the community, ultimately dictates the social tone of the community's sense of morality.

Mary Douglas, 1966 (2002): xiii

Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concept of Pollution and Taboo 

15 Facts on African Religions

Religion Distribution in Africa

(By Jacob K. Olupona) - African religions cover a diverse landscape of ethnic groups, languages, African Religions: A Very Short Introduction shares an interesting list of 15 facts on African religions.
cultures, and worldviews. Here, Jacob K. Olupona, author of 

1. African traditional religion refers to the indigenous or autochthonous religions of the African people. It deals with their cosmology, ritual practices, symbols, arts, society, and so on. Because religion is a way of life, it relates to culture and society as they affect the worldview of the African people.

2. Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age, modernity, and technological advances.

3. Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. They are less concerned with doctrines and much more so with rituals, ceremonies, and lived practices.

The Symbolism of the Goddess

(By Starhawk) - "The symbolism of the Goddess is not a parallel structure to the symbolism of God the Father. The Goddess does not rule the world; she is the world. Manifest in each of us, She can be known internally by every individual, in all her magnificent diversity. ...

The importance of the Goddess symbol for women cannot be overstressed. The Image of the Goddess inspires women to see ourselves as divine, our bodies as sacred, the changing phases of our lives as holy, our aggression as healthy, our anger as purifying, and our power to nurture and create, but also to limit and destroy when necessary, as the very force that sustains all life. Through the goddess, we can discover our strength, enlighten our minds, own our bodies, and celebrate our emotions. We can move beyond narrow, constricting roles and become whole.

The Goddess is also important for men. The oppression of men in Father God-ruled patriarchy is perhaps less obvious but no less tragic than that of women. Men are encouraged to identify with a model no human being can successfully emulate: to be minirulers of narrow universes. They are internally split, into a 'spiritual' self that is supposed to conquer their baser animal and emotional natures. They are at war with themselves: in the West, to 'conquer' sin; in the East, to 'conquer' desire and ego. Few escape from these wars undamaged.

My Father's House by Reggie Ugwu

(By Reggie Ugwu)

After my brother dies and my father was partially paralyzed, my family traveled 7,000 miles in search of an old home, a new house, and the things we'd lost on the road in between.

I remember feeling grateful that we never said “Merry Christmas.” We didn’t say it on Christmas morning when we awoke in Virginia, during a layover at the world’s most desolate Hampton Inn & Suites, and took long showers and poured too much batter into the waffle machine. Or at Washington Dulles International Airport, 1,400 miles from our cul-de-sac in Houston, where, at 8 a.m., bright, deserted corridors seemed to me pleasantly indifferent to the calendar. Near midnight on Christmas Eve, we had wished for a shuttle in lieu of a sleigh, making our plea with a dead-eyed driver who we’d been told could take us to the Hampton Inn. His broad white vessel didn’t have a ramp for Dad’s electric wheelchair — the one that chirped like a repair droid (meep murp) whenever you turned it on — and was too far above the ground for us to maneuver him out of it and into a seat. The driver suggested that my sister Adaeze and I ride the shuttle with our bags while Mom and Dad follow in a taxi. But Mom threw me a look that even I understood meant “I don’t want to be alone,” and so Adaeze rode with the bags while the three of us stayed behind, waiting by the curb at passenger pickup as the cool black night ticked into morning.

Of Pope Francis and Catholic Compassion

(CNN—Jill Filipovic) – Is Catholicism about faith and compassion, or rigid doctrine and exclusion? According to a group of conservative Catholics who just accused Pope Francis of spreading heresy, it's the latter.

Sixty-two (somewhat marginal) Catholic scholars and clergy have signed a letter that disputes Francis' signaling of his willingness to allow divorced and remarried people to receive communion. This, they say, is immoral and heretical, a sign of Francis "misleading the flock." Far better, in this retrograde reading of doctrine, to ostracize and shame the remarried as "adulterers" and the divorced as sinful failures. 

Really?

I've seen how this "old way" played out in my own family, and it puts Pope Francis' more reform-minded church in useful perspective. My grandparents were devout Catholics, married young, and had five children; my grandfather also beat my grandmother. She eventually left -- a painful and terrifying decision for a woman with only a high school degree in 1950s America. She supported the five kids by working multiple low-wage jobs at once. He did his damnedest to skirt financial responsibility, and she struggled her entire life.

"When Women Gather..." - A Movie Review

(By Tony Kan) – “When Women Gather, There Is War!” – A Review of The Women 

 Every movie has an emotional core, its beating heart.

In The Women, Blessing Egbe’s latest movie which opened in cinemas yesterday, the core lies in a statement mouthed by Teni (Omoni Oboli) who tells her long-suffering husband: “Where two or three women are gathered, there is a silent war.”

Cold, hot or silent, wars lead to casualties and there are casualties aplenty in The Women.

The premise of The Women is not absolutely original and neither does it pretend to re-invent the wheel. What Blessing Egbe, who gave us Lekki Wives, has done is to present us with a story (sprinkled with her inventive touch) that is real-to-life, thought provoking and funny as hell.

Consider this killer exchange between Chubby and Omo.

Chubby: Does your husband know you are here?

Omo: No. If he finds out he will kill me

Chubby: So why are you here then? You want to die?

Nigerians, Nigerian Pastors, and Tithing

When I Travel in Nigerian Commercial Buses

(By Nkechi Bianze) – Whenever I'm in Nigeria and I'm traveling a long distance on public transport, one of my ultimate priorities is MY COMFORT. I sometimes go as far as paying for two seats, one for myself and the other seat for MY HANDBAG.

I once paid for THREE seats on "God is Good motors", traveling from Benin to Lagos. One seat for me, one for my box and the other for my handbag.

I was traveling one day from Asaba to Abuja, I paid for two seats. I had a small box (handbag size) and my handbag. I kept my small box and handbag on one, and sat on the other. Then less than 30minutes into the journey, this woman with three children, all over the age of three, asked me if I could carry my box and handbag so that one of her children would seat there, because they wanted to sleep through the journey.

Ozubulu Church Massacre & Celebration of Wealth

(By Roz Ben-Okagbue) - Ozubulu...death of the innocent 

Yesterday gunmen stormed into a Catholic church in Ozubulu and gunned down members of the congregation who were attending Sunday mass. As the drama unfolded and social media was agog with gory pictures, the rumour mills started grinding and the blame was immediately directed at all sorts of terrorist groups. As the day progressed, however, the truth filtered through and it was revealed that the source of this massacre was an enemy within otherwise known as Greed.

It is said that innocent people lost their lives in the incident but let us ask ourselves, is anyone really innocent in this? Can any of us claim to be innocent? Are we really surprised that this incident occurred? Have we not been courting this enemy for several years now in Igboland? Is it something that started today?

According to reports corroborated by the governor of Anambra state, the incident was the outcome of a drugs war between two drug barons from Ozubulu who were fighting over a debt arising from a drugs deal. Having gone to the house of one of the barons known as “Bishop” and not finding him home, the gunmen proceeded to the church to seek him out and kill him. They marched into the church, saw his father and opened fire killing everyone who was in the way. What gave them the impetus to march into the church premises with their guns and open fire on ‘holy grounds’, committing an act that is a total abomination? They clearly did not recognize the holiness of the premises after all they were aware that the church was built from the proceeds of crime and drug sales. As far as they were concerned, they were home!

Of End Times and Conspiracy Theories

(By Immanuel James Ibe-Anyanwu) - First time I encountered jaw-dropping conspiracy theory was during the much-touted news of ECOWAS working to soon introduce a regional currency, the Eco. 

"It's what the Bible warned concerning the End-times. That the devil will rule the world with a single currency. Look at Euro in the Eurozone. It's all coming together," said a banker-friend who had an MBA. I was still seeking university admission. He had been drawn to what he called my "superb intellect", seeing the kind of books he often saw me reading. I was then obsessed with Karl Marx, Hegel, and Plato.

"Don't let your little intellect deceive you into arguing about spiritual matters." That was his retort to my argument that the proposed Eco had nothing to do with some unitary satanic government. My intellect had dwindled.

One thing though: the Satan guy isn't perhaps as clever as we thought, seeing as he let West-African leaders kill that Eco dream. He is now busy attending village witchcraft meetings rather than strengthening a shambolic Eurozone crucial to his future government.

Attempted Rape is as Vile as Rape--No Excuses

(Eketi Edima Ette) - RAPE IS INEXCUSABLE! ATTEMPTED RAPE IS AS VILE AS RAPE!!! 

Last night and through to the early hours of today, I read the rape stories on Olu Bunmi's wall. 
I thought I was strong, that I wouldn't cry or be shaken, because I've heard many of these stories before. My inbox is littered with them. But I did cry. I wasn't surprised when those sad stories intruded in my dreams. 

They brought to mind my second near-rape experience, and the terror that possessed me for weeks after. It's one I can never forget. 

*
His name was Jude* and I was 23 years old. 
He was a jovial colleague and we got along quite fabulously. He'd always referred to me as his paddy. So, I was surprised when the day he asked me to come pay him a visit, the alarm bells in my head clanged furiously. Over the years, I have learned to trust my intuition implicitly. That's why I was genuinely troubled by such a strong, negative reaction.

Try as I might, I couldn't brush aside the feeling of unease. I told him, "No, I can't come to your place."

Of Rape Stories and Social Media

(By Joy Isi Bewaji) - RAPE STORIES: Three things… 

What happens when victims of rape share stories on social media?

1)

These stories excite rapists. No rapist ever “repented” by reason of a victim’s confession. A victim’s story, with details of the event, stirs the rot inside a rapist. It’s a thrill. It’s a moment to relive what he has done (to another woman, not necessarily the writer).

It achieves very little on that account.

Rapists do not change. It is why the only place they belong is in prison. If you watch C&I, you’ll realize many rapists return to jail after their first sentence. They spend 14 years in jail, are released… and in less than 7 months, they are back in jail for another, say, 21 years. They are repeat offenders, even with rehabilitation. Especially those disgusting things called Paedophiles

In Nigeria, there is no structure for professional counseling and rehabilitation, except for religious homes and their keepers who brag about curing HIV and removing the demon of Rape from offenders. Our situation is quite dire.

An Epidemic of Rape

(By Olusegun Adeniyi) - There is hardly any member of my generation who did not watch the controversial rape revenge movie of the eighties titled, ‘I Spit on Your Grave’. The first time I watched the movie, which in 2010 made TIME magazine’s list of ten ‘most ridiculously violent’ movies of all times, I shed tears. But I also enjoyed the victim’s revenge mission, even with all the brutality, because I believed that the men who so cruelly raped the female character deserved their gruesome end. Unfortunately, after exacting her revenge by violently eliminating the four men she believed raped her, the movie ended on a tragic note with the woman learning from the police that the real culprits had been caught!

I could not but remember that movie last weekend after watching a WhatsApp video clip of a man whose hands and legs were tied and suspended on a wood with a big stone strapped to his back dangling on a rope in a most gruesome act of torture one can ever imagine. I hope the man is guilty of rape as charged by a mob before the jungle justice was meted to him. That is because we live in a society where innocent people can easily be framed, as we saw with the four innocent University of Port Harcourt undergraduates whose murderers were sentenced to death on Monday.

Of Herbal Healing, Spirituality and Public Health

(By Rueben Abati) - The other week, July 20 to be precise, I was the reviewer of an important book on herbal healing. Herbal healing is often dismissed as a form of sorcery and in these days of obsession with Pentecostalism, many Africans still consider traditional medicine a taboo. To disprove this, a Catholic monk, Fr. Anselm Adodo began an experiment in 1996 when he set up in Ewu, Edo state, an institution titled Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories “to serve as a centre for genuine African holistic healing that blends the physical and spiritual aspects of the human person, and to serve also, as a research centre for scientific identification, conservation, utilization and development of African medicinal plants.”

Pax Herbal since then has produced over 32 products, listed and certified by NAFDAC. These include Pax Beauty Cream, Bitter Tea (an antibiotic), Diatea (for the treatment of diabetes, cholesterol, and hypertension), blood tonic, BK caps, cough syrup, herbal soap, potensine capsules, logotine caps, kilodine, pain cream, skin ointment, and Pax herbal colour therapies. Many of these products can be found and purchased at Catholic churches across the country.

Fr Anselm has been able to establish that traditional medicine is a viable business and that alternative medicine, properly modernized can indeed be a useful contribution from Africa to the world and a major source of constructive engagement.

Why I No Longer Use the Term "Game"

(By Chika Unigwe) - Why I no Longer Use the Term, ‘Game.’

Years ago, I was enjoying my bushmeat in an Australian restaurant in Belgium and said as much when my dinner companion gently reminded me that what I was eating was “game” and not bushmeat, and I had been invited out to “enjoy game.” Apparently, bushmeat is what you get in a small, ramshackle affair by the roadside in Nsukka, paired with palm wine and most often eaten by hand, not meat carefully paired with a Pinot Noir or a Shiraz in a restaurant where the silverware is so shiny and so smudge free you can use it to fix your makeup. 

This morning, I did a quick google search and found this:

“The term “bushmeat” refers to meat that comes from wild animals captured in developing regions of the world such as Africa. Bushmeat comes from a variety of wild animals, including bats, nonhuman primates (e.g., monkeys), cane rats (grasscutters), and duiker (antelope).”

“Game are wild animals and birds. Large native game animals living in America include antelope, buffalo, bear, deer, elk, moose, reindeer, and wild boar. “

Fact 1: bushmeat and game come from wild animals.

Fact 2: Antelope is bushmeat when in Africa but game once it crosses the ocean. 

Question: Who does the naming? 

Of Rape and (Nigerian) Facebook Activism

(By Hymar Idibie David) - The Vex On The Go. 

We are talking about the rape issue, holding conversations, trying to consciously create a free-to-speak-up environment for victims. We are consciously trying to trend the issue into national consciousness because everyone knows social media is power. Of course it has always been a national issue, just that it is treated with hush hush and wrist-slap gloves. We didn't start talking about it today. We have always been talking about it. 

You are a decent human being. I know that. I can sense that in you. But because someone is a decent person doesn't mean they are not capable of now and then acts and utterances of just plain idiocy. 

Idiocy like calling our conversations and engagements on the rape issue noise. Social media noise. Facebook trending topic of the day(s).

I am sorry, but please clam the hell up.

Nigeria and the Sin of Poverty

(By Joy Isi Bewaji) - The only sin you commit in Nigeria is poverty.  

If this 70 year old woman was having consensual sex with a younger adult male in her three-bedroom apartment in ParkView estate, Ikoyi...

The hand of culture, religion or any idiotic rule made for homo-habilis will not be able to pass through tight security at the gates... how much more knock on her door and drag her out of her right to be pleasured.

Living amongst poverty and its attendant cousins allow for intrusion. When you are poor, your life is not yours. It belongs to the people who pray for you to find food. These people control your life and everything that happens to the holes in your body - what you eat (when you eventually find food made possible by their prayers), and what is inserted in your vagina.

The sin of poverty is the only crime in Nigeria. 

This is why Crime, placed side-by-side an unintelligent, unenlightened, ill-equipped Police force, seems to be an unending unquenchable and achievable alternative for many. What they are really fighting for is dignity. 

Parents Teach Your Daughters Dignity

(By Joy Isi Bewaji) 

Parents, teach your daughters dignity.

From wives fighting side-chicks to desperate young women dragging the hem of one bloke, to women giving up dreams and ambitions just to be with just about any man, to women dying in marriages; this sad and filthy objective of becoming a leech under the façade of culture; having children without income. This nonsense of a man telling a grown ass woman, sometimes highly educated, not to have a job, has to stop! The idea that a woman can sit and make no money under the pretext of motherhood and marriage is frightening to even consider, especially in a society where alimony is a pipe that holds no water.

We are still promoting the position of a housewife as an honourable thing. How can that be when all you have is determined by the disposition of another human – a man? How can being a housewife and NOT making money be a good thing when you can lose everything the minute a husband finds you less attractive, old, fat? How?

A man and his brother killed his wife because he had to be with another woman. Women are treated as disposable items because women will not stop being dependent on men and the silly patriarchal ideals of dependency/entitlement wrapped around religion, culture and society.

Mathematical Solution For Fear of Witchcraft

(By Joy Isi Bewaji) 

I have a mathematical solution to the trepidation of witchcraft propagated and promoted by religion.

So, the church across the street has a screaming pastor (like most others)…

“They say you will not get married. They say you will not have children. They say you will not buy a car. They don’t know your God.”

Every Sunday and Wednesday, it’s the same proliferation of fear and concern about a spirit world interested in stealing children, husbands and automobiles.

OK.

Let’s ignore the hundreds of birth that occur every day. Let’s also disregard over-population, and all the fucks that should not be bringing forth any form of being.

So you want a husband and children and a car; and your religion takes a large chunk of the time praying that you get them; disturbing my peace…

How about I draw up a solution so y’all can move on with your lives? Check this out:

African witchcraft doesn’t last for more than 10 years (Sometimes even less. But you are not a patient sufferer). So let’s imagine for 10 years you cannot get a husband, have kids and drive a car. But you can do other things while the devil and the old woman in the village hold down your womb.

Praise God By Using Your Damn Brain, Nigerians!

(By Joy Isi Bewaji) 

I think you all need to be angrier than you have been. I’m referring to those who have managed to lose heads over my post on religion. Your hair needs to catch fire too. Until then, I am still ranting.

I assume the kind of praise that will make God very happy could be something of these sorts:

The praise of Community Development and National Growth, which starts from the details of your lifestyle and your choices.

Praise God by ensuring your worship centres do not cause agonizing traffic. How do you reconcile road distress with a perfect God? How?

Praise God by being efficient employees at your place of work. Give more than is required. Ensure the company grows. Do not hold back your ideas for when you want to start your own business. Care greatly about where your salary comes from. If you don’t contribute to its growth, how do you justify praising a God of progress?

Praise God by NOT praising God when it is time to work. Let those hands you point to heaven come down and work. Work, damn it.

My Grouse With Religion

(By Joy Isi Bewaji)

I don’t know anything about Islam. I’m not sure I have had any conversation about the Quran. I don’t know Buddhism. African traditional religions are largely ignored. Nigerians engage traditionalists secretly, by the corner of their depravities. This transaction occurs only in whispers; and applied derogatorily in conversations.

But what I know is Christianity. I pray to the God who came down as Jesus to die on the cross. That is the religion I believe in… and that is the only religion I can authoritatively speak for or against. And I speak bigly. My mouth is big. My opinions are large. And people get so frustrated they bake cake to show their contempt. It is called influence. Thank you very much.
It is every writer’s joy to be read. But more importantly, it is every writer’s delight to cause a reaction. And as always, I have caused a massive reaction recently. It started with a Facebook rant about #HalleluyahChallenge and my thoughts about Nigeria, Religion and Under-development. And I stand with every word on my trending article – We have too many spiritual revolutions; what we need is a mental one.

If I Didn't Have Kids...

(By Joy Isi Bewaji) - If I didn’t have kids, I wouldn’t keep a job. 

I would travel the world, have a lover in every city I visit, stay for a year, maybe two… then move to another destination. I’ll make trifling sums enough to buy my food, pay for the space I occupy and keep an uninterrupted Clarins tradition. I’ll read many books. I will write many screenplays. I will criticize everything from religion to politics to the receptionist at my favourite hotel, which would be somewhere in Paris. I will eat good food. Flirt shamelessly and make magic from conversations. I will spend carelessly on all my little pleasures.

I realize I have no deep desire to be wealthy; I have only been pushed into the habit of money-making because children have to live well. I find that denying children of things leave me extremely tortured. I begin to break out in sweat. I am tormented by a child’s lack.

Why No One Can Pray Nigeria To Greatness

(By Joy Isi Bewaji) -

#HallelujahChallenge will succeed bigly in Nigeria. That’s a given. Not a miracle.

Religion is the bedrock of our confidences and convictions.

Reinhard Bonnke succeeded in the 90s with his exaggerated revivals in Nigeria.

Adeboye succeeds every first Friday of the month, leaving travelers along Ibadan-expressway pulling out their hair (the irony of that situation: a god worshiping mission that makes people swear and curse in god’s name for hours of traffic they have to suffer just so a few can practice a religion).

Christ Embassy succeeded on Television. No ministry is yet to beat the hours dedicated to Oyakhilome’s theatrics.

Religion succeeds in Nigeria.

If I start a church today, it will succeed. Calling or no calling.

Nigerian Christians and Unmeritted Favors

(By Joy Isi Bewaji) - We say this everyday...but we are not pastors. 

One small time "woke" pastor (not Adeyemi, of course) has used half my rants as sermon in his church. I get the feedback.

You pipu will give them tithes... but you will come and be talking shit on social media about my audacities. 

Apparently, I need to first wield "spiritual influence" in a third world society obsessed with religion before I can form any sensible words from my mouth.

Keep waiting for a man of god to tell you simple A-B-C about life. You'll find an entire family waiting on a pastor to show them the way to living averagely. 

The shame.

The fact that you don't know these things is, by itself, a disgrace. 

Please keep your kids at home tomorrow, Sunday, and get them to READ instead. 

With our profound spirituality, our country is dying for lack of knowledge still. And your religion is a big problem and accomplice to the sham/mess Nigeria has become.

Nollywood Romantic Movie Monochrome

(By Joy Isi Bewaji) - Nollywood Romantic movie... 

Man: Hey beautiful lady, why are you out here by 8pm? Where can I drop you?

Lady: I'm going to Mafoluku, sir. 

Man: Eish! That's far from my area. But hop in let me give you a ride.

Lady: Thank you, sir. God bless you (slightly bends her knees three times)

She enters. He drives off. 

Man: So what do you do for a living?

Lady: I'm looking for work, sir. You see, my mother is sick, sir. No money to train my younger brother, sir ('folds the edges of her dress continuously)

Man: Come to my office tomorrow. I think I can get you a good job at my company.

Lady: Your company?

Man: As the CEO of "Yakata and Bros", I can get you sorted. 

For The Nigeria Christian, Jesus Is An Alibi

(By Temidayo Ahanmisi) - In my society, Jesus is an alibi. All the family lowlife has to do is "embrace Christ" and he gets to usurp the social order.

Know this criminal dude who in a space of 3 months of slipping through the lax Nigerian judicial cracks on charges of rape, became a pastor. Says he "got the call".

He's shopping for money to set up his church. I literarily spat in his hand when he asked for a contribution.

He brags about becoming the chief cornerstone in his late polygamous father's compound.

Don't shake your heads yet. This rank Pentecostal tragedy is replicated in a million and one Nigerian homes.

Christ is the emerging crutch of all ne'er do wells in this country. 

Their Muslim counterparts are busy "kewu-ing" or growing a raggedy lice infested thatch on their chins in readiness for the . mental assault they will unleash on society as "Alfa's" and "Muslim scholars".

Just Before You Say Biafra

(By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo) - Just before you say Biafra, know and remember that the ideals of Nigeria have not been tried and found wanting. Instead, they have been found difficult and left untried.

Remember that Nigeria is a failed state that works for those who failed it. And these people who failed Nigeria can be found across every ethnic group in the country – and so are the casualties of this failed state.

Remember that Olusegun Obasanjo, who should have known better, failed to reform Nigeria structurally and permanently and as such set the stage for the failure of other leaders that followed.

Remember that the APC with its intellectual base in the South West again missed an opportunity to restructure Nigeria, so set the stage for many more wasted years of a nation in limbo.

Nollywood and Misrepresentation of Traditions

(By Immanuel James Ibe-Anyanwu)

There was that billboard of a certain West-African president who was dressed in an Igbo traditional attire. A loud caption gave meaning:"Igwe!" It was easy to locate the source of that cultural benefaction, credit rightfully placed at the feet of Nollywood, Nigeria's largest exporter of culture and values. Books and the social media can tell the Nigerian story, but none can boast the compelling, even hypnotic power of the movie.

Which is why we should worry about the competence of movie makers—their cultural intelligence and sense of sensational restraint. Their products speak to millions, most of whom are illiterate and poor, but powerful. Powerful in their sheer number, in their capacity to spread a social or religious poison. They are the very agencies often punctual at lynching scenes, consumers of wild superstitions on whom depends the fate of that fellow accused of manhood theft in the local market. 

Of Priesthood, Discipline, and Nigerian Youth

(By Immanuel James Ibe-Anyanwu) - Yet another young man is soon to become a priest. A beckoning masculinity, his looks are bested only by his brilliance. You joined the seminary as a teenager, I say to him—perhaps age has now brought clarity upon the enormity of this vow—do you sometimes fear you may regret? 

Not all all, he emphasizes. 

You mean you don't get...tantalized by...you know, sex, money...and other famous vanities of the human experience? 

Discipline is all you need, my brother. All you need to live just as happy as anyone else, comes the paraphrased response.

There was that lady I once saw in a friend's compound. Modest dressing, yet her beauty just couldn't keep itself in one place, helpless in its capacity for decent invitation. Seeing my lip-sucking smile betray interest in romantic, if not erotic pursuit, my friend cut in quickly: She be Sister o!

Wait, you mean this cuuute lady went to the convent by herself, with her own two legs? 

No, she carried her legs on her head and went.

I was to learn that, every year, there are actually more applications than there are spaces in both celibate vocations in the Catholic Church. They are 'oversubscribed', which means that while the world is wildly obsessed with sex, there are people lacking the relish for a more total existence.