Map is not Territory: Religion, Myths, and Rituals

"What we study when we study religion is one mode of constructing worlds of meaning, worlds within which [human beings] find themselves and in which they choose to dwell. What we study is the passion and drama of man [and woman] discovering the truth of what it is to be human. History is the framework within whose perimeter those human expressions, activities and intentionalities that we call 'religious' occur. Religion is the quest, within the bounds of the human, historical condition, for the power to manipulate and negotiate one's 'situation' so as to have 'space' in which to meaningfully dwell. It is the power to relate ones domain to the plurality of environmental and social spheres in such a way as to guarantee the conviction that ones existence 'matters'. Religion is a distinctive mode of human creativity, a creativity which both discovers limits and creates limits for humane existence. What we study when we study religion is the variety of attempts to map, construct and inhabit such positions of power through the use of myths, rituals and experiences of transformation."

Jonathan Z. Smith, 1978: 290 - 291

Map is not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions

This is Lagos: Tales From Daily Bus Ride II

(By Adesegun Damazio) - Tales from the early morning bus... 

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CONDUCTOR: Sand field, Law School, CMS! Sand field, Law School, CMS!!

DRIVER: **shouts at the conductor** Weyrey awon LASTMA wà leyin wà o, instead ko watch, o n pe ero weyrey (Mad man! LASTMA officers are behind us o. Instead of you to "watch", you're calling mad passengers)

CONDUCTOR: Weyrey lawon people yen sha. Your side! your side! (Those people are mad sha. Your side, your side - which colloquially means "zoom off, zoom off")

**Few minutes later**

CONDUCTOR: Yes sir, your money.

PASSENGER 1: Conductor I'm not comfortable here. Please tell them to shift.

CONDUCTOR: Abeg help am shift for there. Na four four.

PASSENGER 1: Please help me shift

Education in Africa: When "A" Isn't for "Apple"

Ted Talk

When Nigerian Christians Speak for God

Ask The Winlows

History of Ideas - Religion

The School of Life

Of Shyness and Beating its Sociocultural Causes

The School of Life

The World's Not a Level Playing Field

(By Nkechi Bianze) – THE WORLD IS NOT A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD 

She lost her parents before the age of 12, so she went to live with an aunty who although turned her into an unpaid house-girl, but was at least nice enough to send her to a nearby public secondary school. She finished secondary school with a good WAEC result.

At 18, she ran away from home, after her auntie’s husband tried to rape her.

Cici slept in church buildings for some days till a member of the church took pity on her, and decided to employ her as an office cleaner and office messenger. She also gave her free accommodation.

At 19, and just about a year into her new job, the sister of the entrepreneur who she worked for as a cleaner/messenger wanted a nanny from Nigeria. She couldn’t afford to pay the professional nannies in the UK, so she opted for an “imported” one from Nigeria.

The lady was going back to school for an intensive two-year program, so she needed someone to look after her three children while she combined full-time education and full-time work.

Nigerian Marriages and Trauma of Domestic Violence

(By Wana Udobang) – ‘We are brought up to think suffering this violence is OK’: domestic abuse in Nigeria

Dr Perpetua Mbanefo was just getting ready to drive to her new internship in Lagos when her husband suddenly got upset, seizing her car keys and medical licence. “He said I am becoming too free. Then I asked him for my things back and he got very upset, dragged me and threatened to stab me with a broken bottle.”

Her voice shakes as she talks. The next morning, again as she was preparing for work, he stopped her from leaving the house. “He said I am not going anywhere, [that] he owns me. He started calling me names, like ashewo [slut], and said that I am sleeping with people in my workplace. I didn’t pay attention to that because none of it was true. He has told me that if he decides to lock me up, nobody is going to come and ask because it is a family issue.” 

When he threatened her with an electric iron, Mbanefo climbed into the bed where he couldn’t reach her, but still got a blow to her head that meant she needed to go to hospital. She told the doctor how she’d got the wound. He shrugged, treated her and sent her home again.