Unfortunately, that's one of the most basic realities of life in Nigeria. When people read reports of ritual killings, they don't go "Grrrrrrrrrrr!!! Who does that in this 21st century!?" Rather they feel sympathetic for the victim. The practice is ontologically normal and so they just prayed that they and theirs won't ever be a victim. Mind you, if they caught one of these ritualists, chances are high they'll lynch him to death as has happened many times.
You get the scale of the rot when you consider that high ranking politicians, spiritual figureheads and law enforcement officers are sometimes perpetrators and collaborators. People generally condemn the act but never question the underlying beliefs that sprout it.
When I was in high school the students were assigned to read a number of fictional short stories by unknown authors. One was entitled "Because of Your Eyes" after a popular song at the time. It was about a man who collected special human body parts as his job. He went to a small town (the town next to the town where I lived, actually). He entered a flower shop and found what he searched for in the saleswoman. He flirted with her, made her give him her address, although she was married. In the evening the man drove to that address and killed her husband. Then he told the woman that it would be quick and he extracted her eyes. Later the man went on a new mission (incidentally, toward the town where I lived).
I'm afraid of almost everything, including supernatural stuff I don't believe in. But this story was so ridiculous that not even I was particularly shaken. And now you are writing about a society where such people not only exist, but are fairly common. I'm trying to grasp how living in such a society could be, but I'm probably not particularly successful.
This is shocking. I have read about it before, but it is still shocking.
"Nigerians need to know that the money ritual narrative of a human head vomiting volumes of cash in the bedrooms of rich people is a myth and has no basis in common sense or in reality", the article in The Nation says.
Do people believe THAT?
It would be interesting to hear more about your sister's story, if she is willing to share it.
Absolutely, Tove K. Not all but majority do. I think the epistemic sensibility of an average black African is strongly calibrated towards the supernatural view. It's one reason we are so responsive to the religion market. Every supernatural product receives wide purchase in Nigeria while the opposite is true for natural products (science and logic).
I have a very close female friend who keeps telling me that love potions are real. She believes that you could cast a spell on a man that will make him live you like a dog loves its owner. I keep daring her to please try it on me. But she just looks at me with pity and shakes her head compassionately.
It's the same metaphysical idea behind another adjacent phenomenon known as Yahoo Plus. "Yahoo Yahoo" is the local term for Internet fraudster of all stripes. Buy Yahoo Plus goes a step further by adding ritualistic elements that often involves human body parts. The belief is that it makes their hustle even more potent.
Another question: You wrote about Nollywood movies. I have always wanted to watch a Nollywood movie. Is there any such movie you could recommend to a foreigner who wants to learn as much as possible about Nollywood movies? Unfortunately I'm extremely sensitive to graphic violence so I need to ask for a movie without graphic violence of where the graphic violence can be skipped easily, also if that is not the most representative kind of movie.
Unfortunately, that's one of the most basic realities of life in Nigeria. When people read reports of ritual killings, they don't go "Grrrrrrrrrrr!!! Who does that in this 21st century!?" Rather they feel sympathetic for the victim. The practice is ontologically normal and so they just prayed that they and theirs won't ever be a victim. Mind you, if they caught one of these ritualists, chances are high they'll lynch him to death as has happened many times.
You get the scale of the rot when you consider that high ranking politicians, spiritual figureheads and law enforcement officers are sometimes perpetrators and collaborators. People generally condemn the act but never question the underlying beliefs that sprout it.
When I was in high school the students were assigned to read a number of fictional short stories by unknown authors. One was entitled "Because of Your Eyes" after a popular song at the time. It was about a man who collected special human body parts as his job. He went to a small town (the town next to the town where I lived, actually). He entered a flower shop and found what he searched for in the saleswoman. He flirted with her, made her give him her address, although she was married. In the evening the man drove to that address and killed her husband. Then he told the woman that it would be quick and he extracted her eyes. Later the man went on a new mission (incidentally, toward the town where I lived).
I'm afraid of almost everything, including supernatural stuff I don't believe in. But this story was so ridiculous that not even I was particularly shaken. And now you are writing about a society where such people not only exist, but are fairly common. I'm trying to grasp how living in such a society could be, but I'm probably not particularly successful.
This is shocking. I have read about it before, but it is still shocking.
"Nigerians need to know that the money ritual narrative of a human head vomiting volumes of cash in the bedrooms of rich people is a myth and has no basis in common sense or in reality", the article in The Nation says.
Do people believe THAT?
It would be interesting to hear more about your sister's story, if she is willing to share it.
Absolutely, Tove K. Not all but majority do. I think the epistemic sensibility of an average black African is strongly calibrated towards the supernatural view. It's one reason we are so responsive to the religion market. Every supernatural product receives wide purchase in Nigeria while the opposite is true for natural products (science and logic).
I have a very close female friend who keeps telling me that love potions are real. She believes that you could cast a spell on a man that will make him live you like a dog loves its owner. I keep daring her to please try it on me. But she just looks at me with pity and shakes her head compassionately.
It's the same metaphysical idea behind another adjacent phenomenon known as Yahoo Plus. "Yahoo Yahoo" is the local term for Internet fraudster of all stripes. Buy Yahoo Plus goes a step further by adding ritualistic elements that often involves human body parts. The belief is that it makes their hustle even more potent.
Another question: You wrote about Nollywood movies. I have always wanted to watch a Nollywood movie. Is there any such movie you could recommend to a foreigner who wants to learn as much as possible about Nollywood movies? Unfortunately I'm extremely sensitive to graphic violence so I need to ask for a movie without graphic violence of where the graphic violence can be skipped easily, also if that is not the most representative kind of movie.