31st January, 2022
By Ayo-Akano Hamid Ayokunmi
The most prevailing news has been the alarming rise in cultism and ritualisms among young ones, especially students, in the past few months. Ritualism is emerging as a major social problem in Nigeria.
Rituals have been in existence since time immemorial. Since humans invented beliefs and religions, rituals have been a major part of existence. The practices were employed in an attempt to appease an unknown higher being for protection and provision. Over time, ritualism has evolved into something more dangerous than how our ancestors practiced it.
We hear or read of youths killing one another because they were considered ritually impure. As a people, we have always believed in supernatural beings and forces that can influence the events in our lives. Rituals were a means of seeking favor from these supernatural beings, ensuring our protection, guarding against evil spirits, and even influencing their decisions on issues that affect our destiny.
Money rituals have always been part of human civilization, but it is disturbing that in Nigeria, where unemployment is high, youths would engage in things that can harm them.
So many people believe the money rituals are caused by the nation’s state, No! There are no reasonable justifications because there are some rules of thumb that every sane person should apply in society.
Nigeria’s population is about 200 million, one of the countries with the highest number of young people in Africa, with about 70 percent of its population being under 30 years old, which means that it is a country with a high youth population.
The high number of youths means that many youths are exposed to many social problems and challenges. These problems include unemployment and poverty. But why should a 17-year old that is expected to still live under their parents’ roof think of money rituals? It means the reason is far beyond unemployment.
Nollywood movies are being condemned for the promotion of money rituals among youths, which of course, I frown at. I don’t see it this way. As clueless as some Nollywood movies can be, they will never forget to show how any evil-doer finally regrets his/their action at the end.
There is no ritualist in our Nigerian movies that has ever had a happy ending. If they do not run mad, they will die a miserable death. Even if you are just a liar in Nollywood, the end will be brutal for you. Is that not a lesson enough for anybody not to go into it? So many things beyond Nollywood are possessing these young guys.
The notion that our movie industry encourages money rituals is not sane enough. It’s like saying movies encourage prostitution – one of the oldest professions. Movies’ scripts are reflections of society. And like my mother used to say, whenever we were arguing about movies, “They act what is happening in the real-life.”
Evil scenes in Nollywood are always a lesson to be learned. So many factors make these young boys do rituals, and Nollywood is the least and far from it.
Youths are being forced into the morass of bloodsucking rituals for some apparent reasons! Greed and unnecessary pressures from their peers, and also personal life choices.
Parenting, in my book, is also a weak submission. A father/mother that nurtured more than one child, in the same manner, should not be blamed if one of the children grew up to be a ritualist and the rest are virtuous and morally upright. If we can check the backgrounds of the kids involved in these rituals, they were brought up by well-respected parents in the society; they just grew up to soil the efforts of the parents.
Even though some parents are far from sensible, how can your child you send to school bring home a car and keep sending you money and feel okay about it? I’m not writing to support such parents.
A big reason is the peer pressure from their friends and associates, which tempts them into believing that there is something better they can acquire through these practices. This includes wealth, job promotion, entrance into good schools/colleges.
Have you thought about the schools? No, I’m not talking about the universities but the preliminary schools. The staffs are also a big cause of this menace.
Students come from heterogeneous categories. Therefore, to sustain or maintain uniqueness, school authorities must maintain a standard. When a rich girl is seen wearing nail polish, it may mar the psychology of a poor girl who cannot afford nail polish because the teachers are also fond of giving preferential treatments to the rich kids. If this is curbed, it can reduce the ritualism at the initial stage. After all, one of the great features of a learning centre is to maintain uniformity among all learners.
The religious leaders cause more to the trending ritualism than the parents. Suppose all church clerics fail to accept youths with no visible source of income but with luxuries into the church. A pastor worships young rich ones more than the broke ones for their reasons. Even if they are not ritualists, there are forms of inferiority complex that it sends to the young ones who do not receive the pastor’s good service.
Do not let us talk about the “Muslim” clerics. They are worse and have contributed directly to this. They are the ones the young ones patronize for this evil act.
It all boils down to the government. The Nigerian government gives enough space for immoralities to blossom. A simple government policy could reduce it. How about a public execution of whoever is found guilty of using fellow humans for rituals, no arraignment, once found guilty, straight public execution without delay. This will send a message to existing and coming ritualists to cease or face the same fate when caught.
The agency that deals with the orientation of young ones is practically dead. The orientation agency needs the orientation on how to run a governmental section. There should be public awareness for the youths about rituals and show them what might become if they fail to heed.
One can only sigh at the rate at which the country has turned into a very cold world in this part, and one can only be living in fright and fear of not being a victim of this menace someday.
Ayo-Akano Hamid Ayokunmi
Twitter: AkhamPapa
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