In ancient Greece, a bald-headed man had his bath and applied oil on his head one afternoon and left his home for a walk.He had not moved more than ten metres from his house when a very big tortoise fell on his unprotected head.He died instantly.Within seconds, the town was thrown into serious confusion.What was most confusing was that tortoises have no wings and therefore cannot fly.The elders of the Town had an emergency meeting.They decided to go and consult the oracle of Delphi to know which god to appease for the unprecedented disaster. A philosopher gave an answer to  the puzzle.

The philosopher told the elders that  they should  not go waste their time in Delphi that no god was annoyed that would require to be appeased.He said the carnivorous eagle was to blame. He told them that eagles like the meat of tortoise but because of the hard shell, they pick tortoise from the ground, fly high into the sky and leave the tortoise to crash on a rock.With the tortoise's shell shattered, the eagle could conveniently eat the flesh.The shining bald head of the dead man was mistaken for a rock by the eagle.

I try at times to compare the above story to the story contained in the GREAT PONDS by Elechi Amadi. Where, unknown to the communities in dispute over the ponds,the influenza  that claimed many lives in 1918 was responsible for the deaths in the communities rather than the oaths they took.

A few years ago in Benin City, a lunatic in the night climbed a high-tension NEPA pole apparently to commit suicide. He stayed till the early hours of the morning without touching any wire.Those who saw him first raised an alarm that a wizard that was returning from the witches’ coven was hanging on NEPA pole because certain forces had prevented him from getting home.It took the intervention of the T V stations in the Edo State capital to convince the people that the man was a mentally sick person who was actually residing in the neighbourhood.

In the 80s, the late professor Lambo as the Vice-President of WHO visited the University of Athens medical school with some of his colleagues.As they toured the departments, a Nigerian medical student asked the late professor what he would suggest he specialises on once he graduates. The kind and simple late professor told him "I would have suggested psychiatry because that is my field, but today’s Nigeria will require many cardiologists." Nigerians he said are now dying in large numbers from heart-related diseases. But beacause the average Nigerian is paranoid, they attribute those deaths to witch-craft and other customary-beliefs.

Some years ago, a popular artist of the NTA Benin programme-“HOTEL DE JORDAN” died in his sleep.Those suspected to have been responsible for his death were close relatives,co-artists and co-tenants.It was however a known facts that the artist was an unrepentant abuser of alcohol.Avery well known professor of law died in her sleep recently in Lagos.While the causeof death may be purely pathological, I am sure accusing fingers are pointed at certain direction.

The Edo State commissioner of Information was found dead in a hotel room in Benin City. He had died on Friday but the corpse was discovered on a Monday.From the time he was declared missing till the time he was found dead, the issue had raised a lot of political dusts.The PDP had accused AC of having kidnapped the commissioner and wanted him produced  within 48 hours or AC will face the ugly consequence.Taking into consideration that the Election Petitions Tribunal of Edo State had delivered judgement in favour of AC a week earlier and the late commissioner was very critical of the judgement, it was a foregone conclusion that he was murdered by the opposition party.

Because of the political nature of the case, the IG ordered a full investigation..The family of the late commissioner dismissed the result of the post-mortem as a cover-up because they believed someone murdered him.The younger brother of the late commissioner who was present during the IG’s press briefing told the IG that his brother had just returned from a country in Asia where he had gone for medical check-up and said he was not sure his late brother had any pathological problem.The IG told the brother that as an engineer he was not knowledgeable in medical issues. A month later,a chieftain of PDP in the State was found dead in a hotel room.This time around at Bins hotel along Ekewan Road in Benin City but almost under the same circumstance as the commissioner.

The reality of this thesis is that the eagle killed the ancient Greek, the influenza of 1918 killed those who died in Amadi’s fiction (THE GREAT PONDS), the man who climbed the high-tension NEPA pole was mentally sick and the late commissioner and the PDP chieftain in Edo State had a heart-related disease.

Robot  # 1 | 11.05.2008 22:25

In ancient Greece, a bald-headed man had his bath and applied oil on his head one afternoon and ...Read the full article.

aguabata  # 2 | 12.05.2008 17:17

We still live in a society that every 3 or 4 years there is this wave of fear about men's testicles being stolen, some have been lynched for allegedly stealing a man's testicle. If someone brushed past you unusually you quietly check if your testicles are still there.We are still socially evolving, one day we will get there, one day

Olamide  # 3 | 13.05.2008 02:39

Illiteracy is alluded as the cause of most of our superstitious beliefs but I am not convinced that it is illiteracy alone. Take a walk along the streets in our cities and check out the posters and banners of advertisements of the Pentecostal churches and you will understand where the superstition and paranoia are coming from. The advertisements promise 'victory' over 'enemies, Ogbanjes, Mammy Water' and promises to 'restore' the stolen glories' if you could just manage to attend the 'fire for fire' or 'fire for Naira and any other currency' crusades. It is easy for someone who graduated from the University four years ago and still unemployed to believe that it is 'witches and wizards' or jealous 'family members' the cause of his unemployment instead of the bad policies of the government or the fact that the person might actually not be employable or looking for a job he is not qualified to do (A graduate of Botany looking for employment in a bank for example) The more conservative churches actually tried and succeeded mostly in eradicating most of these superstitious beliefs n their adherents before the economy collapsed and lots of people were thrown into the labour market. Most of these people find succour in religion and have been thrown deeper into poverty by the criminal 'Pastors', 'Bishops' 'General Overseers' and 'Primates' who collects the small money they are able to make in forms of love offerings, multiplication offerings, convenant offerings, tithes etc. Until our religious leaders become more responsible, paranoia can never be eliminated. if you are in Nigeria, just try giving some candy to your neighbour's children and see the reactions of the parents even though your own child is eating the same candy. That is how paranoid we have become.

emenanjo  # 4 | 13.05.2008 05:52

Good piece and kudos! Going by your write-ups, you and Shoko Loko Bangoshe have, I presumed, either read literatue or English language in the university. And Olamide's comment on yours, was a profound one. I do not know whether our education is a curse or a blessing. Education is knowledge and knowledge is supposed to open "our eyes". We read to know and impart what we've learnt onto others who have not been privileged to go to school. Unfortunately, most of our educated ones have compromised their certificates and knowledge. However, what I do anytime I travel home, especially in my village is this: I simply embark on enlightenment campaign, visiting the elderly and teaching them first aid mechenisms. For instance, if one is bitten by a snake in the farm, what is the first step one is expected to take to save oneself? What should one do, if one sees someone having an epileptic attack, is fainting, suddenly collapses, having a heart attack, or a dog bite. I do this voluntarily even though I am supposed to be holidaying.We've reached the point in Nigeria where we have governments that have neither ears nor eyes or they have them but could neither hear nor see. They are only interested in the spoils of office and not the people. Kudos ones more and I look forward to reading you more!

Olamide  # 5 | 13.05.2008 14:30

Education is the key to eliminating the paranoia but religious extremism is even worse than illiteracy in Nigeria where someone who is educated and can think rationally become a dunce when it comes to religion. Some friends will not eat in your house if you are not attending their church because the 'Pastor' already told them that all non-members of that particular church belongs to 'Underwater spirit world' and are all destinied for 'hell'. I stopped giving my food and other things to my former neighbour because I discovered they were throwing them away. These were items I purchased at the Dubai Duty free on my way home and these are people that know my employers, where I work and my specialization. I am sure their 'Pastor' probably told them I brought them the gifts because I wanted to steal their 'destinies' or 'stars' even though I got the job years before i knew any of them. Enlightening our brethren in the villages will go a long way in minimizing the paranoia and I also try as much as possible to sensitize my people on various issues and tell them the truth.

Paradisevog  # 6 | 13.05.2008 20:07

It took the intervention of the T V stations in the Edo State capital to convince the people that the man was a mentally sick person who was actually residing in the neighbourhood. Whosai?? Who told you say the people were convinced? This is still a big deal till today. Market women and plenty half-educated bobos still refer to this mad person as a witch wey de return from coven. Till tomorrow!!

mushu  # 7 | 13.05.2008 20:42

sweet post. thats all I can say.