Something happened one time at Oshodi, under bridge, in Lagos that surpasses miracle, but no one looked at it from that perspective. One bundle of two hundred naira notes laid there on the road from morning through the day to dusk till dawn to the next day but no one dared to touch the money. The money did not just lay there on its own but had a white rope stained with blood tied round it, with heads of a white and black cocks and tortoise shell with blood inside. It was the police that came at last to get the money out of the way as it was causing commotion. This sounds like Nollywood movie, doesn’t it?

If you are a Nigerian living in Lagos or outside Lagos, or elsewhere outside the country, you must definitely have heard of Oshodi. For the benefit of those who have not heard of Oshodi I would tell you briefly. Oshodi is an area in Lagos next to Mushin, and the duos are among the most notorious ghettoes in Lagos. Oshodi however is more popular because it is a terminus and housed one of the busiest markets in the city of Lagos. But that is not only what Oshodi is known for. Oshodi harbours all sorts of criminals, from armed robbers to petty thieves, hoodlums, drug addicts, marijuana peddlers, mad people and all that. A brother to a friend of mine was killed at Oshodi one night when petty thieves tried to rob his handset and he decided to put in a fight. They stabbed him and took the handset with his new bible. I have heard sordid tales about Oshodi. One woman had her finger cut off when thieves tried to pull off her ring and it wasn’t coming out. That’s what I am talking about. For twenty four hours that money laid there on the street of Oshodi where criminals had killed for peanuts but nobody had the courage to touch it.

Are you beginning to guess where I am going? In 2004 an incident in Eastern Nigeria in a village called Okija hit the headlines. If you are a Nigerian then you know the story or most have heard of it. Corpses littered everywhere in Okija and they were used for a display for some sort for ritual businesses by local traditional priests who have different shrines all around the village. The story was that people came to take an oath by Okija shrines and the consequences of breaking the oath was death. Business men, politicians, friends, and people who do not trust each other went to the Okija shrine to take an oath before a deal. When one who took an oath by Okija shrine dies after not keeping an oath the corpse was brought to the shrine by the family with all the possessions of the deceased. It was rumoured that one time multi-millionaire, Eze Ego, was killed by the Okija shrine. Somehow most Nigerians still believe the supernatural powers of the Okija shrine passionately. It is believed that those who patronized the Okija priests were the very wealthy and powerful. Till date the record of names documented by the Okija priests of their customers that the police seized remains a matter on national security. Who are on these lists? That is a story for another day.

When the whole nation was agog with accusing fingers pointing at the Ibos as being greedy and too materialistic and all that from other sanctimonious tribes, I was thinking how we could use the Okija shrine to cure Nigeria of the cancerous endemic that has eaten deep into the psyche and soul of this nation.

Imagine if all our councillors, local government chairmen, governors, members of the house of representative, the senate, the president and his cabinet, all took an oath by the Okija shrine before assuming office. Just imagine what miracle that would have done to this nation? Who need an EFCC with the Okija shrine around? The Okija phenomenon could revolutionize this country. All you need to do is to take our politicians to Okija shrine and have all of them to take an oath or to confess how much they had stolen. We probably wouldn’t need a court or a police. Imagine taking Yar’adua and Buhari and all the other aspirants in the coming election to swear that they would not get involve in rigging election. Imagine taking Professor Maurice Iwu and all his crew at the INEC there to swear that they would not announce fake election results. Has it ever occurred to you that the Niger Delta militants wouldn’t need to bother kidnapping foreigners before government to bring developments to their areas? Just take anyone in charge of the monies allocated to the Niger Delta for development to Okija to swear. This may sound really trivial but it is really a wonderful idea if Okija is for real.

Nowadays people trivialize swearing by Koran and Bible. We have no fear for these foreign religions. We wouldn’t dare play with our traditional religion because they are very effective. Perhaps it is high time we went back to the root to deal with our problems. Most of our Christian and Moslem religious readers would say it is devilish and all that to get involved in our traditional religious rituals. But then haven’t we heard pastors and imams going all the way to seek for powers in the villages? Don’t you know that most of our politicians who sit in front of the congregations in mosques and churches visit the villages to get more powers and wealth from the gods of the land? I think it is a conspiracy by the Western and Eastern religions to kill our culture through vicious calumnies against the gods of our land. I know most of you are Christians and Moslems, but then it does no harm imagining. Albert Einstein once said it all that, ‘imagination is better than knowledge’. Just imagine, seriously imagine, how it would have been if we all took an oath by Okija shrine not to engage in exam malpractices, armed robbery, lying to our husbands or wives, cheating, adultery… just name all the vile and vices in our society. The Okija phenomenon could practical eliminate all evil in Nigeria.

But then Okija priests would also have to swear by Okija to avoid using it like Obasanjo was using the EFCC to stop opponents and those he did not anoint from contesting electoral posts in the coming election. And my fear is that it would be infiltrated by men in power for profit and power, thereby turning all of us to slaves again. And all those fake pastors and imams who got into the business of selling God’s word for profit all over Nigeria would shift sides. That is my deepest fear. But if the Okija thing could be managed properly, it would be one of the greatest discoveries of the 21^st century.

Robot  Villager

# 1 Something happened one time at Oshodi, under bridge, in Lagos that surpasses miracle, but no one ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 10.04.2007 04:57

docokwy  Villager

# 2 I guess you used the word Okija euphemistically for all types of obnoxious traditional worships. But it might interest you to know that Okija was and is still there yet Anambra is on fire. Ogboni and Oro are still there yet Lagos, Oyo, Ekiti and Ogun are currently on fire. Juju-bearing marabouts are still there, yet bad elements still roam freely in parts of the north. Egbesu and ogoni gods are there and the Niger Delta has been turned into a money-spinning ritual and kidnap arena. Down with your gods and all those who worship them. Posted by docokwy| 10.04.2007 05:58

akuluouno  Villager

# 3 Dear George the son of Omonoya, In your last para you vividly captured what will happen to the shrine should Nigeria adopt it as the primary place of succour to elicit morality from our leaders. On the money tied with blood and other abradacabra, it stayed that long because many hardened men targeting it were waiting for nightfall to make their move and damn the consequences if any. BTW the efficacy of Okija is still dubious knowing that Ngige was there and came out unscathed. I remember that JJ Okocha was also a patron of circumstance. The full list of the patrons is with Tafa Balogun and I beleive it is one of those reasons why he was treated with kid gloves after he was found with light fingers wrt to police funds. It is one joker that he may want to play whenever he deems apt. But wrt to the shrine as a remedy to our corrupt ways, the jury is still out knowing our capacity to corrupt even God if he were to show up in Abuja today. :evil: :evil: Posted by akuluouno| 10.04.2007 06:03

felix  Villager

# 4 :D :D :D George is at it again!.....No serious thoughts, just like in his rambling incoherent essays on Biafra, he is here to "throw more light" on his definition of Igbo export to Nigerian politics......Igbos are the most fetish.......as if your grand pa went to church.....Point noted...Can we move on to another thread???:D :D Thank God we know each other...:eek: Posted by felix| 10.04.2007 06:07

calist  Villager

# 5 But then Okija priests would also have to swear by Okija to avoid using it like Obasanjo was using the EFCC to stop opponents and those he did not anoint from contesting electoral posts in the coming election. Thanks George for the good laugh. This you level is high. Posted by calist| 10.04.2007 07:25

Exxcuzme  Villager

# 6 ________________________________________________________________________ But then Okija priests would also have to swear by Okija to avoid using it like Obasanjo was using the EFCC to stop opponents and those he did not anoint from contesting electoral posts in the coming election. And my fear is that it would be infiltrated by men in power for profit and power, thereby turning all of us to slaves again. And all those fake pastors and imams who got into the business of selling God’s word for profit all over Nigeria would shift sides. That is my deepest fear. But if the Okija thing could be managed properly, it would be one of the greatest discoveries of the 21st century. ________________________________________________________________________ Unlike politics where money men can aspire to govern most of this shrines are probably hereditary which can minimize being hijacked by moneyment? Posted by Exxcuzme| 10.04.2007 11:03