The notion that a man can loose his penis or shall i say have his genitalia stolen is inconceivable and irrational to a rational mind, right? Sadly, large swathes of the Nigerian population believe this nonsensical claim so much so innocent victims men, women young old are lynched and in not so fatal cases are beaten to stupor. Not only is this trend alarmingly disturbing it is also embarrassing that in the 21st century supposedly educated Nigerians believe a man’s penis can be snatched or stolen by the mere touch of a random stranger.
Q Why are Nigerians prone to believing superstitions.
A Ignorance– and Fear entrenches its hold on the minds of the gullible
The fact no one seem to care not the state government nor the relevant agencies who ideally should take the necessary steps to investigate the phenomenon thereby ridding our society of the dangerous trend of innocent people getting killed when the mob pounce on them based off an unverified allegation of having stolen a penis affirms what keen observers of the Nigerian state have always known the men who rule us don’t give a bleep they care only about themselves which of course includes their immediate family, friends, and cronies. The rest of us may well not exist. If this Premium times report is true it serves as the classic example of the insensitivity and unresponsiveness of the Nigerian government at all levels.
In this presentation I share my educated guess of what may be going on, looking at the weird phenomenon of stolen or snatched penis through astronomy, specifically a cosmic event known as solar flares.
In my view Nigerians generally tend to have a superstitious mindset, a culture rooted in two systemic factors: religion and the low quality education pervasive in the Nigerian society. If attendance in school weakened your innate critical thinking ability then you were indoctrinated not educated.
Just as I stated in the video literacy and education mean different things. Education allows you think–laterally, outside the box so to speak while literacy simply means ability to read, write, and do numeracy. The superstitious tendency of large swathes of Nigerians and the fact that Nigerians of diverse backgrounds believe prayers not proactive strategic action is the ”key– the master key” that can or will solve our tenuous political and economic status reveals to a clear headed person the typical mindset of the average Nigerian.
Quick question. Are we (Nigerians) truly educated or we are just a bunch of superstitious literate people?
Ignorance breeds superstitious beliefs. Education ordinarily suffices in the eradication of superstitious belief but in a society as religious as Nigeria education alone may not cut it. Or maybe it does because ideally a robust education sooner exposes you to the reality that, ”Religion is true to the masses, useful to the rulers, and is false to the wise”– this quote is often attributed to Seneca the younger. If you haven’t, I enjoin you to pay attention to the camaraderie between clergy and the criminals who pretend to be politicians.
The Abrahamic religions are sort of built upon a doctrine of fear mongering so for as long as (rulers and clergy) can keep folks fearful; ignorance and a superstitions mindset will be sustained. Unresponsive governments everywhere around the world invariably prefer a fearful, mentally weak and superstitious general populace than an educated introspective population because it is easier to trick, game, play, distract, deceive, and confuse the superstitious and uneducated than the educated and rationally minded person. From all indication religiosity, ignorance, and superstitions are all intertwined.
It therefore goes without saying that superstitious people are invariably religious. On my twitter timeline those who argued a man’s genitalia can be stolen are all religious unsurprisingly its the the same group of people who believe prayer not increased labour productivity will strengthen the Nigerian currency; Naira. In view of this is it any wonder, Nigeria at 89% takes the lead in the Pew Research poll of ”Weekly worship attendance highest in sub-Saharan Africa”. With such a high frequency rate of weekly worship in churches and mosques Nigeria may well be dubbed the prayer capital of the world.
Nigeria @95% is the prayer capital of the world. Click on image to expand view
In this poll you will see that the successful countries have little or no need for prayers. China at 1% has the lowest rate, Norway an oil producing country has a rate of 18%. Incidentally, I did a compare and contrast analysis of Nigeria and Norway in my first first published book. It is instructive to state oil was discovered in Norway and Nigeria at roughly the same period. You may wonder what edge or advantage Norway which facilitated its immense success in the oil sector in contrast to Nigeria. So much so, that, Norway’s per capita stands at $89,154.28 (2021) while Nigeria’s is a paltry $2,065.75 (2021). I discussed at length what informs this disparity in chapter 5 of my book available here in print or E-copy.
Fast fact: Nigeria’s dysfunctional state require concerted strategic effort. In other words we must find the best of us work with them and allow them run the country on our behalf
Back to the worrisome trend and social menace of missing, snatched or stolen penis there is the need for the relevant ministries, departments and agencies to investigate this unfortunate claims that has on innumerable instances led to the death of innocent people, disseminating their conclusive findings as means to rid out society of superstitious nonsense.
yeye
yeye is an agnostic pantheist who borrows a leaf from all known perennial wisdom traditions, a chela that drinks from the cups of wisdom presented by custodians of ancient traditions. She lives life on her terms.
