PAGANISM AND HYPOCRISY OF NIGERIANS
Nigeria is a deeply fetish nation. Forget the monopoly of the other two major faiths, the serpentine lengths of cars parked along these big worship centres or the drove of garb-wearing Muslim faithful commuting for Sunday morning ‘Àsàlátù.’ A cursory look at any T-junction, at least in the Southwest, is a brazen sight of propitiatory offal provided for the ‘Òsòròngà mothers to feast on. You might probably think such offering of sacrifices is an antiquated practice restricted to the crude villages of Abeokuta and Oyo. Lagos, for all its claim of urbanity, has greeted my eyes several times with orotund portions of sacrifices even in the most exotic places.
Do I have a challenge with paganism? No! Nigeria is a secular state allowing the freedom of worship. However, my anguish is the hypocrisy of Nigerians who openly align with the two popular faiths but openly deny paganism. From Nigeria’s high office holders to her politicians to her musicians to her civil servants , all benefit in one way or the other from the prebends that falls from the table of paganism.
Up till now, adherents of the two popular faiths have not stopped patronizing ‘Òsun’ the riverine goddess for children, only for them to give birth and deny the source of the gift. Nigerian politicians kill each other through the instruments of voodoo (If they decide not to use assassins), holders of big offices repress and oppress others from ever getting to their exotic positions through fetish powers, people in civil service pulverise each other’s seats to eliminate dissenting colleagues through voodoo; musicians sing about God in heaven but make wanton sales because they have submitted themselves and their music to higher spiritual deities yet non of them admits he is an adherent of Ògún or Òbàtálá because it’s more fashionable to be called a Christian or a Muslim. Our adherence to faith isn’t about God but about the most popular movement. Paganism is a tragic victim of Nigeria’s knack for talking more than doing. I have encountered at many occasions the outright contravention of rules people initially defended with their blood. Kehinde Oluwatosin Babatunde, Lagos