15 Years on: A Tribute to a Nigerian Teacher Lynched by her Pupils

If there is any synonym for the word ‘bad’, such must of necessity explicate all the qualities associated with ‘being bad’, like wickedness, cruelty etc. And if an act is to be described as ‘good’, such must equally of necessity be seen to be beneficial to either the speaker or to others. For an act therefore to be judge as ‘being bad’ means such act is an embodiment of dangerous implications. However, if anyone chooses to replace the word ‘bad’ with a synonym that have beneficial import, such persons need to book an appointment with a psychiatrist. 

The above is no attempt at given a lecture in ‘Ethics’ but a brief elucidation on what it might takes to judge an act, both from consequentialist or a deontologist's perspective. Again, the analysis is essential for it aims to water the ground for the conclusion bellied in the essay: That the gruesome killing, lynching, of a teacher in Gombe State, Nigeria by her students/pupils (15 years ago) for ‘desecrating the holy book’, is bad, nay immoral and criminals! And to quickly add: that justice WAS NEVER served show how much lip service our leaders pay to human lives and education!

The teacher, Mrs. Christiana Oluwatoyin Oluseesin, was a teacher a Government Day Secondary School, Gandu in Gombe State, Nigeria before she met her untimely death. Like every other human, without premonition of their appointment with death, Mrs. Olusesin never knew that the students she laboriously study and prepare lesson notes to teach will one day lynch her. Although her case might not be the first among victims of both religious intolerance and jungle justice, hers is a special case because of the circumstance surrounding her death: an effort to curb now commonplace examination malpractices in school examinations! 

As reported in The Daily Trust newspapers of 17 April, 2007:  She was said to have rightly seized a set of books a student had smuggled in (into the examination hall) with the intent of cheating, during the course of writing examination on Islamic Religious Knowledge. Unknown to Mrs. Oluseesin, a copy of the Holy Quran was discreetly hidden among the confiscated books and which she angrily threw away. Soon after the end of the said examination, the affected student played the victim and cried foul. Thereafter, a mob (led by Yan Kalare boys) swooped on the hapless and unsuspecting woman, and killed her for "desecrating" the holy book. 

Well, that is the pathetic scenario that culminated in the mob lynching of the moralist, a disciplinarian that so many of the notoriously religious but morally bankrupt students have begrudged without having the avenue to avenge her ‘disturbances’ before the examination hall incident. The story is no doubt nauseating. No sane human with full capacity to judge or evaluate an act will judge that as good. For that will be an attempt at wishing for such painful mob death. The most disturbing of the aftermath of the event however is that her assassins, the juvenile murderers and their adult accomplices, are still walking freely on the streets of Gandu. It is more annoying to know that the Nigerian Police had, as usual, relaxed investigation into the religiously coloured murder and declared the case COLD!

Two factors have, however, been identified as the likely cause of the dutiful teacher’s death: Religion and Ethnicity. These two factors have solidly remained a disunifying factor among Nigerians. The northerners, most especially the Hausa-Fulanis, have been been accused of using these two factors interchangeably, nay selfishly, to rid southerners domicile in their region. The Igbos, of the south east, and the Yorubas, of the southwest, have been crying foul for a long time over the activities of the northern ethnic jingoists and zealous religious bigots decimating their, Igbos and Yorubas, folks. 

Without endless chronicling, the incidences in Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ilorin, Sagamu and Maiduguri in the recent past are testimonies to this fact. Even if the allegations of the past are untrue, considering the fact that Mrs. Oluseesin is a Yoruba and a Christian will cast doubt over the correctness of such falsity. While condemning religion will not solve the problem, every sane religionist must likewise know that killing in the name of their ‘God’ is bad for the public perception of the true tenets of such religion, most especially the premium such religion placed on the lives of non-adherents in a supposedly secular state like Nigeria. 

Islam is no doubt a religion of peace, as the Quoran and so many respected Islamic scholars opined but some Muslims act otherwise using the religion as a cover. In as much as this act, and also spree killing and wanton properties destruction, supposedly in the name of Allah, are not enough to conclude that Islam is bad, those adherents who claimed to be versed in the teachings of the prophet and the true tenets of the religion must help in curbing the excesses of their ‘fanatic’, opportunistic and criminal minded members. 

As for the ethnic angle to the gruesome murder, the truly Nigerian of the Hausa-Fulani heritage must rise up to the challenge and educate others on the need for peaceful coexistence of Nigerians of diverse ethnic background. And remind this class of myopic Hausa-Fulani populace that Nigeria is one country and one people with shared destiny that must learn to live together in peace to enhance mobility of labour and equal opportunities in any part of the country which are harbingers of all round national development. 

That Mrs. Oluwatoyin Oluseesin, a disciplinarian, was murdered in cold blood, leaving her husband, children and mother, is a reality that we are conditioned to accept. One can only hope that bad acts such as this will cease for it is commonsensically illogical for anyone to kill either in the name of a living, all powerful, God or a superior ethnic group. Besides, there is dire need now, more than ever before, for Nigerians to live secularly together not only for our budding civil rule but also for future Nigerians.

Photos Credit: Twitter.com 

Adeyemi J Ademowo, a sociocultural analyst and development anthropologist, works with Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti

Africa and Africans’ Philosophy of Poverty

Africa, north and south of the sahara, is easily recognized as the region of deprivations where there is acute dearth of the basics that make human truly human: water, food, security, shelter, health and clothing. This pervasive condition of inhumanity thriving amidst supposedly humans leaves one with the question as to the beneficial import of the abundant natural resources within its domain. It is appalling, not pitiful, to know that Africa is stupendously rich while Africans are nauseatingly poor. Bearing in mind that Africans have remained in this condition for almost a century after colonialism ended, one cannot but try to find out why Africans remain perpetually nay hopelessly poor; why they wallop in penury amidst plentiful. Why they have refused to think-out a workable developmental proposal for the betterment of their continent. The result of this finding is that the philosophy of poverty reigns supremely in Africa. 

 Philosophy of Poverty can be described as a situation whereby an individual or group is continuously awash with thoughts or ideas that could lead to an act that would neither benefit him/her nor his/her group or society in the long run. Short-term gain is the focus of this kind of thinking. Technically, Philosophy of Poverty is “a critical, rigorous and systematic thinking of ideas that are capable of inducing deprivations and make worse peoples’ developmental condition”. Examples are ideas of public looting, electoral fraud, etc among leaders at all levels; and vandalism, political thuggery, etc among followers. The underlying goal of the ‘critical, rigorous and systematic thinking...’ is personal gain: How the ‘thinker’ would benefit his/her pockets or bank accounts and that of his/her friends and family members at the expense of the others or the public. 

Both the leaders and the followers are guilty of this negative thinking. While the leaders authoritatively, without lets or hindrances, divert money meant for developmental projects shortsightedly into their account for personal benefit, the followers join the train knowing fully well that to think otherwise may put their jobs in jeopardy. The follower therefore accepts his/her condition of perpetual deprivation and seeks to have a ‘fair’ share of the national cake or simply go for the crumbs of it. Basically, there are two classes of followers involved: the advantaged and the disadvantaged. The advantaged followers, who are mostly middle class, are actively involved in the process, from idea conception, pruning, fine-tuning to execution. They are the leaders sure partners-in-thinking (PIT), working round the clock to lead other followers into the bottomless poverty pit. Their mantra is ‘I’d better cooperate now and make some money than blow open the deal and remain a pauper’. With this seemingly critical but perverted thought, he/she agrees to the ‘deal’. Millions of the national or foreign currencies are then diverted from the developmental activities it was meant for to serve the few individuals involved. 

On the part of the disadvantaged, their condition becomes that of ‘hopelessness’. A total acceptance of their condition as either enemy induced or God wished. They forgot that the greener pastures they sought and pray for their children and wards in foreign countries, mostly America and European, were planted and watered by the dogged and relentless efforts of others like themselves in those societies. The problem here, of their condition, is that the basics of life such as water are often seen as luxury. Sponsors of mere borehole projects, such as assemblymen and the local authorities, are therefore seen as demigods. A messiah! Such persons are then decorated with chieftaincy titles. What balderdash! 

That this negative thinking, philosophy of poverty, reigns in African minds is a fact. A fact glaringly verifiable in the manner we conduct the affairs of our countries at all levels, our myopic approach to responsive democratic governance, selfish management of our abundant human and natural resources, our nonchalant attitude to national growth and development and dearth of some other indices of peoples’ desire for development. In Nigeria for instance, Chopism, a philosophy of poverty concept, is commonplace. 

By the way, Chopism is a school of thought in the philosophy of poverty parlance that posits ‘group sharing of public property and fund even if it is at the 124 detriment of the public good or development’. A direct derivative of Chopism is “chop, I chop” which means ‘steal yours and avail me the opportunity to steal mine’. It means an agreement among a group of people or groups to ensure that parties to the agreement have access preferably equal, to steal limitlessly from a designated coffer. The parties are expected to take their turns in this robbery process and they are to show solidarity when any of them get into trouble. Can someone tell me how state or country could witness meaningful development with this kind of attitude? Sure, Africa is in serious trouble. Having been to some parts of Africa and witnessed similar developmental problems, I cannot but conclude that the only problem we have, that is yet to be addressed, is attitudinal, that of values! Ours is not a dearth of ideas but perverted thinking, myopic and homolooting infested ideas. Indeed, as I opined in another piece, most African leaders are Homolooters not Homosapiens! The way forward to me is that until we succeed in correcting our thinking deficiency, we shall remain subservient to the rest of the world. Visits to countries of Europe and subsequent observations and interactions with their citizens, have further lend credence to the fact that a complete attitudinal re-orientation is essential if Africa will ever attain the greatness it craves for. 

The conclusion is that we must re-work our thoughts essentially if we must ever get out of our present bottomless pit of deprivation. I suggest we start with the youths and teens; let’s re-orientate and make them believe in the African project that will celebrate hard work, transparency and accountability with due respect to social justice.

Photo Credit: https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2010

Adeyemi J Ademowo, a sociocultural analyst and development anthropologist, works with Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti

This Thing Called Culture

Culture as observed by Williams (1983) is one of the two or three most complicated words in English Language. The word ‘culture’ has its root in the Latin word colere which means ‘to cultivate’. The word ‘culture’ can also be used to describe ‘the cultivation of or the constant exhibition of certain traits, acts, etc’. It can also be likened to the “idea of cultivating one’s self in an effort to attain the ideal of wisdom which was found in Greek thought: the idea through which human beings become themselves.” Culture can also be described as the “way of life of a group of people”. This is the commonest and most simplistic definition of culture.

Anthropologists are diverse in their views of what culture is or should be. However, the first known scholar that put forth a scholarly definition considered to be holistic enough to capture what culture represents is Sir Edward Burnett Tylor. Culture to Tylor (1871), in his seminal work The Primitives, is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society".  To Kluckhohn (1945), culture is the "historically-created design for living, explicit and implicit, rational, irrational and non-rational, which may exist at any given time as a potential guide for the behaviour of men".  The two definitions highlighted two key points without which culture would not be meaningful: membership of a society and guide of behaviours. It is inconceivable to think of a society without a culture and to imagine that the culture of a society does not influences or guide their affairs.

Culture encompasses languages, means of making a living, arrangement of family life, the focus of group loyalties and ways of perceiving the world, both the physical world and the world beyond (Oke, 2002). Culture influences man's attitudes, its dealings with fellow man as well as the environment. What this means is that culture puts a form of control on and influences man's drives and interactions including display of emotion and sexual behaviour, eating habits, kind of work, political life, hours of sleep, among others. It becomes part of man's survival as it provides for reproduction, care for new family members and patterns of child rearing. One can then agree with Hodge, Struckmann, and Trost (1975) that culture is  "the sum total of life patterns passed on from generation to generation within a group of people and includes institutions, language, religious ideals, habits of thinking, artistic expressions, and patterns of social and interpersonal relationships.”

Culture can also be used to refer to the organised system of knowledge and belief whereby people structure their experience and perceptions, formulate acts and choose between alternatives. The alternatives, we must note, can be confusing and sometimes difficult to choose from, live with or adapt to. Hence there are two major patterns within which culture is meaningful: ideals patterns and behavioural patterns.

The ideal pattern describes what people of a society would do or say in a defined situation if they conformed completely to ideals accepted in the society. There are two sides to the ideal patterns conformity: imperative and the obligatory. The imperative promotes a mandatory conformity to the ideals of a culture. It is a must position regardless of what those that found themselves within such culture thinks. The obligatory on the other hand is prescriptive hence promotes such ideals as the best of alternatives with little or no option for deterrence. The behavioural pattern as opposed to the ideal patterns, are products of observations of how people actually behave in particular situations. It is actual. The reality of the dichotomy between the ideal and the behavioural patterns is that the ideals are what becomes observable in the 'behavioural'. For instance, if one observed and described marriage patterns among the Yoruba people of southern Nigeria, the truth is that what we often observed were ideals that the society prescribes.

There are five categories of ideal patterns:

1. Compulsory: what culture provides for and considered acceptable

2. Preferred: the highly valued among the prescribed

3. Alternatives: where all acceptable ways of behaving have equal value

4. Typical: when a particular ideal is the most frequently expressed

5. Restricted: when certain ways of behaving are acceptable only for members of a particular group, family or society.

 

When the above ideals are undertaken, or adhere to, by members of the society and an outsider can comfortably describe them, such patterns are said to be explicit. They are explicit because they are readily abstracted from behaviour and verbalised by the participants.  The implicit patterns are difficult for participants to verbalise because they operate mostly at the unconscious level; hence the outsider cannot observe that but had to enquire into its nature.

Ogburn (1922) made a vital contribution to the discourse on the dichotomy between several cultural constituents when he opined that there are two aspects which are vital to all cultures, namely, material and non-material.

Material culture refers to the physical or technological aspects of our daily lives, including food items, houses, factories and raw materials. Prown (2001defines material culture as, the study through artifacts of the beliefs – values, ideas, attitudes, and assumptions – of a particular community or society at a given time…

Material culture as a study is based upon the obvious fact that the existence of a man-made object is concrete evidence of the presence of a human intelligence operating at the time of fabrication. The underlying premise is that objects made or modified by man reflect, consciously, directly or indirectly, the beliefs of the individuals who made, commissioned, purchased, or used them and, by extension, the beliefs of the larger society to which they belonged. Every man-made object required the operation of some thought and design. It is the assumption of material culture studies that this thought is a reflection of the culture that produced the man-made objects.

By studying material culture one is able to gain insights into things that are not fully articulated or into cultures that have not left written records. For social historians in particular material culture is a useful tool to gather information on the groups other than the elites. The life stories of the working class were not often recorded, and very rarely in their own words. By looking at the material objects left behind, we can extrapolate some of their stories.

Non-material culture, on the other hand, covers all other aspects of culture that cannot be found under material culture. In other words, it refers to ways of using material culture. To put it differently, it refers to ways of using material objects and customs, beliefs, philosophies, governments and patterns of communication. This aspect of culture has been found to be more resistant to change than the material culture. In fact, some African philosophers such as Kwasi Wiredu, Oladipo, Sogolo etc opined that it is important that the non-material aspects of culture that give meaning to it ought to be jealously guarded from undue infiltration so as to retain a groups’ identity. To them, these are the contingent aspect of culture that must be preserved for the sake of future generations.

Avruch and Black (1996) identified two orders of culture: generic and local culture. Generic culture is a species-specific attribute of homosapiens, an adaptive feature of our kind on this planet for at least a million years or so. Local cultures are those complex systems of meanings created, shared and transmitted (socially inherited) by individuals in particular social groups. Generic culture direct our attention to Universal attributes of human behaviour (of human nature); local culture on the other hand calls our attention to diversity and differences.

Regardless of the diversities of cultures in societies, there are certain common practices and beliefs which are common to all. These are referred to as the cultural universals. According to George Murdock (1945) such universals include: bodily adornment, courtship, dancing, decorative art, family, gestures, housing, language, laws, marriages, myths, etc

No matter how distinct a culture is, it must definitely have a relativistic view on the above outlined universals which are enamored further by other elements of cultures. These elements are: language, norms, sanctions and values.

Language is an abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture. It include speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, gestures and expression of non-verbal communication.

Norms, the second element, can be described as established standards of behaviour maintained by a society. It includes such standards or rule as ‘respect your elders’, etc

Next to norms are Sanctions which are penalties and rewards for conduct concerning societal norms. While positive sanctions can lead to appreciation, a medal or chieftaincy title etc, a negative sanction can include banishment, a fine, etc

Values, the last, are regarded as the collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable and proper – or bad, undesirable and improper in a culture. They indicate what people in a culture prefer as well as what they find important and morally right (o wrong).

It is pertinent, at this juncture, to briefly discuss qualities underlying cultures:

a. That everyone has a culture. It is core to their identity, behaviour and perspectives on the way the world works and should be. In fact, everyone lives as part of multiple cultural spheres: ethnic, religious, class, gender, race, language, and others. Culture is not just the group a person is born into. It is possible to acquire a new culture by moving to a new country or region, for example, or by a change in economic status, or by becoming disabled.

b. That there is diversity within cultures. While two people may both be Britons with parents from Nigeria, for instance, a religious Catholic daughter of professionals who lived in Onitsha will have very different cultural norms and perspectives from the son of an indigenous farmer who spent early years in a very poor rural area in Ijebu-Igbo.

c. Cultures are not static. They grow and evolve in response to new circumstances, challenges and opportunities. The ways of being female learned by young girls in South Asian culture, for example, have changed from one generation to another, and as people have moved from place to place.

d. Culture is not determinative. Different people take on and respond to the same cultural expectations in different ways. Assumptions therefore cannot be made about individuals based on a specific aspect of their cultural experience and identity.

e. Cultural “differences” are complicated by differences in status and power between cultures. When one cultural group has more power and status, the norms of that culture permeate the institutions of society as the “right” way. Cultures of less status and power become seen as “other,” or even deviant and deficient. In addition to understanding cultural norms and experiences, service providers and professionals in agencies that work with diverse populations need to be aware of these kinds of cultural biases, both as they play out in the lives of communities, and as they affect the practices and policies of organizations.

Pix Credit: differencebetween.net 

Culled from: Ademowo, A.J (2017) The Culture-Health Nexus: An Introduction to Cultural Competency Issues in Healthcare Provision. Ibadan: TicTacToe Consulting 

Oga, dem disgrace your Colleague o: The Gown, the Video and Matters Arising

 ''Hello, sir. Have you seen the video clip?''

''What video clip? Of Bello paying the backlog of salaries owed the Kogi State workers?''

''No, sir!''

''Of the Anambra man helplessly watching some herdsmen uproot his cassava and feeding them to their cows?''

''Oga, no!!''

'' OK, my final guess: it must be the much awaited video of Oga Bubu openly lampooning and instructing security agents to deal decisively with erring herdsmen?''

''Sir, you are wrong. It is the video of one of your colleagues caught in action with a sweet sixteen''

''Caught in action? I am not a movie producer nor an actor. Are you sure you called the right number?''

''(Smiles) I am sure sir. He is a teacher too; teaching adults distributed in diverse knowledge areas. He is a 'gown' man like you, sir. He was caught in action trying to 'pene', you know; do 'papopapo' with the lady''

''Now, am getting your drift but more confused. Which one is 'pene' or 'papopapo'? Using cane to beat her? That is corporal punishment. Well,..''

''(Cuts in)..Oga, man yen fe kobasun fun lady yen ni, sir. O fe lamba e!''

''Now ogbeni, why can't you simply say he wanted to have sex with her?''

''Sir, sex bawo? Sex does not capture the man's intention o. This man don take 'Dadubule' Bitters with Ogidiga for the action o. Oga, dat one na sex? No be mere sex, na match''

''Ok. Thanks for that explanation; but what really happened? Did he raped her? Didn't they agreed before he took those bitters in preparation for the match?''

''The girl claimed that the man has been harassing her for sex since her second year. She even alleged that he failed her in one of the courses and gave her 53 in the other''

''OK. Didn’t she report the matter?''

''Report kwa? Sir, sebi you know your people sabi 'espirit de corps' among una sef. Covering each other’s devilish back and offering hot consolation to the victims to 'be a good girl' as if she has been a bad one before.''

''Did you call to abuse me? Or what is it with the use of 'una'?'' 

''I am sorry, sir. But you know that is the truth. Only God will judge many of you for condoning your colleagues with loosed zipper. Anyway, the lady reported but instead of addressing the issue they swept it under the carpet, with big broom. She offered the course again in 300L and got 36 with a missing CA. She complained again. But this time they asked him to produce the CA, which he did''.

''As you can see, we do take action when there are evidences. But when you are on campus to study, and you neither attend classes nor submit assignments and write tests, how do we help you? You exposed yourself and make yourself easy prey to 'swinging waist' molesters. Una sef no dey try!''

''(Laughs) Sir, you have a good point there. So, back to the story, sir. He grudgingly collected her evidences to proof her CA and graded 21 of 40. Another C. But he warned her that it is better to give him the toitoi to chop than continue running to his colleagues. She thought he was joking until first semester of 400L when he called her and informed her that she has failed his course. Can you imagine, sir?''

''Go on, am here. Thanks for practicing your communication skills on me by asking for a feedback (Laughs). But I think that should make his colleagues confirm his pedophilic tendencies!''

''Confirm kwa! In fact, she fought tooth and nail to get him removed as her Long Essay (Project) supervisor! Those colleagues of your appointed him as the supervisor of the girl he has been witch-hunting for 'ibasun' (sex). They even counseled her to accept him as supervisor: to accept her fate''

''Hmm..that is quite surprising but possible where the man in question has loads of secrets of the Head of the unit. But it is wrong though. Ok, go on''

''When she entered his office. He offered her a seat and taunted her with 'I think you are coming back next year for extra semester' speech. Hearing that, she broke into tears and started begging. He consoled her and asked her: 'are you a virgin? I know you are not because Dehinde and Watson have ‘chopped you’. So why can't I? What is so special about you that you cant offer me this thing and pass without wahala?..''

''(I cut in) I am sure he will say that. It is the popular line forgetting that she willingly allowed those ones to do whatever with her, she owns her body. She has the right to offer it to whomever she pleases or keep it for whatever reasons. Anyway, even if she offered that excuse, the unrepentant 'rapist' will not''

''Sir, but he is not a rapist''

''So who is he? A 'takist'? Having sex with someone who does not give consent but bullied one into it is RAPE. Ogbeni, the man is a rapist; if husbands who just grab their wives and started 'pene' them (to use your words) can be categorised as rapist, how much more this 'loose waist' person?''

''Hmm..Ok sir. Back to the story. He asked her to go and think about it and pick a date for the 'gbamgbamjigijigi''

''What is that again!! You this boy go finish me today o. Is that not sex, again??''

''(Laughs) Yes sir. Na sex. But you know the girl has a boyfriend, whose uncle is a Captain in the army. The Captain advised her to record their conversation when next he requested for sex from her. This time, she did''

''Can you see why he never renege on his 'papopapo' mission? Ori to ba maa je iko, a je iko yen dandan. His day of reckoning is near. Now this is getting interesting''

''She called him, (ensured she recorded it as advised), and picked Thursday and her apartment as the hosting stadium for the match. Before the D-day, two cameras were fixed in the house. On the agreed day, your colleague ..''

''(Cuts in)..another jab! Correct! No wahala, go on''

''(Laughs) Oga, your colleague arrived fully prepared for action, the match. From the video, the girl welcomed him grudgingly but later allowed him to start touching 'every every'. I mean her body. This made him relaxed. Then he started promising all you can imagine''

''That is the confession point. The point where men can and have signed off their lives and properties to women; the point when they become a 'yes man' to the giver of antidote of erection''

''Have you watched the video, sir? Because that was exactly what happened. He made so many promises that one wonders if he is the Veecee. Then he removed his clothes and laid on the bed waiting for the lady, who was tying a short wrapper, to bring her Zanga for him to enter. 

''Zanga?? You mean for him to penetrate her? Is that Zanga??''

'' Yes, sir. But instead of joining him on the bed, she packed his clothes, rushed outside and locked the gate. Then shouted and raised alarm for the soldiers and neighbours to come and see. Ha, Oga, dem disgrace your Colleague o; in fact, the disgrace dey inhuman. ''.

''What a pathetic story. But let me ask you, as an aspiring lecturer, how can we protect the female students from these predators?''

''To start with, that your colleague and others like him, must be prosecuted and sentenced to serve as deterrent to others. Second, lecturers must desist from 'esprit de corps' attitude of covering their colleagues involved in such acts for the sake of the profession and those of us joining the profession soon. Third, female students must strive to be diligent and be focused on their studies so that they will not fall victim as a result of their favour-seeking penchant. Higher Institution authorities must also develop and ensure that ALL lecturers sign the 'Sexual Exploitation Protection Protocol'

''Wow! Thanks. Can you please also add also that the female students should not 'gbesunmo lecturers' and must endeavor to support in exposing teachers involved in such unprofessional conduct by speaking out and supporting their victimized colleague(s).

''That is also important sir. Thank you, sir. But, ha, Oga, dem disgrace your Colleague o ''

''Ogbeni, that is ok o! Thanks for the call. Ire o!''

Adeyemi J Ademowo, a sociocultural analyst and development anthropologist, AHP postdoctoral Fellow-in-residence at IIAS Ghana, works with Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti

Pix: University of Kent

The Tomfoolery of Sharing without a Thinking cap

The social media as a public space offers free posting licence to everyone that could create an account, and knows how to press or click the share button, anytime. Hence, people are always very happy to either be the first to break the news or ensure they partake in sharing bazaars, or sharing the sharable competition. I have been part of this crowd too, in truth.

However, I guess it is time for scholars to hold firmly to their 'brake' and exercise some restraints in sharing some of these 'flying news', pictures and videos.

Three examples suffices for me.
1. The ''Boko Haram is in Ikere'' videos. The voice of that 'alarmist' woman who did the voice over still rings in my 'cranial heaven'. ''Won ti de o, eyin omo Yoruba e ma sun o'' (They are here o, Yoruba sons and daughters be vigilant o). What a punchline! Unlike many 'time to break the news' citizens I decided to watch video. After watching for 0.33secs images started showing that made me doubted the reality. The attached video was showing shrubs, and dessert. So I asked myself, ''how can you be fooled by this, 'Deyemi'? I tried my best debunking the video on over 8 platforms before forwarding it to people that might track such alarmist for caution. (Did someone just soliloquy 'This guy get time o!' now? Na you sabi).

2. The picture of a purported accident on a Nigerian highway where many passengers were killed. Message: ''Breaking News, Robbers asked passengers in a bus to sleep on the road and used the bus to crush their heads for not having money..photo below''. The photo was gory. Despite the goriness some still shared it on their FB walls. The truth about the photo is that it was 'photoshopped'.

3. The third is the video about a 'barking yahoo boy'. When I saw the video, I was interested because I am working on something related. So I called someone in Ogbomoso, one of my informants. The reply was that it is a scene from a movie. (I will attach the two videos for you to view).

How do we fact-check so that as scholars we won't continue to be a fool.

1. You can use two of my Ogas' method. They will send or forward a message to me or other trusted friends to ask for our personal views on what they received. Just to share or get our views. You can adopt the same approach. ''Ore, have you seen this? What do you think?''. That sometimes do the magic of guiding whatever level the modicum of our integrity is in peoples' analysis. Sharing and getting views of close persons or persons more IT knowledgeable won't kill you.

2. Use Google reverse check. Check the image and the video online. It will show where it has been used before and if alterations are made you can see.

3. 'Read and pass' option is simply to read and sigh ''Hmm..this Naija sef'' and continue with your 'Naija gbege or wahala or hustle'' without sharing with anyone. The safety here is that you won't share of anyone's blame when the foolery in such becomes naked.

The social media is a space for all, of opportunities, information and a place for privatized madness. Don't partake of the madness; as dem dey say for 'motor park space', ''Oga, see caution''.

Ire o!

Adeyemi J Ademowo, a sociocultural analyst and development anthropologist, AHP postdoctoral Fellow-in-residence at IIAS Ghana, works with Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti

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Pentecostalism and the farcical Penterascals

 “Praise the Lord!!”

“Amen!!”

“If you want a miracle like the speed of light in your life this month, come out with a bountiful and miracle-magnetizing offering of one hundred thousand for the Lord! Amen!! Let me share this with you. Last week, I was in California [having left Edmonton a week before], a youngman was so desperate to see me, that he nearly walked on others. I asked him why such a rush, he said he travelled all the way from Edmonton to offer his ‘seed of faith’ so that he can be blessed like his friend who sow his seed while I made this similar call in Edmonton. I laughed and prayed for him. Yesterday he called to inform me that he won a contract of $10,5000,000; I told him that is just the beginning, hundreds of millions will come. If you share the same faith and want to prosper beyond your imagination come out with your 100,000 seed offering else you will come to Australia to give me in a rush! Come out now!!”

(Shouts of ‘’Praise the Lord” rent the air as people started trooping out to offer money for their expected miracles)

The scene above is neither from a Nollywood nor a Ghollywood movie script, it happened sometimes last year in a West African country; in a massive ‘Church of God’ led by a man and his wife. This particular church prides itself as an exemplary Pentecostal ministry. Most, if not all, present-day Pentecostal churches are historically linked with the Azusa Street Revival of 1906 held in Los Angeles, California, led by William J. Seymour, an African American preacher. However, Pentecostalism is believed to have started far before then with the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues as written in the biblical Book of Act. 

Some of the key features of the Pentecostal movement/church include: preaching of salvation, experience of baptism of the Holy Spirit; healing through Jesus Christ (miracles/divine healing), speaking in tongues, prophecy, literal interpretation of the bible; women in leadership role (or as ‘Mama’ to a central figure ‘Papa’) and receptacle to popular culture. These features are so defining and stand the movement out of the Christianity pack, thereby othering the other outlandishly. The ‘other’ here refers to the orthodox or traditional group which are considered unwelcoming or uninteresting (in contemporary period) as many of them refused to change to the dictate of contemporary popular culture. By implication, most youths, rich and ‘suave’, find it rather awkward to get affiliated with the ‘boring’ orthodox churches. But are the above stated ideals of Pentecostalism affected or threatened by the tilt towards the ‘modern’ and the widely acceptable reformed practices? The obvious answer is ‘Yes’!

To many, ‘salvation’ which ought to take the front seat has now been pushed to the back seat. Prosperity preaching is now the order of the day. We now have more motivational speakers than Pastors on the pulpit. While nothing is wrong with being a motivational speaker and a shepherd for the Lord, pushing salvation preaching to the backseat and shifting the peoples’ attention to success and wealth at the detriment of the salvation and holiness scriptures (such as Matthew 6 vs 33: Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God) is considered inimical to the gospel of Christ. 

Pastor 'delivering' members of his church. Source: Nairaland

Questions have also been asked concerning the commercialization of healing and miracles which Jesus promised as an addendum to accepting him as ‘the personal Lord and Saviour’. Like the opening scenario, some Pastors now ask for ‘seed donations’ and diverse nomenclatural offerings to fund their own greed, in the name of the Lord. Members are fleeced continually to fund the expensive lifestyles of the men and women of God, and where the members are not cooperating, these ‘God’s anointed’ take what belong to the people willy-nilly through the powers of ‘motivational speaking’ and/or ‘other diabolical’ means possible. Miracles have now become ‘three for one’, ‘cash and carry’ and an all comers’ affairs. Handkerchiefs are sold for princely sum; ditto oil and ‘holy water’ packaged in bottles. 

The mad rush for members or sheep is another downturn in the Nigerian-Ghana Pentecostal movement, this has led to unhealthy rivalry between and among ‘anointed’ men of God to the extent that they now move about in bulletproof vests and cars, retinue of security guards, displaying opulence to attract, pay unnecessary homages and get affiliated to political jobbers and persons with unexplainable wealth. To ensure that they have a large congregation, some go as far as recruiting ‘Membership Merchandizers’ who get paid per members they could bring to the church. Special announcements and advertisement of products ‘to support members businesses’ are also promoted and allowed (at discounted fees) for the sake of getting ‘running cost’ for the church. Men of God are also involved as key promoters of ‘pyramid/Ponzi schemes’ (as was the case with Penny Wise Credit) using or, if you like, milking their unwitting members of their hard-earned funds. Most recently, some of these Pastors are involved in the new gambling business, as betting company shareholders. In Accra, for instance, people troop to a certain popular Pentecostal church because the pastor dictates winning lotto numbers to them to stake money on. In Lagos, a pastor announces/prophesizes the team that will win the weekly English League matches, and sometimes the final scores; all in the name of membership and money!

Cases of sexual assaults and comical deliverance methods such as using one’s male genital to remove demons through a lady’s private part, using kissing to remove poison, asking female members to remove their pants in church to ward-off demons, eating of grasses, fondling and sucking of spinsters and ‘barren’ women breasts to heal them, among others, are now the order of the day. While some have been lucky to commit all these atrocities in the name of Jesus and get away with them, some have been unlucky and standing trial or imprisoned; more worrisome is that new rascals are joining the fold daily (even as you are reading this piece) after all the only qualification one needs to start a Pentecostal church is to declare that God has called him or her..  

Pastor standing on members' back to demonstrate a point. Source: http://cameroon-concord.com

Why should I be bothered about the activities of these rascals, or penterascals? Two reasons: morality and criminality. The morality of the practice, of deceit and exploitation is worrisome. Many have been deceived and maneuvered, mentally, to believe in their criminal ways, duped and left with little or no choice but suicide. They are hero worshipped by diverse followers who have turned into a sect (of a sort), learning the antics of the immoral practice and perpetually become unwitting slaves to their penterascal ideals. Premised on these, it would be wrong not to look critically into some of their practices and prosecute those found to be acting against the law. We know they are close to power that be and are somewhat very rich, hence many think they are untouchable, but the citizens must speak out. Speaking out is the ‘magic wand’ and also the first step towards helping to remove the veil placed on others’ mental and/or physical eyes, and in protecting the laws of the land; and, if I may add, in helping Christianity rid itself of these men and women with farcical messages and practices inimical to its image as a religion.  

Adeyemi J Ademowo, a sociocultural analyst and development anthropologist, AHP postdoctoral Fellow-in-residence at IIAS Ghana, works with Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti