http://www.234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Opinion/Blogs/5433247-184/Much_Ado_about_a_shrine_.csp




"We had all the gold, all the diamonds, all the land. White people had all the Bibles. Now, white people got all the gold, all the diamonds, all the land. We got all the Bibles. Somebody got gamed." - Eddie Griffin



In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe wrote that a man telling his son where the boundary of the family land was would say to him, "I think it is there, but do not swear before a deity." Now, I think it was Things Fall Apart, but I will take the author's advice,

Photographs of a certain legislator from Ogun State were recently published showing him kneeling (sic) before a shrine. Naked. http://www.saharareporters.com/images/stories/alausa.jpg

Apparently, he was in the process of taking some kind of oath or other to be loyal to his godfather(s). Being fully aware of the fact that Nigerians tend to treat oaths sworn on the Bible or Quran with extreme levity, his benefactors decided to do things the traditional way.

Now, after the photos were released, the legislator received condemnation from several quarters, with some even going so far as to declare that he should resign his office. For those people, having taken his oath of office on the Bible, he had no business going before a shrine of any sort, being a Christian man and all. That he would "stoop" to such depths shows that he is a person of unsound character and therefore unworthy of his high office.

Now, before all these people get their knickers in a twist, I would like to point out one little detail - Traditional forms of worship are not illegal in Nigeria. At least, not yet. Before the coming of the white man and his Bible and his concept of One God, we African people had our own traditions. Our ancestors worshipped several gods, and made sacrifices to them.

If you had to take an oath, you did it before a shrine, and you were fully aware of the consequences of breaking that oath. Unlike the white man's God, our gods didn't waste time before seeking retribution. Having by and large accepted the white man's idea of religion, complete with the concept of turning the other cheek, he proceeded to take our land, our crops, our resources, and our freedom. In exchange, he gave us the Bible. We were told "one man, one wife", our gods were denounced as "false", our traditions and customs, indeed, our very way of life, labeled "barbaric".

Now, some will jump in here to point out that the custom of killing twins in Calabar was indeed barbaric, and I make no argument against that. However, my people didn't kill twins, so what were we guilty of? Taking two or three wives?

You see, even among a society of cannibals, murder was a crime. One member of the tribe couldn't just kill and eat another. Granted, they didn't extend such rules to outsiders, but that's life. Afterall, didn't the white man burn women as witches? Wasn't Galileo denounced by the church for daring to challenge the conventional wisdom which dictated that the world was flat? You won't see any white historians labeling those actions as "barbaric".

Our hapless legislator failed to help his cause by mumbling about being forced to participate in the ceremony and so on. He claimed that before being allowed to contest any office, one had to take a traditional oath of allegiance to Governor Gbenga Daniel. He even said the Governor had shrines in his homes! My, my, what a stunning revelation! Had he yelled, "Wetin concern una? I swear for shrine and so? I kill pesin?!" the matter would have since been forgotten. The man apparently lacks the stones to own up to his own actions, he lacks character and should resign his office.

Seeing as our public officers are apparently more terrified of traditional deities than they are of Jehovah or Allah, I propose that some changes be made to the administration of the Oath of Office in Nigeria. First of all, the ceremony should be moved to a moonless midnight. The Justice who administers the oath should be replaced by a suitably attired Chief Priest of some deity. Then, the Bible and Quran should be replaced by a suitably sharpened and buffed cutlass. The potential office holder will then be asked to name his deity, intone "I swear by Amadioha, etc, " and bite the cutlass while dead chickens drip in the background.

I believe we will see a dramatic improvement in public administration thereafter.