by Aigbokhan Emmanuel
While musing – in a quasi-melancholic state – on our deeply nuanced matrimony with religion, ominous patterns became far more apparent than I had once fathomed. Religion for all its good intentions has been distorted, misrepresented and perverted in the most depraving manners.
Although a fiendish shade of religion has reared its ugly head in certain parts of the country –exemplarily in North-Eastern Nigeria – curiousness spurred my intellection down a somewhat distinct path – sacrificial killing to propitiate a deity
Ritual killing is as old as religion itself; pre-modern phases of the oldest religions in the world were characterised with ritual killings. A quick branch-off from ritual killings in the context of religion ostentatiously reveals that the practice has its roots in deep pre-historic human behavioural practices
Evidently, evolutionary changes in human social behavioural practices and religious relation has triggered a cascade of abolition as regards sacrificial killings to propitiate deities. Sadly, African religions, more specifically Nigerian traditional religions are stuck in limbo; contextually, evolution somehow skipped Africa.
In the wake of a spike in the rates of kidnap for ritual sacrifices in Nigeria (one that occurs seasonally, if I might add), the need for socio-religious reforms appear even more imminent.
“Ogun Owo” a local Yoruba term that loosely describes the barbaric killing and harvesting of human parts for sacrificial offering in a quest to quell materialism pervades several Nigerian cultures. Denizens of districts located on the outskirts of major cities as well as habitants of rural areas are mostly victims of this practice.
Proper and more intensive policing provides a short-term fix at best. But if we are to purge our societies of this morally reprehensible practice, a reform – one that sparks changes for the better as a result of correcting abuses, improving moral standards and abandoning vices – is our best bet for a long-term fix.
Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija
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