When an extraterrestrial being gets abducted in a Hollywood movie, the government locks it up to harness its potential for weaponry. However, Nollywood avoids depicting aliens altogether, instead focusing on narratives where encounters with supernatural entities often revolve around individuals pursuing financial gain. This led me to believe that should we ever apprehend an alien here, our first instinct would likely be to force it to dispense cash endlessly. Money captivates us profoundly—it commands both our focus and interactions between human and non-human realms alike. Our cultural fabric brims with tales of men wielding mysterious abilities who summon riches via arcane rites. In societies such as ours, though, these fantasies aren’t confined solely within TV screens—they spill over into real life too.
The most recent shocking incident involving a money ritual killing was the capture of Obi Obieze, a "native doctor" based in Enugu, who had a 13-year-old boy in his possession intended for sacrifice to further his nefarious plans. The discussions surrounding this individual's apprehension frustrated me because many argued that ritual murders contravene the principles that native doctors supposedly uphold, instead of outrightly dismissing the notion that anyone can achieve wealth via these methods. Adding to the issue, Obieze’s reputation as a native doctor reinforced the prevailing view that adherents of so-called traditional religions possess the mystical knowledge required to perform spells like money rituals—hence why followers of our Abrahamic faiths often seek their counsel covertly despite knowing better.
This belief is so strong that it perpetuates systemic prejudice against indigenous religions. In Nigeria, everyone well-informed knows that individuals arrested for numerous crimes consist of both Christians and Muslims; however, followers of traditional spiritual practices often face the harshest consequences. As an example, Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo has targeted local healers he suspects of supporting rebellious factions within his jurisdiction by razing their sacred sites. Due to time constraints, I cannot fully explain to Soludo that during the 20th century, the British colonial administration similarly destroyed shrines in Igbo territory, ultimately discovering that such actions inadvertently reinforced peoples' faith in these places’ potency.
As we have increasingly alienated ourselves from our native faiths, the conviction in their capacity for mystical influence has only intensified. A new cohort of individuals, encompassing dynamic spiritual groups, self-proclaimed mystics, and numerous others who hold superstitious views, remains steadfast in upholding the belief in the supernatural abilities claimed by leaders of traditional religions. These believers' dedication isn’t solely rooted in an attachment to past traditions or a perception that these rituals provide moral direction; rather, it stems fundamentally from their inability to conceive of existence devoid of the concept that some divine force could create wealth out of thin air. This mindset highlights what I see as the core issue regarding how society regards our ancestral religions: many focus more on the supposed potential for magic within these doctrines than on the ethical teachings embedded therein.
A few years back, I attended a religious gathering in Nigeria where scholars shared findings about individuals abandoning Christianity and Islam in favor of traditional faiths. Their conclusion was striking: most converts sought deities that manifest through tangible signs like 'fire,' rather than ones encouraging moral growth or ethical conduct. This suggests many believers prioritize miraculous transformations over spiritual development. Unfortunately, even our culture sector exacerbates this issue. Nigerian movies rarely depict native beliefs as conduits for positive societal change or sources of meaningful values. Instead, divine figures in these films tend to be portrayed stereotypically.
To restate what I have repeatedly said in this column, there is no money ritual anywhere that works. No magical (or miracle) expertise anywhere in the world can make cash come out of nothing. What is called a money ritual is mostly a manipulation of credulity. After reading virtually every interview of those arrested for money rituals and the confession statement of the ritualists in documented police reports, I reasonably arrived at the conclusion that those arrested are split into two groups: people who knowingly deceive others, and the sincerely stupid people with a flimsy understanding of the modern monetary system. Those of the former category do not expect anything to happen and merely deceive with gimmickry. The latter, on the other hand, genuinely believes the magic is possible and therefore experiments with human lives. These are the ones who admit to trying out the rituals after learning about them. While no cash appears, they still make some money through sales of human body parts and that increases their motivation to keep trying. None of them has any record of testimonies of prior success, and they are usually men whose poverty is indelibly etched onto their appearance. They all look like their hearts would stop beating if they were ever handed a cash sum of one million in any currency. As stupid as they are, they are also the foot soldiers of a surreptitious economy of organ harvesting who hide their dealings in human body parts under the amorphous umbrella of “money rituals”.
This is where their inadequate grasp of the current financial system becomes apparent: the currency they wish to create emerged with modern times and thus is fairly new. These entities that are supposed to appear are thought to predate legal tender and ought to be beyond such transient concepts as money. Besides, since money in today’s economy is becoming increasingly abstract because of digital advancements, are these entities adapting to a digitized economic landscape, or do they remain tied to physical currencies like banknotes?
The progenitors of the phrase "money rituals" did so using metaphors and concepts far removed from the concrete interpretations employed by today’s “native doctors.” These early references emerged during a time when communities began observing the advent of a new economic system—the slave trade—that differed greatly from traditional agricultural economies. This novel framework presented opportunities for sudden prosperity with minimal labor, which was previously unheard of. Many of the current practitioners who perform human sacrifices in these rituals appear to be either misguided imposters or individuals suffering from unrecognized psychological disorders.
After Obieze’s arrest following a search party discovering a 13-year-old girl buried alive in a sewage pit inside an incomplete structure being utilized as a shrine, he clearly understood how to manipulate his client's mental state regarding this situation. He knew that a talisman crafted using the blood of an innocent person would have dual effects on anyone: driving them insane or hardening their moral compass. In cases where the latter occurs, individuals become daring enough to perform actions that distinguish extraordinary people from average ones. This form of sorcery isn’t primarily mystical but rather operates through psychological manipulation. Should someone be capable of living with themselves post-murder, they might feel justified in undertaking any unethical act for financial gain. Such behavior slightly enhances your prospects of success. Thus, the deception behind human sacrifices in these monetary rituals revolves around this mentality, rather than believing actual currency appears out of nowhere.
Provided by Syndigate Media Inc. ( Syndigate.info ).
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