Pulse Opinion: Superstitious Nigerians need to get out of jail created by their minds

The regard for superstitions has limited the growth of the society to imply what it means to be advanced.

You must have occasionally found yourself in a nervy moment encouraged by a Nigerian who is superstitious in nature.

The individual has a list of reasons guided by myths, concerning why one should feel weary after hitting a foot against a rock. According to a legend, this is a signal of an impending doom. To avert this will require spiritual cleansing.

 

Pulse recently conducted an opinion poll concerning if having regular wet dreams means one is under spiritual attack and the responses suggests a society soaked deep in the culture of false belief. Though a larger group (56%) think it is normal to ejaculate from one's sleep, 44 percent believed there is a voodoo involved when a person consistently has wet dreams though a medical research think this is absolutely normal.

One would argue that Nigerians often allow their lives to be determined by societal beliefs which forces them to submission as a result of fear of consequences - a factor that best describes the general way of living of most Africans. A traditional mentality still holds sway in the hearts of people of this race despite huge advancement in technology.

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For example, it is believed that picking a 'misplaced' money from the ground invites a chance of one being turned into yam. It is important to note that this composition is not ruling a possibility due to the fetish prowess of the society, but this can never be an everyday thing. It is not possible that all the currency lying on the streets of Lagos have been infested with charms by Baba Soji the babalawo (A priest who worships small gods).

While making sure to hold on to its rich cultural heritage, it is important for Nigerians to unlearn and relearn as some of the beliefs are superstitions generated from a lone incident. The imposed assertions are used to control the behaviour of the people who place a high value on morals, but it has not necessarily served them well.

The idea of a married woman who is expected to remain in an abusive marriage is gross yet popularly supported in the Yoruba culture. A society that sees women as objects will appraise the victim by how long she endured the union. This describes a group of people who cannot fathom the idea that a woman can leave her husband or dominate on things.

Maybe the society will experience true growth as soon as it permanently shelves obsolete thinking which puts its people in unfavourable circumstances - superstitions for example. We are not so different from the stone men if we subject our people to undue hardship facilitated by strange beliefs that never determine true outcomes.