By Ufuoma Bernard
For about thirty years, Nollywood has sold one dangerous lie to Africans.
It is money ritual. “Living in Bondage” the movie that made Nollywood popular is about money ritual. It was a blockbuster movie and because of popular demand Part 2 was hurriedly produced. Since the early 90s when the movie was released there have been thousands of movies about money rituals from the Nollywood stable feeding the ravenous appetite of Africans for the absurd.
DSTV African Magic Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Epic continue to see the need to push the money ritual narrative. This have caused the majority of Africans to believe in money rituals. The frightening thing about this trend is that the money ritual requires human sacrifice.
Guess what? Money rituals have led people into abducting and kidnapping people to be killed for sacrifice. The police working on tips have raided several shrines in the South West which is notorious for such practices where victims were freed and human parts were discovered.
In Lagos many years ago a girl I knew very well was murdered in cold blood in the home of her Alhaja hostess and her eyes, nipples and clitoris harvested. I officiated in her burial in Warri.
There are lines of money rituals like using your penis. It is said that after the ritual you will become impotent and stupendously rich. There are other lines like having a sore on your head that never heals or using one of your eyes or hands as sacrifice to become wealthy.
The most horrible story line that has been written by Nollywood I guess is the money ritual that involves pounding a new born baby and the placenta to a pulp for sacrifice to be rich.
Do money rituals work? Capital NO! Then why do so many people believe it works? Nollywood! As long as the Video and Films Censors Board continues to allow the marketing of money ritual films, the public will continue to lap up the nonsense.
Money rituals are superstitious beliefs. There’s no juju in the world that can invoke money from the bank into a box or coffin and it’s impossible for a human being to vomit money. It’s all shenanigans and abracadabra. The more you look the less you see.
There’s a whole industry in Africa built around money rituals. I hear that there are black markets where human parts of all kinds are sold and bought. Mortuary attendants and graveyard workers are also rumoured to be a part of the supply chain of this dark, dank industry.
The richest people in Africa like Dangote, Adenuga, Alakija, Otedola, Ibeto, Elumelu, Ovia, Lulu-Briggs and Oyedepo etc are people engaged in high wired businesses, not any nonsense money rituals. Show me one person who became rich through money ritual!
Most people who are into armed robbery, kidnapping, 419, politics and other illegal businesses are seen as people who made it through rituals. But it is not true. When breeze blow fowl yansh go show.
Why is it that such beliefs like money rituals are prevalent in poor countries? Why is it that you don’t find such sickening narratives in the developed world? Your guess is as good as mine.
The real money rituals are hard work, creative thinking and patience. The danger about Nollywood pushing the money rituals narrative through its flicks is the mental poisoning of the public. People instead of becoming industrious are now looking for rituals to make money. This does not bode well for the future of Africa. When Europe, Asia and the Americas are talking of Artificial Intelligence, building cities in Space, Robotics, clean energy and the eradication of poverty Africans are believing that with mosquito nose, elephant sperm, owl egg and pregnant women urine you can make a charm of goodluck.