Soludo, extend the repression, please, promising Adiele – THIS

Anambra State governor and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Chukwuma Soludo, means many things to many people. His reputation resonates across the country in fragmented decibels, making his persona open to different interpretations. For some, it was the CBN governor who orchestrated one of the most effective monetary policies in Africa during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, which contributed significantly to the economic recovery and stability of that era. To many people, he is the politician who campaigned under the slogan “solution” in his quest for Anambra State House but failed miserably to transform the state into Dubai as he promised.

Yet, others conceive of him as a governor whose political behavior is based on puerile pettiness and childish indulgences amplified by an unwarranted and unprovoked attack on Peter Obi. Some criticize him for aligning himself with a federal government that many believe is insensitive to the needs of Anambra, while others praise him for abolishing the stay-at-home order and taking action against spiritual practices deemed exploitative. This repression of spiritualists is the focus of this essay, which questions its logic and broader implications.

Throughout Nigeria, Africa and much of the world, different people adopt various methods of spirituality to relate to the otherworldly and supernatural realm. Spirituality offers people a specific way to express certain beliefs about existence and subjective experiences. In fact, many people believe that the spiritual realm controls the physical realm, so to catalyze events in the physical realm, humanity must necessarily devise a way to control the spiritual realm. Spirituality is deep, quite deep. Unfortunately, many people don’t understand this. They mistakenly perceive it as sacred through abstinence or denial of some bodily gratifications.

To put it simply, spirituality is the determined personal search for the existence of a transcendental being whose essence is beyond the physical realm. Understanding and guidance from such a transcendental being can aid growth, discernment, and higher knowledge of the world. Some people, in their spiritual search for Almighty God, have achieved higher insights into the physical world. Besides God, there are also lesser transcendental beings who are beneficiaries or recipients of the power spread by Almighty God through what is generally referred to as polytheism.

While some people access the Supreme God directly, other people access Him indirectly through deities and lesser gods. Indeed, in this part of the world, given the desperation of many people to discover the future and take control of their own destiny, they become naive and submit to charlatans like Soyinka’s brother Jero, who pretend to possess the power of prophecy. These charlatans are found in every religion, including Christianity, Islam and African traditional religion.

Therefore, there are false pastors and prophets, false imams and false traditional believers who exploit the gullibility of the naive to make money. Many false pastors and prophets claim to have the power to make people rich or gain material glory. They see their members as customers, just as Brother Jero called his potential members customers.

Many imams do the same and many worshipers of different deities and gods also do the same. Many of them aid spiritual wickedness and inflict multiple harms on other people through various spiritual practices. They produce spiritual devices for success in business, instant wealth through rituals, quick marriages, love portions, protection, conceiving children and much more. While some powers work, others don’t. Of course there are powers and there are powers. Today, many people, out of desperation, have fallen victim to these false spiritual practitioners.

Recently, Professor Chukwuma Soludo decided to crack down on spiritualists in Anambra State who claim to possess one form or another of power. He invaded their sanctuaries and destroyed all aspects of spiritual fame. There is the local doctor called Chidozie Nwangwu, popularly known as Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki (The Egg That Broke the Palm Kernel). His pseudonym underlines the invisibility and omnipotence linked to his practice because it is practically impossible for an egg to break a palm kernel. Chidozie presented himself as a powerful young man who had the power to do the unthinkable, including making people rich, granting them successful embassies, giving them the power to win elections, summoning powers for success in business, and much more.

As expected, many people, both old and young, have patronized him with varying degrees of success and failure. Gradually, the young man became a household name throughout the Southeast. His reputation spread like wildfire and he continued to behave like a demigod. That is until Soludo remembered him. He was arrested and charged to court. After several legal proceedings, Chidozie pleaded guilty to deceiving the public by magical means. He was sentenced to two years in prison together with his two disciples.

There was also John Paul Ezenagu, popularly known as Mmuo Mmili Afulu Anya (The sea deity seen by all). He was arrested by Soludo’s men in his sanctuary home, where he received his clients. Ezeagu was supposed to worship a mermaid spirit that manifested itself in the form of a crocodile. Through his craft, he was famous for making people rich, becoming successful, traveling abroad, winning elections, winning court cases, and reaching other glorified heights celebrated by commodified and sublunary consciousnesses. Before his arrest, Ezeagu was believed to possess the power to call upon a crocodile which appeared from a small stream and spoke to him. However, when men of the Udogachi security outfit in Anambra State captured him, he insisted on the superiority of his spiritual powers.

He was asked to demonstrate his powers by calling upon the mermaid spirit to appear in the form of a crocodile. In what might be called a reminiscence of what happened to the prophets of Baal in the Bible, Ezeagu attempted in vain to summon the mermaid’s spirit. After several attempts accompanied by his mysterious bell, the crocodile failed to appear. He surrendered and apologized to the security agents, Soludo and all the people of Anambra State. He was immediately taken into custody and will soon be charged to court.

In the wake of what happened to Chidozie and Ezeagu, many spiritualists in the state disappeared and destroyed their shrines out of fear of Soludo and his men. Following the two incidents mentioned above, many people in the Southeast praised Soludo for his foresight and drastic measures to rid the state of spiritual entrepreneurs.

But the big question remains: when will Soludo extend its crackdown to many churches that claim to wield the powers of the Supreme God to deceive people under the guise of miracles? If Chidozie and Ezeagu had built a church, given it a name, and used the word “miracle” instead of “magic”, would Soludo have invaded their churches and destroyed them? Many magicians and spiritualists who hide under the name of a church with beautiful modern architecture have done worse things than Chidozie and Ezeagu. When will Soludo be able to repress them?

If Ezeagu was arrested and taken into custody because he failed to successfully summon the mermaid spirit he worshipped, then many pastors in Nigeria who perform miracles ostensibly under the name of God will also go to prison because they cannot invoke the essence through which they perform their miracles. Many false prophets and pastors have led people astray by forcing their followers to participate in rituals that are unrelated to biblical practices. Spiritual deception in any form and under any religion should be condemned and the perpetrators should be arrested.

Other governors should emulate him. Spiritualists, prophets, imams and worshipers of different deities should be investigated and included in the book. All beaches in Lagos should be raked and the weekly sacrifices taking place there should be stopped. There are many churches in Nigeria where parents are encouraged to kill their children on suspicion of being witches and wizards. Soludo should go there immediately. There are some churches in Nigeria where animals are buried in their altars. Soludo, to you, sir. Let us free Nigeria from marabouts, false pastors, false prophets, false spiritualists and other such people who claim to serve God while serving the devil.

Finally, Soludo should quickly arrest a certain prophet who said that Donald Trump will lose the US election. The prophet claimed to have heard directly from God. Trump won. The prophet heard about Satan. Soludo and his men should act immediately. There is another prophet who said that Nigerian footballer Ademola Lookman would cause great embarrassment to Nigeria during the just concluded AFCON and advised the coach to drop him from the team. It turned out that Lookman was one of Nigeria’s standout performers during the tournament. Soludo should arrest the prophet immediately because it is evident that he is in communion with Satan. We must rid our social spaces of devils and Satan in human form. Soludo should extend the repression.

Promise Adiele PhD

Mountain University

promee01@yahoo.com

X: @drpee4

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