1.0.Brief Opening Notes:
Now
and again, it is recounted that some evil men in the society engage in money
ritual. In our dialect, it is taken to be ‘ogwu ego.’ One of the purveyors of
this scaring act is the movie industry. From childhood, a lot of influences and
wrong notions have been ‘forcefully’ impacted on the children and respectively
almost every one of us. Some of these influences we carry on till death. Some
are very difficult to be effaced. Some are corrected by education in form of
enlightenment.
2.0.Its a Pity:
At
childhood, we learn that one should not talk at night lest one be carried away
by the evil spirit. Some would be told not to go to so so river at so so and so
so moment lest the river will turn into blood and many more others. All these
are aimed, inter alia, at controlling certain stubbornness and arrogance in
children. But, it is quite unfortunate as one grows up, these become really
part and parcel of us. Considering the
topic of our examination, it will immediately call to mind, the erroneous
notion we have as it concerns ‘ogwu ego.’ We believe or rather we are meant to
believe that some bad people engage in ‘ogwu ego’ so as to be rich. Such people
are purported to have suffered much but all to no avail. Some of such are said
often time to be lazy ones who do not want to suffer to make money. And so,
most at times, when a poor man popularly known by his people gets rich all of a
sudden, people are bound to tag the source of his richness ‘ogwu ego’
especially those who do not benefit from the cash. Fine, this paper is not
interested in the source of their wealth; rather, it is faced with the
challenge of examining the concept itself.
3.0.Some Explications and the Bane of our Movie
Industries:
Moreover,
the concept of ‘money ritual’ etymologically and contextually originates from
the two Igbo words: “ogwu” meaning “medicine or ritual” and “ego” meaning
“money.” Both cumulatively make up ‘ogwu ego’ meaning ‘money ritual.’ Those who
engage in this ritual are known to be “ndi ogwu ego.” This is a belief that
some people engage in ritual to earn or make money the easiest way. Such ‘evil
society’ is taken to be crafty and secret. They kill and demand blood
sacrifices from loved ones or closest relation. Sometimes, one’s private part
or any other thing so dear to one is demanded. When they ‘spiritually’ call up
the person killed, he or she vomits money for them. I wonder! From time to
time, it is acclaimed that such people make human donation only to elongate
theirs. They are believed to be having their meetings at secret and strategic
places and times mostly unknown by the rest of us. Some are told not to build
or complete any building, some not to help their close relations: brothers,
sisters et cetera, while some others may be mandated not to enjoy the money
they have. All these we learnt from MOVIES. What a pity!!!!!!
4.0.‘Ogwu Ego’: A PHILOSOPHICAL LOOK
A
critical and philosophical examination of this act/concept leaves us with much
implication. Hampering on one, it is believed that such evil people used to
call up one that they have killed at one point or the other. At such points,
those people killed for money ritual are believed to vomit money at the mention
of their names. What a mere deception! This appears metaphysically incorrect,
an impossicant. They produce money right? Every money produced by the Central
Bank Nigeria or World Bank has number. So, what number will that money vomited
in that way take? Is that money original? Or is it what we take as fake? If
that endeavour is real don’t you think that Nigeria may not be in this kind of
crises as of present, because, those we see as ritualists must have produced
greater money than those produced by the central or world bank? Again, who
signed the money in question? Is it the current governor of central bank? Who
determines the currency and denomination the person ritually called will vomit?
Will it be euro, pound, Naira or what? How does the person vomiting the money
get the right picture and designations to attach in each denomination? What
about different languages engraved in each, does the dead know these languages?
How did the dead in question get the logo of the CBN and other materials to make
up such money or currency? And if such concept is real, don’t you think almost
all of us must have touched the money involved, and why have we all not died or
all our destinies not taken away?
5.0.The End: Explaining the Fraudsters
My
dear, there are lots of wrong notions that really need to be decolonised from
our mental make-up. Those we erroneously believe to be ‘ndi ogwu ego’ are those
who come together and are united with a common secret agenda. They are
fraudsters. They have their crafty and magic or better still secret ways of
duping, deceiving, fooling and taking away people’s money to enrich themselves.
But, being satanic, they are told to kill any of their loved ones so as to
ascertain that they are now strong to keep their top secrets, and many other
crafty plans of theirs. From our philosophical investigation, consequently, it
is evident that there is no ground to believe that the concept of ‘ogwu ego’
holds water, because there is no NECESSARY CONNECTION between calling the name
of a dead person and the vomiting of some hard currencies. If you are asked how
you got this idea even if it is your pastor, the Movie industries will be held
responsible. What a thing the movies have done to us and we assimilate it hook
line and sinker! Learn to be critical!! We must learn to question most of our
fundamental assumptions!! Thank you philosophy, am ever grateful and my brother
Aristotle!!!
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