Issue

Vol. 45 No. 3 (2020): Africa Development: Special Issue on African Youth and Globalisation

3 - The Return of the Gods? Trends and Implications of the Rising Popularity of Fetish Rituals and Occult Practices Among Nigerian Youth

https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v45i3.634
Jacinta Chiamaka Nwaka

Corresponding Author(s) : Jacinta Chiamaka Nwaka

jacinta.nwaka@uniben.edu

Africa Development, Vol. 45 No. 3 (2020): Africa Development: Special Issue on African Youth and Globalisation

Abstract

In his seminal 1993 work The Embattled Gods: Christianization of Igboland 1841–1991, Ogbu Kalu argued that the gods of African traditional religion were dislodged from their stronghold but not completely defeated. Could the rising popularity of fetish rituals and occult practices among the Nigerian youth over the last two decades mean the return of these gods? Using historical analytical methodology, this article examines the rising influence of fetish rituals and occult practices among youth in southern Nigeria. It recognises the current attraction of the occult world as a subtle form of youth resistance to financial and social insecurity engendered by the modern state system in Nigeria, as well as youth resistance to the money-making ethos of ‘prosperity gospel’ evangelism. The article argues that, while the surge in youth engagement in ritual and occult practices may appear to be a form of re-traditionalisation, such cultural revisionism can better be described as an instrument of youth resistance.

Keywords

Nigeria youth fetish rituals occult practices African traditional religion missionary Christianity
[1]
Nwaka, J.C. 2020. 3 - The Return of the Gods? Trends and Implications of the Rising Popularity of Fetish Rituals and Occult Practices Among Nigerian Youth. Africa Development. 45, 3 (Jun. 2020). DOI:https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v45i3.634.
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
References
  1. Adesina, S., 2012, ‘The Negative Impact of Globalization on Nigeria’, International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 13, pp. 193–203.
  2. Adesina, S., 2017, ‘Cyber Crime and Poverty in Nigeria’, Journal of Canadian Social Science, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 19–22.
  3. Adoyi, A. 2013, ‘100 Million Nigerians Live in Abject Poverty – World Bank’, Daily Post, 13 November. Available online at https://dailypost.ng/2013/11/13/100-million-nigerians-live-inabject-poverty-world-bank/.
  4. Afigbo, A.E., 1972, The Warrant Chiefs: Indirect Rule in Southern Nigeria, London: Humanities Atlantic Highlands.
  5. Akinpelu, B.A., 2015, Trends and Patterns of Fatalities Resulting from Cult Societies and Beliefs in Witchcraft in Nigeria, 2009–2014, French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA), University of Ibadan, Working Paper Series No. 49.
  6. Anugwom, E., 2011, ‘Something Mightier: Marginalization, Occult Imagination and the Youth Conflict in the Oil-Rich Niger Delta’, African Spectrum, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 3–26.
  7. Ashforth, A., 2005, Witchcraft, Violence and Democracy in South Africa, Chicago: Chicago University Press.
  8. Ashanti, K.F., 2009, ‘Blood’, in M.K. Asante and A. Mazama, eds, Encyclopedia of African Religion, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  9. Asu, A., 2013, ‘Nigeria’s Economy Faces Danger as Inequality Rises’, Business Day, 10 December.
  10. Awogbenle, A.C. and Iwuamadi, K.C., 2010, ‘Youth Unemployment: Entrepreneurship Development Program as an Intervention Mechanism’, African Journal of Business Management, Vol. 4, No. 6, pp. 831–5.
  11. Ayegboyin, D., 2009, ‘Sacrifice’ in M.K. Asante and A. Mazama, eds, Encyclopedia of African Religion, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  12. Bayat, A., 2000, ‘From Dangerous Classes to Quiet Rebels: Politics of the Urban Subaltern in the Global South’, International Sociology, Vol. 15, Issue 3, pp. 533–57.
  13. Bediako, K., 1995, Christianity in Africa, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis.
  14. Bell, R., 2002, Understanding African Philosophy: A Cross-Cultural Approach to Classical and Contemporary Issues. New York and London: Routledge.
  15. Berman, B.J., 2006, ‘The Ordeal of Modernity in Age of Terror’, African Studies Review, Vol. 49, No.1, pp. 1–14.
  16. Comaroff, J. and Comaroff, J., 1999, ‘Occult Economies and the Violence of Abstraction: Notes from the South African Post Colony’, American Ethnologist, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 279–303.
  17. Comaroff, J. and Comaroff, J., 2018, ‘Occult Economies, Revised: Enchantment, Spells and Occult Practices in Contemporary Economies’, in B. Moeran and M. de Waal, eds, Magical Capitalism, London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 289–320. Available online at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326418606_Occult_Economies_Revisited_Enchantment_Spells_and_Occult_Practices_in_Contemporary_Economies.
  18. Dardot P., and Laval, C., 2014, The New Way of the World: On Neoliberal Society, G. Eliot, trans., New York: Verso.
  19. Ekpo, A.H. and Omoweh, D.A., 2001, ‘Political Economy of African Security’, in R.A. Akindele and E. Ete, eds, Beyond Conflict Resolution: Managing Africa’s Security in the 21st Century, Lagos: Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.
  20. Ellis, S. and Ter Haar, G., 2007, ‘Religion and Politics: Taking African Epistemologies Seriously’, Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 385–401.
  21. Evans-Pritchard, E.E., 1976, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  22. Geschiere, P., 1997, The Modernity of Witchcraft: Politics and the Occult in Post-Colonial Africa, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
  23. Ginwright, S., Noguera, P. and Cammarota, J., 2006, Beyond Resistance: Youth Activism and Community Change, New York: Routledge.
  24. Gyamfi, C.G., 2017, ‘Pastor Arrested for Burying Human Parts in Church’, The Guardian, 17 August.
  25. Available online at https://guardian.ng/news/pastor-arrested-for-burying-human-parts-in church/.
  26. Harnischfeger, J., 2006, State Decline and the Return of Occult Powers: The Case of Prophet Eddy in Nigeria, Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  27. Idowu, E.B., 1973, African Traditional Religion: A Definition, London: Scan Press.
  28. Idowu, W., 2005, ‘Law, Morality and African Cultural Heritage: The Jurisprudential Significance of the Ogboni Institution’, Nordic Journal of African Studies, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 175–92.
  29. Ifeka, C., 2006, ‘Youth Culture and the Fetishization of Violence in Nigeria’, Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 33, Issue 110, pp. 721–36.
  30. Iroegbu, S., 2016, ‘Nigeria Loses Over N127b Annually Through Cyber Crime’, This Day, 19 April. Available online at https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/04/19/nigeria-loses-over-n127bn-annually-through-cybercrime-2/.
  31. Jannah, C., 2017, ‘Pastor Caught with Fresh Heart of One-year-old Girl in Calabar’, Daily Post, 26 August. Available online at https://dailypost.ng/2017/08/26/pastor caught-fresh-heart-one-year-old-girl-calabar/.
  32. Johansson, T. and Lalander, P., 2012, ‘Doing Resistance: Youth and Changing Theories of Resistance’, Journal of Youth Studies, Vol. 15, No. 8, pp. 1–11. Available online at
  33. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1367626 1.2012.693591.
  34. Kalu, O., 1993, The Embattled Gods: Christianization of Igboland, 1841–1991, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
  35. Kalu, O., 2007, ‘African Christianity: An Overview’, in K. Ogbu, ed., African Christianity: An African Story, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press. pp. 23–40.
  36. Kohner, D., 2003, ‘Witchcraft and Transnational Spaces: Witchcraft, Violence, Reconciliation and Development in South Africa’s Transition Process’, Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 217–45.
  37. Lasania, Y.Y., 2016, ‘90 Per Cent of Foreigners Involved in Cybercrime are Nigerians’, The Hindu, 16 August. Available online at https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/90-per-cent-of foreigners-involved-in-cyber-crime-are-Nigerians/article14572630.ece.
  38. Lilja, M., Baaz, M., Schulz, M. and Vinthagen, S., 2017, ‘How Resistance Encourages Resistance: “Organized Resistance” and “Everyday Resistance”’, Journal of Political Power, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 40–54.
  39. Madike, I., 2017, ‘Ritual Killing: The Story of Pain and Depravity’, New Telegraph, 2 September.
  40. Magesa, L., 1997, African Religion: The Moral Foundation of Abundant Life, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis.
  41. Mbiti, J. 1975, Introduction to African Religion, New York: Praeger.
  42. NBS (National Bureau of Statistics), 2009, Social Statistics in Nigeria, Abuja: NBS.
  43. NDIC (Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation), 2014, Annual Report 2014. Abuja:
  44. NDIC.Njoku, C.A., 2007, ‘The Missionary Factor in African Christianity, 1884–1914’, in K. Ogbu, ed., African Christianity: An African Story, Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 192–229.
  45. Ntombana, L., 2015, ‘The Trajectories of Christianity and African Ritual Practices: The Public Silence and the Dilemma of Mainline or Mission Churches’, Acta Theologica, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 104–19. Nwaka: The Return of the Gods?
  46. Nwaka, J.C., 2011, ‘Beyond the Service of Schools: The Catholic Church and the Use of Creative Art in the Evangelization of the Lower Niger’, Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Vol. 20, pp. 67–86.
  47. Nwaka, J.C., 2012, ‘The Early Missionary Groups and the Contest for Igboland: A Re-appraisal of their Evangelization Strategies’, Missiology: An International Review, Vol. XL, No. 4, pp. 409–23.
  48. Nwoga, D., 1984, The Supreme God as a Stranger in Igbo Religious Thought, New York: Hawk Press.
  49. Olutande, T., 2013, ‘A Spiritual Dimension to Cybercrime in Nigeria: The Yahoo “Plus” Phenomenon’, Human Affairs, Vol. 23, pp. 689–705.
  50. Oluwole, J., 2017, ‘How We Killed Three Students, Removed, Sold Breast for N15 million – Ritual Killers’, Premium Times, 7 September. Available online at https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/242681-killed-three-students-removed-sold-breasts-n15-million-ritual-killers.html.
  51. Omenka, N., 1989, The School in the Service of Evangelization, Leiden: E. Bill.
  52. Orde-Browne, J., 1935, ‘Witchcraft and British Colonial Law’, Africa, Vol. 8, Issue 4, pp. 481–7.
  53. Oyewole, S., 2016, ‘Kidnapping for Rituals: Article of Faith and Insecurity in Nigeria’, Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies, Vol. 9, No. 9, pp. 31–52.
  54. Ozor, C., 2014, ‘Ritual Killers on the Prowl in Enugu’, Vanguard, 4 April. Available online at https://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/04/ ritual-killers-prowl-enugu/.
  55. Parker, J., 2004, ‘Witchcraft, Anti-Witchcraft and Trans-Regional Ritual Innovation in Early Colonial Ghana: Sakrabundi and Aberewa, 1889–1910’, The Journal of African History, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 393–420.
  56. Punch Editorial, 2018, ‘Return of Badoo Ritual Killings in Lagos’, Punch, 19 January. Available online at https://punchng.com/return-of-badoo-ritual-killings-in-lagos/.
  57. Scott, J.C., 1985, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  58. Scott, J.C., 1990, Domination and Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  59. Shujaa, M.J., 2009, ‘Rituals’ in M.K. Asante and A. Mazama, eds, Encyclopedia of African Religion, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  60. Stoll, D., 2013, ‘Three Ethnographies of Escape in Pyramid Schemes’ Anthropological Quarterly,Vol. 86, No. 1, pp. 277–85.
  61. Tade, O., and Aliyu, A., 2011, ‘Social Organization of Internet Fraud among University Undergraduates in Nigeria’, International Journal of Cyber Criminology, Vol. 5, No. 2, 860–75.
  62. Talbot, P.A. 1969, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, London: F. Case.
  63. The Economist, 2014, ‘Step Change: Revised Figures Show that Nigeria is Africa’s Largest Economy’. Available online at http://www.economist.com/news/finance-andeconomics/21600734-revised-figures-show-nigeria-africas-largest-economy-step-change.
Read More

Author Biography

Jacinta Chiamaka Nwaka

Department of History and International Studies, University of Benin, Nigeria.
Email: jacinta.nwaka@uniben.edu

Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 879 Download : 154

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Similar Articles

<< < 79 80 81 82 83 84 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.