By Bala Baba Dihis
What is the importance of the business management you studied in school and the skills you acquired while training yourself for many years, when you truly believe that it is some blue eyes you bought from some Spiritualist, an amulet you got from some Dibia or some anointing oil that you bought from your Pastor that will make your business become successful?
In Nigeria today our education, skills and knowledge have all been neutralized by our overtly superstitious beliefs. In Nigeria today many graduates and other educated people truly believe that a blue eye charm, anointing oil or a pastor’s white handkerchief is more important to most of them in solving their day to day problems than skill, knowledge or determination.
Educated people in Nigeria will be confidently talking about spiritual aura for success or curses from their mother’s or father’s side (generational curses) as a barrier or constraint in business, instead of talking about business location, better customer relationship management, better product packaging, product differentiation, discount, special advertisement etc.
Belief in empty superstitions have rendered us completely stupid and ridiculous. Instead of investing in better marketing strategies, people truly believe that paying tithes or fasting for days will solve their problems with their business competitors. Others believe that using charms will magically give them an edge with their business competitors, instead of product differentiation or a simple change of location.
In Nigeria today you will encounter many educated people confidently blaming their failure or predicaments on their village people instead of searching within themselves to know what they are doing wrongly and how they can make things better. No misfortune is considered normal anymore amongst most people. Everything now has some spiritual meaning or is attributed to the supernatural dimension.
Some months ago I visited a friend who was facing some financial problems because of his bad decisions, we had some confidential discussion and he told me that he is suspecting his wife as the reason behind his failure, I asked why and he told me that since he got married to his wife his business has not been doing well and the same thing happened to the man that married his wife’s younger sister, he claimed that there seems to be a pattern and he believes his wife’s family is under some spell. He said once you marry from the family their bad luck falls on you, he also mentioned his Pastor in the mix, he said his Pastor told him to pray against generational curses from his wife’s side.
He has refused to look within and see that the mistake is from him, he spent too much on his wedding to please the public and that affected his business. Then there are so many competitors and the demand for his product has declined because of the bad economy. I then advised him to open a branch somewhere with less competitors, lower his prices and let’s see how it goes, he did and now things are picking up gradually. Instead of looking within he decided to go the superstitious way and blame his wife and her family for what they know nothing about.
People believe in the supernatural and its accompanying superstitions more than they believe in their abilities, education and enlightenment. Some years ago my mum had some Colon problems that couldn’t be detected in Nigeria because of absence of good medical equipment and one of the doctors told me that we should take her to a bible believing church because her problems might be spiritual. We took her to India and she was diagnosed with stage one Colon Cancer, luckily it was stage one and she was quickly treated.
How does a society solve its day to day problems if the members of the society keep attributing their problems to the supernatural? The supernatural that they all agree is not well known or is unknown. How do you solve the unknown?
Many years ago the Europeans and Asians also used to be like us, they also believed in magic, superstitions and make-belief, but over time they began to realize that natural problems can only be solved through natural solutions. Once they did, they never looked back. Look at them today.
Until we all understand that all our problems are natural and can only be solved naturally we will continue to move around a circle.
(c) Bala Baba Dihis 2022
Comments (10)
Hayatu Ezrasays:
March 30, 2022 at 5:36 pmSummary of the true state of our continent…when my mom died few years ago, her family said she was killed. They took some of her clothes to a seer to look for answers.
Reginald Dokubosays:
December 21, 2022 at 7:48 pmI am so sorry about your mum.
Romeosays:
March 30, 2022 at 5:53 pmMy younger brother once wore a sweatshirt to his friend’s house on a cold morning. The sun was out and sunny, the weather got warm so he removed his shirt and eventually forgot it there. Two weeks after, he needed this same shirt, he swore to have left it in his box.
The house went spiritual, my mom started suspecting his village people for picking his son’s shirt that was locked up in his box. My different position on this made me the black sheep of the family. Two weeks after this incident, I saw this my younger’s friend pictures on Facebook in this same shirt all swaged up. I screenshot these pictures and shut everybody’s mouth at home.
Olamilekansays:
March 31, 2022 at 2:27 pmThis is indeed the truth about equating everything to supernatural and a friend of mine is like that despite him making bad decisions in the site of his business
Kidega Ronaldsays:
March 31, 2022 at 9:33 pmBrilliant write-up.
Olamilekansays:
April 6, 2022 at 12:14 pmSuperstitious belief is really doing Nigeria bad… I hope the next generation can make things right with religion
ARUKWE CHIEDOZIE ANOINTINGsays:
April 7, 2022 at 8:00 pmBala has been a symbol of positivity and am thrilled by these .. someday Africa will get it right ..however we still have a long way to go ..
Emmanuel Ondomasays:
June 29, 2022 at 11:54 pmIt’s easier to blame an occurrence to a spiritual source than to look for the actual cause if it. A lot of things would’ve been better if we were practical rather than spiritual. The same European countries who brought Christianity to Africa, you won’t see them holding a 3 days crusade to pray agains unemployment. They’d rather his seminars and lectures to empower themselves. If we can copy religion, why can’t we copy that too?
Utibe Ettefiasays:
December 17, 2022 at 8:01 amOur superstitious belief is one of the reasons we can’t progress as a nation. A country whose political leaders leave problems for an imaginary being to solve will never progress.
Reginald Dokubosays:
December 21, 2022 at 7:56 pmThis is how the “DELTA-VARIANT” of the coronavirus, emerged from India.
Instead of following the laid down protocols, they were busy drinking cow urine, a drink that is regarded as sacred and divine in their country.
The larger the pool of unvaccinated people+ the longer the delay in not getting vaccinated, lead to excess time and options to mix with, leading to the mutation of the original strain of corona, to the deadlier “DELTA VARIANT”.