By Abu Onyiani
I watched with disgust as Habeeb Okikiola Badmus, a musician popularly known as Portable physically assaulted a preacher on live video. While I understand his vexation at the actions of the preacher, whom he claims have been repeatedly warned against coming to his bar to preach, his actions, nonetheless, are barbaric.
He is known for being obstreperous; he has often displayed his lack of decorum in public spaces and his lack of control when speaking. I still cringe whenever I remember he almost stripped naked when he was campaigning for the All Progressive Congress. On another occasion, he showed his climbing skills in an event organized by the Nigerian Bar Association in Lagos. Months later, he scaled a gate to evade arrest by operatives of the Nigerian Police Force on camera.
The commentary on social media has been disappointing in many quarters because, as usual, most people have refused to focus on the main issue on the ground: the assault on another citizen while he was subdued and didn’t fight.
Like clock work, Many Christians began uploading and sharing videos of them or their spiritual leaders laying curses on Portable, throwing tantrums and hissy fits in a show of impotent rage while declaring touching a Man of God was a death sentence.
On the other hand, others agreed with Portable, citing the abuse being meted out to them by Christians. I have had the personal misfortune of living with firebrand Pentecostal neighbours, the ones who cried and shouted as they spoke in tongues at midnight or in the wee hours of the morning or played excruciatingly loud music that messed up my sleep, emotions and mood. When our transformer blew, I cried with joy. That joy was short-lived as they bought a generator and soon continued from where they stopped.
We have also seen marketplaces, stadiums, and bus parks temporarily shut down because of the activities of Christians. It is a form of employment for many religious hustlers who are at bus parks and offer prayers before the start of a journey in exchange for “voluntary” offerings to support God’s work before a journey. An exercise I think is preposterous particularly because vehicle maintenance culture, condition, drug and alcohol abuse of the driver, bad roads or road worthiness of the vehicle are often not considered when looking at causative factors of road accidents in Nigeria.
Back to the topic, the unjust colonization of public and private spaces by proselytizing Christians should warrant other forms of restraining or subduing them. Involving the police or a court of law is better than physical abuse. It is disgraceful that Portable, who is one of Nigeria’s most famous musicians, continues to exhibit gutter behaviour.
I also think the church and Christians, in general, should stop spiritualizing everything. A society engrossed in superstition and spiritualization cannot grow. One of the biggest reasons Nigeria is where it is today isn’t because of curses, it is in the belief of curses. Where legal actions should be taken, they tend to spin webs of spiritual bulaba, leaving no room for actual progress in society.
For example, after being called out by pastors, Portable himself, while donning a white dress, has said he is a pastor and that his actions are backed by god.
God has not told me he didn’t call him.
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