April 13, 2010
This is another season of the swirling saga of witches and wizards. Two self-annulling and entertaining articles concurrently appeared in Nigeria’s Guardian Newspaper of Sunday, 4th April, 2010, “Under the spell of a witch”, written by Dr. Patience Turtoe – Sanders, and another by Inyang Ekanem, “Do Witches Exist?” I was thinking of a befitting rejoinder to the twosome articles, when a colleague who lives in the Lancaster in the United Kingdom (UK) forwarded to me a piece, entitled, “Witch – Hunts then and now”.
This is another season of the swirling saga of witches and wizards. Two self-annulling and entertaining articles concurrently appeared in Nigeria’s Guardian Newspaper of Sunday, 4th April, 2010, “Under the spell of a witch”, written by Dr. Patience Turtoe – Sanders, and another by Inyang Ekanem, “Do Witches Exist?” I was thinking of a befitting rejoinder to the twosome articles, when a colleague who lives in the Lancaster in the United Kingdom (UK) forwarded to me a piece, entitled, “Witch – Hunts then and now”.
The article written by Malcom Gaskill appeared in The London Guardian Newspaper on Monday, April 5, 2010. Certainly, this is another season of witches and wizards.
Patience Turtoe – Sanders is a known televangelist who has written lavishly on the themes of witches and Satans from her Christian perspectives. She is the founder of Celebrate Life International Ministry, a Christian group based in the United States of America. Turtoe – Sanders in her piece, Under the Spell of a Witch, wrote. “One under the spell of witches’ experiences confusion, the inability to complete tasks begun, being disliked or being hated for no reason, unwarranted rejection. His or her presence stirs up strife and quarrels even without speaking. There is lack of sexual desire for one’s spouse, and, in some cases, a strong urge to run away from one’s income, a strong urge to purchase unnecessary products and a total break down of things e.g. one’s car break down endlessly, so that money is spent repairing the car until there is great frustration. There is also a break down in communication between spouses, bosses and colleagues so that, whatever the spelled says, is used against him or her even when he or she tried to counsel others”
In her piece, Turtoe – Sanders argues further, “How to know a witch’s presence; you suddenly wake up at night, sweating and diaphoretic (causing excessive sweating) without suffering from tuberculosis or diabetes. You begin to panic without a prior diagnosis of depression. You have an eerie feeling of a presence that cannot be explained that makes you want to move, run or scream for help, but feel paralyzed. You make a conscious effort to get out of bed but can’t. You feel stuck and helpless”. Inyang Ekanem’s article was stirred by Patience Turtoe – Sanders earlier article in Nigeria’s Guardian, February 10, 2010, page 51 under the title, “An American Story”, Ekanem asserted, “In the write up, Patience nearly always seems to juxtapose an act of kindness with an evil occurrence or reward. Each time she sent money home to the countless mouths, she suffered nightmares, spiritual attacks and misfortune. Each time she became pregnant and informed the people back home, she would suffer miscarriage. Obviously, a new child would be a drain on her resources implying that she would have lesser resources to send back home. So, why should the hawks in the village permit her to have the child? The experiences are all so familiar”
Ekanem concluded the piece by proclaiming that, “Patience Turtoe – Sander’s story is therefore not entirely an American story. It could be a Nigerian story as well. It is an eye opener to those who insist that witches do not exist. Scholars will continue to insist that the issues are supra-empirical but for the likes of Patience and millions of other, there can be no argument. Witches exist. While Malcom Gaskill in his “Witches – Hunts then – and Now” started his article with, “Anyone who thinks that witchcraft belongs only to our past and imaginations should think again. Tens of thousands of people were executed as diabolists between the 15th and 18th centuries an episode that for many signifies an age of ignorance and intolerance from which the Enlightenment saved us. - - - - - In Sub-Sahara Africa the problem is even worse. The ferocity of witch-beliefs, knows no frontiers. The fundamentalist churches of some African communities in the UK sustain the concept of demonic possession and the need to fight it by physical means. In 2005 three Londoners were convicted of cruelty to an eight-year-old Angolan girl they claimed was witch. Her tormentors one of them her aunt, had tried to bent the devil out of her. The trade in body parts taken from albinos in Tanzania for use in muti magic also crosses borders and continents”.
“Do witches exist?” asks Inyang Ekanem. This is the return to the middles Ages in Europe (5th century through 15th century), a sad season when thousands of people were accused of witchcraft and killed. It was a dark period in European history when out of misinformation; ignorance and hatred poor folks were humiliated and murdered. These European societies had realized the error of promoting that fable and had moved on, from that dark time to the period of science, reason, compassion and prosperity. In Nigeria and other countries in Africa, many continue to be murdered. It is a fact that people still practice witcraft, but I don’t agree that such shadowy acts can change anything about person’s life or inflict the kind of misery evangelist Patience Turtoe-Sander alleged in her piece.
Patience Turtoe – Sander’s claim in her article above, lacks proof, it is a sheer shot in the dark based on some tormenting experiences in her life. There is no Satan or witches there. The condition that she gave is either a medical condition, or of one suffering deep economic crises. The Christian fundamentalists in Nigeria spread the witchcraft exaggeration to create fear and attract followers. It is purely a marketing strategy. The existence of witches cannot be proven. The crusade is diversionary and quite unnecessary. In Nigeria, those who spearhead the crusade to maim and kill our children and elderly ones in the name of the witch’s superstition profit generally from it. Why their children and loved ones are not tagged witches? It is only poor kids from poor homes whose parents are victims of the economic situation in the country that are witches.
The situation in Nigeria is worse especially with the demise of critical learning and scholarship, and the return of unreason and superstition into our supposedly centers of learning (Ivory towers) and even in other places. Here religious leaders are constituents of the decadence and corruption in the system. They should arm themselves with good knowledge of science and reason and preach liberation theology which could explain to their followers how we can have a genuine democracy, respect for human rights and safe environment, a corruption-free society, and prosper as a nation. In several years of my journalistic and extra-journalistic undertakings I have investigated thoroughly such claim of witch manifestation, possession and damage, but most of the cases they have reported to me turn out to be a case of insanity, psychopathic or hyperbolic story told out of fear or forlornness. We are frittering away our energies on hallucinatory witches and wizards’ stories, we should mobilize and organize the masses to challenge the corruption and misrule hampering our growth and development as a nation and people. There are no witches or wizards as the writers want us to believe. Where are the witches?
Amandla Ngawettu!
Naagbanton writes from Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, Nigeria
The article written by Malcom Gaskill appeared in The London Guardian Newspaper on Monday, April 5, 2010. Certainly, this is another season of witches and wizards.
Patience Turtoe – Sanders is a known televangelist who has written lavishly on the themes of witches and Satans from her Christian perspectives. She is the founder of Celebrate Life International Ministry, a Christian group based in the United States of America. Turtoe – Sanders in her piece, Under the Spell of a Witch, wrote. “One under the spell of witches’ experiences confusion, the inability to complete tasks begun, being disliked or being hated for no reason, unwarranted rejection. His or her presence stirs up strife and quarrels even without speaking. There is lack of sexual desire for one’s spouse, and, in some cases, a strong urge to run away from one’s income, a strong urge to purchase unnecessary products and a total break down of things e.g. one’s car break down endlessly, so that money is spent repairing the car until there is great frustration. There is also a break down in communication between spouses, bosses and colleagues so that, whatever the spelled says, is used against him or her even when he or she tried to counsel others”
In her piece, Turtoe – Sanders argues further, “How to know a witch’s presence; you suddenly wake up at night, sweating and diaphoretic (causing excessive sweating) without suffering from tuberculosis or diabetes. You begin to panic without a prior diagnosis of depression. You have an eerie feeling of a presence that cannot be explained that makes you want to move, run or scream for help, but feel paralyzed. You make a conscious effort to get out of bed but can’t. You feel stuck and helpless”. Inyang Ekanem’s article was stirred by Patience Turtoe – Sanders earlier article in Nigeria’s Guardian, February 10, 2010, page 51 under the title, “An American Story”, Ekanem asserted, “In the write up, Patience nearly always seems to juxtapose an act of kindness with an evil occurrence or reward. Each time she sent money home to the countless mouths, she suffered nightmares, spiritual attacks and misfortune. Each time she became pregnant and informed the people back home, she would suffer miscarriage. Obviously, a new child would be a drain on her resources implying that she would have lesser resources to send back home. So, why should the hawks in the village permit her to have the child? The experiences are all so familiar”
Ekanem concluded the piece by proclaiming that, “Patience Turtoe – Sander’s story is therefore not entirely an American story. It could be a Nigerian story as well. It is an eye opener to those who insist that witches do not exist. Scholars will continue to insist that the issues are supra-empirical but for the likes of Patience and millions of other, there can be no argument. Witches exist. While Malcom Gaskill in his “Witches – Hunts then – and Now” started his article with, “Anyone who thinks that witchcraft belongs only to our past and imaginations should think again. Tens of thousands of people were executed as diabolists between the 15th and 18th centuries an episode that for many signifies an age of ignorance and intolerance from which the Enlightenment saved us. - - - - - In Sub-Sahara Africa the problem is even worse. The ferocity of witch-beliefs, knows no frontiers. The fundamentalist churches of some African communities in the UK sustain the concept of demonic possession and the need to fight it by physical means. In 2005 three Londoners were convicted of cruelty to an eight-year-old Angolan girl they claimed was witch. Her tormentors one of them her aunt, had tried to bent the devil out of her. The trade in body parts taken from albinos in Tanzania for use in muti magic also crosses borders and continents”.
“Do witches exist?” asks Inyang Ekanem. This is the return to the middles Ages in Europe (5th century through 15th century), a sad season when thousands of people were accused of witchcraft and killed. It was a dark period in European history when out of misinformation; ignorance and hatred poor folks were humiliated and murdered. These European societies had realized the error of promoting that fable and had moved on, from that dark time to the period of science, reason, compassion and prosperity. In Nigeria and other countries in Africa, many continue to be murdered. It is a fact that people still practice witcraft, but I don’t agree that such shadowy acts can change anything about person’s life or inflict the kind of misery evangelist Patience Turtoe-Sander alleged in her piece.
Patience Turtoe – Sander’s claim in her article above, lacks proof, it is a sheer shot in the dark based on some tormenting experiences in her life. There is no Satan or witches there. The condition that she gave is either a medical condition, or of one suffering deep economic crises. The Christian fundamentalists in Nigeria spread the witchcraft exaggeration to create fear and attract followers. It is purely a marketing strategy. The existence of witches cannot be proven. The crusade is diversionary and quite unnecessary. In Nigeria, those who spearhead the crusade to maim and kill our children and elderly ones in the name of the witch’s superstition profit generally from it. Why their children and loved ones are not tagged witches? It is only poor kids from poor homes whose parents are victims of the economic situation in the country that are witches.
The situation in Nigeria is worse especially with the demise of critical learning and scholarship, and the return of unreason and superstition into our supposedly centers of learning (Ivory towers) and even in other places. Here religious leaders are constituents of the decadence and corruption in the system. They should arm themselves with good knowledge of science and reason and preach liberation theology which could explain to their followers how we can have a genuine democracy, respect for human rights and safe environment, a corruption-free society, and prosper as a nation. In several years of my journalistic and extra-journalistic undertakings I have investigated thoroughly such claim of witch manifestation, possession and damage, but most of the cases they have reported to me turn out to be a case of insanity, psychopathic or hyperbolic story told out of fear or forlornness. We are frittering away our energies on hallucinatory witches and wizards’ stories, we should mobilize and organize the masses to challenge the corruption and misrule hampering our growth and development as a nation and people. There are no witches or wizards as the writers want us to believe. Where are the witches?
Amandla Ngawettu!
Naagbanton writes from Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, Nigeria
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });