The Nigerian Devil And How He Pays For Our Sins
If you live in Nigeria, chances are you encounter the Devil daily - Christian or not.
The Nigerian devil is a he. A man who’s seen far better days. He’s said to have very dark skin, pitch-black as night, courtesy of the aeon spent in the lake of eternal fire. He’s also got glaring fangs for teeth, protruding horns on both sides of his head, and a tail to match this gory description. All these add credence to the many atrocities he’s been accused of committing. With such a physique, you don’t want to be caught empathizing.
But here’s the PLOT TWIST. In Nigeria, we mostly sing the devil’s praise without even realizing it. His name is on almost everyone’s lips almost all the time.
There’s a squeak materializing from your car, and your steering wheel isn’t as responsive as it was the last time, but you won’t consider an alternative means of transport or at least stop to fish out the source of the noise. Consequently, one of your tyres rolls off at top speed, sending you veering off the road to a miraculous halt just before hitting a giant palm tree. You praise the God of miracle, promising to serve him till you die. Then you conclude by condemning his archenemy for trying to kill you, assuring him he’ll continue to be a failure as long as your eternal God liveth.
It’s also what it is when sophomore year Mary visits the back-alley doctor for an abortion, and years later blames same devil for her inability to get pregnant.
See a pattern?
The average Nigerian is fond of making questionable life choices and turning around to blame Mr. Devil when repercussions come calling. There’s next to zero PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY in this part of the world, and that’s a terrible way to live. Little wonder why we can’t hold our ever-failing government to their responsibilities, because we don’t even know how to confront ourselves to the truth even when standing before a mirror.
This inability to hold ourselves accountable has resulted in a syndrome Editi Effiong (Editi Effiong) calls MILT — Manage It Like That; an epidemic where most Nigerians have collective made a subconscious decision to stand for (and by) mediocrity rather than do something to change the status quo. Rather than take responsibility for our actions when things don’t work out as planned we push the blame onto someone else; or something else; or Mr. Ekwensu 😈.
If you were this devil, and have millions of people - young and old - blame you for every wrong outcome of their decisions, how would you feel? I’d think at a point you’d declare enough is enough, and want things to change even if it brings about a new world order. A world in which you’re king, and people don’t have to call your name without reverence anymore.
Think about it.
Say no to MILT!
Say no to zero personal accountability!
By: Arinze Talius Dike (#TheSummarizer)
