This African mentality thing...

Yesterday, yours truly was in church.  And the sermon was lit. Let me tell you about it.

The Pastor started the sermon, the topic of which I cannot even remember now, like this:

“Have you heard of the new Smartphone game called Pokemon GO?” He then proceeded to describe how the game works and experiences shared by some users. These included people looking for pokemon at odd hours, some entering their neighbors’ apartment looking for it etc.

After stating these examples, the preacher asked rather rhetorically: “Pokeman GO means Pocket Monster. Isn’t it clear that this is another devise of the devil to capture the minds of the youths and destroy the world?”. He went on and on about this line of reasoning for some minutes, then continued with his sermon but kept making references to the game intermittently throughout.

At the end of the sermon you could tell everybody was moved. I could picture parents getting home and going through their children’s phones, deleting every version of this monster called Pokeman GO. Maybe they might even hold a family prayer meeting thereafter to cast and bind every and any evil spirit that might have entered the child before then.

I sat there, unable to do any other thing than laugh.

But it should not be a laughing matter. This is exactly the type of thinking that has kept Africa firmly in the threshold of under-development and perpetual darkness. And the church must take a large blame for this.

I do not doubt that many apps/games have downsides, chief of which is addiction. It also does not make sense to me that someone would leave his room at 12am looking for some game character that surely doesn’t exist. But to attach demon and evil to such game is downright silly. But this is what Africans do – we cannot invent anything of note but we are the first people to know which innovation is evil.  You would think Africans who live in developed world would not be beset by such trivial thoughts but you couldn’t be more wrong. Perhaps it is something in our DNA. Perhaps the gist about people in African villages remote-controlling Africans wherever they live is true. But the problem is there.

I used to think this problem is unique to Nigeria (and Nigerian pastors) but I was wrong. The RCCG church I attend here (grudgingly, as I still cannot find an Anglican Church I like) has a Nigerian as the Head Pastor but the preacher yesterday is Kenyan. I have a Ugandan colleague who thinks same-sex relationship is a bigger issue to Africa than poverty or any other failure. Most Africans who live and ‘thrive’ in capitalist, successful countries demand socialist governments at home.

The Pastor listed all experiences of Pokemon GO players that might appear negative but of course he conveniently forgot to mention the overwhelmingly positive experiences players have had, like helping people shed excess weight,  helping people improve their mental health, etc. The mind of the average (especially religious) African is wired to think about negativities.

Indeed, Africa is a country.

This African mentality thing...

Yesterday, yours truly was in church.  And the sermon was lit. Let me tell you about it.

The Pastor started the sermon, the topic of which I cannot even remember now, like this:

“Have you heard of the new Smartphone game called Pokemon GO?” He then proceeded to describe how the game works and experiences shared by some users. These included people looking for pokemon at odd hours, some entering their neighbors’ apartment looking for it etc.

After stating these examples, the preacher asked rather rhetorically: “Pokeman GO means Pocket Monster. Isn’t it clear that this is another devise of the devil to capture the minds of the youths and destroy the world?”. He went on and on about this line of reasoning for some minutes, then continued with his sermon but kept making references to the game intermittently throughout.

At the end of the sermon you could tell everybody was moved. I could picture parents getting home and going through their children’s phones, deleting every version of this monster called Pokeman GO. Maybe they might even hold a family prayer meeting thereafter to cast and bind every and any evil spirit that might have entered the child before then.

I sat there, unable to do any other thing than laugh.

But it should not be a laughing matter. This is exactly the type of thinking that has kept Africa firmly in the threshold of under-development and perpetual darkness. And the church must take a large blame for this.

I do not doubt that many apps/games have downsides, chief of which is addiction. It also does not make sense to me that someone would leave his room at 12am looking for some game character that surely doesn’t exist. But to attach demon and evil to such game is downright silly. But this is what Africans do – we cannot invent anything of note but we are the first people to know which innovation is evil.  You would think Africans who live in developed world would not be beset by such trivial thoughts but you couldn’t be more wrong. Perhaps it is something in our DNA. Perhaps the gist about people in African villages remote-controlling Africans wherever they live is true. But the problem is there.

I used to think this problem is unique to Nigeria (and Nigerian pastors) but I was wrong. The RCCG church I attend here (grudgingly, as I still cannot find an Anglican Church I like) has a Nigerian as the Head Pastor but the preacher yesterday is Kenyan. I have a Ugandan colleague who thinks same-sex relationship is a bigger issue to Africa than poverty or any other failure. Most Africans who live and ‘thrive’ in capitalist, successful countries demand socialist governments at home.

The Pastor listed all experiences of Pokemon GO players that might appear negative but of course he conveniently forgot to mention the overwhelmingly positive experiences players have had, like helping people shed excess weight, helping people improve their mental health, etc. The mind of the average (especially religious) African is wired to think about negativities.

Indeed, Africa is a country.

Hadiza Bala-Usman and the BBOG Conundrum

Reactions to the appointment of Hadiza Bala-Usman as the new Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), especially on social media, have been mixed.

I lay no claim to knowing her, but what I have read is that she has worked closely with El-Rufai for some time (as his aide at BPE (Bureau of Public Enterprises), Special Assistant when he was the FCT Minister (a role that is like the Mayor or Governor of Abuja) and until this week his Chief of Staff as Governor of Kaduna). Governor El-Rufai is of course an outstanding administrator and his skills should rub off on people working closely with him. Yet whether these experiences are enough to prepare one for a role as big as the MD of NPA is open to debate, but that is not why I am writing this. I am angered by comments on social media that have reduced her getting the job to her involvement with the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign, where she was one of the founders. Some have even used her appointment as confirmation of their long-held doubts around the whole missing Chibok girls affair.

Ordinarily, I would ignore it. People who make such insinuations are not only foolish; they are a product of a dysfunctional society like ours that elevates suspicions beyond what is normal. I can also understand complaints by people who see it as another appointment from the North by a President who is increasingly becoming deaf to justified complaints of ethnic lopsidedness in his appointments. No, my anger is directed at the idea that key members of the BBOG, or any other advocacy group, cannot be tabbed by the government, whether state or federal, to fill important public offices in their personal capacities due to their advocacy roles. How did we arrive at this silly, stupid and very myopic position?

Mrs Ezekwesili is perhaps the most popular member of the BBOG group. Before now she had worked with the World Bank as VP, among other positions and served under President Obasanjo in various capacities, including as Minister in two ministries. If she is appointed to work with the government at any level, will she be disqualified based on her involvement with BBOG or will she have qualified for the position merely on account of such involvement? Is BBOG an opposition movement that its members are ethically constrained from joining the government, however qualified they are? Are we telling people of intellect and who are successful in their careers not to volunteer joining an advocacy group? What exactly is our problem?

In any case, using advocacy to launch yourself into national limelight is not a crime and it is not unique to Nigeria alone. Politicians all over the world seize moments to prove to people they can be trusted. President Obama’s rise in politics, especially locally, was due in part to his involvement in community programs (he was a community organizer even before he earned his law degree and his wife cited that as one of the reasons she finally agreed to date him).

Even in the Bible, when complaints came to Apostle Paul that some people were preaching the gospel of Jesus with ulterior motives, he had this to say:

“But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.” — Philippians 1:18

This has always been my view whenever some people are accused of using social advocacy campaign as a means to launch political careers. Insofar as they are competent and qualified, how they became known to people that selected them should be secondary. You cannot spend your time arguing Arsenal and Chelsea day and night on social media while some people use their influence to advance the cause of social justice, then make noise when such people are recruited by government or policy makers to contribute to national development.

Don’t hate.