You can pick up a copy of my book “A Jar of Clay, Part 1: Made in Nigeria” from here.
I was compelled to write about Juju due to two stories that cropped up recently.
CNN ran a story on Nigerian prostitutes in France. You can read the full story here. Around the same time, BBC ran another story on the Nigerian girls who travel to Europe only to be forced into prostitution. In both stories, the “Fear of Juju” was leveraged by the pimps. According to the CNN story, before leaving Nigeria, the girls were made to swear an oath before a fetish priest. The fear of the consequences that would arise if the oath was broken prevented the girls from seeking to break free from their tormentors when they arrived in Europe.
So what is Juju? From Dictionary.com I make this paraphrase: “magic or sorcery associated with West Africa”. I think that just scrapes the surface of its meaning. Juju is a form of believe in the supernatural. It is the belief that certain individuals who possess supernatural power can influence events supernaturally, for good or bad. And because those who believe in Juju are convinced of its supernatural capabilities, distance cannot hinder its effectiveness (at least in their mind).
I am not really interested in writing about Juju. Instead, I want to write about the “Fear of Juju”. The “Fear of Juju” is a tool used to control people’s minds. The “Fear of Juju” does not necessarily derive from its potency. Narratives, urban myths and numerous stories peddled about Juju over the decades are the main source of hegemonic control that its fear exercised over the minds of people.
If we go back in time, Yorubas in the 19th century feared the fetish power of a deity, Sonponna. Many believed that when he was angry with you, he would strike you with small pox. The priests of Sonponna were busy planting small pox infected emblems on those who resisted their extortion of money. Oguntola Sapara, a surgeon, infiltrated the cult of Sonponna and exposed their practices and the colonial authority banned the cult. Yet, Yorubas of then continued to fear Sonponna. The truth was that small pox was a virus and in the process of time, a vaccine was found.
The fear of Sonponna will fall under the “Fear of Juju”. Many feared Sonponna because of the narratives and propaganda of the cult of Sonponna. The propaganda about what Sonponna could do became a tool to control people through the fear of Sonponna. Sonponna did not exist, but that fact did not make its fear less effective in controlling people.
Sadly, the “Fear of Juju” is not just a tool in the hands of the fetish priests. The “Fear of Juju” is so pervasive in Nigeria that it has been integrated into all the major religions in Nigeria. Some of the doctrines that have spread like wild-fire in the Pentecostal/Charismatic scene in the last twenty-five years may have a deep connection with the “Fear of Juju”.
When i became a Christian, we were taught that “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world”. Over time, it looks like the “Juju” powers of your relatives is now promoted as something that can encroach upon you. Take as example the doctrine of praying about the “evil doers in your father’s household”. Isn’t that another way of feeding the “Fear of Juju” power that people in your father’s household have?
The fear of curses is a subset of the “Fear of Juju”. The bible teaches that “a curse causeless shall not come”. When Balaam tried to curse Israel in the old testament, he couldn’t do it and that was under the old covenant, how much more the new one? Yet, some still peddles the fear of curses even in the house of God. Should I even bother to provide examples of how the fear of curses has been integrated into Christianity? Many are afraid to challenge impropriety because they are afraid the leader would curse them. Even when churches teach on giving to God, many have to rely on the fear of not being “cursed with a curse” to inspire their people to give.
The “Fear of Juju” is a major tool of exploitation. We need to start walking this back. Let’s begin to challenge “Juju” itself and the narratives around it. Recently on our visit to Nigeria, somebody started to talk about somebody with Juju power. Straightaway, I stopped her and asked a number of questions: have you ever seen this person use this power? The answer was no. How then did you know that he has Juju power? Oh I heard this from somebody, was the reply. That is how the “Fear of Juju” is established: people repeating tales of event that they did not even witness.
I don’t know whether Juju is real or not, but its fear is a strong enabler of exploitation. Please don’t contribute to its perpetuation. think twice before circulating any news that strengthen its narratives, except you are sure it is a true story.
oyebode.com 