PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan is ill at ease at the moment. Inside sources in the country's seat of power the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja confided in National Daily that the number one citizen does not know whom to trust any longer. Reports indicated that the President is suspecting the possibility of some 'unexpectedly' highly influential guests using charms better known as Juju or native African fetish spell on him.
The President, aides disclosed, began to be suspicious when he noticed that he always become drained of physical strength, in other words he gets tired or exhausted unnecessarily after visits from certain guests. President Jonathan, they ventured, often experience body weakness, which he himself has found very strange.
Unexpected guests
What makes the matter worse is that most of these visitors were not the ones on schedule list; they are people whom his close associates and aides smuggled into the daily visitors' roster to have a word or two with him, most bordering on favours. These important people were ones who had already wormed their ways into the President's men's heart through monetary or juicy gifts.
The thinking is that these people must have come prepared with charms in form of incantations or totems which they believed are needed to swing the President's decision in their favour. So the drain of physical strength from the President is seen as the aftermath effect of the charm used on him.
A sad twist to the unwholesome development is that some close aides and officials working in Aso Rock or in the government are believed to be neck deep in the act.
Sources revealed that on several occasions, the President might have suddenly grown suspicious of an official's attitude to work and might have even deemed it fit to query or replace the person, but once it leaks out and the person hears, such a person will go home to reinforce using traditional means and before long, there is a sudden turn of event.
The President forgets his earlier observations, and even discovered later to his chagrin that a cozy relationship has developed between the person and himself. At present, officials in Aso Rock Villa have resorted to prayers every morning the get to work in order to cleanse their offices and rid the whole place of undue influence of the occult.
African malaise?
The use of charms, juju or African talisman was once part of the culture of the tribes that make up Nigeria; it is often associated with the country's traditional culture. Two religions, Christianity and Islam have however eroded dependence on this aspect of the people of this country's culture to an extent but the fact is that belief and the use of charms is still much prevalent remains.
It is widely acknowledged that most African elites use religion as smokescreen to hide their deep-seated juju dabbling, they use Christianity or Islam as a smokescreen while engaged in occultism and diabolical acts.
Nigerian leaders such as military President, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida and Late Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Abacha were reported to have resorted to inviting Juju-men or Marabout into Aso Rock Villa for special spiritual sessions. Late President Umaru Musa Yra'Adua at the height of his illness was reported to have engaged in some consultations too.
The most recent public outburst of such an occurrence from the country's seat of power was the verbal exchange of accusations between, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his deputy, Vice-President Atiku Abubakar towards the twilight of their administration.
Obasanjo accused his estranged deputy of wishing him dead and consulting Islamic holy men on the date of his demise.
Obasanjo said the vice president had told a former minister: "Don't worry, the president will be dead soon."
Atiku Abubakar denied the charges, saying Obasanjo's mind was full of "the cobwebs of juju or occult".
The pair fell out when Abubakar opposed the president's efforts to stay in office for a third term.
Speaking about the feud between him and his deputy on national television, Obasanjo said Abubakar had told a minister that he had been consulting a marabout (holy man).
Obasanjo who was forced to standing down after two terms, revealed that Abubakar told the minister: "So the same marabout has told me that I will be President when this man (Obasanjo) dies and had given me a month that he will die, you better prepare."
Obasanjo said the alleged comments showed his rival's "bankruptcy of ideas, bankruptcy of knowledge and lack of knowledge in God and the affairs of God on the lives of human beings".
He added: "If I will live for another 20 years, it is in the hands of God. I am not afraid of such stupidity. Of course, I know that you can be poisoned but if God wants to save you, you will be saved."
The then vice-president dismissed the president's accusations as "bizarre and ludicrous".
"Unlike Obasanjo who uses Christianity as a smokescreen while engaged in occultism and diabolical acts, I am a devout Muslim who has always striven to live in accordance with the teachings of Islam,” Atiku fired back in a statement.
"The next occupant of the State House (presidential villa) will need to spiritually cleanse the presidential lodge to make it habitable for normal people.
"I don't believe in resorting to marabout and have never wished the president dead. Rather, it is the president who has been hell-bent on eliminating me politically and physically.
"By making public accusations of fetish acts against me, the president has exposed his own mindset as one that is covered in the cobwebs of juju or occult.
"It is on record that the president had never in the past denied his association with deadly secret societies." Abubakar declared.
Analysts informed National Daily regarding the matter that in Africa's cultural and development context, it is not strange that Nigerian former President Olusegun Obasanjo should accuse his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, of craving to kill him through the dreaded juju spell. Obasanjo's claims that Atiku has been “consulting Islamic holy men on the date of his demise,” reflects the unrefined elements within the African culture that wait to be polished for progress.
"Don't worry, the president will be dead soon," a juju medium was said to have told Atiku.
Dabbling in juju weakens the rulers' ability to totally rationalize developmental problems on the ground. As the Obasanjo and Atiku row demonstrates, juju and other such practices not only weaken trust, a key ingredient in national development, but also undermine "national morality, because they are based on irrational spirit power," they opined.
They noted that for the sustainable development of Africa, it is healthy that African elites re-think the relationship between their culture and progress, especially how to refine the inhibitions within their culture to facilitate progress, as the Europeans did during their enlightenment struggles in their development process.
The President, aides disclosed, began to be suspicious when he noticed that he always become drained of physical strength, in other words he gets tired or exhausted unnecessarily after visits from certain guests. President Jonathan, they ventured, often experience body weakness, which he himself has found very strange.
Unexpected guests
What makes the matter worse is that most of these visitors were not the ones on schedule list; they are people whom his close associates and aides smuggled into the daily visitors' roster to have a word or two with him, most bordering on favours. These important people were ones who had already wormed their ways into the President's men's heart through monetary or juicy gifts.
The thinking is that these people must have come prepared with charms in form of incantations or totems which they believed are needed to swing the President's decision in their favour. So the drain of physical strength from the President is seen as the aftermath effect of the charm used on him.
A sad twist to the unwholesome development is that some close aides and officials working in Aso Rock or in the government are believed to be neck deep in the act.
Sources revealed that on several occasions, the President might have suddenly grown suspicious of an official's attitude to work and might have even deemed it fit to query or replace the person, but once it leaks out and the person hears, such a person will go home to reinforce using traditional means and before long, there is a sudden turn of event.
The President forgets his earlier observations, and even discovered later to his chagrin that a cozy relationship has developed between the person and himself. At present, officials in Aso Rock Villa have resorted to prayers every morning the get to work in order to cleanse their offices and rid the whole place of undue influence of the occult.
African malaise?
The use of charms, juju or African talisman was once part of the culture of the tribes that make up Nigeria; it is often associated with the country's traditional culture. Two religions, Christianity and Islam have however eroded dependence on this aspect of the people of this country's culture to an extent but the fact is that belief and the use of charms is still much prevalent remains.
It is widely acknowledged that most African elites use religion as smokescreen to hide their deep-seated juju dabbling, they use Christianity or Islam as a smokescreen while engaged in occultism and diabolical acts.
Nigerian leaders such as military President, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida and Late Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Abacha were reported to have resorted to inviting Juju-men or Marabout into Aso Rock Villa for special spiritual sessions. Late President Umaru Musa Yra'Adua at the height of his illness was reported to have engaged in some consultations too.
The most recent public outburst of such an occurrence from the country's seat of power was the verbal exchange of accusations between, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his deputy, Vice-President Atiku Abubakar towards the twilight of their administration.
Obasanjo accused his estranged deputy of wishing him dead and consulting Islamic holy men on the date of his demise.
Obasanjo said the vice president had told a former minister: "Don't worry, the president will be dead soon."
Atiku Abubakar denied the charges, saying Obasanjo's mind was full of "the cobwebs of juju or occult".
The pair fell out when Abubakar opposed the president's efforts to stay in office for a third term.
Speaking about the feud between him and his deputy on national television, Obasanjo said Abubakar had told a minister that he had been consulting a marabout (holy man).
Obasanjo who was forced to standing down after two terms, revealed that Abubakar told the minister: "So the same marabout has told me that I will be President when this man (Obasanjo) dies and had given me a month that he will die, you better prepare."
Obasanjo said the alleged comments showed his rival's "bankruptcy of ideas, bankruptcy of knowledge and lack of knowledge in God and the affairs of God on the lives of human beings".
He added: "If I will live for another 20 years, it is in the hands of God. I am not afraid of such stupidity. Of course, I know that you can be poisoned but if God wants to save you, you will be saved."
The then vice-president dismissed the president's accusations as "bizarre and ludicrous".
"Unlike Obasanjo who uses Christianity as a smokescreen while engaged in occultism and diabolical acts, I am a devout Muslim who has always striven to live in accordance with the teachings of Islam,” Atiku fired back in a statement.
"The next occupant of the State House (presidential villa) will need to spiritually cleanse the presidential lodge to make it habitable for normal people.
"I don't believe in resorting to marabout and have never wished the president dead. Rather, it is the president who has been hell-bent on eliminating me politically and physically.
"By making public accusations of fetish acts against me, the president has exposed his own mindset as one that is covered in the cobwebs of juju or occult.
"It is on record that the president had never in the past denied his association with deadly secret societies." Abubakar declared.
Analysts informed National Daily regarding the matter that in Africa's cultural and development context, it is not strange that Nigerian former President Olusegun Obasanjo should accuse his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, of craving to kill him through the dreaded juju spell. Obasanjo's claims that Atiku has been “consulting Islamic holy men on the date of his demise,” reflects the unrefined elements within the African culture that wait to be polished for progress.
"Don't worry, the president will be dead soon," a juju medium was said to have told Atiku.
Dabbling in juju weakens the rulers' ability to totally rationalize developmental problems on the ground. As the Obasanjo and Atiku row demonstrates, juju and other such practices not only weaken trust, a key ingredient in national development, but also undermine "national morality, because they are based on irrational spirit power," they opined.
They noted that for the sustainable development of Africa, it is healthy that African elites re-think the relationship between their culture and progress, especially how to refine the inhibitions within their culture to facilitate progress, as the Europeans did during their enlightenment struggles in their development process.
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