A nation richly endowed with both human and natural resources but unable to transform these gifts into meaningful development is said to be cursed. In social science research, it is called the “resource curse”. Undoubtedly, Nigeria is a leading nation, if not the leading nation, in the resource curse category.
It is not that Nigeria is not developing. The country is treading an apocalyptic path. Nigerians, though apparently religious, are deeply ritualistic and fetishistic. This cuts across the rulers and the ruled, the haves and the have-nots, the literate and the illiterate, the “religious” and the irreligious.
This does not mean that all Nigerians are into fetishistic practices, either as service providers or as patrons. There are those who neither practice juju nor pay attention to it. Acknowledging the existence of these reasonable people does not change the reality. They are the exception to the rule.
In addition, drug addiction among Nigerian youths, and even among the older generation, calls for concern. A people addicted to drugs is a people without a future. A nation that does nothing about the prevalence of drugs among its populace has embraced calamity.
How does this affect national and sub-national governments? Government will devote a substantial percentage of its annual budget to fighting crime and insecurity, but with devastating outcomes. Why? Because the real issues — the root causes — are not addressed.
This is not the first time this column has addressed fetishism and drug addiction. It probably will not be the last. The focus on fetishism/jujuism today was informed by the confession of the prime suspect in the gruesome killings in Kano early this year, precisely on January 17. It was a shedding of blood that shook Kano State, and indeed Nigeria, to the marrow because of the relationship between the seven victims — Fatima Abubakar and her six children — and the gruesome killer, Umar.
My January 23 column was titled: “Kano’s Tragic Killings: Echoes of Little Hanifa — A Call for Justice.” In it, I wrote: “…this savagery must be thoroughly investigated. Who sent him? On whose behalf did he kill? And for what purpose? Did he join a secret cult? If he had joined a secret cult, why did he join? Who are the other members of the cult? Which blood-sucking secret cult would demand the blood of seven beautiful and innocent souls, all at once?”
For I have observed that crimes of this savage nature are hardly committed without the influence of fetishism or drugs. The human soul is too sacred to be taken by another human under normal circumstances. Dogs hardly kill themselves, nor do cattle and other animals. So why do humans kill humans so savagely? Even the pseudo-Islamic terrorists, Boko Haram, kill under the influence of drugs. Multiple reports are linking Boko Haram terrorists to drug use and fetishistic practices for fortification against bullets and other firearms.
I am not wrong in my observation. On Wednesday, the prime suspect in the Dorayi Chiranci killings, Umar, told the Kano State High Court that he killed his aunt and her six children in compliance with instructions from a herbalist. He confessed while defending himself before Justice Nasiru Saminu at High Court No. 11. He said a herbalist named Thomas allegedly gave him incense and instructed him to continue committing similar crimes as he had done previously. What he intends to gain by committing these crimes is still not clear. What is clear is the influence of juju.
In Nigeria, seekers of political office approach jujuists who sometimes camouflage as mallams or pastors, for political power — to win elections. When they eventually win and resume office as president, governor, lawmaker, etc., the first casualty is common sense. A reasonable, well-behaved, and well-educated person will suddenly become a brute, bereft of any transformative ideas. When they fail in the end, they attribute their failures to witches and wizards.
Failures of government at the federal level have, more than once, been attributed to evil spirits, witches, and wizards. If true, why does the government not go after these people in the underworld so that we can progress? I can’t pretend to be naive about that. The government can’t go after them. They play some role in entrenching these people in power.
The rate at which politicians and administrators — whether elected, nominated, or appointed — loot public resources is alarming. No one in their right senses would loot on the gargantuan scale seen in Nigeria without the backing of some spiritualists who assure them of cover-up. The confidence to loot is just too staggering.
If our judges and rulers were not under the influence of charms and juju, why would someone loot billions and get only a few years in prison, which would then be terminated by a presidential pardon? Yet a petty thief who steals a goat may rot in prison. Are we normal? The more we normalize juju and hard drugs, the more calamities we should expect.
While there are valid socio-economic explanations for the widespread insecurity in Nigeria, there are also fetishistic/jujuistic explanations. Bandits cannot kill with that level of ruthlessness if they are not high on drugs or fortified by ritualists.
Similarly, the rate at which rulers misbehave in Nigeria as if they are gods in their own right calls for investigation. Nigerians have reason to suspect those steering the affairs of the nation of ritualistic practices.
Reacting to the mysterious death of Mary Habila in David Umahi’s house in Uburu, Ebonyi State, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, human rights lawyer and former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, wrote this via his official X account on Monday, July 13, 2026:
“The number of allegations involving women, nakedness, towels, violence, and death around @realdaveumahi is both implausible and staggering. Is there a haunting smell of ritual morbidity around him?” Odinkalu is not alone. Many Nigerians think like him, and it is reasonable to think so. Enough of these unnecessary killings.
The government should urgently address the menace of drug abuse. It should clamp down on fetishistic clerics and traditionalists. In our religion (Islam) sorcerers are to be killed by the government. They do not have a right to exist. They are not stakeholders in a democratic system of government. Their practices and beliefs will not allow democracy or any system of government to work. They are dangerous to human and civilizational progress. They are even more dangerous when they camouflage as pastors and mallams — speaking in the name of God.
May we not be under their influence or tele-guided by them. Those who want to end well should avoid these agents of Satan. May the souls of Fatima and her six children rest in peace, and the souls of other victims of ritual killings.
Abdulkadir Salaudeen
salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com
