Recently, my friend who lives in one of the cities in the southern part of Nigeria told me a horrendous story that got me teary and left my thoughts hovering in search of answers to rhetorical questions. For easy comprehension, let me quote her: “Stanley, there is this man that repairs phones close to my shop. He said one guy brought his phone to him for repair. The guy dropped the phone and left and of course, he gave him the password to the phone. While he was working on the phone, a WhatsApp message came in and because of the nature of the message and the person’s DP, he opened the message. It was a native doctor telling the guy that he had yet to hear from him. Out of curiosity, he played the ‘previous voice note’ that the owner of the phone sent to the native doctor. In the voice note, he could be heard telling the native doctor that he has been in that city for a month now and had met with over two hundred ladies and they have all been used”.
While the above soul-troubling story is not alien to us, the sad reality is that that is the testimony of just one person – imagine the number of guys out there who are constantly looking for people’s daughters to prey on for money rituals.
Although money ritual has been in operation for a long time, recent trends have shown that the methods of carrying out this sardonic scheme have metamorphosed to a stage where you can be used and you will not know. We were all here when using pants for money rituals became rampant, forcing women to guard their pants jealously even more than we were asked to guide our salvation.
A few days ago, a lady raised alarm over the disappearance of her already-used sanitary pad. This was after she started experiencing some strange movements in her body. It was later discovered that the brother of her sister’s husband had used the pad for money rituals.
Our cities and villages are littered with young people of 14, 15, 16, 17 years old who are erecting mansions and driving exotic cars and you dare ask how they got such wealth within a fleet of time. I have always maintained that not too many people do yahoo anymore – rituals have actually become the ultimate source and then they disguise under yahoo or whatever platform they wish to camouflage.
I’m troubled that our sisters, both the innocents and the ones whose unsatisfying thirst for material things have become the major victims of these young boys who have sold their souls to the devil in search of ephemeral wealth. While some of these ladies who are victims get to see instant ill developments in their lives having been used, the reality is that many don’t get to know that they have been used.
What is particularly troubling is that the reasons for this repugnant development are not far-fetched. Only those who truly fear God will dare not soil their hands in evil things to survive in the face of the prevailing draconic economy we are currently in. Even, for many of those who are working legitimately, the cost of living is killing them and their take-home cannot take them home – what will now be the fate of those who are jobless? It has been proven without reasonable doubt that crime increases in a society that thrives on bad policies that suffocate the masses.
Another stark reality is that while it is true that our nation is experiencing an economic downturn and dwindling job opportunities, many of the young people of today no longer believe in due process – they just want to hit it quick and now even if it means to take lives in the process, damning the consequences. To them, ‘a patient dog, na hunger go kill am’. ‘Why do I have to wait for some government jobs that will pay me peanuts when I can easily make it big through other means,’ is one of the lines of these young people who have found ease with anomalies.
Regrettably, some of these young ladies who call themselves Gen-Z baddies are also a major contributor to this growing trend of rituals. The salary of a civil servant cannot afford the kind of lifestyle that Gen-Z baddies want to live. The moment you open your mouth to woo them, their eyes will be busy scanning your clothes, environment, how much you have in your account, and even how much you rake in monthly. And if you’re not talking about millions, they put you where they feel you belong. Gen-Z baddies just want to sit in the front seats of their boyfriend’s car, make videos while blinking their eyes like albinos, do tongues like snakes, and eventually post such on social media, especially TikTok. They believe that because they have a hole in-between their legs, oranges on their chest, and for some, meaty substance in their backsides, they are entitled to a rich man, and their contribution will be to birth children and take care of the home with the help of maids. Sadly, most of them don’t care about how you make the money – they just want to enjoy.
To be able to meet up with the lifestyle of the Gen-Z baddie that the young man wants to be with, he will be forced to dabble into diabolical things including money rituals. He wants to prove that truly, he is an odogwu – he doesn’t care about the life after now!
Parents are also a major factor in this growing trend – remember, the society is a reflection of the home front. Because of the stark poverty in the land, many parents don’t even have a voice in the home. Some of them even encourage these young ones to do everything to make money. Some tell their daughters to make sure they bring a rich husband home.
While I’m not gobsmacked about the skyrocketing anomalies in the land, the question I always ask is, why must it be you? I’m troubled and worried as to how the walls of morals totally collapsed and how we have chosen to make money an idol that people are destroying the lives of others just to have it.
Day-in-day-out, our daughters, sisters, those we are related to by blood, and those we are knitted together by the virtue of the same father – God, are being used for money rituals and the society is watching on! By merely having sex with you, the trick can be done and you’re gone for life! How many ladies have been used? How many will still fall victim? Should we wait until our sisters are used for money rituals?
Stanley Ugagbe is a Social Commentator and he is passionate about effecting change through writing.
He can be reached on stanleyakomeno@gmail.com
