It is not the first time that the Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe will make snide remarks about Nigeria. So the latest in his attacks on the country was while marking his 91st Birthday in the resort town of Victoria Falls.
Robert Mugabe, the aged President for life, had stated that some top officials of his party – ZANUPF had contracted Nigerian witch doctors to kill him. He alleged these officials had consulted with the doctors to find means of eliminating him. Do they really need do this? I think a push from the back would probably “kill” him.
This is really interesting after his remark sometimes ago that Nigerians are corrupt and how we rose up to confront him to mind his own business. We condemned Mugabe that, although we know our leaders are corrupt, we do not need an old man Mugabe to spell this out to the world. The Federal Government took exception to his remarks and the Foreign Affairs Ministry had to summon the Zimbabwean envoy and he was “sent to his president”. However, Mugabe seem not to care about our opinions.
Mr Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980 accused his sacked deputy Ms Mujuru, alongside other officials, of being too desperate for power and using all odd means to ease him out.
Mugabe disclosed how he got wind of what Ms Mujuru was doing in her house, how she invited two Nigerian witch doctors who advised her to buy chickens and perform rituals naked (sounds familiar). Mugabe wondered at how Nigerian witch doctors manage to hoodwink their subjects and make them to perform all sorts of acts that make them foolish (even we in Nigeria, wonder too)
Nigerian witch doctors are now doing the country proud. It is really heart warming that they have started taking their businesses outside the shores of the country. To be honest, I thought about this sometime ago after watching the You Tube video of a politician from Ogun State performing rituals naked, bathing with blood (or tomato ketchup, Nollywood style).
In my mind I was thinking what would the world take us to be. That we needed to perform a few rituals to win elections. Elections are meant to be won on issues and not on how many chickens, cows or snakes you sacrificed and bath with the blood. But in my dear country, witch doctors/nurses occupy prime positions when elections are around the corner.
The other time I read in the news that the Association of Nigerian Witches and Wizards endorsed a particular presidential candidate. The president-general of the association, Dr. Omo Ebosele, was quoted as advising other presidential candidates to withdraw from the race so as not to waste funds and time. The witches had spoken. Period.
I remember how goose pimples came all over my body some years ago while watching a Sky news story on a top Nigerian who paid so many millions of Naira to a herbalist for government favour. It was a big shame watching the picture of the man on the screen, dressed in trendy western suit, but the ideas in his head belonged to the 18th Century.
It is a shame that when you meet folks from other African countries and you introduce yourself as Nigerians, they ask you mostly about two things – 419 scam and Voodoo. Yes, voodoo, that we call Juju. They believe (rightly or wrongly) that we Nigerians are daily controlled by voodoo practices. And to some of them, their words are “Nigeria is nice, but too much voodoo.”
Do you therefore blame President Robert Mugabe for exposing this new lucrative line of business for Nigerian witch doctors? He has read and watched too many You Tube videos of our politicians. Apart from this, he must have seen a lot of Nollywood videos. And there are so many of them. Dark videos that are produced from the dark minds of Nollywood actors and actresses, glorifying witchcraft and sorcery, wizardry and fortune telling.
Do not blame Mugabe, please.
