In Search of The Devil

 

 

It’s high time we did something about one dreadful fellow in our midst. He’s been on rampage - doing bad stuffs with the young and the old. But, he always gets off scot-free. I’ve waited for long for the government, using any of the security agencies, to deal with this guy to no avail. Now, I hereby declare him wanted! Anyone with information about him will be handsomely rewarded. Particularly, I’m interested in his home address, full name, vehicle “party-coolers,” etc.

 

A 22-year-old Mighty Effiong, who admitted raping a 4-year-old girl the other day, blamed his act on the devil. “It was the devil that pushed me into it”, he said. A pastor caught pants down with a church member’s wife claimed he did nothing wrong. Rather, it was the devil who slept with the woman.  17-year-old Balogun Ogundeji, caught ingesting 840 gramms of cocaine, with additional 1.3kg in a handbag, traced it to the unseen. “It was the devil that led me into it”, he claimed.

 

Now, why is the devil “pushing”, “pulling”, “leading”, “causing” “deceiving”, “tricking” people to do all kinds of negative things? Yet, government and religious centres are just moping around? A jealous lover pours acid on a perceived rival. It’s the devil.  A child bedwets; it’s the devil. He steals meat from mama’s soup pot, it’s the devil. A randy lecturer caught romping with a student blames the devil. If salt is too much in your soup, it must be the devil who poured it in. Watch out! That pothole on the highway might just be the work of the devil. A burst pipeline, worn out by age and spilling crude oil everywhere, was destroyed by the devil. A politician, whose certificate was either “manufactured” at Oluwole Street in Lagos, Toronto in Canada or Chicago, USA, blames the devil. So who, really, is the devil?

 

I’m told, the devil is a Nigerian politician – a ‘demon-craft’ – whose only usefulness is to make negative policies.  Some say he’s a lawyer / judge – lying through every court process for money; giving highest-bidder judgements. No, he must be a businessman, a pastor, a driver, etc. He’s into gunrunning, drug trafficking, assassination. He shot at Dora Akunyili, killed Pa Alfred Rewane, Dele Giwa, Harry Marshal, Bola Ige, Amimasoari Dikibo, etc. Yet, he’s till free - to kill more? Some say the devil is good at turning white to black. He even terms an obvious assassination robbery. Or accidental discharge. He concludes a case even before police investigation. Check the Akunyili and Dikibo cases. Still, there are others who insist the “bad one” is a dubious communicator, misquoting and distorting facts for selfish ends. 

 

But it’s still confusing. Is the devil a man, a woman, a hermaphrodite? Oh! Is (s) he a lesbian and a homo, at once? Whatever is the case, the devil remains ubiquitous, yet elusive. Like God, the devil is mostly addressed as the male gender. Some say he’s like Mr. Sale, a Lagos resident, who has no fixed address; no landed property. That’s why “this land is not for Sale” is written everywhere in Lagos. The guy owns only old, disused items – air conditioners, fridges, cars, furniture, etc – all with the tag: “This is for Sale”. Yet, no one knows Sale’s house, phone number or full name.

 

Well, I’m told the devil’s case is worst than Sale’s. Although some call him Satan, Lucifer, etc, he’s popularly known as the devil. Like Sale, no one ever sees him. But most forsaken people in trouble blame him. They always try to extricate themselves and get the devil in the fix, instead. He allegedly pushes, pulls, leads and deceives them into trouble. Some allege he even talks like Femi Fani-Kayode and behaves like General Obasanjo. Yet, no one ever bothers to give Mr. D fair hearing. He’s never been summoned to any court and has never been arrested. 

 

“The devil”, says J. D. Bernal, “is the most difficult of all to deal with: he is inside ourselves, we cannot see him”. Is he then a part of our being? Or is he a parasite? Bernal wrote in his 1929 work entitled: The World, the Flesh and the Devil, that “our inner confusions are almost impossible to understand or cope with in the present”. It then appears what we term the devil is the “inner confusion”, which we fail to deal with. All along, it has been the inner confusion, the impossibility of understanding a situation, that has made us blame the unseen. When a man is caught in his wrong doings, when he probably had been assured that the way had been paved with bribe and all, he becomes confused and blames the devil. When a pastor is caught committing adultery, he wonders how his secret leaked. Then, he blames it on the devil. Once caught unawares, particularly on the negative side, the inside boils with confusion. 

 

Psychologists affirm the scapegoat theory. Humans have the weakness of always looking for somebody to take the blame. When caught napping, they forget they are free moral agents, hence should take the knock for their deeds. Just like they take the praises. Why does a worker not blame his promotions on the devil but blames the being when he’s sacked for stealing? 

 

Modern day pastors even heighten the confusion. They proclaim and teach that “the devil is a liar.” Yet, they would never tell you what the devil said. They make many believe that whatever is negative is from the devil.  Then, they proceed to bind, shoot, destroy and kill the devil. The scripture says God created everything. The devil created none. The devil, we are told, is also a creation of God. So, if the devil is the embodiment of negativity, we must still note that it was God who created him. Hence, God created evil. Even when Satan wanted to heap evil on Job, says the Bible, he discussed it first with God. 

 

If the devil was meant to be destroyed, God would not have sent him out of Heaven alive. The Bible records both were pals. They worked together, shared secrets, plans and even powers. Devil is then the other side of God. And it is fear of the unknown, fear of the unseen, fear of the devil that makes many to remember God. 

 

Sometimes, people even give the devil too much credit. They don’t even consider that God could use certain negative events to save lives. A man whose car breaks down on the road may blame the devil for making him late to an appointment. But supposing it was God who caused it so that he be saved from an impending crash?  Do we still say, in such a case, that the devil is the “sole author” of all negativities? 

 

Man, the philosophers say, was created with a conscience. Whatever the deterministists say, the conscience in man makes him accountable for his actions. Except for those who have no control over their faculties, everyone should be ready for flak or praise. It’s either reward or punishment. Carrot and stick. Inaction is not even an excuse, for it’s also a part of the action. Let’s leave the devil alone. Or better still, like I said once, wrongdoers who claim links with the devil must lead us to him. Both of them must be punished, if he insists that “it was the devil that tricked me!”

 

From my mail box

Is OBJ selling us?

Based on your piece of January 31,2004, is Obasanjo trying to sell us to a foreigner? All of us in Port Harcourt are waiting to hear when it would be announced that our inhuman president is...

"chigozie nnadi" uncleflo2003@yahoo.com

 

Re: Power of moustache

You piece on the above subject matter is the best l have read in recent times.

 l used to spot a moustache like that of Lucky lgbinedion, who incidentally is the governor of my state, Edo state. l have since shaved off mine on account of the governor`s, as l do not want to be associated with failure. For me, his moustache is the unlucky type and  symbolises failure.

tony ikponmwosa" <tiko77772000@yahoo.co.uk>  

 

                   Truly, there’s power in moustache 

I read your wise column pertaining to power of moustache. I could imagine the truth how indispensable it's to have a moustache. Please tell our fake leaders to build a “Ministry of Moustache” that will enhance the growth of the economy. It could be another source of revenue to the government. A funny country whereby everything works by the oligarchy. God will save us one day.

 "Bunmi Olade" <bunmyink@yahoo.com>  

 

• First published in Saturday Sun of  Feb 14, 2004