Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Benz inspire fetish madness and rituals in Africa’s biggest cemetery

By Farouk Martins Aresa…

If you have not bought $13m Rolls-Royce Sweptail, $4.5m Lamborghini Veneno, $3m Ferrari Pininfarina Sergio and $2.5m Mercedes-AMG One; go and break your neck crying for attention. After all, those “gifted” ceremonies on social media achieved their purpose of adulations, envy and empathy in communities where majority are stricken by poverty. Just to belong, some would conjure expensive “gifted” we can never legitimately afford.

We also have a class of moneybags buying cars and houses for their newborn babies. In essence killing their motivation and brains before they get older to strive or survive. Even animals in the jungle train their babies to hunt for survival and be secured in their own environment. Yet, we have humans killing the survival instinct of new generation before they can stand up and walk. Either teach a man how to fish or give fish forever!
The world most successful entrepreneurs hardly come from rich families. They make use of their brains and persevere in pursuit of certain goals before striking it rich.

Nobody is created useless since we all have different talents to develop. Once those rich parents, moneybags, fraudsters and ritualists replace the functions of your brains with “gifted” conspicuous presents, they kill natural talents. Africa used to be the place where many kids from impoverished homes made it while most spoilt rich kids failed.

Indeed, most of the rituals like ladies and men’s underwear used by Yahoo boys make no sense. There is this fear of mutilated body parts on street corners just as ritual baths are becoming common. Families, relatives and friends fear one another of suspicious activities for exploitation into instant riches. So, they erect walls around their houses.

Dropping in is now past history unless you jump over their barbwires. Any sign of wealth attracts bees like a Honeypot. Loafers have already calculated how much of (OPM) Other People’s Money they are entitled to. So, we should not be surprised that our youths are wickedly kept alive before being butchered in Arab or Asian countries as organ donors.

Read also: Nigeria and the modern-day Herodians Syndrome

What changed? Well, poor children abandoned their natural talents and pray for what rich parents whose children are failures, give or get without hard work. If they cannot get it by miracle, fraud or ritual; they are willing to sacrifice lives including their own, turning Africa into jungle cemetery. The pursuit of money by any means necessary has never created wealth in communities because money without talents only create infatuation.

Those fortunate enough to escape being caught or waiting to be caught in their devilish acts: drug peddling, bribe to avert justice, embezzlement and armed robbery justify all with ethnic support; cling to Bible, Koran or Constitution to save them. They display no respect or uncaring attitude towards hard-working folks trying to save the little they have or get loans from relatives and banks to create business enterprise. The message is clear that they are wasting time instead of living fast and dying young.

Ritualists in the name of God or devil are becoming creative in their demands asking desperate individual to bring various bodies, objects, personal fluid and under-wears for prayer as sacrifices. These could have been an act of abomination until recently. Even Juju priests have been outclassed by Pastors, Imams and Seers. Young folks are now caught in this frenzy; making unreasonable demands from one another before dating.

Failure of our parents to get rich is a motivating factor to work hard and persevere (Surulere), not to flaunt conspicuous or ostentatious gifts to babies or relatives that are not in need (Oloun shogo). Again, killing God-given talents to motivate development. No angel, god or natural disaster can pick up your calls. It is all in your hands and how you utilize your brain. Have you ever wondered why some people expend so much effort into devilish act when the same effort could have produced tangible success?

Days of manna from heaven are gone! Many Africans still believe in miracles, myths and supernatural while neglecting science and reality. Natural disasters and calamities are worshipped and predicted to attract naive followers but they lack power to create wealth, explain science or discoveries for the betterment of their communities. It has been postulated that it is the cause of our backwardness in Africa. Our laziness to encourage innovations or change environment for prosperity.

Enabling environment has been overhyped. But watch the same Africans work hard at what they would never do at home to make money abroad!

Nobody wants to kill incentive to work hard but the hardest workers are not necessarily the highest paid. The most ingenious work towards discoveries in the universities or factory workers make less money than those they make rich; like investors on our labor, businessmen or stock brokers. Those peddling ostentatious and conspicuous money must be “taxed” or fined every penny above what they can legitimately account for.

The freedom to import anything you want in the name of democracy has run out of sane and sensible rational because it is the poor that are paying for the freedom to import what they never enjoyed anyway. Income needed for infrastructures, schools, hospitals are being redirected to frivolous and hedonic desires that bring no value or development to Africa. The poor are even worse off than they were when forex was under control.

Shey nah democracy we go chop? The same democracy used by elites to hire lawyers to defend their greed. When African countries were gaining Independence, the poverty level reduced because of the number of schools, hospitals, housing and industrial estates built after handover to the Independence fighters. Unfortunately, Africa has regressed, not progressed from those days judging by the increasing number and percentage of the poor whose inflated income, if they have a job, has lost value.

Conspicuous display of wealth, luxuries and perishable objects are flaunted in the midst of poverty and hopelessness instigating easy way to get rich and discouraging hard labor, perseverance and investments into long term endeavors. This is why Presidents of countries where we waste our money call us derogatory names, our land: cemetery.

Nobody has to die so that another African can get rich. The first million African makes, must be spent outside the country or continent before we satisfy our dream. Indeed, most millionaires and billionaires have more of their money invested outside Africa than inside it. Seriously, how good are your dead wasted bodies at home or abroad only to be brought home for burial when your live bodies have never benefited fellow Africans.

Luxury Tax must be implemented to discourage teasers of the poor in an environment where poverty pervades all aspect of lives. Nevertheless, a few pastors, entertainers and politicians display personal planes, imported high end cars, humongous mansions and materials without any visible or justifiable source of income. Every rich developed country has luxury tax but for some reason, missing in African countries.

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