Witchcraft: Reality or Belief?

As the debates on whether witchcraft is a belief or reality rage in the Nigerian media, one cannot but marvel at the arguments produced by both sides. However, I have picked interest in the points raised by Leo Igwe to buttress his own convictions that witchcraft is a mere belief shared by those who want to explain away their misfortunes. This argument is laughable because we know that Leo Igwe as an African descent posses a vast knowledge of the African tradition. Even then, the concept or activities of witchcraft by far spreads beyond the Africa society.

For a long time, I wondered what people especially Africans set to achieve when they deliberately pretend not to belief in socio-cultural practices that trouble the African societies especially when some of them are living witnesses in their own families or have been victims in the past until I realized that we all think people would jeer at us if we profess beliefs in such concepts or that the world would take us as uncivilized in spite of the level of our educational qualifications. In this case, I have not in any way, attempted to create the notion that Leo Igwe is one.

No amount of "use of grammar" can define witchcraft as it truly exists in Africa. Even then, one can throw away the definition presented by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia as being "the use of supernatural or magical powers" Wikipedia further defines it as the use of such powers in order to inflict harm or damage upon members of a community or their property". This is indeed a good definition of witchcraft but in the African society, it goes beyond this by far. It must be stated that only anthologists and historians are expected to see witchcraft as an ideology for explaining misfortune particularly whites.

Although, Leo Igwe assumed that witchcraft is real by erroneous assumptions, faulty arguments and allusions what he failed to understand is that true victims of witchcraft experiences will vehemently disagree with him because they felt it. In the first place, this assumption failed to consider the obvious fact that in the spiritual world everything remains allusion until it comes to pass. In fact, it does not require formal education to understand spiritual things. He who feels it knows it. We are aware that it simply takes belief to stay in the spiritual world whether in Christianity, Islam, Confucianism, African Traditional religion, Hinduism etc. without belief religion itself is useless. Shall we then assume that religious practices are a waste of time because the objects of divinity are not seen? Are the Christian and Islamic God mythical and lacking in validity?

To say that witchcraft is a belief that does not imply truth, validity or reality of what is believed in is like attributing same to the various secret societies that are known to exist all over the world because witchcraft in the African society is nothing but a society where adherents gather after secret initiations have taken place. Anybody who has been privileged to listen to listen to a witch who willingly confessed to evil and iniquitous acts brought on anyone will not share in the beliefs of those who see witchcraft as mere beliefs. Many of our learned persons in our today's society are in the occult world and they have better understanding of "African powers". There are powers. Powers exist in Africa and beyond whether good or evil.

It is difficult to imagine that someone will process belief in small gods or Supreme Being and not believe that evil powers which could emanate from human being exist. Before now a lot of people did not believe that HIV/AIDS truly existed but one question I kept asking them was the reason medical tests conducted anywhere could conclude whether a person is carrying the disease. They just remain mute at the mention of this. The same question is applicable to the witchcraft scenario. Any spiritual person will agree with me that genuine spiritual enquiries which are of the Amighty God will reveal whether a person is a witch or not. The machinations attributed to witchcraft may not be real and may be based on mere accusation not supported by the spiritual facts. We know this to be true but that does not mean that witchcraft is a mere belief. That many people especially children have been subjected to false and unwarranted accusations of witchcraft does not cause the existence of witchcraft to lose validity.

The practices of witchcraft are well recognized in Europe, North America, South America, Oceania, Asia and Africa, indeed all the continents of the world. So to conclude that witchcraft is foreign to the world is mistaken. From ages, the world has lived with witchcraft experiences and every religion has accommodated the concept. The African Traditional religion is no exception as it equally provides for spiritual means of exorcism as may be found in other religions. As we are discovering today all religions are of the same root with same beliefs except for slight differences. They all make believe that there are divinities with superhuman powers that may relate with humans if we so choose.

The Bible one of the most reliable scriptural books in existence today offers beautiful accounts to support its belief in witchcraft Exodus 22:18, Deuteronomy 18:11-12 and 1 Samuel 28. Leo Igwe punctures this when he commented stated thus:

"That the Bible talked about witchcraft does not make the belief true or a reality. It only demonstrates that the authors of the Bible were also witchcraft believers so witchcraft is superstition".

The argument so presented limited the belief of witchcraft to Bible authors thus failing to understand that Quran authors also share belief in witchcraft. Quran 113:1-5 and al-Quran 2:102 also beautifully condemn the witchcraft as human evils. It is unnecessary to explain here that the African traditional Religion which is not religion of the book also condemns it.

What is more if the Americans and Europeans that we are all socially emulating today belief in the spiritual concept it is impossible to imagine why educational qualifications will make us shy away from the things we know are living with us. Maybe one day, someone will wake up and tell us that the jujus as found in Africa are completely impotent then my response will be "wait until our politicians are forced to take oaths with dangerous jujus in our law courts". That only will tell us that there are powers for good or evil.