Did Illiteracy Give Birth To Superstition In Africa?

Apart from corruption and illiteracy which have affected Africa’s development, superstition has also played a significant role in retarding Africa's growth. Did illiteracy give birth to superstition? Why Africa is still influenced by superstition when these ancient beliefs aren’t helping us in any way?

What is superstition? There are thousands of definitions of superstition but I like this one: “A belief, not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, that future events may be influenced by one's behavior in some magical or mystical way.”

For ages, Africa has been dominated by superstition which in my opinion has affected us more than doing us good since a close observation of superstitious activities or pure thinking evolves on illiteracy. Imagine in Madagascar, twins were considered bad luck; therefore, one has to be abandoned in the forest.

Imagine in Ghana, a certain ethnic group in Accra, wouldn’t mention the name of a snake in the night, therefore, “Ground thread,” is used. On Tuesday, fishermen don’t go to sea because of disastrous events they think would follow. While in Europe and America, fishing vessels don’t care about Tuesday, probably, the reason they have so much fish.

In Ghana, it is a disrespect to greet with the left hand, yet Europeans and Americans don’t have that mentality. Again in Ghana, many believe that seeing a black cat in the morning signifies a warning of an impending doom or a catastrophe, yet in Europe and America, many people have black cats as pets, yet they see them every day and they progress every day.

During the Homowo festival, the playing of music is forbidden in coastal areas because the deity mermaid demands peace? Let’s begin to ask ourselves; years after enslavement to these superstitions, what benefits have we gain?

How superstition affects the free distribution of bags in Ghana

About two years ago, a couple in Antwerp that always think about the welfare of Africans, delivered four boxes of school bags to be distributed to Ghanaian school children. The freight and duty for the one-thousand bags cost me a lot of money but it’s satisfying if you are doing something good for other people.

A week after my sister took delivery of the consignment, I received a message from her that no one wants the school bags. Why I did ask? According to my sister, the bags have a symbol of a snake on them, thus; because of the specific symbol, no one is interested. This is a serious case which should have made me sad, instead, I burst out laughing.

It’s true, I couldn’t stop laughing, and the fact that I work in a school and the crest or symbol on all their uniforms is the head of an owl. One day, I asked the director of the school, the reason the school’s crest is an owl, “Because an owl is an intelligent and a wise bird,” she replied.

I told her without hesitation that in Africa, she could be lynched to death for choosing an owl for a school crest, since everyone may see her as a witch, yet she isn’t. She also laughed hysterically but from every angle, I could perceive her thoughts, probably thinking how ignorant are Africans?

When I was young, I vividly remember how both young boys and girls chase the hell out of an owl, trying to kill the (Ayélooflo). Some say the owl has painted the lips with a lipstick, carrying a handbag, some said (Efokooli) painted the eyelashes. Sometimes the owl will escape but at times the unfortunate bird will be killed.

After falling from the tree, the bird comes with no handbag, and without lipstick, yet some will try to convince you that the owl left the handbag on top of the tree. Today, the school I am working in the past eight years has progressed rapidly to the extent that part of the 100-year-old school building has been demolished and attached with a new modern block.

What will happen to an African parent or child who uses a school bag with a snake symbol on it? The medical symbol is an image of serpents wrapped around a staff, which means healing, therefore, what's the significance of the rejection of these bags which could have helped many children?

As of the time writing this article, the rejected school bags are still in the boxes intact in my sister’s house. In fact, superstition has dealt with Africa a very big blow together with illiteracy and corruption, yet some people say that Africa is a cursed continent.

What have we done to deserve a curse? Are we responsible for slavery, Apartheid, colonial brutality, Aids and Ebola? Even those responsible are progressing, and yet we are far behind everything on the surface of this earth.

Before Africa will move forward we need to behave maturely, utilize our own resources, work hard, and put all the insignificant superstitious beliefs and corruption aside.