Bad Cultures
Some of Africa's bad cultures have been noticed as truely bad and are being rejected, especially by the civilised society, the Islamic and Christian societies. They are bad beliefs and practices instituted in the olden days by the fore fathers, mainly due to ignorance and superstition but are still practiced today in many communities with strong enforcement even though Government has legally abolished them.
Killing Of Albinos And Hunchbacks:
Albinos are people, who lack some kind of pigment in their skin and appear pale, the condition is actually a disability. Hunchback, on the other hand, is a kind of disability where some people have heavy swelling on the upper part of the back. People who have this kind of disability in Africa are regarded as outcasts and in many communities killed. This makes them to hide from people, especially the hunchbacks who do not come out in the night.The killings of these kinds of people are not because it is culture but in some ways are cultural related. There are some primitive, supernatural beliefs attached to them that make some wicked men to hunt them. In Tanzania, witch-doctors say they can use albino body parts in a potion to make people rich or for good luck. Some think albinos are a kind of ghost-like creature, while some are convinced that there are magical properties in the blood, bones and skin of the albinos. The hunchbacks are also affected by this superstitious belief. Some people think that the swelling at .....
Widow Inheritance:
This is also known as bride inheritance, where widows are made to marry a kinsman of her late husband, often his brother. This is still being practised in many parts of Africa today. This is not entirely bad in that it ensures protection and provision for the widow and her children after the husband dies. But the bad thing is that most cases the widow is forced to marry a kinsman against her wish and any refusal is met with grievous punishment. Let's not forget the fact that some evil kinsmen, seeing that the woman is beautiful, may plan to kill the husband so as to inherit the wife. If the widow refuses, she is accused of many things, including killing her husband.
Killing of Twins:
A little child is not only precious to behold, but also one among the beauties nature bestows on mankind; a child is therefore a wondrous creature and as such ought to have some dignity attached to his or her personality. Among the Yoruba people of Nigeria, twins are called ibejis after Ibeji. People believe that, depending on how they are treated, twins can bring either fortune or misfortune to their families and communities. For this reason, twins receive special attention. Also, in some parts of the Ivory Coast, twins are also said to be able to stop the rain and are often called upon when there are manifestations or events and the weather turns inclement. In Guinea and in the Ivory Coast, when one twin is getting married, the other is also treated like the bride.Unfortunately, not all communities share favourable superstitious belief about twins. Some communities believe those twins, or any birth exceeding one at a time is an abomination and that the twins should be killed as soon as possible. In most cases a sacrifice should be carried out by the family to appease the gods. It might surprise you that this horrible and wicked practise still exist today in many parts of Africa with strong enforcement. I remember where I used to work in south southern part of .....
OSU Caste System:
The Osus are people historically owned by deities, and are therefore considered to be a 'living sacrifice', an outcaste, untouchable and sub-human (similar to the Roman practice of homo sacer). This obnoxious practice dates back to hundreds of years ago when criminals, slaves and mostly war prisoners from neighbouring towns were dedicated to deity gods. They will be taken as slaves and put in shrines to worship and serve their gods. These prisoners marry themselves and bear children and children's children who are also castigated as Osu.They are treated as inferior human beings and kept in a state of permanent and irreversible disability; they are subjected to various forms of abuse and discrimination. They are made to live separately from the freeborn; they reside very close to shrines and market places.The Osu are not allowed to dance, drink, hold hands, associate or have sexual relationship with the Nwadiala. They are not even allowed to break kola nut at meetings or pour libation or pray to God on behalf of a freeborn at any community gathering .....
Human Inflicted Insanity:
Insanity is one of the worst bad effect of bad cultural beliefs and practices people suffer in Africa .It will surprise you to know that many insanity cases in Africa are human inflicted which are because of personal gains, hatred, envy, etc. When the victim becomes mad [or held insane] the evil men tell people that it is from the gods. This is what they use to deceive people, like in all other bad cultures, e.g. killing of twins, that the command is from the gods. In this case, that the gods caused the fellow to insanity.Actually, It is not of culture to make someone mad but, just like the case of Albinos and hunchbacks, there are some primitive and supernatural beliefs about gains that can be derived by making one mad. There is a secret belief that by holding somebody mad, the person could gain affluence or that the business will prosper more. Because of this supernatural belief, there are lots of mad persons roaming the streets in Africa. .....
