Conversation with Nandip Bongfa Vongwap on Nigeria Coronavirus.

Interviewer: Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Interviewee: Nandip Bongfa Vongwap

Numbering: Issue 1.A, Idea: African Freethinking

Place of Publication: Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Title: African Freethinker

Web Domain: http://www.in-sightjournal.com

Individual Publication Date: April 17, 2020

Issue Publication Date: TBD

Name of Publisher: In-Sight Publishing

Frequency: Three Times Per Year

Words: 949

Keywords: Africa, atheism, coronavirus, culture, humanism, Nandip Bongfa Vongwap, Nigeria.

Conversation with Nandip Bongfa Vongwap on Nigeria Under Coronavirus[1]^,[2]

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s start with some updates on the Nigerian political context. How are things developing despite the coronavirus?

Nandip Bongfa Vongwap: I think the Nigerian political climate is much less affected by coronavirus than the economic climate, though it’s often difficult to disentangle the two. Businesses have come to a virtual standstill in many parts of the country. But overall, I think Government approach to the pandemic (particularly pumping huge sums of money into the programme) seems to be well received by the public.

Jacobsen: How are some of the religious communities in Nigeria reacting to the coronavirus?

Vongwap: Religious community leaders seem to have displayed some ambivalence about the lockdown imposed by Government, perhaps because they are losing weekly tithes! But Government has made it mandatory for everyone to comply.

And some religious leaders, especially the Muslims in northern Nigeria, don’t believe that the coronavirus is real. One imam told his followers at a prayer meeting that the virus is not real, and is the work of the infidel West to stop Muslims in the world from praying to Allah.

To make matter worse, one of the youth in Kano northern Nigeria washed his dirty hands and drank the dirty water to prove what the imam was saying is true. The youth speaks in the Hausa language that coronavirus is not real; that coronavirus is a bastard; the video went viral on social media.

Nigerian Doctor Reacts To A Viral Video Of A Northerner Youth In Kano.

Another aspect is the lockdown, which is making people sleep without eating any food. People are hungry. Some people have nothing to eat, the government palliative did not go around; some officials sharing the food and sometimes mone. They only select their friends, relatives, and party members that benefit from it.

Jacobsen: What have been some of the public health measures endorsed by the state? How have some religious communities completely ignored this?

Vongwap: There is a total lockdown in some states (Lagos, Ogun, FCT, Plateau, etc.). The government has established testing and isolation/treatment facilities in many parts of the country; through extensive media dissemination, it encourages the wearing of face masks and social distancing among the populace.

Churches and mosque have also in lockdown, the Christians community are very obedient in obeying the government lockdown order, but the Muslims are not showing much interest by obeying the order from the government. In fact, some state government lifted the lockdown to allow Muslims to go and pray in the mosque on Fridays.

Jacobsen: How have your perspectives change in the last year or so on religion, science, and Humanism?

Vongwap: Coronavirus has not changed MY perspective on religion, science and humanism. I remain resolutely opposed to any form of religious superstition and see science as Man’s ultimate salvation.

Religion has completely closed their market for fear of the dead, because religion is a business, without people to give offering, pay tithe and donations, organized religion could have been long dead. The Vatican is closed, Mecca is closed, Jerusalem for Christian pilgrims is also closed. The only place that is open for humanity is the hospital, and the hospital is the product of science. You can see: science rules the world.

The religious leaders are waiting patiently for the scientist to get the cure for the deadly coronavirus. They would rush to claim that it is God or Allah that provided the cure, because there is this popular saying here in northern Nigeria in the Hausa language that “Allah bazaya haiko da chuta ba, be haiko da magane sa ba” meaning, ‘God can not send a plague to his people without the cure.’

Jacobsen: What are some of the developments important to highlight about the secular communities now?

Vongwap: Officially in Nigeria, secularism is only honoured in its breach, despite a constitutional provision imposing it on the country. I don’t think the present circumstances would incline diehard believers to change their minds to secularism. Still, many youths are increasingly embracing humanism.

Jacobsen: What is African freethinking to you? How does this provide a salve for the issues confronting African citizens throughout the continent in terms of the abuses of power and the rebuilding after Arab-Muslim and Christian-European colonization?

Vongwap:  African freethinking is still in the making; as more and more Africans get exposed to the world through travel, education and the Internet, they will surely move with the tide of secularism and humanism. That’s my hope.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Nandip.

Vongwap: Thank you. 

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Board Member, Humanist Association of Nigeria (HAN); Board Member, Atheists Society of Nigeria (ASN).

[2] Individual Publication Date: April 17, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/vongwap-jacobsen.

The Taroh Tradition

The Future of The Tarok Culture and Tradition!

The Tarok people are mainly farmers producing both food and cash crops such as guinea corn, millet, maize, rice, groundnut, cotton, and yam etc. Rearing some domesticated animals such as local chickens, ducks, goats, sheep, dogs and cattle etc. Other economic activities of the Tarok people include Carving, Fishing, Blacksmithing, hunting and Pottery making.

Carving (npak akun), carving activities of the Tarok people is no longer in existence, in years back in Tarok market, various types of carving arts are display at the market such as mortar an pestle (atum), wooden bed (igbang), wooden chair (ituk), wooden spoon (igapji). In recent years, such items are no longer in existence in the market, except in some private homes. As future leaders what are we doing to preserved or bring back the forgotten cultural and traditional items?

Blacksmithing (ala), is one of the best economic activities of the Tarok man, in blacksmithing many materials are produce such as Hoe  (adir), knife (ikpal), big hoe  (ashan), Arrow (iwar) etc. In years back all those materials can be gotten in the market everywhere in Tarok land. But, in recent years, is difficult to see a blacksmith, either they have die or their children are not interested in blacksmithing activities.

Hunting (abaar), local hunting is another area of interest in the past, our ancestors always go as far as the south for hunting call (aninwar), during their many months of hunting, apart from the game they brought home, they will also discover fertile land for agriculture. Example is Langtang south, through local hunting, fertile land of Langtang south was discover and the movement of the people from north to south for farming, known as resettlement area. In recent past, the local hunting at home is a good business, fresh bush meat from the mountain are available to buy, but now, only very few people take to hunting.

Igee or ntaida (shooting competition), is a local shooting competition with bow and arrow, group by group or clan by clan challenge each other for shooting competition, a group or a clan will be known as the best shooters in the community. We have some best military from Tarok land. Nowadays, no group or clan challenge each other for such competition in Tarok land. In years to come, we would not have any culture and tradition in the future in Tarok land, our children children will never know about their culture and tradition.

Pottery (nmayiyem), is a big business in the past, pottery ware such as ideri, Isar, asu, agantang, ibechi etc, are earthenware items and are generally produced by women and are the source of income to their family. But, today is a different story and a sad one at that, you would no longer see any pottery ware in the market anywhere in Tarok land. This is a nightmare, it was replace plastic container.

Ideri and ibechi are use to store locally brew beer called burukutu is more chilling to take, drew from the earthenwares than from plastic container, is now been replace in the use of Jerry-can a plastic container, that has a health implications.

In the late 2000 to 2011, the use of pottery for brewing or storage of locally brew beer burukutu has completely disappear in Tarok land. What is now been use for brewing burukutu is a big aluminum pot instead of Isar. This also has a negative effect on the culture and tradition of the Tarok people. Apart from putting women out of job, it also bring our cultivated heritage to a stop.

In the same way, the use of calabash (adagde, achoya) for eating and drinking are no longer in  existence. ( find out from your villages or community, how many homes are using adagde for eating and achoya for drinking), you will discover that only few people use it in the name of modernization.

We particularly grateful to one person who maintain the Tarok culture and tradition (Igbarman Otarok) and some few other sons and daughter's of the soil.

The village heads and the Ponzhi nbin in every Tarok community should in the matter of urgency discouraged the use of Jerry-can and plastic containers in our market in Tarok land. When we do this, we will bring back our lost heritage. The more we stick to our pottery ware and calabash, the more it would be good for us and our future culture and tradition...

In recent years, there are many challenges on our ancestral worship, the challenge come mostly from the Christian religious belief, they can not mind their business as mostly trying to undermine the ancestral belief.

The question that need a honest answer from the Christian is, "Where was Jesus or God when the ancestral worship began?"

"We would wake up some day in the future, there will be no Tarok culture and tradition -the time to wake up is now" 

~Nandip Andrew