‘Na God syndrome’: An evasive response most successful Africans give so as not to explain their formula for success to fellow Africans who desperately need it.
For instance, if an African man crosses the desert and the ocean and makes it to live a better life in Europe, let’s say one of his old friends from the village chats him up to ask him how he got to Europe, he’ll respond like so:
“My brother, na God ooo, its God that did it. I prepared to go to Europe one day, all of a sudden, from nowhere, I found myself in Europe!
Just don’t worry and keep praying, have faith, you will get here one day. What God cannot do does not exist.”
Follow me on medium.com/@davepartner
Because of this, success in Africa is in spots, you will hardly ever find a community that is able to replicate the success of one of their sons or daughters.
Africa produces great authors, movie producers, scientists etc but they will be the only one in their community to be able to accomplish that, ever.
Even their own siblings don’t get to make it too, once they die, their community relapses into darkness.
This is not a new syndrome, it has been there for millenniums. Our native doctor ancestors will discover certain mighty charms such as those for disappearing, shape-shifting, treating certain mysterious ailments and shortcomings such as violence, juvenile delinquencies and pathological stupidity but they will never transmit the knowledge.
They will rather live and die with the knowledge than to explain to their community.
A grand father whose great grandfather was a great native doctor once taught me as a kid that if a young person is randy, troublesome or violent, there are certain herbal mixtures that could be used to pin down the person’s confusion and that person’s career will manifest into either of two things: doctor or spiritual leader.
That’s why when many armed robbers repent, the only career they choose is that of a preacher. And many otherwise intelligent medical student get confused midway into medical school and dropout.
He also explained that it goes either way; there is a certain process to throw confusion into someone’s life.
That’s a very interesting theory, if it is true in anyway, that knowledge is gone forever. No one knows what that anti-violence and anti-randy herbal mixture is. Even the dosage and administration procedure and ceremonial processes are all gone.
Today, we know that western medicine has injections that stop mad people from being violent and some other medical advancements in that direction.
Which means that that herbal mixture theory may be true too, but the component that isn’t in western medicine is that that herbal process also helps the patient manifest a new career in medicine or spirituality.
I once worked in a foreign company, I was the only black in the entire group of companies, when I made enquiries, they told me that a Nigerian had worked there the year before.
He had told them that there aren’t other Nigerians qualified to have job roles there, so they were surprised to have me there.
That same month, I got over 30 other Nigerians recruited into that organisation to fill up all the vacancies even down to the Chinese translator position that was left vacant for months, I got it filled immediately by Nigerians who can speak Mandarin.
Many Africans who have found juicy opportunities abroad will rather die than inform their own people and friends back home of such opportunities.
Why is this so?
Follow me on medium.com/@davepartner
