Nigeria and its conspiracy theories, By Uddin Ifeanyi
… the conspiracy theory is totally African. The hexagon, the banshee that cried last night (and the child that died this morning), the babalawo, the dibia, and the bokaa are all cut from the same cloth. As sinisterly influential as the Woke Left in the United States (if you're a fringe Republican), or as mischievously dangerous as the MAGA group (if you're a progressive). Together, these elements (add bandits, terrorists, etc. who now also threaten us) reinforce our sense of victimhood. They release us from responsibility for our current state. And they make us focus on the wrong solutions.
Donald Trump and senior officials in his administration knew he had lost the election for President of the United States in 2020. The same cannot be said for much of the electorate in the States States which is always close to his heart. For this group of voters, the malevolent influence of big tech (hostile to conservative views), George Soros (Victor Orban, the Hungarian president, hates him) and woke crypto-communists have somehow contrived to steal the vote from their candidate. Never mind that the facts, including official investigations by members of the Republican Party, have not provided evidence to support this opinion. It was always to be expected, of course. The anti-American forces united against the 45th President of the United States are uniquely adept at arts so dark that they commit their crimes―including child sacrifice―in plain sight.
This is one of the strengths of the conspiracy theory. Monotonous explanations are just that: chapters of ordinary, often dissociative chance occurrences. Especially when reflecting a breakdown in trust in established authorities, conspiracy theories lend clever design and considerable order to even the most random sequence of events. These theories thus make it easier to explain and deal with adverse circumstances by projecting one's failures and shortcomings onto the machinations of others. In this sense, they reinforce the feeling of victimization, clearly. But they also remove any sense of agency.
However, for those who genuinely seek solutions to the problems arising from the failures and shortcomings to which these theories draw their attention, each conspiracy theory is a red herring, making it difficult to design and implement conspiracy theories. political responses by smearing false odors through the paths of thought.
Nowhere is this process more advanced than in our part of the world, and its consequences more ominous than in the mainstream portrayal of the problem with Nigeria. According to a handful of experts, the Hausa-Fulani hegemony explains everything. This hegemony, apparently confident that the Jonathan administration could find ways to stay in power despite voters' wishes to the contrary, has secured the services of non-Nigerian armed non-state actors to prepare a low-intensity war against holdouts. government. The apparent reluctance of the incumbent administration to address the deteriorating security situation in the country is often cited as evidence in support of this fact.
Why would an influence that has always possessed the legal means of violence resort to a new source of violence? Newbie question, this one. The more cobweb-like his tangles are, the more menacing (and believable) a conspiracy theory is. On this reasoning, our hegemonic forces...
… the conspiracy theory is totally African. The hexagon, the banshee that cried last night (and the child that died this morning), the babalawo, the dibia, and the bokaa are all cut from the same cloth. As sinisterly influential as the Woke Left in the United States (if you're a fringe Republican), or as mischievously dangerous as the MAGA group (if you're a progressive). Together, these elements (add bandits, terrorists, etc. who now also threaten us) reinforce our sense of victimhood. They release us from responsibility for our current state. And they make us focus on the wrong solutions.
Donald Trump and senior officials in his administration knew he had lost the election for President of the United States in 2020. The same cannot be said for much of the electorate in the States States which is always close to his heart. For this group of voters, the malevolent influence of big tech (hostile to conservative views), George Soros (Victor Orban, the Hungarian president, hates him) and woke crypto-communists have somehow contrived to steal the vote from their candidate. Never mind that the facts, including official investigations by members of the Republican Party, have not provided evidence to support this opinion. It was always to be expected, of course. The anti-American forces united against the 45th President of the United States are uniquely adept at arts so dark that they commit their crimes―including child sacrifice―in plain sight.
This is one of the strengths of the conspiracy theory. Monotonous explanations are just that: chapters of ordinary, often dissociative chance occurrences. Especially when reflecting a breakdown in trust in established authorities, conspiracy theories lend clever design and considerable order to even the most random sequence of events. These theories thus make it easier to explain and deal with adverse circumstances by projecting one's failures and shortcomings onto the machinations of others. In this sense, they reinforce the feeling of victimization, clearly. But they also remove any sense of agency.
However, for those who genuinely seek solutions to the problems arising from the failures and shortcomings to which these theories draw their attention, each conspiracy theory is a red herring, making it difficult to design and implement conspiracy theories. political responses by smearing false odors through the paths of thought.
Nowhere is this process more advanced than in our part of the world, and its consequences more ominous than in the mainstream portrayal of the problem with Nigeria. According to a handful of experts, the Hausa-Fulani hegemony explains everything. This hegemony, apparently confident that the Jonathan administration could find ways to stay in power despite voters' wishes to the contrary, has secured the services of non-Nigerian armed non-state actors to prepare a low-intensity war against holdouts. government. The apparent reluctance of the incumbent administration to address the deteriorating security situation in the country is often cited as evidence in support of this fact.
Why would an influence that has always possessed the legal means of violence resort to a new source of violence? Newbie question, this one. The more cobweb-like his tangles are, the more menacing (and believable) a conspiracy theory is. On this reasoning, our hegemonic forces...
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