As Africans, are we losing our connection with the earth?

The other day, I saw a video by the BBC about Nigerian rainmakers and whilst watching it, a question popped into my head: as Africans, are we losing our connection with the earth? I feel that civilisation has made us forget; religion and science have made us forget.

My dad was born in the 1930s and I remember once when he told my sister and I stories of the past, he made mention of some Yoruba warrior women ‘farting’ bees to fight off invaders from northern Nigeria.  Far-fetched, I know! I actually took his stories then as made up, just to entertain my sister and I. Now I find myself having doubt. He said the stories were true, I doubted him at the time, now I find myself asking if there’s an element of truth in what he said.

From as far back as I can remember, think Chinua Achebe Things Fall Apart, the idea that rainmakers were real has always been in the recesses of my mind. I had a smile on my face when I watched the video by the BBC. A lot of viewers who watched the video on Facebook commented that the rain falling at the bequest of the rainmaker was simply a coincidence. Was it really though?

By the way, I loved that this BBC video was in Nigerian pidgin English

Some pipo dey tok say dem fit make rain ? fall and hold am, see wetin happun wen BBC challenge one of dem to make rain ☔️ fall.You don see dis kain tin before??

Posted by BBC News Pidgin on Friday, 24 August 2018

 

Perchance this was real, what do you think the future holds for us if we lose our connection with the earth due to science and civilisation? Should we assume everything in life is as a result of the ‘big bang’ theory? I truly do not know what to think. Please share your thoughts in the comments below

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