RODNEY’S POTPOURRI: Ebo Noah’s Christmas present
It has been quite a delightful Christmas for yours truly, and I am currently enjoying the lull and recharging my batteries before the onslaught of the new year festivities - the calm before the new storm, if you like.
As an adult, the realities of Christmas are, of course, different. This is the season when long-forgotten friends and enemies crawl out of the woodwork to wish seasonal greetings via recycled WhatsApp or text messages.
If you are perceived as a mini ‘Father Christmas’, by others, including work subordinates, domestic staff, relatives, or in-laws, then there is a latent expectation of your Christmas generosity and good cheer towards them by way of some rice, eggs, cooking oil, and tomato paste to support the preparation of some Christmas jollof. Whether or not you are indeed heaving with money is not their concern. Of course, you could simply send some ‘Momo’ to take care of it all.
‘Noah’s Flood Reloaded’
At a Christmas Eve party I attended last week in one of the upmarket suburbs of Accra, a friend jokingly asked when the rain would begin.
Momentarily distracted by a juicy piece of grilled pork, I mumbled that I had not heard anything from the Meteorological Services Department that it would be raining on Christmas Day. It would be rather unusual as we are technically in the harmattan season, even though weather patterns seem to be changing of late. My mind danced toward the perennial floods of Accra, even with average rainfall.
"Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem?” he queried with a mischievous smile. Then I cottoned on. He was referring to the self-styled Ebo Noah purported prophecy on social media that God had told him He would destroy the world with a flood on Christmas Day.
Clothed in what appeared to be a jute sack with rough holes carved out to accommodate his arms and neck, perhaps to recreate popular images of John the Baptist, Ebo gravely prophesied the end of the world. I idly wondered whether he was living on locusts and honey as John reportedly did.
Apparently, the ark was meant for the whole world, with a capacity to hold 600 million people. Never mind that the current global population stands at 8.12 billion, meaning that even if only 10% of the world took heed of the prophecy, there would be a logistical nightmare hosting them all.
He did not make it clear whether two of each of the world’s animals, from polar bears to African elephants, would be provided for as in the days of Noah. Some asked wryly whether there would be charging points for their mobile phones and other electronic devices. There were reports of someone travelling all the way from Liberia to join the ark, leaving his family behind. Many images appeared on social media of crowds supposedly surging towards the ark. There was quite a buzz around the whole spectacle.
Well, Christmas Day came and went without as much as a drizzle. But Ebo was undeterred. Apparently, he had been praying and fasting and interceding for mankind, so clearly his interventions had worked, hence the dry skies. Then it turned out that the ark was not ready after all, and that indeed the social media images of its construction were apparently simply photoshopped.
It all came full circle when Ebo was reportedly spotted driving around town in a Mercedes Benz vehicle, and subsequently attending music star Sarkodie’s ‘Rappaholic Concert’. Maybe he preferred cruising around in a sleek car to bouncing along on open water in an ark.
In current parlance, the prophecy was all ‘settings and packaging’, perhaps in pursuit of some social media traction and a monetisation drive derived from same. Ebo ‘Santa Claus’ Noah had given us a Christmas present of hot, dry air packaged as a wet, God-inspired prophecy.
Beyond the ‘settings’
Of course, to many reasonable people, this ‘prophecy’ by Ebo was outlandish in the first place, and to think that anyone would take him seriously perhaps says more about them than him. But sadly, every society has its fair share of gullible citizens. In other parts of the world, many have fallen victim to absurd doomsday prophecies, some with fatal consequences. On the non-spiritual side, romance scams, ponzi schemes, and phishing/spoofing have all claimed several victims and continue to do so. Human gullibility is hard to understand.
It is perhaps tempting to laugh Ebo’s antics off, ridicule those who took him seriously, and blame anyone who may have suffered any loss for their own folly. But I think on these matters, the state ought to be more proactive in literally protecting the gullible and even the foolish from themselves because it has a duty to do so, and it is in the public interest.
We cannot have a society where anyone can rise from obscurity, style themselves however they wish, claim to be proclaiming the word of God, and make outlandish claims or prophecies that could have grave public consequences. That is madness and constitutes a slippery slope.
This is why many were delighted when, a few years ago, former IGP Dr. Dampare read the riot act to death prophets who were dominating the new year season with all manner of prophecies on which prominent person was to die in the year ahead. Prophecies can inflame passions and lead to public disorder. We all noted how, in 2018, a tasteless, purported public prophecy regarding the National Chief Imam threatened inter-religious violence.
Behind this flood tale, its drama and entertainment value by way of jokes, a real danger lurks - a danger that people could actually come to harm or suffer losses in pursuit of an ardent belief in a harmful prophecy or even a cult.
The power of religious conviction is so strong that what many may ordinarily consider common sense can be easily swept away by its force, especially when people are desperate. A cursory examination of daytime television channels in this country reveals a disturbing trend of all manner of claims, practices, and prophecies predicated on religion. It is a delicate time bomb, and we cannot shy away from it in the name of religious freedom. Sanity must prevail.
I wish you all, my dear readers, a very happy and prosperous year.
