Power without Responsibility: The Rise of Cultism and Illicit Drug in Yorubaland and the Dangers Ahead

Kọ́ lọ́ mọ kìlọ̀ f’ọ́mọ rẹ̀, ìlú ti ro

By Lere Olayinka

There’s a song we used to sing during Egúngún Festival in Okemesi Ekiti then. Kọ́ lọ́ mọ kìlọ̀ f’ọ́mọ rẹ̀, ò ní á ro.
Parents should warn their children, today will be brutal.

That’s usually at the tale end of the masquerade festival when all the senior and traditional masquerades must have retired to the groove (Igbó ìgbàlẹ̀) and there will be likelihood of the festival becoming rowdy.

Parents especially mothers will be out, seeking for their children, especially those of us that were in our teens.

That song is what I have come to sing to parents of today, especially the mothers. Kọ́ lọ́ mọ kìlọ̀ f’ọ́mọ rẹ̀, ìlú ti ro.
Parents should warn their children, the society is now brutal.

Cultism and hard drugs are the major evils driving the children of nowadays. They are the foundation of the criminalities of today.

Cultism and hard drugs are also the foundation of some of the quick wealth being displayed today, under the guise of Yahoo Plus, Music, Skit Making, etc. Most of the killings that are categorized as ritual killings are actually done for organ harvesting, which is the source of wealth of some of the boys being regarded as Yahoo Plus.

And beyond the quick wealth is death! Yes, death, because there is no free gift from the devil.

If you are a cultist, the probability of getting killed by rival cult groups is like death itself. And if you are doing drugs (trafficking), the probability of death is same. Meanwhile, the two are like Siamese twins, they go together.

Sadly, how many parents are warning or counseling their children? What most parents are interested in is the money coming from their children, not the source.

Ọmọ ò se àgbàfọ̀, ó ún kó asọ wá’lé… Your children who is not a dry cleaner is bringing used clothes to the house…

I am sure many of us have forgotten the story of Austa Onuwa (AUSTA_XXO), the 21 year-old undergraduate, who was killed by her boyfriend who goes by identity KILLABOI.

KILLABOI stabbed Austa Onuwa, his girlfriend of three years to death in Lagos. Her dead body was found after her family noticed she was missing.

Funny, Austa was described as Instagram Influencer. Whatever she was influencing, I don’t know.

KILLABOI confessed and admitted to the crime via his Instagram handle, promising to turn himself in to the police. Up till today, has he done that? Has he been arrested?

Austa’s mother was everywhere, crying for justice. The same mother who did nothing when her daughter was living large, riding Mercedes Benz and showing videos of herself in different hotel rooms. The same mother whose daughter was dating a guy with alias as KILLABOI.

Obviously, Austa’s murder has been forgotten, just like those of many others before her. Others have even happened after hers.

Today, like Austa’s mother, Mohbad’s mother is shedding crocodile tears, mourning a child she abandoned for fifteen years. The same child she never bothered to keep alive and didn’t even know was alive for fifteen years.

Mohbad’s mother wants justice on the death of a child she didn’t care for and she wants the public to sympathize with her. Perhaps, Mohbad could have lived if he had motherly care and counseling.

Even Mohbad’s father who raised him alone is not without blame. Or what manner of father will send his son to school and the son will come back without a certificate and he won’t ask questions?

When Mohbad ran away from Osun State Polytechnic, Esa Oke in 2016, did his father bother to find out why? According to Mohbad himself, he didn’t attend classes and he was doing Yahoo and taking drugs. And his father did not know?

Àgbà tí ò kẹhùn sọ̀rọ̀…

Today too, the youths are on the streets, demanding justice for Mohbad.

Justice, yes! If Mohbad was killed, his killers must be found and made to face the full wrath of the law, no matter how highly placed.

But didn’t some of these same youths turn themselves to Malians, dancing to Naira Marley’s songs with lyrics like “How many man have I put underground, shoot in Amiri like Kay Flock, How many man have we sent to Baba God, ah…

Kay Flock, mentioned in that song was a rapper in the New York, who was arrested on Christmas Eve for the December 16, 2021 murder of a 24-year-old man outside of a Harlem barbershop. Flock shot Oscar Hernandez after arguing with him in the neck and back and authorities believe the shooting is connected to gang activity. Oscar Hernandez was said to be wearing a $1,000 Amiri jeans when he was shot by Kay Flock.

But our Malian youths danced to songs like that without being interested in deep understanding of their lyrics.

Today, there are cries for justice for Mohbad. I join in that cry for justice too. But most importantly, I join in calling on parents to pay more attention to their children because there are millions of Mohbad among them that we must not cry for justice for in future.

Kọ́ lọ́ mọ kìlọ̀ f’ọ́mọ rẹ̀, ìlú ti ro.

Olayinka writes from Irunmale Avenue, Oke Agbonna, Okemesi Ekiti