The Roman Catholic Church has been around for more than 2, 000 years – making it one of the oldest continuous institutions in the world and very central to western civilisation. Central to the church are its three sacraments: baptism, the communion, and penance. Associated with the Church are events such as the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Counterreformation, the globalisation of Christianity, and the economic transformation of the world. And of course, there are notable personalities such as Martin Luther, King Henry VIII and John Calvin, and the 266 Popes it’s had since the first century, beginning with Simon Peter.
Despite the centrality of the Church to olden and modern times, it has had its share of scandals. On its list of 266 popes are men one would consider unstable: perverts, incestuous, peadophilic, and psychotic. A few died under mysterious circumstances; some were married with children; and handfuls were alleged to be homosexuals, con men, and outright criminals. And in more recent times, the world has been regaled with proven and unproven allegations of mental and sexual abuse in places like Tanzania, Kenya, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, and the United States. But in spite of occasional repugnancies, the Church has been good for mankind.
Electing a pope has become a global affair. And it matters not whether or not you live in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, Australia, or any of the Island nations, matter of and around the pope catches the world’s attention. It is almost like the FIFA World Cup football tournament: the world stops and speculates and cheers for a brief period. In my lifetime, there has been six heads of the Catholic Church: Pope John XXIII, October 1958 to June 1963; Pope Paul VI, June 1963 to August 1978; Pope John Paul 1, August 1978 to September 1978; Pope John Paul II, October 1978 to April 2005; Pope Benedict XVI, April 2005 to February 2013. And now we have Pope Francis 1.
The Church, however, must find ways to meet the demands and challenges of the 21st Century especially as it relates to sexual exploitations, condom and contraceptives; the marital status of its clergy; and the role and place of women in leadership and spiritual positions. The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI is a testament to his courage and decency. The world can only hope that Pope Francis, and the Church, will find a lasting solution to some of the doubts and challenges that have come to bedevil this veritable institution.
Not too long ago, I was listening to one of Africa’s greatest philosophers, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, crooning about a social disorder that was commonplace in Nigeria of the 1960s through the 1990s: skin bleaching. The song I have in mind is Yellow Fever, which was released in 1976. Hundreds and thousands of Nigerians, and perhaps, millions of Africans, either voluntarily or involuntarily had their skin bleached (mostly in an attempt to look pretty, or look like Caucasians). But instead, many looked ghostly, nasty and ugly. Many were so ignorant they were not aware of the harmful effects of what they were doing to their skins and health.
Many did not know that skin bleaching can, and on occasion, cause osteoporosis, infertility, nervous system dysfunction, mercury poisoning, and high blood pressure. Many of the cream being used can also lead to brittle capillaries and skin cancer. Wounds on bleached skins also take longer time to heal. It is sad, so very sad, that decades after Fela warned us against the dangers of bleaching our skins, a not-too-insignificant number of Nigerians still partake in it. But recently, another insidious habit has come to define what beauty is on the continent: the use of wigs and clip-on hairs, false eye lashes and eye brows, and fake nails. To accentuate these falsities, the new rich have added silicone breasts. Rich or not, fake speaking accent is also in vogue.
It burdens the eyes and saddens the soul when one sees Black women, walk around in those ugly attachments. Many look horrible. Frankly, I have seen better masqueraders on the streets of Lagos and Osun. And what is it about those accents – accents that cannot be classified as the typical British, American, or Australian. Many a time, the offenders sound like monkeys or parrots trying to imitate the human sound. Radio DeeJays, broadcast journalists, and Nollywood personalities are the worst offenders. What value do these vexing imitations add to our cultural milieu?
My hope is that within the next decade or so, African women will come to dislike and forsake wigs and other attachments the same way millions and millions of Black women in Africa and elsewhere gave up on skin bleaching. What is it about women that make them embrace and celebrate such falsities? Really, it does not add to their beauty or elegance. It does not add to their humanity or intelligence. Wigs and all the fakes they wear make them look pretentious and ghoulish. They ought to know that there is beauty and grace in authenticity. Nothing beats being an original.
In my youth, I was fascinated by firebrands and leftists and political troublemakers. But of course, I was not alone. In Africa and across the developing world, millions of youngmen and women fell in love with them. No Nigerian of my generation would ever forget many of the spoken or written words of Frantz Fanon, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Malcolm X, Thomas Sankara, Fidel Castro, Patrice Lumumba, Steve Biko, Amílcar Cabral, Samora Machel, Jerry Rawlings, and many others. These and other men captured our imagination – about the same way Hugo Chávez captured the imagination of many in today’s world.
For several years, many western capitals waited for Chávez, the president of Venezuela, to leave the stage. They wanted him out of office. But stayed on for 14 years! He was loved by millions of his people and by millions across the world. As with Yasser Arafat, we may never know if President Chávez died a “natural or unnatural death.” We may never know. But he was a giant. He loomed large in the imagination of his friends and foes. He was, above all else, a man. On the day of his passing, I shed tears. The world will miss him. Here is 21-Gun Salute to a well-loved global citizen. Hugo Chávez!!!