By Fr Pat. Amobi Chukwuma
The Holy Book says, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpent and as innocent as a dove. Be on your guard with respect to people….” (Mtt. 10:16-17). My Igbo People compliment this Scriptural text in these words: “Mmadu ka a na-aya.” This means that human beings are the problem of the world. Hence, a man in my village goes by this nickname: “A ma onye a na-eze” which means no one knows who to fear. It can be anyone.
No wonder the hen advised her chickens: “Unu na-akpa nri anya ufie akokwala unu.” The translation is: “Be cautious as you go about searching for feed.” Fake products do not display themselves. They are not paraded by animals. Human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, are the architects of fake products. Fakeness is not an attribute of God. The production or marketing of fake products is an abuse of Divine mandate to humanity.
The word ‘Fake’ can be used as a noun, as an adjective and as a verb. In my primary school I learnt that a noun is the name of a person, a place or a thing. On the other hand, an adjective is a word which qualifies a noun. In some cases, a noun can be used as an adjective to qualify another noun. Example: Baby boy or baby girl.
In German Language every noun in a sentence begins with capital letter. In English Language only a proper noun begins with capital letter. As a noun, fake is a thing that is not genuine. It means forgery, sham or counterfeit. When fake is used as an adjective, it qualifies something else. For example, fake news, fake priest, fake woman, etc. Appearance is deceptive.
Therefore we must shine our eyes and open wide our ears in these evil days. In fact the senses God endowed us with must be employed to ascertain the difference between original and fake. Fake can also be used as a verb. For instance, the young man faked ignorance. That woman faked blindness. Some years ago I encountered a fake beggar at the entrance of Jos Main Market in Plateau State.
He was wearing tattered clothes and held a small blackboard on his right hand on which was inscribed: “I am deaf and dumb. Please help me.” I felt sorry for him. Dipping my hand into my pocket, I brought out five Naira note (which was a big money then) and asked him emotionally, “Kana da chenji” (Do you have change?). He forgot what he pretended to be and replied, “Eee, kawo mba ka” (Yes, bring let me give you).
Angrily I put the money back into my pocket and then scolded him for faking deaf and dumb. As I was walking away, he started pouring abuses at me. I just spread my right fingers towards him cursing, “Shege! Dan yiska!” (Foolish man! Crook!). That was in the old better days.
As a young priest, some years ago, there was the case of a wine tapper in a certain town containing five alphabets in the heart of Anambra State. He specialized in the production and sale palm wine. He supplied any quantity you want and at any time you want it, even at midnight. An ignorant priest among us was used in promoting his ‘delicious’ and ‘fresh’ palm wine. Every day he smiled to the bank.
He married, built a modern house in his hometown and trained his children up to the university level with the huge profit he made from the sale. After some years, it was discovered that the quantities of palm wine he sold to all and sundry were fake. He produced them behind his residential house. Gallons and containers of all seizes were found around there.
Also discovered were empty bags of sugar and gallons of chemicals he used. By this time he went at large. Many of those who drank the fake palm wine were diagnosed of diabetes. Some have died while those who are still alive are shadows of themselves. Of recent, I heard that the fake palm wine tapper is dead. I must search for him and report him to God on the Resurrection Day. He cannot just die and go scot-free. The evil that men do lives with them and after them.
Till this moment, fake palm wine is being marketed here and there. It tastes sweet and fresh always. No wonder diabetes and cancer are on the increase. It is good to ascertain the wine tapper and place of tapping before drinking palm or up wine these days. The devil and his agents have metamorphosed into wine tappers. They tap to kill. Drink with care. Drink to see the next day. Many have drunk carelessly and ended in their untimely graves.
Fake products are sold in the local and international markets. Some importers intentionally import fake products in order to make huge gains. Fake rice is made from plastic or polythene. It is combustible. Genuine rice is not. Even some fake fish and fake meat are sold in markets.
If you consume them, then you go too soon. A certain man is popularly called ‘Chop and Die’. If you eat or drink carelessly, then you die carelessly. Many people specialize in the production of fake foods and drinks. They are nothing but merchants of death. Some bottled alcoholic and non-alcoholic wines sold in the markets are fake products. No wonder death rate is on the increase. They appear like original. They are cocked and labelled finely with made in popular countries inscribed on them.
If you visit the social media these days, you read so much of fake news, which may be positive or negative. The positive ones give you false hope while the negative ones increase your blood pressure. Therefore, we must read sensibly in between the lines. Do not believe everything you read or hear. Mischief is on the air worldwide. The devil and his agents are never at rest.
They glory in distraction and destruction. At times they create fears over certain happenings, drinks or foods. Even fake medical doctors write volumes about some illnesses and proffer fake solutions. Fake drugs adorn the pharmaceutical markets. Some fake medical doctors known as quacks set up clinics and parade fake certificates. The sick walk into their consultation rooms alive, and are carried to the mortuary as dead bodies.
Our society is so bad nowadays. Many fake human beings walk about here and there. Some are cloned and appear as real human beings. Even some dead bodies are cloned and live among us.
Likewise human voices are cloned and sound as the voices of those you know. This can be used through the phone to scam gullible persons. Dupes are specialized in this. Before you know it, the scammer has emptied the money in your bank account and disappeared without trace.
During the 2022/2023 presidential campaign of a political party in Nigeria, the party hired fake priests and fake bishops to endorse their candidate. Their funny clerical attires and strange attitudes at the political campaign arena showed that they were fake men and women of god (not God). Real priests and bishops are apolitical. They do not involve themselves in partisan politics.
Unfortunately, the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission was compromised to produce fake election results at the odd hour of the night. What we are suffering today in Nigeria is the enthronement of some fake leaders at the state and federal levels. Election rigging has been endorsed by the powers that be. Most losers are sworn into office while real winners are shown the way out.
Worst of all is the fact that the court is no longer the last hope of the common man. It is now the survival of the fittest. The highest bidders come out victorious. Our votes no longer count. Injustice seems to triumph over justice. Where are we heading to?
