It is false to believe that only humans are sentient; non-human animals may feel and experience emotions. They have feelings because they feel pain like human beings. How do we save them from the danger of being killed or harming themselves?
Many stories revolve around ancient traditions and customs in Africa, where people worship animals as their gods, yet these same gods are foods for some other communities that kill and slaughter them for consumption.
There is a particular tribe in my place that reveres and worships the monitor lizard (the big lizard). Anyone who kills it has defiled their land and must be made to make sacrifices or be banished from the community.
There is also a town in Kebbi State, Nigeria, where people live and sleep together with snakes, whom they refer to as their blood relatives.
At the palace of their king, the snake has a place to live with its offspring, and they move freely within the palace unhindered.
As a visitor who was coming to this community for the first time, the presence could be terrifying, but you may draw solace from the aborigine, whom you will see working free around without fear of being bitten by the reptiles.
The snakes are being worshipped and honored, just as they revere the king of the community.
Any stranger who kills the snake will die or be made to pay a penalty. The snake king is always consulted for spiritual guidance; does that imply that the snake can talk or act as a mediator between the living and their ancestors?
In some communities in Kogi State, Nigeria, some clans were said to have been reincarnated by the lion according to their myths, and such people can mysteriously turn to the big cat when the need arises.
Do we call it Africa Magic?
This particular tribe was known to be warriors in dated histories who usually fought against external aggression.
The recent issue was a middle-aged man who killed a monkey in Akwa, Anambra State, against the tradition of the kingdom.
He was fined and left off the hook because he outsmarted the tradition by going to confess openly on social media to having committed a sacrilege against the norms and customs of the land. The Natives forgave him and cautioned him never to repeat such a thing again.
Now, can customs and traditions be used to save nonhumans from horrendous conditions in Africa?
Ademu Usman Idakwo is the publisher of Africa Animal Media.
He can be reached on africaanimalmedia@gmail.com.
