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Land of magnetic babies
(Daily Triumph)

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SULAIMAN HAMZA

In the developed Countries of the world, certain happenings- mysterious, spiritual, emotional, physical and natural — that seem to capture the attention of the people are jealously guarded, developed, promoted, encouraged and packaged so as to showcase both the classical and neoclassical culture, civilization and natural realities of the area, and to create an equation between the ancient and modern realities. Facts and figures aren’t just dismissed as an infinitesimal component of life that lacks intrinsic value. The preservation and promotion of such values give a society the unit power to define its cultural heritage. Because culture is by nature a direct expression of man’s ability to guide his life according to his will and needs, whether they are material, mental, or spiritual. The culture of any society is made up of two core factors: the recorded heritage and civilization as in its architectural heritage and monuments, its oral heritage and common sayings, known popularly as folklore.

The Egyptian, for instance, since ancient times, has utilized nature to benefit man. He has added to natural phenomena from his own spirit, thus giving material a human quality. He has turned his surroundings into a framework for his human presence. He has given an artistic character to his tools and dishes. The Egyptian also connected the heaven to the earth through a mathematical viewpoint by tracking the passing of time in units of days, months, and years. In fact, looking at history, heritage, common sayings and uncommon happenings shows cultural continuity between yesterday and today.

All these values are beautifully packaged, jealously guarded, and to a large extent, they trigger the influx of visitors that may be curious to deepen research and adventure.

Again, certain facts aren’t just dismissed for the fact that modernity is gradually replacing the old ways. It’s in an attempt to come in contact with the source of facts or happenings that people (visitors) flock in from various backgrounds thereby, directly or indirectly,

increasing the tourist index of the place. This is tourism. When we are talking of tourism, we can’t limiting it to monuments, museums, wildlife sanctuaries, dams, hotels, games park, waterfalls, mountains or hills, dance or festivals, it also includes, the way of life of a people, dishes, common sayings, marriage customs, pilgrimage,swimming, uncommon events or happenings that have the tendency to attract visitors. It is the locality where the happenings take place that is to promote them, showcase them and encourage a wide publicity of such facts or happenings and make them tastefully attractive for researchers, tourists, scientists and academics, to gauge the imaginative and unimaginative basics of the happenings.

Look at this fact, in 1999, 157 New Yorkers were bitten by rats while 1519 were bitten by fellow New Yorkers. This happening challenged world securities and visitors to flock to New York to study the situation. By so doing, visitor numbers in New York increased at that period thereby raising the tourist index of the city. New York government had to embark upon massive importation of vaccines that would treat the venomous bites of the rodent. Medical experts trooped in to tap the hidden “therapy” in rodent bite.

In Jerusalem, it’s believed that an average of 1000 tourists annually admitted to the Kfar Shaul Mental Health Centre suffer from religious delusions triggered by visiting the city. They call this “Jerusalem Syndrome”. This happening also spurs huge influx into the holy city for research. Another fact that may have the potency to capture the attention of people for visit is, it is believed that while Mecca, Jerusalem and the Vatican city may attract more pilgrims, the city with the highest per capital viewership of TV evangelists is Washington DC in the United States.

Looking at the background of these facts, it’s without a doubt, that people will have to travel from other parts of the world to study these situations. This is a clear example of mass tourism. A tourism teacher says that if you travel from one destination to another for the purpose of research or study, education, business, holiday, sightseeing, and spend at least 24hours, you are a tourist.

Increasingly, there are similar facts or greater ones, in Nigeria but they aren’t packaged or given enough publicity to capture the attention of visitors. Tourism has a very wide scope, and as said earlier it isn’t limited to the priceless possessions in a museum, or large specie of birds in a birds sanctuary, it has more than that.

In 2001, in lkono local government area in Akwa lbom State, a woman who carried pregnancy for 1 year 10 months gave birth to a (baby) boy with hair all over the body, and with complete dentition. Only family members and a few relations from near by villages gathered. They didn’t even stay there up to 24hours, at least, to qualify them as tourist. Unlike in advance countries, no publicity was given to attract outsiders. .At least the local commercial motorcyclists would have made market from this.

In 1999, in Rivers State, a woman gave birth to a baby that had head of a fish, tail of a fish, absence of human legs but with human hands. Only local media with limited readership carried it. Not even medical experts from the neighboring West African countries were attracted to investigate the anatomy of the mystery baby, talk-less of attracting international visitors.

In Kano, there is a mountain in a village called Koya, about 7 kilometres from Shanono town. Oral accounts say the mountain has four wonders — a mysterious snake that doesn’t bite but protects hunters against dangers, a baobab tree whose leaves tum into human hair when picked, a wonderfully long cave and a deep well that contains strange birds that greet visitors.

What effort has the government done to further research of the four mysteries of Koya. Mountain - package them to attract visitors?. Everybody cares about his political business — how to survive this tenure and how to re-enter the stage in the next political season.

The most astonishing is that of a small town called lgbo-Ora near Ibadan, Oyo State. Right from time, people are baffled by the huge number of multiple births in the town, which vastly exceeds the general population statistic of one to 60 for twins and one to 200 for triplets. Many traditional phenomena like ancestral connections, spiritual forces and myths of intrinsic background have been applied to explain the situation, but then it still remains unfathomable. It is often said that a non-indigene pregnant woman that is desirous of giving birth to twins or triplets can go there to receive the “blessings” of the land by undergoing some certain rituals, then the “anointing” for multiple births descends on her. This opens a challenge for research.

Recent study by world scientists who investigated a similar situation in the Russian city of Kirov states that it’s likely that the location of the place falls within a certain magnetic field which casts a permanent effect on their genetic composition, resulting into uncommon chemistry of chromosomes and other fertilizing fluids. So far, it’s these two cities on the earth surface that are known for multiple births phenomenon. World experts are restless in their effort to study the Russian situation. Annual arrivals in Russian city for this situation are more than 20 percent of the total tourist number in the Soviet Union. This shows how the western countries promote their tourism industry.

Unfortunately, the Igbo — Ora situation is left to suffer in the medium of myths and ancestral phenomena. No promotion or encouragement for research. No publicity to attract tourists’ interest.

There are three situations that tourists are now curious to know about the babies within the magnetic field of Igbo—Ora: Does the postulated magnetic field have any adverse effect on the moral, social, mental or psychological behaviour of the children born there?. And do the women of the area married outside transfer the genetic “blessing” to other places?. Or what other peculiarities are added to the multiple births phenomenon?.

Answering these questions, or failure to, will certainly draw people into the area to confirm whether they are truly magnetic babies or not, and at the same time, promote tourism. We’ll then have to add another vocabulary to an tourism language.

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