I grew up to know them. I mean the rondo rondos and seven sevens of this world!
They normally looked for an open space which was close to a t-junction so that they could make good their escape at the end of their nefarious business. We lived in a house that could be said to be on a four-corner junction. To them, our house was even better situated.
So, they used to carry their saara to the front of the mosque. That is, they even did their so called magic right in front of our house. However, as time went on, I discovered that they were no magicians, they only employed legerdemain.
In Yoruba, it is called gba bi ma gba be. Their slang was ‘the more you look, the less you see’. And, to the uninitiated, that could be true. Ah, you want to be initiated? See me after the service!
Not that I do not appreciate magic when the real thing is being practised. When I was much younger, the doyen of magic in Nigeria, Professor Pellar was a regular feature on TV. Up till tomorrow, I will still respect him.
However, I am nearer to sixty than fifty years in age. I said I grew up to know them, yes, Itire, Lawanson, Yaba, Osodi, Oyingbo, Tinubu, CMS, and so on.
But is it that people inherit the trade? I ask this question because I still see them display their wares. Things like beautiful watches, cameras, phones, caps, clocks, and other bric-a-brac.
Are muguns and magas recyclable situations in life? Why do people keep falling for old tricks repeatedly?
At the end of the day, it is not the so called magic that matters to the magicians it is what they can fleece off the unsuspicious. The greed in their customers will surely make them careless with a valuable or the other.
This applies a lot to people falling for 419 tricks. Ole gbe, ole gba! If the duped were not so greedy in the first instance, the ‘buyers’, ‘sellers’ and ‘catchers’ would not have had a field day.
Politically, this is most important. Politicians will be people’s friends now. 2019 is near. People should think well before enslaving themselves for another four years!
051117
