By Maria Famakinwa

|

The last four months of the year, popularly known as “ember months” are usually speculated to be the most fearful of all the months. The fear of the ember months has become so entrenched that various religious groups and other institutions often organise special prayer sessions with a view to warding-off the ‘dangers’ associated with these months.
There is a sense of fear about the allusion that evil forces, powers and principalities converge as the year winds down to wreak havoc. So, it is not unusual to see faithful of the various religions engage in fervent spiritual warfare, in a bid to dislodge blood sucking devils that they believe are always on the prowl during the ember months.
In order to get facts about the ember months, The Hope spoke with some residents of Akure, Ondo State capital on the topic.
A civil servant, Mr Muyiwa Ogundaisi, opined that “ember months” are spiritually manipulated by evil forces to wreak havoc on those who are ignorant.
His words:”Either you believe it or not, the last four months of the year are full of evil. Hence, the need to be spiritually prepared to scale through. I grew up with this belief and it has not changed since then. Why is it that road accidents are more prevalent during these months? Is it not the same road drivers ply from January to August? People just have to be careful and prayerful.”
When told that road accidents were also recorded in different states across the country before the last four months of the year he agreed but maintained that it was not as high as those recorded during the ember months. “I want to put it to you that road accidents recorded from January to August are not as high as those always recorded in the last four months of each year because of the devil’s on assignment,” he said.
Sharing a similar view, a commercial driver, Mr Fatai Ishola, explained that the last four months of the year are special and need to be so observed. His words, “it seems that there is a spirit that renders havoc during these months. As a commercial driver, I can tell you that I fear those months and I will not support any of my family members to travel in ember months.
“I observed that during the ember months, there is an unknown spirit that pushes people to misbehave, thereby causing problems. That is why these four months are usually characterized by all sorts of evil. If any of your family members is traveling during these months, your mind will not be at rest until the person gets to his/her destination. This is because of the traits known with ember months. That ember months are full of evils is not a myth but reality.” he said.
Reacting differently, an artisan, Mr Gbenga Oluyemi, disclosed that he did not believe in the spiritualization of ember months because all months are the same.
His words,”it is normal to record increase in road crashes during the ember months because people travel for celebrations with their loved ones. Tragedy occurs in ember months, just as it happens in other months of the year. Ascribing needless spiritual and mythical undertones to tragic happening during the ember months is nothing but the usual way of trivializing serious issues instead of using methodical means to appraise matters of serious concern,” he said.
A trader, Mrs Fehintola Alaka, also revealed that believing in ember months as evil was a myth which should be discarded. While blaming people for most of the tragedies recorded during these months, she said,”in a situation where people are in so much haste to make all the money they have not made since the beginning of the year, there is bound to be problem. When a commercial driver who usually embark on three trips per day decides to go on seven trips in order to make more money for festivities, something must surely give way. So we need to change our character to have accident free ember months, “ she advised.
A Federal Road Safety Corps Official (FRSC), who did not want her name in print, also debunked the myth attributing accidents during ember months to demonic attacks on the roads. She added that ember months, as season of bountiful business harvests, Christmas and New Year celebrations, lead to increase in vehicular movements and possible road accidents
Her words,”Available experience of the FRSC shows that the myth attributing accidents to demonic attacks on roads during ember months is untrue. Drivers are not careful while driving during these months. Some do not observe road signs and turn blind eyes and deaf ears to important cautions. Most road crashes during these months are attributable to human errors and faults. Ember months are not different from other months, we only need to change our perceptions about these months, she said.