Superstitious Beliefs Held By the People of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the scientific explanations and educational implications of superstitious beliefs held by the people of Ilorin in Kwara State, Nigeria. A total number of 250 respondents were purposively sampled across the three local government areas (LGAs) in Ilorin metropolis, namely, Ilorin South, Ilorin West, and Ilorin East. The instrument used for the study was research designed interview protocol. The interview protocol was to find out the superstitious beliefs held by the people of Ilorin metropolis and to provide their scientific explanations. Four research questions were raised and answered. The data collected were subjected to frequency counts, percentages, and chart presentation. The results showed that the people of Ilorin South, Ilorin West, and Ilorin East held some superstitious beliefs about nutrition, menstruation, health, diseases, death, heredity, barrenness, animals, birth, family planning, growth, pregnancy, and water. The superstitious beliefs collated and their scientific explanations undergone both face and content validation by three experts from the Department of Science Education, University of Ilorin. From the findings, it is recommended among others that religious parastatal should lay emphasis on personnel responsibility in the determination of one’s fate rather than blind reliance of some spiritual processing.

Keywords: superstitious beliefs, scientific explanations, people of Ilorin, Ilorin metropolis, educational implication