EA - The Legend of Dr. Oguntola Sapara by jai

Link to original articleWelcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: The Legend of Dr. Oguntola Sapara, published by jai on May 8, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.This is a true story.At the dawn of the long war's final century, the tide was turning. The Abomination was in retreat, driven back by warriors wielding the Lance of Jenner. But, as in all wars, some battles could not be fought so directly. Battles waged in cunning and lies. Battles where the enemy lurked in shadow. In that darkness an unholy alliance was forged between the Pox Abomination and a conspiracy of traitors to the Yoruba people.They named it "Sopona", gave it a face, and proclaimed themselves the Abomination’s priests. They claimed that they alone could intercede with the Abomination on behalf of innocent victims. To cross them, they said, was to incur Sopona's wrath. They would unleash the Abomination upon any who dared oppose them - and sometimes they would simply inflict Sopona's torture indiscriminately. Amid death and devastation their victims would beg the Priests for help, further cementing their grip on power. And all the while they kept Jenner's Lance at bay, for their power rested on fear of the Abomination, and should it be slain their power, too, would come to an end.They operated in secrecy: the better to obscure their lies, and the better to hide from those who would challenge it. Through blackmail and terror, they maintained their iron grip for generations. None dared utter "Sopona" lest they invoke its wrath - and so even the true name was hidden.Every measure by every authority failed to contain the Abomination. They could never understand why, for they were blind to the enemy's allies. The Deathly Priests and their twisted methods were beyond the grasp of governments, warriors, and weapons. Here the global campaign could not reach. Here, harbored by its murderous allies, the Abomination reigned, and the Yoruba people resigned themselves to an abominable god against which there seemed no hope.It is inadvisable to try to hide from humans. They are curious, relentless, ruthless creatures, fearless when determined and cunning as well. And none were more human than Dr. Oguntola Sapara.Oguntola was a proud child of the Yoruba people. His father, born in chains, together with his mother, raised a family of prodigies: not only Oguntula, but his brother Alexander and his sister Clementina. But Clementina's story was all too short, for when she was to bring life into the world, she was instead taken by death.There are no records of how Oguntola felt that day; All we know is that this was the moment that Oguntula dedicated his life to defending the innocent from the inhuman evils of the world, to master the protective arts and wield them against any who would dare threaten his people.For years he studied, and toiled, and healed, growing ever stronger in the art through talent and sheer force of will. Ten years on his quest took him across the seas to study in a far away land, and here yet more obstacles greeted him. For among the practitioners of the art were counted a great many fools. They would forfeit the privilege of working alongside one of humanity's best for the most vapid and meaningless of reasons, and worse still actively stymied his efforts in all things lest their foolishness be revealed for the lie it was.But Oguntola persisted, surmounting every obstacle lesser humans would set before him. In time he not only prevailed, but he proved himself among the greatest of the practitioners. He was recognized as a master of the art, and elected to the Royal Institute of healers.(In the midst of everything, he even assisted the legendary truth-seeker Ida Wells in her crusades against evil and ignorance - but that is another story.)His training complete and his mastery assured, Dr. Oguntola Sapara returned to Lagos to confront his true e...