The Rainmakers

Imagine this: You’re at an event in a remote village, somewhere in the southern part of Nigeria. The sun is scorching hot, the skies are clear and the last thing on your mind is the possibility of rain. Then out of nowhere, some traditional men ­­—the so-called— “Rainmakers” show up and demand some settlement or homage money as they call it. When they don’t get it, they start making threats saying they will bring down rain.

Now, you’re thinking and asking yourself, “How’s that even possible?”. The rainmakers are ignored, and the event goes on as planned and shortly after that little drama, someone yells “It’s raining! And this is not just a drizzle but a “Cats and Dogs” kind of rain. The rainmakers literally made it “rain on their parade”. Now you’re wondering” how on earth did they pull that off?” Was that some kind of black magic or was there a scientific explanation behind it?

This was an experience shared by John Obidi, a Dubai-based award-winning Nigerian transformational coach at an event I attended recently. He is a big believer of science and not easily swayed by magic tricks and mythical powers, but this experience left him stunned.

Years later while living in Dubai, John saw a broadcast on the TV, the UAE Government announcing the possibility of rain in the coming days. This is a big deal in the Middle East because seeing rain there is like seeing a unicorn. For context, the UAE averages about 100mm of rainfall annually, so any announcement like this calls for celebration.

So how do they make it rain? They perform a procedure known as “Cloud Seeding”. This process involves dropping substances like silver iodide or salt in the clouds either from drones or shooting with some form of ground-based projectile. These salts mix with the clouds and help produce rain artificially. Suddenly, John remembered the Rainmakers of Southern Nigeria.

The truth is that these Rainmakers didn’t just rely on chants and dances; they had some tricks up their sleeves. John noticed that during the display by the Rainmakers, they mixed some concoctions, and there was lots of salt in their ingredients. These concoctions were shot in the air with their local guns. Now could it be that concoctions fired into the air were a primitive form of cloud seeding? It turns out that those mystical rituals had scientific basis after all!

So how did those traditional men with little or no formal education figure out the science of cloud seeding? Maybe it was a stroke of genius or perhaps generations of experiments (trial and error) handed down the ages. We can not deny the fact that these traditional men knew a thing or two about manipulating the weather. They deserve their accolades for pulling that off with so much steeze and composure!

While science hasn’t fully decoded the mystery behind many ancient practices, we’re certainly getting closer. Another mystery is the power of the “Rain holders” who claim to have the ability to stop rain from failing or causing rain to stop. I guess science has not caught up to that ancient technology.

So, what’s your take on this? Are rainmakers real, or is it just a clever coincidence? Drop your thoughts in the comments below—I’d love to hear what you think!