LA COSA NOSTRA: THE MAFIA BY AKINLEYE FAVOUR OLUWANIFEMI

The term Mafia came from a Sicilian- Arabic slang expression that means "acting as a protector against the
arrogance of the powerful". "La Cosa Nostra" means "our thing". The mafia is a network of organized crime
groups based in Italy and America usually referred to in North America as "the Italian-American Mafia" or
"the mob". The organization is usually referred to by its members as "Cosa Nostra" and by the American
government as "La Cosa Nostra". The American Mafia which rose to power in the 1920s is a separate entity
from the Italian Mafia regardless of the fact that they share similar traditions like Omerta, the code of
conduct and loyalty.

The Mafia has been in existence for over centuries in Sicily, an island on the Mediterranean sea between
North Africa and Italian mainland, governed for a reasonable amount of time by foreigners including the
Phoenicians, Roman, Arabs, French and Spanish. The Sicilians formed groups to protect themselves from
hostile forces by carrying out their own justice and also to form regional groups of Sicilians. These groups that
were created were called "Mafioso" meaning "Mafia members". According to Selwyn Raab the author of
"Five Families: The Rise, Decline and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires", until the 19th
century, the term "Mafioso" had no criminal references but rather used to refer to a person who was
suspicious of central authorities.

By the 19th century, some of these groups deviated from the main aim of the "Mafioso" and called
themselves "Mafie" they took advantage of the constant violence and chaos to extort landowners of their
protection money. Sicilian Mafia emerged as a collection of criminal clans or families, one of the four major
criminal network currently based in Italy. The other three include - the Camorra of Naples, the Ndrangheta of
Calabria and Sacra Corona Unita of Puglia. In the 1860s, a play called "I Mafiusi Della Vicaria" meaning
"Heroes of Penitentiary" about a group of inmates at a Sicilian prison who maintained their Mafioso beliefs,
culture and tradition as they toured and helped to spread the term "Mafia" in Italian language.

In 1861, Sicily became a province of the recently unified Italy. However, chaos and crime has become
rampant as the Italian government tried to establish itself. In 1870s Roman officials asked the Sicilian mafia
families to help check dangerous and independent criminal groups' powers. In exchange the officials
overlooked the Mafia's extortion of landowners' protection money. The government thought the
arrangement would be temporary until they gained total control but mafia clans had expanded and already
strongly rooted in Sicilian politics and economy. The mafia promoted political corruption as they manipulated
and threatened people to Vite for certain candidates who were loyal to the mafia clans. The Catholic Church
was involved with the mafia during this period according to Raab, the church relied on the Mafiosi families to
monitor it's massive property holdings in Sicily and to keep tenant farmers in check.

In my opinion, the mafia has both negative and partially positive effects on the society. The mafia shows
partial positive effects by checking the activities of other criminal groups or organizations ensuring that their
operation is being monitored thereby reducing the crime rate in the society since they are being monitored
by a more superior criminal clan; their drug dealing, murder, underground casinos, strip clubs and bars are all
under the mafia's control. Even with the reduced crime rate that the mafia families offer, we can't help but
acknowledge the fact that their activities are illegal and are harmful to the society as innocent civilians could
be caught in the crossfire of rival mafia clans as well as youth becoming drug addicts as a result of the free
flow of drugs from the mafia activities.The mafia can easily convert into a terrorist group in a blink of an eye,
they can easily revolt against the government in a bid to obtain more power or wealth. All in all, it is more
advisable that the mafia be closely monitored—since their operations in present day are highly secretive—
and evidence be gathered to prosecute them and justice be served accordingly.

REFERENCE: Wikipedia and history.com editors