“The lie that we live because of the truth we avoid” we have all agreed that the truth is bitter, the truth as a mere word has this vigorous impact of discomfort to those who encounter it. Yet the truth be told. We will not be living piously if we shy away from uttering it. We will not be men, we will be below men; and to be below a man belittles our humanity-it emasculates a man. The truth in its horrid bluntness portrays our human weakness and purges our unwanton desire human desire. And for this cause we will take the bull by the horn, even if the bull will wound us before we dare touch its horns –consequently the truth comes with causalities or rather to be more subtle-emancipation.
Where lies impress, truth impacts, it paves the way for us to see beyond our myopism. The Nigerian political scene has been immersed in its own culture of living the lies, of sweet-talking the gullible. It has been drowned in its own waterloo of brazen lies and drips of deceit. The life line we have is the truth that the minute good men will choose to say. The current Minister of Information under the Buhari administration is someone i have great admiration for. I have learnt from Mr.Lai Muhammed the skill of embellishment even in the face of imminent collapse. From the days of opposition vendettas to campaign struggle defending what he believes in, you can call it ill-motivated or misconceived. But today, he has conveniently secured himself a ministerial appointment. And is that not the Nigerian political tradition. And we have observed over the years that political appointment is never by merit and this is the reason men with sincerity of purpose get lost in the circus. Incidently also, Mr.Babatunde Fashola is another political admiration, commendable antecedent but today his impressive oratory skill belittles the intellectual mind. Objectively again, Mr. Bukola Saraki ambitious nature is worthy of note, but i want to believe that such enviable office of the Senate President shouldn’t be dragged in the shuddy mud. The personality that holds it should be honourable enough to take a leave. His continued stay on the seat personally berates my moral principles. Vacation of office would have been more appropriate in a sane society.
Optimism in the face of realism seems difficult but yet we must choose to engraven our names on the rock and not in the sand of times that gets washed away at the shores. We must decide to leave an indelible imprint in the heart of men. We must look inward into our personalities, our lives, our future- what defines our individuality. We cannot claim we have a bright future in an obscure country. We must create a synergy between the glaring failures of today, the haemorrhage of values and the desired success of tomorrow. Orientation or re-orientation comes from the mind, it is not a formal process but rather a psychological one- preparing our mind, refining our thoughts, cleansing our perception or mis-perception. To be orientated is to be liberated and as we let our own light shine we give others the permission to do the same. In this vein, orientated people stand up tall to act, they are not weakling who hang their torso in between their legs- they speak out, they are vibrant. Been orientated is the new religion. Their ability to communicate in such manner that the common man will relate with and be interested in defines the orientated man. The common man in this sense of the orientated is the market woman in Oyigbo, the unrepentant alcoholic, the hustling bus conductor, the depressed job seeker, the street urchin and every person who live below the one dollar a day.
Attention!! Don’t ride on with me in this moralistic voyage and the motivational speaking charge because that is not the aim of this, else we will lose the drift of the rift. These pin-pointed issues should serve as impetus for us to forge on and correct this anomaly
Intellectual incapacity: Our inability to arm ourselves with identifiable skills will remain our weakness. It is fast becoming cliché that the contemporary youth lacks interest in anything of intellectual nature. That is why today, we have intellectual dearth. Intellectual awareness brings intellectual enlightenment, intellectual enlightenment brings intellectual exposure, intellectual exposure brings intellectual independence. Today, we observe that the average youth has been subsumed in intellectual mediocrity. The average youth leaves himself subservient to intellectualism. Poor attitude! No interest!
At this juncture we need to be clear, intellectualism is not obtaining a degree certificate. It is amazingly beyond that. Intellectualism is empowerment. It is a state of identity as someone who is ready to change the course of events with your skills. It is been fortified, re-invigorated and propelled to alter the ’usuals’. Intellectualism is a state of realization, not comfortable with society/things falling apart and you pass your message across till it knocks off the world. Example of folks who understand this amongst many others; Fela Anikulapo Kuti (society has not gotten to this breaking point, yet his lyrics lingers in our very soul and reflects our present state), Martin Luther King (Today, his dream of the New America is born)
Procrastination: this psychological disorder brings about a setback and backlog in the life of supposed bubbling youths. Procrastination not only steals our time. It steals our resources, our courage, our dreams, our goals, our targets, our planned future- something that steals our future, steals our lives. Procrastination thrives on fear, excuses, inferiority and hopelessnesss. If we don’t attack this devil with our full armour, it will ultimately with its antics rob us of our much desired chant of a bright future.
Before you misunderstand me, this is not talking about violence; we are talking about the need to rise up. The need for us to redefine ourselves bringing up a seemingly traditional system that fits our lifestyles. It is exigent! The heterogeneous Nigerian nature might make cessation seem impracticable, revolution might seem unrealistic. But nothing is impossible when the people know their true power. How amazing this acknowledgment is and has proven to be.
Let us rise up and Face this truth that scares us! Thank you
Taiwo Ademola
Public Analyst and Social Commentator
