Let me begin with the golden words of Robert Greene, an American author of books on strategy, power, and seduction. He has written six international bestsellers, including The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law (with rapper 50 Cent), Mastery, and The Laws of Human Nature. His first book has been called a ‘psychopath’s bible’ Robert had famously posited: “Do not wait for a coronation; the greatest emperors crown themselves” “When you show yourself to the world and display your talents, you naturally stir all kinds of resentment, envy, and other manifestations of insecurity… you cannot spend your life worrying about the petty feelings of others”
Exploring the dark relationship between social media and mental health, I stumbled on a less than one minute video clip of the presidential candidate of the ruling party APC Sen Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He said “I don’t watch or read the comments and contents of the social media……..” After watching the video clip, I saw courage boldly written on his face. Courage is the quality of being ready and willing to face negative situations involving danger or pain. From violent outbursts to composed dissent, audacity can take many shapes and forms. By definition unpredictable, their sudden appearance in everyday life has been beautifully described by novelists, using an array of intricate characters. Courage or confidence of a kind that other people find shocking or rude: Aggressive boldness or unmitigated effrontery.
From my personal observation and experience, when people are saying the same thing like programmed robots…I take my time to study the issues or situations very well before taking a stand. I rather retained my honesty with integrity, and lose dishonest people – it has a validation in the holy scriptures the Bible. The Bible’s first recorded lie was when Satan misquoted God to Eve (Genesis 3:1). Jesus may have been referring to that when he confronted a group of Jews and said they belonged to their father, the devil. He then said the devil was the father of lies. “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)”
For example, in Africa, we start a meeting with prayers, lie throughout the meeting, and end it with another big prayer. This is exemplified by the mob mentality, the same crowd “Headless mob” according to Prof Chukwuma Soludo, who knows how to defame and criticize others are the worst offenders and unreasonable crowd. During the Passion Week, the crowd in Jerusalem seems to have had a major swing in opinion. Jesus entered the city to praise and adoration but, by the end of the week, faced a crowd shouting “Crucify Him!” demanding for his crucifixion. Can such a change really happen so quickly? In Matthew 27:16 Barabbas is called a “notorious prisoner.” In Mark 15:7, echoed in Luke 23:19, he was “in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection” against the occupying Roman forces.
The book of John 18:40 describes Barabbas as a bandit, yet the ‘mob’ preferred Barabbas to be set free and our Lord Jesus Christ be humiliated by crucification. What a paradox. Today, the same unreasonable crowd masquerading under youths restiveness and exuberance without corresponding wisdom are on the same trajectory. In the meantime, I will like use a quote from one of the books of our famous leader Chief Jeremiah Oyeniyi Obafemi Awolowo, Awo posited: “Peter, not Peter the Apostle, but Peter the hero of Hugh Walpole’s novel entitled “Fortitude” said: “It isn’t life that matters but the courage you bring to it.” again courage.
Being part of existential problem, and efforts to sustain our ‘Nigerianity.’ disagreements Are Not Anathemas: disagreements are an integral component of the human experience. They represent the different strands of human thoughts, diverse, catholic. They are natural, and are not anathemas, as some are wont to parcel them to be. They must happen and should even be encouraged, vitalized sometimes. For anything, they point to diversity/distinctiveness and to the many options/solutions open to us as co-travelers in this arduous-but-fun journey through life.
The only guiding proviso -in my humble opinion – would be to disagree within the ambit of civility. No name-tagging, invective-hurlings, mudslinging, mischaracterization, or psycho-analyses of even our most truculent interlocutors. Plus, with profound differences in our ‘natures/personalities’ and ‘nurtures/upbringings’, it is only natural that we don’t see things the same way. Life, in one sum. It’s all fun and games – yet it is understandable to see things from a different perspective than the way it’s perceived now. The unfortunate thing is that not many people are smart enough to interrogate issues beyond reasonable doubt. Most people are incapable of sound analysis or just too emotional that they react on impulse not on reasoning.
In conclusion of this article dedicated to a Phenomenon’ the Jagaban of Africa. I like to reveal to us that I have not met Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the past two decades. The last time was when we use to meet at the Lagos house in asokoro immediately after the 2006-7 general elections. While the first time meeting with Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu as he then was in 2002, was at the residence of the then minister of power Dr Olusegun Agagu, God bless his soul. I have been following the trajectory of the man of ‘destiny’ way back from 1991 when he was elected senator of the federal republic of Nigeria. Finally, a book titled “The Jagaban Phenomenon” will be unveiled and presented to the public mid next year.
Richard Odusanya
odusanyagold@gmail.com
