Azubuike Ihemeje
Nigeria can be such a funny place. We (WE, loosely used in this piece to describe the dominant attitude of most Nigerians) love to consult quacks, always often in most engagements, events, activities, or for solutions.
For example; A typical medically ill Nigerian, would mostly prefer to visit a prayer home or some spiritual-based places, rather than consult qualified medical experts. This preponderance to quacks is evidenced in everything, and so inherently deeply rooted that, we loosely refer to bricklayer as an engineer, and in such a mindset, we even engage them in that capacity. Serial collapsed buildings that continue to litter our entire country are just clear proofs that we’ve never changed.
We like them easy, simple, uncomplicated, and cheapest. We detest the rigors of getting professional advice in all our ways.
Ignorance, they say, is bliss. And doesn’t demand much from us. That’s how we ended up with every single lady, as organic cream and soap experts. Just know how to mix things together, it’s fine. Very simple. What’s the point of struggling to learn these complex issues about chemistry and chemical reactions from formal education. After all, we can just do it. And the buyers don’t even care.
That’s how the majority of people from certain demography of the country, allowed and had continued to agree to be manipulated, scammed, and thoroughly used by a now-outlawed fugitive, who has consistently brought absolutely nothing good, but miseries, pains, huge lost, agonies, destructions, and deaths.
His victims are aware that he possesses multiple Passports and could elope to any place of his choice. His victims equally knew, that the Con guy, deliberately refused to invest absolutely nothing in Nigeria, not even part of his proceeds of scam.
They equally knew he has no credentials to support what he claims. Yet, they love to be brainwashed and hypnotized. They’re fascinated by his criminal courage and charisma. He instills fears in them, and ask them to kill and destroy other people’s property they never own, nor can ever. His hypnosis drives his adherents to engage in crimes, against even their own detriments.
Yes. All because we love to find solutions in strange places. We abhor interrogating the things we hastily commit ourselves to. We hardly weigh the pros and cons, nor get experts to advise us. Seems we scorn professional advice, with great cynicism.
We just simply go through the motion and assume. Las las, things will sort itself out and we’ll be alright.
Ironically, his victims who now see him as their messiah do not realize that the fugitive is actually their greatest albatross and evil. That he represents the most singular threat to their existence and the rest of Nigeria. Our predilections towards quackery find heavy expressions in the latest abysmally failed Protest against SARS in Nigeria.
Granted, there were legitimate reasons for the protest, and demand for an end to police brutality and reforms, and general good governance. But this was not your usual kind of protest. It’s a protest against the entire Police, by every necessary implication, even amid a huge population of criminals, a specialized kind of protest, that should’ve required specialized advice for its successful planning, coordination, organization, and execution.
So, rather than get professional, expert advice, on the likely security implications, they ended up with market women, traders, and all sorts, became emergency advisers on security issues. Everyone was ‘chuking mouth’ in issues they barely know nothing about. Rather than single out the bad eggs among SARS and demand for their punishment, they ended up lumping everybody (good and bad) together and demanded for total scraping. Rather than organize themselves under a leadership, they ended up leaderless. And rather than get experts to articulate and present their demands, they ended up with an incoherent Davido.
Even after they’ve effectively presented their demands, they got confused and twisted up everything. Again, rather than heed experts advise to retreat, give the government sometimes to implement, save other private sectors of the pains and inconveniences, they ended up in the hands of criminals and terrorists.
Sadly, the consequences of quackery are usually costly, expensive, and monumental. In the end, precious lives have been needlessly wasted. And we now hear properties worth trillions of naira were destroyed.
Criminals now overwhelm the already dispirited, discouraged, intimidated, and cowed Police, whom the Protesters had already disparaged and ridiculously disgraced as worst criminals.
We can only hope that we’ve learned a thing or more from the events of these protests, and especially that quackery does not pay.
Note: Views expressed in this article only represent the views of the author and not those of theportcitynews.com
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