It Is Time For Silence Treatment

By: Shehu Bashir Esq.

There is no doubt the time we are now is a very tough time. The challenges are unprecedentedly hard and there is no mincing of words about it. It is ideal for people with conscience to speak up, to call the attention of those in charge to the dire situation, so that they can take charge responsibly and do the needful to ease the sufferings. Things are not just exactly what anyone bargained for and how it should be ordinarily. Excusing the situation is itself a red flag for irresponsibility.

However, there is a dilemma here. Those who should appreciate your call for caution are quick to view you with that unfounded suspicion of disloyalty as a brewing dissent and renegade. The ones who don’t like the system at all are trying to find solace in your own objective expression to subtly co-opt you into their orchestrated unpatriotic cynicism and carry you to where “you no know”.

It is important for me to sound this caveat to both minds – I am not here for anybody to rate my loyalty, my principled approach to issues or judge my conscience. I do not need anyone to rate my stance because I stand unconditionally on the stable of conscience. The words coming from me or my reactions to unfavorable policies are not coming from a saint but they are also not coming from a sycophant and a hypocrite.

I am not doing what I am doing or saying what I often say to receive anybody’s validation. I embark on any journey based on personal conviction. No pecuniary motive or personal ambition has ever blinded my view against honesty. The right to self ambition is the right everybody is entitled to. The realization of such ambition is not patented to even the one you gave all your efforts to. Whereas, the one that may give you a hand to realize your dreams may not even be the one you risked everything for. We are too human to understand the ways of God. So, sometimes, we expect too much from a man who cannot even do too little.

While your expression is yours and devoid of any mischief, and of course, you cannot adopt the blind slavish statement of “everything is well and shall be well” song of fawning and the bend of genuflect, you just have to be careful with the bat hanging upside down on the tree posing a two face creature of – a bird and a rodent at the same time.

As a “self-indoctrinated progressive”, I have grown too matured, self sufficient, independent minded and patriotic enough to know my left from my right. No one is capable of blackmailing me into slavishness or sycophancy and no mischief maker can fraternize me into rebellion. I cannot join the fawning bandwagon of all is well and I can never join the despondent mentality of those who don’t see anything good in whoever they don’t like. I am whom I am and I am not whom I am not. I am a full time driver of my own vehicle and my car is not available to be hired by anyone to ram into a ramp, not even with a billion dollar price.

I speak so that we can be better in whatever we are not doing right. I can never be part of those who condemn everything even where there is dynamism of merit in other things. To feign ignorance of the dire situation that we are in or to continue to cajole the people with sugarcoated words when we are failing at holistically addressing the real issues is to sell one’s conscience to the merchant of evil.

Nigeria is a great country. I want to live for this country and be one of the true patriots who will change the story of this nation for the best. There is no amount of hopelessness expressed by reactionaries that can change my love for Nigeria. I can sacrifice my personal comfort for this country and I have done that several times. The love is so magnetic that I literally transfer same to anyone whom I view to love and lead this country truly honestly.

However, whenever I observe that the true love I thought you had for my country or the patriotism I thought you earlier had has turned into a charade and the affairs of governance which is entrusted in your hands has become the business of corruption, oppression, intimidation, embezzlement, misgovernance, nepotism, hypocrisy, incompetence, deception, favouratism, compromise and insensitivity, I return to base and refresh my hope in God. Then, I use my greatest weapon to call your attention to your errors in case you are carried away by the paraphernalia of the office.

No attitude of anyone in the holding of Nigeria affairs in the meantime will make someone like me think Nigeria can’t be great. The greatness of Nigeria cannot be determined or undermined by a single man or a collection of few men but by all Nigerians. The blunders or misgovernance of one man can never be the yardstick to write off a whole nation. Nigeria is greater than its handlers.

You cannot even start to teach all these people in positions of authority ABCD of good governance, they all know the difference between what is right and what is wrong. They all know what they are doing. Even for some of them who are “intellectually challenged”, they can always hire competent people to help them drive the vehicle of the desired good governance. But you see these set of people, they are all virtually morally bankrupt. They have lost their conscience. And if you are not careful, they will frustrate your life with blackmail that will make you wonder about their sanity.

There is nothing anybody can say that can change the minds of the people behind these unorthodox policies causing the hardships. It appears like they have an undisclosed agenda or motive (to finish this country) that is at variance with common interest of the collective wellbeing of Nigerians. They appear bent in executing this unholy agenda by any means possible. Otherwise, how can a supposed intended goodness be exacerbating the people’s sufferings day in day out?.

Policies that have not mitigated the sufferings of the people or have not even given the people a ray of hope are not good for anything. The promise of hope we have been getting is more or less a warning for further sufferings. A message of hope for a supposed incoming better tomorrow has been rhetorics of lies and deception. On the contrary, the actions that have been following those words have been taking a pound of flesh from people’s remaining consolation. It I is a deep state of corruption and the best may never come from a system embedded in deep corruption.

Let us even get rhetorical – which of the vices destroying our society would you say the government is not aware of? Is it the inaction against the heinous crime of homosexuality being paraded everywhere by an irritant convict that they do not know or the parade of shame by several government agencies involved in the management of this crime?

A certain irresponsible element has been holding this country to ransom against the dictate of the law, flaunting homosexuality and dressing it down as “cross-dressing” while denigrating our democratic institutions and criminal justice system with a boast that he has godfathers. Yet, everyone is watching how the system is being ridiculed without consequences!

It appears like those who should deal with this irritant are his best shield? How can you listen to a government official defending such irresponsible act of recognizing homosexuality and using same to determine the class of cell to hold a convict without you getting sick as a true patriot?

On another ground, who is not aware of the conspiracy going on in the country’s banking sector where the KYC has been so compromised that fraudsters now use bank accounts to defraud unsuspecting people with identity that cannot be traced?

Again, I ask, who is not aware that these criminal elements are probably working in cahoot with some bank executives to divert people’s money, and frustrate lawful investigations to unravel the crime? If you have never been defrauded before, you may not know that shares are sometimes secretly, criminally converted or illegally acquired by certain powerful individuals within the bank without the consent of the shareholder. Yet, no action is being taken against the banks.

Has anyone not had the experience where someone lawfully transfer money from abroad to his/her bank account domiciled in Nigeria and the receiving bank here in Nigeria will tell you they don’t have such money in your account with them? Banks now create secret bank accounts that they use in hiding illegal funds to aid money laundering. When an internet fraudster dupes you and you report to the receiving bank to take action, you will be told they don’t have the personal identity details of the fraudster. Isn’t that crazy and strange? How does anyone open a bank account without his national identity details? Wha happened to the linking of NIN with BVN to the bank account? The fraud and conspiracy going on in the banking sector is enough to kill the confidence in that sector if time is not taken.

Please, who does not know these are all going on in our society and yet, the institutions created to fight these crimes have become timid to go to the basics. Things have gone really bad and it is getting frustrating everyday.

What has been happening in NNPCL like many other agencies that have been flipp-flopping in service delivery can best be described as political dialetheism. As you may observe in such other areas of our life, when it is time for them to say the truth or judge a situation or react to a situation (they knowingly or unknowingly created or participated in), they metamorphose into dialetheists – their words ooze falsehood with half truth. They become the author of both lies and truth. They become confused in their own defence. Yet, they are always looking for the lamb to use for the sacrifice to atone their misdeeds. As a smart man, don’t make yourself available for their cleansing. Be guided by caution. It is not cowardice, it is wisdom.

How on earth will anybody be contemplating pump price increase again at this dire time? People are strained already and we are already in a desperate situation. Why would anyone sit down somewhere to make life even harder for the people? Are you guys deliberately trying to push the people off the cliff to ricochet or what? Is this also a brand of good governance?

On what ground are they doing this for God’s sake. We were just told that the trading of crude oil in Naira will automatically lower the pump price in the local market. So, what is happening? How can anybody be justifying or giving the excuses of the increase in the price of crude oil in international as the cause of the increase in pump price of the product produced in the local market where the deal on crude oil transaction is done in Naira? Na una know all these economic modules you are using but the truth is, none of them is logical and scientific. The modules are not even working. Why complicating things for the people and making life miserable for everybody?

Nigeria as a nation is not the suspect in the crime of failure of the nation in good governance. The chief suspects are the heartless and unconscionable leaders in various sectors who are used to bourgeois-proletariat kind of economy and are out to skin the nation to its bones with their irresponsible corrupt actions.

Nonetheless, there are still many Nigerians who are far blessed with genuine patriotic spirit that can turn around the fortunes of this country if they have the diamond opportunity the same way Lee Kuan Yew turned around the fortunes of Singapore and Tun Muhammed Muhathir turned around the fortunes of Malaysia. I am convinced beyond reasonable doubt that at the appointed time, with the command of God, those true patriots will ascend the throne and our story will change for the best.

I must say that when the heart of man is bitten by poignant pangs of disappointment, and his words in reaction may come with an aura of overreaction, it is better to treat the disappointment with loud silence. Disappointment from your loved ones may bring terrible shock to you and you may be devastated. And when you are shocked, devastated and disappointed and you overreact (even in mere verbal expression), you are in danger of being tagged a frustrated and disgruntled element. Do not allow any stigma of name calling to be pasted on you. Do not allow the disappointment of expectations to damage your emotion, all hope is not lost.

Being at variance with what you once originally hoped for but now in a wave of dissatisfaction is not a crime and does not necessarily make you disgruntled. You have the right to express your dissatisfaction on what disappointed you but if you don’t want your words to be taken as frustrated antagonism, and you may not necessarily be happy with what your friend is doing against the expected disposition, the wisest resolution is for you to go on silence treatment and watch as the nature takes its course. When the shock is beyond words, silence is the best reactive treatment. Otherwise, this shock is enough for anyone to be depressed. Walahi!

In this country, justice has become a victim of rebranding. The concept and definition of (administrative) justice often times is in the perception of the mighty. It is determined by those in power and not necessarily as dictated by the power of the actual law. In this country, if the innocent is not so fortified, the guilty and the complicit will shine in the crime with impunity and even make a scapegoat out of the innocent. The wise innocent one would only need to gauge the scale and weigh the option of attack or defence as the case may be before he speaks or acts. Otherwise, the table will be turned against the innocent and the system may consume the innocent while the guilty walks free.

Sometimes, your words may become a weapon against you, not necessarily because they are not the truth but may be because your presentation was wrong. Sometimes you say the truth the wrong way or vice versa. It is all about your presentation. If you are in danger of being misrepresented or misquoted, it is better you go silent or you choose your words wisely. Otherwise, your right will be taken as a wrong and a weapon against you. The loophole from the opening of even the right words is what the guilty always tries to use to hide their complicity. You must not allow your words to be some kind of weapon against you helplessly.

We are in a unique country with peculiar characteristics. You must throw the stone in the right direction that the bird is flying. Otherwise, you will hit the wrong target and that may become your burden to carry alone.

Words and actions enjoy the two sides of praise or penalty. They both have the ability to elevate you or decimate you. The sound of the decibel enjoys different interpretations from different people. Even justice can be judged wrongly and the just can become the unjust. It takes your native intelligence to rightly utilize your raw intelligence.

On this, moving forward, until further notice, when it comes to general comment on the affairs of the government, I am adopting a sipped lips and going into silence mode. I have said all that needs to be said for now and I am free to my conscience. It is up to anyone who thinks things are normal to continue the praise singing. The brainwashing and manipulative decoration of the situation as a “progress in process” is a deceptive consolation in itself. Even those who drop snippets to appear defensive of the order know that a spanner has been thrown on this wheel. It is no more the vehicle we boarded with a versatile engine. I guess the car engine has been serviced with an expired lubricant and/or by an incompetent motor mechanic. Or is corruption the intervening variable?

I will rely on two spiritual quotes from the Glorious Qur’an and Hadith of the Holy Prophet Muhammed SAW. Qur’an Chapter 88 Verse 21 says “Therefore, do remind, for you are only a reminder”. As an observer of events, you can only advise or warn in some cases, you can’t force anyone to do the needful. Yours is to send the message. Whether that is taken or not, it is left for them.

Anas Ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon Him, said, “May Allah have mercy on a man who spoke rightly and was rewarded, or who was silent and remained safe.” Source: Shu’ab al-Im?n 4589.

It may be incumbent upon us to remind those in power of their abandoned or compromised responsibilities but we cannot force anyone to do what is right for them to do. We can only talk. It is left for them to take it or wait for the judgement of God.

Till tomorrow, I am a man of hope. I have never lost hope in any situation even though I can get pissed off when there is no sign those in charge are honest with their claims of changing the situation. However, when things are truly in the right direction, I will be the first to celebrate and jubilate the rebirth of our nation.

As a believer in the divine authority, I constantly relish on the unchangeable words of Allah. The Glorious Qur’an Chapter 39 Verse 53 is very instructive where Allah Subhanahu Watahala says: “Say: O my servants! who have acted extravagantly against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah; surely Allah forgives the faults altogether; surely He is the Forgiving the Merciful”.

Therefore, as a very passionate and patriotic Nigerian and a committed Muslim, I will never lose hope in the mercy of Allah, my Creator. He alone can save us and grant us His mercy, and Maa Shaa Allahu, He will bless us with His mercy, Amin.

GOD IS HERE.