The rise of Nigerian educated illiterates

Ordinarily, education is seen as a plus when someone is opportuned to have it. Add a bit of exposure that many are assumed (wrongly in my opinion) to have especially when they have traveled far and wide both within and outside Nigeria and you imagine that you have a well balanced Nigerian with a reasonable thought process.

Now, raise a simple national issue and everything you have hoped for begin to fall like a pack of cards. From baseless sentiments to outright ignorance some Nigerians make bold their positions and wrongly believe they are right and wait for it, they strangely inform you that they are on the side of the masses or as one put it the other day on the side of the majority.

The danger in allowing these people push forward information that is usually divisive and counter productive without responding appropriately can be better imagined than experienced or allowed to mature. As they say, a lie told over and over again may soon begin to sound like truth if no counter information is provided by way of correction, rebuttal or outright condemnation.

Many have thrown into the trash can objectivity, truth, facts, logic and common sense. Of course, since there will never be a vacuum they replace these things with lies, half truths, misinformation, unnecessary sentiments and high level of subjectivity. Take these people to task based on facts or logic and you will be certain to be branded a paid writer, an apologist or commentator who must be on the payroll of someone they dislike. Whenever you encounter people like this do not run, use facts to counter them because the only way they fight is diversion and attack on personalities.

Without these two things they are powerless and ineffective. Nigeria is a country that is making progress (even though things could be faster) and all well meaning Nigerians should watch out lest people (especially some Nigerians living outside Nigeria) plunge this nation into chaos and anarchy while the relax in the comfort of their homes or offices in foreign lands.

Those of us that have opted to remain in Nigeria and salvage this country must not allow the selfish and misguided interests of a few to over ride the collective hope and aspiration of the greater majority of Nigerians that go through thick and thin to make a living in this country. Many of these messengers of doom have openly queried why Nigerians especially students have not taken to arms and plunge the country into war since the presidential election tribunal did not cancel the last presidential election.

Ironically, some of these people reside in the US where the current president got into the White House on 2 occasions under questionable circumstances, have had the president wage a war against Iraq based on lies and yet they have not fought an internal war neither have they done anything that could be used as a yardstick to judge their current hunger for chaos and anarchy in their fatherland.

As they say education does not equal knowledge and it is a sad commentary that those who should know better (seemingly educated Nigerians) are the very ones that turn logic on its head on even very basic national issues. May God help us.