Photo credit: the Punch
Yoruba tradition is so replete with wise sayings. One of them is of a person that goes to the palm tree without doing anything while expecting his mouth to be filled with sweet syrupy palmwine.
O sa’gi l’ogbe, o t’oguro l’ofa, o de’di ope, o gbenu s’oke, ofe nii nro na?
A former president of Nigeria was said to have asked some journalists in 1993 if Abiola was the Messiah Nigeria was waiting for!
In those days, we were used to members of political parties paying dues. These dues were used to organize the functions of political parties like campaigns and fielding candidates for elections.
But fast forward to 1979, things began to change. It got to a point when Umaru Dikkoh was reported to have told an ambitious Abiola that the presidency was not for sale.
In the UPN, Chief Awolowo was reported to have asked members of the party to take the money of the invading NPN but to vote their conscience.
Now what do we have?
Politicians are buying our souls with a pittance of porridge which means a lot to our poverty-inflicted selves. Poverty could be monetary or intellectual. They’ll have hyped their abilities to what we should have known as impossible, but for the power of filthy lucre.
We hardly realize the messianic tendencies in ourselves. We would rather let our so-called Messiahs think for us, even up to the level of choosing political candidates.
What do we get at the end?
There’s a phrase in the computing industry, GIGO!
Garbage in, garbage out!
As long as we refuse to think, we’ll keep on waiting for the Messiah. Little realizing the Messianic tendencies in ourselves, waiting to be unleashed.
Are we not making life much more miserable for the other man, in our obscure corners?
We certainly can do better!
072023
