However, events in our recent history make me now wonder if, in fact, we are living in a narcissist world of self-denial, and that we have slowly become animals. It is only in the animal kingdom that when one kills another, there is no expectation of remorse.
We have always gone to great lengths to assert moral superiority over non-humans in the territories we jointly share. We are proud of the higher order of things that distinguish us, such as our ability to reason, to think abstractly and view the world from multiple perspectives.
The need to live in groups and share space and resources draw on yet other fine human traits, such as empathy, compassion, justice and fairness. We have spent time and money crafting institutions that are both religious and secular to ensure that we live within rules that care for the most vulnerable among us.
The laws of evolution are such that our higher order traits, with each new generation getting refined and developed further. Thus the generations after us, by the normal rules of nature, should consist of more superior beings, who are stronger, healthier and probably more intelligent than we are.
But somehow in Nigeria, the usual order of things is being truncated; in fact we are regressing in many areas that will define our next century. We are less intelligent due to the disintegration of our school system and the failure to teach critical thinking skills, as well as the stifling of the growth of imagination. We are less healthy, due to poorer diets, increased prevalence of diseases and poor health care facilities.
That is just the beginning. The failure of both the institution of the law and religion meant that our society has failed and we have in fact collapsed. The human structure is in decay; those things that prop us up that make us who we are no longer exist.
Conscience has fled, leaving only an empty shell, stripped of its humanity. We are back right where we began in the animal kingdom.
The darkness that surrounds us is enveloped in talk of war - yes, we are at war, a war larger than we can conceive, for it is a war within the self. A battle so fierce is being fought with our soul; it has killed our spirit, stolen our conscience and seems to be on the winning side.
The rules that guide the conduct of any society, be it in the areas of behaviour or morality, usually come from the top. It trickles down because those in the lower classes of society emulate the top as a way to better themselves. This top-down approach works both ways.
As the ruling elites and the other 10% that occupy that coveted space at the top, have gradually lost their ways, allowing immorality, greed and other forms of avarice to be their constant bedfellows, the lower rungs of society have similarly copied them. Gradually, all notions of our humanity are fading. We have adopted a whole new set of values that is focused on preserving the self at all cost, regardless of how many casualties are scattered in its wake.
Living in the new jungle we have created, everyone makes the laws that they can live with; communal laws apply only to the stupid. In this new world we have created, supported with new modes of thinking that are totally without empathy, we believe we can take at whim whatever we want from the weakest among us.
It is this current societal order that allows our politicians to continue looting the treasury even when logic tells them that their behaviour is tilting the scales of our crumbling giant, leading him to a precarious cliff edge that could cause it to collapse any minute. It is this same order that allows civil servants to pocket monies meant for hospitals, schools, roads, agriculture. Reduced to thinking like animals, we all fail to really truly take stock of how our behaviour is affecting us collectively.
Living for the day now defines our existence; we care only about the millions that we have got our hands on. Like the animals that we have become, we fail to see that without the infrastructure it was meant to provide, we will never be able to enjoy this money in the country that most of us want to continue to live in. We do not even realise that we have killed the country. We go to bed and sleep on our naira-stuffed pillows. Those without, we have long ceased to think of them as our responsibility.
We have become hard, a nation devoid of a single space for light to exist in its heart. I have long since given up hope that our managers will change and suddenly grow a conscience that will stir their hearts in the direction of the people’s suffering, but I am now growing despondent that the people have also emulated some of the abominably insensitive behaviour of our leaders, and, when they can, they too act without conscience or remorse.
Such was the case last night when, on my way home, a poor soul in his attempt to cross over a busy highway, where no pedestrian crossing was provided, was hit by a car. The car accelerated; in his attempt to speed away, he drove a couple of cars off the road.
This was not an ordinary car, but a police patrol officer, most probably on duty. In my heart, I thought this man, an officer of the law we once feared, will go home to his family, have dinner and sleep like a baby, grateful that he had got away with possible murder. That, to me, says it all. This is our new Nigeria, where we are most closely related in action and behaviour to animals. God save our crumbling giant.
Leadership
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