I’m supposed to post a recap of the lessons gained in Church yesterday. However, due to external cluelessness-induced reasons, that post would come later.
This morning I’m angry. Yeah, seriously angry, and I have the right to be in such a state. Why would I arouse on a Monday morning with an angry disposition? The answer is simple. I’m “righteously angry” at the level of pure, unbridled stupidity that I’ve been unlucky to witness.
Tertiary institutions are supposedly beacons of knowledge. Occupants of the numerous ivory towers should (at least in theory) be individuals with an acumen for learning; people who don’t just have brains, but also utilize them for thinking. Students and graduates of tertiary institutions are supposed to have had their minds expanded by the rigours of intellectually stimulating courses.
It is therefore appalling to see an undergraduate or a graduate who fails to use his or her brain to think. The bible says, “To whom much is given, much is expected”. If an uneducated market woman believes and propagates an unverified oldwives’ fable, she would be forgiven easily. However, when a supposedly educated individual makes the same claims, that person deserves a knock, or better, a good whipping.
Yesterday, via a Whatsapp group chat, two “educated” individuals made two assertions:
- The Naira-Dollar exchange rate was increased in order to fund Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election campaign. In fact, in a bid to make more money for GEJ, the rate would be further increased before the elections.
- The 65 Naira ATM charge that was recently introduced, was done in order to channel the charges paid by Nigerians to the President’s campaign.
Before I continue, I should assert that I’m neither a “Jonathanian” nor a “Buharist”. I personally see both of them as a choice between the devil and the deep sea. My reason would be a story for another day.
Looking at the two wonderful assertions above, one is amazed at the level of ignorance on display. It is incredulous that people will believe this nonsense. However, this is Nigeria where many do not bother about thinking. Extreme religiosity has proven that many individuals prefer to disconnect their brains. Ideas are accepted without any thought about their sensibility.
One may not like the President, but that does not mean that ridiculous theories should be spread. Whoever started the spread of those two assertions is either plainly malicious or bereft of thinking capabilities. The problem is that many would believe them without bothering to ponder about the wisdom of the assertions.
I earlier said I was angry. My anger was worsened because despite my advice that my two educated colleagues should carry out some research on how the foreign exchange market works, and the reasons proffered for the ATM charge, they bluntly refused and insisted that I “know nothing” and “have been brainwashed by the government”.
They have a point. I have a “meaningless” engineering degree, not a degree in economics. What do I even know about microeconomics and macroeconomics? I think I should contact an economic blogger to shed more light on these issues. Maybe then, they would accept their foolishness. However, I doubt that.
Without intellectuals, this country is doomed. If we cannot think, then we cannot solve our problems. Some people say we have a “clueless president”. If they are right, it may be because the bulk of the citizens are clueless. After all, the president came from the ranks of the citizens.
Nigerians! Think! Please let’s use our God-given brains. We would not have had them if they were not needed.
Jilomes 