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 One of the things I love about NVS is that there seems to be more intelligent and participatory members. The critics are very venomous and some are good at directing one to what they perceive to be the correct direction. All in all, we have our views, we want to make our views known but we want to also accept that our views might not be correct but in combination with other people’s views may make a whole.
A critic is one who expresses a reasoned and often passionate opinion on any matter especially involving a judgment of its value, truth, righteousness, beauty, or technique, one who engages often professionally in the analysis, evaluation, or appreciation of works of art or artistic performances or one given to harsh or captious judgment. Therefore, it takes a special grace of God and simplicity to be a good and effective critic.
On NVS there are many ways that criticism can be expressed. One is to read an article, and if agreed to the views expressed, absorb all the contents and leave it alone. The fact that no comments is made about an article does not imply the reader has no opinion. Being silent is an opinion itself. When one’s opinion aligns with the writer, there would be no need to waste time to write an opinion such as I agree with the writer. Doing this is equivalent to why Nigerian meetings are longer than usual because there are members that will stand up to just say I agree with what the last speaker says and attempt to recall the author’s views in verbatim. If one agrees there is no need for repetition. I have absolute respect for these types of critics.
There are critics whose opinions differ from the writer’s and in a civilized way, they express theirs, not necessarily right but nevertheless, it is an opinion the writer could massage and make something out of in order to buttress, polish and redeem his argument. These are the best type of critics.
And of course there are the third, armchair critics, who see nothing good about anybody’s opinion, lazy to read a document fully before jumping or expressing where their interests lie. They become vampire and unreasonable. These are the delusional and textual critics who contribute nothing positive but take a lot out of contributors. They criticize just to be relevant; they are very venomous and contribute nothing to the issues at hand. These are people that have internal problems to deal with and see the world as me versus them.
I will go out of character to answer a recent critic of my articles not on personality but on relevance. Someone sent me an e-mail informing me that an armchair critic dissected my article on NVS and directed me to see his comments. I usually do not go back to the articles once written but do get lots of private comments which I respond to in kind. The following are the summary of the critic’s headache about my article titled “Dream beautiful dreams - A possibility in Nigeria.”:
1. That no one reads my article again because it is long … The fact that if one reader reads my article, I feel blessed and I consider my time well spent. I guess the critic contradicted himself by reading and responding to my article and so, he ended up in defeating his own assertion. Unfortunately for this critic, when I checked, more than 100 people have read my latest article and so his venom is not potent enough to dissuade readers from reading, learning and contributing positively to our contributions on how to improve our beloved nation. Those that read English are not the only ones that have ideas about Nigeria. We engineers, MDs, fine art, etc. are allowed to make incoherent contributions to the way forward for our nation even when such contributions are long and winding (LOL). Afterall, NVS is said to be a market place of ideas and there is no better place to a practice a real FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION;
2. That my article does not give solutions to Nigeria’s problems. This person must be sleeping whenever he reads my articles. He proceeded to provide a litany of relevant and irrelevant suggestions on what I should write to solve Nigeria’s problem. He provided the following as a way for me to solve our nation’s problems: a) Create a citizen database for better management of the population and economy, b) Reduce population to match its resources by limiting the number of unwarranted children born only to “come and suffer” from day one; c) Propose ways to end corruption through popular revolt since many instruments of government cannot ameliorate the issue; d) How to use jobless Nigerians to help build our infrastructure under a social security system; e) Ways to prevent a future civil war between the north and south of Nigeria; f) End the Niger delta situation. This guy must be a sleeper because many of my articles addressed some if not all his suggestions he brought up, that is if he is capable of reading and conducting research;
That being the case and he knows the solution, I wonder why he has not written his own articles and proffer solutions. How many of the moral, sociological, policy solutions have been tabled on many websites been accepted and implemented by any previous Nigerian governments?
3. He criticizes that we repeat issues. If block heads like him listens once and do what we suggest they do, then we will not keep repeating our suggestions. Some leaders behave inherently like stubborn goats such that you have to bit sense into them before they yield;
4. Mr. Critic expressed what exactly he is hiding and the thesis of his venom, how dare I dare criticize IBB and his palace. He went further to say and dropped names of a Col. Friend of his who had visited IBB’s mansion, and took pictures. That is all well and good. I have never visited IBB’s mansion as a tourist nor have I gone out of my way to find the pictures of IBB’s inner sanctuary in order to criticize his estate. For some of us who are not privy to have photos of mansions of eminent Nigerians on our laptops, we now have it, so Mr. Critic, it is time to shut the hell up if no one has ever told you to, I am saying it on behalf of all. To further extend his abuse, he decided to be condescending by saying "You are a very educated man ..," I know who I am, does this critic know who he is?
When unsolicited pictures arrives at my desk, I have right to express an opinion as to why the picture of IBB’s palace was made available to the public and enjoin it with why our past, present, and future leaders are struggling to steal Nigeria out of this earth. This was what my article, Dream attempted to do but this guy has no capacity to see beyond his nose. The fact is that IBB’s administration, though, very profitable to few but very disastrous to others will continue to be a subject that will hunt the General. Your criticism showed that there is a special relationship binding you, your Col. friend and IBB and you could not hide it even to a blind person.
I do not know IBB, I have never met him. I understand that he is very personable man. That he remembers the birthdays of those he met even once, remembers their children’s names, their wives’ pet names and he is caring to those who adore him. I have no problems those qualities as long as majority of Nigerians gain from them. If Mr. Critic partook in the spoils of IBB’s administration, it is good for him but he should not expect all of us to sleep and face the same direction.
Infact, one person sent me a positive response to the article and reminded me that the mansion was given to IBB by Julius Berger to which I responded, what did IBB give in return to Julius Berger. Julius Berger is not “Father Christmas” but a business entity. For Julius Berger to have given such mansion as a gift, guess what he must have made billions of dollars during IBB’s tenure. I am not that naïve to think otherwise that it Julius Berger just loved IBB. Why did Julius Berger give a mansion to just any Aremu bello in Nigeria? We help justify unjustifiable issues and it is a travesty for any homo-sapient.
Finally on IBB, I prayed for his second coming because I wanted him to have an opportunity to correct all his miscues and what he visited on innocent Nigerians. However, after noting the third coming of OBJ, I decided that the General needs to keep the love that is showered upon him by his supporters and just become a kingmaker; and finally,
5. On where the 70.1% Northern poverty level statistics came from, it is fresh from the Northern Union (Dr. Olusola Saraki’s committee recent pronouncement). For such fresh statistic, there is no need to give reference. The fact is that IBB will be relevant to any strategy for a way forward in Nigeria because he was a part of the problem and he must be a part of the solution. We cannot shy away from calling him to order on what he did to Nigeria. How does he want history to judge him and what legacy does he want to leave behind beyond the mansion and lots of money stashed away in foreign lands?
In 1999 I wrote an article on Ground Zero Strategy as way forward for Nigeria. In that article, I logically expressed that, may be, Nigeria need to forget those that looted the treasury and simply start a house cleaning to have a moral authority to challenge new leaders to do the right thing. If we had followed the ground Zero strategy, Nigeria may have been better off today. Instead, we grew better equipped, more dangerous and vicious and do-or-die leaders. Thieves are now challenging our rights to take them to courts and some judges are due diligence for those who had no mercy on us. Such is the nature of Nigerian citizens? They defend criminals when they gain advantage and retreat when they are put in a pigeon hole. Our critics may have the choice of pen they use but sometimes have no capacity to research before jumping. They have no good intention as long as the status quo is maintained. I do not know of you but I am tired of such Nigerians that criticize but have no solutions to any problems.
The long and short of it is that all articles need constructive criticism if our nation is to move forward but when criticism in shrouded in relational calculus by those who were latently involved, we must be careful not to listen to such vituperations and empty noises that move us no further than where we were yesterday.
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Posted by Robot| 26.09.2007 17:35