The Assassination of Mr. T

By Hakeem Babalola

How many of us were born with truth sealed on their lips? Although telling the truth soothes nerves, I belong to those silly high school boys who told their parents they needed two books: DICTIO+NARY. Ah, ah.  Surely the real test is yet to come if I go by Elizabeth Bowen’s perspective of truth. “Nobody speaks the truth,” she posits, “when there’s something they must have”. In another parlance, there’s no principle where there’s no temptation.  

As each day wax, I wallow: what does telling the truth entail? Is being honest a constant thing? Can one tell the truth to a fault? Is there a limit? Is there a time to tell lies? Should one withhold the truth to avoid hurting someone’s feelings?  When can humans ascertain the truth on their lips? Is it until someone points a gun on their head and asks them to renounce their principle or belief? Besides, one Oscar Wilde says, “A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it”. How do we know that the way of God is the truth while that of Satan is lies?

 Any Rand, author of two voluminous novels, The Fountain Head and Atlas Shrugged, simply defines truth as recognition of facts. She believes truth has no duplication. She argues that there can be only one truth in a story. If she’s right, why then have we refused to recognise such fact in Ibrahim Babangida’s comment that “military rule is a blessing” in the history of Nigeria ? It is either the coup plotter Ibrahim engages in self-deceit or we are prejudiced against him or we are not being honest in our assessment of the man. Tear me apart if you can.

 Now could there be two truths when people see the same issue in different perspectives? Is it possible for opponents of the same issue to both hold the truth? How can we search for knowledge of objective truth in which Nigeria is in thirst of? In order to preserve our self-respect, is it sometimes necessary to tell lies and cheat? Is this why those who have been caught red-handed stealing public funds or rigging elections or giving/receiving bribe would deny such impropriety? 

 In Plato’s The Symposium, Agathon says, “I can’t argue against you, Socrates”. “It’s the truth you can’t argue against, my dear Agathon,” replies Socrates, who was said to prefer being executed telling the truth to staying alive with a lie.

 People like Babangida have yet to realise that human being can’t argue against the truth. It will always prevail. Because of their shoddy past albeit absence of truth, it is to be expected that rulers in Nigeria would erase history in order to sneak to Aso Rock or other similar Rocks. Can the history of a people be easily erased? Babangida once quoted as praising the campaign against corruption. Can there be any truth in his remark? After all, the same corruption gathered momentum during his eight-year-rule!

 Can a particular government systematically kill the truth in its citizens? Yes. It happened each time the State honour those who have dwarfed a giant she once called. By giving Sani Abacha a state burial for example, is an indirect way of saying he was a role model. Was he? For those who do not know Abacha, he was one man who ruled Nigeria with tempestuous brutality. He was a man who believed that he and members of his “royal” family could steal a cow while the rest of us must not even look at its tail. Yet he got a State burial and had a stadium named after him.

 Likewise, can the citizens kill the truth in their leaders? My answer is yes. For example, are Nigerians ready to rally round a candidate who truthfully sthem during campaign that he or she won’t be able to repair their roads during the first three years of his or her tenure?  If the answer is no, then the ruling goons will always lie about their agendas because the citizens themselves are not ready for the truth.

 Apparently governments do tell lies under the disguise of State Security protection. Should governments tell lies in the interest of the public? I believe they should not tell lies under any circumstances because lies compound lies. Moreover, such lies will definitely haunt such governments until eternity. Go see how dem crazy bald-head Nigerian “leaders” are fleeing from the pursing hounds of such lies. The demise of Fayose of Ekiti State and his political family alias PDP (Peoples Deceiving  People) is another case. I can go on and on.

 Individuals may even tell lies, but when those entrusted with the affairs of a nation engage in perpetual lies, it’s like using the instruments of state to exploit or punish those citizens they have sworn to protect. Even God won’t enthuse about this.

 The death of Mr. T is the root of our troubles. We have become the living example of Bowen’s quote. A father or mother who used to chew the virtue of honesty several years back is probably regretting it now. We have reached the dangerous point: join them if you can’t beat them syndrome. For instance, relatives expect you to exaggerate your financial status than tell them the truth about it. Even the creation of the country was based on falsehood through “marriage of convenience” called 1914 amalgamation. Little wonder that almost a century later, Nigerian still tied to her matchmaker’s apron.

 Consider a presidential candidate who promised the electorate during campaign to effect positive changes in their lives but renegade such promise after coming to power. Also, a journalist who ends up blackmailing people is likely not going to uphold the truth. The same thing applies to a judge who perverts justice. What of a pastor who preaches honesty but uses fluid of a pregnant woman for ritual.

 On a mundane level, there are other situations when we allow lies to grip us. For instance, a man who wooed a woman by telling lies; spouse who cheated would definitely lie about it; a devoted churchgoer who lies about his/her age; a visa applicant who submits fake documents; a Nigerian home video maker who has the brazen effrontery to produce an incomplete and mixed story to the public; a hale and healthy person who suddenly becomes a beggar claiming blindness, dumbness or both in the street and so on.

 I would argue here that the Anambra saga, OBJ-AA feud, and other sad events would have been averted if the parties were truthful to each other right from the beginning. There wouldn’t have been unnecessary expectations had the outgoing President truthfully told us that economic recovery would take donkey years. There wouldn’t have been any need for the worms to tear themselves apart had their tongue manifested in truth.

 Although theoretical application enhances practical disposition, no amount of this will uplift a nation saddled with dishonesty. We need to cultivate the habit of being truthful. The government can help through the implementation of policies that would inspire people to lean towards telling the truth. Imagine a land where people are true to their works, words, and their friends.

 In all of us, if we felt it, says Marcy Maday, the truth is always in our heart and we just have to listen. Yes, this will soothe your nerve as well as that conscience Uthman Dan Fodio describes as an open wound, which only truth can heal. Beside that, we don’t have to remember anything if we tell the truth. Anyway, as we go about our daily bread, let’s consider ourselves as people who uphold the truth until Bowen’s “when there’s something they must have” finally reveals the truth.   

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 18.10.2006 19:11