WEDNESDAY COLUMN BY USSIJU MEDANER
info@medaner.com, justme4justice@yahoo.com
last week, I was seriously worried and engrossed with the import on Nigeria’s health with regard to the release of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s CSU records and the fury that followed from a section of the country that chose to interpret the record as evidence that the president did forge and presented a fake document to INEC and as such has to be taken off the position he currently occupies. Equally last week, I responded after the Atiku Abubakar press conference, to the end that it appears we ignore rationality and embrace biases in our dealings with the issue. But this week, after listening again to the Labour Party presidential candidate in the last election, Peter Obi, stating the same position that the president submitted a fake document, I decided to take a different path in my response to the issue in today’s piece.
I am making a serious u-turn on my stance concerning the issue and the public discourse that follows. At this point, it is no longer about the people on both divides of the argument; but about the country, the nation Nigeria. I choose now to tow the pathway where, hopefully, sharing my ideas and insights will help promote positive changes and a difference. It is a reality now, that we are engrossed with emotional biases and attachments that have altogether clouded our judgments and prevent us from seeing clearly to the extent of being objective and neutral in our analysis and response to issues of national discourses.
I have come to the point where I want to understand why all those who are bent on the claim that the president forged his certificate or did not attend CSU, do so and give them credit for the path they take while attempting to instill reality of the fact of the record to them. The validity or not of the documents, I have decided to explore both sides of the debate going forward; I have realised it is important to consider WHY people may choose to believe or disbelieve something, even when there is evidence to the contrary. I have come to accept that there are hinged biases, emotions and other factors that dictate Nigerians’ responses, and it would be difficult to alter people’s perceptions until you recognise and reconcile both their views and their whys.
After having an interesting conversation with a friend on this issue immediately after the Peter Obi press conference, where he questioned the authenticity of the CSU document, we concur the best pathway to a solution will begin with the acceptance that we are individually not an expert on document verification, so we cannot say for a fact whether the documents are authentic or not. We will have to rely on the experts in this field to make that determination while we discipline ourselves to accept the findings of the experts. Also, it is also important to look at all the evidence, considering all the arguments on both sides, and come to a conclusion based on the facts of documents and not biases, as we concluded our thoughts on the authenticity of the documents.
On my part, while I try to be factually neutral, I chose to rely on the position of the school and the registrar’s sworn deposition to lend credence to the claim that the President did graduate from the school and the presented documents are not forged. But I also chose to accept that coming from the events of the 2023 election cycle, which was and remains highly emotionally polarised and divisive, with accusations and misinformation spreading on all sides, the President’s CSU document contention would naturally become an extension of the existing feud and another point of argument for those who have made the decision to disapprove of the President by all means possible. But then, I am still of the opinion that in the interest of Nigeria wellness, it is possible to have a constructive and respectful dialogue bereft of extreme emotional, partisan and intolerable biases towards resolving the issue.
We are at a point as a people and a nation where to some, political allegiance and some innate personal biases are preventing us from looking at the given evidence objectively. Some of us remain fixated on our strong feelings about the presidential election outcome and are unwilling to accept any other explanation on issues related to the President and his party, even when it is backed with evidence. And yet we cannot maintain this much polarisation on national issues and expect the country to garner the unity it so requires to organise its resources and develop at its innate capacity.
The challenge before me currently, even as objective as I want to be, is how do we reach out to people who are unwilling to accept evidence that contradicts their preconceived beliefs? How do we begin to address people who are emotionally intense and invested in a fixed outcome? While it seems difficult, it remains a task for all Nigerians to keep trying to find ways to communicate rationally and in a way that the concern might be more receptive to considerably.
I think it is time we all focused on the bigger picture of the implications of what we are all doing today to the nation. If as a people, we choose to continue to reject evidence that contradicts our beliefs, we will be courting negative consequences for our society as a whole as we have already seen. It is already limiting our capacity to resolve issues of national bearings and make progress as a people.
At this point, I genuinely care about the feelings of all that oppose APC and its presidential candidate at the poll; I also understand their position and right to choice of political pathway. Though, I may not share their beliefs, but I agree they have their right to the path they take. But I will also want to tell us all that we must get to the point where we see the line between our beliefs and the country’s sanity and to make necessary compromises. It is not an indication of weakness but of patriotism. If we all are passionate about the wellness of Nigeria and belief in the future of the country, it is about time we renegotiated our biases and attachments for the sake of the country we love.
The day the real development of Nigeria will commence will be the day, when we stop wishing the country to suffer because someone we are politically not in consonance with is on the seat of power of the country. That day, when we recognise that the hatred for the leadership of the country and the things we are always willing to do or get paid to do, to destroy the nation thinking we are pulling an individual down, would be the day, when we realise that this nation cannot be bad until its citizens have gone bad and the reason why Nigeria is what it is now. The reason why the country appears cursed and incapable of showcasing the development we want to see, is because Nigerians are cursed first and have deteriorated to the point that they become incapable of projecting a blessed society. This is applicable to a worrisome population of Nigeria.
A day will come when it dawns on us; the goal of the epic struggle of those men and women who fought for the freedom of this country, the long, difficult and dangerous walk they took to the freedom we abuse today. When we come to the realisation that they jettison potentials and opportunities for personal gains for the freedom we grossly abuse today. When we will realise the reason they jettison selfishness is because they knew it was the only thing they are allowed to do by the country and the right thing to do. They didn’t see civil right movements and NGOs as enabling platforms to bring the country down by spreading narratives that are inimical to the development of the country, while they line their pockets with ill-gotten grants from donors and sources that are willing to pay for the evil services they offer. They realised that the moral arc of the universe is long but it singularly bends toward justice, and they accepted it was their responsibility to, whenever it is necessary, to be the ones that bend the arc toward nothing else but justice for the country. Ours will be the day we come to the realisation that we need, all of us, across all the divides we have created and still creating among ourselves, to bend that arc one more time and again to obtain peace, justice and glory for the country. That day when we will realise we are the only ones who can push our country towards a more perfect nation and union the founding fathers envisaged.
However, our actions at this moment represent a total departure from that; today we use platforms, positions, privileges, and groups against constituted authorities and the country; we establish groups and organisations to access both local and international finance to satisfy personal goals while we falsely present laudable justice, development and human right promotion and maintenance plans. We now use these instruments against the country, more often, if need be, to achieve targeted personal goals.
Please, in the name of what joins us together, our motherland, let us all begin to see beyond personal gains to the national glory that comes with a unified order and togetherness of the citizens. Neither Bola Ahmed Tinubu nor APC would forever lead Nigeria, but the damage we bring to the country today because we hate the president and his party for no cause will stay on with the nation and all of us for a long time.
GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
