By Kayode Emola
We live in a world today shaped by various ideologies introduced by a number of individuals over thousands of years. Some of these ideas, good as they may have seemed at the time that they were implemented, have subsequently shown to have become detrimental to human society in general. Yet they have persisted, not necessarily because they are ‘good’ or true, but because they have been normalised by that society.
Oftentimes, people believe that when many are agreed on a course of action, it lends credibility to the idea and demonstrates widespread validation. Many big corporations and even national governments have sought to gain their own advantage by influencing the ideological belief of the general populace. This is often to the detriment of the people and society at large; and continues unrestrainedly until this manipulated status quo is challenged by an enlightened minority in the organisation or country.
In the case of climate change, for many years big organisations and advanced countries have hidden the truth about how their emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere are destroying the planet. It was only when a few climate change activists rose up to challenge the status quo that the subject began to garner public attention.
Some courageous individuals, like the Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg, did not wait for public opinion to swing their way before they began to speak out. In 2018, at the age of just 15, Greta started spending her school days demonstrating outside the Swedish parliament with just a placard to drive home her point. Very soon her lone action of a single placard reading “Kolstrejk för klimatet” (“School strike for climate”) began to attract others interested in the subject. Together, their joint stand for the climate emergency began to unravel the lies that had been obscuring the truth of how we all are contributing to the destruction of the precious world we should be cherishing.
It is important for us to realise that it doesn’t matter what opinion is held by the majority on a particular subject matter; simply being the majority view does not make an idea true or right. If society is not built on a foundation of truth, then it will be gradually sliding toward destruction. Take for instance, in the ancient Babylonian empire, King Nebuchadnezzar believed that, as the ruler of the vast empire, he was a god. To reinforce this ideology, he built a golden image to symbolise how great he is and commanded everyone in his empire to worship it. It took three Hebrew boys to stand up to him and to point out the lies in his assertion. These Hebrew boys were not afraid of losing their lives and were ready to stand up for the truth, no matter what it cost.
Whilst the Hebrew boys might have taken that action because of their strong conviction that a man cannot equate himself to God, it is important to take home the lesson that if we are persistent in standing for the truth, we will see the change we desire in our society. We should, however, be careful to note that this change cannot be brought to bear by mere desires alone, but requires our collective action.
Today in Nigeria, we have been conditioned to believe so many lies over the years – if not centuries – that they have taken deep ideological roots which destroy the fabric of our society at every level. Many of us are quick to blame the politicians and those in government for all the woes that befall our country, but very few actually take the effort to challenge the status quo.
We need to realise that as a people, we cannot continue to play the blame game and expect anything to change. Change can only be brought about by concrete and determined action, even if it means sacrificing our lives in the altar of truth just like the Hebrew boys. We need to be resolute in our determination to stand for what is just and that which is right.
Nigeria has such immense potential to be a great nation if only truth were to be upheld across all facets of the country. So it is not right that instead, we should continue to see people acquiesce immoral behaviours leading to the current level of depravity. With the country’s continuous downward trajectory on every developmental scale, one can safely say that any hope of redemption is long gone and buried. I plead with those fighting for the emergence of a new Yoruba, Igbo, Arewa, or any other indigenous nation, to ensure that the foundations of these new nations are deeply steeped in truth. In this manner, it can be ensured that any institution seeking to implement new developments does so for the benefit of all, and not just for the select few.
