Moral relativism is terrorising Nigeria

By Tabia Princewill

A simple equation such as 1+1 will soon be conventionally accepted to equal 5 if we continue to allow moral relativism (the idea that the truth is relative, dependent on who speaks it, or otherwise unknowable) to prevail.

One of the greatest problems holding Nigeria back today (and in fact perhaps the single greatest obstacle to the war against corruption) is our inability, as a society, to call a spade a spade and to objectively think and analyse situations with truth and justice in mind rather than accepting to disagree on the obvious, simply because those involved in corruption scandals for example are of the same religion or ethnic group as us.

Our moral standards are low and dependent on the inclinations of politically exposed persons who obviously have no interest or desire to promote universal norms of justice and fairness which would impede on their reign of terror.

Widespread poverty

How we think and act when it comes to labelling what is wrong versus what is right and lawful, our tolerance for dubious characters and situations are the reasons behind widespread poverty and economic dysfunction. So-called financial whiz kids are accused of all sorts of improprieties, oversee collapsing companies and industries, owe salaries, mismanage state owned corporations, get bailed-out with little success or benefit for the common man, and yet continue to be celebrated no matter how poor their tenure was or the number of scandals left in their wake. There is always someone to excuse wrong-doing, to explain it away or to justify it as one’s due (often using bigoted ethno-religious sentiments or claims of marginalisation) and nowhere is this more shocking than when it comes to the Nigerian youth’s propensity to act contrary to his or her own generational interest.

Only in Nigeria would one find a group of young people discussing the would-be success of one of their peers (e.g. a bank manager who “owns” a flat in Ikoyi and drives two Range Rovers) and completely ignore how it is impossible, on a junior staff’s salary for this person to have bought a flat in Ikoyi with no other income or legitimate business. Unlike their peers abroad who would probably find this scenario suspicious or at least intriguing enough to want to know more details, more often than not, young Nigerians go to great lengths to find implausible reasons as to how or why this magic feat could be possible. From very early on, every Nigerian is indoctrinated into the system which is an excuse making factory, a structure that guarantees that should you participate and defend it, when your turn comes to literally “perform magic” and become rich overnight, there will be some poor desperate souls ready to swear on their lives and whatever holy book they believe in that you are a church or mosque going, tithe paying, charity loving, decent individual who doesn’t merit such evil scrutiny into your private affairs.

We have mastered, in this country, the art of moral relativism, of pretending that the illogical is rational, forcing those few who dare to see things differently into believing that perhaps they are the sick ones, unable to see (or to pretend to see) what others do.

Meanwhile, while we all pretend to ignore the various crimes, both big and small which occur under our very noses, innocent people die. Corruption, our unwillingness to speak out against it with one voice, is killing Nigerians.

Syphoned and padded budgets meant to develop ordinary people, provide for education and healthcare, for roads and other social amenities which favour the ease of doing business, are all excusable offenses in Nigeria so long as one can spin a good counter narrative.

Counter narrative

No punishments, no apologies, only death and destruction abound. Our short-sightedness, our desire to defend corruption when it benefits us will kill us all in the end if we don’t wake up to the imminent danger. A society where neither life nor property is safe or sacred, where anything can be challenged simply based on the strength of one’s connections, is one where no one, no matter how important they believe themselves to be, will always be safe.

In fact, how long more, as I’ve often asked in this column, do we believe the millions who are poor and suffering, who vastly outnumber the elite and the middle class, will continue to peacefully coexist or to accept the false notion that some are meant to know comfort and others not?

 

Osinbajo

The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, knows and understands the issues at stake. To ensure his success, much like in the case of Mr. Magu, it is up to Nigerians to continue to talk about the issues, to fight hate speech, moral relativism and the manipulations of all those trying to divide us for their own selfish reasons.

The Acting President said “notice that when people are charged with looting public funds, they quickly find a counter-narrative. It is because I am Yoruba, Fulani or Igbo or the Christians or Muslims are after me. Appointments in the public service are no longer even judged on merit.

The question is how many are from my own ethnic group”. This is why we fail to develop, why year in, year out, why we get the wrong people in important positions and are surprised when they don’t perform. We must have the courage to see that the marginalisation card is a tool used to distract us, to make us forget that corruption and impunity have no ethno-religious boundary and that poverty is the same all over the country.

 

Magu

Too few Nigerians fully understand the extent of the damage done to us by corruption. The Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, said recently: “The cost of corruption to this nation is much. It breeds Boko Haram, militancy, these boys calling for Biafra and those people calling for some parts to leave Nigeria. The looters actually funded these agitations. There are people behind these boys funding them to sabotage this country in order to have room to enjoy their ill-gotten wealth”. Mr. Magu hit the nail right on the head.

If one were to follow the money, one would find that cries of “marginalisation” are tied to corruption scandals and investigations. We have been kidnapped, like I said last week, by forces with the funds to buy anything and anyone, people rich enough to start wars if they so wish and to watch all of us become consumed by the fires of our own hatred and self-inflicted injuries. These people won’t go down with us when we fight each other. They’ll watch and laugh from the side-lines, enjoying the stolen wealth which we helped agitate for them to keep.

 

Igbo quit notice

Femi Falana (SAN) claimed that the leader of the so-called Northern youth group demanding that all Igbos leave the North before a three-month deadline lapses, doesn’t even live in the North but in Lagos.

This is yet another example of the manipulation which has always existed in Nigeria. Why do we give such obviously tainted, sponsored people breathing space and air time? Why do we grant their ranting such importance rather than deconstruct its foolishness from the beginning, pointing out, through investigative journalism and reporting for example, how the “quit notice” can neither make sense nor be taken seriously because it doesn’t represent the North. One can’t, from the comfort of one’s home in Lagos, order anyone to leave the North and claim to represent its interests: on whose authority?

How can a group constitute itself as the representative of any region without people of that area voting for its members to become its spokespeople? These groups have no moral authority, as a result they are taken over by special interests who use them to inflame the polity.

 

Tabia Princewill is a strategic communications consultant and public policy analyst. She is also the co-host and executive producer of a talk show, WALK THE TALK which airs on Channels TV.

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