My dear Ayo,Congratulations.What a fabulous accolade.What an honour to be lavished with such splendid unbuttoned abuse.You are indeed the Bright Diamond in an all-too-often tarnished Journalistic Crown.There have been indications before,But this is the confirmation:You are hitting the target; hard and deep.I am sure I am joined by all of us, worldwide,Who once again extend our profound thanks to youFor seeking through all the sturm und drang (fire and blood);All the ludicrous and lethal games in which our elected oligarchs/ political princes engage;For seeking to ensure Commonsense and Simple Truth Shine through;The Light of your messages,Ever bright,Eternal.Thank you my friend.And as an added tit-bit that just came through this morning from our brother, David Walmark,who looks out on the wider world beyond the ocean shores of his long-adopted Canada East Coast home;Cast your eye over this composite item: http://nationofchange.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d8c536d78fef3dd6b12305a66&id=050a1fe0f5&e=2efe775031Tis not Nigeria alone, where our "savage infants" are at lethal play.But, sadly for us www/ ordinary folk—like here in UK—we have nothing to match our Professor Ayo Olukotun.Love and profound thanks, my brother.You do well pass all.Baba Mike
Reply-To: Prof Ayo OLUKOTUN <ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com>
Date: Thursday, 28 April 2016 21:00
To: Prof Ayo OLUKOTUN <ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com>, Prof Toyin FALOLA <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>, USA-AFRICA dialogue
Subject: Fw: PROF OLUKOTUN'S COLUMN
A FAREWELL TO CIVIL POLITICAL DISCOURSE?
AYO OLUKOTUN
Let us stop shouting at each other so that we can hear our words as well as our voices.
- John F. Kennedy
Political discourse in the shape of systematic, informed and polite conversation on governance matters is in dire retreat here in Nigeria. The regression of civil political discourse, a variety of dialogue which can disagree without being disagreeable or mean, as the opening quote shows did not begin in the age of Twitter or Facebook with its incendiary wars nor indeed in Nigeria where it is however magnified by a catastrophic collapse in educational standards.
These ruminations were provoked by the sharp, abusive, tenor of some reactions to my assessment of the President Muhamadu Buhari administration published in The Punch last week. Interpreted by most readers as a balanced wakeup call to an administration sliding off its once exciting forte, a few readers sent messages to me not just to disagree with my take but to scoff, abuse and scorn. Of course, writers over time, develop thick skins to these incivilities; nonetheless, it is disconcerting that educated people in the throes of partisanship could allow themselves to degenerate into the abyss of acrimonious ripostes. For example, someone who identified himself perhaps pseudonymously as Dapo writing from Ikeja sent this SMS, “Buhari’s government is on track. Only crooks, looters and their media agents are complaining. True, things may be rough now but let the budget start operating first before making childish conclusions. An intellectual like you should know better but then what do you expect from somebody clapping for ill-bred, ill-mannered Fayose?” I will spare the reader the last part of the message which is over the top in tone, tenor and insult. Yet another reader, writing, from an opposing perspective, takes issues with me for “speaking from both sides of the mouth like the average Yoruba man” and not coming hard down enough on the failures of Buhari. He then goes on to ask if my reticence is informed by the fact that “you are looking for an appointment like many of your colleagues.”
It is interesting that the two readers which represent a sample from a raucous chorus of dissenters and naysayers, dealt very little with the substance of the arguments raised in my write-up. That is perhaps a luxury they could not afford. It was enough for them to ejaculate opinionated and sharp toned responses. It never ceases to amaze why some choose to lend themselves to insensitive yells at those who are only doing their jobs of providing informed commentaries. Before developing the discourse further, this writer craves the reader’s indulgence to offer a short take.
So far, no one had been able to provide a coherent explanation of the rising wave of insecurity in the land in the last one month especially. The new wave started in the twilight of the month of March when Colonel Samaila Inusa was abducted and brutally murdered in Kaduna. No clue emerged subsequently as to what the possible cause of that unnerving incident could be or why it was so easy for an army officer to be abducted in his own Mercedes Benz car. Around the same time, three pastors belonging to the United Church of Christ including the President, Dr. Emmanuel Dziggau and his deputy, Reverend Iliya Anto, were abducted by gunmen along the Kaduna-Abuja expressway. Although, the ministers were eventually released, one of them died because of the brutal ordeal to which they were reportedly submitted.
Only last week, three officials of the Osun state government returning from an official assignment in Abuja were kidnapped and only released a few days later after a harrowing ordeal. The latest atrocity in what is becoming an ominous norm is the slaughter of unarmed villagers by Fulani herdsmen at Ukpabi-Nimbo in Uzo-Uwani local government in Enugu state. Coming on the heels of the recent massacre also by Fulani herdsmen in Agatu, Benue state, turmoil and animated conversation have broken out on what to do about the escalating insecurity and the rising profile of rampaging Fulani herdsmen. The awkward thread that runs through all these cases whatever their specific causes and contexts is the virtual breakdown of law and order underlined by an undermanned, underequipped and flabby police force.
Whatever remedies are applied, there is no alternative to our building a cogent and easily deployed law enforcement apparatus that is able to meet the rising tide of insecurity in the nation in recent times. Government appears to be tackling the challenge of Boko Haram with the required level of seriousness; it is doubtful however, whether it is fully alert to the widening front of galloping insecurity.
To get back to the main discourse, it is short walk that a country makes from a war of words to an actual shooting war. In other words, all wars are preceded by a heavy torrent of hate speeches and uncivil communication. It is partly for this reason therefore that democracies who wish to remain that pay particular attention to the tenor and quality of public conversation. That apart, verbal fury tends to replicate itself by inviting the target to respond in like manner. There is also the point that those who wish to educate, inform or persuade do not throw up tantrums in the midst of serious conversation. A time there was when debate in this country was conducted with polish, good manners and best practices in persuasive writing. The pity is that we are fast losing the national treasury of civilised discourse devoid of personal attacks.
To be sure, politics as the ongoing heated conversations in the primaries in the United States illustrate unleashes strange passions and fevers. Recall for example, the inflammatory tweets of leading republican contender, Donald Trump about Senator Ted Cruz’s wife and other matters which border on hitting an opponent below the belt. In broad terms, philosophers are telling us that humanity is skirting the threshold of a new age of partisanship with the onslaught of opinionated bloggers, the decline of civility and the use of Internet chats as echo chambers by partisan groups on both the right and the left. Obviously, our political conversations in this country are not immune from these influences. Besides, a deeply religious country like ours with a traditional culture in which images of the ‘enemy’ loom large is bound to offload a perspective which sees political competition as a fight between good and evil.
Nigerian religion is a variant of traditional belief systems in which success in life depends on avoiding the machinations of ota-ile (the enemy in the house), ota-ode (the enemy outside), ota- idile (the enemy in the family), ota-ikoko (enemy in secret) and ota-ibise (the enemy at work) as Yoruba scholars such as Toyin Falola have often told us. In such a world, there are no political opponents as such only political enemies who should be vanquished by artilleries of linguistic fervour among other weapons.
Understandably therefore, it is difficult for many to shed off uncivil discourse and its untoward effects. But try we must, as the health of our democracy is to a large extent a function of our ability to retain the norms of inspiring an edifying discourse.
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