THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA PHILOSOPHERS

THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA PHILOSOPHERS

*(Modest Thoughts with Ayuba Yilgak'ha, June 16, 2022; SMS: 08116181263)*

Knowledge is mobile. There are schools everywhere. Apart from the home, markets, places of worship, conventional schools, places of work and workshops,  the internet, especially the social media segment of it promises to be a phenomenal school.

The value one creates out of the Social Media is determined by the capacity of the users of it to focus on what really matters. A man or woman who does not have the discipline to exercise tact will be lost in the dynamics and frequency of information flow on the social media. 

I have gathered alot of intelligence and processed them to produce useful information packages that have, or will touch lives in many ways than one. One of the areas that have recently caught my attention on the Social Media platform is related to issues in relationships. 

As a matter of fact, how to become political party delegate and crashed relationships have suddenly turned the Social Media space into an advanced and interesting school of philosophy. Today's prose, is centred on relationship matters.

I have observed that in today's world, most people have become philosophers, lovers of wisdom, courtesy the reality of their divergent experiences, particularly, as they concern issues of rusted, soured or broken relationships. Philosophy means derived idea(s). On Social Media, people share their experiences generously that one could easily make learning curriculums out of them.

I have learnt two profound principles or philosophies from the Social Media these few days. First is what I called the psychology of women feelings and, secondly, the psychology of breakups. These phenomena will help serve as useful resource material for singles and reference material for relationship/marriage counsellors.

Let me start with the second one: The psychology of breakups. As I randomly viewed through WhatsApp status' posts on my contact list, I saw a text that reads: "Nowadays they don't say it's over. They misbehave till you get tired and walk away. It's called, constructive break up!" The imperatives here are the word, "Misbehave" and the phrase, "Constructive Breakup!" - CB. Permit me to code named it the CB Law!

CB Law, originally called Constructive Breakup in psychology of breakup is when a friend wants to jilt another friend in action. "Action", they say, "speaks louder than voice." Therefore, when a friend wants to abandon you, the loudest way communicate that is to continually misbehave with the prime assumption that the victim will get tired and frustrated to let go of the relationship.

What is striking in this case is the fact that the relationship is not a new one but something went wrong and somebody who once claimed being in love began to maltreat his or her friend in such an unruly manner. 

The justification or otherwise of such treatment could be a subject of debate but morally, I feel it's not right to misbehave, whatsoever. I feel civil adults should live and act civil because tomorrow shall always come. One does not have to 'misbehave' to send a friend parking because the bridge you burnt today might just be the bridge you need to cross over emerging hurdles in life. Hence, Luck Dube's counsel and command: "Don't close the door behind you

You might wanna go through it someday

Don't burn that bridge"!

The our second story, the psychology of human feeling, derives from another post gotten another WhatsApp Status in my contacts. The author wrote: "No matter how good you treat a woman, if you are not the man she has feelings for, she will never appreciate your efforts. Women are loyal to their feelings. They don't care about your sacrifice." The imperative here is the 'care' of a woman, namely, her feeling!

What then is the nature of a woman feeling? Is it different from that of a man? I don't know but what I can deduce from the author of this psychology is that the feeling of a woman is not material sensitive. What this means is that no one should use material things as a means of winning over a woman because he will regret it if her feeling is not favourably disposed to the person's personality. After all, true love is measured by the sacrifices one make without strings attached - That is, sacrificing without expecting a repay!

I tried probing to ascertain the motivation for the post from my friend. Hear me as I asked: "I can see you philosophising on the psychology of women, ... Did you attend Advanced University of Women Affairs? How did you arrive at that bogus conclusion?" The a respond I got was simply, "No sir"!

My friend explain: 'It is just that most of my friends are women, ... and my experience too, sir.' I then probed further, "What experience? Tell me, my friend. Were you jilted despite your sacrifices?" The friend posed for a while and then responded in anamatopiac fashion, "Hmmmm"!

All ears, I interjected and waited for further reactions. He then replied, "Sir, it is a long story"! However my friend open up  told me: 'I was in a relationship with a lady for more than 4 years. After all that i did for her, she ended up marrying the person she has feeling for.'

 

Questions started brewing inside my head. Did I hear him said, '...she ended up marrying the person she has feeling for'? I borrowed words to have a monologue "End of discussion or discussion continues?" The response I gave myself resulted in the prose you just read!

I took pittied and consoled my friend staying: "Eiyaa... It's well. "It is better a broken relationship", they say, "than a broken marriage."" Personally, I subscribe to this philosophy, not partially but wholly!

When a relationship broke, though a sad thing to happen, it is an opportunity to go for a better one but when marriage broke, everything has broken. Having said that, however, why do some friends put their once best friends through psychological stress or truama called broken heart?

Everybody wants the best or wants to be the best. We can achieve these cravings without necessarily breaking people's heart. How possible, you might ask? Just try to be civil and lovely in quitting. That is my theology but it can be yours too!

Constructive Breakup is and cannot be constructive within the context of morality, civility and history. Anybody can walk away but doing it responsibly is the best.

Socrates once wrote: "By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher." This statement is quite profoundly loaded in the light of current realities in our world. However, I dare say, you don't have to be married to be circumstantially happy or become philosopher. That level can be arguably elementary. The quickest, fastest and advanced way of becoming a philosopher in post-modern/digital world is to try pre-marital relationships. Some are hell inside hell of hell. You can pardon my jargon here, please.

Feelings and emotions does matter, the drive human instincts but as a man protect and preserve his, show empathy some empathy by respecting that of others. Let me conclude by saying that manner of approach matters. You only go for the better when the best is not possible and luckily, civility in relationships is a practical possible. Go for it if you, really, understood the thesis, antithesis and synthesis of this analytical narrative.

AMUSEMENT AT THE GATES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

*AMUSEMENT AT THE GATES OF SOCIAL MEDIA*

The internet and its derivatives, especially, the social media is a complex web and market place of unsolicited but useful ideas. It can be a bullying and corrupting space but, trust me, no dull moments. As TVC will say it, "Nothing ever goes to sleep in this city"!

Just this afternoon, after a hectic day at my research lab, some two friends refreshed me with so much humour which they produced via a casual conversation. Perhaps, they wouldn't know they have created a billion Dollar comedy chapter that could relief someone of the worst human stress.

Let me not bore you with long stories or keep you in suspense. The main characters in my amusing story are two gentlemen and very respected Noble Friends: Wokji Mwabe and Barr. Nungji Salama. I hope they will not be offended seeing their names flying on the wave lens of print and electronic media. 

Here is the short, unedited and amusing conversation between the two men:

Wokji: "Graduate no be 4 mouth tell us your course mey we ask you question."

Nungji: "Hahahahaha... Okay, I study delegate as a course .🏃🏻‍♂️🏃🏻‍♂️."

Wokji: "Oya how much did you realize during the last APC Presidential primaries in Abuja?"

Nungji: "The rule of engagement is that we shouldn't make it known to the public. 😁😁."

Conversation concluded but the amusement continues. From today, like seriously, I shall never take my school for granted. This, I meant, not just any school but the School of Advanced Delegate Studies - SADS. I want to be an alma-meta there. Let me belong to cult and place where millionaires are made overnight. Shhhhhh, quite, lease. Is somebody smiling, I meant laughing? Yes, I suppose but wait a minute.

At a local people's parliament somewhere in town, there is a man. This man, since the PDP had its primaries and later APC, he has never ceased one bit, he kept repeating the word: Delegate, delegate, delegate..., a sign that, very soon, a sound tract migh be in the offing for public consumption - or at worst let it not be a sign of altered psyche. Until then we keep fingers crossed.

You are free to laugh and, if you so wish, laugh with tears. Something amusing has happened and I cannot resist laughing myself!

Amusing story indeed! What a way to ease off the stress of a busy people in a busy day and world? I do not know about you but these men, Wokji and Nungji deserve a place in the Hall of Fame, especially, in the comedy world. A noble prize will not be too much. Unfortunately, I do not have the capacity to bestow such honour on them, both, but to say thank you. I am proud of you!

Stories are stuffs I love putting together. The motivation, though, is to create or use them to celebrate silent heroes whose legendary acts might not be reported in conventional Media. I love doing it!

I cannot end this piece without calling all Nigerians to go for their Permanent Voter's Card (PVCs). It is the single most important document that could guarantee one being a delegate. PVC is the admission letter to that school. The next requirement is to belong to a political party, an interprising one for that matter. Good day!

*(Modest Thoughts with Ayuba Yilgak'ha, June 15, 2022)*

LEADERSHIP RECRUITMENT PROCESS AND THE CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

*LEADERSHIP RECRUITMENT PROCESS AND THE CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA*

Leadership recruitment process in Nigeria is a scam. It is so fraudulent, chaotic and full of uncertainties. In other words, established on the tripod of deception, hooliganism and impunity, the leadership selection process in Nigeria has set the tone for the emergence of misguided rogues in position of authority where critical decisions which have significant implications for the nature of existence in an ecosystem, the polity, will be taken.  

There is power in process(es). Process and processes are like double edged sword with make potentials or mar tendencies. Marshall McLuhan's philosophy of "The "Medium is the Message"(Marshall, 1964) duly captured the significance of processes, channels in a most classic manner.  You cannot cultivate, build and operate contradictory systems and then turn round to expect a better or decent outcomes from them. A chaotic electoral process or processes will invariably give birth to chaotic regime or government except in rare and isolated cases. This explained why Nigeria is glaringly backward in all ramifications.

It is absolute self-delusion, a legacy in madness for any man to have a rotten head and then expect to have a sound body. This is because the Central Nervous System (CNS) which is expected to coordinate the reflects actions of the man's body cannot function anymore. Hence, the collapse of the CNS is the collapse of the entire body system or systems.

Democracy which is celebrated as the most civil process of leadership recruitment and governance has been desecrated. The practice of this objective phenomenon has been complicated in most countries in manner the suits Confucius hypothesis that, "Life is simple, but we insist on making it complicated". In my view contradictions arising from practical operationalisation of nicely designed democratic postulations are deliberate strategies by opportunistic rogues and witches who have benefitted from the disorder and therefore bend at sustaining same.

I have always maintained that democracy is never an end it self but a means to an end. The phenomenon is what you made of it. Democracy is a value creation or addition system which can only strive on the goodwill of objective ambition. It is not a system for lazy mediocres but ambitious patriots whose greatest joy derive from recreative progression and development of an enduring value system that is based on equity, justice and welfare for all citizens including legally documented foreigners. You cannot practice democracy like the proverbial fisherman who laid beside his boat smoking a pipe thinking it was the best thing to do. 

For better appreciation of the implications of the fisherman's mentality  on democratic practice, effort is made here to share the full story as told by Anonymous. It was an interesting conversation between a lackadaisical fisherman and a productive industrialists.

'The industrialist was horrified to find the fisherman' who went to fish (emphasis mine) 'lying beside his boat, smoking a pipe.'  'Why aren't you out fishing?' Asked the industrialist. 'Because I have caught fish for the day', replied the fisherman. 'Why can't you catch some more?', Asked the industrialist. What will I do with them? Answered the fisherman. 'You could earn more money. Then you could have a motor fitted to your boat to go into deeper waters and catch more fish. Then you would have enough money to buy nylon nets. These would bring you more fish and more money. Soon you would have enough money to own two boats...maybe even a fleet of boats. Then you would be a rich man like me.' The industrialist sermonised. What would I do then?, Asked the fisherman.  'Then you could sit back and enjoy life', responded the industrialist. What do you think I'm doing right now? The fisherman asked rhetorically. 

Even though this conversation was developed around economic motivations, some modest political commentaries and lessons could drawn from it. For a political mediocre, finding his way to the corridors of power is enough achievement to relax and smoke away life. The need to improve the political system within which he will be operating including the electoral process that brought him on-board is a waste of time. All that matters to him is to smoke and pollute the entire system with his shallow value system of laziness, stagnation, selfishness and greed, lack of vision and creativity amongst others. 

Having leading politician (s) with counter productive character quotient in the position of authority is like having a car driver who only knows how to drive on a reverse gear. Such opportunistic leader (s) could only usher his countrymen, subjects into periods of posponed development. No tangible development could occur under the watch of a glorified imposter!

Sustainable development which is centred on meeting today's needs without joeopardising future opportunities  generally is leadership sensitive. Leadership is critical because there shall be uncompromising need to draw inspiration and motivation from the practical vision, innovation, strategies, pragmatic capabilities and charismatic power of the leader so that the entire system could be stimulated into wholesome action. 

Uninspiring leadership has a dampening effect on the productive capacity of the followership especially in climes where individuals are stronger institutions they superintend over. A leader is surposed to be an active trigger for innovation and productivity in a state or country. It's in this light that this piece subscribes to Chinua Achebe's hypothesis that the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely failure of leadership (Chinua,1998).

Nigeria, in the course of time has become a nation-state agoged with puzzling ironies. Though rich in both human and material resources; most of the country's socio-economic and political  development indicators are sending negative signals. For instance, Nigeria became the poverty capital of the world in 2019 after overtaking India (World Poverty Clock, 2019). 

Once, reputed 'the Giant of Africa'; the country has turned out to be one of the most discredited in term of institutional corruption and insecurity in the world. If Nigeria is actually the Giant of Africa, then it must be a slumbing or sleeping one and it is high time it wakes up. It must wake up and reinvent itself politically, economically and even culturally. The country must be deliberate in radically changing it socio-economic and political approaches in line with the principle of objectivity and not subjectivity. No mantra represents the principle of objectivity than Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy which reads something like: Strategise and get it right at first attempt!

From creation of electoral constituencies (polling units, wards, local governments, state assembly constituencies; Federal House of Representative constituencies, senatorial districts and states) registration of voters; registration of political parties, their membership and election of their leadership; conduct party primaries; secondary elections, declaration of winners and losers; tribunal trials, appeals and supreme court verdict for governors and president, all processes of election, there is always cause for alarm. It is either judgements are alleged to have been brought or election processes rigged or scuttled by violent means both at primaries and secondary poll levels or electoral constituencies allocated to highest bidders. Nobody seems to trust or have confidence in the system except those with Machievialian prowess to bulldoze their way through the process. There is largely no trace of integrity in the system because the key players lack objectivity in their dictionaries!

In order to inspire hope in the system, the key players must learnt to show statesmanship and sustained political will to fix the system even at the expense of losing out. Taking such sacrificial risk is the easiest surest way to write one's name in the Guiness book of Records, Hall of Fame and the sands of time. 

A good name is better than riches (Ecclesiastes 7:1; Proverb 22:1) and power. Integrity builds and sustains but fraudulent power erodes. There is no authority in illegitimacy, and illegitimacy has no survival strategy outside impunity. Worst still, impunity is a prelude to anarchy and utter collapse of states. There is no shorter route to collective National decay than to have sit-tight rogues take over seat of authority via dubious means!

In today's Nigeria, nothing worries me like the unrepentant tendency of most political actors to circumvent any electoral process (es), whether or not result are transmitted electronically. This is because the survival and development of democracy and good governance, in any country or society, is dependent on the quality of the leadership recruitment process. Nigeria and its components parts should forget about sustainable development if it failed to get it right at that level because that is the starting point for the emergence of credible leadership!

*(Modest Thoughts with Ayuba Yilgak'ha, August 14, 2021; SMS: 08116181263; Email: loisayuba420@gmail.com)*

*References*

1. Chinua, A. (1998). The trouble with Nigeria. London: The Fourth Dimension Publishers.

2. Marshall, M. (1964). Understanding media: The extensions of man. Canada: McGraw Hill.

3. World Poverty Clock (2019). Explore poverty data by age, gender, and region for every country. https://www.worldpoverty.io/headline.