Coup in January and the indelicate submission of a professor (1)

The January 15, 1966 military coup in Nigeria was an issue on which I had commented in the past. I strongly believed that it put the nation on a different trajectory, including that which led to the Civil War. To me, civilian leaders would have resolved their differences rather than going to war in 1967. The debate over that episode in our history can never be exhausted. No debate in the social sciences ever is. Everyone’s opinion is just a contribution. That’s what those of us with a social science background believe. But as I have said in the past, there are Nigerians, possibly coming from the nuclear sciences and law, who believe that their submissiveness should be the ultimate in any debate. So if someone expresses something different, they insult him.

There is one of those Nigerians online who identifies in so many ways that you wonder what his real identity is. He identifies himself as Dr Great Oracle. Meanwhile, his Twitter account reads @Abdumahmudo1. He says he is a law professor. The first person to comment on the 1966 coup mentioned the assassinations of political leaders. I added how that coup led to a situation where the beautiful federal arrangement of the First Republic was ended and has become impossible to restore to this day. When Abdu Mahmud, a.k.a. Great Oracle, remarked the law professor, it was to insult people, to pass off others as naughty, poor history students, and that they should be ghetto people to “toss” the 1966 military coup .

Why is this law professor’s insensitive submission important? A few days ago someone said she was in a city where she often flinched because the inhabitants opened their mouths to insult others. I said it was because we have become a nation of angry people, unnecessarily aggressive for socio-economic reasons. However, it is a different problem if a law professor openly insults. You ask: what does he teach his students? This worries me because I campaign in social media against insulting others of different tribes, religions or in the course of a debate. For this Professor of Law it seems no problem to insult others. His behavior is inappropriate for anyone in the ivory tower. This is even more true of some of the other street-level comments Oracle has made online; a reason why I urge the institution where he teaches to pay more attention to his online activities.

At this point I urge the reader to follow me step by step. I do this because I will be stringing together a few seemingly unrelated issues. If I don’t, the whole point being made about the effects of the 1966 coup on our nation would be missed, a phenomenon that Oracle has demonstrated. I like to debate with people; so here I am debating Oracle believing that the only way to involve others is to insult them. How to present your case gently is what you need to learn, not how to fight; this Yoruba saying informs my world view. Although the military coup of 1966 is my focus, I will first relate it to how many titles in our country behave quite inappropriately in the public space when they make comments.

I believe there is no conversation that someone cannot contribute to – from the archbishop to the traditional ruler to the university professor. You can express your opinion on an issue and even use it to bring up other people’s opinions to learn from them. For example, I express the opinion of high state affairs on why one carrot tastes sweet and the other tastes bland. That last part is a topic I’ve jovially responded to on Twitter, sharing what I grandly consider my “award-winning” finding on the matter. The mix makes a village square meeting interesting. Village square gathering is what I believe the social media is.

I also think that such a public platform is one of the places where we can lead by example. But many have used social media to freely insult others, and as I always claim, including “their parents’ and grandparents’ peers.” To me there is nothing so reckless as this in a man’s character. It happens because many Nigerians don’t have the patience to process what others are saying and respond intelligently, as Oracle shows the law professor. They just insult. Sometimes I wonder if the years we spent under military dictatorship have led to this. I also think that many come from environments where they believe that others should be commanded and that they themselves have nothing to learn from others.

Often you can see in their comments that they have even missed the point because they are too angry to parse what others are saying. Oracle’s response missed the point we were making, and it’s an issue I would address so he would realize that he may need to reassess his mental capacity to understand others. This is important because I suspect he may have failed his students because he misreads their scripts. Many like Oracle don’t develop listening ears. They only hear what’s in their heads, and I’m not surprised Oracle read the law which I think misleads him into believing his submission to a debate must be law.

Compared to him, I have a social science background. I grew up in an environment where I was trained to listen carefully to others and calmly say my point, even if I disagree with them. For example, at the high school I attended, the school board had us campaign to be elected school prefects. All participants stood in front of fellow students to present their case. Eventually I emerged as the Senior Boy. Fellow students brought matters to my attention and at about the age of 16 I learned to listen to them respectfully. Later, at Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan, where I did my A-Level program, I was the Debate Director. I organized a weekly debate and gave every debater ample opportunity to express his or her opinion.

Fellow students at the time would remember that I always set rules for a debate session. “Everyone should speak politely, there should be no insults, no unsavory language used,” I would state in my opening remarks. I was also a debater and represented my school at events. That’s my background. As a senior boy, a debate leader and a debater myself, I knew how important it is for people to express their opinions. These days I enjoy listening to people and also acknowledging to myself that people have the right to express their opinion; whether I agree or disagree is something else. I don’t entertain the mindset that someone is “stupid” because of what they express as some do.

I guess whatever people express gives me a chance to express mine, add to what they say or give my counter reasons, and also to try and see if they can be persuaded in some other way. It’s a moment I really enjoy. As for those who offend instead of expressing their opinion in a debate, I always respond the way I now respond to Oracle. I only do that for one reason: they set a bad example for the younger generation of Nigerians.

Interesting here is the academic field which is a breeding ground of ideas in any society. That is where we should find the best listening ears, the most patient group of people who master the culture of debate. Oracle’s latest outing reminds me of a few experiences. Several years ago I was the MC at a book launch in Sheraton, Abuja. The event went so far that a few people had to go to the high table because they had other events. On the left were three distinguished guests: a university lecturer, a large-scale farmer and a religious leader. I said that these three people had one thing in common: patience. I received a loud round of applause from the audience. Teachers, in particular, listen to their students and they patiently explain things in a way that students understand. So when a teacher like Oracle openly insults others for expressing their opinion instead of patiently expressing their own opinion, it is very concerning.

To be continued