When every vice becomes ‘new normal’…

“When a house suffers from problems in its foundation, you can do one of two things: Continue to paper over the cracks until the house finally collapses on everyone’s head. The other option is to quickly pull down the house in an orderly and supervised manner, so that a better foundation can be laid for a new house…One option avoids disaster; the other waits for it.”

Where is this country headed?”

“Have you come again with your philosophy?”

“There is nothing philosophical about a simple question, Nibo l’a tun ja si yi, as everyone confronts what is now referred to as the new normal.”

“You see what I mean? We shall be listening today to the philosophy of the new normal!”

“The new normal is things which, ordinarily and to every sensible person, should not be normal, but which today are accepted or tolerated by practically everyone; things which, in times past, were abnormal but which, because of the frequency with which they now occur, have become normal; things which were abhorrent in the past but which now are not only accepted but are celebrated…”

“I hope you are not going nuts…”

“Even if I am, that is part of the ‘new normal’! When ordinarily normal people behave abnormally and they are still seen as being normal! Those who should caution against and condemn abnormalities are those singing and clapping behind abnormal leaders, urging them to continue…”

“If I may say so, I don’t think things have gotten really that bad here…”

“It is because of the new normal that you do not! But you did not let me finish the categorisation of the ‘new normal’ before you interjected!”

“Sorry about that! Please continue!”

“Something bad, which people should do something about, but which no one is willing to do anything about; something which the few good people remaining weep and mourn over, but which they are compelled all the same to get along with; something which those we place in positions of authority swore on oath to prevent but which, in practice, they promote and shove down our throats; something…”

“Enough!”

“Still, I have not finished! Something bad that used to happen in foreign lands and that we used to boast could never happen here but which, today, has landed gidigbain our midst; things which we used to wonder why the victims in other lands tolerated but which, today, we embrace and celebrate with relish, and what is worse…”

“Tell me!”

“Our situation here today is far worse than that of the other lands that we used to pity and reproach. Today the shoe is on the other foot, as they say.”

“The picture you are painting is frightening. I don’t think our situation is as bad as you are making it look.”

“That, again, is part of the ‘new normal’! Unknown to you, you have been sucked into the ‘new normal’, which is why you can live with what is happening around you and still think it is normal. It is a psychological process. Everyone adjusts to the ‘new normal’; otherwise, you can lose your balance and go nuts.”

“I see! That being the case, we can retrace our footsteps to where we are coming from…”

“Gone and gone forever! Have you not heard them say, ‘Aiye n lo, a n to-oo’? No one pursues the past; we can only pursue the future.”

“Even when all the virtues we used to be known for are gone? Is this so-called ‘new normal’ what we shall continue to live by?”

“To destroy is easier than to build. To rebuild what we have destroyed is never going to come easy. To continue with the destruction will come much, much easier…”

“I must confess that I, too, have lost confidence in the ability or willingness of our leaders and the present crop of elites to salvage the country. My hope and trust now rest on the coming generations…”

“Which generations?”

“The Gen Z and Alpha generations, of course! And whichever ones come after them!”

“I am sorry for you! Pray they don’t turn out worse! Tell me, which legacies are we bequeathing to them? Have you not heard it said that it is the horse that runs ahead of the pack that those coming behind imitate?”

“I beg to differ! If we catch them young…”

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“With ‘new normal’ ideas? If you teach even Common Entrance examination pupils that cheating is the best way to excel and pass examinations? If parents enrol their children in ‘special centres’ where they are helped to pass WAEC/NECO examinations in flying colours but cannot defend those good grades when they get into the university…”

“How, then, did they gain admission into the university or cope there?”

“Of course, by building on the foundation already laid for them! Cheating all the way! And such children, when they graduate with certificates they cannot defend, are usually the first to get good employment because of their connections while their betters pound the street in search of jobs already shared out under the counter among our leaders even before they are advertised…”

“Where, then, lies our hope? I still believe the coming generations will retrace their footsteps to the good old days…”

“I attended a programme recently where one of our leaders argued that it is we that must run after the Gen. Z and Alpha generations. Running backward after the legacies of our forefathers may amount to an uphill task for them. Ever heard of Sisyphus, the clever but wicked King of Ephyra, and his eternal punishment from the gods?”

“I wasn’t a Philosophy student like you…”

“But you have lived here all your life! So you can tell me which of our leaders has not, like Sisyphus, been clever or wicked or both! To repair the damage we have wilfully and whimsically visited on ourselves is going to be as tedious as what the gods tasked Sisyphus with — fruitless efforts! Have you not seen how rampaging insecurity is not only wasting our resources and arresting our development but is also making all the efforts of the government appear fruitless?”

“That is scary, but I still maintain that coming generations will right the wrongs…”

“Again, I ask you, which coming generations? The leader I mentioned earlier said we are the ones that must bend to the wishes of the coming generations and strain ourselves to do the catching up with them and their ideas. The future belongs to them, and not to us. It is their future, not ours. We already had, and we already burnt, our own future…”

“You are leaving me more confused! You condemn the present ‘new normal’ but then paint the picture of a very bleak future; yet, we cannot, like Sisyphus, return to the past! Are we not stranded, as it were?”

“Thank God you are now getting the point! If only others can! We have serious work to do instead of playing politics with everything…”

“We must curse those who brought this democracy upon us? I used to hold the firm belief that what we needed was a benevolent dictatorship. Examples of countries that have made it point us in that direction, but some hot-heads drove the military away and brought back the jackals, the hounds and predators in the name of democracy…”

“You must differentiate between benevolent and malevolent dictatorship. Other countries might have been lucky to have benevolent dictators. Maybe you have countries like Singapore, South Korea, even China or Rwanda in mind, but here, what we had were strings of malevolent dictators, some of whom were really, really insufferable…”

“The politicians who replaced them since 1999, have they performed better?”

“Truth be told, not really! But the solution is…”

“Yes, the solution is simple! If you don’t know where you are going, you can at least return to where you are coming from! To borrow the wise sayings of our elders, the gods that cannot deliver us from our troubles should at least return us to the status quo instead of making our case worse…”

“Aah, don’t mention status quo! Don’t confuse things even more! That is the Latin term that is spreading confusion and causing kata-kata all over the place right now! Whether Atiku or Obi will contest next year’s presidential election, it is the status quo that will decide. The legal battle is raging in the law courts…”

“From pillar to post and from one courtroom to the other, the opposition politicians are running helter-skelter. This is the cocoa or windfall season for the judges…”

“Not judges alone, the fat-cat lawyers as well. The amusing thing is the interpretation they are giving this status quo of a thing. They say ordinary status quo is different from status quo ante. There is another one they call status quo ante bellum…”

“Lawyers with their technicalities! Don’t you think we may end up having a coronation in 2027, like we just had in Ekiti State, if Atiku and Obi are given a technical knockout by this status quo of a monster?”

“2027 is still a long way to go! The Osun State governorship election is already knocking on our doors…”

“Yes, it’s due next month! Yet, the confusion everywhere proves the point that our politicians have learnt nothing from past experience…”

“Good grief! Ultimately, they will be the losers! But that should be the least of our worries. Regardless of who is in power, the system itself, and not the personalities struggling for trophies, should be our utmost concern. It is the system that breeds personalities. And the personalities, although they answer different names, still reason, act, and behave almost the same way…”

“But Atiku and Obi have not stopped criticising Tinubu and the APC; they keep saying they will do things differently…”

“The usual politician talk! Which of them has said he will abrogate the 1999 militarist Constitution and return Nigeria to the 1960 or 1963 federalist Constitution? They, too, will get into office and begin to pluck the leaves and trim the branches of the tree while leaving the trunk and tap roots firmly in the ground…”

“In other words, you don’t appear to believe any of them can bring about the required fundamental changes that the country requires?”

“I don’t! At least, judging by their antecedents and pronouncements…”

“In that event, you still don’t think we should retrace our footsteps…”

“To where? Forward ever, backward never, as they say! We must press forward…”

“To where, if I, too, may ask you? To a future of the Gen. Z and Alpha generations that you have said holds not much promise?”

“When a house suffers from problems in its foundation, you can do one of two things: Continue to paper over the cracks until the house finally collapses on everyone’s head. The other option is to quickly pull down the house in an orderly and supervised manner, so that a better foundation can be laid for a new house…”

“I see! Is the house an analogy for Nigeria?”

“Yes! One option avoids disaster; the other waits for it! He that has ears to hear, let him hear!”

“Akika!”