When silence isn’t golden

What is good becomes bad, when it is done at the wrong time. Also, it is good to be hushed and silent, but when you are silent and still when you are to speak out, silence becomes bad. Sleep is good, but when done at the wrong time, it becomes bad. It is good to rest at home, but when you rest at home at the wrong time, it becomes bad. Furthermore, it is good to catch fun, but when done at the wrong time, it becomes bad. As well, it is good to spend money, but when it is not spent wisely and cleverly, it becomes bad.

One of the stories that changed my life very early in life is the chronicle of King David in the Bible. History has it that he stayed back at home when kings were to be fighting. Please do understand me that it is not wrong to stay at home resting, but when done at the wrong time, it could lead to a generational error. On the condition that David had gone to the war-front, he would not have seen a naked woman bathing. And if he did not see a naked woman bathing, he would not have slept with her—another man’s wife. When you rest at home when you are supposed to be working hard, you will see what you are not supposed to see and you will do what you will later regret. This is what happens when you stay at home resting when you ought to be out there working productively. Resting at home when you are supposed to be working productively will always birth problems.

Eating solid meals is good, but when eaten at the wrong time it becomes bad. In recent times, I got to learn that it is bad to eat solid meals late in the night. I did glean from a book that it is deleterious to the body, but most of us do not know. Also, I got to learn that eating a solid meal should not go beyond 7pm. In Lagos State, many families do not get to their varied homes until either 10pm or 11pm; so it is not rocket science to know that too many families do eat late in the night. And most of these families do not know that it is wrong to eat solid meals late in the night. Why? Because it is dangerous, going to bed with undigested meals. You know it takes a long time for solid meals to digest.

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Unity is good, but when you take God out of it, it becomes bad. Also, what we come together to achieve and pull off is superior to our coming together. For instance, coming together to balkanize Nigeria is bad. Remember, you and I have promised to always uphold the unity of our beloved country. It is a waste of time, energy, time… to come together to build either a project or a movement that will end up in pointlessness. When people call you to unite with them, find out what you are going to be uniting with them to achieve. This is so important. You cannot afford to fritter away and squander your precious time and life, doing what will come to nothing in the days to come.

Additionally, seeing a student with a high GPA is usually a good thing unless students are more concerned with the grade than they are with learning. In Nigeria today, students are more concerned with the grade than they are with learning. Of what good is a high GPA when no learning has truly taken place? Of what good is a student who graduates out of either a polytechnic or university with either upper credit or first class when he or she cannot solve life and business related problems? For the umpteenth time, a high grade is good, but it becomes bad when students are more concerned with the grade than they are with learning.

Marin Luther King Jr. said: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Silence is good but it becomes bad when we are silent about things that matter. What are the things that matter in your community, state, country, continent and the world at large that you have been silent about? When we keep silent in the face of evil, it means we are not being nationalistic and patriotic. Patriotic and devoted Nigerians will always speak out about things that matter in Nigeria. Silence is not golden when it comes to things that matter to us as a nation.

One characteristic of Martin Luther King Jr. that is most compelling and undeniable is that Dr. King warned all of us to refrain and desist from keeping silent—to speak up when we encounter injustice. It is evil to be silent in the face of oppression, injustice and corruption. When last did you speak out when you encountered injustice? It is your onus and my onus to always not keep silent each time we encounter injustice. Remember, he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. Speaking against evil is not an act of disobedience, but being silent when we encounter injustice is an act of disobedience.

Last but not least, late Dr. King said: “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the vociferous and discordant clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.” I totally and wholly agree with these thought provoking words from one of the great men of all times. In this period that we are moving from the old to the new as a nation, history will not record the hullabaloo, ruckus and tricks of bad people, but the silence of those of us who call ourselves good people. For the umpteenth time, it is evil to be silent each time we encounter injustice as a people.

See you where great people are found!