The direction is just as important as the impetus of motion. I bumped into my friend a few days ago and it was quite interesting what we discussed. Sometime in the wake of the 2011 election in Nigeria and being our lot then as political editors to help our countrymen and women gauge the political barometre correctly, our job took us to the heart of Kwara State. Whilst sharing drinks at the bar of our hotel, discussions naturally veered from our immediate territory to another compelling discuss - the Libyan situation. It was at the thick of the crisis in the country at that time. But it was not a nice outing. Amongst the six at the table I appeared the only person on the side of the now late Libyan leader Muammar Ghadafi. And that was a big offence. I was dubbed a supporter and defender of a killer and murder, the abiding mantra in many quarters, where the story that he was killing his people was swallowed hook, line and sinker. I claimed the tag, still smiling and trying as mildly as possible to impress on my traducers that I wasnt; that though, Ghadaffi might have had his excesses, the motive for seeking his ouster was more dangerous. I pointedly accused America, then leading NATO to carry out the campaign against the Libyan leader of having a sinister motive in the enterprise. I argued that the insurrection that started in Benghazi was orchestrated. I pointed to the letter Ghadaffi wrote to Obama, where he asked the American President what he would do if a similar insurrection was to take place in his country in which supposed protesters were not only carrying arms but using them; that I saw no reason why NATO planes would be bombing water facilities, century-old historical monuments and places etc. But my friends were implacable. They seemed more enamoured by the news churned out by CNN, BBC, Aljazeera and the likes dismissing my depiction of them as more of propaganda meant to work to an answer towards a predetermined motive. To them Ghadaffi was nothing more than a bloodthirsty dictator constantly baying for the blood of his countrymen. If the exchange had stopped at that I wouldnt have been recalling this incident today. It didnt. Rather, it become quite grizzly as this my friend, ostensibly, though curiously, taking it personally, practically went overboard and beside calling me names, started swearing at me and engaging in unacceptable expletives tending towards the grotesque. Ahh! Suffice it to say that we have not been quite friendly ever since; for something that didnt quite concern us. You needed to see my friends face during our chance meeting in Lagos. He practically confessed to having seeing the light. He was the one pointing out the situation in Libya, Syria, Iraq and other places he was convinced was the fallout of that unfortunate event to drive home his new conviction. Why have I gone this far to share this experience? Simple: Never go into an argument blindfolded by seducing sentiments and bandwagon opinions. Im not a Libyan, but I seem to have this feeling that if given the option to turn the hand of the clock, those nationals who participated in the campaign to kill the late leader would think twice. Today Nigeria is in the depth of a serious political argument. Just like in the Ghadaffi campaign, the mantra of change is as suffusing. But I ask, what manner of change? I ask because things are not always what they seem. For in the words of Woodrow Wilson, former American President, the direction is just as important as the impetus of motion. My people, shine your eyes before you buy o.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 01:39:59 +0000
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