Bandwagon Syndrome-The Zombies Must Go!

For the benefit of this aggressive lengthy post, it will be worthy to mention that I am a curious non-conformist and as you read further, you will begin to understand why it was necessary I warn alert you about this trait.

I regularly find myself checking out some myopic and shallow comments on different social media platforms when someone “dares” to ask a question(s) that threatens the very belief/existence/norm of some other person(s). The responses to such questions can actually cause some damage to anyone that is neither strong to deal with non-constructive criticisms nor well enlightened enough to know how to respond with further questions that will grate on many nerves especially the delirious religious and political bigots.

Growing up with a sister that usually ask over 1000 questions within an hour despite my expression warning her to leave me alone, reinforced my decision to work on my tolerance side when asked both sensible and senseless difficult questions since I am an advocate of curiosity. There was a day she actually asked me up to 10 questions within a minute and I am not exaggerating when I mention that I was near tears. Up till now, when I receive her pings on my bb, “anyone looking at me will notice that my face will change, I will just frown”.

“Big sis, which hair is that?”, “Is that a new shirt?, Are you coming home today?, Will you be attending?… How can I use….? Can you buy this new material for me, “Can you buy me a new fan?” Can you take me out this weekend, Are you at home? Is there light? Can I come and visit you?, How do you log on to…. How do you check… Is it possible to…. How come this other site…. How soon can I… Do you think…. Is it true that…..?”

I should mention that these questions come after one another. The birth and response to one question gives birth to subsequent multiple ones as far as she is concerned. And with her, it matters not if you look furious or ready to violently shout on her. Once she wants information, she will be a pest until you answer at least 999 out of the 1800 questions she has in her mind. So any time I receive her blackberry pings, I ensure I am in the right frame of mood and mind to respond before opening it as she monitors to see the “R” that shows one has opened and read the chat. Once she receives confirmation that you have read thereby confirming you are alive to recognise her chats, ghen ghen, her gbeborun questions will now be retyped one after the other all over again. I have considered blocking her severally, but that will make her come over to ask me face to face. That I certainly do not want!

However annoying she was back then with her truckload of questions, this habit has made her more knowledgeable, given her a very sharp and thoughtful mind and made her quite conversant with topical issues.

This is one of the major reasons I find it surprising that people from this part of the world get upset when someone out of the blues asks questions totally different from the supposedly trending ones that will shed more light on a particular belief or issues trending at that point in time.

Don’t get me wrong, I know there are some questions that make you want to question whether some people were born with brain cells or they were stolen surgically just like the bad guys in “Fringe” did to Walter Bishop. Hey, for what it's worth, I am also guilty of this as I also ask Jagaban some senseless questions that once they emanate from my oral cavity, I simply know I just became a top winner nominee for the Darwin awards and I usually see from the expressions on his face his silent determination not to terminate review my contract right there and then. But I guess I still have my nuisance value despite all the stupid neurons deducting questions I have asked him in the course of my career, hence my current employment status.

But what I have learnt at a very young age is this; Better to be curious and ask and then BE sure than to assume and follow the lazy, non-curious band wagon like a zombie and be WRONG or worse still, come out sounding and looking like a waste of educational space.

Suffice to say, there is no harm in being curious.

When we are curious, we challenge pre-conceived notions as to why we do some things the way we do, like questioning why Donald Sterling was banned despite the conversation being a private one and if his rights to privacy and freedom are not actually being violated. It's questioning why we react a certain way-like when nobody bothered to ask for the exact number of the Chibok girls that are missing and why the numbers are fluctuating at every news release and why we don’t have all their pictures yet as at week 3 and why the World Economic Forum is still holding and a protest is not going on that the program should be cancelled until the girls are found rather than carrying placards with no pictures, no names and no further info like how come the BH leader, Shekau has a bomb truck and how such huge equipment made its way to Sambisa forest in the first place. I think one of my favourite things about human species intelligent people is that we're (yes, I belong here o) constantly trying to figure ourselves out and the world we live in and all its conspiracy theories.

You see, apart from having a fore knowledge, I believe the world is now so enlightened and educated that we should make it mandatory to always question old norms and standard practices and even ask about who made them standard in the first place. Religion, Education, Politics and News that is quick to travel fast from no known specific reliable source all fall under this category. 

This is why I find it depressing when a brave curious  person comes out to challenge a public position holder, a religious leader, an important news correspondent based on an information revealed and you see comments like “The Lord said touch not my anointing”, “Don’t question what you don’t know as you don't know who will set you up”, “If you want to live long, you will do well and not go down that part”, and other myopic advice that are lacking of depth and only showing the commenter(s) as shallow zombies who are scared to go out of the band wagon community and channel other people down another thinking path that may open new doors to overdue answers. 

Situations like this leave no doubt any more on why slavery actually lasted this long on this part of the world. And I have my own opinion of what we as Nigerians do not like to hear because it makes us question every false thing we have held dear for a long time.

1)       We have not learnt from history because we believe that things are and will “get better” and God will help us if we just pray and do nothing to help ourselves.

2)     We believe that just because we I lack the capacity for evil, others lack it too so we act like everyone is you are righteous.

3)     We are stupid killing each other through tribalism and religion diversity because we don’t even know where the enemy lives can’t kill the enemy.

4)     Bigotry religion is the white man’s most effective weapon. (The day we realize this is the beginning of the solution to our problems which is why I see absolutely nothing wrong with the sanctioning of religion by DSTV on all their channels. About time that area of our belief is kept in our hearts and personal businesses as the people that wear their religion all around them like leprosy are the greatest hypocrites)

5)     We are still waiting to be told how to fix “our nameless yet numerous problems that we created ourselves” because we are too passive and too scared to challenge what we have been jazzed brainwashed into believing is the “norm” and too foolish complacent to figure it out ourselves.

Curiosity is the quest for new ideas and information. People who are curious aren't satisfied with what they we already know or have figured out. They go after what they don’t know or can’t understand—just as Kema Chikwe, myself and others wondered out aloud & publicly why we don’t have a name and picture to any of the missing girls at at week 3, and that missing information can become a driving need to find out more and even challenge the corrupt people to take a step to correct some already damaged measures.

I am not sure about any other person but I consider myself too enlightened, too exposed(opelope Facebook, Twiteer, Linkedin, Quora, Bellanaija, LindaIkeji, New York Times, CNN, Aljazeera ), too educated(expensive schools for that matter o), too intelligent, too widely read(I started reading Harvard Business Review religiously and Wall Street Times almost 5 years ago), too culturally diverse to be ruled by long standing norms and beliefs that portrays me as tribalistic or a religious extremist/bigot that does not aggressively challenge question any information just because the people before me didn't so I shouldn't or because I am scared of criticisms.

Iyalaya criticism.

I am of the belief that it is hypocritical for us at this age and time to take everything on social media or because it was revealed by Reuben Abati journalists without asking questions. Relating this to the missing Chibok girls, it was funny seeing everyone carrying placards and quick to share tweets and links screaming murder to “BringBackOurGirls".

Abeg, which girls? 

Do we have an idea what the number 200, 236, 243, 270 273 means? Faceless & nameless girls whose identities were not released and wouldn't have been released since no one was even bothering to ask why none of the crying mothers was carrying any picture of the missing child until Kema Chikwe asked the brilliant questions “How are we sure they were kidnapped? Who saw them get kidnapped and where are their pictures and what are their names? Why aren't journalists conducting live interviews with the ones that escaped so as to give insight into what happened, how they escaped, etc?”

Whatever happened to investigative journalism? Did it die alongside Dele Giwa?

Don’t get me wrong. I do not doubt the fact that they were kidnapped. Far from it, I simply doubt that some terrorists waltzed into a school and took time to arrange 273 girls into different buses and drove off just like that. Are they corned beef or kerosene mangoes?

Do I smell some political conspiracy somewhere? Why is the government accepting help from the USA after 3 weeks when many of the girls might already be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome? Why is the Dame coming out to cry publicly after 3 weeks of no response until we started asking for names, pictures and live interviews? Was there no internet or newspaper in Aso-rock on the first day it happened?

Who is fooling who?

Trust some foolish Nigerians! They were quick to attack and condemn and snarl at the insensitive comments of those of us that questioned the stories making waves because it threatened every zombie story many have been persuaded to believe.

Talk about the power of social media! it's like watching the life potency of Ayelala jazz.

Meanwhile, it should be worthy of note that all the names only became listed after this public challenge (one wonders why despite many intelligence bureau committee existing and eating deep into our yearly budget meant to think and provide answers on stuff like this, we had to be the ones to demand for more info) and even so, Muslim names are yet to be released since it was CAN that released the 80% names of the girls that are Christians (still wondering how CAN got hold of such list).

So many conspiracy theories unanswered questions.

Intelligence is fixed at birth. Some people are creative enough to question the norm, others aren't. Some are curious despite public condemnations, others were just born to blend into the wall and walk around like zombies and follow where the noise is the loudest.

As for me, let’s just say I am just too enlightened to take anything at face and first value especially where politics is concerned as I am just a curious non-conformist.

However, let it be known that though not welcome, all ill-thought emotional opinions lacking objectivity and non-constructive criticisms do not and will not stick.