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A What is the Truth?
By
Dear Fellow Nigerian, Once again I have to crave your indulgence and time. Please don’t be mad at me if
this writer keeps going on and on over what binds us together without ceasing. No matter how much some of us wish to pretend that Nigeria’s problem is no longer their
problem, we know it is only a ruse because there are days and nights when the news from that country hunts and disturbs even the most carefree among us. It is
difficult to wish away our roots because they have more to do with our individual circumstances even as we try to re-invent ourselves in our borrowed countries.
Therefore, until we resolve the nagging problems that have made life inhumanly unbearable for most of us, we should keep the light of the candle of analysis and
intellectual ventilation burning.
Let me remind you how far we have come in this exchange of letter. In January 2001,
we wrote letter to Mr President of Nigeria to advise that the ill-fated political structure of Nigeria needed urgent attention. In January 2002, as a result of lack
of action or interest on the part of the Federal Government of Nigeria over the issues raised, we wrote a letter to Fellow Nigerians on the need to take special
interest to learn and understand the meaning of the concepts of sovereign and sovereignty. We believe the knowledge of these political terms will serve as a prelude
to the true battle for freedom and self-determination of the nations and peoples of Nigeria. However, no sooner had the letter gone out than this writer realised that
the Nigerian social milieu is totally anti-intellectual engagement and therefore the suggestion that the year 2002 be declared as a Year of Sovereign Conferences
might not yield the desired result of cultivating popular awareness. The appraisal of these two letters dictated the idea to focus a special attention on Nigerians in
the Diaspora. The hope of this writer on this group of Nigerians is still very much alive and he still believes that a social revolution of Nigeria can be made
through them.
The two letters already written to Nigerians in the Diaspora have not said anything particularly new that has not been mentioned by other concerned Nigerians. All we have tried to do so far is to change the focus of analysis from the national level to the individual level; from hypocritical concerns of shedding crocodile tears over Nigeria’s problems to taking practical effective personal actions over individual’s failings and weaknesses; and from robust attacks on the personalities in charge of Nigeria’s affair to robust personal attacks on individual vices and ignorance. This approach, we believe, will be a much more effective method of curing Nigeria of her spiritual sickness.
In this letter we shall like to draw attention to a very difficult question. It is this question, what exactly is the truth? The last letter contained so much reference about seeking truth and knowledge as the surest way to finding solutions to the national problems. What then is the truth? Is there anything like a universal truth, national truth, tribal/ethnic truth, or ancestral truth? Is truth peculiar to a particular religious order? Is it peculiar to a particular professional discipline or academic subject? The Christian Bible says, ‘You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.’ Does it follow that freedom, the fundamental right of man and the bedrock of development and progress, is dependent on the knowledge of truth? If so, what then is the truth we ought to know before we can throw away our age-long shackles of enslavement and set free towards attaining real freedom? Personally, this writer believes that the truth of existence is the most essential truth of all. He strongly believes that if each of us takes time out to explore the basic facts of life, which are available around us, we would be able to deduce what exactly is the truth of existence. It has to be stated that the facts of life are not the exclusive preserve of any particular field of knowledge; they embrace all knowledge both known and unknown. Since each discipline of knowledge concentrates only on a minute segment of the truth of existence, it will be arrogant for any discipline to claim full custody of the knowledge of existence. It will therefore be advisable for anyone who is keen about seeking after the truth of existence to endeavour to embrace all fields of knowledge as essential to the discovery of truth.
A seeker after the truth of existence does not have to be a Christian before studying
the Bible. Neither does one have to be a Muslim to study the Koran nor a Buddhist to study the Buddhist literatures. Similarly a seeker of truth does not have to be a
medical doctor to study the fundamentals of medical science or an astrophysicist to show interest in the cosmos and planets or an historian to show intellectual
curiosity about the history of mankind. Neither must one have to be a politician before devoting time and attention to the study of ancient and modern philosophical
and political thoughts nor a professor to cultivate and profess original opinion over all kinds of issues. The first huddle a seeker has to cross in the search for
truth is the breaking down of the walls of intellectual prejudice and arrogance. A seeker after truth must learn to climb over the walls of exclusion and secrecy
erected all over the world by either the fundamentalists of faith and beliefs or the self-serving professional associations. These are the only barriers that can
stand between a seeker and the truth of existence.
Let me quickly thank all those who wrote to remind me why the proposal that NID
should prepare for eventual homecoming was unrealistic. These letters argued that the volume of funds that NID send home make a worthwhile contribution to the
macroeconomics of Nigeria and a significant difference to the socio-economic situations of most communities and families. There is no denying the fact that Nigerians
in the Diaspora have sacrificed a lot of money on behalf of families and friends at home. The unfailing remittances of funds saved from backbreaking jobs are
tremendous sacrifices of love and affection. But a Chinese adage advises that it is better to teach a person how to fish in order to become self-sufficient than to
encourage him/her to remain in a perpetual state of charity. ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’.
There is a need for Nigerians in the Diaspora to reappraise the monetary offerings to
Nigeria. It is a known fact that those at home are not aware of the Herculean sacrifices you are making to secure the funds. The Oliver Twist kind of request for more
without a mention of thank you for the last fund sent home is enough evidence to tell you that nobody really appreciates what you are doing. But then you cannot blame
them since you have jealously hidden the truth of your circumstances from them. Therefore, it will be difficult for those at home to understand that the funds are not
that easy to come by. In the consequence of this, wouldn’t it be more beneficial to reduce the many ungodly hours you spent chasing pounds and dollars for a more
gainful engagement like the pursuit of truth and knowledge?
I must apologise for this audacity that is suggesting a reordering of your lifestyles. This writer is moved into writing this because as a student of life he has taken time to look at the suffering of love of fellow Nigerians. He has observed that the sacrifices made on behalf of families and friends have not yielded fruitful results on both sides. It impoverishes the giver and it weakens the resolve of the recipient to act creatively on the problems of political, social and economic deprivations. Most Nigerians, in our ignorance, have always felt that the only thing that the people at home need from us is money. But the experience of some Nigerians in the Diaspora who have braved the call to go home has shown that this is a serious mistake of perception of reality. Money is indeed one of the problems but Truth and Knowledge are the critical solutions. Unfortunately, truth and knowledge are the missing and the scarcest ingredients in Nigeria’s political life.
For over twenty years, the system of education has ceased to teach any worthwhile knowledge to students. Teachers have lost the will to teach as they search for daily bread outside their profession that was wilfully and deliberately ruined by the military dictators. Both the students and the teachers have since been deceiving each other for over two decades. The student wants ‘good’ certificate, the teacher ask for an offer. If the offer is meant as agreed the student receives a ‘good’ certificate. In this transaction, no knowledge is exchanged. This is the truth of education in Nigeria that is now producing numerous graduates without knowledge. As a result, these ‘graduates’ have totally and fatally missed out on the most essential raison d'être of educational enterprise - the discovery of the truth of life. The prevailing culture of intellectual pretences and frauds are serious challenges that NID have to face and overcome in their communities before they should venture to relocate permanently to Nigeria.
Until this culture of intellectual deceit is addressed your desire to set up businesses at home will be doomed before it started. You will be dealing with Nigerians with fantastic paper certificates but who are totally in the dark about the first principle of knowledge in their chosen field. Since the so-called graduates lacked knowledge of what the truth of life means they are therefore not yet set free to think, to reason, and to create. And for those planning to replicate the industrial and business philosophy of America in Nigeria, please think again. Kindly allow the truth of life to open your eyes to the impracticability of this system in Nigeria. Our natural love for family and neighbours will be a hindrance to the application of western management principles and techniques that are very thin on love and affection.
Fellow Nigerian, your sojourn abroad should be converted into an opportunity to observe at first hand and to reflect critically and objectively about the Global Economic system; to seek understanding about your known and unknown roles as an individual as well as a member of the African race in the system; to seek understanding about the harmful effect of the imperial linkages of this economic system with Africa and with Nigeria in particular; to seek understanding on the philosophy that underpins the Global Economic System; and to discover whether your interest as an African is protected, enhanced or jeopardised by the principles and practices of Globalisation.
It is a shame that most of us even after several years abroad have failed to realise
that all that glitter in the western world are not gold. Since we have failed to look beyond the superficial glitters of the institutions of our host countries we
have not been able to see the debilitating relationships between our host country and Nigeria. We have failed to follow the intellectual debates in the media and in
the political arena in order for us to understand their impact on the African race. As a result of our lack of interest in the truth of our existence as a sojourner,
some of us have gone home to blow a trumpet of a way of life the tune of which we never understood. Some even have plans to replicate the western systems in Nigeria
and we become embarrassed when the lofty ideas failed woefully on launching at home.
Dear NID there is much work to be done in the search for what exactly is the truth of
life and what indeed is true knowledge? These are the areas we need to spend more time on if we intend to gain anything from our sojourn in foreign lands. When the
dice is cast and you are likely forced to relocate, this is the only wealth that can be of use to you in Nigeria. Money, no matter the volume and quantity will be a
waste without the knowledge of the truth of existence. Each of us must find answers to the questions of life. What is life? What is the truth of existence? What is
the purpose of life? Every individual must tackle these questions in his/her own way. Nobody can help another to give answer to the questions. Each must seek and
search, as per the natural endowment of intelligence, for the answers with everything you’ve got – your soul. Your soul is all you’ve got; the pursuit of material
wealth that is driving some of us crazy is an illusion. Your soul is the only property worth saving when the dice is finally cast. The alarm bell is still ringing.
The Global Economic System is built on a sinking soil; it is a matter of when it shall finally sink. At the moment the system is overheating on all fronts. You need
to set in motion secondary plans in case it finally gives way. Your host government cannot assure your security when the inevitable becomes a reality.
Finally, let us remember that in the search for the truth of existence, there is no easy fix. This writer is of the opinion that it is the desire for an easy fix that has led most people to look onto other miscreant of their kinds as leaders to lead them out of spiritual decay that manifests itself in political, social, and economic calamities. It is the desire for an easy fix that has lured many into the nets of fortune-tellers and into the cults of bogus religious and spiritual organisations. And it is the desire for easy fix that has dictated the strong faith of many in the inalienable power of money as the omnipotent answer to all human problems. Dear Fellow Nigerian, the search for the truth of life should be the first step any one desiring true happiness in life must take before the rebirth or the reawakening of the soul can take place. Surely this is a philosophical journey but there is no mystery in philosophy, it is just another word that expresses the practical and imaginative use of the common senses for holistic observations, creative thinking and logical reasoning.
Please put your senses to good use since it is the only activity that will confirm
that you are indeed and truly a member of the human race. This important engagement of the use of the senses has strong tendency to promote the development of our
spiritual consciousness. And without a spiritual consciousness based on the knowledge of the truth of existence, humanity cannot set its goals and aspirations higher
than the pursuit of carnal needs. These kind of needs based on self-interest and motivated by ignorance deceptively cocooned by the spirits of hate, anger, lust,
pride, avarice, greed, and gluttony can never lead Nigeria to the Promised Land of happiness for all.
In the meantime, this writer feels that enough has been said over this matter. He feels it will be foolish and insensitive to continue on this matter considering the strong emotion the issues we raise can evoke. This writer strongly believes that the battle for the soul of Nigeria has started and that Nigerians in the Diaspora are the vanguard of this battle. This letter and the other two letters already in circulation are therefore intended to wake up your spirit to the truth of the moment and to sensitise you on the need to recognise the fact that your sojourn in foreign lands is divinely designed to prepare you for the role you are destined to play in this glorious battle. This writer has a responsibility like you to apply the medicines he has rigorously prescribed for other Nigerians in the Diasporas to himself. It is a simple case of heeding the advice that says, ‘Physician heal thy self’. Therefore, this writer also has a lot of work to do with respect to my personal failings and weaknesses and for the search of the truth of existence. On my part I shall not hesitate to share the findings that come my way with Nigerians because I am aware that my happiness is intricately interconnected with your happiness.
May the spirit of truth help each of us in our fruitful search for the truth of
existence and also help us to understand the true meaning of freedom. May you have a glorious battle for freedom on behalf of your self, your family, your
ethnic/tribal community and other Fellow Nigerians.
Yours truly, In The Spirit of Truth SamAbbdIsrael SAM ABBD ISRAEL A Cconcerned Nigerian March 2002
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