For definitive purposes, a fool can be described as one who is deficient in judgement, sense, or understanding. It could also mean one who has been tricked or made to appear ridiculous. In some instances, being a fool or being fooled could be occasional, so it may be one who acts unwisely on a given occasion. But, when such an act of foolishness goes beyond the occasional and increases its mode of frequency, there ought to be some level of concern by the discerning.
I was once taught by my teacher that, no one is born foolish, and rightly so. As I gained more exposure to life's dynamics, I realised foolishness could be gradually attained, sometimes subconsciously and often times unintentionally.
There are many types of fools, and Nigeria is gifted with it's own peculiar breed of fools.
The Complicated Fool: those who aren’t even aware they are fools - the wisdom acclaimer. We have the Circumstantial Fool: the fool who was made foolish due to some circumstance, like economic hardship, which is slightly understandable in our milieu.
A Loving Fool could also pass as a victim of circumstance - one who has been swindled by a supposed lover and abandoned.
Analysing deeper, we come across the Neo-Colonialist Fool: this is a fool who expects the foreign powers to do what's in the best interest of Nigeria, totally forgetting the golden rule of permanent interests and not permanent friends. Such fools expect foreign interventionists to wholeheartedly assist Nigeria's development, without pondering on the economic implications, and why an underdeveloped Nigeria may actually benefit certain foreign interests.
There are more interesting fools like the Sophisticated Fool: motivated by class, prestige and other types of materialisms. You will find them in some posh social clubs bragging about either their heritage or privileged background and education, but never about using their exceptional qualities for the betterment of the nation.
Enter the Educated Fool: the fool who went to school but has learnt nothing - you come across many of them on social media, exhibiting their ignorance to unfathomable heights.
Another spectrum of the educated are those with the professional experience and acumen to effectively manage public affairs, but deliberately evade it because of the pervasion of unscrupulous individuals in the political sphere.
Ironically, those within this category, feel more comfortable criticising without proffering practical solutions or making any significant contributions to societal development. They are quick to call the opportunists governing them, fools, but fail to realise they are actually the bigger fools, for allowing a brand of fools to attain positions of authority over them.
We also have the Bigoted Fool: the fool driven by bigotry and hatred. These set of fools are multifaceted and their bigotry is boundless. You find them online, defending absurdities.
For example, if a minister that happens to belong to their ethnic group is exposed for malfeasance, they see no wrong in defending obvious incompetencies. Also, if a president they share the same religion with has been chastised for ineptitude, they will defend such apparent inadequacies religiously.
We mustn’t forget the Religious Fool: fools, despite living in dire straits, have been cajoled or brainwashed into believing that by further enriching a religious leader, they will attain salvation. Never mind that their revered religious figure owns private jets, or has been accused of money laundering or gun-running, “touch not my anointed” they say, as they intensify their prayers.
This brings the fools exposé to the prayerful type of fool, a.k.a the 'Prayer-Fool': those who believe in praying for everything and doing nothing to make those prayers a reality.
The similitude of a student that has been gifted with access to good teachers and vast educational material, but instead of taking advantage of these resources by studying, resorts to just praying. Strangely, such a student is actually expecting a 'miracle' on examination day, but is surprised by the realistic outcome of a resounding fail. This is the reality that has befallen Nigeria, we are trying to reap where we obviously did not sow!
Fools manifest into unbelievable mutations like the Sycophantic Fool: they will praise the flimsiest of things as achievements. Like those who celebrated the refurbishment of old locomotives as landmark government accomplishments in 2014. In an age when Maglev trains are doing maximum speeds of 430 km/h and an average speed of 251 km/h.
A mediocre type of fool might retort that this is way too advanced for us, that we should keep it simple and concentrate on the basics like electricity. Yes! Then emerges the 'Transformation' Fool: the one busily defending a 'transformation agenda' that has failed to transform anything but the pockets of those milking the system. A transformation that has continually promised stable or constant electricity supply for the past 4 years at least.
Undoubtedly, we have exceptional fools at the helm of affairs, surrounded by a special set of feckless fools, those who believe they can fool everyone with elaborate foolishness. These are the sort of fools that openly praise ill-thought of pro-government agendas, then try to exculpate themselves when it backfires drastically, i.e.#BringBackGoodluck2015.
Once any opportunistic fool takes over the helm of affairs, the clock starts to tick fast, such opportunists are wondering when the populace will come back to their senses, do the needful and send them packing! They are actually surprised by the series of faux pas they can get away with before reality beckons and are exposed for the fraud they truly are.
We are currently engulfed in a vicious circle of be-fooling that is inevitably contagious. Some may ask, how far can charlatanry be perpetuated? How long can such asininity last? Well! For as long as those being fooled allow it!
So when next a fool lies to you to get your votes and you buy into the foolish lies being peddled, don’t blame the fool for attempting such foolery, rather blame yourselves for permitting such buffoonery and allowing yourselves to be fooled in the first instance!
“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time” - Abraham Lincoln
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- M.B.O
2014©