As I worked at my desk at day break yesterday, a piece of e-mail flew into my e-mail inbox from one Abdulrazak B Ibrahim. I knew from the subject line that it was in response to the opinion piece that I crafted on the fly and sent to play on SaharaReporters.com the previous day from my primary physician’s waiting room as I waited my turn for an appointment. But unlike me, when I opened and read it, I quickly responded, and the following exchange transpired between Mr. Ibrahim and self:
As I worked at my desk at day break yesterday, a piece of e-mail flew into my e-mail inbox from one Abdulrazak B Ibrahim. I knew from the subject line that it was in response to the opinion piece that I crafted on the fly and sent to play on SaharaReporters.com the previous day from my primary physician’s waiting room as I waited my turn for an appointment. But unlike me, when I opened and read it, I quickly responded, and the following exchange transpired between Mr. Ibrahim and self:
Ibrahim: That above got many of us thinking how such a poorly written and pathetic piece could have been written by a PhD.
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EC: Whether you're real, fictitious or a jobber who works for Abani, shame on you. Rather than raise your voice and join the condemnation of evil, you've chosen to climb into the trash can and mingle with the same evil. I don't wish you well, bloody fool! I think he has come to the end of his tether after all.
Ibrahim: Seriously the piece in question was poorly written, lacks critical analysis and dodges the issue. Mr Abani may be a crook but he should be condemned based on his crookedness and forgery rather than his physique and personal attack. Check all the comments on Sahara Reporters in response to your write-up. I assure I am not doing anybody´s job. I however do wish you well and hope you´ll write better in the future. I am sure you know I am not a fool.
EC: Who cares about the comments made by illiterates who lack what it takes to originate their own piece(s). I made my point in that piece. That's my aim, no more no less.
Ibrahim: Right. Good luck.
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EC: You're welcome, my brother. Putting evil where it belongs takes just courage, which is rare, and not art. Take care.
In case you haven’t noticed, regretfully, Ibrahim’s reaction to the said piece is the typical form of engagement that you get from many amongst us on the Nigeria project. Any wonder the place remains in the hands of autocrats, bullies, plain stupid characters, et al, who continue to have a field day without running the risk of being called upon by their society to account for the atrocities they commit? To begin with, I do not have anything to prove to anyone when it comes to the quality of education that I have under my belt. Not at this point in my life. If you disagree with me, please help yourself with a PhD degree from somewhere out there. What counts is the role I have elected to use that education to play in life and society. Does the said piece contain some editing errors that escaped my attention? You bet. Does it have merit on the issues it addressed? No doubt. I’ll not for a day pull my hair over edit errors contained in anything that I write and cause to be played anywhere. The reason? There is no perfect writing.
Back to Chris Abani. In a quick conversation that I had the same yesterday with my dear friend, Niyi Osundare, here is a talented individual who for reasons that remain unclear prefers to muddle himself up at the expense of unsuspecting society, all in the bid to get ahead. I don’t see why anyone who means good would prefer to find cause to deflect the condemnation that was directed at him in the said piece. One of the points evident in the piece is the one about my reflection over if there may be anything at all that disposes people who are endowed with his kind of physique to take advantage of the good will of unsuspecting society. I raised that observation because I know of two such individuals who acted in sync in that regard. In Igbo lore, it was Mr. Owl that fart and summoned his kinsmen to sing his praise for so doing. But typical of the Igbo of that era gone, their response to him was, “Tufia, it’s unworthy to applaud evil”. I don’t know about you, I strive to take a cue from Owl’s kinsmen of that era gone, to say, “Tufia”, each time I come across evil. How I say it? I don’t care!
●E. C. Ejiogu, PhD; is a political sociologist and the author of the recently published, The Roots of Political Instability in Nigeria by Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
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