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Many of us use popular expressions and harbour beliefs that we take as the absolute truth. A little scratch below the surface will reveal something different though. Some popular assertions actually make one wonder if we think through what we say, or those beliefs that inform our action. It’s where the challenge is – beliefs that inform action. I call attention to three examples. They sound true; but they are fundamentally flawed, negatively influencing us and this nation in ways we don’t reckon with.
The first example is the saying that “facts are sacred, but talk is cheap”. In her response to a question on a popular TV programme a few days ago, there was this lady who said, “Facts are sacred, but opinion is cheap”. She said it, like most Nigerians do, with a negative nuance, an attempt to dismiss others. This lady, in particular, rendered it with gusto, like one who suddenly realised she had reached the best point in an intervention. But talk, opinion, or commentary could be expensive. For instance, we know that one carefree comment can set a whole nation on fire. I think the negative purposes for which public officials in Nigeria also invoke “talk is cheap” harm this nation. Why? Officials adopt the saying when they want to deride a critic, rather than respond persuasively to their criticism regarding how this nation is run. They aren’t alone. Private citizens who think their views must always be the only views in town do the same. This forms the second example.
Not long ago, a professor (Nigerian) was on TV deriding some other person’s comment. He belittled the person’s view by saying it was just a comment, not an analysis. The undisguised nuance in this professor’s comment is that the opinion of the other person is nothing, his own academic analysis is everything. It’s another way of saying “talk is cheap.” This professor’s tone was scornful, indicating that he had no regard for whatever the other person had to say even when that person, who was much younger, had addressed him with respect. Surely, age and high academic attainment have nothing to do with wisdom and balanced judgment.
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First, I consider this professor’s comment a trip in ego-serving. He thinks he’s the wisest thing on earth. There isn’t any recognition in his comment that he thinks the other person is making a point whatsoever, even if he disagrees with that point. This is intolerance, narrow-mindedness and lack of respect for others.
Meanwhile, that one is a professor doesn’t mean one has all the answers. One’s only an expert in the area in which one has conducted research, beyond that one’s a neophyte. Many with the mindset that this professor has are in high places, taking decisions for us. I think it’s one reason our country has some of the issues it’s contending with. People in high positions think other persons’ views are irrelevant, those who offer a different opinions are enemies. We know the extensive damage an intolerant, know-it-all person in authority can to the public good.
The third example is the belief that drives the popular assertion that when public officers aren’t adequately paid, they would steal what is in their charge. People repeat this in the public space as though it’s a law of gravity. I think this argument emboldens people who have no qualms about taking what doesn’t belong to them. I once addressed this (The PUNCH, June 1, 2018) at the time when a servant of God repeated the assertion on TV. He had said because public officers would steal if they weren’t adequately paid, he had begun to teach people how to have multiple streams of income.
He didn’t categorically condemn stealing so I took his comment as an encouragement to looters. He seems to forget that no amount of money is ever enough for any human being; money is never enough for people who have the disposition to take what is not theirs. An example was a former Nigerian military Head of State who was simply looting our treasury and hiding billions of dollars in foreign accounts. Also, I think if a person who proclaims a religion takes what doesn’t belong to him, he has no religion. We know the teachings of a religion can arrest the hearts of listeners, making them avoid what doesn’t belong to them. But here’s a servant of God who wants to use human/physical solution to cure what, from religious point of view, is effectively a heart problem. It won’t work. In any case, public officials who take what doesn’t belong to them do because it’s available. It’s the reason I’m for every measure which ensures that public officials don’t have the opportunity to steal.
Now that the three examples are cited, I return to the original point regarding the quote: “Facts are sacred, but talk is cheap”. The main intention is to condemn the negative uses to which it has been largely deployed in Nigeria, as well as point out that in reality talk isn’t cheap.
Regarding this I use talk, opinion and commentary interchangeably. Talk or talking is costly. For instance, it is for the purpose of expressing opinions that media houses have talk shows. What many dismiss as mere talk now draws adverts which earn big money. Through these talk shows, the public is better informed. We know that an uninformed public is a challenge to a nation, and it has costly consequences.
I’ve been expressing opinion in newspapers since 2003. Before then, my commentaries were read on the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Ibadan Network Station. Over the years, people said to me how encouraged, re-assured, or better informed they were by some of my views. With university degrees earned at three different levels in Political Science, I suppose I could write using academic jargons in the name of doing analysis. But I choose simplicity of expression instead. I think I would strongly disagree with any professor who imagines that because I don’t deploy academic terms like him then he can sarcastically dismiss me with, “Talk is cheap”.
When some deride others with “talk is cheap”, I take it that it’s because we tend to be superficial regarding our beliefs. We forget that talking was all that King Solomon of ancient Israel did, creatively and wisely giving expression to mundane things, and he was considered the wisest king on earth in his generation. This king didn’t engage in complex scientific research to get his facts. He wasn’t a university professor. But he had a brilliant mind and gave wisdom-filled expressions to what he thought. In order to hear Solomon talk, wealthy people brought their wealth to him. Like Solomon, many in our time live on the high end just by talking in the right places. Talk isn’t cheap.
Running a commentary isn’t cheap also. Commentators at sporting events earn big money in advanced countries. They’re different from sports analysts who sit in the studios of media houses. No one enjoys a football match on TV when there’s no commentator. Commentators on politics or public affairs outside our shores earn huge fees too, and their views are respected. It’s only in Nigeria that public officials dismiss public affairs analysts with the cliché, “talk is cheap”.
Not long ago, President Donald Trump of the US was compelled to declare a state of emergency regarding the building of a wall along the US-Mexico border. Why? Commentators on pro-Trump major TV news channels said if the president must fulfill one of his campaign promises, it was the only way to go in the face of opposition from the Congress. Commentators on major US media outlets are highly paid and their opinions influence millions of Americans during elections.
Moreover, it’s opinion that prestigious private organisations want to hear when they invite US’s ex-presidents to address them. These presidents aren’t paid to attend such engagements only to engage in some high-sounding academic analyses. What is paid for is their high-profile presence that draws attention, the respect for the opinion they hold as former presidents. Meanwhile, when private organisations want academic rigour, they know the prestigious academic institutions to approach. Nevertheless, an ex-US president’s opinion earns him much more fees for the same session than what a university professor earns. Talk isn’t cheap.
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