Not a lesser evil either
When a man is faced with two evils”, they say “he should choose that which is lesser”. For decades, Nigeria has continued to suffer as a nation from two critical evils; ignorance and corruption. Ordinarily, many people would want to see ignorance as a lesser evil probably because the negative consequences of corruption are more […]
When a man is faced with two evils”, they say “he should choose that which is lesser”.
For decades, Nigeria has continued to suffer as a nation from two critical evils; ignorance and corruption. Ordinarily, many people would want to see ignorance as a lesser evil probably because the negative consequences of corruption are more obvious and more felt by citizens than the impact of ignorance on society.
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The next few paragraphs shall examine the costs of corruption as well as the “nuts and bolts” of ignorance so that readers, at the end of the piece, would be able to extrapolate a fair judgment.
Corruption occurs in all civilizations. It comes in different shapes with various effects on the economy, the individual and the society. Corruption inhibits economic growth and affects business operations, employment and investments. It reduces tax revenues because a large chunk of the taxes end up in the pockets of corrupt tax officials. Similarly, the financial benefits deriving from corruption are not taxable because they are hidden. Corruption makes people to lose confidence in the law and the rule of law. It also impedes access to quality education and improved living conditions including access to health care.
Bribery which is a common feature of corruption increases transaction costs and creates insecurity in the economy. Researches by the World Bank Institute (WBI), the European Commission, and the United Nations have revealed that corruption increases the volume of public investments at the expense of private investments because many options exist for public expenditures to be manipulated by high-level public officials so as to get bribes. Corruption reduces the effectiveness of public investments and the infrastructure of a country.
Corruption negatively impacts on career choices of talented young boys and girls, as they would prefer to study accountancy, administration and law rather than engineering and medicine that would add value to the country. Corruption affects employment because jobs do not go to the most qualified person but to the highest bidder or to the one that will return the favour in another way. Corruption often reduces the value of financial intervention programmes (whether state or international) because money is “lost somewhere along the way” and does not reach those that need it or for whom it is intended. While economists link corruption to the level of GDP, saying “the higher the GDP, the lower the rate of corruption”, sociologists associate corruption to the level of education of citizens in a country, saying “the higher the average level of education, the lower the level of corruption”. These two propositions explain why corruption is endemic in Nigeria.
Social scientists suggest a virtual correlation between poverty and corruption. Poverty provides a safe and friendly environment for corruption to thrive. This evil has almost been institutionalized in the public and private life of Nigerians. Corruption aids voters in a democratic dispensation to mortgage their right of choosing credible leaders. In corrupt societies, citizens’ right to exercise their franchise is sometimes impeded.
To be ignorant is to be uneducated, unenlightened, or uninformed. To be illiterate, on the other hand, means being “unable to read or write” In the light of these expositions, it is possible for a person to be literate and yet remain ignorant. This is the case with some Nigerians who have gone to school, sometimes through the university system, but yet remain ignorant. The pre-requisites that determine a person’s graduation from ignorance to knowledge are many but may be broadly condensed to include: (I) Knowing one’s rights and exercising them without infringing upon the rights of others; and (2) Know one’s moral, social and civic responsibilities and to discharging them accordingly.
It’s possible for a person to achieve liberation from ignorance without necessarily passing through a formal school system. Certain traits (some of which will later be mentioned here) are characteristic of the ignorant. And so, whenever one of such traits manifests, it simply means that the person has either failed to know and exercise his rights appropriately or does not know let alone discharge his responsibilities accordingly. Ignorance is worse, for those to whom religion matters, if a person does not know God.
Logicians classify the ignorant in to three categories: (l) One who knows not and does not know that he knows not; (2) One who knows not and knows that he does not know; and (3) One who knows but does not know that he knows. The first of these categories is the worst of the three; ignorance of the highest order. It would naturally take longer period to bring the first and the second classes of the ignorant out of their predicaments.
It is typical of the ignorant to be talkative in the course of which he confuses truth with falsehood. Most of his talks too are lies. “A great talker is a great liar”. He talks a lot because he needs to demonstrate his ignorance. The ignorant needs to tell lies because that’s the easiest way to sustain the attention of his audience. He exaggerates issues and events. Yes, if he does not amplify issues, his attempt at exerting domineering influence on the minds of his audience might crash. The ignorant engages others in unfounded arguments. If he does not disagree with others even on clear-cut matters, his ability to impress them might pass unnoticed.
The ignorant lives to argue that a university lecturer is not a teacher but a tutor. He would also dispute that the night is not dark but moonless. The motive of the ignorant in these unnecessary contentions is simply to make others feel his relevance within the scheme of things. The ignorant trusts no one because he trusts not himself. He suspects everyone because he is fraudulent. He is not comfortable at people getting to discover his ignorance for fear of the embarrassing consequences. With his display of superiority complex, the ignorant may only succeed in extending his shenanigans of over his likes; the hare-brained.
The ignorant has extremist tendencies as he does or refuses to do everything with some sort of extremism. He unconsciously exceeds his bounds or ignores his obligations because he neither knows exactly where other people’s rights begin nor where his own ends. It is similarly traditional of the ignorant to first misunderstand before he understands issues. Most often, the ignorant is sentimental along tribal, regional, political or religious lines. Ignorance breeds bad governance and bad leaders because the ignorant fails to appreciate the dangers of abandoning their voting rights. Ignorance of the electorate allows bad leaders to get into positions of authority.
Based on the preceding details showcased above, neither of the two evils, in this writer’s view, appears to be lesser. Considering how deeply seated corruption has become in Nigeria and how severely widespread ignorance is among citizens, one wonders how choosing between ignorance and corruption would amount to a lesser of the two evils. If one were to have the option of choosing between the two, ignorance (which many consider trivial) is not a lesser evil either! May Allah (SWT) guide us as a nation to conquer ignorance and corruption, amin.