Alpha!
Pondering on my title? Well, that makes two of us. If you’re from Edo State, and you’re Esan, you’ll know what oresin means. Oresin is the word that describes the act of bearing false witness against another. It involves imputing blames to unrelated parties or situations.

Story starter…
Igidu and his friends were ‘reputable’ area boys. Since they preferred doing odd jobs to getting a good education, they roamed the streets of Ugbiyokho village, constituting nuisance day and night. Rather than deal with these thugs decisively, the community feared them, and even made them members of the local vigilante outfit.

One day, an educated colleague of theirs (let’s call him Efua) came back to the community to initiate the construction of a massive Health Care Centre. Some months into the project, Igidu and his colleagues kidnapped their old time friend and made him pay all the money he needed to complete the project as ransom. Word later got out that Igidu and his friends had been behind the kidnapping. It was then the community decided to act for good. They arrested Igidu and his gang and made them return what was left of the ransom.

Then they went back, begging their illustrious son Efua to return to the project. They kept blaming Igidu and his friends for what they had done. But their son was done. He packed his things and left the community, never to return. He knew the whole community was to blame for what had happened. They needed to start blaming themselves for having created an enabling environment for Igidu and his gang in the first place…

Crux of the matter!
Today, it’s not unusual to blame social media for everything. Indecency – “oh social media!” Depression – “social media why?” Bad grammar – “too much exposure to social media.” Gross insensitivity – “of course, it’s due to social media.” Lack of common sense – “it has to be social media, what else?”

Hey! Don’t get me wrong. Social media has indeed helped heighten ills. Fact! But again, it didn’t create them. Yes, terrorists communicate on WhatsApp, but the app didn’t create terrorism. Yes, people speak bad grammar a lot on Facebook, but Facebook didn’t create illiteracy. Yes, the use of social media has increased depression among teenagers, but social media isn’t the primary cause of depression. Yes smartphones have made people lazier, but there were several lazy people before smartphones. Get the point?

Pointing fingers…
Our fingers must therefore point inwards first. Yes! People speak loads of bad grammar because our educational systems are shabby. Terrorists abound because of religious and political bigotry, fundamentalism and fanaticism; even poverty. There’s general lack of common sense because of the very nature of our clime. Teenagers throw caution to the wind in their dressing modes because there’s an obvious dearth of home training and appreciation of community values.

Many more young people prefer to die crossing the Mediterranean Sea than remain within our shores because here, nothing works. Fact!

What to do?
Overhaul the system. How? Look to those who have done it and emulate them. Singapore is an obvious example. China is another (we don’t need to copy communism though). Rediscover values and invest more in rural development. Good education should never be optional. Sacrificial team spirit must be encouraged and human rights must be respected. The ‘I’ and ‘me’ must give way to the ‘we’ and ‘us’. Finally, we must learn to appreciate others much more than we appreciate ourselves.

Story ender!
The story is told of how Narcissus came to the river one day to cool his head. Just as he was about to dip his hand in the water, he paused, admiring the surface of the water. Then the tears began running down his face. The river was so touched, it began to ripple in delight. It had never had anyone admire its bluish clear water in such an intense manner. But Narcissus, no longer able to see his reflection, let fly a sporadic burst of obscenities at the river. That was when the river knew that Narcissus had only been admiring the beauty of his own reflection…

The above narcissistic attitude in us must change! Social media is a reflection of us. It CAN only be what we make it. Everything else is ORESIN!

And if you disagree with me, don’t lose any sleep over it. Simply leave a comment and SHARE.

God bless you!

Featured Image Credit @ Pixabay