Olumhense's critique of the media

You should read this.

To lack substantive democracy is bad. To lack substantive information is worse.

If we cannot make informed decisions based on quality information, our votes will be misdirected even if the elections were not rigged.

One wonders if lack of information is part of the reason we default to the things we know for sure -- like regional, religious and ethnic affiliation. We certainly hero-worship men and women whose decisions and actions make (and made) our collective lives more difficult than need be. And as a citizenry, we offer scant-to-nil support for anything that would ease the burden a little.

It is not that we are bad people or bad citizens. It is not even really apathy or disinterest. We do what we do because the preponderant circumstances (including the flow of information, or should I say misinformation) makes these bad choices seem rational.

For example, if every politician is perceived to be ethnically, religiously and regionally biased, it is rational to vote along ethnic, religious and regional lines because the "best candidate" for you will be the one who is biased toward you. You will even pick up a machete and fight your fellow citizen for that man, not because you think he is a "good leader", but because the other leaders are perceived as being biased AGAINST you. Indeed, much of "tribalism" in Nigeria is less about people trying to dominate other groups, and more about people acting out of fear that other groups will dominate them -- and about politicians manipulating that fear.

My paragraph above describes how circumstances can make people take "rational" decisions that are nonetheless self-defeating in the long-term. But the misinformation that dominates national discourse is as influential (perhaps more) in compelling bad decisions and worse actions.

Our people say it is condition that made the crayfish bend. If we want the crayfish to straighten out (or to bend in a different direction), we have to change the condition. For our federal republic to transform itself, we must transform the acquisition and dissemination of information, statistics, facts and data.