The Shaking House Of Intellect

A recent news about the dismissal of an academic staff in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, came a few days after a press release by the management of Rivers State University about a similar dismissal of a professor. Certainly, such dismissals must have been preceded by a thorough internal inquiry into allegations of some wrong doing. Hopefully, such inquiries must also have followed the rule of fair hearing and opportunity for an appeal. By the house of intellect, the mind of the reader should please go far beyond tertiary and other institutions of learning where intellectual quibbling pass for the search for truth. As a matter of truth, intellectual culture is a movement which began long ago and whose mission has been to confine and narrow down the scope of perception of humanity. High priests of that movement or culture were the custodians of various responsible for their propagation, truth-wise. Therefore, the house of intellect has many posts and mansions, ranging from academia, monarchy, the ecclesia, the arena of macho-men and the party or profession of death. There are those whose mission is not towards the enhancement of life, but the elimination of those who express contrary views from what the house and culture of intellect had erected as absolute truth. Historically the war of supremacy initiated by the high priests of the intellectual culture had its bloodiest arena in religious movements and proselytism. Readers who may be interested in this line of inquiry, including what horrors humanity had experienced in the past, are enjoined to read The Spanish Inquisition by Jean Plaidy (1978). Similarly, the Crusades or military expeditions between 1096 and 1272 sought to recover the “Holy Land” from the Moslems. History of horrors! Humanity did not experience only history of horrors arising from intolerance, but more of a tyrannical movement to keep the minds of humans as narrow as possible via instruments of fear and intimidation. Such movement of horror and mind control did not begin with Emperor Nero of ancient Roman civilization, neither did it end with Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany. The Dark Continent of Africa had untold stories of village tyrants and flesh-eating macho-men. Today, emphasis tends to be focused on our institutions of learning, with “sorting, extortion of money and sex for grades” as deadly sins and signs of ultimate debauchery. But these are merely some of the visible evidence of the manifestations of movement of the intellectual culture. This unfortunate trend was enthroned a long time ago and it gradually took roots in the human mind with attendant expressions in actions, attitudes and value orientations. Hardly is anyone left out, except that hypocrisy is a ready camouflage.
Effects of the slow poison of the excrescences of the intellectual culture play out in the enthronement of tyranny and intolerance of contrary views. From the home, to national and international settings, there is the adoration and adulation of precocity or intellectual smartness. Parents take pride in showing off precocious children who become more clever than their grand parents. There begins the shaking of the house of intellect. At a certain time in Nigerian university system, there arose a policy that lecturers without PhD, degrees would be weeded out of the system. At the back of that policy were some dark and myopic motives. For example, Professor Wole Soyinka was not known to hold a PhD Certificate and there were many professors with only first degree, but were role models. In the good old days, professorship was determined by the fact that a university don had some value, ideal or value-added knowledge to profess to humanity. But later-day intellectual heroes and militants, discovered and spread the ideal that big certificates and appellations were synonymous with character, knowledge and productivitiy. Thus began another stage in the shaking of the house of intellect. Money is known to be an able soldier and so powerful that where it steps in, all roads would lie open. For those who have not heard, known or believed, big certificates can be bought and sold, not only in Toronto but in any back-house of intellect. Current stage in the shaking and spoiling trend via intellectual sagacity takes the form of putting square pegs in round holes. By this is meant wrong and corrupt deployment of human talents, skills and abilities where they do not belong or fit in most. Faces of corrupt practices feature where those who should engage in something else become educators and politicians. The result is the abuses of power. Shakespeare would say that humanity is still deceived with ornaments; but have there not been stories of clergy-men eating pepper-soup make with placenta of a woman seven hours after birth? Since eaves dropping and electronic capturing of dark, secret deeds have become popular pranks, Nigerians can expect more shocking revelations. By the way, walls have ears and no deed remains hidden forever! But many believe their sins are hidden! There are individuals and organisations with records and evidence of shocking deeds but who, for security reasons, would not let the cat out o f the bag. It is needful also that Nigerians be cautious of wearing the garb of hypocrisy, in spite of the prevailing culture of sanctimony. The shaking house of intellect will throw up more debris and scum that would be more putrid than we would tolerate. The shaking has begun. From the university system, the shaking would extend that harbour the intellectual virus.

Bright Amirize