On Bandwagonism- A Mind of One’s
Own
In these days of Social Media, when the “#” is
sure to be consulted in a gathering of
superpowers, one must become wary and vigilant.
No sir, I do not mean of Social Media or any of
its paraphernalia.
Some may assume that the Bible was probably
referring to only matters of the heart or
relationships when it admonishes that we guard
our heart with all diligence, but from the
obvious, I am positive that it was preparing us
for bandwagonism. Is there any wonder that the
same Bible also advices us to “test every spirit?”
A recent experience at the salon illustrates the
dangers of not having a mind of one’s own.
Usually when it comes to braids, women want to
ensure that it is nicely done and all, so when a
friend highly recommended and directed that I try
a group of coiffuses that work together in the
heart of a popular Lagos slum, I decided to
explore the possibility of perfectly done braids.
Besides who does not like to be complimented
with ” nice braids, who made them?”
While the hair is being done, the ladies embarked
on discourses of every known topic under the sun
and that day I discovered that I had the capacity
to hold laughter or laugh mentally. So while the
convos are on, one finishes receiving a call from
her boyfriend (as we would later find out) and
suddenly announces
“ My bobo say e go carry me go Tankpa Bey on
Sunday.”
I am grateful that I did not exploit the impulse
to burst into laughter at that moment or I’d
never had learnt a vital lesson about majority
influence.
While the others oohed and aahed, I studied their
faces from the mirror and could read the
struggle on the face of another one (let’s call her
Ronke) and was wondering what it was about till
she suddenly blurted,
“ Olodo, na Tarkwa Bay.”
You would think that the correction would be
welcome but to my amazement, the others
mobbed on the poor girl, insisting that they had
never heard anyone say “Tarkwa Bay” before and
the correct pronunciation had to be “Tankpa
Bey”. Unfortunately for poor Ronke, she was
outnumbered and I could obviously read the
struggle on her face as she mentally compared
both enunciations. To worsen matters, the
madam who had been silently observing suddenly
remarked,
“ Bia Ronke, ya oversabi don de too much for this
shop. Since
my mama born me, na only Tankpa Bey I de hia
dem de call
that beansh.”
Yours truly should have said something then, but
decided to take a pass and remain a spectator.
To my amazement, Ronke suddenly went,
Abeg no vex, I been think say na T…,”
Only for the madam to interrupt,
“ You been think say? Oversabi na him go kill you
.”
It might be a funny experience but many people
are like poor Ronke. Because they have failed to
develop a mind of their own, they are easily
sucked in to an ideology, only because it is
popular.
Thus it is imperative that we watch and be
careful of what we take in or subscribe to, for
the sake of our hearts which we must jealously
guard from such vices as popular opinion and
propagandists who seem to be having a field day
under such appellations as “activist” (for
whatever cause). If you can read this, then you
can very well access resources to confirm a
piece of information even if it “trends” and even
then, you must always remember to look beneath
the surface and despite social/peer pressures,
HAVE A MIND OF YOUR OWN.