The human mind has a primitive ego defense mechanism that negates all realities that produce too much stress for the brain to handle. It’s called Denial.

For eons mankind evolved and stumbled around in the midst of great catastrophic disasters and were once considered staple food for predators.

We survived the ice age not because we were able to adapt physically or develop necessary skills to cope with the great shift in climate but because our brains blocked off existential and impending doom ahead of us. Rather than focus on the daunting task ahead we chose daily chores and tasks from finding shelter, food and whatnot. We essentially survived because we played the ostrich and carried on as if there was no problem. This is one of the only benefits to which self denial can grant the human existence.

Keep Calm & Carry On

Mankind has always found denial as a necessary defense mechanism in dealing with Armageddon. We keep postponing the date and with that we have grown more arrogant. With arrogance comes pride and with pride comes a great fall.

Denial is thus a critical part of the human coping mechanism. A sort of bio delay switch that keeps us from flicking the suicide button.

I will thus define denial as the degree of optimism.

While it is good to have an optimistic view on life it will be foolhardy to negate reality and facts to the foreground in dealing with a challenge.

Nigerians are by far the most optimistic people. They have no choice on this. It is either they keep on hoping and denying the daunting challenges they face daily or they end up going mad.

We have all read the Stats that states that well over 40% of Lagosians face one form of mental disorder. If it were not for denial in the form of hope we can rightly predict the chances of majority of Lagosians will be roaming the streets outright mad.

Bearing this in mind, we see Nigerians still hoping and denying the realities on ground.

They deny the ongoing islamization agenda even in the midst of a jihadist campaign raging in the north east. They are quick to accept the official narrative from the buhari govt that the ongoing genocide by fulani herdsmen is the handwork of Libyans.

This is inspite of all solid facts ,evidence and historical antecedents that proves that there is indeed a northern islamization agenda.

Foolishly they still deny reality.

On Niger Delta Insurgency

Oil can never sustain Nigeria. It never did and it never ever will but some Nigerians still believe in the status quo even though they never benefited from the nationalization of oil wealth.

To this set of Nigerians, Oil has always been part of Nigeria's wealth and they see no way outside it. And when threats of secession and/or demands by Militants in the ND for more resource control, these same set of Denialists who have never ever benefited directly from this skewed centralized arrangement of wealth distribution that puts the Niger Delta last before other regions not minding that the wealth comes from the same Niger Delta region, we see them fretting and threatening genocide to keep the same corrupt and unjust arrangement in place.

This my friends is what Denial is all about.

Your average Nijeriyan is no different than a wildebeest herd.

Constantly harassed by larger Predators day and night, the herbivores of the Serengeti have always appeared to live a terrorised life when viewed from a human perspective. But contrary to how we humans see the large games of the savanah, the harassment they constantly face from hyenas and lions are more of a nuisance to them as their primary concern is to find suitable grazing fields and get down to the business of procreation.

This is God's grand design for animals of prey. They exist in constant denial of the threats that loom beyond the tall golden grass. Without that denial, the wildebeest will probably not bother grazing talk more of procreating.

I see a lot of self induced myopia instigated by a mind in denial among Nijeriyans especially among those who I expect to know better. For some reason the threat is so overwhelming that the simply wish it away and where it appears inevitable they resort to hope as a final solace. "It can't happen to me and my family"; "It is not our portion". These are what herded or animals in a group, flock or school of fish rely on as a last defence mechanism. The strength of numbers and the sacrifice of those in the outer realms of the herd gives the members solace.

So in so many ways, those who refuse to see the reality are those who are in denial of the threat and who arrogate a sense of immunity from the same threat on the very hope that some others will have to be sacrificed for them to live.

This is the life of a rat and not a man.

One Nijeriya patriots come and deny your failing state.

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