Naturally, eminent personalities’ sterling qualities in their daily lives should serve as sources of inspiration and guidance for others, particularly the younger generation, in their efforts to grow society and realize their dreams and aspirations. The culture of receiving awards and honours from various groups and organizations in the country over the past few decades presents a broad picture, highlighting the need to examine the entire spectrum of rewards for perceived excellent performances. It is interesting to note that we now live in an era where class distinction has become so pronounced that both the old and the young are in a mad rush for honours and rewards. Unfortunately, we live in an age when the craze for title acquisition has become terribly feverish.
Several individuals, who ordinarily deserve no celebration, have received undeserved titles and honours. Beyond this, Nigeria can now boast of innumerable honorary doctorate degree recipients, honoured by even universities abroad on pecuniary grounds. Even locally, tertiary institutions have been accused of indiscriminate awards of these honorary degrees, thus making the exercises very worthless. Before the 1980s, it was very difficult for moneybags to bag honourary doctorate degrees in Nigerian universities. Funnily, these award recipients add the prefix Ph.D. to their names after receiving their degrees! A sacrilege tolerated and promoted by even Ivory Towers. They have recklessly awarded chieftaincy titles in the royal palaces, a tragic practice that has led to bitter and sorrowful periods in our nation’s history. Then comes the now rampant issue of discovering and honouring the “bests” in society.
Evidently, all of these sordid occurrences call into question society’s ability to internalize ideals and values associated with honors and awards. I aim to scrutinize the celebration of ignorance in relation to the method of award distribution, as well as the entire flawed and distressing process of choosing award recipients. Sometimes, the organizations involved in the exercise of selecting the “Best Personality, “Best Achiever, “The Best Messiah,” “The Best Motivator,” “Excellent Father, “Sweet Mother,” “Most Despondent Personality,” “Most Forgotten Achiever,” etc.—and several other awards appear to lack the credibility of conferring such awards. And more regrettable is the fact that a section of the Nigerian media (if not all) is guilty and has become part of the problem. Yet, the media is supposed to mirror and discourage such issues on account of credibility and morality questions.
Those who are able to discern the nuances perceive this trend as unsettling and an unappealing opportunity for general mentorship and development. One pertinent question remains: How do these award recipients emerge? Most of the time, the media publishes the names of awardees, inviting them to collect their awards for being “good and excellent.” Recipients are believed to have been noticed by the organizers for reward on account of certain intrinsic values and conducts. However, conducting such exercises efficiently, dispassionately, with due diligence, truthfulness, and with a keen sense of fair play and justice would have been justifiable.
It is to be noted that for such an exercise to be meaningful and credible, certain basic steps must be carried out. The method to employ is survey research. It involves random selection of appropriate numbers to ensure adequate representation of the entire population from which the sample is drawn. In ‘Public Relations Campaign Strategies’ (1992), Robert Kendal outlined several tasks for completion, including setting objectives, defining the population, drawing the sample, developing the questionnaire, writing and debugging a computer program, interpreting data, and writing the report of findings. Therefore, it goes without saying that any award of “Best Anything” that does not satisfy the above criteria is fraudulent and is best for the trash can. How, for instance, could anybody claim to have chosen a “best material” in Nigeria without any empirical formula and proof? It is highly illogical for anyone to unilaterally declare certain individuals as the “best materials” without following a comprehensive process.
Experts in communication know too well the importance of sampling techniques to credible empirical research exercises. It is for this salient reason that the subject of reporting technical information is too important to be manipulated. (Houp an Pearsal, 1993); authors of ‘Reporting Technical Information’ assert that those who engage in this type of “determining the bests” must tell readers how they observed their materials during investigation and how such reports are interpreted. Standardizing these methods is necessary to justify empirical reports, which must inevitably include data from the exercises. We are not arguing against the recognition of meritorious contributions.
However, the truth lies in the dubious method of award conferment. The decision-making process must take certain considerations into account. Our people must be courageous enough to reject these questionable award offers whose processes appear to be terribly flawed and lack credibility. I do not sincerely believe that the media should be involved in promoting this type of unwholesome developments and ‘abracadabra’ for whatever reasons. It would seem appropriate for society to start requesting details of the “Best Materials” exercises, particularly how the judges arrive at decisions and the method used to choose the award recipients.
Otherwise, such actions remain mere or worthless propaganda, using short-term goals, half-truths, and logically flawed procedures to promote personalities for selfish interests. Before participating in these stage-managed ceremonies for the conferment of awards, Nigerians should demand empirical research reports. Public office holders and the affluent in society are the most prominent targets of these awards, and I believe that image managers and other bureaucrats, who are tasked with managing the activities of top public functionaries, play a significant role in controlling this absurd development.
It seems to me that the craze for the acquisition of all forms of titles and the unwarranted display of affluence constitute part of the banes of the polity. Surprisingly, society faces significant development challenges. These negative and arrogant acquisitions of undeserved titles require periodic introspection. Unfortunately, the lesser mortals are also neck deep in the practice of celebrating ignorance. How much do we spend on social functions, to the detriment of human development? How many wealthy individuals, like the Warren Buffets, Rockefellers, and Bill Gates, or, closer to home, Africa’s Mo Ibrahim, dedicate a portion of their resources to charitable causes?
Certainly, a new attitude and a new orientation are called for to build and inculcate in people a new sense of compassion and justice. We must shift our mindset and perspective to prioritize caring and sharing for the underprivileged, and to shift from selfishness to selflessness. Nigeria has a bright future, and what remains is for the citizenry to de-emphasize the celebration of ignorance as we collectively actualize the potential for greatness. This piece on the celebration of ignorance brings to light one of the thoughts of the much-loved nationalist and politician, Obafemi Awolowo, who put himself forward for service and inspired belief and hope in Nigeria and her people. Awolowo once asserted, “While many of my counterparts are wining and dining and are carousing and running after women of easy virtue, I am at my desk fashioning out solutions to Nigeria’s problems.” People must refuse to celebrate ignorance.