Promise Adiele
As a child, my infantile mind was always fascinated by stories where animals behaved like humans. I was regaled to no end when the elderly tried to teach us a lesson or two by ascribing human qualities to animals. The lion said this, the hare did that, the tortoise said this, and the serpent said that – were all recounted with underlining seriously to condemn vices such as wickedness, greed, deceit, guile, and brutish brawn. In my adult years, following my inevitable immersion in creative waters, it dawned on me that animals talking and behaving as humans is indeed serious business, it is a genre of literature which has sustained several literary works studied across the world. Graciously referred to as fable in literature, the lives of animals and their activities when recounted, show a lacuna, a behavioural deficit which demonstrates the superiority of humans over animals.
Of course, humans may have created such stories to uphold their superiority over animals. How can the lion be so foolish with all the strength and power at his disposal? Why would the tortoise be greedy after eating so much, what accounts for his insatiable appetite amid plenty? I often thank the Almighty for creating me a human being because the thought of dwelling in the forest is soul-wrenching.
Human beings are superior to animals. I don’t just believe it, I am convinced about it. We must at once strike a balance between belief and conviction. You believe even when you have not experienced it. That is superficial. But you are convinced when you have experienced it. That is profound. Conviction is indeed stronger than belief. We shall come back to this proposition later. Meanwhile, let us return to humans and animals.
Why would a human being derogatorily call another human being an animal? The answer is simple – when a human being behaves like an animal, it follows that the condescending metaphor is employed to make a distinction. When a human being is full of guile and deceit, the serpent immediately comes to mind. When a human being is cantankerous, whether provoked or not and ready to devour another human being, the lion or any of the many carnivorous animals is mentioned. When a human being is infinitely greedy, the tortoise races to our mind. When a person is cunning, we think of the fox. However, there are times when a person or a group of persons combines all the attributes mentioned. What do you call it? For want of a better term, let us stick with the word beast.
A beast has all the characteristics mentioned and even more. In addition to all the qualities highlighted above, a beast is brutish, mean, senseless, and lacks the capacity for critical, reasonable thinking. A beast could also be a zombie, who only understands ‘go, kill, and destroy’ even when such command is ill-conceived and will imperil the wellbeing of another person. The only thing that motivates a zombie is the anguish and grief of another person irrespective of circumstances.
Now, back to belief and conviction. I am convinced beyond doubt that there are beasts in human forms in our society. Yes, beasts have reincarnated in human form and now stroll around human civilization with impunity. Beasts are everywhere and I am convinced about this. You encounter them daily in politics, in business, in the academia, in entertainment, and on the road. You also encounter them on the pages of newspapers, on the promiscuous social media, on TV, radio and other news outlets. I am convinced that animals have relocated to human habitation but deceptively, they are garbed in modern apparels. Only the deep thinking can be convinced about this and for people who still operate at the level of belief, good luck to them. I know some people are convinced about the exchange of habitation between animals and humans but they would prefer to live in self-denial. I am convinced that humans, by their failure to admit this simple truth, have become a part of the national conspiracy, going about their businesses without a care in the world. While beasts have relocated to human civilization, occupying human positions, human beings have relocated to the jungle, occupying positions in the animal kingdom.
The very first feeling that comes upon you as a person on the realization that beasts have been foisted on you is that of humiliation, a feeling that comes with spontaneous immediacy. You are humiliated because you are a part of humanity treated with disdain, disrespect, and impudence. You are humiliated because you lack the voice to express your opinion no matter how modest it may be. You are humiliated because you are forced to accept all acts of vulgarity forced upon you by the beast. Humiliation becomes your partner because your intelligence is deeply insulted daily and you must continue to swallow the debris of debasement for fear of the inevitable. If your mind is busting with ideas, rejecting these flakes of daily mortification, then you must either go for rights of exorcism to dislodge such by-ways of the mind or risk your life and that of members of your family.
I am afraid of one thing, I am afraid that the continued intermingling and co-habitation with beasts will surely turn the sane among us into beasts. In fact, the population of humans is daily depreciating as members are lost to the beast clan. Some people may ask me how I came to that conclusion. Well, it is inexplicable when you watch an otherwise sensible, educated, civilized persons begin to manifest such neurotic tendencies only deserving of beasts. You meet such people everywhere. It violates your mind to see an otherwise person of good standing begin to reason and behave like a beast overnight. You flinch and mourn because you realize that the human population just lost a person to the beast clan. Again, I don’t believe, I am convinced. It is important the remaining humans in this part of civilization realize that there is a certain threat to deplete their population, losing men and women to the beast clan. The rot must stop immediately.
Humans must remain humans because in the final analysis, if we do not check the excesses of beasts that have relocated to human habitation, one day, God forbid, we will all become breakfast for the beasts served on a golden plate. The tragedy is that human beings who gradually transmute into the beast clan hardly realize it. They are deluded to believe that they are still humans but those who creatively see the seeds of time can decipher when a human being crosses the line. Of course, it is simple to know.
When you see a man recreating abnormality as if it was the normal thing, then the descent into the beast clan has started. I know beasts don’t read. I know the lion, the first suspect as a beast do not read too. Therefore I am confident that after writing this, no beast will hold anything against me.
Dr Adiele writes from Lagos via promee01@yahoo.com
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