By Abuchi Obiora
The audacious approach of the executive Governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, an illustrious son of my Local Government Area (LGA), Aguata, in attacking headlong some stubborn problems that hitherto defiled the governance acumen of his predecessors in office has always impressed me.
This much was shown in his direct approach to solving the problem of the contamination of the authentic and centuries-old Igbo traditional religion and ‘Omenala’ by the recent exponents of ‘Oke ite’ and ‘Awele’ ritualists. (Ref: “Ananmbra State Homeland Security laws Versus Igbo Traditional Religion: A Socio-Cultural Renaissance of the Igbo Nation”. Parts 1& 2 published in The Kaleidoscope Archives by Global Upfront Newspapers).
But sometimes too, my Governor, like all human beings, will err, both in his utterances and actions as was recently shown in his verbal attacks on another illustrious son of Anambra State, a past Governor of the State, Mr. Peter Gregory Onwuabusi Obi
This consistent pattern of attack by Professor Charles Soludo on Mr. Peter Obi has always worried me each time it happened and I am sure that it may be worrying some other Ndi Anambra.
In a recent outburst, Professor Charles Soludo vituperated, casting aspersion on the Presidential flag bearer of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections and a Presidential hopeful in the oncoming Presidential election of 2027.
In that much publicized outburst, Professor Charles Soludo was quoted to have made a reference to Mr. Peter Obi’s pronouncement recently that he, Mr. Peter Obi, needs not more than a four-year single tenure presidency to set Nigeria right on the path of productive and virile economy.
In his vituperation, Professor Charles Soludo believed that Mr. Peter Obi lied, dragging Mr. Peter Obi further as a possible mental case. Meanwhile, Mr. Peter Obi has responded to Professor Charles Soludo’s insults, insisting with many examples across the world including the example of Madiba Nelson Mandela of South Africa that his pronouncement on using a single four year tenure Presidency to set Nigeria alright remains sacrosanct.
By the way, it is not the duty of the Kaleidoscope Archives opinion column to delve into the long history of attacks by Professor Charles Soludo on Mr. Peter Obi because they may decide to disagree with each other’s views or opinions on sundry issues for so many reasons including for the simple, selfish and vain reason of ego.
The duty of the Kaleidoscope Archives in this discourse therefore is to find out what factors may drive the ego of man, setting it ablaze and in the process position the man bearing such bloated ego on the path of self-destruct.
Let us start by recording that the ascendancy of Mr. Peter Obi to the political limelight in Nigeria, being Nigeria’s unmistakable man of the moment has caused and is still causing ripples across the Nigerian political landscape. The surprise that trails Mr. Peter Obi’s ascendancy to Nigerian political limelight may not be without reasons because one, Mr. Peter Obi, an Igbo man, most likely before his emergence not favoured to sit on the exalted seat of Nigeria’s Presidency, has suddenly become the man sought after, the most- feared and valued Nigerian politician and the only person to defeat if anyone else must emerge as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in a free and fair Presidential election in 2027.
From the blues, the man Peter Obi, believed by majority of Nigerians to have won the 2023 Presidential election in the country (which was marred with irregularities and immersed in INEC’s controversies), pulled stunning votes across different social strata in the country and across the many ethnic, tribal and religious enclaves within Nigeria to emerge as the most popular Presidential candidate in the election. The result of the election also showed that Mr. Peter Obi won majority votes of people who discharged their voting franchise within the confines of the Nigerian armed forces establishments and paramilitary units, including in locations across the country hitherto regarded as secured grounds for the ruling political party in Nigeria, the APC.
It could also have been a marvel for some politicians who emerged from bigger Nigerian cities and from royal families and/or feudal circles (as sometimes happen in Nigeria) that a ‘mere and simple trader’ from the river bank trading city of Onitsha could spring such a political surprise that Mr. Peter Obi was able to do.
Unknown to many Nigerians, the man Peter Obi has been intentional in his pursuit. From his C.K.C. (Christ the King College, Onitsha), our neighbors when we were in D.M.G.S (Denis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha) in the early and middle seventies, the man has quietly and silently been preparing himself for the exalted office even as he traversed the countries of the world doing his business after his stints both in the Secondary School and the university.
For us, the post-Civil War teenage Nigerians from the Biafran side, it was normal to aim for excellence in our endeavors. No wonder many people of our generation from that ancient river bank city which we fondly call ‘Onitsha Ado’ who have assumed coveted leadership positions in different parts of the world are presently making waves in their professional areas of jurisdiction.
It could possibly be against the backdrop of these mythical limitations narrated above that an unusual level of verbal attacks and witch-hunting, more than ever dished out to any Nigerian politician either dead or alive, has trailed the successes in the political fortunes of Mr. Peter Obi. Let me also hasten to add that it could also possibly be as a result of his intentional preparation overtime to mount the stage where he presently occupies that Mr. Peter Obi has consistently come out better and stronger from the verbal attacks on him and in the process expose the weaknesses and inadequacies of his attackers some of whom he has sent to political oblivion.
Before we discuss the intellectual findings/discoveries that accompany this discourse, let us quickly look at another recent vitriolic verbal attack on Mr. Peter Obi. Addressing some PDP ‘decampees’ to APC recently, the Governor of Edo State, Mr. Monday Okpebholo sent an unsolicited message across to Mr. Peter Obi that because Governor Okpebholo, a ‘New Sheriff is in town,’ Mr. Peter Obi’s security in Edo State may not be guaranteed if Mr. Peter Obi visits the State. That was a direct threat to the life of Mr. Peter Obi which was supposed to have attracted the attention of Nigerian intelligence and security agencies but we will leave that illiterate pronouncements (which is an infraction on the portion of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that enumerates the fundamental rights of every Nigerian) to lawyers who better understand the constitution to deal with the issue.
The concept of what I call the Social Outcast Syndrome (SOS) is what I have been able to articulate from my careful observation and analysis of the social factors, character deficiencies and sociological impediments which may drive people to uncontrollably express their emotions beyond sane and reasonable boundaries in manners that manifest as vitriolic and vile attacks on others whose personalities or social clouts those attackers may regard as threat to their own ambitions or overall social net-worth.
Perhaps, I will explain the increasing wave of verbal attacks on Mr. Peter Obi by an increasing number of politicians like Professor Charles Soludo, Mr. Monday Okpebeholo and wait-and-take politicians like Mr. Reno Omokri (and his fellow social media influencers) with my theory of Social Outcast Syndrome (SOS), a concept that I have found out that fits very well, more than any social theory that I know, in explaining out the intricacies of a disfigured psyche and the consequences thereof to a person whose overbearing and uncontrollable influences of his ego dwindles the warning signs normally brought to fore by his emotional intelligence to guide his mental disposition.
The space available here will not be enough to explore the intricate and fluid relationship between the ego and the psyche which is composed of the ego itself, the soul and the spirit. Because the ego deals with the empirical side of life, it always tend to forcibly dwindle the influences of the soul and the spirit within the psyche and completely takes over the psyche. This complete take over and hijack of the psyche by the ego actually signals the beginning of the manifestation of Social Outcast Syndrome (SOS)in a person.
Who is a social outcast? A social outcast is an individual or group that is rejected, marginalized or ostracized by society or a particular social group as a result of either of the following:
- Unconventional behavior or lifestyle.
- Differences in appearance, culture or background.
- Social status or economic conditions.
- Mental health or disabilities.
- Criminal history or past mistakes
Because of the combined attitude of members of the society to the social outcast, being a social outcast stigmatizes people and can lead them to harbor feelings of isolation, loneliness and extreme low esteem.
As a keen and scrupulous observer of human conducts and scholar in Behavioral Sciences, I am aware that any of these feelings (isolation, loneliness and extreme low esteem) can overwhelm the subconscious mind and lead people to certain abnormal mental behaviors impinging their abilities to effectively socialize with the larger society which may have begun to take their warped views and opinions with the pinch of salt because of the suspicion of their mental unstableness.
So, what is a syndrome? A syndrome is a set of physical or mental characteristics, symptoms or conditions that occur together, often indicating a specific disease, disorder, deficiency or mental condition that may occur together.
Syndromes of both physiological and psychological origin can be caused by genetic mutations, infections, environmental factors or other underlying issues of aberrations in human behavior patterns.
This is to say that syndromes may not only manifest as physical or physiological disorders but also as mental and emotional disorders.
An example of a mental and emotional syndrome is what is known in psychology as ‘victim consciousness’. Social Outcast Syndrome, therefore, is a step from the mental and emotional condition of ‘victim consciousness’ down the psychological abyss of pseudo- insanity.
Some common examples of physical and physiological syndromes include:
- Down Syndrome (DS)
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
- Asperger’s Syndrome (AS)
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
Victims of Social Outcast Syndrome (SOS) exhibit a certain character deficiency that borders on extreme feeling of diminished self worth. Immersed in an unsure, unsteady and diminished condition of self-worth, those social imposters suffer the consequences of their burnt-out social net-worth which they have carelessly and selfishly squandered through an unbroken chain of inconsistencies and lack of marked-out ideals and policy direction guiding their lives.
Another aberration of the mind which is related to Social Outcast Syndrome (SOS) is the Imposter Syndrome (IS), already also recognized in psychology. Impostor Syndrome is a condition that is common amongst high achievers in the society. It happens as persistent self-doubt and a fear of being exposed as inadequate as perceived or viewed by people.
Impostor Syndrome can work either to induce sober reflection on the person to strengthen up or keep the person covering the dark sides and turn into a terror to the society which views him through suspicious binoculars.
Having gotten to this lowest ebb of losing their social assets and bemused with the progression of events around them, people who suffer from Social Outcast Syndrome (SOS) begin to prey on the social net-worth of those personalities within their social, political and business environments (by unwittingly creating the enthusiastic crowd that they had lost) through vitriolic verbal attacks or outright blackmail on the larger-than-life personalities like Mr. Peter Obi who they leverage on (like leaches suck human blood to survive) to shore up their lost glory as the only remaining lifeline to their own relevance and public recognition in a world that once has respected and honored their views.
As Shadows of their former public estimation people who suffer from Social Outcast Syndrome crawl, mimicking what they had previously been, albeit in pretense of still being what they previously were. No wonder that they become agents and tools in the hands of people, the highest bidders, who purchase their acts with any or all of those things they have lost, including integrity, respect, etc.
For their quests to banter their acts, many of them who suffer from Social Outcast Syndrome get bought over with money and promises of a comeback to their former social status to rebuild their social assets and beef up their net-worth. With these things assured, people who suffer from Social Outcast Syndrome are always quick in participating in settling political or business scores that they may necessarily not have been party to.
Being a deeper form of ‘victim consciousness’ (exhibited by people afraid to compete with their colleagues or peers who may have beaten them hands down in their common endeavour), Social Outcast Syndrome (SOS) can drive victims to self-destruct through nihilist, suicidal conducts .This becomes possible because Social Outcast Syndrome manifests as a result of chains of failures and/or unattainable or botched ambitions which makes the subconscious mind of the victim prone to negative thoughts and negativities, warped reasoning, (which may lead to admission of wrong for right) and habitual indwelling of the mind on issues that ordinarily will be dismissed with sane and objective reason.
When it turns full blast, Social Outcast Syndrome (SOS) can manifest as pseudo-lunacy because the psyche via the soul, the mind, and the spirit has forcibly, overtime, been disfigured not to be able to take correct analysis and sane interpretation of issues. No wonder it is difficult for people outside their illusionary world to either see through the perspective of the social media influencers like Mr. Reno Omokri or identify the premise upon which their weird arguments and logic with most times, unreasonable and inconsistent conclusion, were founded.
[Syndromes with physiological origin can be diagnosed through various methods including medical history, physical examination, laboratory tests, and genetic analysis .Their symptoms manifest in different ways that are outside the scope of this discourse to enumerate. Treatment and management often involves a multi-disciplinary approach addressing the specific symptoms and underlying causes.
In much the same way physically exhibited syndromes derive their origin from physical, physiological and genetic sources, mental and emotional syndromes such as Social Outcast Syndrome which derive origin from underlying psychological roots may also be confirmed through diagnosis in a person who exhibits symptoms of the syndrome which have elaborately been discussed in this work.
Such diagnosis will be expected to look into such possible underlying issues and triggers like the history of the social or business side of the patient/victim especially as it concerns his previous social net-worth with a view to finding out whether the person suffered or setbacks in either his profession, business, other quests like unrealistic/unrealizable ambitions, etc. as a result of those character deficiencies which turned him in to what he has become.
Social Outcast Syndrome (SOS) in the manner that other medical conditions are addressed by medical experts needs the attention of psychiatrists who must trace and address the underlying factors and triggers as have been pointed out above and recommend measures to handle those underlying factors and triggers including measures to tame the ego and free it of inferiority complex and reintegrate it to the larger society.
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ABUCHI OBIORA
The Kaleidoscope Archives: https://globalupfront.com/section/the-kaleidoscope
Website: https://abuchiobiora.com.ng
E-mail: abuchiobioraonline@gmail.com, abuchiobiora@gmail.com
