Proverbs are are important part of the literary heritage of any culture or society. They may sometimes seem humorous on the surface but often convey a deeper meaning or important message upon reflecting or digesting its content. One of such proverbs is :
He who the 'gods' want to destroy they first make mad.
The short proverb is laden with meaning. It can be interpreted as someone who is doomed for destruction or failure will not heed any counsel or word of caution irrespective of where it is coming from. It can be summarised as an individual engaging in acts or deeds that are clearly self destructive in nature. Some events in recent times may help to drive home the message of this proverb.
The guy who brazenly occupied the seat of Mike Pence in the U.S Congress or the fellow who sat in Nancy Pelosi's chair and placed his feet on her her desk and indeed President Trump all have one thing in common. They acted irrationally against the voice of reason. As if invading Congress wasn't enough the former characters went a step further to literally nail their own coffins via their actions.
They ought to have known that their actions was akin to putting a bull's eye target on their backs and would be first targets to be apprehended by law enforcement unless of course they were hoping that is what would eventually happen probably to gain popularity of sorts.
President Trump might have hoped to see the beginning of an 'American Spring' with the invasion. But like for most of the Arab spring which gushed forth spontaneously nothing much has really changed. In some cases, things even got worse as whole countries lie in ruins or chaos. The action of invading the U.S. Capitol building and disrupting the activities of the Congress in a violent manner was indeed a move in the wrong direction and effectively destroyed any possibility of President Trump gaining any further support from legislators who had intended to challenge the swearing in of the President elect.
The invasion drew widespread condemnation from the vast American populace and indeed the entire civilised world. Even the Vice President condemned the act. Sadly though President Trump will go down in history as the President who incited his supporters against the U.S Congress and indeed democracy via his utterances mostly notably through Twitter and his posturing in the aftermath of the siege on the United States Congress.
Coming closer home, in the midst of the endsars protests in Nigeria, there were attacks on Police facilities in several states including the one where I reside. The attacks culminated in the looting of the armouries and other equipment. In some cases vehicles and building were either badly damaged or set ablaze . In the midst of this chaos certain misguided young men turned themselves into social media celebrities but for all the wrong reasons. The case of D.P.O 'Osaro' and the A.K. 47 wielding 'commando' are good examples that buttress our proverb.
The young man who was called D.P.O Osaro by his peers in the video which trended on social media had unlawfully acquired the uniform of the Divisional Police Officer of one of the stations that had been attacked and ransacked. He went further to compound his problems by donning the uniform and gallivanting with swags on the streets to the cheers of his supporters.
The video ended with him giving a salute in the stolen uniform. The other young man in question whom I tagged the 'A.K 47 commando' was caught on camera inserting a magazine into an AK 47 rifle which he had stolen from one of the vandalised Police installations. He was proudly displaying his 'loot' for the cameras which I am quite sure he knew would make its way to social media platforms.
These fellows deliberately ignored the fact that when law enforcement agents want to fish out law breakers , they are quite efficient in carrying out the task. Barely a few days after the restoration of law and order following deployment of a combined unit of security operatives. These two offenders were amongst the first whose pictures appeared on social media after being apprehended. It is obvious that by the time they are charged to court, the presiding judge will have no difficulty in convicting them due to the incriminating video evidence which they willfully gifted the law enforcement agents.
From these incidents above it is clear that an individual whom the gods want to destroy they indeed make mad else there is no logical explanation for the actions of these individuals which were akin to opting for self destrution.
Shukran
Danke
Merci
Gracias
ขอบคุณ
ধন্যবাদ
Спасибо
for reading.
