#SAVEMAYOWA: ALTRUISM IN AN AMBIANCE OF FALSEHOOD AND CRIMINALITY.
Crowdfunding, Fundraising or whatever nomenclature we like to affix to a phenomenon that is spreading like wildfire most especially on social media platforms in this epoch of internet of everything is nothing new in our clime socio-culturally speaking because it is an essential element of our communal self help trajectory. That is to say we are communalistically altruistic, the difference is in the methodology of old.
We have had so many instances of community, groups putting money together to send individuals in their community to further their education or houses built in a communal efforts via contributions by groups in a given village.
Therefore, communalistic paradigm of crowdfunding or fundraising is not alien to our Grandfathers and Grandmothers. It is their way of life but this was done in a symbiotic alliance wherein a relationship or partnership exist in the community concerned to the extent that the concept of universal dependancy is the norm. Here we cannot talk of an idealistic altruism rather it is a mannerism of living that is rooted in enlightened communal interest.
AMBIVALENCE:
What ginger my swagger is the recent effort at crowdfunding via #SAVEMAYOWA that netted an estimated 85Million in 3days in a country riddled with economic crises right, left and centre manifest to me that Nigerians are the epitome of the statement that we are all our brother's keeper.
However, this happy feeling was taken over by repugnancy when I started reading all kinds of cock and bull conspiracy stories about crowdfunding meant to save human life turning into solicitation for funds under false pretence and the dramatis personae throwing accusation at one another like a wildfire burning out of control then I knew something tending towards criminality is unfolding.
Why are Nigerians willing to part with their hard earned money to save a stranger they do not have any physical relationship or partnership of any kind with taking into consideration the daily sermonization about poverty and economic hardship in the country. Do we have a special kind of gene for altruistic manifestation or is this as a result of religious indoctrination and dogmatic acceptance of the myth of offerings and tithe or widow's mite.
Let us take it for granted that this is altruism in practice which means Nigerians are not egoistic by nature. The implication of ascribing altruistic deed to the ontological status of Nigerians is to say that we are the true representation of the philosophy brought to limelight by Auguste Comte that has to do with the principle of benevolence cum morality of social sympathy eminating from the view that our actions must be predicated on a solid moral fundamentals to promote the interest of others and relieve their distress always.
This view is rather threatening to our belief in individual self realization and actualization and I do not belief in sacrificing own happiness for others is an ideal that we all should pursue (TI INA BAJO ENI JO OMO ENI TI ARA ENI LAKO NGBON DANU) but we must try to look out for the interest of other people in our community.
Can we truly say we Nigerians are altruistic in a broader critical philosophical sense given the intrinsic nature of the act in itself without sounding inherently contradictory when juxtapositioning it with the fact that there are neuro-psychological satisfaction, fullfilment deriveable by an altruist leading him/her to some kind of subconscious symbiosis.
A subconscious symbiosis in my view is not a relationship or partnership contigent phenomenon since you don't necessarily have to ''know'' in the physical sense the subject/object neither is it bound spatio-temporally. However, it is a feeling an inclination or belief that unselfish devotion to universal welfare is right. Therefore, we can simply qualify Nigerians as people with an inclination for unselfish devotion to universal welfare going by the assumption that we are ontologically programmed to be altruistic.
Note: I do not subscribe to such an opinion rather I am looking for justification in explaining why Nigerians behave in that manner in #SAVEMAYOWA's case.
My view: Most Nigerians who contributed are into the act for the above mentioned fullfilment some kind of an enlightened self-interest a reflective methodology of thinking even if it is not conspicuous to the uninitiated as foundation for the altruistic act itself, the feeling is that the deed is good enough if it purposively contribute to the resolution of the problem at hand.
Now that we have self-interest a reflective methodology of thinking as identifier within the purview of neuro-psychological satisfaction as the basis for such altruistic behavior noticeable in our clime, the next thing to do is to find a way to mitigate exploitation of crowdfunding for self enrichment by people with fraudulent criminal machinations given the unfolding saga in #SAVEMAYOWA's case.
There most be a regulatory framework guidelines and rules to prevent mushrooming of unscrupulous fundraisers and crowdfunding syndicates if this method of sourcing for funds for service to humanity would be sustained and not metamorphose into criminal practices for money laundering and terrorism financing or outright theft.
OTUNBA ADE ILEMOBADE is a philosopher
Twitter: pearl2prince
We have had so many instances of community, groups putting money together to send individuals in their community to further their education or houses built in a communal efforts via contributions by groups in a given village.
Therefore, communalistic paradigm of crowdfunding or fundraising is not alien to our Grandfathers and Grandmothers. It is their way of life but this was done in a symbiotic alliance wherein a relationship or partnership exist in the community concerned to the extent that the concept of universal dependancy is the norm. Here we cannot talk of an idealistic altruism rather it is a mannerism of living that is rooted in enlightened communal interest.
AMBIVALENCE:
What ginger my swagger is the recent effort at crowdfunding via #SAVEMAYOWA that netted an estimated 85Million in 3days in a country riddled with economic crises right, left and centre manifest to me that Nigerians are the epitome of the statement that we are all our brother's keeper.
However, this happy feeling was taken over by repugnancy when I started reading all kinds of cock and bull conspiracy stories about crowdfunding meant to save human life turning into solicitation for funds under false pretence and the dramatis personae throwing accusation at one another like a wildfire burning out of control then I knew something tending towards criminality is unfolding.
Why are Nigerians willing to part with their hard earned money to save a stranger they do not have any physical relationship or partnership of any kind with taking into consideration the daily sermonization about poverty and economic hardship in the country. Do we have a special kind of gene for altruistic manifestation or is this as a result of religious indoctrination and dogmatic acceptance of the myth of offerings and tithe or widow's mite.
Let us take it for granted that this is altruism in practice which means Nigerians are not egoistic by nature. The implication of ascribing altruistic deed to the ontological status of Nigerians is to say that we are the true representation of the philosophy brought to limelight by Auguste Comte that has to do with the principle of benevolence cum morality of social sympathy eminating from the view that our actions must be predicated on a solid moral fundamentals to promote the interest of others and relieve their distress always.
This view is rather threatening to our belief in individual self realization and actualization and I do not belief in sacrificing own happiness for others is an ideal that we all should pursue (TI INA BAJO ENI JO OMO ENI TI ARA ENI LAKO NGBON DANU) but we must try to look out for the interest of other people in our community.
Can we truly say we Nigerians are altruistic in a broader critical philosophical sense given the intrinsic nature of the act in itself without sounding inherently contradictory when juxtapositioning it with the fact that there are neuro-psychological satisfaction, fullfilment deriveable by an altruist leading him/her to some kind of subconscious symbiosis.
A subconscious symbiosis in my view is not a relationship or partnership contigent phenomenon since you don't necessarily have to ''know'' in the physical sense the subject/object neither is it bound spatio-temporally. However, it is a feeling an inclination or belief that unselfish devotion to universal welfare is right. Therefore, we can simply qualify Nigerians as people with an inclination for unselfish devotion to universal welfare going by the assumption that we are ontologically programmed to be altruistic.
Note: I do not subscribe to such an opinion rather I am looking for justification in explaining why Nigerians behave in that manner in #SAVEMAYOWA's case.
My view: Most Nigerians who contributed are into the act for the above mentioned fullfilment some kind of an enlightened self-interest a reflective methodology of thinking even if it is not conspicuous to the uninitiated as foundation for the altruistic act itself, the feeling is that the deed is good enough if it purposively contribute to the resolution of the problem at hand.
Now that we have self-interest a reflective methodology of thinking as identifier within the purview of neuro-psychological satisfaction as the basis for such altruistic behavior noticeable in our clime, the next thing to do is to find a way to mitigate exploitation of crowdfunding for self enrichment by people with fraudulent criminal machinations given the unfolding saga in #SAVEMAYOWA's case.
There most be a regulatory framework guidelines and rules to prevent mushrooming of unscrupulous fundraisers and crowdfunding syndicates if this method of sourcing for funds for service to humanity would be sustained and not metamorphose into criminal practices for money laundering and terrorism financing or outright theft.
OTUNBA ADE ILEMOBADE is a philosopher
Twitter: pearl2prince
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