By
Obododimma Oha
There is
an Igbo wise saying that:Onye ajuju anaghị efu ụzọ ( An inquirer
or a questioner does not get lost). That could easily be contradicted. It was
in the community of innocence that it was the case, literally. The person who
asks for a direction where there are criminals who are even looking for those
to deceive or take advantage of, will smile secretly when asked directions.
They would say in their criminal thought, “God don butter my bread!” (Literally,
“God has buttered my bread for me,” that is “Fortune has smiled on me” or “This
is a wonderful opportunity”). This only shows us that we are getting worse as a
society of humans, not better.It also shows us that our discourses of “truth”
in cultures, need serious overhauling. They may not be in alignment with the
realities of the time.
From a simple
pragmatic perspective, people ask questions because there is information that
they need that they do not already have. In other words, there is a knowledge
they need, which they lack. For anyone to know and ask is a display of
arrogance and an attempt to expose the other as a non-knower! It is captured in
the Igbo saying, “Amarachaa ajụ, ya jụtaara m ụgbọgụrụ ihe mịtara anyụ” (One
who knows but asks should ask the ụgbọgụrụ plant what grew the large pod). It
is a way of signifying that knowing-and-asking is a foolish discursive posture.
But we know that there are areas of life where knowing-but-asking is a way of
life. For instance, teachers have to set examination questions, not because
they are trappers who want to catch students their preys, but they have to find
out whether students could show that they know, as a way teachers have to
convince themselves that their efforts or experiments to produce better people
for society are succeeding. It is also assumed that the teachers already know
the answers before asking the questions. You do not ask students to answer what
you cannot even answer, unless you want to put them into trouble! Also, lawyers
in the courtroom ask questions, with the assumption that they already know the
answers, just to intimidate and silence the other party. In other words, knowing-but-asking may
ordinarily appear to be foolish, but has
already been turned into a means of creating wisdom, legitimacy, and victory.
Now, let us
look at knowing-but-asking and other aspects of knowledge production. On social
media, don’t arguers try to display their knowledge and ask rhetorical
questions as part of the display? In social media argumentation, arguers could
show off their knowledge, even if it
turns out to be flagrant foolishness. Yes; such a Web context is also a classroom where one has to be humble enough to learn from others! Some commenters do not bother to
go deep in looking at updates or their replies but only fulfil their obligations as fans and may just provide their endorsement, so that life
becomes a context where knowledge dances naked. Check many listservs and see knowledge
dancing naked in the global village square! Don’t bother to talk about places
of work where the politics of knowledge (who knows x and who does not) is very
intense!
So, one who
asks for direction may get lost. There may be many things in indigenous Igbo
and other discourses that need to be reviewed to reflect our current reality.
One, of course, is the unfortunate foolishness that may be hiding in and
pretending to be the wisdom of the ancestors in proverbs and persistent myths.
Similarly, one asks for direction at one’s own risk. One may end up with empty
wallets and empty bank account if one is lucky, or one’s head may end up nodding
a bitter welcome at a shrine that handles money or other rituals.
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