The three plagues of governance (2), By Sunday Adelaja

If we are truly and genuinely interested in the advancement of our nation, then we must consciously fight against cynicism as a national occurrence in our strive to build a developed society. It is my hope that there would arise interest groups who will stand to fight against this number one plague to national progress. I also hope that our media and entertainment industry would take up the challenge to fill our political atmosphere with more of faith and trust, while pushing back cynicism in all of its ramifications.

“A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.” ― Oscar Wilde

Coming nearer home, as I write this article, I am thinking of my beloved country Nigeria, Africa and other developing countries of the world. If our newly elected government must succeed, we must specifically put in a lot of efforts to discourage cynicism.

Unfortunately, sometimes, the media doesn’t help. But they rather amplify the already existing level of cynicism in the society. Most of this media houses don’t even realise that by so doing, they are leading the nation in the part of failure and disillusionment.

“Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us.” ― Stephen Colbert

I believe that a patriotic media that wishes to see the progress of its nation must try to discourage cynicism, even though not at the prize of the truth. The media must not compromise the truth. Nevertheless, there are different ways of reporting the truth, either to discourage and brew negative passion in the society or the truth could be reported to spur actions and mass mobilisation of the people for a great cause.

Unfortunately, my studies of the Nigerian political environment tends to point more in the direction of the cynicism of the leaders, government, political parties and nation. So many media houses in Africa and other developing countries, especially Nigeria, try to bring in the erroneous philosophy in American Journalism to Africa. That philosophy says that media is first of all skeptical, cynical, before being truthful. I personally think that the order must be reversed.

Cynicism creates a numbness towards life.

Cynicism begins with a wry assurance that everyone has an angle. Behind every silver lining is a cloud. The cynic is always observing, critiquing, but never engaging, loving, and hoping.

To be cynical is to be distant. While offering a false intimacy of being “in the know,” cynicism actually destroys intimacy. It leads to bitterness that can deaden and even destroy the spirit.

Cynicism begins, oddly enough, with too much of the wrong kind of faith, with naive optimism or foolish confidence. At first glance, genuine faith and naive optimism appear identical, since both foster confidence and hope. But the similarity is only surface deep. Genuine faith comes from knowing that my heavenly Father loves, enjoys, and cares for me. Naive optimism is groundless. It is childlike trust without the loving Father.

Optimism in the goodness of people collapses when it confronts the dark side of life.

Shattered optimism sets us up for the fall into defeated weariness and, eventually, cynicism. You’d think it would just leave us less optimistic, but we humans don’t do neutral well. We go from seeing the bright side of everything to seeing the dark side of everything. We feel betrayed by life.

The movement from naive optimism to cynicism is the new American journey. In naive optimism we don’t need to pray because everything is under control. In cynicism we can’t pray because everything is out of control, and little is possible.

With the Good Shepherd no longer leading us through the valley of the shadow of death, we need something to maintain our sanity. Cynicism’s ironic stance is a weak attempt to maintain a lighthearted equilibrium in a world gone mad.

Without the Good Shepherd, we are alone in a meaningless story. Weariness and fear leave us feeling overwhelmed, unable to move. Cynicism leaves us doubting, unable to dream. The combination shuts down our hearts, and we just show up for life, going through the motions.”  ― Paul E. Miller

If we are truly and genuinely interested in the advancement of our nation, then we must consciously fight against cynicism as a national occurrence in our strive to build a developed society. It is my hope that there would arise interest groups who will stand to fight against this number one plague to national progress. I also hope that our media and entertainment industry would take up the challenge to fill our political atmosphere with more of faith and trust, while pushing back cynicism in all of its ramifications.

Sunday Adelaja is a Nigerian born leader, transformation strategist, pastor and innovator. He was based in Ukraine.