Pulse Blogger: The perception of fear

If we continually ‘murder’ the younger generations’ inquisitiveness, what then are we going to do with all this future?

As a young Nigerian child, I was 'programmed' to run at the first hint of fear: It didn't matter if what was at the other end of the line wasn't as ‘fearful’ a threat as it imposed, the first reaction was to; run. You might justifiably argue that it is basic human instinct, and I will agree with you but add that being a Nigerian escalated the fear factor.

It really affected a lot of things as risk taking was mostly unheard of growing up Nigerian. It started from the lantern being lighted when I could barely crawl. I bet it was fascinating to watch in all its gloriousness as a kid; still is for me. Being drawn to the glow of the lantern which were really common and was a likely commodity in most houses, as a result of the power surge that frequently occurred then and sadly still is in most parts of the country.

Mama called it “jojo” (a coined word from the Yoruba language to mean ‘hot’). Being young and inquisitive, my young mind wouldn't allow me to rest until I actually touched the shell of the glass covering the lantern and oh, how I learnt. I finally understood what she meant. From there onward, even if a fridge was right before me and anyone said “jojo”, I would usually run for my dear life. That was most likely my first perception of fear.

That perception and many others like hearing "you will fall o"; which I learnt from after falling, "leave there"; which earned me a spank or two on the ass, slowly buried the inquisitiveness in me, and probably you too and that’s why a whole generation emerged right under our noses who would rather run at the first hint of ‘danger’ than walk into it. As a youngster, I was shielded from danger, shielded from mistakes, shielded from just about anything and everything. While this isn't wrong, it may also not have been entirely right, as slowly the inquisitive spirit faded away. Only a few rose beyond this perception and thankfully they did.

If you want to know how much of an havoc this perception caused, gather a group of about twelve people or lesser, go to a crowded arena, then at the same time, you all should start shouting and run in a particular direction, people will scatter in various direction, there might even be a stampede.

Except Hollywood is a scam, and there is no iota of truth in their characters and the way they arw portrayed, people over there would rather wait and see for themselves what is chasing them before they run.

If we continually ‘murder’ the younger generations’ inquisitiveness, what then are we going to do with all this future? We might not even have to stroke the tail of the lion in our quest for inquisitiveness: Maybe we just need to find out why the lion is hungry to start with and then feed it. Else, we will be raising generations of cynical individuals with little or no regard to step up their game and we'll continually be in a dilemma when we could be so much more.

Inquisitiveness birthed the phone, the bulb, electronic appliances and so many more. It's high time we stepped up our game as Nigerians and Africans; not expecting things to be done for us, but rather digging deep to understand why the problem is there to begin with, because only then can we solve it.

People call me Kris and I want to know why humpty dumpty sat on the wall to begin with.

Written by Christiana Osun.

Christiana is a lover of words. She's not just a reader, she's also a writer. She's sarcastic, fun loving, and a jack and master of most things creative. She has her website underway, so watch out.

Instagram handle:  _themillenniallady_  Facebook: OSUN Christiana Oluwadamilola Email: krwistee@gmail.com

SOURCE - PULSE.NG posted by Campus94