Draw the red line

Whether you support or oppose the decision of the then Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbanjo, for drawing a red line on hate speech, you would however agree that the unchecked torrent of negative utterances from every nook and cranny, had assumed alarming dimension, creating a climate of fear and insecurity. It thus became imperative to draw back from the road to anarchy by drawing boundaries.

In justifying the action, Osinbajo declared: “Silence in such situations can only be seen as an endorsement. Hate speech and promotion of the same through history from Nazi Germany and the extermination of the Jews to the Rwandan genocide succeeded in achieving their barbarous ends by the silence of influential voices. The silence of our leaders at this time, in our country will be a grave disservice to our country, its peace and its future.”

Former US President, Barack Obama, had also in 2012, drawn a red line on Syria, regarding the use of chemical weapons to prosecute the war. Obama was later to recant his threat by declaring, “I did not set a red line. The world set a red line.”

The red line is what the world, especially our beloved country, needs today. One of the most worrisome drifts challenging human reasoning is a world without absolutes in which anything is acceptable. The colossal loss of values, the fact that basic human principles are conferred requiem status should be of concern to all. Etiquette does set a red line on bad manners and unethical practices which seem to have eroded human relationships.

As the great philosopher, Socrates, said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” We must begin to examine our ways as social beings, to enable us halt the tide to animalistic tendencies devoid of critical reasoning. If the Almighty God set limits, why should we remove the ancient landmarks? The red line shapes the barrier between acceptable behaviour and impropriety.

Wikipedia defines the red line or to cross the red line as a phrase used worldwide to mean a figurative point of no return, or line in the sand, or a limit past which safety can no longer be guaranteed.

The world cannot afford a tepid reaction to the desecration of social values which appear to be reinforced by the introduction of social media.

It would be a disservice if the proliferation of heinous acts like ritual murder arising for the quest for wealth and power as exemplified in the Rivers State saga are unchallenged.

According to the police in Rivers State, Ifeanyi Dike, a 23-year-old 200 level student, callously abducted the eight-year-old daughter of his neighbour, raped her to death and extracted vital organs ostensibly for ritual. A student of higher learning in a desperate bid to get rich quick subscribes to savage cruelty like ritual murder in an attempt to drive the unbridled lust for wealth.

A more bizarre dimension was discovered in Lagos State, where unscrupulous elements feign insanity while driving a thriving trade in human parts for ritual purposes. Dike and his cohorts in the hall of shame epitomize the deficiency in business ethics and loss of respect for the sanctity of human life.

A distress call from a lady jolted me within the week. She lady said: “Madam, I need you to talk to women; I have counseled some women over this unwholesome practice. Do you know that in an attempt to justify their artificial looks, some women resort to bleaching the skin of their young children?”

I was shell-shocked! Bleaching young children to minimize curious stares or sublet criticism about the parallel between their mothers’ ‘fair complexion’ and that of their darker skinned children, some misguided mothers would actually endanger the wellbeing of innocent children by subjecting their tender skin to harsh chemicals. Sisters, bleach all you want until you become fairer than the Queen of England, but please draw the red line between the craze for beauty and the wellbeing of your children.

Our attitudes and disposition should be disciplined to align with the dictates of courtesy and decency. Anything to the contrary should not enjoy endorsement by silence

We are all products of the red line: style of communication, choice of words, manners, values, how to dress, when to date, what to watch etc. The distinction between human beings and animals is the existence of the red line. That is why anything goes in the jungle, there are hardly any guidelines.

Draw your red line and let people know when they trespass or cross into danger territory. Draw the red line against whims and caprices, that’s the stuff great men are made of. The red line is what separates civilized behaviour from barbarism. We are all products of the red line.

Draw your line today.