AT the risk of being misunderstood as a clergy, or one that was ordained for religious duties, and I am clearly not, I want to tilt the theme of my article today, to the ills of disrespecting the dead, with special bias to the personality of Nigeria’s immediate past President, former President Muhammadu Buhari, of the blessed memory.
Since the demise of Buhari, people have been talking about the life and time of the man, with some saying good, while some are saying things that are ordinarily uncomplimentary.
Those saying the negative have a cover under the tenets of democracy. But it may interest them to know that, death is the inevitable end of everyone. Everyone, male or female, big or small, must test death one day, or night. And depending on what he or she did, Karma would be waiting for them with a verdict. May the verdict reflect their actions, ameen.
There is a Latin phrase that goes thus: “De mortuis nil nisi bonum”. The literal meaning of the phrase is, “Of the dead, say nothing but good.” The general assumption is that, it is used to emphasize the etiquette of discouraging people from speaking ill of the deceased. But there is a caveat, it has to be people that know and respect the meaning of etiquette. Those who don’t know are impliedly exempted.
The saying is rooted in various cultural, religious and historical beliefs, to show respect for the dead, because of the potential for the deceased to hear and be harmed by negative comments. Indeed speaking ill of the dead can be disrespectful to their memory and their family. But only to those that have etiquette.
However, like Wayne W. Dyer, the American author and motivational speaker said, “You can’t give what you don’t have. Those saying bad of Buhari, who now lies lifeless in the grave, certainly lack etiquette. And we can not inculcate one in them now. It’s late, perhaps too late.
Like they did with late General Sani Abacha, cowards would commence coming with comments that may be disparaging, but we know them and know their characteristics, as described by the dictionary, viz: persons who are contemptibly lacking in courage.
They only have the courage to talk bad in the absence of the courageous. Buhari was indeed cultured and courageous. It is noteworthy that he had talked about them long before his death, and specifically gave this type of character of theirs, as the reason why he refused to write a book about his sojourn in service.
”Some people said I should write a book. I don’t think I will ever write a book because I don’t want to hurt anybody. Hurting in the sense that there are certain people that I cannot resist abusing and that has got nothing to do with their children and their grandchildren. So I don’t want to hurt their children and grandchildren. So for the sake of their children and grandchildren, I have left them”-Buhari.
‘For the sake of their children and grandchildren, I have left them’. Yet, these same people, cowards to the core, can not leave him to rest in his grave, for the sake of his children and grandchildren. Reference about them was made in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, where he said, the evil that men do lives after them.
Yes, such people tend to remember the bad actions of others more vividly than their good deeds, especially after they have died. Truly, those who belong to this class of people tend to keep the memories of the negative actions or events of others, longer than the positive ones. But the beauty of life is that, Karma is on standby for them.
The critics may say whatever they wish to say about Buhari, but they need to be told that there is a defect in denigrating the dead. Buhari was not perfect, but his life was excellent, patriotically excellent.
He came, he saw, and he had added value to the meaning of zeal, in the love and defence of the interests of our country, Nigeria. May Allah console his family, we his supporters, and commit his soul to the best of the heavens, ameen.
- Ibrahim is Publicity Director for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
