Adenmosun Oluwatobilob... 1 year ago

@Ayodele 4 min read View comments 2 #people-lifestyle

Bigmanism, The Syndrome

should "Bigmanism" be encouraged in interpersonal relations?

First and foremost, I want you to realize that the word "Bigmanism" is a creation by our society, Nigeria, to identify or describe a social phenomenon portrayed by some of us. You will likely not come across it in any of the dictionaries in the best library, so do not waste your time looking it up. "Bigmanism" and the"Oga syndrome" are inextricably interwoven. On a universal scale, both are akin or at least have some things peculiar to bossiness. However, I believe that "Bigmanism or the "Oga syndrome " is bossiness in the extreme and not without some neurotic complications.

I will give you a useful tip-off; whenever you come across a man that consciously demands that he be treated with some deference, suspect his credentials straight up. I say this because a man that has a natural or genuine claim to interpersonal honor is normally or usually humble. Any "big man" that is not humble with his social status but prefers to herald his presence to the four winds through bugles and trumpets and so would expect "lower" mortals to shiver and quake at his view, trust me, is no "big man" at all. He is likely to be a fake. In addition, such people are usually pitiful victims of inferiority complex, which they consciously attempt to compensate through a false guise of authority or "Bigmanism."

In Nigeria, we have a few rather than a handful of such characters- people who fancy being seen as big when as a matter of fact, they are the minutest of all. In this generic group, also you find those who usually cannot cut their coats according to their size. I would reiterate in pidgin that "Them no wan do wetin them sabi." On a rational plane, I tell you that there are no "zero men"; the cosmos doesn't create such man. Every man fills a niche in life. Unfortunately, only very few so-called lowly folks realize this, and so instead of counting their blessings and smiling, they tend to mourn their station through unnecessary interpersonal comparison of " relative niches."

As a specimen, if, for instance, all night soil men or refuse collection men decide to nullify their niche and withdraw their services, the immediate doom to society would be a devastating health hazard; epidemics and what have you, and no amount of "Baba alaye" or "Bigmanism" would hold the scourge of epidemics. The word " big" is irrelevant in its descriptive significance without a point or points of reference. Thus "2" is greater than "1" but smaller than "3", and although classically "1" is greater than "0", we could also go into "negative" scales. Journeying down to man, always remember that whenever you rate yourself higher than a neighbor, there is also another neighbor along the "human scale" that is higher than you. And it is right along with the station. So, there is no need to cry over spilled milk about your "humble" status; it is a relative scenario. I think Henry the fifth hit at the relationship between real greatness and humility when he told his troops during the battle of Agincourt that "The king is but a man."Also, the life of Jesus buttressed throughout the place of humility in greatness. Remember that Christ washed his disciples' feet.

In the final analysis, it is not that so-called "big man" who must always insist that you chant "Oga" to his approving ears while he remains perched on his heights that enjoys the confidence of the masses, but the big man who is so humbled by his "bigness" that he would feel at ease drinking palm wine at the village pub like Kendrick Lamar drank sachet water in Ghana, as much as he would, toasting with champagne in the exclusive club.