DON'T LET ANYONE BENEFIT FROM YOUR IGNORANCE.

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There is a saying in our local parlance which says; "When a Mugu falls, guy man will chop". Let me explain some of the world for a better understanding of the saying. "Mugu" is Pidgin English. It is used to describe someone who lack knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. "Guy Man" as used here is the opposite of "Mugu". Guy Man is seen as someone clever and wise but dubious in nature. He uses his so-called wisdom to profit himself from others disadvantaged circumstances. "Chop" is also Pidgin English. It means Eat, Gain, Cheat, and Dupe depending on its usage. I hope you can understanding with the saying particularly if you are not from this part of the world.

As you are reading this article, someone somewhere is smiling to the bank as a result of another persons' ignorance about certain life condition. Some of you friends may have at one time lost some money or other valuables to someone who cleverly manipulated your disadvantage to profit himself. Somebody somewhere may fall victim tomorrow if he finds himself in a strange and unfamiliar environment. Let me use some old and experiences to illustrate the Title of this writeup.

In the early colonial days according stories told not only by my father but buy other older men in my village, the Colonial Masters established what was known as District Courts to deal with and settle matters among the natives. In charge of the District Courts were District Officers who were Europeans and they were Court Clerks who assisted these District Officers in dealing with daily court proceedings. The Court Clerks who served as Interpreter usually was one of the natives who as it were have some measure of understanding of English Language. It was not difficult for the natives to trust the court proceedings because of their kinsmen who served as the Interpreters.

According to my father, a certain man I will here refer to as Mr. John was the Interpreter in the district court in our area and the natives trusted him. The natives never understood how much Mr. John benefited from their lack of understanding of English Language until some in our community began learning the language. Until today, Mr. John's name is still used proverbially to describe a cheat by some old men in our community.

How did he benefited from his kinsmen ignorance? Let me explain. The District Officer had a way of pronouncing words. So, sometimes the natives determine the meaning of his utterances by the way it sounded. One of such words was 'No'. When the DC says 'no' 'no' 'no', to the natives, it sound 'newu' 'newu' 'newu'. So anytime the District Officer say 'NO', Mr. John will interpret it to mean 'newu'. In Ibo language, 'nne-ewu' generally mean 'She Goat'.So it happened that if during court session, a situation arises where the District Officer raised his voice and hand and said no no no!. Mr. John will turn to the man who standing trial ask him, "did you hear what the White Man says? He said "Nne-Ewu, Nne-Ewu ato". Meaning literally "She-Goat She-Goat Three" . He will turn to the man and tell him that the White Man in effect said that he must bring Three She-Goat or otherwise he will go to prison. Since the man naturally will not want to go to prison, he would enter into negotiations with the Court Clerk and at the end, he will part with one or two goats.

While the man revile and curse the District Officer for taking his goat, he would not know that it was his kinsman who used his position to ripe him off his goat and that "NO" doesn't mean "Nne-Ewu". It was when some men from the communities began to learn English Language that Mr. John's atrocities came to light and the DC himself learnt with dismay the reproaches the Court Clerk has brought on him. Nevertheless, he had acquired much wealth for himself from his kinsmen. Sad to say that Mr. John took advantage of his kinsmen's ignorance of White Man's language to enrich himself and his family to the detriment of hid kinsmen. What happened to him later is a story for another day.

The advent of the early missionaries brought development early in my village. The developments could be traced back to around 1910 when it is believed that the early missionaries arrived in Isiama Ohafia. Among the amenities provided to the villagers was electricity. As many homes began to enjoy it, some business in the communities began trading in electrical fixtures and fittings including electric bulbs.A certain Mr. Kalu who was selling electric bulbs realized that his kinsmen knows little about electricity so, he took advantage of their ignorance and began cheating them. So, he began to sell dead bulbs to his unsuspecting kinsmen.

When a man who unknowingly bought a dead bulb returned it to him, he will put the man under cross-examination. He would ask the person, "did you put the switch on or off before you fixed the bulb?" If the man say that he switched it off or on, Mr. Kalu will blame the buyer for being responsible for the death of the so-called bulb. Which ever way the answer comes, he would put the blame on the buyer. "It is your fault", he would explain to the unfortunate buyer. "I instructed you not to put the switch on before fixing the bulb but you went and do otherwise. You see, it is your fault". To another man who did not switched on before fixing the bulb, he would exclaim, "it is your fault. I told you to put the switch on before fixing the bulb but you refused to listen".

At the end of the whole drama, the ignorant buyer will pay for another bulb and at this time, go with a live bulb. When the bulb is on and alive, the man may forget completely how he had the bulb fixed, whether he switched it on or off. It was when other natives began selling electric bulbs and other electric fixtures and fittings that Mr. Kalu's lies cheats, and atrocities were fully understood by the villagers. Even though he profited himself and made much money from his kinsmen's ignorance, his name went down on the wrong side of history. Until today, nobody in my community can remember his surname as his name became synonymous to lies. His surname given to him by his kinsmen can be interpreted as "Bag Of Lies" or "Bag Filled With Lies".

The last experience happened to me not too long ago. I have a very limited knowledge about computer. I can only type and store data, download files, and watch videos so, when I wanted to buy a computer, I went to a friend who is a dealer on fairly used computers with confidence that he will recommend the best to me. But the opposite was the case. Recently, my mentor who is an expert in computers analyzed the computer and made revelations that would have discouraged me from purchasing the very version. While I will not say that my friend cheated on me but, I can say that he sold that version to me based on my limited knowledge about computer. If I have half of the knowledge my mentor have, I would have rejected it without delay. It was just few weeks ago that I came to the knowledge of the version, capacity, and speed. So, someone also benefited from my ignorance as well and sold a computer I would have not touched if I have adequate knowledge like my mentor.

What's the point of all these narrations? The point is that nobody is encyclopedic respecting knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. There are many things that we know and many we do not. Sometimes, as imperfect humans with imperfect memory, we sometimes forget things we know when we needed the most. Regardless of our age, level of education, where we live, then people we know, profession, position, and possession, we must accept as a hard fact that since we do not know everything, that there are individuals or group of individuals who know what we do not know and who may capitalize on our ignorance of certain field of knowledge and rip us off of our money or other valuables. Having this kind of understanding will protect of from such dubious men. However, if one legitimately make money from our ignorance by teaching us or we teach others and earn legitimate money, we would have committed no crime at all.

STEPS TO PROTECT YOUSELF: source

1. Develop hunger for knowledge.
2. Read books both hard and soft copies.
3. Ask questions and seek for answers.
4. Search for knowledge-base internet sites.
5. Widen out in your friendship. Relate with those who knows more than you and vice-versa.
6. Accept mentorship when necessary.
7. Do not engage in a business transaction you do not understand. Seek for assistance.
8. Make research on subjects and things you do not know or understand.
9. Be balanced in your quest for knowledge to avoid falling into a snare easily.
10. Do not determine to make it by all means.
11. Run when a business is too good to believe. When it is a case of invest few hundreds of naira and earn hundreds of millions. Always look before you leap.

Granted that we may not know everything worthy of knowing, however, we can acquire enough knowledge about our environment that can protect us from men who capitalize on others disadvantage to profit themselves. Therefore, if "Mugu" refuse to fall, the so-called "Guy Man" will have nothing to "Chop".

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