A Rejoinder To Mr Reno Omokri On The Denigration Of Philosophy As A Discipline And Field Of Study -By Dokpesi Timothy Adidi

On the 22^nd September, 2022 I woke up in the early hours of the morning to scroll through my phone as usual to reply to messages on my WhatsApp. I eventually decided to enter the Twitter page and see the latest from social media influencers and what they have to say. I came across a post of Mr. Reno Omokri’s verified Twitter account on the denigration of the field of Philosophy which he considers as irrelevant compared to other discipline. It is either I did not interpret the post very well or I am bias of the post made by Mr. Reno Omokri. As such, let me express my post-judice and prejudice on the content of the verified Twitter account of Mr. Reno Omokri in regards to his statement and content on Mr. Peter Obi and his study of Philosophy as a discipline. It will be necessary I reiterate what Mr. Reno Omokri wrote and displayed on his verified Twitter handle. He said, “The most educationally backward of all the major candidates is Obi. Nigeria’s challenges are serious. I am not sure a man whose highest educational qualification is a Second Class degree in Philosophy is better than those with PhDs and Masters in relevant courses”.

I am not a regular politician; but I know I am obliged to be interested in politics and most especially as one who is making serious attempt to climb the academic ladder. My discipline is Philosophy; and as one who loves the discipline so much and the intellectual fruits of what Philosophy can do; then, I have no choice but to educate Mr. Reno Omokri to make him understand that every discipline in relevant. Firstly, let me make me Mr. Reno Omokri understand that the discipline Philosophy is not tied to the personality of Mr. Peter Obi the Presidential aspirant of the Labour Party (LP).

In fact, in my opinion it was purely academic unprofessionalism to have reduced the discipline Philosophy to the personality of Mr. Peter Obi. I therefore understand with Mr. Reno Omokri who is not an academician and a professional scholar to have misplaced understand and the dynamics of academics. Mr. Reno Omokri, to have opined and implied that Philosophy is not as relevant as other courses with PhDs and Masters is a disservice to Philosophy. Just in case you forgot your GST 101 back in your 100L days as a student in the University you attended, I hope to remind you that Philosophy is the mother of all discipline. It is most likely you forgot this in the course of studying Philosophy, Logic and Human Existence. It is also possible that during your days you were amongst those who were missing an important subject of this nature. Hence, the effect of missing such important subject during classes has finally caught up with you.

More so, Mr. Reno Omokri, I believe that you probably took this course for granted and this rightly affected your logic. Logic is central to the study of Philosophy; and, there is an area in Logic call FALLACY. If you were very conscious of the rudiments and the principles of GST 101 in your University days, then, you will understand you have just committed a fallacy. This kind of fallacy represents your inability to separate the dancer from the dance. Let me again educate you on this kind of fallacy you committed just in case you forgot your GST 101 or just in case you missed classes when others like Mr. Peter Obi decided to study Philosophy. This kind of fallacy is called Argumentum Ad Hominiem.

Argumentum ad hominem, which is short for “to the person”, refers to a variety of arguments, the majority of which are erroneous. Ad hominem is Latin for “to the person”. Typically, when someone uses this term, they are referring to a rhetorical tactic where they attack the person making the argument rather than dealing with the actual argument’s points of contention. Ad hominem is most frequently used in the format of “A makes a claim x, B claims that A holds a property that is unwanted, hence B concludes that argument x is erroneous”. I understand why you do not give regard to a discipline of such inestimable value. This is nothing more than the fact that we are in a clime were our youths today have considered such a discipline irrelevant to the point that there is hardly anyone who decides to go into the discipline Philosophy in a clime call Nigeria. I do not want to go into the nitty-gritty of such orientation.

Mr. Reno Omokri, I have always listened to you on matters of theological discourses, social and political analysis and a wide range of issues. I now understand why you are always caught up in eclecticism which most times frustrate the philosophical foundation of your thesis. Let me appreciate you on the very fact that you are such a voracious reader; and, you have indeed read almost everything to the point of been unable to synthesize anything in everything. Again, this is a big challenge when people like you undermine Philosophy. I have studied your line of thoughts so much well that I always try to dismiss your position in everything you say due to the lack of depth in the things you say.

This lack of depth has a very stronghold on your deficient and malnutritionized intellectual ineptitude as seen in your denigration of Philosophy as a discipline. Mr. Reno Omokri, it will interest you to know that for any course you study as a discipline, no one gives a PhD in that field or discipline of study. For example, a scholar is not awarded Doctorate in Sociology or in Psychology or Chemistry but a Doctor in Philosophy then before the area of his/her major. Hence, at the end of every academic discipline what is awarded is a Doctor of Philosophy. This also puts Philosophy as a discipline at a respectable academic and intellectual advantage with historical precedence.

You (Mr. Reno Omokri) have always claimed to have a vast knowledge in Theology to the extent of having the opportunity in engaging Catholic Priest in the area of Trinitarian Theology as projected in the study of Systematic Theology. Yet, your unprocessed ignorance will not give you the humility to understand that every good Theology is predicated on sound Philosophy; as this again makes you intellectually inadequate in such areas of study due to your denigration of Philosophy as a discipline. I hope you will understand that intellectual prowess comes with humility to learn; as most of the time in your writes up you have this sense of knowing everything because of your vast knowledge in traversing the whole ‘universe’. In as much you are appreciated for travelling around the universe it still does not make you know anything. Let me usher you into the Socratic dialogue of the discipline call Philosophy.

The Socratic dialogue enlightens and emboldens one to understand that his ignorance is not a weakness. There is a difference between unprocessed ignorance and a processed ignorance. A processed ignorance is classical and this Socrates identifies as one who knows nothing but accepts the facts he knows nothing. This is against one who claims to know but knows nothing; as such, you know nothing about Philosophy and other areas you think you know; yet, you don’t acknowledge that you do not know and claim to know.

I understand again that you have your choice of candidate for the next general election; one would expect that you have the fundamental human right to choose the candidate you hope to present as the Presidential candidate. I hope you can learn to separate issues from persons and sell your candidate to the best interest of the Nigerian people. As you sell your candidates, know that we have an Association of Philosophers in Nigeria. The members of this Association studied Philosophy and are contributing to National development in Nigeria and outside Nigeria. We also have members of this Association who are Associate members and never studied philosophy; but, because of their love for Philosophy they are members and are either learning from Philosophers or are also contributing to what Philosophers are doing.

I wish you the very best in your campaign strategy to help Nigerians move forward with a better candidate.

ADIDI, Dokpesi Timothy