'Why Evil Thrives' By Adesina Ogunlana

Why does evil thrive? There are many answers to this question but one real reason I know is this:- Evil can only thrive in good soil. I am talking now like the son of a farmer that I am. By the way, my dad, daddy 1 still farms at his ‘etile’ farm at 83.

Evil is a seed. Like any seed it needs a conductive environment, to wit appropriate soil, fertilisers, sun-light, moisture, absence of bullying weeds etc to grow well and bear bountiful fruits.

In the absence of a conducive atmosphere, supportive of aspirations to bloom, then evil wallowing in lack, will wilt, wither and waste. I bet you anywhere you see evil thriving, strutting confidently and shamefully about, you can be sure that, it has received fat and active support at inception.

There is a famous quotation that evil thrives, when good men keep silent. On the surface, that statement looks quite reasonable and unassailable. But I tell you, that statement is false and a mis-representation of the true facts and realities of life.

You see good men, if indeed they are so, cannot keep quiet in the presence of evil. If you drop a paste of pepper and tomato in frying oil, the oil cannot keep sealed lips. It will yell and scream its annoyance. If a deer dares a dance in front of an unchained tiger, you can be sure that the cat will not be nodding its head in appreciation.

Evil and goodness are neither friends nor relatives. They are foes, irreconcilable enemies that irritate, antagonise and necessarily activate each other to different and opposite directions. But sometimes men mistake some members of the Brotherhood of Evil as members of the Society of the Good. This is what I mean, when evil is committed or being perpetrated, the focus is on those I call the Section 7(a) performers- the actual doers. Their aiders and abettors even counselors are not easily known because they wear cloaks of silence and visage of gentility. These are folks, who when they hear Evil, they keep quiet. When they see Evil, they keep even more silent, when they sense Evil, they shrug and when they smell Evil, they grow dumb.

But when they see and hear that evil is apprehended and justly punished, they receive instant deliverance from their afflictions of deafness, blindness and muteness. They holler, they even cry and shed tears over the plight of the wicked receiving his just deserts. They become apostle of mercy, forgiving spirit and emergency espousal of the principles of not rewarding Evil with Evil.

In effect many so called good men, who cause evil to thrive, by their silence in the face of evil, are actually fake good men. In truth and in light, they are Evil. In such a group or community of people, the truly good are in the minority.

Verily then I say unto you, Evil can only thrive where and when Evil is in the majority, a comfortable majority for that matter.
I was inclined on this line of thought by the reactions of some readers of our recent story in the Squib that a new wig wrongly and unlawfully appropriated a tailored and configured piece of textile materials of another lawyer.

The class of readers I refer to above appeared to be more concerned that the identity of the purloiner was exposed to “the whole world” and the possible ruination of his career than the sordidness of his ugly and professionally unacceptable behaviour. Thus they accused the Squib Editor of “wickedness” callousness and even treachery. However the questions these “good men” could not answer was:
Should a thief be a lawyer?
Or put another way,
Should a lawyer be a thief?