You know them when you meet them. They have inflated egos and a grandiose sense of self-importance and entitlement. They bluster, they brag, they rant and rave. And they have a need for constant and excessive validation and praise by others. They demand privilege, deference, adulation and bowed heads.
Universities proclaim mottoes that commemorate a befittingly grand ideal, like Harvard’s Veritas (Truth) and Oxford’s Dominus Illuminatio Mea (The Lord is my light). The University of Nigeria’s motto expresses a pragmatic purpose: To Restore the Dignity of Man.
The attitudes, behaviors and actions of some of them have created a narrative which conflates everyone, inexplicably, into one cesspool of malfeasance, reinforcing the prejudices against them and misrepresentations of the entire group.
Amid ominous rumblings of thunderstorms, And swirling turbulent winds, As lightning flashes seared the air, And apocalyptic dark sky descended, I dreamed of a dystopian nation.