AS we were essaying on our last ride on the language train, without words, the basic unit of language, you and I cannot tell another person what we have seen or heard, and the clan of journalists known as reporters cannot narrate to the public what they have gathered. To put that technically and tersely, we cannot 're-present' reality without words. True, we do use pictures and diagrams to re-present reality, but words are the ever-ready symbols at man's disposal.At our point of disembarkation on our last ride, we had promised that the first course on our menu when the philological train resumed its journey would be ' to recall my exact words, 'a curious dimension of the war between words and reality,' with regard to an event that took place in Lagos on March 22, 2012, when a journalist of renown was honoured. If you can recall, on that day, at the Shell Hall of the Muson Centre, Onikan, a book titled, 'Osoba: The Newspaper Years,' was launched.When his turn came to speak, Chief Segun Osoba made one startling remark: he revealed the source of the information that gave him a scoop which made his newspaper beat all its competitors hands down. Now, here is what I consider to be a curious dimension of the war between words and reality: When General Emmanuel Abisoye 'leaked' the information that General Murtala Muhammed would become Head of State after the coup to Reporter Osoba, what did the words of the general re-present' Was it reality'Without dipping our feet into the murky waters of philosophy, specifically, metaphysics or ontology, let us say, simply, that reality refers to something that exists or something that has happened. Reality pertains to something in the past, which still stands and, as such, could be verified, or something in the present that is accessible and verifiable. Reality does not pertain to the future.The information that General Murtala would become Head of State after the coup that toppled General Yakubu Gowon belonged to the future, and, therefore, does not pertain to 'reality,' as at when it was divulged. That was a possibility or a probability, at best. Anything could have happened between the time General Abisoye confided in Reporter Osoba and the time his newspaper hit the newsstand to undo his words.For that reason, the best we can say of the general's words is that they foreshadowed or foretold reality, but they did not re-present reality. When I put the matter before Misan, my bosom friend and alter ego, for his consideration, he used a phrase which I prefer to either 'foreshadowing' or 'foretelling' reality. Misan said that the general's words to the reporter were 'flirting with reality.' One of the definitions of the verb, 'flirt,' offered by the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary states, thus: 'to take risks or not worry about a dangerous situation that may happen.'How true! I cannot readily find a term for it, but what I am trying to do is to advert your mind to this very curious phenomenon that presents a dilemma to journalists, especially, reporters, whose responsibility it is to cover reality: Whenever reporters take the words of their sources concerning the future, that is, whenever they flirt with reality, to use Misan's phrase, they take a leap of faith. On such occasions when the future beckons, and when there is doubt, but the public interest is greatly involved, reporters and their editors can afford to take a leap of faith, only when the source is eminently TRUSTWORTHY.Whereas TRUST is the basis on which reporters take the words of their sources, CONFIDENTIALITY is the basis on which sources give their words to reporters. Voila, now, I think I have a term for the phenomenon. How about: CONFLUENCE OF FAITH'On March 22, 2012, when erstwhile reporter, Segun Osoba, revealed the source of his information and the source, General Emmanuel Abisoye, demurred, what was being celebrated was a confluence of faith, which is a product of trust and confidentiality. And, I dare say, Nigerian journalism, nay, journalism, generally, and the nation were the better for it.I do no know the exact words with which the Daily Times couched the headline of the coup story that was reported by Ace Reporter Osoba, so cannot say whether the words flirted with or re-presented reality. But I can definitely say whether the words in the following headline re-present reality or not: 'God chose me, even if I'm not the best, Jonathan declares.' The headline is that of The Nation on April 15, 2015.Here are the exact words of President Goodluck Jonathan at a prayer meeting held at the State House, Abuja, the previous day, as quoted by the newspaper: 'I always make my supplication to God that, in selecting me to be President of this country, the Vice President, the Governors, members of the national assembly, the Ministers, we are not the best material; but God knows why he chose us and we pray he should use us to change this country.'Did I hear you say alleluia to the president's asseveration' Well, because what is involved is rather complex, let me try to break down the president's asseveration into four parts, and then subject each part to what, for want of a better word, we may call a REALITY check. These are the four parts:' 'God selected me to be the President of this country.'' 'We are not the best material.'' 'God knows why he chose us.'' 'We pray he should use us to change this country.'Hmm, o le ku!The question is: Do these words from the president's mouth re-present reality'Do the words foreshadow or foretell reality' Or, to use Misan's fond phrase, do the words flirt with reality'The point is, words, our words, do sundry things to reality. The other day, another friend of mine told me that my words 'caressed' reality. 'Christ,' I hollered, 'just what do you mean by that'' He looked at me askance, and then said, 'You really mean you don't know what I mean by that' Tell me, what do you not know: is it the word 'caress' or 'reality''' I was so bemused Rather bemused, I blurted: 'Get out of my face!'Seriously, though, what can we say about the words in the president's asseveration, qua its four portions, and reality' This philological excursion to the world of words and reality is not over, yet!A Commemorative Note. Whether you agree with me or not, let me join the president in claiming divine blessing. For it was purely the act of God that made LOP miss being born on April Fool Day by the whiskers! On April 2, 1990, Language On Parade made its debut with the article titled, 'A Child Is Born.' Gee, so 22 years have flown by, just like that!Believe me, I would not even have remembered the anniversary of LOP, but for a comment that I read on exactly its 22nd anniversary, that is April 2, 2012. The comment came from Femo Scorpion, a reader who was responding to a piece by Segun Adeniyi in ThisDay, with the title, 'A Word for Tinubu at 60.' And this was the sentence that brought about my nostalgia: 'Right now, Tinubu is perceived as an 'autocratic democrat,' which is really an OXYMORON, but nevertheless very distinctive from a progressive democrat.'Femo did not capitalize that word, OXYMORON; I did. When LOP made its debut in The Guardian on Sunday, April 2, 1990, the linguistic feature on parade that day was: The Oxymoron. Nothing stops the glasses from clinking in arrears!
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