When a society's decisions and policies are enacted purely to please the majority and, at the same time, lack the initiative to consider the needs of the minority, we have, at the core of that society, a "Tyranny of the majority".

I came across the chapter "Appeal to Normality"  while reading the book "Mastering Logical Fallacies" by Michael Withey. "Appeal to normality" is a phenomenon that focuses on the bias we possess as humans, in falling prey to the notion that because something's normal, it's right, and simultaneously, because it's abnormal, then it's wrong.

In this context, "normal" refers to that which is popularly accepted by the majority. Of the many things that can be put into question about the state and affairs of Nigeria, one area that can't be questioned's ability to hold onto ideas from previous generations.

Beliefs become the stable foundation of a society, but what happens when we hold onto it too long.

As societies evolve, so does our knowledge and understanding of the world around us. A healthy society is one which continuously re-evaluates its ideas, with the new information being brought to light. But in Nigeria, the switch from old ideas to new is slow or, sometimes, nonexistent.

Minorities in a democratic system are those who fall outside the common groups of the majority; these are people that exist outside the realm of what is considered normal by society.

Our inability to integrate new ideas that could move us from Point Y to Point X makes it difficult for minority groups to get a say or a hearing in society. We render them stuck.

And that's not all. A number of them get ridiculed and shamed for who they are. Made to feel inferior. They become foreigners in a land that was to be their own.

Having dyslexia in a system where the concept hasn't been brought to awareness, I became subject to a lot of criticisms and scrutiny. Not that those who acted as such were evil; rather, the system hadn't allowed for new ideas to be integrated into it.

In the school system, I and some others fell into the group of the minority and fell victim to a common occurrence in the Nigerian society towards minorities.

Minorities are not just found in schools; an Igbo man in a Yoruba town or a woman in a male dominated work space, the list is continuous.

In a healthier society and school, ideas are constantly challenged and restructured for the progress of the state.

Every day, the world opens itself up to new perspectives of people, and not for its own sake, but rather to intentionally invite all into the system to eradicate harmful beliefs and move towards having a new set of beliefs that encompass the humanity within that society.

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