The Concourse – Published 30th July 2025
– By Soney Antai
What is man?
Psalm 8:3-4 AMPC
[3] When I view and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained and established, [4] What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?
https://bible.com/bible/8/psa.8.3-4.AMPC
Greek philosopher Socrates is said to have been the mind behind the saying, “Man know thyself.” Another angle to the assertion, which is, “know thyself,” was one of the three inscriptions on the temple of Apollo in Delphi. Anyways, whether Socrates actually coined the phrase or not is not, in this columnist’s view, as important as what the saying actually means.
We are told that for Socrates, this meant a call on man to examine what he is about: purpose, pursuit, preoccupation, and destination (my paraphrase). But this self-knowledge could just be subjective except it is placed against a benchmark of what is objective, in the sense of measurability. However, how does one measure one’s self-knowledge without slipping into self-glorification? So the difficulty this imposes on the mind makes it imperative to interrogate if man can, indeed, know himself.
It is my considered position that there’s no adult homo sapien who has never ever regretted their actions at one point or another. We are all limited, and blessed is the man who is not a victim of Dunning-Kruger syndrome. This position stems from the facticity of human limitation. We often oscillate between extreme points and barely stay in the middle course of life.
Sometimes, our unwillingness or inability to carry out introspection and auto-examination deprives us of what is actually most valuable to us and the rest of humanity. Our self-centredness makes us, for the most part, appear to be myopic. Our often disregard for the interests of others have defined and driven most of our activities, and we are yet to know ourselves and that we are incomplete without other human beings.
Recently, we read from the media that one of the richest men in Nigeria, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, passed on at the age of 94. According to media reports, he was buried in Saudi Arabia in observance of his directives. But that is not the main issue that brings up his name here. A week or so, after the man’s exit, the social media was awash with a claim of what he left behind. While not certain about the factualness of this claim, yet, it is what should help us look over our beingness.
Part of the information in the document available online is that the man left behind, “₦61 trillion in cash in both Nigerian and foreign banks. He also left behind 800 petrol stations within and outside Nigeria that do not bear his name but belong to him. In Kano alone, he left 500 houses, plus 1,200 plots with only fencing or partial structures, no buildings on them—just empty plots. He also left 320 houses in other towns across Nigeria and abroad. He left 280 vehicles in use and another 120 vehicles that are not in use, just parked. He left shares worth over ₦30 trillion in companies within and outside Nigeria.
Assuming that the man was that stinking rich, can we reflect on what he is now benefiting from all that he accumulated? Are there any lessons for us about the futility of life under the sun? A situation whereby we kill, lie, rape, maim, and oppress others just to accumulate wealth and be noticed as somebody extraordinary should not be what we pursue at all cost. Many of our political, business, and religious elites are so guilty of this cutthroat competition to make wealth so much so that they need to think of the day they will die no matter what they do to stay alive. We just learnt that former President, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) is also no more. And what does Psalms 39.5 tell us, “… Verily, every man at his best state is altogether vanity. ” Again, what is man?
●Print version published 30th July 2025