The institution was not dying because people lacked intelligence; it was dying because people lacked courage. Staff feared the founder, so they offered comfort instead of truth. Slowly, honesty became dangerous, while deception became institutional culture.
«“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”
— Proverbs 27:6»
The tragedy was not merely that people lied. It was that they convinced themselves their lies were kindness. They concealed failure to preserve peace, softened warnings to avoid conflict, and applauded decisions they privately knew were wrong.
«“Better is open rebuke than secret love.”
— Proverbs 27:5»
A leader surrounded by frightened people eventually becomes a prisoner of manufactured reality. Reports become polished mirrors, reflecting what he wants to see rather than what exists. Problems disappear on paper, only to return later as institutional crises.
«“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness.”
— Isaiah 5:20»
This is where leadership becomes most dangerous: when disagreement is interpreted as disloyalty and flattery becomes evidence of faithfulness. An institution cannot survive indefinitely when truth requires courage but falsehood requires only obedience.
«“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
— John 8:32»
Truth does not always comfort; sometimes it humiliates, wounds and demands repentance. Yet lies merely postpone the reckoning. Any institution that silences truth to protect its leader eventually protects the leader from reality—and reality always collects its debt.
– Inah Boniface Ocholi writes from Ayah – Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state.
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