Christabel Kadiri-OUR COUNTRY, OUR HOME OUR OWN

Our government is corrupt! They accept bribes! They do not know what the masses want and are not sensitive to our plight!

These words are often heard from well-meaning Nigerians. As human beings, we are quick to absolve ourselves of all blame; giving ourselves reasons why we haven’t and won’t do what we ought to do. This is the nature of an average man. When the occasion arises, life is much easier when there is someone else to bear the brunt of our actions or inaction but when there is success to be attributed, the reverse is the case.

This is not to say that the statement above is wrong or out of order as people have the right to express their feelings and opinions but doesn't the holy book read by Christians (Bible) say “remove the log in your own eyes before removing the specs in another’s eyes”?


We know our government is slow, their decisions do not always favor the people; their accept bribery and corruption is the order of the day but the question is- in what way have we contributed our own little quota? Rome was not built in a day is a popular saying that majority of us are familiar with. Let us draw a picture in our minds: looking at a construction site, we have those who carry blocks, fetch water, mix cement, do the plumbing and the carpentry and they all add in their own little quota to the completion of the building. Our Country is our own? Yes. But how do we add structures to an already dilapidation building? You see Lecturers who collect money from students to aid them graduate and hence, release watered graduates into the Country with certificates they cannot defend. Those with jobs in their companies reserve them for their family members who are not through with school while a qualified graduate is told ‘no Vacancy’; a man sleeps with a young girl to aid her in getting a job or a result and yet we say ‘our government is corrupt’.

Isn’t that the proverbial back of pot calling the kettle black? We should not expect a big change to come from the top after all, when a tree is being felled in the forest the farmer cuts it from the bottom. Even if these laws are given out, it is us that have to obey them to make them effective. We should each on our play our little part to bring out the full picture. Looking at typical everyday examples: At the PTI Express sometime ago in Warri in traffic along the express, a driver decided that the fastest way to go about it was to drive one way in a wrong lane and he blared his horn all through, just in a bid to get attention. What about those individuals who intentionally display canopies across the road to host their guests for a wedding; thus diverting traffic and causing undue mayhem on PUBLIC roads? Or you see a car that got hit by another both parked in the middle of the road and the owners arguing over who is right and wrong? Or a car gets spoilt in the middle of the road and instead of being towed to the edge of the road or to a mechanic’s shop, it is left in the middle of the road for weeks?

It also amazes me how many Local Government traffic controls we have. It seems that at every junction, every Tom, Dick and Harry is a Local Government official collecting money from the commercial buses and taxis. It is an appalling sight because these bus drivers are forced to increase their t-fares to accommodate theses officials and we the passengers have to pay double our normal fare. We should not expect Jonathan to come from God knows where and begin to construct a society that will be beneficiary to us all. Rules and laws are put in place first and foremost to achieve an aim of organization; in a kitchen, you have pots for cooking, kettles for boiling water, and pans for frying, baking and a host of others. This is what Economists refer to as Division of labour. We all have a role to play in the betterment of our society. We envy people in other countries because they have attained a high level of organization forgetting that it is the collective effort of each individual and their sacrifices that yielded such wonderful results. Even Jesus had to sacrifice himself for the blissful relationship we today enjoy with God.

Conclusively, we should strive in our own little ways to bring out the best in one another, we should obey the laws and directives of our society and not wish Jonathan and a host of others up there will come and do them before we see the sense in obeying such laws. We should also not wait for God to come down and make a Garden of Eden of our country.



OUR COUNTRY, OUR HOME OUR OWN

Our government is corrupt! They accept bribes! They do not know what the masses want and are not sensitive to our plight!

These words are often heard from well-meaning Nigerians. As human beings, we are quick to absolve ourselves of all blame; giving ourselves reasons why we haven’t and won’t do what we ought to do. This is the nature of an average man. When the occasion arises, life is much easier when there is someone else to bear the brunt of our actions or inactions but when there is success to be attributed, the reverse is the case.

This is not to say that the statement above is wrong or out of order as people have the right to express their feelings and opinions but doesn’t the holy book read by Christians (Bible) say “remove the log in your own eyes before removing the specs in another’s eyes”?

We know our government is slow, their decisions do not always favour the people; their accept bribery and corruption is the order of the day but the question is- in what way have we contributed our own little quota? Rome was not built in a day is a popular saying that majority of us are familiar with. Let us draw a picture in our minds: looking at a construction site, we have those who carry blocks, fetch water, mix cement, do the plumbing and the carpentry and they all add in their own little quota to the completion of the building. Our Country is our own? Yes. But how do we add structures to an already dilapidating building? You see Lecturers who collect money from students to aid them graduate and hence, release watered graduates into the Country with certificates they cannot defend. Those with jobs in their companies reserve them for their family members who are not through with school while a qualified graduate is told ‘no Vacancy’; a man sleeps with a young girl to aid her in getting a job or a result and yet we say ‘our government is corrupt’.

Isn’t that the proverbial back of pot calling the kettle black? We should not expect a big change to come from the top after all, when a tree is being felled in the forest the farmer cuts it from the bottom. Even if these laws are given out, it is us that have to obey them to make them effective. We should each on our play our little part to bring out the full picture. Looking at typical everyday examples: At the PTI Express sometime ago in Warri in traffic along the express, a driver decided that the fastest way to go about it was to drive one way in a wrong lane and he blared his horn all through, just in a bid to get attention. What about those individuals who intentionally display canopies across the road to host their guests for a wedding; thus diverting traffic and causing undue mayhem on PUBLIC roads? Or you see a car that got hit by another both parked in the middle of the road and the owners arguing over who is right and wrong? Or a car gets spoilt in the middle of the road and instead of being towed to the edge of the road or to a mechanic’s shop, it is left in the middle of the road for weeks?

It also amazes me how many Local Government traffic controls we have. It seems that at every junction, every Tom, Dick and Harry is a Local Government official collecting money from the commercial buses and taxis. It is an appalling sight because these bus drivers are forced to increase their t-fares to accommodate theses officials and we the passengers have to pay double our normal fare. We should not expect Jonathan to come from God knows where and begin to construct a society that will be beneficiary to us all. Rules and laws are put in place first and foremost to achieve an aim of organization; in a kitchen, you have pots for cooking, kettles for boiling water, and pans for frying, baking and a host of others. This is what Economists refer to as Division of labour. We all have a role to play in the betterment of our society. We envy people in other countries because they have attained a high level of organization forgetting that it is the collective effort of each individual and their sacrifices that yielded such wonderful results. Even Jesus had to sacrifice himself for the blissful relationship we today enjoy with God.

Conclusively, we should strive in our own little ways to bring out the best in one another, we should obey the laws and directives of our society and not wish Jonathan and a host of others up there will come and do them before we see the sense in obeying such laws. We should also not wait for God to come down and make a Garden of Eden of our country.