Lately, coming from Ikorodu especially in the morning hasn’t been pleasurable. There’s been incessant gridlock around Mile12 Bridge inward Kosofe axis due to the bad road around that axis and once it begins to build, it extends back to as far as Majidun Awori area of Ikorodu, leaving commuters and drivers stressed out and stranded.
I was in it again this morning hoping it was one of those mornings of heavy traffic. I did not know what I was in for until I spent over 2 hours just to get to Mile12 Bridge. I then heard that the bad road was being patched because of President Buhari’s visit to Lagos, reminding me of the apologies I had heard on the radio that they were meant to fix the road the day before but were disrupted by the rain.
I began to wonder and ask my self questions.
- Was the road actually being fixed this morning because the President is visiting Lagos today?
- If yes, were they just informed of the visit?
- Why didn’t they fix the road over the just past weekend but wait till Tuesday morning when traffic there will be heavy?
- Do they even have to wait for such notice of the President’s visit before fixing the road?
- How long will a road patched under 3 hours last?
These questions and others related might not just be in my mind alone. Let’s face it, is this not who we are as a people?
In schools, teachers and students are asked to dress up neatly when inspectors are visiting.
In offices, you are forced to put up your best behavior when a top client is visiting.
In homes, we reserve the fattest meat for the expected guest to give an impression of the size of the meat we eat every time.
We pay more attention to cleaning the house only when we are expecting a visitor? should it not be our experience every day such that our children can sense dirt as an oddity and seek to keep their environment clean at all times?
In public, we present ourselves to be perceived as being up to date in fashion, cars, gadgets and other lifestyles.
Again is this not who we are? We apply a fire brigade approach to almost everything we do, we do it when it is convenient for us not minding who is affected negatively, unfortunately, it has become a culture. A lifestyle of pretense and make-believe forgetting that our children, subordinates and those who look up to us as role models are watching and imbibing all our attitudes every step of the way; good virtues or bad morals.
Followers today are leaders tomorrow. People just come as they are to positions and apply same selves in discharge of duties that affect them and others. Should we not rather strive to be the right people and do right always no matter the circumstance? Yes, we should! That way we will not be deceiving ourselves and living in denial.
The elections are around the corner again, its high time we exercise our civic right by voting correctly to possibly correct these wrongs. Ensure you get your permanent voters card and vote wisely.
