Pots And Kettles

Much has been said about the failure of leadership as the bane of the continued existence of the nation of Nigeria.


To a large extent, I agree with this submission. I believe our leaders from the days of yesteryear have not particularly done us much good. Having said that, my worry also lies with the quality of the followers. The average Nigerian. We must not lose the sight of the fact the these flops that have ruled us in succession were once average citizens. They were average Nigerians.


Everyday, when I look around me, all I see are regular citizens whose actions go a long way in explaining why the nation is in the state it is in. We are quick to tongue-lash our errant leaders when we the citizens haven't been particularly the best of human beings.


Its not GEJ who has refused to stay on the queue at the toll-gate. That's you, an ordinary citizen, who has decided the other folks who have joined the queue quietly are stupid. Do we blame GEJ for that?


Its also not GEJ who drives the yellow and black buses in Lagos that decide to park and pick commuters in the middle of the road while obstructing traffic. No, those are average Nigerians. Why should GEJ take the fall for that?


Its Sunday morning and the time is 6am, the traffic lights are red. Lagos cars fly across those intersections, beating the stop lights. Why? Because its 6am and there's nobody to arrest offenders. Do I blame GEJ for that? No! Regular Average Nigerians.


The okada man wants to make an extra buck so he carries a fare across the expressway. On a road where it is clearly written that commercial motorcycle operators are not allowed. GEJ?


There's a lot of traffic on Ozumba Mbadiwe, we are all uncomfortable and on the other side of the road, facing oncoming traffic is a vehicle with federal government number plate. They suddenly have rights that regular citizens don't and they take one-way roads like no man's business. Is that GEJ?


Just yesterday, we were in traffic on Apongbon bridge and the car in front of mine stopped abruptly and the driver hurriedly flew out. I was taken aback at first and he promptly zipped down and peed on curb. Right in front of me. Note that he had duly obstructed traffic while he answered Nature's call. He didn't give a damn! Well, just like GEJ but I doubt we can blame GEJ for this absurd behavior.


I was once arrested by LASTMA staff for making an illegal U-turn. Even though there was no sign that indicated turns were prohibited at that spot, what amazed me more was that my accuser could have stood at the spot and easily indicated to me that turns were not allowed there. Instead, he took the effort and time to tactically position himself immediately at the point where I completed the arc of the U-turn and promptly arrested me for an offence he could have prevented me from committing. Amazing! That's not GEj, is it?


Its not magic that the country is how it is. It isn't rocket science either. We are where we are because of how we are. Nigerians are inherently wicked people. Please don't confuse religion and spirituality with holiness and purity. They are ages apart as typified by Nigerians. We are just professional church-goers. Our hearts are dark...just like those of our leaders.


A friend once posted on his BlackBerry one Monday morning 'Funny she's listening to serious gospel music yet she abuses everybody on the road'. Typical. The curses fly out of Nigerian lips at spinal level. Reflex actions! We bring out the worst out of each other in Nigeria. When he's driving fast, you say 'see this one driving like a madman'. If he drives slow, it's 'why is this one driving like a fool'. We've all sinned and come short of God's glory.


We must start to work on ourselves as 'average Nigerians'. We must begin from there. We must first change individually before we ask for more from our leaders. They missed the opportunity to be better people as regular citizens thus their gargantuan failure as nation leaders and policy makers.


Let those of us who are not there yet start to live properly. Follow the rules even when nobody's watching. If you succeed in playing by the rules when nobody's watching, it's very likely you'll do same when someone is indeed watching. Ask God to help you exorcise that unwholesome spirit of wickedness. Its not your fault, it is how the society has wired us to be, but it should not be terminal and incurable. We must yearn for a change and change ourselves first.


Until we do, our fervent criticism of our leaders would simply be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.






Follow 'Wole @drwalls28 on Twitter.