ORDINARY WAZOBIA

 Hey there! How e dey be? 

Welcome to December! And to today's gist. 

In Jos, there's a curfew for tricycles (Keke), banning their drivers from plying the roads in them from 6pm everyday –for security reasons. I don't quite agree with that reasoning especially because the alternative is to board taxis which is a lot less safer in my opinion, but that's not what I want to discuss today. 

I was coming home today, in quite a good time, then my Keke stopped to buy fuel. Given the current fuel scarcity in Jos, we had to spend quite a while at the fuel station before the driver was able to buy fuel. At this time, the curfew had passed so I was naturally worried concerning what would happen seeing as we were still ways off from my stop. As we continued, we got to a Police Check point and in my mind I was almost saying "toh! We go drop start to find taxi or something", then my eyes beheld an interesting sight: I noticed that instead of stopping to face the brunt of the law, all the other Keke drivers simply squeezed fifty Naira notes and gave to the Police men in exchange for "free" passage, even my Keke driver did the same thing. This got me thinking on a few things that I'd love to share with you. 

First, how do we complain about the government's wrong when we do exactly the same thing; these police officers were sent to maintain compliance with the Governor's directive but there they were –collecting fifty Naira and turning their eyes the other way to prevent them from "seeing" the Kekes that were still on the road, how are they different from those "big men" who ask for money before contracts are awarded, or lecturers that seek incentives before grades were marked –na the same water carry all of them. It's really easy to berate the government for not doing well with the power they've been given, but the first question is "how do I behave with the one I've been given?" Believe me, that's a question I've been asking myself pretty frequently in the last few days. Until we can do better with the level of power we've been given, we cannot expect the "big guys" to do any different after all "let he who is without sin throw the first stone". 

Secondly, last week, we talked about doing something other than complaining about the system, I'd like to add that make sure what you're doing is actually helping to make things better and not merely selfish. We must be willing to act in the best interest of everyone and not just for our personal gain; these men are willing to put the entire Jos populace at the risk the Governor sought to prevent by placing a curfew on Keke movement and for what? Fifty Naira notes? That won't even buy anything reasonable these days. 

We must be willing to do our best in whatever capacity we've been placed, regardless of whether any special benefits will accrue to us, the fact that a thing is right should be enough motivation for us to do it. 

And that's my 2 Kobo on this matter. 

May this month be filled with God's blessings for us all. 

See you next week!

Love,

Achenyo.