The Book of Nigerians - Volume 4

In many megacities around the world, one major problem that citizens have to deal with is traffic. It is common around business districts, heavily populated residential areas and most often present during the morning and evening rush hours. There are many reasons for traffic in these big cities but the overriding factor is the sheer volume of people living and working in those cities.

In my city, Lagos, there are two major causes of traffic. Bad roads and bad drivers. We will discuss the bad roads later but for this article, the focus will be on the drivers. These drivers take two main forms - commercial drivers and private car owners. Unfortunately, the commercial drivers in this city do not know how to act right and drive with reason, until they are compelled to do so by the authority of the government. Sadly, the government of the day has not seen the need to implement decorum on our roads, even when there is a recognised body set up exclusively for traffic management. Let me not derail. Let us focus on our dear "car owners'' as we know them in my city.??

If you drive or commute a lot in Lagos, amazing scenes on the roads are likely to be common to you. There are a handful of videos online where drivers of private cars have exhibited actions that shame common sense. In many cases, I have seen drivers offer money to street urchins in order for them to make illegal U-turns or drive over kerbs to shunt and distort traffic queues. Sometimes, outrightly driving against traffic because they think their time is more valuable than the time of other people who have chosen to drive patiently through the traffic.?

Then, you take a look at the people behind the wheels of these private vehicles and you are, in most cases, disappointed. People that are supposed to know better are the ones showcasing gross irresponsibility. This is because if you had to guess, it would be that these people appear educated, so they should normally have a higher level of reasoning. You would expect them to know what decorum truly means and you would think they should have some level of consideration for other road users. But they will be the first to point accusing fingers at a minister who they think is not doing well or at a governor who they feel is not serious enough.

Sometimes, you would see vagrants, destitutes, street beggars (and sometimes, mentally unwell people) controlling traffic and trying to untangle gridlocks at junctions, and issuing instructions to people with dozens of certificates and certifications to their names. As unbelievable as that may sound, it is a very common sight in this land and it makes one wonder what the essence of people's education is. Many of these people are perhaps captains of industries, heads of compliance units of big organisations, religious leaders. Prominent figures in the society who should be role models to these street urchins are sadly, the ones who have exchanged roles in an astonishing switch.

Each time I see these things unfold on the roads of Lagos, I ask myself: if this person had a case of non-compliance at his place of work, how is he going to correct it? Knowing that it does not take much to bring out the irresponsibility in you, how easy is it for you to address and correct a similar thing for which you are culpable??

Over the years, we have learned so much to deflect and we rarely ever accept responsibility for our wrongdoings. There is always something or someone to blame but ourselves. The leaders we are accusing today of irregularities and misappropriation also were one time regular citizens like us. And if they were not accountable while they were "answerable" to the law, how can they ever be accountable now that they are seemingly above the law?

So the next time you see something on TV that you don't like, before you point your finger and pass judgement, ask yourself this simple question: how hard did I criticise myself the last time I gave in to inappropriate behaviour? Until we start to self-reflect and hold ourselves to account, not much will change in our environment.