When we fail to take responsibility, we become worse than failed leaders

Over the past 10 days, there has been heavy downpour in many parts of the country, including Lagos. This is not unexpected, as it was rightly predicted. For Lagosians, it has been quite traumatic. From unending traffic snarls that elongate journeys by several hours, to the agonies of residents who have to spend hours scooping […]

Over the past 10 days, there has been heavy downpour in many parts of the country, including Lagos. This is not unexpected, as it was rightly predicted. For Lagosians, it has been quite traumatic. From unending traffic snarls that elongate journeys by several hours, to the agonies of residents who have to spend hours scooping water from their flooded homes, many have had terrible experiences. Other parts of the country have similar experiences.

While we have all contributed to this situation, sadly, everyone I spoke to about the ugly scene seemed to blame the government. They only saw the purported innocent citizens as victims and nothing more than the fact that the government has failed. While I agree the governments have failed in many areas, I just don’t agree that is the end of the blame game, especially with what I witnessed myself.

It may not be new to see people dumping refuse in the drainage, but it is really frustrating to see how we are all paying so much for the avoidable sins exacerbating the flooding. Even as cars are drowning in floods and mothers are struggling to tend to their children to prevent them from being taken away by the floods, many Lagosians still find liberty in dumping refuse in the drains and on roads, arguing they would be washed away by the flood. It is indeed a shameful practice in many towns in the country. Meanwhile, the drainages, where they exist, are clogged.

Our maintenance culture is so poor, a fact that worsens the impact of the nation’s infrastructure deficit. Why do we have to wait until the roads become death traps before we fix them? More often, we have to do a total overhaul at very expensive costs, when we could have consistently maintained the roads with a fraction of what we ultimately pay. Why can’t the governments clear the drainage to mitigate the impact of the flooding and save the roads from falling apart?

Yes, resources are scarce, but more often, in reality, we waste the scarce resources due to our poor maintenance culture. Someone said governments – states and federal across the country  – do not like to spend money maintaining an existing infrastructure because neither does it afford opportunities to make money nor score political points. After all, nobody commissions an infrastructure because it is being maintained, but it’s fun fair and political glamour to commission a new project, even when 10 or more equally important infrastructure assets are falling apart due to lack of attention by the government.

Again, I have experienced flooding, storm, and other natural event warnings in some other countries. One common denominator in all my experiences is the sense of responsibility of the citizenry, as they take precautionary measures individually and collectively as a responsible community. They take measures to mitigate the likely impact of the event, complementing the government’s effort and sometimes taking the lead on initiatives when they think the government is not doing enough or does not have the resources to take enough measures. For them, it’s about their collective safety as a community and it is about taking responsibility for protecting their environment.

For us, it is about blaming the failed government and doing nothing to help, or worse still compounding the problem through our actions. Unfortunately, when some people try to correct these anomalies in society, many of us are quick to rebuke them and give the culprits excuses for their wrong behaviour. Someone told me the government did not provide garbage bins, so nobody can blame the residents for throwing dirt in the drainages.

But guess what, those in government are not victims of these menaces, you and I are the victims and you and I are the ones paying the cost of both the failure of the government and the bad behaviour of our fellow brothers and sisters. I must be clear that the flood incidence and our failure to take responsibility in avoiding or at least mitigating the impact of this natural disaster is just a metaphor.  I am more frustrated by the pervasive bad behaviour of my fellow innocent brothers and sisters in our daily life.

We all know what is right, despite many having taken bad behaviour as the norm. When we choose to do the wrong things or we give excuses for those doing the wrong things, we are worse than the failed leaders, who continue to impoverish us and our dear rich country.

After all, what is the difference between the one who destroys an existing infrastructure and the failed leaders, who steal part of the money meant for new ones? When you are in doubt, always ask yourself if your action helps your community and the country at large or whether you are ignorantly or inadvertently wasting our scarce resources and causing more harm to society.

 It is only in Nigeria that a man would seek to save himself N1, 000 but would not mind if the only way to do that is by destroying infrastructure of N2, 000. What would you say of a commercial driver obstructing traffic and causing many other road users to waste fuel, productive time, and other resources on the road, just because of his selfish interest? Out of greed and self-centred interest, he saves a few bucks while many others lose multiples.

As you blame our failed leaders across the country, always ask yourself, if you are doing the right thing and if you are helping the country!