Apportioning blames for our failures

Criticism is as old as man and without it the world may not have been as it is today and life may have been worse than now. Conflicts would have been more because of man's penchant to dominate, force and overtake. Criticizing man's activities have helped in no small way to bringing him, to an extent, under control.

Therefore, criticism is born out of the feeling that something should have been done in a way the critic thinks is better. It does not necessarily imply that the critic must always be right. That is why there are two main types of criticism: constructive and destructive.

But sometimes people take criticism for blame. Criticizing can be in words or action. Some people wittingly or unwittingly take dangerous actions against humanity or their immediate family members with the aim of criticizing certain things in the society or family. Some hold protests, whether peaceful or violent. Some hold rallies. And some tongue-lash policies and changes they feel inimical to their personal pursuits.

However, criticizing with the aim of seeking development for the society or bringing to fore the incompetence, inadequacies or corruption perceived to be bane of change for a better society is constructive. The critic merely pin-points the areas of general interest and makes suggestions to remedy them. But destructive criticism is merely employed by the critic to score personal goal. The critic, in most cases, abandons the point of discussion and wades into the personality of the criticized or the proponents of whatever the critic feels to be abnormal and unacceptable.

One can find good criticism in the way the angels reacted when they were informed of the creation of man. They felt uneasy with the creation of man because they got a glimpse of what man will turn to be in the world. They were not vehemently opposed to God's decision, they were just worried over man's life. On the other hand, Satan badly criticized God's order to him to honour mankind by bowing before him. That episode has been the problem between man and Satan. And it has been the greatest challenge of the present world.

In Nigeria and Africa at large, there can hardly be a way forward unless we discover and accept the reasons behind our failures. We have talked a lot and seem to have discovered why we have continued to fail. There is no single country in the black continent which lacks the potentials to develop. A nation is but a people who dwell a land. But how well the people and especially the leaderships are able to turn the fortunes of the land to the betterment of the larger number of the citizens matters.

Popular societal critics have blamed the leaderships for our woes. They postulate that once the leadership is on the right course, things will be alright. No one can dispute the fact that a leader in every level and place: at home, office, government or business, commands the highest respect and therefore is expected to be in full control of the place. But a good leader must also know that the followers are human beings who are in themselves difficult to control. This is why the implementation of policies, even the good ones, has often hit brick walls.

As human beings and especially in the African context where family relationship – extended family inclusive – is highly influential to the individual, leadership is a very difficult one. No one will fail to better his or her family when in office or when the opportunity to lead a group comes by. Some of the critics who see no good in other people's policies and activities turn out to be the worse in this regard when entrusted with public positions. Some have blamed poverty; some have blamed greed while others have blamed cheer wickedness against the nation and humanity.

Whatever we accept to be behind our failures to develop our countries and our continent, challenging is the fact that every citizen is directly or indirectly blameworthy. I begin apportioning ourselves the blame of failure with myself. I am sure that as a father, brother, uncle, civil servant or human being, I have failed to do certain things that would have affectedly the society positively. Not only refusing to do such is blameworthy, but delaying it when it is due is equally questionable.

The trader who increases the price of his wares indiscriminately is not helping the society. Our traders blame the government so much but would increase the prices of their wares whenever there is little increase in the salaries of civil servants. There is no price control of any kind. Two shops that are adjacent to each other will have different prices for one commodity.

The bus driver who charges thrice or more the normal fares during crises or rush-hours when mercy is supposed to be displayed is affecting the society negatively. They will carelessly tell commuters that it is all business. They forget that they blame government for bad roads, fuel scarcity and sometimes insecurity on the roads. Yet, in their own little leadership as transporters of those who cannot afford to buy cars, they display inhumanity to a level. Extortion is part of corruption.

Also, the parents who do not assist the teacher in the educational bringing-up of the child, is in the blame circle. A child is the father of man (a father and leader tomorrow) and no effort, however, tedious put into the fruitful upbringing of a child is wasted. Besides, no amount spent on a child's education is a waste, because ignorance is more wasteful, painful and damning. Therefore, apportioning part of corruption to inability to give our children sound up-bringing may not be debatable.

The teacher or civil servant who prefers eye-service is a threat to the society because such persons serve individuals and not the society. Some workers are like the mouse and cat story as they replace seriousness and working hours with absence and gossip when the oga is not there.

The contractor who inflates quotations is not a good friend and a patriot who wishes good and development for his nation. All of us have failed in one way or the other to our nations and continent, such failure that has negatively affected our development. Many fathers and mothers have failed in their duties. Our youths are the bulk of our failures. Our politicians have excelled in retarding our growth. Some of our critics have succeeded in creating empires for themselves where they have become toothless bulldogs because they are often settled to paint black white.

Some manufactures have flooded our markets with fakes; some engineers have sent citizens to untimely deaths through collapse of buildings; we have just been exposed to the activities of some of our bankers; we cannot dispute the fact that our electoral process is still bedeviled by the 'do or die' monster; and above all, corruption remains a colossus which gloats at our diverse failures. Where is our independence? It's a vicious circle that we all must brace up to break.

Muhammad Ajah, a poet, writer and author writes from Abuja ([email protected])