Hi. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.
It has been a long time since I heard someone being referred to as a 'Public Servant'. I guess it must be a reflection of the times. People kinda shy away from the the title 'servant' most likely because it reminds them of their househelps, security men or drivers.
I have a personal policy that guides a lot of my writing - I don't advertise the evil, decay or wrong doings of any one or thing. I proffer solutions, and take actions at my level, and beyond. So I won't go into detail about how wrong this misconception is or how prevalent it is.
Our society will thrive when everyone thinks beyond their personal gain to the good of the community as a whole. To this end, I like to see everybody as public servants. I serve the public whenever I find I can.
There is a story in the Bible about the Apostle Paul running into a man who 'held an entire city spellbound' by his witchcraft. I take away from this story the fact that people will listen to whoever is on the soapbox.
Where we have had a shortage of right examples, useless shallow nincompoops have stepped up to the mic. Put on your telly for 48hours and you'll get my point. Take a drive down your street. The traffic warden 99.95% of the time is more concerned with the prospect of extortion than with traffic control.
The result? Young people, leaderless, follow after the bling-draped, foul-mouthed, godless, illiterate morons displaying a mindless self-centered short-sighted perspective on everything from money to love to relationships to society. On the streets you have university graduates breaking through barricades where possible to drive on the opposite lane because they are in a hurry. This is so frequent that christian friends complain about it being a real temptation.
I have taken up my office as a servant of my public to embarass any of my fellow citizens who has taken leave of their senses and tried to drive 'one-way'. I was particularly proud to see someone else who, probably as pained as I was, did the same thing to a would-be defaulter. Oh yes it cost everyone a few minutes of waiting, but, if we don't take time to (learn how to) drive right, we will pray that a few weeks in the hospital will take care of the cost.
There are no free lunches. If you want your society to change, you have to stick your finger in it and root out the trash that is clogging up the pipes.
We are all human; we start out wanting to do right without hurting anyone, but if there are no restraints, sooner or later, we'll feel like we can bend a few rules, endanger some lives and get our way. So if the relevant authorities, 'the system' as we call it doesn't work, be the system where you can.
I have taken a personal interest in everything around me to ensure it's done right. If we all do this in our 'publics' we will begin to light candles. We will remind people that rules don't slow you down - they extend your life. In whatever community you find yourself, do endeavour to be on duty as a public servant from today.
Find out where your local PHCN/NEPA office is and get to know all the people who work there, and their superiors. Also get to know where the nearest police station is and the chap in charge. You may be tempted to shrug away from these offices due to past impressions, but I assure you, it will help more than it will hurt.
As a wise man once said, take your cue from salt. If you are boiling a pot of yams, you add a little salt to it for flavour. Now does the salt swirl around in one corner and say 'the yams have a different outlook on life than I do, so I won't mingle with them'? NO! It jumps on the yams, seeps into them and leaves them irreversibly changed.
Your society, your backyard, your closet is your challenge; don't run from it - face it head on.
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