A friend of mine traveled to Ghana for a Conference and came back with a most amazing experience. He narrated how after one of the conference session, they were headed back to the hotel where they were lodged. It was well past mid- night and as with any society any where in the world, the roads were empty with vehicular traffic.
The taxi arrived at a cross road and was facing the red light of the traffic. He stopped. The right thing to do? Yeah! But that surprised my friend and other passengers in the taxi (obviously Nigerian) pleasantly, as there were no on- coming vehicles from the other lanes. He just waited until the light glowed green before proceeding.
Amazing isn’t it because a typical Nigerian would have reasoned, ‘well, since there is no on- coming vehicle and no traffic warden in sight, let me just go on.’ Even at that it will be a Nigerian that still has some sense of responsibility left in him.
I have been trying to reason that maybe it just wont work for us (Nigerians) to be as law abiding as citizens elsewhere except when we are being watched closely or forced because many times even while being watched, we still go ahead and disobey. I am not saying that laws are not broken in even developed societies or that there are no Nigerians that do not obey traffic regulations or other laws as the case may be. I am only trying to show the magnitude and frequency with which ours occur.
I sincerely doff my hat for citizens that obey traffic regulations especially when the law enforcement officers are not within sight. Check out these people: they are found to be almost faultless with other laws. They are people that possess a great deal of patience and how well they succeed at any endeavour they put their hands on.
Many times as parents drive around with their children, they beat traffic lights there by showing their wards that it is ok to break laws. These same parents cannot stand it when the same children they show how insignificant it is to break rules break some of their own rules in the home. In many cases they will go to the extent of flogging the children.
What about Principals and teachers of schools? Are they left out? As they drive to school or home they sometimes violate traffic rules but will immediately arrange offending students for punishment.
As a director or an employer of labour, how do you deal a staff that made a grave mistake? You issued a query or gave an outright sack? Did you violate a traffic rule lately? How did you feel doing that? Are you a Lawyer or a Judge in the court? Have you ever beaten a red light yet sit in judgment over offenders of laws set by the authorities? Many government officials driving in government vehicles do also violate rules put in place by the same government that they are working for.
What I am trying to bring to you here is that if all of us generally keep to traffic regulations, we are building in us a discipline and respect for the law. The other thing that will naturally follow is orderliness which will in turn begin to cause great things to happen in our country. If not, imagine yourself in a primary school break period playground. What do you make of it? That’s exactly the way our life as a nation is. Many of the traffic hold- ups are as a result of impatient drivers trying to by- pass traffic regulations. Let us all work hard to become like other nations where it is a very serious crime to break traffic regulations.
Cheers,
To a better Nigeria.
