Following the death of serving Senator IsiakaAdeleke, the first civilian governor of Osun State, on Sunday, 22nd April, 2017, the state governor, Mr.RaufAregbesola, announced a three-day mourning period during which all flags within the state would be flown at half mast. In addition, he ordered that all public schools which should normally have resumed on the 23rd April, following the Easter break, remain closed for an extra week. Thus, while pupils in other parts of the country and in private schools in Osun State are back in their classrooms, those of Osun public schools are still hanging around, with many of them roaming the streets. Several are seen on the campus of the ObafemiAwolowo University, Ile-Ife, scavenging for mangoes in residents’ backyards within the staff quarters.
One is bound to ask: On what account have these steps been taken? What contribution did Mr.Adeleke make to Osun State, whether as governor or as senator, to make him deserving of such a level of “honour” being conferred on him? In what ways were the lives of the generality of the people living in Osun State positively and significantly impacted during his tenure?In terms of achievement, people are quick to cite the establishment of two tertiary institutions (the Polytechnic in Iree and the College of Technology in Esa-Oke) as well as the completion of the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC). Even if these were to be considered as achievements to be credited to his account, is it proper to honour departed individuals by shutting down an entire civil service for three days and keeping young children out of school for a week? Should we not find other ways of honouring our “big men” when they pass away? Do we take any thought of what three full days of non-productivity means and the impact that would have down the line? What about children who should be busy learning; why does it not matter to Osun, an apparently struggling state, that these children are kept out of school for a whole week? Or does it not matter?
It is amazing that those who are in charge of our affairs appear not to be too concerned about the overall underdeveloped state of our nation. They know all the facts, since all of us are confronted with them on a daily basis: the current scourge of meningitis claiming several lives; the epileptic supply of electricity which renders us idle in many of our offices and factories; lack of pipe-borne water causing diseases in many communities; pothole-ridden roads which damage our vehicles and claim several lives; ill-equipped hospitals; dilapidated classrooms; etc. All our leaders are well aware of the fact that we are among the nations occupying the lowest rungs on the global ladder in terms of practically all the development indices; but they apparently do not realise that there is a way to get out of that position and improve our lot.
One of the most fundamental differences between us and the developed world has to do with the use of time. Although every single inhabitant of our planet is endowed with exactly the same amount of this important resource, it has often been said that while the rest of the world has the clock, Africa has the time. This means that people in other climes are mindful of the clock ticking away, and therefore seek to make the most of time. We Africans, on the other hand (and this might be an overgeneralisation) behave like we have all the time in the world: if it’s not done today, tomorrow is another day, so why stress yourself? Meetings hardly ever commence at the time advertised; indeed, we might still be “testing the microphone” thirty minutes after the scheduled time of commencement. If a public holiday falls during the weekend, we compensate ourselves by taking a working day off – why should we be robbed of our holiday?
Thus, productivity appears to be the last thing on our mind. We manage to find other activities to engage in during the hours when we are supposed to be productive: hundreds of people would abandon their offices to go and witness the commissioning of a community borehole; millions would not put in a full day’s work on a Friday because they have to attend a burial, an engagement ceremony, or their church’s monthly convention; children can be kept out of school for a whole week and offices closed for three days because we must mourn some important personality who passes away. We never stop to ask ourselves: Is this the way that the developed nations of the world conduct their business? What, in reality, accounts for their being developed? Does development just happen, or do people have to work for it?
One of the consequences of this total disregard for time and productivity is that we do not even have any orientation towards working to solve our own problems. We thus have to look to others to bring solutions to the challenges we face: we Africans are not the ones who have developed the malaria vaccine although its devastating effect is most felt on our continent; neither have we championed research into solar energy even though our region falls in that part of the world where the sun is hottest.
It is time for change. Radical change.