Speak out; be the voice!

Growing up, I recall a children enlightenment programme on Nigerian TV, titled ‘Speak out’. This programme takes on topical issues that concern children’s welfare and development; such as child abuse, drug abuse and so on. There is a dangerous silence to societal ills, a silence that must be destroyed.  In Africa, part of the problem is rooted in our tradition, it is believed for instance in Yoruba (South Western Nigeria) tradition that one must not accuse an older person of lying, it is also believed that one should not speak ill of the dead. Attempts to ask questions, spell out wrongdoing perpetuated by the elderly is often immediately interpreted as gross disrespect. These beliefs and their likes in my opinion are responsible for the backward movement in industrialisation and the use of modern technology in Africa. People whether old or young, black or white, illiterate or enlightened must be accountable and held responsible for their actions or inactions. Many times people make wrong and dangerous decisions around us and we carry on unconcerned, as far as it doesn’t affect us directly, this attitude is wrong. Besides the things that we feel do not affect us directly sometimes come back to haunt us.

Have you heard the story of the mouse, chicken, pig and cow? A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. “What food might this contain?” the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning to his friends; the chicken, pig and cow: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The chicken clucked, scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.” The pig sympathized, but said, “I am very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.” The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone. That very night the mousetrap caught a prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his knife to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock, hoping she would recover. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember, when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. In the words of the great Nelson Mandela, “Injustice against one is injustice against all’. We must have one another’s back and make an extra effort to encourage one another. Each of us is a vital thread in another person’s apparel. Recall in the bible when the Jews were going to be destroyed by Haman’s plot, Mordecai warned Esther not to be quiet thinking she would be spared in the decree for the extermination of the Jews and that deliverance would come for the Jews from elsewhere while she would be destroyed.

 When things go wrong, and injustice is rife, you and I should be the voice of reason, be the one to speak up for what is right. Evil thrives when good people keep quiet about it. Nigeria is a country in which evil thrives, politics is synonymous to corruption and impudence. Things have become really bad in recent times, negligence, impunity, mediocrity have become the order of the day. Massive looting/corruption have led to the failure of institutions and decay in infrastructure which have a ripple effect of high unemployment rates, which in turn has led to increased crime rates in armed robbery, fraud, assassinations and the likes. It is interesting to note that these politicians and their family members are often victims of these crimes. In an amazing twist of fate, some politicians have lost their lives and loved ones to road accidents on death-traps called roads that they refused to fix. The President’s wife lost her foster mother recently on one of such roads. What goes around comes around. The power company is extremely unreliable and does not provide power. In some cases, it doesn’t provide power for some environs for an entire month and more yet it brings crazy bills. From telecoms companies, to government agencies, community development associations, artisans and more; we pay for services that are not rendered or are inefficiently rendered and we do not protest. I wonder when Nigeria became used to poor service delivery and injustice. We must inculcate the attitude of sustainable development by creating the right environment in all spheres of life for generations unborn. If we do not speak up now, the future of our children will be irrevocably mortgaged and if corruption continues at this rate, they will be in big trouble, as we have spent some of the resources that should accrue to them. Even when it seems as though our words of protest don’t amount to much, we must keep speaking. With what parameters do we measure the impact of our words? They are often very effective and impactful, even when we do not realise it. Words can build, they can also destroy, they are very powerful. One of the reasons in my opinion why western nations are more developed is because they are far more outspoken and inquisitive than Africans, as questions lead to discovery. The West makes direct demands on political office holders, sometimes calling for their resignation over issues that we see as minor and inconsequential in Africa. They demand for excellent service delivery, they know their rights seek to uphold them, they ask for change when they go shopping, and the attendants don’t even wait for you to ask for your change before you’re given. They don’t say ‘we don’t have change’, as we often hear here.  There is great power in public outcry.

It is worthy of note that the reason why individual make wrong decisions sometimes is not because they are bad people, but for improper upbringing; some face difficult situations in which they are between the devil and the deep blue sea, decay in societal values, and plain ignorance; they do the things they do because they just don’t know better; they weren’t exposed to the kind of training and instruction that made you better. We must have sufficient tolerance for other people’s weaknesses at best, and be able to accommodate them and respect their opinions even if they differ from ours in the very least. Be the guide. I recall the story of the current Governor of the state in which I reside, Babatunde Raji Fashola. He played the truant as a young man, hated school so much that he failed WAEC (high school leaving examinations) and almost became an auto mechanic. However his grandmother continued to urge him to become a lawyer so that he’ll manage her property as opposed to her lawyer who often cheated her. Today he is one of the most brilliant lawyers I know, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, astute politician and undeniably the best performing Governor in the Country (in Nigeria, good governance and delivery of the dividends of democracy by political office holders is a rare luxury). The woman who abandons her husband in a period of financial hardship probably does not know that she is mortgaging her future and she may find it impossible to gain her children’s affection years later, no matter how much she tries. She needs someone to tell her this, someone who is wiser or more experienced. The young man who has decided that his life is a competition to sleep with the highest possible number of women must be cautioned, so that he is not cut short in his prime. The young person who refused to go to school, refused to learn a trade and thinks he/she can be dependent on parents in their lifetime (with allowances) and in their death (with an inheritance) needs some speaking to! If you know such, decide to be the voice that will speak to him/her, else he will suffer in the future. Speak against domestic violence.

We save the world a lot of trouble not only by speaking up against wrongdoing, but by speaking up on time. If someone spoke to Adolf Hitler in his younger years, when he began to display racist and extremist tendencies, millions of Jews would not have died the way they did. If someone spoke with Ojukwu and Gowon on time to desist from war, millions of Nigerians who perished in the civil war would not have done so. The little you say at the right time amounts to much. You just might be saving several lives with your tongue. In correcting others we should not be sanctimonious or self righteous; you have to speak the truth in love and with deep respect for the parties concerned. It is erroneous to believe that we have the right to insult people because it is our prerogative to correct them. Constructive criticism is the way to go. A young woman was rejected and frustrated, fed up with life she decided to commit suicide, but had a clause in her mind that she would not carry out this intention if anyone said something nice to her on her way to kill herself. So she set out, fortunately, a man‘s attention was drawn to her beauty, he paid her a compliment on it and moved on, hence her life was saved that day. Imagine if he observed her beauty but just kept it to himself for whatever (justifiable) reason. Sometimes we erroneously assume that people know what we have on our minds when in fact they don’t, sometimes they do, but just need to hear it from us. Other people are not God, they are not mind readers, and you need to speak out for them to hear what is on your mind. A husband should not assume that his wife knows he loves her. He must say “I love you” to her from time to time.

“When you give yourself permission to communicate what matters to you in every situation you will have peace despite rejection or disapproval. Putting a voice to your soul helps you to let go of the negative energy of fear and regret.”
― Shannon L. Alder

Speak out even if your voice shakes; save lives, build destinies, shape the world.

Ladeloye 2014!