''To every thing there is a
season,
and a time to every purpose
under the heaven''
- Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)
If the author of the lines above
were living in our days and time, I wonder if he would have written those lines a bit differently, having it in mind that technology and science have made
instant gratification synonymous with modern day living. Though technology and
science have removed unnecessary long processes, process as a principle that controls
life on this planet, cannot be totally removed or sidelined. Life moves along
the chain of process and progress is the result of process. Even science
follows empirical formula and empiricism means process. But there are
components of natural processes that has been removed by technologies so as to
streamline life’s transactions. Genetic engineering, for example, is a case in
point and a good example of science’s attempt at making life easy by bypassing
natural process. The results are not all beautiful, neither are the side
effects.
In the quest to bypass long
process we have successfully placed our own sojourn on the earth on a really
fast lane. But this is not to discredit science and technology. It would be foolhardy
and hypocritical of me to discount science. My point is that basic natural
process is the pivot of life and sidetracking it in any way is a breach on life
principle. We can remove hassles and impediments, but not the laid down rules of
life itself. It is we that must follow process. Process doesn’t follow us. We are
to keep the laws, not make them. Today young people are in a hurry to become
adults and adults are ''regretting'' getting older so soon. We have processed
foods, instant this and instant that. There are also the fast foods that are putting
people on life's fast lane and driving people really fast.
Young people are the major fans
of the entertainment icons and celebrities who made their first millions at a
very young age. Their musical videos and the media in general, present them in
such light as though these celebrities became rich and famous without breaking
a sweat. We are daily bombarded with loads of lists of ‘’world’s richest
people of the year’' and all such stuffs and the youths drink all these in
without any means of censorship. And whether we like it or not, the message is
already passed: you don't need
long process to '’make it.’' This
translates into breeding a generation of young people that refused to grow up
before doing adults' stuffs and a generation that mocks and scoffs at genuine
and honest labour. Young people now bend rules, cut corners and play unfairly
just to meet up or '’make it'’.
We hardly allow other people the
chance and opportunity to gain experience. We don't like to lend our supports
to people who are not yet perfect. We boo amateurs, mock beginners and jeer at
green horns. We only celebrate professionals, forgetting that these so-called
pros were once people we never gave chance to perfect themselves. We refuse to
realize that these ‘’gurus’’ we applaud today were people we booed yesterday.
They were the once that toiled in the night while we snored away. They were the
ones that braved the cold weather while we were wrapped up in our blankets in
our comfortable beds. They were the ones that, in spite of injustice, injuries
and inadequate facilities and amenities still got out there to work and train
while others complained of hard economic conditions and harsh weathers. They
were the ones that were scolded harshly just for making mistakes but never gave
up.
We treat people as if we learned
all we now know from the womb. If all we are good at today were learned from
the womb, it will be only fair to be harsh on those who refused or failed to
learn theirs from their mother’s wombs. The skills that people pride themselves
as having today were acquired over a long period of time and from years of
making mistakes, yet hardly will the same person takes it easy with a
subordinate who made the same mistake under him / her today. Even though our
mistakes were made on other people's jobs we do not want others to make
mistakes on ours. '’Perfect people’’
hardly are patient with others when they made mistake genuinely. But who is
perfect, anyways? We rule others with our head while we rule ourselves with our
hearts. We can understand when we make mistakes and can give genuine excuses
but others have no right to give excuses.
These and other factors conspired
to make many young people today place a very low degree of value on hard work and
process. When we punish mistakes we do so not with the intention to correct but
with the desire and the tendency to condemn. But nobody likes mistakes. We must
be kind enough to give people the chance to gain experience. Mistakes in
themselves are punishments enough to the person who made them, especially, one
who is eager to learn. We should punish acts of neglects and carelessness
especially when made repeatedly. Mistakes can results from a number of things. We
must first seek to remove the cause before thinking of removing the mistake.
But lest this discussion be accused of advocating mediocrity or under
performance, I want to make it unequivocally clear that my message is to
leaders who know what it is not to be given chance to grow and who want to help
others grow.
We would, of cause, be doing
injustice to an issue such as this if we neglect to mention that the sickly
government policies or lack of good policies in this part of the world contribute
immensely to this anomaly. Where else in the world do you have such teaming
population of young, energetic, hardworking and success-hungry young people as
we have in Nigeria? Yet our government failed to see how such energy can be
productively harnessed for national progress. The onus is now on the new crop
of leaders that, though not politically empowered, are matching on in the
direction of mental revolution. If this generation doesn’t get it right, it
might share in the blames when tomorrow comes; and tomorrow is around the
corner.
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