HAVE WE BECOME DOCILE ?

Oloye Orawale Oranfe

As we close one Gregorian calendar year  and await the opening of yet another year, I take this time to reflect on our current conditions in our country.

As I look around I notice  that the past zeal and spirit that we have exhibited as a people is declining.

Yesterday our people seemed to have a joy in welcoming EVERY DAY of LIFE. Things were challenging. Our families were poor. Our people were sometimes living in deplorable conditions ; yet we met each new day with hope  and enthusiasm. We rushed to go to cinema. We rushed  to get in a bus ,even when it had room , we fought to be first  and up front. We did all this even when we were aware that there was enough room in the bus for all of us. We rushed to get into the cinema even when the seat we were selecting was not the one up front. There was a spirit of fight.

Today! We seemed to be  ” well cultured ” , ” civilized ” and  ” patient “. Nobody seems to rush again . No one seems to wake in joy and enthusiasm , and though we sometimes complain, it remains only at complaint and not advance to organised action.

People line up for their money in banks and wait for  considerably long periods of time without complaint ; and if a fellow customer raises concern ,almost everyone looks at the complainant as though the complainant is wrong to voice his/ her concern and discontent.

Politicians , hooligans ,lawless and others shove  things down our throats and we swallow.

Are we being made docile and mistaking this docility for culture and civilization.

Not that I recommend a return to rushing for buses ,and to enter into entertainment centres, but that spirit that we exhibited, that resisted advantage, non – sense must be resuscitated. We fought against the odds that were stacked against us and we survived. We were pushed to the margins of society and were able to advance our self centre stage. So we have a tradition that allows us to be optimistic and not to be defeatist. Please as we enter a new calendar year. let us re – invite that spirit of resilience into our lives and communities.

Let  us refuse to accept mediocrity and replace mediocrity with excellence. Let us engage the issues that challenge our communities and Nation  with a sense of confidence that we have an ability to successfully engage and overcome.

I thank all readers for engaging this article , and I hope that the former spirit of resistance to enslavement and ; ” dottishness ” return to our people and land.