EmogInspiration

I was in a television program today with my boss to speak on
the topic ‘Integrity as a tool for nation building’. Interestingly
this is in line with one of our values in the New Naija Club.
We believe that we should be responsible enough to stick
to our words. Our words and our actions should be seamless.
We leverage on peer accountability, where your actions are
check mated by the next person to you.

I closed late one day and I was on my way home from the office
at about 10 pm or there about. I got to the traffic light on Allen
round About in Ikeja and I stopped because the light was red. The
car by my side stopped and as cars came along, they all queued up
behind us. Let’s have it at the back of our minds that at this time, all the
security personnel had closed for the day and there was no one to
check for offenders. The wait for the light to turn green seemed like
eternity.

It was just a few minutes down the line when the car beside me
could not wait any longer and sped off since the road was clear.
What followed was expected, all the cars behind him followed
immediately. It was not up to 20 seconds that they had left when
the light went green.

From this experience I learnt that one good leader can actually
make a whole lot of difference. It would not have cost the driver
beside me anything if he had waited for the last 20 or 30 seconds.
His actions prompted every one behind him to follow his lead. It
is typical that in an environment, the leadership is a reflection of the
followership. If we all play our role as leaders in our environment
and set the right standards, we can be sure that others around us
will follow.

Nigeria is rated as one of the most corrupt nations in the world
by Transparency International. I don’t know about you but I see
a lot of opportunities in this scenario. For the fact that we are
perceived as corrupt automatically focuses the world on us. A
Nigerian who is honest, law abiding and has integrity will easily
be noticed because he/she stands out. It will take us doing only
the right thing to be celebrated as against someone from a country
that is law abiding and perceived as honest, he will need to walk
on water to be celebrated globally because he is not on the spot
light and it is expected of him.

The true test of one’s character is what you do when no one is
watching. For the fact that there were no security personnel to
check the activities of the drivers does not give them the right to
break the law. The energy spent in breaking the law is much
greater than that expended in doing the right thing. If we could be
true to our words it will go a long way in helping us redeem the
image of this nation. It all starts from within us. Take the lead.