Child is the Father of Man

I’ve always insisted that both actions and inactions will always have consequences, no matter how long it may take them to materialize. There are times when the repercussions take so long, one could be forgiven for believing one had gotten away with it. But we never really do. I’m reminded of my early boarding school days in the UK when I would go home with school reports which I knew would do nothing to endear me to my parents. Till this day, I blush when I remember my headmaster, Mr McDonald’s remark to sum up one of my reports. To put it in his exact words, he said, “Dapo seems to think the whole school is one big playground”. Chai! I knew the consequences of that. Did this Oyinbo man not know how such a comment would sound to a Nigerian parent? I was in big trouble. Now, if my dad was the type of person whose nature it was to thrash out instantly, matters that don’t sit well with him, that would have been good. Unfortunately for us, he was not. After handing him my report at a time when I believed the joy of seeing his son for the first time in almost two months meant he would sheath his sword for a while, I would then proceed to read his body language on a daily basis to gauge if he has read the report. A whole week would pass and my dad’s countenance would give nothing away. Just as I began to convince myself that I had gotten away with it, he would pounce. He caught me off my guard every single time. I never escaped the consequences of my actions.

As a people, we have over the years perfected the art of turning the other way, in the presence of very obvious infractions by our leaders; adopting a conspiracy of silence with the hope that when it’s our “turn”, others will do the same and not “pour sand in our garri”. We carry on with the less than wise attitude of “what’s my own, if it doesn’t affect me directly? Let me just maintain my lane.” I believe that’s the current parlance.