Is there any excuse for being lawless?

In such a great country as Nigeria, home to millions of people, many vices exist in all forms. But as much as the government keeps fighting it, it keeps increasing day by day. A major vice in the country Nigeria is lawlessness. Lawlessness, according to Encarta dictionary, is defined as uncontrolled, unregulated, disorderliness, without or against the law. Thus, lawlessness does not necessarily mean that there is no law in place; rather it implies that people for whom the law is made do not abide by it. This is the case in our present day Nigeria where people fault others and yet indulge in acts of disobedience to the constitution. A typical example of such situation of lawlessness include non-compliance with traffic rules and regulation and yet people keep pointing accusing fingers to police who arrest traffic offenders. Another is dumping of refuse to improper places and so on. But the question is: is there really any excuse for being lawless?

Many Nigerians attribute their acts of lawlessness to the loopholes created by government, its agencies and other factors. They do things that are against the constitution with the claim that they have no other options. But taking a skeptical look at the situation, I don’t think there is any excuse to be lawless.

People who dump refuse at roadsides and improper places claim that there are no refuse collectors to collect the refuse while others say that the fee charged by refuse collectors is too much. Whereas rather than dumping these refuse materials in improper locations which in turn constitute toxic materials to the environment, people can burn or bury them. Refuse materials that cannot be buried or burnt can be sold out to recycling industries. Also considering road users who use the road anyhow ranging from drivers to cyclists and even pedestrians, they claim that there are no traffic lights or directives to instruct them on proper usage of the road. Whereas many of them have failed to acquire proper knowledge on usage of the road and traffic regulations. Another is the issue of traders who hawk their goods and sell their wares at roadsides. Many of them complain of high cost of shop rents, other claim that there are no suitable market structures that can and sales. Whereas the government has been making tremendous efforts in creating suitable settlements for these market women and even those created have not been patronized. Considering the issue of civil servants who keep complaining and have taken to laziness and corruption as a means of livelihood, claiming that they are owed salaries by the government and there is shortage of personnel and equipment, the question is: what have they done with the ones available? What efforts have they put in to make it better?

Though I’m not saying that the government should not brace up in its activities for ensuring the wellbeing of the citizens, yet citizens should stop being lawless all in the name of excuses for their lawlessness. Nigeria can only be great if we start working and quit pointing accusing fingers to one another. God bless Nigeria.

Oduola Kayode

08122028476

Oduolakaysam@Gmail.Com

The Poytechnic, Ibadan.