I would have loved to give a recent picture of a train in transit in Lagos, but if if i dared take a picture of it, i'll probably lose my eye, because while snapping away, a very leathal projectile might as well violently grace the glass which will produce a flash from my camera or camera phone.
Seriously, stagnant water really does stink, apparently, every government parastatal effectively reflects who we really are. We are the government, the public figures that we know actually represent us, how hard can it be to understand that?
Mr. Thomas happens to be a tenant who lives in a duplex belonging to Mr. Lanade in Ogba area of Lagos. Perhaps due to the fact that Mr. Thomas' business wasn't going very well, the surrounding of his house was found to be bushy, full of refuse, the entrance gate was rusted and irregularly bent and the entire building was seen to be dilapidated and gradually falling apart.
When Mr. Lanade got worried, he approached Mr. Thomas gently, "why have you mismanaged your house?", "But it is not my house!" Mr. Thomas said. Okay then, would you take proper care of it if i gave you the house? said the Landlord. This statement changed the reaction of Mr. Thomas.
This scenario clearly depicts the average Nigerian psyche, we don't want to take care of things we use unless it is expressly assigned to us, but we fail to realize whatever we use is actually ours, and we might as well deserve it.
Back to the train ride, and please don't get me get wrong, in as much as we have freedom of information, i am not biased when i say the Nigerian Railway Corporation under the leadership of Seyi Sijuwade is doing very well, gathering momentum from the doldrums it was recently revived from.
Think about it, the NRC started operations in Nigeria in 1898, which coincides with the period when lots of plans were made to put Nigeria on the map. Plans like Agriculture, Education, Industrialization, Road networks and bridges. Apparently, the white folks took charge and called the shots as at that time, so all the good things they established back then were actually made to last a certain time frame with the plan or initiative to improve upon them.
Unfortunately, ever since we took charge of ourselves and the activities that our lives depend upon, our priorities got misplaced all of a sudden. An average Nigerian wants money over comfort and shame, enabling us compromise standard and conscience, allowing us downplay excellence and celebrate mediocrity.
Counties like the United states of America have shot up to great heights because of the quality and optimism of her citizens. Most of them are well educated and enlightened and on top of it they are optimistic so much to see the big picture in every scenario and only seek for a solution to problems that shall surely arise, therefore they constructively criticize.
So if you board a Lagos train and you experience congestion, inadequate security and safety measure, look at it this way, majority of the train passengers haven't quite seen beyond their noses and so do not mind so far they get a ride, and even if they complain, they will only destructively criticize the system, not considering the default hypocritical tendencies that oozes as an aura over them.
One more thing, don't take a picture of a Lagos train in transit, let the professionals do it.
nice work
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