THE BLAME SYNDROME AND A NIGERIAN’s SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; LESSONS FROM AIESEC!!! CULLED FROM AIESEC NIGERIA NEWS LETTER.

THE BLAME SYNDROME AND A NIGERIAN’s SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; LESSONS FROM AIESEC!!!

January 31, 2011 | Comments (2)By Akintujoye, Ayo Bankole

The basic nature of man is to act, and not be acted upon. To take responsibility, as we say and do in AIESEC, to be proactive,to choose! However,this is not the case in our society as individuals at several levels in our society choose to be acted upon and succumb to reactive,as against proactive behaviour, which unfortunately is the root of our socio-economic backwardness.
It amuses me when I see youths,who belong to the most energetic age group fail to act and make things happen but rather choose to lay back and let things happen to them, and then push the BLAME on the nearest person or thing. It further fascinates me when I see that this Blame syndrome has eaten so deep into our fabric that it has become cultural,even spiritual!
Our children BLAME their parents/guardian for sending them to public schools, or making them hawk,and then use that as an excuse for not finding time to read or refusing to do so when told to,while some few proactive ones in the same shoes with them come out in flying colours,proceed to higher institutions and go on to become great men with inspiring stories.
Our students BLAME their lecturers for failing them in exams and bribery,or ASUU for going on strike,or lack of electricity,or lack of conducive environment or money; anything at all,as excuses for performing poorly in school. As if those who excelled all have rich parents,or attended classes somewhere else,or were taught by different lecturers,or had generators in their hostels!

Our GRADUATES blame the government for not providing jobs,their parents for not being influential,and even the companies for favoritism and nepotism. And they shy away from self-development,they refuse to acquire needed skills and competences, refuse to show initiative,to take interest and aptitude tests,to study industry,expand knowledge,sharpen their thinking, and even get acquainted with the business process and problems of organizations they are interested in…the worst of which is,we can’t even justify our degrees!!! We render ourselves useless to ourselves, prospective employers and our society,and are quick to sacrifice others for our unemployability.
The employed blame their bosses for lack of results and non-performance,blame colleagues for conspiracy and corruption,and quickly justifies Mr. X’s promotion to be a result of his relationship with the MD.
The dismissed blame their extended family for spiritual curses,or friends for jealousy,some even their mothers for witchcraft!..and run to religious houses,some of whom tell the truth,but most of whom leverage on our cultural psyco-pathology to rip citizens off and feed fat and play to the gallery with baseless theories of spiritual interference!
Companies with bad and greedy management blame government and multiple taxation for their unprofitable state,they blame lack of social amenities,high overhead costs,too many employees,debtors etc etc for their misfortunes while their competitors soar and expand by the day.
Our government blame the nation’s woes on previous bad leadership,an irony as the past leaders are still part of present governments. Past civilian governments blamed the military,the military blamed the founding fathers,and those in turn blamed the colonial masters!
Our society keeps moving round and round in a web of blames and counter-blames…and no one is taking responsibility and initiative for their actions and destiny…the few who do are victimized or accused of being beneficiaries of nepotism. I weep for my country,my heart bleeds for my generation!
This is not to say that all these factors mentioned above do not exist,or do not constitute a serious challenge to socio-personal and economic development,but we must understand that every society has its challenges,and ultimately,your fate lies in your hands.
This is a mindset which AIESEC inculcates in members,which I am a product of…a universal law that works for over 40,000 change agents globally. Despite varying and unique realities of AIESEC Local and Member committees, members have the culture of repressing such realities to the background,and facing challenges as though the realities never existed…an organization that runs on the “taking responsibility” paradigm..where a platform is created for members to explore and develop themselves out of their own will, and not brood over the “don’t haves” of their situation.
There’s only one way to get to the peak in AIESEC, and this way is also the only way to get to the peak in life,regardless of aspirations; …that is to “take responsiblity” for your actions,be pro-active,be a go-getter…a lesson we AIESECers apply out there that makes us stand out.
As Eleanor Roosevelt observed,”No one can hurt you without your consent”…and in the words of Ghandi,”They cannot take away our self respect if we do not give it to them”
And until we can truly accept,as Steven Covey states that “I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday…” Then we can’t say ‘I will be tomorrow what and where I choose to be!’
And if we can’t say this,that is,take up what we psychologists call internal locus of control,and expunge these external loci of control,then our youths,and our society will keep falling victim to self-inflicted under-achievement and impoverishment…
So help us God