By Raji Toheeb
A scholar once said that ” Time is like a sword if you don’t use it to cut something, it cuts you”.
The phrase “African Time” is a prevalent habit among Nigerians. It means to fix a particular time for the commencement of a meeting or occasion but the actual time that the occasion will begin is hours after the fixed time. It’s meant to allocate extra time to the actual time of an event.
Time is life, and any part of it that is not used judiciously for growth, progress and success might cause setbacks and bounce back. Time is a perishable resource once it’s not used productively, a solution might not be applicable to eradicate the problem.
Moreso, not honoring agreement as its appropriate time has been scrooge norms among Nigerians. At times the problem for the delay might arise from technical equipment; unavailability to get correct or proper public address system (PAS) to serve the occasion, or the non-challant attitude of the organizers or the invited guest. Organizers may hold a meeting, all in the name of waiting for people who are yet to come or people who will not even show up without any prior notification.
This disease has been a feature in Nigerians’ culture which has triggered failure to many youth who take it punctuality with levity. Many attendees of a program are not tied up with any task, but willingly they will appear late because they know that time is properly valued in Nigeria, but once they find themselves in the diaspora naturally they will adapt with time factors.
There is a need to proffer an everlasting solution to this epidemic habit because once time is delayed something else might arise which might lead to losing some life opportunity that deals with time. And it’s important to know that “punctuality is the soul of business.’