Matilda Orhewere: The High Cost Of Freedom

Freedom is the essence added to an individual which empowers the person to take certain actions or cause other people to do his bidding based on the power that has been allowed him. Being in the position to use other people to perform roles and duties on his instruction implies that the one who has been so empowered in unencumbered and free to play much more sensitive or critical roles. Freedom is not intended to be taken as more time for leisure or recreation.
Every free moment should be expended constructively in view of inevitable accountability. What many take as more time for relaxation will be accounted for at some point. This is the very reason why people must be cautious with freedom because in the end, there is no such thing as ‘free time’ or ‘spare time.’
For effective leadership, many people are empowered with authority by management, government or voters but it turns out that due to misconceptions that freedom allows more time for leisure and more authority which may never be accounted for, many people entrusted with authority tend to violate the trust and confidence that comes with the position.
There was news report of a Nigerian who was appointed a Federal Minister and he went to his hometown with a large entourage of aides blaring sirens and shooting into the air to herald his heroic arrival. It indicates that the minister did not understand that his appointment as a minister was an opportunity to serve his local community and the nation. Nigerians are still at that level where a new appointment attracts congratulatory messages in newspaper pages and loud testimonies in places of worship. Our appointees have yet to come to terms with the fact that those newspaper adverts are pervert and suggestive of bribery and corruption.
The only people who gain from such adverts are the media organizations; the community that the appoint is supposed to be serving does not benefit in any way. Rather, the appointee is subtly pressured to take note of the name of the sponsor of the advert in view of when contracts are being awarded. This is one issue that many newspapers would rather overlook but in truth, money expended on such distasteful adverts could be spent in sponsoring renovation, equipping of our schools in the name of the appointee and the sponsor.
At a time like this that Nigeria is hard hit by floods, it would indeed be completely vulgar for any appointee to be receiving or encouraging any of such displays from contractors, colleagues, subordinates or their family members.
Accepting the appointment effectively makes the appointee a servant of the state who is answerable to the people who pay him. It is progressive for people to learn to believe that authority given them is meant for them to use in serving the people and not for chastising or intimidating the people. in the end, when Nigerians to decline offers of government or political appointments, it would show that they are coming to terms with the reality of servant hood.
GOD bless Nigeria.
DailyPost