AFRICAN TIME SYNDROME

AFRICAN TIME SYNDROME AND IT’S EFFECT ON NIGERIA AND AFRICA AS A WHOLE.

The term, “african time” is often used to denote a common mentality or belief, majorly among Nigerians, that a scheduled programme or event won’t commence at the particular time it has been scheduled to commence.

The culture of “timeliness” among Nigerians in particular and Africans in general is one that needs serious enforcement if the country, and by extention, the continent is to really move forward.

One would expect the backwardness of the African continent to pass across a serious message across to people as regards the evil involved in time wasting.Unfortunately however, the situation seems to be getting worse day by day.

Take for instance, in our churches today, even if the service is scheduled to commence at 8am,members do have this mentality that:”it is not a crime for me to leave home at 8:30 and robably get there few minutes to 9.Afterall,the service might not even commence at exactly 8am”.This is very bad.Why do you have to leave by 8:30 and what also gives you the impression that the service won’t start at 8am?What if it does?.Another illustration can be seen in the cases of V.I.P.S and honourables scheduled to attend an occassion.They keep people waiting for long hours and eventually turn up to tell stories of “unforseen circumstances”.While some of these excuses might be genuine, many of them are flimsy.A student who has an 8 o’clock class would rather leave home at that exact time with excuses like:”why do I need to get to class first?am I the one to take the lectures?or the lecturer probably just woke up from bed”.

EFFECTS OF AFRICAN TIME

1) One effect of the “african time syndrome” on Nigeria is gross underdevelopment of the economy.The Nigerian economy is in a terrible state presently and the reason is not far from the time manangement issues we have in this country.

2) It has become difficult for us to measure up with other countries.For instance, in 1960, both Nigeria and Singapore gained independence.Today, Singapore ranks as one of the world’s greatest economy, while Nigeria still remains stagnant as a third world country.

In conclusion, urgent steps need to be taken as much as possible to save Nigeria from the clutches of “African time syndrome”.Timeliness must be entrenched at all levels of the society.At work places, employers should insist on punctuality at all times.