Two Kinds of Senses

There are two kinds of senses.

A sense of expectation and a sense of contribution.

The most common sense in Nigeria, is the sense of expectation. This is the sense whereby everyone expects so much from the government, their boss, the institution they work for, the club, society, NGO, political party, and other such groups and relationships they belong to; without thinking about their own contributions to the organization or relationship they have bestowed so much expectation upon.

This sense of expectation is what is otherwise known as sense of entitlement, for that is what it really is.

An entitlement mentality where people talk about what they deserve to get from others or from society or from government or from whatever group they belong to.

They talk about what befits their status as a member of so and so organization or even as the president of it.

All that rights talk, yes they belong here. Whenever people talk about how other people failed to give their rights to them. A sense of entitlement or expectation is lurking in the corners. I am not saying you have no rights, I'm only saying you have responsibilities too.

Don't get it twisted, a sense of entitlement or expectation is not necessarily wrong. What is wrong is when it is not accompanied by at least an equivalent sense of contribution.

The most applauded speeches in Nigeria are the ones where the speaker rolls out a series of complaints about what the government had failed to do for the people, demands about what the government should now do for the people and to cap it all, a series of promises about what he the speaker would do for the people "if given the chance" but I say beware. Nobody is going to do what he or she is not already doing. A bigger responsibility can only change the scale. What more? A leader that wants to fix a dead land like Nigeria, will not come promising to do it for the people because he simply can't. Instead, he will come urging and motivating the people to fix their country by themselves, following his example.

The best groups, societies or countries are places where members or citizens as the case may be, have a higher sense of contribution than of expectation. The worst groups, societies or countries on the contrary, are places where members have a higher sense of expectation than of contribution.

This kind of imbalance between expectations and contributions is the bane of the Nigerian society today.

People think they have rights to receive and receive but do not want to hear of their responsibility to give and give. Yet they claim to believe that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

The best amongst us are the ones who have zero sense of entitlement or expectation and yet are always seeking ways to contribute to our collective development.

Their lights will always shine bright in the darkness, whether the darkness comprehends it or not.