TwoCents | MEDIOCRITY - by Oluseyi Vandy

There is something about mediocrity. It's a slippery slope. It takes you down quickly, and before you know it, you are at the lowest depth asking how you got there in the first place, because it happens so subtly that you don't catch it. This happens because a lot of people take the easy way out. It is hard to deliver and maintain excellence. To constantly go above and beyond to deliver more than is expected takes a level of discipline and focus that quite honestly, a lot of people feel mentally tired when they start to think about it. They think, why put so much time and energy when I could just do little or nothing, get my pay, and move on? This is how it starts. What this does is reduce the standards, which then gets others to allow people to get away with a lot of things. Only because the people allow it. There is then a sense of general acceptance. You see a lot of people say things like nobody holy pass or what about-ism when someone tries to hold people accountable to do what is actually their responsibility. A quote from a book comes to mind, it is along the lines of "The first time a (wo)man sees injustice, (s)he abhors it, is vexed. Keep him/her around it long enough, (s)he gets used to it and becomes familiar with it. Leave him/her longer, (s)he partakes." When this practice goes on long enough, things begin to reverse or flip on its head. They start to shame or judge you for doing what is right and holding people to the same standards you hold yourself; they will call you wicked when you are simply upholding the rules and laws of how everyone should act in their roles. They will also try to guilt trip you with questions like "have you never made a mistake?" This is why the defense you see for doing something everyone knows is wrong is majorly "nobody holy pass." To emotionally blackmail or force you to accept kinship, because they know once you allow for that acknowledgment or sympathy, they can play on that and go unpunished. Meanwhile, no one is held to any form of standard because it then becomes what about-ism. "What of that time you... what of when they? Never about saying this needs to stop, or addressing the main issues. People never stop to think about one thing; they play up sympathy but never offer to return all they gained from acting wrong, which is a general sign that repentance is not genuine. They are more sorry that they got caught, or just act up because they know any other move would bring about punishment which they all fear. Imagine asking a person if (s)he would "chop" when they enter public office. If their answer is no; you either would say they were lying or think of them as fools. Chop being the new definition for steal. Because semantics is the ready tool of people who do this. Just think of this, it is expected that once you are in office, you steal from it. That is what we call being smart or sharp. We have made it okay to be thieves. We expect and applaud it; "Share the money!" As well as other words of praise we give those who spend wealth we know were gotten through illegal means. Then we wonder why the system does not work, or there are videos of kids talking about yahoo. Lowering standards have a way of sedating our moral compass, and this is why you see people do a lot of audacious things, then when people question them, they give silly and unintelligent excuses that they should be ashamed to say in the first place. This is what corruption is built off. The knowledge that no matter how ludicrous or senseless the excuse, the masses will do nothing. This is also the reason for the rise of godfather-ism. Understand that in a society like this, it is a game of who can steal the most first. After they steal from the people they are supposed to serve, the roles reverse. The people they should serve become the servants. Why? Because they monopolized and manipulated the system for their gain, at the cost of many. Now the role shifts from citizens and individuals serving society through the opportunities they benefited from the country by building a reputation or business, to serving the few in office if you hope to rise to any meaningful level. Again, this is because they have manipulated the tools of the state to profit them. Everything becomes transactional; anyone they do not like is removed because it is not based on merit. In a system like this, even the easiest things are made to look complicated and overwhelming, because the interest of the few does not matter. To simplify, simple things that would easily solve major challenges for everyone and make lives better are ignored, because the few in power do not benefit from this. You have people loyal to one or a few person(s) at the expense of the whole, even when put in public office. Their loyalty is never going to be to the public because they know and is reminded of who put them in office, not based on merit. It is the ever-rotating wheel of corruption. If they even choose to try to work for the people, the godfather(s) threatens or reminds them of his/her hold and they have no choice but to bend because those godfathers have shown their proficiency at reducing the standard till they became the standard from either manipulation, will to use violence, and stolen wealth. The best part? The people at this point support them loyally because they are the new standard and symbol of power. If you speak against them, you do it with fear because they have shown they can get away with it. So rather than speak from a point of being right, you speak from fear. Because the tools, systems, and offices that should protect the interest of the people have been bought. You know that you are exposed without protection from someone or people who have all the tools to hurt you. So you comply, not just for yourself, but all close to you. You also can never see people keep their word because integrity and honor are principles that govern the habit of excellence. Principles can not exist when the general standard is lowered. This brings about a lack of trust, we expect people to lie or just have a hard time believing people. People see words as tools of performance rather than the law to guide them because they know no law rules them. Also, no one can enforce the law on them. This is why they treat those they should serve with contempt. We sell ourselves and belittle ourselves. For the right price, we will betray a family, a friend, and our own beliefs. They also know if one person refuses, many more are willing to take their place. So they speak with impunity. This same strategy was used during colonization and is still in existence. This is why I believe Nigeria never broke away from the doctrine and mindset of that era. The watchword was oppression, which we still see plenty of in our society. If you say, the westerners were not mediocre. I say this because the level of information and access we were given was limited. Why? So that the people thought in a certain way that made them knowledgeable enough to build and do the activities and labor required of them, but not really enough to think and do for themselves. Hence the in-between of not being illiterate, but also not being fully competent and informed. This average level is what is known as mediocrity, the inability to be excellent, or not strive for more. That is why we see poor institutions, and education because if these structures stay poor, the people are not equipped to succeed without the few individuals running things. This way, you will not challenge them to do or be more, in some cases you encourage and beg them to. When people can not trust each other or see that others that do very little to no work are moving ahead in the hierarchy, they become disillusioned. Why put in your best when no one cares? What this looks like is if you can't beat them, join them. This makes even the civilians look for shortcuts and wish to bypass the right way of doing things. The cycle of corruption works because the majority of the people allow it (Be it from personal interest, actions, or inactions). We do this because we hope for the opportunity or chance to benefit from the system of corruption, but we most likely will not, at least not as much as we imagine. The people in charge are already benefiting and will continue to benefit, then they use the wealth stolen to get people to do their deeds, reinforcing the system. They also selectively adhere to the laws; bending the laws of the land for their benefit, but enforcing that law on whoever they choose to punish. Since we all are playing their game, they can't lose because they control the rules of the game and everyone is not saying "Stop! This is not fair." If one person does, many others will continue. The judiciary sells its judgments to the highest bidder. Security agencies do not bother working or being honest because they are punished or seen as wicked. No one is willing to do patriotic acts which by definition is the height of civic excellence, because the state that should reward and protect you and your loved ones reward the very people killing the state. They see no need to give their all and do their best. Now what you have is a bunch of people not willing to give but take. We all come together to make this system possible. In the course of Endsars, people saw a glimpse of this truth. The younger generation actually got the president and political actors to pause and ask them, "what do you want?" This is a position unheard of in a society where the old corrupt rulers use age and experience in corruption to suppress the youth. The February 2023 presidential election was another clear sign that when we come together as a society, we do hold the power. This is why the divide-and-conquer rule had always been a go-to weapon. Why the politicians from the two ruling parties always switched and reconciled after elections but were quick to scream religion and tribe to divide us so much so that it stuck into our political consciousness as a way to share power and promote unity? The masses never made the rules or laws. It became the expected protocol they created to solve the issue of inclusion. The way I have seen government clamp down and suppress people or ideas they wanted dead has revealed the old lie of "Nigeria does not have a working system." Rather, it should be "Our system is alive and well, it is just one which celebrates mediocrity and only displays brilliance in its level of criminality and bypassing the law." "Nations enshrine mediocrity as their modus operandi, and create the fertile ground for the rise of tyrants and other base elements of the society, by silently assenting to the dismantling of systems of excellence because they do not immediately benefit one specific ethnic, racial, political, or special-interest group. That, in my humble opinion, is precisely where Nigeria finds itself today!" - Chinua Achebe.

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