The Adamic Nature: Majority Carries The Vote

There is a saying that when you point a finger to someone, the rest of your fingers point back at you. We like to blame others for our problems and just as often we forget to see the problem almost always comes from us. I call it the ‘adamic’ nature (for non Christians, Adam was the first man in the bible whose wife Eve gave the forbidden fruit). Adam points to Eve, she points to the serpent and I like to think the serpent might have pointed to God for creating the tree in the first place.

Back to us!!!

The solution to most of our problems lie with and within us, if only we stop the finger pointing act. I am not ruling out the presence of some persons whose only aim in life is to constantly constitute a nuisance. Yes, sometimes others can be at fault but how ready are we to see and accept it when the fault is ours, i.e. when the majority of your fingers carry the vote.

Individually and as a society, we must learn the art of taking responsibility for our actions no matter what the outcome is.

One of my friends who had the opportunity of studying in the UK for his masters degree, once opined on facebook that the west (Britain)  was responsible for the ineffective mode of teaching and learning that has contributed to the crippled education system in Nigeria. After some minutes of thought, I asked him why we have not realized that after fifty something years, and why our leaders who travel far and wide have done nothing about it. So it’s either they have also not noticed or they have and decided it is not a priority (after all their own children also get their degrees outside Nigeria). Either way, the finger he was trying to point could not stand the direction of the majority.

In addition, when I  read this article on the recent gay situation in Nigeria and some of the comments directly blamed the west for trying  to force it down our throats, even when the writer clearly stated that as a child, he had seen gay people over 50 years ago and in the 70s, openly showing affection, all I could think of was ‘enough with the finger pointing!!!’

If there is one thing I will teach my children, it will be that actions have consequences. Once you make a decision and act on it, the majority of your fingers will carry the vote no matter how much you point that first finger.

We make life-changing decisions all the time. To study or not, to work hard or not, to marry (for the right reasons) or not. It is an endless list but most times we do not stop to ask what the consequences will be in the long run. Then if/when things go wrong, we go berserk screaming at someone else instead of at ourselves.

Let’s take responsibility of our actions and their consequences, both as individuals and societies. That way we can effectively learn from our mistakes, retrace our steps and make overall progress.