WHEN WILL PUBLIC SERVANTS STOP PREPARING EGUSI SOUP RIGHT INSIDE THEIR OFFICES?

BANTER WITHOUT DOORS: Despite how hungry Duru Chimezie can be, he still wouldn't be happy to see our public workplaces converted to mini fastfood joints. He has a lot of beef with public officers this week. Read on to know why.

I love professionalism. In fact, I am one of the loudest advocates (you'd ever meet) for extreme professionalism at workplaces. And what motivates me most when it comes to it is the sheer enormity of your chances to deliver on the job when you are a full professional. It pays a great deal and despite the obvious dislike for it in this part of our world, it still is the shortest route to success. Be a professional and get to attract the best profiled clients you can ever imagine. Now, is that my problem? Nope. My problem is with those who for all our 'rituals' and 'blood sacrifices' in the deepest bushes of Africa, have simply told themselves that no matter how hard we try, they simply wouldn't be even fairly professional, let alone fully so. Therefore, let us talk about them, can we? Good!

So what's professionalism? It's simple. It is "the conduct, aims, or qualities/skills that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person". Please did anyone else see that word 'conduct'? Well, that will be the area of my focus. Professionalism has a lot to do with the aims you strive to achieve with your practice (profession), as well as the qualities/skills you ought to exhibit to be at the top of that role. But then, what about conduct? Conduct is the most important. Yea. It is. Simply because, without the right conduct, you wouldn't even have the required discipline to get the job done! Imagine a man with the temper of a cooking stove, I mean how would you expect him to be in charge of a class of kindergartens? He will be comfortably flinging the kids into anywhere at every provocation. Now for a class of 40 that would pee on the floor at every thought, you'd expect 10 left after an hour. Being temperamental isn't the problem, rather failing to have the right conduct which should in turn pocket your coarse disposition, is. Having the right conduct at work leads to wanting to bring out the best parts of you that will help you get the jobs done. Having the right conduct will also lead to keeping those ugly things you know yourself for, away from your job fronts. Conduct is king. Conduct is professionalism in plain.

Have you been to a public workplace in Nigeria before? Or would I say, most public workplaces? Good lordy! If you haven't, you should try to. I am not writing this as a way of getting back at them for an unfair treatment meted out to me, even though I have been a victim of unfair treatment a couple of times. I am only doing this to get people to know about the level of rot that has set in, at these public offices. When most young school leavers cry about how they ain't finding the job vacancies, I am spending most of my humble time, wishing they would be any different when they eventually get any chance to go in there; and I mean the public offices. While we might want to blame the government for this given that they should be in full charge of the activities of the staff they have employed, I still think the government giving them the job in the first place is enough effort. For James' sake, what would ever go wrong if for one moment every public servant decides just to do the things they have been employed for? Maybe I'm beating about the bush aplenty. Let me just simply say it - in most public offices, what you'd find or see would plainly surprise you! The last time I visited a certain state ministry (it is most abundant in the state ministries) I could count a bunch of persons either; selling personal wares (from cloths & foodstuffs to imported shoes); converting their office tables to a mini-headquarter for another remote business/venture unrelated to the public office they are attached to; prospecting fellow staff and guests for external networking ventures for which they would be given certain material bonuses; being directly involved in the running of certain aspects of the office's business units and doing so illegally (conniving with the management to do so) or at least holding full fledge 'religious services/crusades' during work hours and right within the office premises. In fact, the most disturbing was the number of persons (mostly women) who I found getting foodstuffs and a variety of ingredients ready, right in the office, against the a meal they were obviously going to make on getting home by evening. Some were opening up melon seeds while some de-stoned beans and rice. There were also a couple who were even chopping vegetables right on their office tables. It was an eyesore. I never had words to describe the utter depravity!

Now, even if we have never heard the words kitchen and office before, how is it that any common head cannot tell the difference between a private kitchen/cooking place and a public workplace? When did office tables with files and computers begin to interpret to mean to us kitchen countertops on which we could cut fresh fish and tomatoes? I wouldn't be mad at myself if I do shed hot tears at this point. We are seriously fettering the glorious future of the public office. Our children have a lot to learn to drag our dear country out of mediocrity, but not when those who should be teaching us, have made themselves chefs without hotels. It is a sad situation.

Can someone please ask our mothers and fathers (those involved in this acts) who work with public offices to stop being unprofessional in the most barbaric of ways? Can they be made to try imagining what it would feel like to them if the government were to be unprofessional with their salaries, promotion responsibilities and benefits? Would they really be this unconcerned if it were their own personal businesses? I don't think so. This should be made to stop. Offices; both private and public must be places of related ethical practice and conduct. We must form a culture that encourages the youths of our dear country to accept to do just the things we expect them to do in workplaces thus putting to control the temptation to do unrelated activities (that is called conduct, once more). We will be building a beautiful country if we do. One in which healthy work ethics will spread across every facet of national building. I drop my pen in sadness. Preach the gospel abroad. See you next week!

Remember, at 360talkatives you should always leave a comment... 

Share on Google Plus

About Unknown

Scroll down to bottom of page to find out more about this author.