The concept of ‘Nigerian time’ is never to arrive on time. If you are familiar with this terrain, appointments, events and other businesses seldom start at the scheduled time.
Have you gone for an event on time only to discover they are yet to start? Before setting out, it is wise to plan to be in a fix. Firstly, you have to consider the ever-disappointing Lagos traffic. It is on the days you are in haste that the roads are blocked. If it is not tanker drivers obstructing with the trucks, it is bad roads or an accident or drivers breaking traffic laws. How about on those days that you want to take your time? Surprisingly, the roads become free as air. That was my predicament some days ago.
After planning my route to an event the day before, I set out three hours earlier. That way, I was sure that Lagos traffic would not ‘show me pepper’. I got to the event pretty early. They were still setting up the stage and props. I wished I had taken my time that day. To while away the time, I was pressing my phone, going through all the notifications. It was not until it signalled to my brain that my phone battery would soon drain that I stopped. An event that was slated for 9 a.m., people didn’t start to troop in till past 10 a.m.
In this part of the world, we sometimes abuse time. But do you know you can judge a person’s integrity by how they keep up with appointments? It does not only make you trustworthy, it earns respect. The people involved are also respected by how you keep to time. In the business world, punctuality is a virtue. There was once a colleague who was tagged a latecomer. She was late to every meeting and even reporting to work. Her excuse was that she lived very far. We all knew that she was a strong advocate of ‘Nigerian time’. Her motto was ‘arrive when all has been set.’ It became serious that she had to be laid off from work because of this poor trend.
If we want people to take us seriously we would have to let go of ‘Nigerian time’. People should also keep their word. If there is an agreement for a scheduled time, so be it. Anybody who does not abide by this has abused trust and respect. Time is a limited resource and should be treated as such. Given that we all have 24 hours, nobody has all the time in the world. We should learn to respect everybody’s time, and give no room for ‘Nigerian time’.
Written by Patricia Uyeh