By Sheku Putka Kamara

I know for a fact that being late is something I cannot cope with and I AM NOT SURE I will ever be able to. It is beginning to look like a weakness to and for me. I will only hope that people will understand this. Whiles ‘you don’t have to do things like me,’ I am compelled to believe that we all have to work in line with best practices. It is some of those things that define me. In universities for example, my students know that THEY CANNOT AND SHOULD NOT BE LATE. That is a culture I have tried to pass on in all of my years in the teaching field and in all my other engagements. If we all try to adopt such a mechanism, maybe and just maybe, we could change a whole lot of things for the better.

I am of the opinion that being accustomed to lateness is a recipe for chaos. It is more like saying that ‘I am ready to settle for less.’ How did we get at such situations? We all may have asserted one way or the other that time is money, but why do we keep acting in a rather contrary manner?

In our country, a certain programme will be scheduled for 2pm for example, but it may not start onto 3,4/5pm? Imagine? For me, I am likely to shun such events and activities. Now, let’s get this straight. People and institutions must learn to really and truly communicate on time if not in time. It matters. It saves a lot of headaches.

For my classes for example, I am very okay with a student that’d inform me that he or she would be late and or absent because of XYZ. At least, that’s some justification. I value those things. For institutions and people, I require the same things, please. If we have an appointment for 10am, do not come to me after 10 without a prior justification. I am constrained to work like that. I see that as one of my disorders.

Whiles I am not preaching perfection most certainly, but my proposition is that a few things could be sorted and or improved just if we all so desire. In all of this, kudos to Chernor Bah and his team at the Information and Civic Education Ministry. That man is time-wise as far as I know it. The weekly government press briefing is a case in point. I have also witnessed a few sessions where he’d be invited and he’d almost always arrive even before the commencement of the event. Mark you, lateness will almost always come from the organizers.

Notice that this article is not one of those lengthy narrations, but it is my hope that I have hit the nail on sound heads and I look forward to seeing some improvements in the best interest of stability and quality service delivery from all and sundry.

Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Friday, January 26th, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)