"AFRICAN TIME" [ TIME IS AN INDISPENSABLE PART OF OUR LIVES ]

Sources >> eventbrite.com
Time is an indispensable part of our lives. In fact, it
is life itself. All activities of mankind are dependent
upon time. Even our stay on earth is measured by
time. This is why time, being an integral part of our
lives, should not be toyed with.

Consequently, Time is a concept that I am familiar
with. However, the concept of "African Time" was
alien to me. This is because I couldn't fathom the
reason why a particular kind of timing should be
attributed to Africa and Africans. To the best of my
knowledge, the African culture encourages
punctuality and timeliness. These are rooted in the
wise sayings and proverbial words of the African.
elders. A prime example of such proverbs is;
punctuality is the duty of subjects and the
politeness of kings.

Upon research, I discovered that this is just one of
the racial phrases used to denigrate the honour,
integrity and dignity of Africans. The use of such
phrases like paint someone black; black sheep of
the family; black devil; black market amongst others
has succeeded in demeaning, desecrating and
dehumanising black Africans.

Sources >>> africanripples.com
African Time denotes a period of time fixed for an
event which people fail to adhere to. African time
refers to untimeliness, extemporaneous arrangement
and a general disregard for time which is purported
to be a general habit of Africans.
For example, if an event is fixed to commence by
10:00am prompt, It is assumed that Africans will
never start the programme at the appropriate time.
So, if such programme eventually begin by a later
time, the 10; 0clock fixed earlier is regarded as an
African time. In other words, African time is
regarded as a culture of fixing time before the
actual commencement of a programme because the
people are known to always fail to heed the call of
time. Therefore, it's safe to assume that the coinage
of the word stem from the belief that Africans
generally don't do things at the right time.
..

Although this is an hasty generalisation and
categorization, one cannot help but wonder why
most people do not keep to time. It seems as if
punctuality, promptness and timeliness are unknown
to our people. People wilfully go late to meetings,
disregard the sanctity of time, flout basic timing
rules and try to manoeuvre the system when there
are sanctions involved. Nowadays, teachers are
instructed not to sanction latecomers and lecturers
also tend to overlook the iniquities of students who
are perpetual latecomers. Consequently, there is
prevalence and incubation of this anomalous habit
of delaying time.

It gets worse when those who are supposed to
enforce timeliness are the ones who come late for
meetings and other engagements. How can a boss
catch latecomers when he himself is late to work.
Perhaps, this is the major reason why Time is never
taken serious by most people.

Unfortunately, most people are unaware of the
dangers associated with this bad culture.
People who not conscious of time usually miss a
lot of important appointments. Many job applicants
are unable to secure employment because they are
always late for interviews and screening. Those who
do not keep to time misses a lot of goodness
associated with timeliness and promptness.

Businesses who do not attend to customers at the
right time loses a lot of customers. This in turn
adversely affect their sales revenue and market
share. Indeed, punctuality is the soul of business.

...

The failure to adhere strictly to time may lead to
death or utter destruction in moments of
emergency. Cases like this abounds around us
everyday. A notable example is the fire incident that
occurred in Ariaria market in 2017. The incident
was exacerbated by the failure of the fire fighters to
attend to the problem promptly.

THE MOVIE EXPLAINED MORE ABOUT AFRICAN TIME

Time and tide waits for no man. He who does not
keep to time misses the goodness of timeliness.
There is tendency to perform activities in haste if
such activities are not completed at the right time.
This may lead to a woeful performance which has
ripple effects on our activities.

By My Friend Lucy Gist
Furthermore, it's essential to note that
procrastination is one of the greatest enemy of
man. A popular axiom states that procrastination is
a thief of time. Successful people all around the
globe are known to be time conscious.
Untimeliness is one of the traits of an indolent
individual.
Therefore, we Africans must stand up and oppose
the idea of an African time. It's our collective
responsibility to denunciate expressions which
portray Africans as barbaric and uncivilized race.

More importantly, we need to condemn African time
in words and actions. It does not make any sense
to advocate against African time while we still revel
in the comfort of keeping late appointments. The
best way to fight against the menace of African
time is to always keep to time. Only then can an
advocacy against African time yield results.

Image source > facebook.com
A popular saying goes thus; Charity begins at home.
If we desire to achieve the ultimate goal of fighting
against the so called African time, we need
sensitize our children and our immediate family
members on the importance of punctuality and
timeliness.

It's high time to fight against the menace of an
African time. We need to propagate to the world
that lateness for appointments and a disregard for
time is not an 'African thing.' However, we must
ensure that we walk the talk firstly by being prompt
and timely in our dealings with people.
In conclusion, the essence of time can not be over-
emphasized. The eradication of the invented
expression "African time" is possible. Let's strive to
be more responsive and responsible in our
endeavors.

Timeliness is not a virtue on its own. It
begets other virtues like honesty, truthfulness and
faithfulness. He who is not truthful can never keep
to time. Keeping to time portrays an individual to
be responsible.

Image source > golegal.co.za
Say no to African time.