The end justifies the means

This picture speaks volumes about the state of our country and how most people approach live in Cameroon.

Let us not be quick to pass judgment on this "creative rider" who has successfully looked for a way to maximize his bike. For he is operating on the principle of everything goes that is very prevalent in Cameroon and amongst many Cameroonians. Yes everything goes and laws do not matter. If I want to get a job, I will do all in my power to get that job. I will bribe the "big man" and if it means I have to go out will him then let it be. If I find myself out of the country and have difficulties obtaining papers, I will lie about the state of the country and seek for political asylum. Money speaks and those who have money do not necessary have to obey the law. Elections are for those in power to win perpetually. The ruling party always wins. Once chairman, you are chairman for life. One man one vote is a strange concept. The end justifies the means.

Yes, the end justifies the means. In this case what matters is that the rider of the bike wants to move his six passengers from point A to point B. Put your self in the man's shoes. He is saving time, money and maximizing profit. What is wrong in it? Is he not riding his bike that he bought with his hard earned money? The children may be his children. If yes, is he not having the right to carry his own children in anyway he sees fit? Even if the children are not his, another adult must have instructed him to carry the children. What is wrong if two consenting adults decide and agree to do something?
Mr. Chris Ajua says. " I call this mode of transportation: "Unsafe At Any Speed!" So many traffic laws are being broken here and I feel something should be done about it".

I hear him say laws are being broken. Therefore the action of the rider has turned an otherwise safe mode of transportation into a hazardous mode of transportation. When societal laws are broken, the society becomes unsafe for everybody. As such all laws of society must be obeyed by everyone for us to be safe. We have to stop operating by the principle of “everything goes” for the truth is that everything does not go. We must stop rationalizing our disregard for the laws of the land, for two wrongs can not make a right. Therefore the end does not always justify the means. How do we expect to come out of the present quark mire the country is in, if we insist on operating by the faulty principles?

We are talking about the owner of this bike, because he is broking the law in the open. How many of us are different from him? You may be fast to say, your action did not endanger anybody. You did what you did because you had to survive. I have one question for you. Did your dire circumstances force you to break the law? I have not asked, is everyone else doing the same thing that you were “forced” to do? When you break the law, no matter how small it is, you are placing others in harms way. For your action is encouraging others to break other parts of the law. At the end of the day most parts of the law are broken and in some cases the whole law is broken and the resulting consequence is a broken system.

A system where nothing works. A system where without a “God Father” qualified graduates can not get jobs. Hard working students do not get the grades they deserve, but grades are giving to their mates who go out with their teachers. Basic medical facilities, roads, schools, etc are lacking because some contractor, had to oil the lips of numerous “big men”. A system were "man know man "is the norm.

What is the need waiting for your turn when the man at the counter is your friend etc. No doubt there is so much confusion and infighting in the country. No doubt we are overwhelmed by the hopeless surrounding us. The US ambassador recently echoed this in her speech. We have given up all hope. Are we waiting for a messiah to come bail us out? There is no messiah. We can not keep breaking the laws of our land and expect the country to prosper. How can there be stability when our constitution is changed whenever the powers that be deem it necessary to modify the constitution to benefit them? We must level the playing filed for every Cameroonian and make sure our laws are not seasonal.

Our only hope is the rule of law and not a new political ideology. We have to start obeying the law and encouraging others to do same. We must denounce those who break our laws, instead of sitting them on the high table, because they have built a big house and came to the occasion in the latest car. Are we not aware that it is questionable, when a civil servant of certain category amasses a certain amount of wealth?

Let the change begin with you.