Indiscipline: Biggest enemy to both societal cohesion, economic development

While the word “Discipline” by itself is simple, yet deep in meaning and tends to give very powerful credence to character, the opposite of it, “Indiscipline” is dangerous, erodes and takes away all possible shine from every effort made in one’s life.

I have yet to meet a single person, even the most notorious among friends or a group who will not accept to be described as “having the traits of being a well-behaved” person or “possessing strength or self-control”. Even among thugs, they have rules that members must obey or be kicked out, how much more “Civil Society?”

However, a very dangerous trend is developing that seems to be creating a free-for-all atmosphere in Ghana. Indiscipline here, there and everywhere!
 
Indiscipline in the name of “human rights”
A very simplistic view of human rights says “any basic right or freedom to which all human beings are entitled and in whose exercise a government may not interfere (including rights to life and liberty, as well as freedom of thought and expression and equality before the law).

This concept seems to have been stretched, unfortunately, too far into some “threatening” margins that if care is not taken to whip it back into societal lines, everybody would live to taste its bad fruits sooner than later.
 
Let us put out a few questions and interrogate them.
 
What if in the name of human rights…
 
“…some people decide to spread their mats on the streets because that is where they feel like spending the night?”
 
“…all children wake up one day and decide not to go to school again because they have the right to choose what they want to become in future?... which they do in a way, anyway”.
 
“…drivers decide to go on hard drugs and drive because they have the right to decide on what goes into their body?”
 
“…a group of people in our society decides to go nude because that is how they feel like presenting themselves in public?”
 
“…a group of students decide that they will not subject themselves for examination after going through a semester of study, but want to be given certificates?”
 
“…our radio presenters decide to broadcast any news whether they tend to cause fear and panic or not?”
 
“…our newspapers and Television stations decide not to censure what is put out there in the open for reading and viewing by the public?”
 
“…a family decides to treat their children anyhow, simply because they brought them into the world? For example, deprive them of food, clothing or shelter”.
 
Is it not the same feeling of entitlement that drives some people to practise open defecation, which is one of the major causes of water pollution and, eventually a breakdown of cholera during the rainy season? Have we ever counted the health costs during such periods?
 
What about those rapists? What drives them? I know the psychologists will jump in and describe their actions as psycho. True though they may be, I am inclined to believe it is this feeling of rights entitlement that sometimes emboldens their actions.  

The questions can run on end. Yes, someone has defined the limits of every person so beautifully thus: “You can decide on your freedom of speech, but cannot decide on the consequences of your speech”.  In the name of human rights, the one to whom a breach affects can equally respond without recourse to any societal restrictions, norms or laws. Is that what we are asking for as a society, all in the name of human rights? Where then will our cohesion be?
 
Traffic offences
This is something that has become part of our driving fraternity to the extent that there are virtually none who can be excused.

It looks as if the entire society is in a hurry to some unknown destination that is about to close its doors to latecomers. As a result, both passenger and private vehicle operators and owners, respectively, seem to be in some competition with each other for space on our roads. So we drive on curbs with impunity, putting everyone at risk.

So everybody is panic-stricken on the roads, especially during the rush hours. Passengers are scared, as much as pedestrians. What is going on, please?
Driving through red lights: due to the unwritten competition among road users traffic regulations are flouted with impunity. Wait a minute! Did I hear myself saying that road traffic regulations are flouted…? No, that is an understatement!

To the ignorant, it is to show “machoism”. These people do it deliberately and often say that obedience to those rigid regulations belongs to those who learned driving from the book. The self-acclaimed roadmasters have their own set of driving codes and ethics. Please do not challenge them because we have created them unconsciously. So they will continue to rule on our roads until we wake up to reality one day.

The passengers’ entitlement rights: Surprisingly in Ghana, virtually all passengers want to board and drop off vehicles where and when they want to. I made this point in an earlier article a few years ago. Due to the unstructured nature of our private road transport system, there is competition among these operators.

As a result, they are ready to pick up and equally drop off their clients, as and when they call on them at the expense of their lives and that of other road users.
You know why?... Because if one driver refuses to stop and pick them up, another will provide the service at the same spot the earlier driver considered as an inappropriate place. So why not? These hungry, ignorant drivers thus endorse the passenger entitlement. And with time, it has become an unwritten norm on the road, and so the buffoonery continues!
Consequently, anyhow these drivers will maximise their vehicular capacity becomes their priority, whether safe or injurious to themselves and, or, others; resulting in the careless driving practices we witness daily.
 
Throwing things on the road
Another very nauseating practice that has become accepted in our society is the indiscriminate disposal of plastics, paper and other solid waste matter while in moving vehicles. This has resulted in filth-engulfed roads in the country, especially in the towns and cities.
While some do so in ignorance, seeing nothing wrong with it, others do so deliberately so that others will come and clean it and make some livelihood out of that. A very pathetic mentality!
 
I remember as the Senior Hall Tutor in one of the Halls of residence at the University a few years back, a roommate in one of the rooms reported to me one day after a heated argument with the three other roommates.
This was over a heap of dirt they themselves had generated and kept right in the middle of their room.

According to him, the stench in the room was overbearing, yet his roommates forbade him from cleaning the debris. Their reason?... The cleaners must get something to do. Wow! They had forgotten that what they were doing was affecting their own health.
If university students could descend so low in thought, how surprising is it for the ordinary street vendor or passenger who is less exposed in terms of education to follow suit?
 At the end of lecture sessions, most lecture rooms are awash with debris from biscuits, chocolate and toffee wrappers and assorted water and drink bottles, even though waste bins have been provided at the entrance of the rooms. Can you imagine?
Well, maybe I am an outdated specie who does not know WhatsApp! So man, let it be!
 
Reporting to work late and still taking time to settle before starting work:
This is the commonest act of indiscipline in the country most people are trapped in, so we see nothing wrong with it. Dare you to approach any desk, public or private, at 8 a.m. on the dot and ask for some service of a sort. I bet you may have to go back home and wash down again before you will be free from the smear of unprintable invectives that may be poured on you.
This is because the common practice is that people get to work, sign or clock in, then step out to go and look for their breakfast, and eat before work can begin. We are talking about close to 30 minutes of the employer’s time. And we talk about productivity?
Meanwhile, we know and say that work starts at 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in some organisations. Yet, the worst offenders of this time mismanagement are the leaders who will advocate and champion a fight for a pay rise at the beginning of the next negotiating year.
There was a classic case at my workplace in 1999. As the production coordinator of a printing press, I used a red pen to draw a line under the last name after 8 a.m. To my surprise, the next person who signed in wrote 7:30 a.m. To date, I am still wondering whether I did not see well or something. Am I disillusioned or expecting too much? Some oculist and psychologist to the rescue, please!
 
Use of abusive language without regret
It is becoming increasingly rare to hear decent language use among the driving public, and even more difficult to judge who is on top of the chart between drivers and drivers’ mates.
Sometimes, one wonders if the offenders in this case anticipate some kind of annual awards in honour of the best rough tongue. If you are the decent type, you cannot help but be ashamed to be among such abusers. Oh! Where are we, Ghana?
 
Disrespect for authority and the elderly
There is a popular Akan proverb that says: “Sε anantuo so sene aserε a, na yareε wom”. To wit, “The calf must be diseased if it grows bigger than the thigh”. However, it is not uncommon these days to see or hear a younger person showing gross disrespect to an adult. It is prevalent in most homes and, surprisingly sometimes, even in churches.
Whatever will let children or young people misbehave before the age could be wide and varied. However, there is a good admonition from the good book that says: “Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long….” Surprisingly, this is the only commandment in the good book with a promise attached to it.
The context here about father and mother does not refer to only biological parents. In fact, any fatherly or motherly figures who come our way are what the good book is talking about. But what do we witness these days?
 
I will not take your minds far, just follow the political discourse of our country today and you will be unpleasantly surprised at the invectives that come out of the mouths of some young political activists.
These acts of indiscipline in our body politic that seeks to spread false and wild provocative rumours to smear our opponents just to win votes not caring about the aftermath is a very dangerous phenomenon that must be nipped in the bud. They tend to cause division and also a potential hindrance to development.
 
Fashion and human rights
There is also indecent exposure of vital parts of our body in the name of fashion. What makes it worse is the kind of apparel some call dress and clothe themselves with. They really leave much to be desired, if you are as disillusioned as I appear to those who do not see anything wrong with it!
This emerging trend equally calls for urgent and concerted efforts to help those trapped in this behavioural pattern. I am sometimes inclined to think that I am probably too bold, old-fashioned and out-of-touch with modern trends, thus, living in a non-existent world of my own, or expecting too much from society. However, if what I am seeing is real, then let society wake up before it is too late.
 
The get-rich-quick craze
The youth of today have a term: “What do you get when you live up to seventy or eighty years?” So they will rather engage in Internet scams and defraud others, or consult spiritualists (what has become known as sakawa) to become instantly rich. They then drive flashy cars and lead lives that put themselves and the lives of other unsuspecting youth in danger.
 
Conclusion
Finally, I want to draw attention to the fact that nobody can quantify the cost of unbridled freedom in the name of human rights. I do not want to sound like a prophet of doom, but I dare say we are sitting on a time bomb.
Yes, I hate any form of abuse, be it physical or psychological, but I am also deeply convinced that open-ended freedom, that is freedom without some level of restrictions and, or, some level of responsibilities is also a sure recipe for lawlessness, chaos and ultimately, disaster! So the powers that be, please wake up!
 
The writer is a lecturer with the Department of Publishing Studies at KNUST.