By Ezekiel Nabieu
The contest for the most important profession in the state begins with no end in sight. The contest was triggered off by Andrew Keili in his article titled:Respect And Empower us”-SL Engineers.
In conformity with his request I have been pondering over it with observations that follow.
When all is said, politics is the one profession overwhelming all other professions which is why all other professionals including engineers aspire to it. But should politics be regarded as a profession? This is partly because politics has to do with governance which is none other than lording it over others. Egoism and egotism are not excluded.
That attitude of “I am monarch of all I survey” is latent. Scholars who become politicians have to be the good conscience of society. A progressive state should not be peopled predominantly by citizens whose hidden agenda is to get rich and quickly including Third Term Agenda activists. Our purported second fastest growing economy in the world is due to our run-of-the-mill politicians. Government has come to be a trade and is managed especially in most developing countries solely on commercial principles. As we are all witnessing, a person plunges into politics simply to make his/her fortune.
How many of our erstwhile beggarly politicians before the 2007 elections are not now filthy rich? Does this include De Pa?
Concealment, evasion, factious’ combinations and the surrender of convictions to party objects is the lot of the debased politician. Politics is a deleterious profession to which “How for do’ aptly applies. The fact is that it is the “causa sine qua non of society. The enigma about this profession is that it is not always within the ambit of the progressive professional. A person who has a choice has trouble.
In the days of old when men were bold the choice of professions like the choice of marriage partners was largely influenced by parents and guardians. Thankfully these days children have more independence in the choice of their professions.
To this end guidance counsellors have been introduced in schools which is a step in the right direction. It is a pity that some people find themselves in the “wrong” profession and therefore cannot give of their best.More is the pity that by the time their real talents are discovered it may be too late to benefit themselves and their respective states.
In 1 Corinthians 7:7 it is written “But each has his own special gift from God one of one kind and one of another.” While I am not going through the whole gamut of professions I shall mention a few without giving the impression that they are more important than the others which are not being addressed here.
Journalism
Without journalism you would never have pondered my thoughts that are being expressed here. Come on cynic, journalism cannot be underestimated! Great is journalism. Imagine a state without the media. It will be a state of flux where rumours and counter-rumours will be the order of the day and bedlam will prevail. Journalists ought to be forgiven because exaggeration of every kind is essential to the profession. The difference between literature and journalism is that our journalism is sometimes unreadable and literature is hardly read. Some journalists justify their own existence by the great Darwinian principle of the survival of the vulgarest.
Law
Before independence in many developing countries, their most important or what they deem to be the most important professions werelaw and medicine. They groomed their children to be lawyers and doctors whether they had the talents or not resulting in a plenitude of quacks and cranks. Luke 7:30 states “but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves not having been baptized by him.” Need I elaborate? Luke11:46 also states ‘And he said ‘Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.”
Medicine
There is no mortal who has no business with the medical profession beginning with birth. Therefore the role of medical practitioners including dispensers, nurses and birth attendants cannot be over emphasized. Small wonder they are so highly regarded in this life and death business. There are times when there is more danger from the doctor than from the disease.Sometimes they cure one patient and kill ten but a doctor’s mistake they say is the will of God and so nothing happens by way of punishment. A young doctor means a new graveyard.
Teaching
Tell me which profession has not benefitted from teaching! How did the lawyers and engineers etc. gain their knowledge? Did they just study in the libraries without anyone teaching them anything? I think not. Which is why Cicero asked “What nobler employment or more valuable to the state than that of the man who instructs the rising generation”? The fact is that a teacher affects eternity because he/she can never tell where his/her influence stops.
The Clergy
Aside from atheists all religiously inclined persons will agree with me that the priesthood is the noblest of professions and as a result should be the most important.
In as much as engineering is all around us law, medicine, teaching, farming and the forces and other professions are also all around us. We are all members of one body and no profession should be underrated.
Side-Line
In view of the humiliating defeat of Brazil the Sierra Leone Brazilian team should see that as coming events casting their shadows before 2018.
(C) Politico 11/07/14
