By Elias Abayomi Adagunduro
Statistics have it that developed communities worldwide usually work as a team. Just as a tree can’t make a forest, no matter how intelligent a leader in a community can be, he or she can’t work in isolation in developing the community.
Such person needs like minds. If there is a recorded development or project in a community, it means some persons must have made certain sacrifices towards the actualisation of such Projects
For a community to develop, all hands must be on deck. When different categories of people in a community is charged to be patriotic, they will achieve whatever they set out to achieve.
The leaders in developed communities lead patrioticly and the followers follow patrioticly since the main goal is Community development, every member of the communities have certain roles to play towards achieving it.
A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common is a community while development is the process of developing if you like a new stage in a changing situation.
For a situation to change positively from point A to point B in a certain community, certain actions must be made or put in place for its actualisation.
Also, for a situation to get worst from point A to z in a community, the actions and inactions of members of the community can be attributed as the cause.
When Government institutions do not deliver deliver dividend of democracy to the people in a community, if the community members are united, they can mobilise their youths to act responsibly, ask questions in changing the status quo and vice versa.
Again, when young people volunteer in community services, overtime through mastery, they will discover innate talents. They would develop new skills that weren’t taught in four walls of schools. Skills which include communication skills (Speaking and Writing), public speaking skills and interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence will be learnt.
In this present economy, there is no more white collar jobs as we can all see. When community members don’t volunteer, it may be difficult for many to get their dream jobs.
Those jobs young persons dream about, they can start volunteering their time judiciosly to learn about them through community service.
Community members will not be able to discover themselves and the talent inherent if they don’t go all out to express themselves.
Having acquired these skills through community service, they can leverage on these skills for the development of themselves, their families and community at large. They will be the voice of the voiceless, they can easily be mobilise to fight for a just cause.
Developed communities usually have updated database for different categories of people in the community. They know each other.
They know who to nominate or support for political positions and opportunities. They know the downtrodden amongst them, they have records of the aged, widows, disability, unemployed youths , employed youths, miscreants in the community. When interventions are targeted, they have real people to work with. They know the male champions, they know the he for she, they know the women advocates.
Communities that are not united, will abdicate responsibilities through excuses. They will always have someone to blame for their actions and inactions. It will be easy for Politicians to use the divide and rule tactics to deepen their division among these people.
When they are united, when a community sees injustice to a member of a community as injustice to all, when they see the community problems as general problem, such community will be formidable, they will have speedy development and quality categories of people that can compete with other developed communities in the comity of nations.