What’s Your “Little” Contribution?

However society looks is a product of collective conduct. This is unavoidably so because society itself is begotten of collective existence, collective consciousness and collective actions. Therefore, the state of our society ultimately mirrors the nature of our collective action. Thus, when we say Nigeria is corrupt we mean to say there are many corrupt individuals in Nigeria whose individual corrupt actions result in a corrupt society. The same thing obtains when we say, for instance, “this is a very humane society” – we would be meaning to say that there are many humane persons making up that society.

So, what makes society is everyone’s “little” contribution. This is the reason why we should be cautious of our “little” contribution always. We tend to often go with the impression that our conduct as individuals does not matter, that it is too little to count. We may therefore be reluctant to make that “little” sacrifice to do good, and may feel no guilt engaging in that “little” bad conduct .Yes, we feel our “little” contribution, positive or negative, does not matter.

Let’s use this familiar scenario as an example. Many times we complain of dirty environment but are rarely conscious of the reality that our repeated “little” actions and inactions are ultimately responsible for such an untidy environment. Yes, I’m referring to those moments of drinking “pure water” and carefreely dropping the satchet on the floor, opening a pack of biscuits and throwing the pack out of a vehicle window, eating groundnuts and unmindfully allowing the shells to drop to the ground etc. As individuals, these acts seem to us too “little” and too isolated to count. But then it is little pieces of waste that ultimately accumulate to make a heap of refuse. We fail to see the connection between these “little” individual acts and what our surroundings ultimately look like. We hardly reckon with the fact that blocked drainages and gutters leading to washing away of roads are a product of these “little” acts of recklessness.

But imagine how neat our environment will look if everyone, or at least, most of us observe in our own “little” way these simple environmental practices. Imagine how good our society will be if each of us contribute positively in our own “little” way.

We should be conscious of the fact that our society suffers today because of our “little” daily individual contributions. One who is in his “little” office and once in a while collects “little” bribes may not see that this “little” negative contribution will join up with many other “little” negative contributions from other individuals to leave us with a corrupt society.

This is why it is morally compelling to always ask ourselves what our “little” contribution is at any point in time and anywhere we find ourselves. Those contributions are the little bricks (building blocks) that together make up the very big mansion called society. Each of the blocks has to be in good shape as a single bad one can initiate a “little” crack that will ultimately get the entire edifice crashing.

I have consistently kept the adjective “little” inside quotation marks to make the point that no human act is actually little in its effect insofar as we all live in this web of common destiny called society. Though an act may seem small and insignificant in its immediate impact, ultimately the effect metamorphoses from an isolated harm to a damage of societal scale.

So I ask again, what is your “little” contribution?

This is my meditation this midweek.

Henry Chigozie Duru, PhD, teaches journalism and mass communication at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.