Responsible Friendship: A Requirement for Development

Friends are very key parts of each of our life’s as they help us in both good and bad times. A study by Harvard University concluded that having a solid friendship can boost mental health in addition to other benefits. I could not help my thoughts but allow them to wonder as I sat in that room pondering the role of friendship in the development of nations.  It was a privilege –my job offers – to have been in the room to witness how a budget is defended and passed into law.

As the conversation progressed, I could not help but notice how the camaraderie between parliamentarians and ministers dictate how simple or difficult your budget defence will go. In some cases, the friendship becomes so visible that a committee chairperson will send every observer out except the minister and the parliamentarians in the name of an executive session.  It was at one of this executive session that the thought occurred to me of how responsible friendship can help the development of a country like Nigeria. Responsibility as defined by the Oxford dictionary as the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something.

There is an urgent need to deal with the multifaceted development issues plaguing our nation. This will require that at whatever level of society you find yourself you become a responsible friend that will hold your friends responsible and accountable.  A responsible friend should push you to be your best and for those a leadership, an accountable steward of public resources. When friends who are meant to hold themselves to higher standards allow the friendship becomes the obstacle then underdevelopment will thrive. As young people training to become public servants, we must make it a duty to be responsible friends that will make it difficult for our friends to steal public fund.  Friendship relies on efforts from all parties involved.  Our friendship should become a responsible friendship that is healthy, ethical and accountable. While it is indeed true that we should treat our friendship the same way we want to be treated in return, we must raise the bar with a sense of duty for national development.  The simple act of being a responsible friend can ultimately bring about development. Start with your circle today.