Government officials should rely on their own judgment rather than unquestioningly carry out the will of the people whom they serve Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoni

In most nations today, a government is appointed to regulate the activities and interactions of a country at a high level. Consequently, A lot of discussion has been elicited about how typical government bodies should operate. In response, the prompt suggests that government officials should depend on their own judgement instead of outrightly carrying out the will of the citizens. However, I mostly disagree with this stance for the following two reasons, although I do concede that in some situations, the government has to take full autonomy over decisions because they might have better discernment over the situation or have foresight that may not be as clear to the average person looking from within.

First of all, the fundamental purpose of having a government in place is to have a system of fair leaders whose responsibility is to represent the people who have voted them in. The reason the members of the governmental parliament are there in the first place is to listen to the people, echo their voices and make implementations that are in the best interest of the members of the nation. If they fail to do this, then they are breaking their promise to the people who voted them in and this can engender a group of belligerent citizens which can in turn lead to a war. For instance, in 2020, the Nigerian youth pleaded with the government to disband SARS, an anti-robbery squad, who had begun to use their power to harass, maltreat and murder the youths. The government failed to recognize these complain because they weren’t directly affected by it. This negligence angered the youths, causing a series of protests and strikes which eventually led to a cataclysm that persisted till the government finally conceded to their requests. Regardless of the fact their needs were eventually met, the turn out of the issue took a toll on the country and its economy. All of this could have been avoided if the government had just seen reason with the people whom they are supposed to serve and taken action to solve a problem that was being complained about.

Secondly, it cannot be denied that even with the amount of power assigned to a government official, he or she is still inherently human with selfish desires and if given complete autonomy to make decisions that affect an entire state, there will be a lot of room for venality. For instance, if the ministers and senators of a country don’t have it at the fore front of their priorities to ensure that the citizens needs are duly met, they are susceptible to embezzling funds and resources meant to go to the development and welfare of the people. The leaders tend to lose sight of who they are serving and get drunk on the power they have because they feel they have all the rights to make all the choices that affect the people as a whole. It is enough that they have the positions that they have been put in, but It should be mandatory for them to always keep in mind that they are there for the people and not for themselves.

However, this issue is not completely black and white as the government knows what is best sometimes and can make apposite judgement calls from more pragmatic perspective. They are able to look at the bigger picture that allows the country to head closer to their national dreams. For example, in 2019, the Lagos government placed a road ban on all motorcycles and tricycles. This ban put thousands of Lagosian riders out of jobs and businesses and everyone looking from within was against the government for making this decision, because they could not see reason for it and they thought it was just a needless exertion of power. Eventually, Jude Sanwo-Olu, the governor at the time, came forward to present the reasons for the ban – the riders had caused lots of life-claiming accidents and commotions on the roads because they were not properly trained, anybody could just buy a motorcycle and hop on the road. The people later understood the need for this decision and came to terms with it as they realized the government was actually looking out for their safety.
In conclusion, for a nation to be generally happy and satisfied, the government needs listen to and carry out the will of the citizens its meant to serve. This is because the purpose of appointing leaders is to have people at a higher level who can speak the voice of the people. It is also necessary because if the needs of the citizens are prioritized, the prospects for corruption are greatly diminished. It cannot be denied, however, that the people in power have the ability to see things from a different perspective than the people and therefore they are able to make befitting decisions that the mere citizen may not comprehend at first.