My mother likens the current levels of corruption in all facets of the Nigerian economy and polity to that of "an only child, whose parents own one of the best and biggest supermarkets in the world, the child is also a kleptomaniac, stealing arbitrarily from only his parents store, and recklessly robbing them. The sad part of the tale is, the kid is fully aware that the stores are the only asset his parent WILL bequeath to him at the time of their passing"...... That is Nigeria for you you.......
Have you tried to read the papers these days. the impunity with which the scarce resources of the country is mismanaged is just unimaginable. You also wonder how these people (who have access to the treasury, and the responsibility to manage the resources) sleep at night. How does one look at him or herself, knowing that they have "chanced" money from the treasury!!!
what is the mindset and psyche that will allow for an official, to openly falsify documentation, and steal thousands of pensioner's entitlement, and with impunity logde it, in foreign currency, in their local bank account....... what is the mindset of the person, who is a legislator of the law, and receives a quarterly payment for constituency projects from the taxpayer, and he or she pockets the money and does nothing for his or her people. or that of the governor or commissioner who inflates contracts and only spends a small percentage of the inflated contract sum to partially and shabbily execute a road or infrastructure contract.
Not wanting to sound naive, I know how the patronage system works. I am also guilty of it, because I have up till now looked the other way and tolerated instances (from gate man opening my doors and greeting me, to the directors of public and private organisations insisting on "supporting" me when the time comes) of these patronages because they were in my favor. This system is really at the heart of the evolving change in our mindset and psyche. The turn by turn, you chop, I chop syndrome is really robbing us of what it means and meant to be a Nigerian. It is slowly and dangerously replacing our national psyche and mindset. It is slowing robbing us of what it means to belong to the greatest nation and race of peoples known as Nigeria. This patronage system is the cancer that is eating us up..... inside out.......
Today, I see our country's moral and physical fibre being worse off than when I was a kid. The level of insecurity nationwide is worse than during the height of the civil war. The amount of money squandered and wasted is at such a level, that it is scandalous and indefensible. We are told in history, that a people get the leaders they deserve, but even Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania, did not do half of what we hear and see in Nigeria today....
I mean, we are a smart people, we have experts, well trained and seasoned from the best schools, have worked for the best companies worldwide. How come, we let our economy be drained like this!!!
The "leaky bucket" syndrome is really killing this country.... How could we let this happen...The turn by turn, owambe, and Kpin di Kpin systems, rotational politics has failed this country, it has only served the purposes of a few, while the masses are left with nothing to show for the dividends of this democracy.
It is a shame, that majority of the roads in this country were constructed during the Gowon to Obasanjo 1 era..... If we judge the amount of infrastructural development and implementation between the era of Azikiwe to Shagari, with Babangida to Jonathan, you will find that very little has been added to the former period by leaders of the latter period and they have succeeded to spend almost 10 times more in achieving less than half of what was done by the leaders of the former period.
If we compare these periods as the key stages in the development of Nigeria, 1960-79 and 1983-2010.
what changed in the mindsets of the leaders, people, what changed in the processes, how did our collective dreams and outlook for Nigeria change?? when did this happen and what were the triggers for it.......how did our national pysche and overall national direction shift. Where were we??
How did we go from the civil servant acknowledging an error, and honorably choosing to resign or if in a grave circumstance (commit suicide), to the civil servant who is proud to invite you to his house in kensington courts in London, or his Potomac, Maryland home in America??? (and will openly discuss fleecing his ministry and parastatal, plus he'd boastfully call his banker, long distance, to provide him details of the yet to be concluded transaction).......
What changed in the mindset of Nigerians, that they believe overcharging a client (person or govt), is normal practice..... what happened to our mindset and psyche that sees us believe that if we dont prosper on the job (corruptly), we are misfits!!!
I actually met some ex colleagues at a recent social gathering.... And they actually confirmed to my face that "I was a fool, for not "chancing" our previous employer, that all I did was focus on speaking "grammar" and not focus on the "details". That my subordinates were colluding with the suppliers and others and falsely passing documents for my signature (unknown to me, then) and circumventing the system and paying themselves... I replied, that I was happy to have done my job, and gotten rewarded for the work that I did. Everyone laughed at me, and the general consensus was that, I was an idiot!!"
I beat an angry retreat, and started thinking. What kind of a society are we developing, wherein people will openly praise stealing money, inflating contract values and offering mediocre services for 10 times the price... what kind of a people are we, that because of our failings in the provision of good roads and services, and basic education and health care, our answers for these failings are to: import jeeps and SUV's, grant outrageous pay packages to expatriates, send our kids abroad to study (even Sudan, Ethiopia, Ghana, Togo and Cameroon are desirable) rather than fix our schools (Some senior policy officers today are proud to say that they studied in Sudan?? was foreign studies, especially to third world countries, meant for only those who couldn't hack it in the Nigeria, or so I was informed)........ And we are now one of the world's largest provider of medical tourism Forex for hospitals in India, Bangladesh and South Africa.
Nigerians, like the klepocrazed son of the rich store owners, are robbing and raping the only asset we have so badly, that we the time comes to take possession of the asset, there will be nothing left.
I have promised to steer clear of politics and stick to sports and general issues. But the events of the last few weeks cannot be ignored.
We've got Islamic banking tearing up the country, and we are seeing the polity being heated by salacious statements by people (distinguished and eminent) who should know better. For reasons best known to me, I strongly believe the CBN Governor, mishandled the dissemination and introduction of the information and issues around IB and or Non interest banking (which are two, very distinct proposals). He has managed to lump them to mean one or the other....... I am still studying, whether it was deliberate or just bad info management.
Non Interest banking is one great proposal. While IB is something completely different, and it advocates for non interest banking. And I think, the CBN governor has not done these proposals any justice, with the way he has handled both. I strongly believe that Nigerians would have been more trusting of his motives, if he had been open and direct, and presented both proposals, on the merits of what each proposal had to offer Nigerians.
By taking the route that IB equals non interest banking, in my view, he has discredited both very unique prepositions, and shown that there is more than meets the eye. And my investigations are still ongoing..
I can read past his xtian rhetoric and bet Mr. CBN Governor, that Mr. Chukwu was responsible for working on Non-Interest Banking, and not IB!!!........ Oga Sanusi, no bi all of us bi maga, and mumu!!!! You yab for the dissemination of these two distinct proposals... Simple. Swallow it and go back to the drawing board, rather than let it heat up the polity and almost have the country at daggers drawn....
Let me leave it there!!!!
So, i am no closer in solving the riddle of what the mindset of a treasury looter is, how did we get to the point that Nigerians see it as normal, to steal from your boss, government or anyone and be able to flaunt it and rationalize it, plus receive accolades from friends and family. What happened to the moral principles in which we were brought up with?? Where is the moral compass, which we'd use to judge right from, not so right, to wrong! In those days, the mere mention of the word "kirikiri" sent shivers down the spine of any criminal, from petty to armed to biro thiefs!!!, these days we get full TV coverage of Nigeria's club med..... That kirikiri is now a health spa, wherein everyone who goes in, comes out wearing white, and is in better shape than when they went in???? Can you beat that???? Na wa!!
How did we get to become praise singers of rouges, thieves and murderers!! what kind of society are we building, when kidnaps and bomb blasts are sponsored as a means of making money off us, by our neighbors!!!
What kind of people are we, that we can blatantly steal from ourselves and not deliver value to ourselves.
Imagine this: Government officers conspire and inflate the contract for a said road in a location in the country. The money is appropriated, the work never done.... the road deteriorates, and 10 years later, on said road, the children of these officials (they grew up together) were heading for a wedding ceremony of a friend. Their car hit a gallop, went into a ditch, and all occupants except the driver were killed. The parents only met themselves after a decade in the raggedy morgue of the location where the accident happened. As they claimed the corpses and headed in their various directions to bury their loved ones, the poor state of the roads caused them all sorts of problems, from traffic jams, to go slow, and the grande finale, was the armed robbery incident that happened mid way through their journey. They were robbed, their corpses raided and violated, and they lost all possessions. These government officials got home and narrated their ordeals to family and friends, and lamented at the poor state of the roads (sic), and the lack of multiple express ways.... But deep down inside them, they knew what and who was responsible for the death of their loved ones.
In understanding that we are transitioning through an ugly time in our nation's history. These 30 years will see us go through a process of internal cleansing. one that will see us being driven to the brink of destruction, but we shall prevail. A new dawn will catch with the thief, the murderer, the inflater, the ghost worker, the fake accountant, the politicians who doesnt care and delivers no value except to his cultsmen....
A new dawn will come and shine over us and bring peace. Leaders who care about this country will work hard to repair our psyche and our collective soul. They will work hard to feed our kids, provide schools that will raise Forex for us (and our neighbors will once again come here to study), our hospitals will be fixed and deliver true value to our people.
The only patronage that will work, is the patronage of one..... EVERYONE. no special ogaship or bossman will exist. We all are ogas, we all are servants, we all will serve, and in turn be served. Our gift and asset will work for us and become a blessing and not a curse. Our people will see themselves as working for this land, and hence will not steal from it to hurt themselves. Our national psyche will return.... That is the mindset I want to see, for us. Am I a dreamer or a romantic optimist???? I hope things will change for the better in my time..... I hope.....
No comments:
Post a Comment