The Age of Unreason

The Age of Unreason

Malam Ali Garba

We live in the age of unreason, an age where everyone expects some form of improvements in their lives while at the time being oblivious of their responsibilities. Everyone has developed the ‘entitlement mentality’ – he/she is entitled to some favour, job, benefit or otherwise preferential treatment. Consequently, everyone is on ‘autopilot’, as it were, and waiting for a ‘second person’ to act so that their problem would go away. A problem is always associated with and blamed on a ‘second person’. Rare is the individual who blames himself/herself for a problem and take the courageous next step to solve it. The vast majority blames others and waits for these others to change. Many others await the arrival of the Messiah or some form of a miracle or a Jegaquine drug to solve their problems. And so, where we should work we pray, and where we should pray we complain and where we should both work and pray we do nothing at all but despair.

Take commercial and industrial activities in Kano, for instance. In the last several decades we have experienced ‘boom time’, ‘bad time’, and, in recent time, we seem headed to ‘burst time’. In the Boom, the Bad and the Burst times three unreasonable species (the Good, the Bad and the Ugly) co-exist with each other in the eco-system and combine to create a situation therein. First is the specie called customer (the Good), who demands for quality and functional goods consistent with his perception of their value in use. The customer is unreasonable and often unpatriotic for his demands and more often buys from alternative sources, including and especially from overseas. The customer will go to any extent, including paying outrageously higher prices, to obtain what he wants. This action of the unreasonable customer is causing the extinction of many business firms that has failed over the years to give him the desired benefits and quality leading such businesses from boom to burst.

Second specie is the businessman (the Bad) who is keen to reap much where he/she has sawn little. The unreasonable Kano businessman makes little investment in technology and methods of doing his/her business, engages not with or seek to refine his tools of trade, has no symbiotic relationship with his powerful stakeholders, and seeks only short-term and maximum profit. The businessman also cares little for the laws of the land and stands accused for conniving with and bribing government officials to avoid taxes, levies, fines and punishment. This action, in part, has recently led to the extinction of a government but is, ironically also, leading to bad times and possible burst time for the businessmen.

The third specie is the government (the Ugly), which is [was] corrupt, arbitrary, inconsistent, irresponsible, unaccountable and very, very, naïve. In the last several decades businessmen and their customers have reason to wonder whether in fact there is a government. Basic and fundamental infrastructure, such as electricity, to support business operation has either failed or has become unavailable. Freedom of movement was restricted because of an insurgency, which the government had no clue of and no motivation or incentive to tackle. Allover the place, goods of varying quality and relevance are ‘dumped’ in the market because of the failure of government officials to do their work. There appears to be no functional policy that supports or encourages the businessmen. While all this is going on the government is beating its chest for all kinds of funds and policies set aside and designed to support business. The only sound the businessman hears is the noise of empty drums, which are becoming an assault and insult to his ears and common sense. By its action, the unreasonable government has caused the extinction of many firms.

And upon this entire crisis the species are living unreasonably – passing blame for the crisis to one another. One case in point is the recent impounding of Nigeria bound goods worth over N100.00 Billion in Maradi, Niger Republic – a very fine example of government arbitrariness and unreasonableness. With the election of a new no-nonsense government with zero tolerance for corruption every agency of government is suddenly awake and seeking to impress The Boss. And so, without warning and on the basis of a ranting of a latter day Robin Hood the Custom Service decided to ‘work’ – to check and stop smuggling after being idle, turning their head the other way and keeping a blind eye to it for ages. Interestingly, these same ‘smuggling’ activities are done ‘legally’ at the nation’s seaports in Lagos and Port Harcourt under the approval of the same Customer Service. All that the Custom Service needs to do, therefore, is to institutionalize the same ‘legal’ process and procedure – license clearing agents, set up offices to clear goods and collect duties, etc., in the dry-ports in relevant parts of the country. But as always in Nigeria, it is better to give an impression of action than to take real action. Why work if you could blame someone else for a problem? Why set up and institutionalize a proper and ‘legal system’ if it is easier to blame the businessman for conniving with the Chinese to smuggle goods? The former is hard work and routine, which no one would notice. The latter creates visibility, an impression of action and seriousness and a good sign of patriotism.

There are many idle ‘professionals’ in the eco-system that have raised hyperbole and jargon to the level of an art – it is better to confuse the audience than to admit ignorance. These idle people try to provide explanation and a way out for this ‘mutual death wish’ situation. Like the Ajino Moto Economists of the last two decades, these ‘professionals’, are essentially bystanders with no commercial or intellectual engagement with the market.

Detached and with little stake in the issues at hand (living at the expense of government and society), the Laxyconomists, Straytegists and Vodoopreneurs (yes, including yours truly), with a pretentious claim to expertise, but with neither rigor nor relevance, use flawed methodologies, reach ridiculous conclusions and prescribe simplistic, disintegrated, disjointed and unworkable solutions that lack synergy, track and tack. These solutions, all of them ‘bought’ by the government, include billions of Naira set aside for business development, multiple and duplicitous institutions and numerous counterproductive and confusing policies with the claim of supporting businesses while actually ensuring the extinction of businessmen. Again, it is better to give an impression of action than to take real action. And few pay attention to a simple maxim – it is the result not the activities that defines performance.

Taking action to achieve result requires taking responsibility to advance the mutual, collective and common interest of all the three unreasonable species. It also requires looking at the problems and issues holistically not in piecemeal. This time is probably the best time to do this. Everyone, especially the customer and the businessman voted for change. All of them genuinely want change and are probably genuinely willing to cooperate to bring it about. The new government is seen as the change agent. It won the election because of its promise to bring change. Almost everyone believes the government is capable and credible enough to bring, institutionalize and sustain the change. The customer wants change that supplies products to solve his problems efficiently, effectively and conveniently. The government wants change that creates employment, increases its revenue and facilitates economic and technological development at some reasonable pace and speed. The businessman wants change that ensures ‘investment friendly’ environment, which is secure, predictable, reasonable and competitive. No arbitrariness, no policy inconsistencies, and no preferential treatment.

Results oriented actions in the immediate, medium and long term may be suggested as:

Immediate-term (next 1 – 12 months)

· State government to initiate high-level dialogue between federal government and the businessmen to:

o resolve the pressing issue of the impounded goods in Niger Republic. This is very urgent;

o to set up and agree on enforceable sanctions, timeframe and other modalities for the stoppage of importation of certain goods;

o agree a timeframe, sanctions and other modalities for the immediate and complete stoppage of importation of food and beverage and other sundry items;

· Federal Government – Custom Service – to set up all necessary machinery for the ‘legal’ clearance of the impounded goods;

· Cooperation of all parties while the process of clearance is being set up;

· Regular meeting of parties for briefings and to discuss next steps

Medium-term (the next 2 years)

· revise the National Industrial Policy to make it more robust, credible, focused and implementable;

· provide a guaranteed 15 – 18 hours supply of electricity daily to all industrial estates in the state;

· strengthen or enact enforceable legislation to protect the consumer against losses, injuries, etc., that could arise from the action of the businessman

· provide a grace period of 2 – 3 years to allow the businessmen to refurbish, make new investment in machinery, tools and staff and for running the businesses;

· genuine and credible streamlining of the institutions, processes, procedures and rules for ease of access to business development funds;

· credible, equitable, transparent and ‘open access’ disbursement of funds set aside for business development

Long-term (the next 3 – 4 years)

· identify and focus on the development of key skills, technology and industries and gain competitive advantage to participate in national, regional, international and global economy;

· strengthen incubation and research centres to support the technologies and industries identified;

· encourage the development and formation of industrial clusters to service the industries identified

In conclusion, it is evident from above that these three species need each other and must in fact work together instead of being antagonistic to each other for sustainable development to happen. They share the same objectives; have a common destiny and interest in the effectiveness of the system.

At this point in time the government is required and is called upon to take the lead in the change process to empower the other two to create the required wealth that in time will make the government a necessary evil that is only required to carryout our legitimate violence.