A Windfall Mentality
By
Tochukwu Ezukanma
maciln18@yahoo.com
Every element of
progress comes with a corresponding responsibility. During the days of
that infamous historical injustice, colonialism, our nationalist
leaders, with a deafening din, clamored for independence. As we
attained independence, it became incontrovertibly clear that we lacked
the discipline, cultural skills and political maturity to handle the
added responsibilities of that political emancipation. Oil boom is a
phenomenon worth being grateful for. To watch gleefully as the wealth
you have neither toiled nor sweated for tumbles into your hands is
miraculously, a magnificent blessing. Regrettably, we proved that we
lack the moral restraint and ethical elevation to uphold the
concomitant responsibilities of this blessing.
The oil boom, if
handled maturely by a disciplined and visionary leadership would have
been wonderful for Nigeria. It would have raised the standard of
living for every Nigerian, and nudged the country inexorably towards
joining the advanced countries of the world. Unfortunately, due to a
reprehensible fusion of oil wealth and disgraceful leaders, oil boom
blighted the country. It resulted to, among other evils, a hideous
mutation of our mentality.
Trapped in the
brute and viciousness, vanity and narcissism, narrow-mindedness and
regimentation of military life, the soldiers that held sway at the
advent of oil boom, failed to rise to higher issues of governance;
they were stuck in the petty, prosaic and pedestrian. By their every
act, they repudiated the society’s long held values, principles and
convictions. They extolled avarice, profligacy, corruption and
outright stealing of public funds. From their actions, the society
learnt that to earn a living through honest, hard work was the jinx of
little minds. That wealth comes from dishonesty, disrespect for the
law and the abuse of the system. That glory comes not from
achievement, but from falsehood, image manipulation and the
exploitation of others. This new found knowledge distorted our
attitude towards work, money, honesty, commitment, etc; we developed a
windfall mentality. This mentality breeds opportunism and the
propensity to seek harvest without plowing.
For example, in our
universities, some students desire good grades but are not prepared to
work for them. Not content with the inherently scholarly and
prestigious, but modest lifestyle of their profession, lecturers and
professors covet the colorful and opulent way of life of the business
tycoon. The inglorious confluence of these two strains of the windfall
mentality, the students’ need for good grades without study, and the
professors’ desire to live above his means, became the bane of the
Nigerian universities. “Sort out”, the euphemism for students bribing
the professors for good grades, is now a norm in the universities. The
payments for this bribe can be in cash or kind (as sexual favors).
“Sort out” makes it possible for students who did not study to end up
with outstanding grades. And for those who could not “sort out”, their
devotion to their studies may not guarantee them success.
Consequently, over the years, these institutions degraded from havens
of erudition and intellectual excellence to awful centers of
mediocrity, cult violence, intellectual flabbiness and sexual
harassment.
In the past,
individuals, associations, and communities banded together and through
communal efforts solved problems and improved lives. Through such
endeavors, scholarship programs were started; schools, hospitals and
community centers were built; roads and drainage systems were
constructed; etc. Then, we had the spirit of volunteerism that allowed
us to volunteer our time and resources for the collective good. The
windfall mentality made us greedy, self-centered, and obsessed with
instant self-gratification. Consequently, we lost our sense of
community and the will to devote our time and money for the general
good. So, our response to communal problems became to murmur,
complain, do nothing and expect them to magically sort them selves
out.
For example, over
the years we witnessed series of fire disasters in many of the
nation’s markets. Each of these fires took phenomenal toll on the
traders and the community. Property and goods in tune of (sometimes)
billions of naira were lost to the fire, sources of livelihood
destroyed, hopes frustrated, dreams shattered, and lives lost.
Lamentably, after each of the fire calamities, no resolute effort is
made by traders in the affected markets to prevent future fire
occurrences, or to contain them if they ever occur. They do not ensure
that the markets have running water and anti-fire gadgets and
accessories, like smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and sprinklers.
Before the last fire outbreak at the Tejuosho market in December 2007,
the market had experienced three prior fire disasters. Still, at the
time of the fourth fire catastrophe, the market had no running water,
smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and sprinklers.
The traders in
these markets have associations. These market organizations hold
meetings and collect dues from their members. They elect officials,
and their officials exercise their powers, strut around and flaunt the
trappings of their offices. But what can reasonably be the objectives
and functions of these market organizations if they cannot provide
absolute necessities, such as water, smoke detectors, and fire
extinguishers to make the markets safe for their members and protect
their sources of livelihood from repeated destruction by fire?
Misconstruing the
source of glory, thinking that it comes from false image projection
and not achievement, the officials of these associations find
fulfillment in the frills and flourishes of office and not in
diligence to duty. Shackled by a retrograde mindset, they cannot take
the initiative and work in concert with the traders to address this
issue of repeated fire disaster. They keep expecting a windfall, a
resolution to the problem to drop from above. Not surprisingly, they
keep appealing and waiting on the government “to provide the markets
with fire hydrants and smoke detectors”.
I was once directed
to a nearby restaurant that supposedly serves good food. As I got to
the restaurant, I was bowled over by the stench that pervaded the
whole place. The gutter in front of the restaurant was clogged with
all sorts of filth and was just oozing. To my amazement, the place was
bustling. Some of its patrons were seated outside, right next to the
fetid gutter, relaxing, talking, eating and drinking; completely
oblivious the odor and surrounding dirt. On the same street are a
number of other small businesses, restaurants, hair dressing salons,
convenient stores, churches, etc. Why cannot these business owners
collectively clean out these stinking, stopped-up gutters in front of
their businesses? What will it take for a group of business owners to
clean smelly squalid gutters? It will not take very much, except for a
little motivation, a sense of community and the spirit of
volunteerism. Unfortunately, the windfall mentality negates all these
qualities.
Following the
psychological and attitudinal ravages visited on this country by that
evil union of oil wealth and unscrupulous leaderships, the Nigerian
populace is in a desperate need for re-orientation. Democracy in
itself is a wonderful institution. Generally, it provides the enabling
environment for the sublimation of societal emotions, attitudes and
proclivities. That is, it can galvanize and channel them to more
refined and enlightened manifestations. However, for this to happen,
there must be an enriching blend of the institution with exemplary
leadership. Unfortunately, what we have for leaders are election
riggers and thieves of public funds that suffuse the Nigerian
political scene.
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