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Lessons from Utopia and the Nigerian Experience (Leadership Series I) By Prince Charles Dickson Jos, Plateau Nigeria
Nigeria is a nation
of people that have deaf eyes and blind ears; we are blessed with
material and human resources, very legitimate ones, not the ritual
money types or the fake certificate holders. We are not a country of
blind men in which the proverbial one eyed man is king.
However we have a
very queer way of doing things, we have labeled it the Nigerian way,
the Nigeria factor, and some say it is very real, others say it is a
myth. Everywhere and anywhere you find us, there is the unique
Nigerian touch, and it is good, very good or bad, extremely bad. We
have men that academically schooled the best brains around the world
so also do we have men that have coned the best around the world. We
are simply the best, to whoever is hurt; there is little they can do
about it.
The essence of this
essay series is to share some recent developments that I have tagged
lessons from Utopia-the Utopia here is other places apart from
Nigeria. I want us to question ourselves as to why the Nigeria
experience is different; my bias would be with our strange leadership
culture.
Let us go to England
our one time colonial masters before the likes of PDP Obasanjo,
Olabode George, Tony Anineh and co started the present colonization of
Nigeria again. The Chairman of outsourcing firm Capita has stepped
down, he did so over "spurious" claims that his 1million Pounds loan
to the Labour party in UK resulted in the group getting government
contracts. This must be Utopia.
In Nigeria, this is
totally unacceptable, why should he resign, for why... when the idea
of such loans is basically to attract government patronage. Ours is
even more dynamic because if you do not collect receipt, it maybe
denied or become controversial, so you pay and collect your receipt or
else ‘dem go deny you, dem no know you again’ (go ask Kalu and PDP).
Besides the third term's major finan ciers would be "corporate
Nigeria" and no Chairman would resign "spurious" claims or not. At
least one of the reasons we are told Uba is untouchable is because of
his peace offering or is it sacrificial loans to the PDP. Has he
resigned, will he ever resign from being a nuisance to the nation and
Anambra in particular? No! Instead he is rewarded with a board of
trustee seat. This is the Nigerian experience.
Rod Ald ridge the
Capita Chairman was one of the 12 donors that lent the Labour party
almost 14 million Pounds, he said "he did not want the misconception
to continue". Utopia!
In Nigeria, the
misconceptions are robbed on the faces of the common man daily, an
illiterate Chris Uba brags and gets airtime on national television and
is elevated to the point of trustee member of a party that supposedly
harbors men of integrity with the likes of Adedibu the meat seller as
co-journey men. In our beloved Naija, no one cares about
misconception, because leadership itself is a misconception, the true
concept of a leader first must be a servant has been elevated to a
leader is a demi-semi-hemi god and the people be dammed.
Aldridge, had run
Capita since its foundation in 1984, he said "at present the groups
reputation has been questioned because of my personal decision to lend
money to the labour party". Lessons from Utopia. .
For us reputation
has since been divorced from our national lives, we have been engaged
in an illicit love affair with shamelessness, leaders drag their
family names to the nude by their actions and inactions, they care
less. A good name is a rare commodity in our polity and present
leadership, call one good name and I would tag it with a scandal
largely unresolved and the owner of the name cares less for
reputation. The dirtiest names have acquired honourary degrees,
traditional titles and all sorts of awards without any regard for
reputation. The rule of the game is the more shame the higher the
chances of success, is he a thief then he will win the elections, is
he a liar…he has fulfilled one of the fundamentals of how to be a
‘Nigerian Leader’
Aldridge further
stated "As I have made clear, this was entirely my own decision as an
individuals, made in good faith…" Utopia.
My beloved Nigeria
has acquired a reputation of leaders that are experts in buck-passing.
They pass the blame for their failure to others, the people blame
leaders as failures, and leaders blame the masses for being difficult.
When they steal it is in bad faith, when they are caught they deny, in
cases they call white, green with no sense of remorse where do we
start, is it the buck-passing between. Mantu and Dariye, or Mantu and
the Vice Presidents CSO, every state has two camps, some three, four
and five each rather than work for those that put them there, are buck
passing. It is only in Nigeria that a man would blame his wife for
agreeing to marry him, even when he was the one that proposed
Our friend from
Utopia ended his statement "whilst anyone who is associated with the
public procurement process would understand that this view has no
credibility, I do not want this misconception to continue, as I remain
passionate abou t the group’s wellbeing.
I am sure the
closest to this, we have had in recent time was Chris Ngige's farewell
speech which was laced with humbling words and grace even when he
would have mustered state resources and power to stay put and cause
damage.
In Nigeria, the
experience lies in the fact that we are dogged people, with a never
say die attitude, we soldier on even when our principles, morals and
stands are trampled upon. We continue when allegations are spurious
with no sense of keeping a reputation. After all every time someone is
chasing us, if it is not our mother, then it must be one uncle…or from
the village, a village which in some cases we last visited a decade
ago. We turn misconceptions into concepts and so we do right things
wrongly and wrong things with a strong sense and commitment of it must
be right. This is barely a scratch on the lessons from Utopia, I
continue next week. Allah keeps us alive.
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