In managing the different types of risks we face in life or business, operational risk is generally regarded as the fulcrum upon which the emergence or mitigation of other risks depends. It is caused by inadequate or failed people, processes, systems and external events with people regarded as the most important. Interestingly, the reason it is regarded as both the cause and solution of other risks has to do with the way it is perceived and managed. When properly appreciated and managed, people, processes, systems and external event can be vital assets to properly manage other types of risks which will in turn result to higher resources, human capital and reputation. If improperly appreciated and managed, they can become serious liabilities leading to loss of resources, human and reputation.
Using the above insight, the sad events following the EndSARs protests can be attributed to failures in risk management particularly operational risk (mainly people). Recalling that it started as a peaceful protest against the operations (people, processes and systems) of the Police Force particularly the SARS, it degenerated to unprecedented destruction and carnage after the unfortunate and condemnable shooting of the protesters at the Lekki Tollgate. Moreover, with the recent revelations from both Governor Babajide Sanwolu and the Military, it is also becoming very clear that the regrettable shooting and subsequent carnage that followed would have been avoided with better operational (people) risk management.
As we review the unfortunate developments and apportion blames, it is abundantly clear that the crisis was caused by the poor performance and increasing failures of our governments (Federal, State and Local governments) in meeting with their social contract with the populace. With the failures, the youths are increasingly being encouraged to get more involved in politics to take over and provide better governance of the country with the hope that it will prevent the reoccurrence of the crisis through better management of the inherent operational risk (people). It is a good advice, but something that is a prerequisite is missing. There is a need for better understanding of who the youths are and the required synergy with the private sector for the higher involvement and take over of governance to be effective.
From the narratives we are seeing and reading, there seems to be two major groups of youths- the hoodlums and the non-hoodlums (peaceful protesters). While this is the case, the hoodlums are somewhat not properly described as youths but boxed and branded just as hoodlums. This is wrong and poor diagnosis of the problem. For the current youth movement to succeed, there must be a very strategic and coherent synergy between the youths and the “hoodlums”. As they can be described as a set of disengaged youths and allegedly available to be manipulated by politicians, the question is how to make them engaged. It is a task that must be properly examined and achieved by the educated youths and the private sector not as part of philanthropy or CSR but as a strategic factor for sustainable self- survival and growth (the private sector and the educated youths).
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Recalling that the protests was largely peaceful until the hoodlums appeared on the scene, it means that the protests would have continued until governments commit to more reforms as demanded by the youths. The question that educated youths should find answer to is why the hoodlums will prefer to disrupt the otherwise peaceful protests. In another form, why did the hoodlums not see reason with the educated youths to support and join the protests peacefully. The answer is that they lack the required understanding to appreciate that the protest is also in their interest. As they failed to appreciate that the protest will make governments to better attend to their short, medium- and long-term needs, they disrupted the protests to achieve insignificant aspects of their short-term needs. The challenge and solution therefore are in finding a sustainable way to mitigate our inherent operational risk (people- the hoodlums and government). In his most interesting book, Development as Freedom, Amartya Sen explains that the best development is the one, that expands the opportunities and freedoms of the populace.
With education the best means to expand such opportunities and freedoms (manage the operational risk-people), it is an area that the educated youths should focus on to secure the support and partnerships of the hoodlums. In most poor neighbourhoods in Lagos for instance, there are no good and affordable primary and secondary schools for the poor. The few public schools are significantly dilapidated in both physical structures and capacity in terms of manpower. With such situation, the recruitment and succession into the ‘hoodlums family’ is therefore easy and constant (inherent operational risk- inadequate or failed people).
Given the accountability and transparency displayed in the management of the funds contributed during the protests, the focus should be on how to expand the funds and use it for education interventions in our poor neighbourhoods. With technology an enabler for solutions to most of our social problems, it will help in both raising the funds and in the deployment of the best platforms for mass education of our hoodlums and their families. As it is now clear that the private sector investments are also prime targets in a crisis, it will also be in their interest to partner and contribute to the funds as it is their self-interest. With the impressive private sector contribution to COVID 19 fight, getting their support and even co-management of the contributed funds might not be difficult. While it might be argued that Nigeria is very big and that it might be difficult to achieve a good impact, the important thing is to start. As Lagos can be described as a mini-Nigeria, it should be a good place to start and then expand to other parts of Nigeria. Just as the EndSARS protest was initially, peacefully coordinated across the states, so it should be possible to effectively execute a youth-private sector led education intervention in Nigeria. To ensure effective absorption of the many unemployed graduates, another focus of the intervention is on how to retrain the unemployed graduates in skills that are globally in short supply such as Information Technology. The need for this type of urgent and pertinent intervention cannot be overemphasized. It is also the best effective way of achieving the necessary buy-in of key segments of the youths to create a better and new Nigeria. Having a population of over 25 million unemployed and 91 million very poor Nigeria can only be described as a time bomb that is already exploding and gross failure in operational (people) risk management. The time for urgent intervention and shared responsibility was yesterday!
Dr. Ngwu, is an Economist/Associate Professor of Strategy, Risk Management & Corporate Governance, Lagos Business School and a Member, Expert Network, World Economic Forum. E-mail- [email protected],
