Below, is something I stumbled across a little while ago and it really got me thinking. It went like this:
(A) African leaders are high on rhetoric but shallow in execution.
(B) They often lack the ability to establish a sound and strategic balance between politics and economic development.
(C) Many display low moral standards in personal conduct and public office performance.
(D) They possess poor social skills to mobilise across ethic/tribal boundaries – often evoking tribal differences to gain or maintain power.
Do any of these ring true to you? And if they do, when? In the past or now? It saddens me to say that in general, all the observations above appear quite correct. At least, in my humble opinion. It depresses me to say they seem even more so now than ever before. Particularly, if Nigeria is anything to go by. For the sake of this discussion though, we will concern ourselves with just the first three submissions.
Nigerian leaders have never been short of rhetoric; always very quick to make fantastic promises, especially when soliciting our votes during the election period, but seldom following through to implement or execute them for the benefit of these same voters. This propensity to say what they don’t mean and meaning what they don’t say, is largely responsible for the noticeable voter’s apathy, witnessed during our general elections for some time now. Talk is cheap, as they say. Here is also a country where everything is politicised and the country is the worse off for it. Policies which would benefit the people and bring meaning to their lives is sacrificed on the altar of politics.
Examples abound, but two which readily come to mind are instances which we were told occurred during the Obasanjo Presidency. According to what one read in the newspapers then, the Governor of Lagos state at the time, had concluded plans to reconstruct the road leading to Murtala Mohammed International airport and had in fact mobilized the construction company to site; only for hoodlums brandishing all sorts of dangerous weapons to storm the place and chase all the workers away. According to the report, it was suspected that they were doing the bidding of the then Federal Minister of Works, also a Lagosian, who insisted that only the Federal government had the right to repair the road, as it was, and remains a Federal road. Incidentally, that same road was recently reconstructed and it may further interest you to know this only happened when the ruling political party at the centre also held sway in the state. In this country, it’s always about politics.
A similar incident was said to have occurred at the Lagos state end of the Lagos – Ibadan expressway, involving the same political rivals. And because of this, those travelling in and out of Lagos would continue to risk their lives driving on the notorious, pothole infested road for another decade or more before it’s finally reconstructed; much like the road leading to the airport which had for long become a national embarrassment. All this, because the two political actors happened to be in opposing political camps; that’s all. Political consideration took precedence over the safety and convenience of fellow Nigerians. How does one also begin to quantify what the people of this nation have lost over the decades, in terms of economic development, because politics took priority over the people? This has a been a recurring decimal here for far too long. Our leaders urgently need to be reminded that Nigerian lives matter too.
As regards low moral standards in personal conduct and public office performance, we will be here all day if we start talking about corruption. So, I’ve decided to approach it from a different angle. Instead of listing all the corruptive acts our leaders have become infamous for, I want to examine a theory about what constitutes morality. The Utilitarian theory, championed by Jeremy Bentham says an action would be adjudged moral or not, by its consequences. So, if your action causes the greatest amount of joy to the greatest number of people, while causing harm or pain to the least number of people, it would be considered morally right. This means the number of people your action benefits, must by far outweigh those whose interest, it’s detrimental to. Of course, it also means that an action which may appear wrong “to the naked eye” could eventually be judged to be moral, if it benefits more people than those it doesn’t.
With that established, let’s now look at the decision taken by our House of Representative members recently, to import three hundred units of the 2020 Toyota Camry, for the purpose of carrying out their official duties. If one is to employ the theory of Utilitarianism as a barometer, how morally right would their course of action be considered to be? How many of their compatriots, who they purport to represent, does it benefit, for the government to utilize scarce foreign exchange to import these vehicles? Does a decision to choose this option, over purchasing vehicles assembled here in Nigeria, where the funds will remain here, appear remotely patriotic? Does it beat a wonderful opportunity to boost our already prostrate economy, by helping local assembly plants to expand and increase capacity through increased patronage?
Does it make more economic sense than supporting the growth of local factories so they can employ more staff, thereby removing many from the disgraceful unemployment statistic of 23 percent in 2018, which is expected to reach an alarming rate of 33.5 percent this year, according to a report in the Daily Post? I’ll leave you to answer all those questions. One thing I will say though is that their action which at least on the surface of it, appears to only benefit about 300 people out of a population of over 200 million, is not too different to that of the former Minister of Works, who believed it more important to satisfy his ego than yield to a move which would serve the interest of the general populace. It doesn’t take a genius to guess what Jeremy Bentham would have said about that. Not all actions which fall on the right side of the law can also boast of being ethical. The many or the few? The choice is yours.
Changing the nation…one mind at a time.
OLADAPO AKANDE
