Though much has been said about the evils associated with ethnic
sectionalism, no one has yet bothered to show how it adversely
affects the well-being of the economy of Nigeria. When a person is
placed in a position of authority to which he is ill-qualified, the
direct result is that the society is not well-served.
It is regrettable that Section 16(1) prescribes that the
resources of the nation should be harnessed efficiently for the
good of all citizens, and also provides the discouraging Section
14(3) that insists on the inefficient and corrupting federal
character or quota system for the appointment of decision-makers,
like ministers.
Section 14(3) has spawned an army of idlers who people the
industry called lobbying and live by merely waving the badge of
ethnic balancing to hold government sinecures, and with nary
intention to add any value to the commonwealth. They merely
fleece.
Many of these Any-Government-In-Power leeches who variously
emerge as ministers, commissioners, legislators, local government
councillors, or board members, have little or no technical
expertise to offer. They hang on the coattails of those who
dispense political patronage.
You must have seen TV footages showing some pitiful and grossly
inadequate persons, who drone on, in a vain attempt to impress the
television cameras that are trained on them during the usually
lacklustre sessions of the National Assembly.
The less than average achievement of these quota appointed or
elected officers reminds one of Thomas Gainsborough, the English
painter, who bought a violin only to find out, like other
unschooled music buffs, that the music is in the violinist, and not
in the violin.
Though Gainsborough practically made music his life’s major
preoccupation, it is on record that his musical talent was not
particularly distinguished; he was in the wrong calling, despite
his passion. The Yoruba would have told him that the person with
the blunt machete learns their lesson only when it is too late.
Being appointed into an office that one is not qualified for
does not confer ability or competence on the appointee. It rather
exposes their inadequacy. A square peg that is compelled to fit
into a round hole is actually a recipe for colossal failure.
The history of Nigeria’s public service is replete with
instances of individuals who got promoted beyond their levels of
competence. They were naturally out of their wits most of the time,
and they generally took decisions that were not always up to
speed.
Consequently, the overall performances of the organisations that
were handed to them to run were always less than optimal. Ask the
subordinates who serve these incompetents, and they will regale you
with tales of woeful conduct of government business.
Many of the better qualified subordinates that were passed up
for top positions because they belonged to the “wrong” tribe have
generally turned out to be unhappy, and disgruntled. They therefore
deliberately give less than their best, if they do not sabotage
outright the work of their organisations.
And often for sport, the more mischievous subordinates would
approach their incompetent bosses with problems that they knew that
the bosses, who are out of their depth, had neither the ability to
comprehend nor the skill to resolve.
An unconfirmed report says that some members of staff of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation took turns in sending memos
couched in opaque and complicated terminologies to many of their
unqualified bosses who only came to stuff in from what their
benefactors perceived as the NNPC binge.
It is needless to add that the memos stayed for long periods on
the desks of the witless “ogas,” until the urgency of the matters
lapsed, and became irredeemable. If funds had been committed to
projects that the incompetent bosses were expected to take
expeditious decisions, such funds simply wasted away. That explains
abandoned projects scattered all over the nation.
A friend, who is an incurable cynic, always argues that the
educational superiority that citizens of some regions of Nigeria
claim to have over their so-called educationally disadvantaged
compatriots actually amounts to zilch, or naught.
He anchors his argument on the reality that most of the
strategic offices in the Federal Government are occupied by the
so-called educationally disadvantaged, to the detriment of the
overall well-being of the polity.
He points out that the Yoruba of South-West Nigeria who gloat
that they run the strategic ministries of finance, power, works,
housing, solid minerals, and communications have a false sense of
importance. He says that these pale in comparison to the more
strategic security portfolios that are in the hands of their
compatriots from the North-West and North-East Nigeria.
By the way, somebody has observed that the North is holding on
to the security portfolios because of the valuable insight they
acquired during the colonial era when some Native Authority
policemen went on to become emirs over the locality where they
served.
Emirs Ado Bayero and Usman Nagogo started out as police officers
in the service of the respective Kano and Katsina native
authorities that they later came to head. Sultan Abubakar Sidiqque,
the father of the present Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar of Sokoto, was a
councillor for police affairs under a previous Sultan.
In his “Republic,” a treatise on politics and governance, Greek
philosopher Plato recognises that men vary widely in abilities,
mental capacities, and temperaments. He therefore, suggests that
members of the ruling class, which he refers to as “The Guardians,”
who must be selected, and trained, ought to be well-rounded
mentally, morally, and physically.
He submits further in “The Statesman,” another political
treatise, that only the ideal ruler, who is trained, learned,
experienced, masterful, able, diligent, and (hopefully) upright,
can foster an ideal state. As motivational speakers often say, you
can only give what you have.
Plato must be echoing the thoughts of his friend and teacher,
Socrates, who averred that “Until philosophers are kings, or the
kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of
philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and
those common natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the
other, are compelled to stand aside, cities (or nations) will never
rest from their evils.”
You will observe that in all the works of Plato, and indeed, of
Socrates, there is no preference for an ethnic group over the
others. They merely call for an open search for citizens that can
be trained to join the administrative and political cadres, and be
completely dedicated to providing only brilliant service to the
polity.
Plato suggests that when members of the middle class, which he
terms the “Auxiliaries,” out of which you get the army, police, and
officers of the judiciary, attain the age of retirement, and have
more wisdom than physical prowess, they can be inducted into the
cadre of The Guardians. The assumption is that experience would
have sobered, and tempered them for higher office.
But for his curious argument that The Guardians must live in
what appears to be communes, relinquishing their rights to personal
property, their children and wives (all belonging to the state),
Plato’s prescription for the selection of political leaders is
ideal.
Someone also posits that Nigeria could profit greatly by
adopting China’s template of electing political leaders from a pool
of selected talents.
Twitter @lekansote1
Though much has been said about the evils associated with ethnic
sectionalism, no one has yet bothered to show how it adversely
affects the well-being of the economy of Nigeria. When a person is
placed in a position of authority to which he is ill-qualified, the
direct result is that the society is not well-served.
It is regrettable that Section 16(1) prescribes that the
resources of the nation should be harnessed efficiently for the
good of all citizens, and also provides the discouraging Section
14(3) that insists on the inefficient and corrupting federal
character or quota system for the appointment of decision-makers,
like ministers.
Section 14(3) has spawned an army of idlers who people the
industry called lobbying and live by merely waving the badge of
ethnic balancing to hold government sinecures, and with nary
intention to add any value to the commonwealth. They merely
fleece.
Many of these Any-Government-In-Power leeches who variously
emerge as ministers, commissioners, legislators, local government
councillors, or board members, have little or no technical
expertise to offer. They hang on the coattails of those who
dispense political patronage.
You must have seen TV footages showing some pitiful and grossly
inadequate persons, who drone on, in a vain attempt to impress the
television cameras that are trained on them during the usually
lacklustre sessions of the National Assembly.
The less than average achievement of these quota appointed or
elected officers reminds one of Thomas Gainsborough, the English
painter, who bought a violin only to find out, like other
unschooled music buffs, that the music is in the violinist, and not
in the violin.
Though Gainsborough practically made music his life’s major
preoccupation, it is on record that his musical talent was not
particularly distinguished; he was in the wrong calling, despite
his passion. The Yoruba would have told him that the person with
the blunt machete learns their lesson only when it is too late.
Being appointed into an office that one is not qualified for
does not confer ability or competence on the appointee. It rather
exposes their inadequacy. A square peg that is compelled to fit
into a round hole is actually a recipe for colossal failure.
The history of Nigeria’s public service is replete with
instances of individuals who got promoted beyond their levels of
competence. They were naturally out of their wits most of the time,
and they generally took decisions that were not always up to
speed.
Consequently, the overall performances of the organisations that
were handed to them to run were always less than optimal. Ask the
subordinates who serve these incompetents, and they will regale you
with tales of woeful conduct of government business.
Many of the better qualified subordinates that were passed up
for top positions because they belonged to the “wrong” tribe have
generally turned out to be unhappy, and disgruntled. They therefore
deliberately give less than their best, if they do not sabotage
outright the work of their organisations.
And often for sport, the more mischievous subordinates would
approach their incompetent bosses with problems that they knew that
the bosses, who are out of their depth, had neither the ability to
comprehend nor the skill to resolve.
An unconfirmed report says that some members of staff of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation took turns in sending memos
couched in opaque and complicated terminologies to many of their
unqualified bosses who only came to stuff in from what their
benefactors perceived as the NNPC binge.
It is needless to add that the memos stayed for long periods on
the desks of the witless “ogas,” until the urgency of the matters
lapsed, and became irredeemable. If funds had been committed to
projects that the incompetent bosses were expected to take
expeditious decisions, such funds simply wasted away. That explains
abandoned projects scattered all over the nation.
A friend, who is an incurable cynic, always argues that the
educational superiority that citizens of some regions of Nigeria
claim to have over their so-called educationally disadvantaged
compatriots actually amounts to zilch, or naught.
He anchors his argument on the reality that most of the
strategic offices in the Federal Government are occupied by the
so-called educationally disadvantaged, to the detriment of the
overall well-being of the polity.
He points out that the Yoruba of South-West Nigeria who gloat
that they run the strategic ministries of finance, power, works,
housing, solid minerals, and communications have a false sense of
importance. He says that these pale in comparison to the more
strategic security portfolios that are in the hands of their
compatriots from the North-West and North-East Nigeria.
By the way, somebody has observed that the North is holding on
to the security portfolios because of the valuable insight they
acquired during the colonial era when some Native Authority
policemen went on to become emirs over the locality where they
served.
Emirs Ado Bayero and Usman Nagogo started out as police officers
in the service of the respective Kano and Katsina native
authorities that they later came to head. Sultan Abubakar Sidiqque,
the father of the present Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar of Sokoto, was a
councillor for police affairs under a previous Sultan.
In his “Republic,” a treatise on politics and governance, Greek
philosopher Plato recognises that men vary widely in abilities,
mental capacities, and temperaments. He therefore, suggests that
members of the ruling class, which he refers to as “The Guardians,”
who must be selected, and trained, ought to be well-rounded
mentally, morally, and physically.
He submits further in “The Statesman,” another political
treatise, that only the ideal ruler, who is trained, learned,
experienced, masterful, able, diligent, and (hopefully) upright,
can foster an ideal state. As motivational speakers often say, you
can only give what you have.
Plato must be echoing the thoughts of his friend and teacher,
Socrates, who averred that “Until philosophers are kings, or the
kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of
philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and
those common natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the
other, are compelled to stand aside, cities (or nations) will never
rest from their evils.”
You will observe that in all the works of Plato, and indeed, of
Socrates, there is no preference for an ethnic group over the
others. They merely call for an open search for citizens that can
be trained to join the administrative and political cadres, and be
completely dedicated to providing only brilliant service to the
polity.
Plato suggests that when members of the middle class, which he
terms the “Auxiliaries,” out of which you get the army, police, and
officers of the judiciary, attain the age of retirement, and have
more wisdom than physical prowess, they can be inducted into the
cadre of The Guardians. The assumption is that experience would
have sobered, and tempered them for higher office.
But for his curious argument that The Guardians must live in
what appears to be communes, relinquishing their rights to personal
property, their children and wives (all belonging to the state),
Plato’s prescription for the selection of political leaders is
ideal.
Someone also posits that Nigeria could profit greatly by
adopting China’s template of electing political leaders from a pool
of selected talents.
Twitter @lekansote1
Read more https://nairalaw.com/the-wages-of-ethnic-sectionalism/