A unified vision, by Ibrahim T. Tumsah
Radical Thought
Nigerian’s must have a unified vision on what Nigeria should look like. A shared set of codified values for proper conduct. We must agree on what is right and what is wrong. Most importantly we must know what is morally right and wrong. What we would like to embody. For example when you go to Makkah, the prayer time is always the same in every mosque in the city. The call to prayer is on time and the prayer is said on time. In contrast to Kaduna or Kano where when one wakes up for Fajr prayer, you’ll hear about five different mosques calling prayer at different times of dawn. These are mosques that are within each others vicinity. These mosques will also offer their prayers at different times of the Fajr, each believing that they are doing the right thing. In Abuja, Friday Jummuah prayers are offered at different times in the afternoon. it is to the point where if a muslim misses jummuah prayer at his regular mosque he can always go to another mosque close by that is offering their salah 30 minutes to an hour later, causing unnecessary traffic on the roads and chaos in the city.
This type of chaotic behaviour translates to every sector and level of hierarchy in Nigeria. We are so accustomed to being disorderly that we think that a person that acts orderly is stupid, naive or not street smart. We teach our children that they are right even when they are misbehaving. We tell them that they should seek wealth no matter the circumstances or situation, so that they can live lavishly like the other wealthy families they idolise. We teach our society that poverty is a crime, that less privileged people don’t deserve rights or a good life because they are poor or were born poor. We teach our children that only their values matter when they come in contact with someone else’s which may be different, even if some of our own values might be misguided. Truth is often the first casualty of our upbringing. The father thinks he is always right, so does the mother. So when everyone thinks they are right, it is often times the blind leading the blind.
Nigerians are so quick to praise foreign countries they’ve managed to japa to. We praise the laws and orderly nature of the people and the new found country that we forget we would rather cut in line and break the law in Nigeria than to follow a simple queue or law. Just visit an airport in Nigeria or even go to a conference where food is served. That is where Nigerians show their character. An elderly man will rush to get on the plane or even cut in front of the queuing people he found ahead of him just because he thinks can (as if the plane is running away). When food is being served older folks would rush to the front of the line to get their food first, even though the food will be enough for everyone. These minor instances directly influence everything that happens in Nigeria, this there’s no doubt. We cannot expect to place blame on government or laws when we cannot conduct ourselves properly in public. Nigeria is the only place where I see people celebrate negative news about the country. We abhor good news, looking for something negative to say and welcome bad news, even rejoicing in it.
We hold politicians to a higher standard than we hold ourselves as the general public, even though they reflect our behaviour. You cannot go from point A to point Z while skipping each letter of the alphabet between the two, expecting that you’ve listed the 26 alphabets in total. That is not how things work, that is not how society works. Everyone is responsible for Nigeria’s failures and successes, and our contribution to whichever end we find ourselves in is what determines the outcome. How do you stop corruption when the whole country is corrupt. The person you replace the guilty offender with is just as likely to do the same or even worse, given the opportunity.
I dream of a Nigeria with a strong rule of law, strong institutions, well defined property rights and contract enforcements. A democracy that not only can everyone partake, but the political figures represent the ideals of the voters. A nation that is inclusive of all tribes and religions regardless of where the leaders hail from. The ideal country that every Nigerian wants to live in is the one where, the educational and healthcare systems are accessible and most importantly affordable for all. We should have policies that accommodate and try to make it easy for those that are not well off in society to be able to be treated in a dignified manner when they fall sick, while also having confidence that the education our children receive is up to the required standard.
Every Nigerian should be able to go to school, work, travel, run errands without being afraid of being kidnapped or being subjected to violence. Nigerians should have confidence that the government and security forces such as the police and military are looking out for them and would do anything to prevent them coming to any harm. So should law breakers be afraid that they will be persecuted should they break the law no matter where they might be in the country.
This brings me to another pressing issue concerning Nigeria amidst the Naira exchange crisis and the growing inflation in the country. Nigeria is a country that has not had a vision on what sort of economic policy it wants to follow for years since it’s independence. Government administrations have come and gone without having a specific type of policy they are willing to pursue till the end. whether capitalist? or socialist? or anything in between? We just make it up as we go.
As for me, the more and more i think about this national question, the more i consider the South Korean model, Chaebol, or the Japanese Zaibatsu model as the best economic model to follow in this current juncture for Nigeria. A “Development State” or State Capitalism to be precise. A sort of half way house between capitalism and socialism that fits a developing country’s needs. A Capitalism that is guided by a much higher level of state direction and planning. Nigeria is a country with a lot small and medium sized businesses. There are so many bright minds that need the guidance and proper backing to grow their enterprises and this model will fit into the Nigerian ethos. It would also accelerate Nigeria’s industrialization.
In the Chaebol system, business is organized into family groups under a holder company of owner managed firms in one industry or a number of industries and then these businesses are incentivized to specialize in that industry. This has given birth to cooperations such as Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mitsui in Japan; Samsung, Hyundai and LG in South Korea. But Nigeria’s version will have a Nigerian twist. Since this will boost economic growth and bring in foreign investment, the companies will be obligated to donate (invest) some of their profits into other growing sectors to also build them up; a win-win situation. But this can only be successful with trust, transparency and society wide cooperation. This will be done with the knowledge that the government will back them in their investments. There has to be a perfect balance of carrot and stick measures. So that the big businesses don’t take advantage of their success. No such thing as “too big to fail”.
As you might ask, how will the government fund this? The answer is agriculture. With Nigeria, as is the case with many other developing countries that have managed to industrialize. Agriculture is the back bone of every economy. With the vast uncultivated land available, the government can incentivize farmers by prioritizing land reforms and providing farmers and those who wish to farm with land and promising to buy their harvests at a fair market price while also exporting the surplus, bringing in much needed revenue to the economy.
It is important in policy not to pander to what pleases the people affected, but to what benefits them. State capitalism will benefit us all and will guide us on our way to achieving a unified national vision.