Category: Baba Yusuf

On 7th July 2023, (two Fridays ago), I started a discussion titled “Good Governance and The Paradox of Leadership In Nigeria: Part- 1”, wherein I reflected on my theory/ concept of “the leadership value chain” as the key to good governance in Nigeria. I also promised to continue with Part- 2 in which I wish to continue reflecting on how we got to the situation we are today, i.e. the erosion of the leadership value chain, and some possible ways forward.

Managing our exepectations

As a Country, especially in our civil/ public service, there is no enabling framework, systems and processes to managing expectations of citizens, to ensure value is given to employees and to discourage/ curtail corruption.

If we look at the Civil/ Public Service remuneration and compensation structure and system, in my opinion the salaries and emoluments paid to the civil/ public officers have created the culture of corruption. This is because for over 60 years since independence, despite decades of negative socio-economic dynamics and impacts, the Nigeria civil service has only undergone marginal increase of salaries and wages of civil/public servants. The issue of minimum wage has been in the front burner for a very long time in Nigeria. The current “take home” minimum wage even as at the time it was pegged some years ago, could “not actually take the civil servants to their homes”, talk less of today.  This has led to the systemic creativity of corruption in our civil service, as staff resorted to “self -help” to assure sustenance. This situation further entrenched and emboldened the culture of corruption which has permeated into our larger society.

Members of the Armed Forces are largely, not adequately covered by proper insurance and other forms of demonstrable assurances of welfare and protection of the lives and livelihoods of their families in the event of injury or death in the line of duty. Their salaries and emoluments are not adequate, and sometimes not even paid as at when due. Worst still, the retirees’ pensions and gratuities are mostly not paid as at when due. These gory situations also further entrench corruption in our society. Consequently, the fear of a bleak future pushes a lot of people to crime, criminality and ultimately corruption (directly or indirectly). The paradox of a society that demands for so much from its citizenry for almost next to nothing is a panacea for the continuous promotion of corruption and the slide into the abys of backwardness as a nation.

Another key downside to this situation is the erosion of patriotism from the minds of citizens who will consciously or subconsciously be looking out for themselves and their families rather than loyalty to a nation that is not loyal to its citizens. To my mind loyalty should be symbiotic., i.e. mutually beneficial and not mutually exclusive.

Furthermore, the systems are not robust, fair, objective and equitable enough to safeguard the hopes and expectations of citizens across various strata of leadership (vertical and horizontal). There is a gap in addressing what happens, when an incident happens to them in the line of duty or after retirement. Essentially, our structures are built such that people are afraid of what will happen to them and their families after the leave service or if they die in the line of duty. The aforementioned points have also triggered a large appetite for corruption.

Another key factor that has engendered corruption is the lack of meritocracy in our civil/public service. The support for indolence, nepotism and lack of the culture of the pursuance/reward of excellence have also made people to wonder why they have to give their best when their best does not translate to commensurate compensation, career growth or job security. Sometimes, person with/without merit could be promoted or even have better career progressions, recognitions, positionings and rewards ahead of colleagues that perform better; due to nepotism, favoritism, ethic jingoism, sexism, godfatherism, etc. In some cases, promotion and career pathing including transfers and postings are commercialized, i.e. paid for by the staff that are interested and can afford or are ready to do so. There is mostly no reward for hard work, diligence, and honestly. These are some of the banes of our progress as a nation – a vicious circle that has entrapped the country from moving forward.

Another very sad dimension, is that some fresh graduates, and even staff that are working and people looking for political appointments, in some cases, have to “procure”/” buy” employment by paying huge sums of money to get appointments including, as alleged, employments into the armed forces. This has been the recipe for the disaster of the failure we are facing today. Basically, the basis for compensation and reward are flat and based on parochial variables. There is no motivation for the pursuance of excellence. The system largely does not reward excellence or exceptional behavior.

The erosion of our values systems in our homes and societies where we have moved away from core values of honesty, respect, integrity, hard work, etc., to the values of materialism, and what I call “adult peer-pressure” (I must do what someone else is doing even if I don’t  have the capacity to do so), etc. are other key factors that are drawing us back and reflection of the failure of the leadership value chain because at all strata of society/ organizations there are leaders who by their actions or inactions are key promoters or supporters of such negativities with adverse impacts on our societies.

Accordingly, achievement of the national growth and development that we dream of will continue to be a mirage, until we consider the leadership value chain as a critical success factor to good governance. It is worthy of note that, quality of leadership is a function of the societal values of the nation.

Food for thought

Just like I mentioned in Part-1 of this topic; while I agree that a lot of blame of failure of governance is on the “focal point leaders”, I also believe that the leadership value chain is also largely responsible for the enabling corruption – promoting it, fighting it, containing it.

 While I am not an advocate of autocracy or dictatorship, what is true is that in a democracy it is very difficult to have the concept of a “benevolent leader” whereby the focal point leader cannot take some critical decisions without due recourse to the principles of separation of powers or without due to regards to the rule of law. Therefore, the leadership value chain is a critical success factor for the “focal point” leaders in a democracy. So, if within the leadership value chain, the focal point leaders are mired in what I call “the conspiracy of the establishment” (by “Establishment”, I mean for example; the Civil Service, e.g. Minister, or a Permanent Secretary, CEOs of MDAs, Directors of MDAs, etc.), then the focal point leaders are what I call, “entrapped” leaders, whose capacity to be positively impactful will be highly undermined, and compromised. We also have the legislature, we have the judiciary who are part of the leadership value chain.

The societal leadership value chain also extends to our homes, churches, mosques, traditional institutions, etc. The failure of leadership value chain strata starting from our homes is the reason why corruption is thriving in Nigeria which will continue to inhibit the delivery of good governance. It is the same reason why we will take money and sell our votes to politicians that we know are corrupt or who cannot deliver, after which we hypocritically expect good governance. The same reason why we do not stop at the traffic light when it is red, but we expect saints and incorruptible men and women to emerge from within us and successfully deliver good governance, where we all have various roles to play within the leadership value chain.

Ladies and gentlemen, in a democracy, leaders emerge from within the societies. To that extent, I believe that, fundamentally, leaders reflect their society.

In conclusion, I will leave us with a food for thought to reflect on: Please go to any traffic light junction anywhere in Nigeria, and observe for 10minutes how we conduct ourselves at the traffic junctions. Do we obey the traffic lights/ rules especially when it is a traffic warden that is managing the traffic (he/she is the leader at that point in time), and if we do not obey the traffic rules, can the traffic warden manage the traffic effectively and efficiently? Your answers could be as good as mine.

I believe that ours is not a hopeless situation. In the next and final episode on this topic, I will speak on how we can possibly change the current paradoxical situation of the leadership question for good governance. Thank you for following and reading.

“We cannot be mere consumers of good governance, we must be participants; we must be co-creators. As citizens, we have to co-create good governance, we cannot outsource it and hope to be passively happy consumers. Like everything worth its while, good governance must be earned.” … Rohini Nilekani – Indian writer, author and philanthropist

During the successive administrations of the past 24 years, since the return of Nigeria to democracy in 1999, Nigerians have been lamenting that the previous administrations were better than the ones they are experiencing, at every point in time; sadly so, as reflected in a  Nigerian adage that says; “Anyone that frequently reminisces about last year, is not enjoying the current year”.

The political landscape is broadening and the political consciousness of Nigerians has heightened over time, with citizens demanding for good governance and increasingly knowing the power of their votes.  However, in this episode I intend to draw the attention of my fellow compatriots to what we should demand as good governance and what I consider major inhibitors to getting good governance. I will share my insights and humble opinions in a serialised reflection, starting with the episode of today as Part-1.

Sadly, over 60 years since independence, what average Nigerians consider good governance are the provision of basic amenities like clean pipe-borne water, electricity, good roads, good and functional hospitals and healthcare system, basic education for all, etc. Except for a few leaders at national and state levels, our leaders still use these basic things that are “a given” in other progressive nations, as campaign sound bites and promises, which most of them serially fail to deliver. The same campaign promises made by the founding fathers of Nigeria in the build-up to the first republic in1960 are still majorly the same campaign promises most of our political leaders today make to us, especially at subnational levels, i.e. States and Local Governments, which are the closest to the grassroots. When some of the political leaders deliver such basic amenities, they commission such projects as major achievements with so much fanfare and sense of entitlement, sadly to the awe of citizens as if those leaders have delivered some extraordinary feats – this is the sad reality of Nigeria which must change forthwith.

However, good governance is far beyond basic amenities, good governance starts from good leadership; leadership that has integrity, leadership that has capacity, competence, emotional intelligence and empathy – leadership that listens to the people. Because it is only when leaders listen to the people that they could be able to deliver what can be contextualized as good governance. Good governance also means accountability to the people, respect for the rule of law and ultimately ensuring national security, national unity and delivering enduring and scalable critical infrastructure and other socio-economic dividends of democracy.

The biggest challenge of governance in Nigeria

When I think of the above topic, two questions that come to my mind are:

•Why have we been having low number of quality and impactful leaders at the helm of affairs of this Country at federal and subnational levels?

•Where we have had quality leaders, have they had what I consider “the right support system” to enable them deliver good governance?

I am putting the above questions within the context of democracy. In democracy we have the principle of separation of powers and all the layers that are supposed to enable a leader to deliver good governance. To that extent, part of the issue we have been having which if not addressed will continue to bedevil the development and progress of Nigeria, is what I term the erosion or failure of the “leadership value chain”. What do I mean by “leadership value chain” A leader at the top especially in a democratic setting, as good as he/she may be can only do as much as he/ she could do within his/her capacity. Of course, within the realm of his/her powers as President or Governor for example, he/she has the laws, regulations and other instruments of office to deliver good governance, but suffice it to say that it has to be a collaborative effort, a partnership and shared-vision(s) within the leadership value chain.

There are people within the leadership value chain that I call the “focal-point leaders”. Examples of focal point leaders include: The President, the Governors, Local Government Chairman, etc. These are leaders sitting at the top echelon of leadership, driving governance. But the focal point leaders can only drive effective, efficient and impactful governance with the support of other leaders across the strata of leadership – vertical and horizontal. If there is a failure within that leadership value chain, whereas that leader may not have the leverage to ensure or enforce that which needs to be done, then that leader will fail.

Corruption

The biggest inhibitor of the delivery of good governance over the years in Nigeria is corruption which is as a result of the erosion of our values. This long-standing issue did not start from 1999 but indeed has been embedded in our societies for over 60 years – things have just been getting worse. To be able to address the issue of corruption, we need to dimension the issue of corruption and how deep it has pervaded Nigeria.

Historical perspectives:

•In 1947, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, wrote that “Corruption is the greatest defect of the Native Court system.” He complained that not only did judges take bribes, people used their connections to enrich themselves and avoid punishment for their crimes. Does that sound familiar?

•In 1950, the late Sir Abubukar Tafawa, wrote that, “The twin curses of bribery and corruption pervade every rank and department of Government”… Does that also sound familiar?

•I also gathered that in the 1950s, the word ‘awoof’ was already being used to describe how civil servants used their positions to enrich themselves.

Therefore, from the above quotes we can see that corruption is a long-standing issue in Nigeria. Even if the leaders at the top are good and capable, they cannot be able to enforce people within the leadership value chain to deliver, may be by virtue of the system of governance or structure.  Using the Civil Service as an instance; if the Civil Service is not in sync with the focal point leader, that leader is what I call an “entrapped leader”. Unless such a leader takes drastic steps, he/ she will be “restrained” by the conspiracy of the Establishment/ vested interests, which we can trickle it down to the society at large.

In my humble view, the root cause of the national development problems in Nigeria is not just the failure of the leaders at the top. Part of the issue of bad leadership in Nigeria is what I term as the failure of the “leadership value chain”. For example, if along the layers if the Civil Service, you have corrupt leaders, whether they are Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Directors, etc. who collaborate to circumvent the system, the system will fail, and consequently the leader will fail.

Indeed, if there is a conspiracy of collusion of corruption, then a good leader at the top will not be able to deliver, it is even worst when the leader at the top is a bad leader ab-initio. One may say that the buck stops at the table of the “focal point” leader and that is true. During pre-independence, in Nigeria, corrupt acts like stealing, bribery etc. were taboos in our various communities, in all ethnicities and religions across Nigeria. These days, the people that decide to stand on the path/ platform of integrity alone, will most likely not get elected by the citizens into political offices or selected for higher responsibilities. In most cases, the good leaders that are able to get to the leadership role, end up suffering what I call “psychological/ emotional leadership dilemma” from their family, societies or even their religious leaders telling them that “this is the time to deliver for us “. This notion/ dogma which has become a norm even in our public and private sectors gave birth to and nurture – tribalism, ethnic jingoism, nepotism, mediocracy, etc. which have over the years culminated into concomitant negative effect on our progress as a nation. 

The hypocrisy of our expectations

Therefore, based on the foregoing, the failure of the leadership value chain in our Country starts from our homes, community leadership, religious leadership, traditional leadership, etc. This is a Country where a traditional leader in Zamfara State gave chieftaincy title a known bandit. Traditional leaders give chieftaincy titles to corrupt public officers and known criminals. Some of our Universities award honorary degrees to corrupt public officers who have failed to deliver good governance, corrupt leaders get front rows in our mosques and churches, the children that bring money home to their parents regardless of how they make the money are honored more than those that don’t have money or decide to live honorably. Basically, the society hail, cheer-on, and respect corrupt leaders and accept tokens of the stolen loot under the guise that, “It is our money, our share, etc.

In the next episode, I will reflect on how we got to this situation, i.e. the erosion of the leadership value chain and I will share my thoughts on possible way forward.