Category: Southwest

After months of serene emptiness and bewilderment occasioned by economic adversity, the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo came alive, abuzz with people attending the epoch-making launch of “Osuwon Omoluabi”-the re-introduction of the culture of Standard Weights and Measures as the basis of commodity sales transactions after many years of guesswork purchasing. This Culture-changing event consistent with the vision enunciated by Governor Rauf Aregbesola in his famous “Six-Point Integral Action Plan” for the State’s accelerated and orderly development drew a large crowd of residents determined to put behind the hard times and embark on the match toward expected economic recovery. The official launch on the 15th of June 2016 of “Osuwon Omoluabi” (standardised, calibrated weighing Scale) the compulsory use of which will ensure that buyers get value-for-money in these lean times. With this important step toward equity, weights and measures of quantities of goods sold and bought in markets of Osun, whether solid or liquid, bulk and retail commodities can now be verified and uniformity of standard ensured throughout the State. The Introduction and use of 40,000 units of “Osuwon Omoluabi” in all markets in Osun will eliminate sharp practices, haggling and quarreling, introduce uniformity and make equivalent quantities of goods sold predictable thus ending the short-changing of buyers while ensuring that sellers get a fair return on their sales. This will reinforce State Government’s drive for honesty and integrity in matters of trade and attract more buyers to the State, thus reinforcing the Osun Brand reputation. Thus the State Government’s insistence on compulsory usage of this Scale in all markets marks a turning point in the life of the people of Osun, and indeed the South West of Nigeria. It is a resolute pursuit of Vision and conviction. As it is often said, in lean times, look ahead for the coming prosperity!

Underdeveloped societies are characterized by illiteracy, inability to measure or count with accuracy, and so we do not measure the amount of goods bought but merely guess, we do not measure work done but we pay the worker based on claims and assumption that ‘work has been done’; we do not go by the clock but we awake and say ‘I arrived very early, I swear’ simply because the Sun was not yet shining! Twenty persons all arrive in an Office and sign the same moment of time the same minute! We buy food in a restaurant, meat in the market, but nobody is sure what he is actually paying for, and unless you insist, the petrol attendant would not bother to give you your change, and somehow we go home taking it all as ‘normal’ until we are overwhelmed by bills from unverified services, goods not bought but that must be paid for, including ‘estimated electricity consumption’ based on doubtable tariffs. There is no clocking in and out to verify and nobody knows how much work was done to worth the day’s pay but all expect to be paid and all get extra bonus, allowances and even promotion while productivity is actually dropping and the wage bills are rising!

Yorubaland had an ancient practice of ensuring through counting that a fixed number of pieces of goods equivalent to One Penny was used as the basis of sales transactions of food items but it fell into disuse long ago and no decent replacement was found for this reliable age-old system. This system was so effective that it ensured that even when a seller was absent, goods could be bought by simply placing a Penny coin next to the sample of goods displayed for sale and the goods collected. Both the buyer and seller were assured of a fair deal through the use of this ‘comparator measurement and pricing system’. The buyer could collect the quantity of goods desired by simply placing the monetary equivalent side-by-side whatever quantity he/she wanted. The owner of the wares simply picked up the Penny coins paid and placed on the goods counter the next day, intact! That was the pristine, safe and secure society that predated modern Nigeria. This pre-existing tradition was jettisoned with the embrace of a new culture of capitalism: haggling and negotiating prices of goods probably as the result of the rise of a new elite of white collar workers who were seen to have plenty of money from the Government, without having to do the back breaking work of farming, and the mixing of various ethnic groups due to migration. This old tradition fell out of use as traders tried to make more money from this ‘special set people’ whom they perceived as having more money in their pockets than the ordinary Native. These people showed a different kind of buyer behaviour with their regular monthly visit en-masse to the markets for purchases that enabled them haggle and pressure the farmer-salesmen. Come every month each seller attempted to make more money from them while the buyers naturally would press the traders to sell for less. As it is well known, what cannot be measured cannot be managed; these transactions favoured the clever and more psychological prepared seller but created a massive problem of standards and integrity which we now live with and has become a break on our development. It has created a vicious circle of exploitation, resistance and unpredictability where people cannot plan their expenditure with reasonable assurance, and this gradually led to pervasive corruption and integrity gradually vacated the markets and this erosion eventually crept into all transactions. People struggled to make ends meet and they tried to compensate themselves at the expense of others, firstly, the unknown and un-initiated stranger, non-natives, finally the natives turned on one another, destroying the common trust. Manipulation, deceit and making money at all cost without any regard for the interest of others eroded the common trust among Nigerians-and displaced the tradition of consistency, measurement, integrity and management.

The haggling tradition which seems to have been embraced first by the coastal Yoruba and it eventually spread and eliminated the system of counting of standard pieces in the hinterland, the result of this displacement of tradition often meant that the hinterland traders were cheated by their exposed countrymen and women from the cities. They in turn have learnt to be clever by deploying all strategies to get the better of the deal, through cheating: with false bottom measuring pans and baskets, doubling and tripling of prices so that the buyer bargained downward without any reference price, etc. In colonial times, Produce Buyers and Agents insisted on buying weighed goods at a fixed price per unit of weight and meat was sold based on weight on a scale incity markets; some would in the process tamper with the scale which was barely understood by the illiterate farmers, and who in turn loaded the bulk goods with sand and pebbles to gain extra weight for more cash. And now, water and air are pumped into meat to boost the weight for unsuspecting buyers! Everyone has learnt to cheat, and to make matters worse, swear and curse in the God’s Holy Name to back up falsehood! This is how far we have gone in creating a vicious circle of insidious criminality and laid the foundation and cultural roots of corruption, dishonesty and inefficiency that has plagued modern Nigeria and held it down like a millstone in matters big and small.

The launch of “Osuwon Omoluabi” at the beginning of the 2016 Ramadan fasting when all Muslims are enjoined to embrace the spirit of repentance, sacrifice and piety, the government’s message that business transactions should be done with honesty and integrity should sink deep into hearts and minds, just as the Holy Quran enjoins “And give full measure when you measure, and weigh with even balance, that is good and the best interpretation”- Quran 17 vs 35. Christians are in like manner reminded that “a false balance is an abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight-Proverbs 11 vs 1. Now is the right time to end the perverse tradition of deceitful bargaining in our daily life, a throw-back to the age of the Barter Trade with all its disadvantages and embrace a new era of progress when we can be confident that transactions come with integrity because the standards of measurement and weights are the same everywhere.

The pervasive habit of dishonesty and cheating in Nigeria is well known and a  daily habit- at home, on the streets, on the road, in the market, in offices, schools and even in places of religious worship. No amount of preaching is able to deal with the problem because habits are more caught than taught, and humans are programmed by example, not precepts. To change this nationally damaging habit, there is a need to institute and enforce the strict use of Standards, Weights and Measures, and enforce price control for all goods traded in Nigeria, imported and locally made. All things are learnt and remain only by habit.  We can reprogramme the behavior of Nigerians only when we cultivate and enforce new habits of honesty, integrity, love and care for our neighbours. Introducing standards, weights and measures into daily transactions will help to educate our people and practically translate the theoretical mensuration mathematics taught in schools to daily life realities. Settling the issue of quantitative integrity will free us to concentrate on the more substantial issue of Quality, the final basis of integrity on our way to getting rid of substandard products that are soon spoilt and end up as pollutants and litters everywhere in Nigeria causing us yet unknown and un-estimated harm to our health, environment and economy. Keeping to the strict use of Standards, Weights and Measures will enable citizens get value for money and help the Naira to appreciate in value over time as Nigeria and Nigerians get used to this new way of life and acquire a new image and reputation of being trustworthy partners.

By instigating and initiating this effort, the Ministry of Industries, Commerce, Cooperatives and Empowerment of the State of Osun has pioneered a major grassroots effort to change the thinking of Nigeria by first changing our deeply ingrained habits that is what Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola originally set out to do with the Osun Youth Empowerment (OYES) Programme, whose cadets are in fact the main instruments for enforcement and education on the use of the new Omoluabi Scale. It is a longer-lasting and deeper sinking way to deal with the problem of endemic corruption in Nigeria, to prevent another generation from the evil.

• Daniyan, an engineer, sent this piece from Osogbo.