The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ethics

  • Ayade’s politics with ethics

    One of the biggest campaign issues in the United States of America in the last one decade or so is about the fact that Washington is broken and badly in need of fixing. This is because the American politicians now view every policy or programme of government from the narrow prism of partisanship. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, has found it difficult to have any of his programmes or policies passed by the congress-controlled Republican Party.

    Sadly, this situation exists also in our clime, with politicians from the two leading political parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), acting more like enemies than compatriots, who must work together for the good of the country.

    However, like William Shakespeare said, there is always an exception to the general rule. That exception in Nigeria today appears to be the governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade.

    Since assuming office on May 29, 2015, Ayade has maintained a very warm, cordial and close relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The President is of the APC while the Governor is of the PDP.

    Indeed, it is on record that the first state visit embarked upon by the President after assuming office on May 29, 2015 was to Cross River State to flag-off the construction of a very ambitious project; the 260km superhighway and the Bakassi Deep Seaport. Ayade hopes that when these two projects are completed, the state’s dependence on federal allocation would be decoupled forever.

    Months after that President’s visit on that rainy day in October, 2015, the wife of the President was to also pay a visit to the state. She was in the state to flag off her social safety net initiative, “Project Future Assured” for the mother and newborns; launch Dr. Lynda Ayade’s  Mediatrix Development Foundation and also commission two health centres in Ikom.

    It bears mentioning that President Buhari’s visit to Cross River was preceded by that of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s visit to the state, a couple of months after being sworn in. As it stands, Cross River is among the few states, if not the only state visited by the President, the President’s wife and the Vice-President within the first year of their presidency.

    This harmony between the presidency and Cross River under Ayade’s watch has, however, caused his party, the PDP and some elements of the APC in his state considerable discomfort.  Understandably so, given that it is rare in this part of the world for politicians of opposing political parties to be on speaking terms, how much more having a very warm relationship. Yet it is this sort of collaboration we need if development must not continue to elude us as a people.

    For Ayade, governance takes primacy over politics once elections are over. He understands that history will only be kind to him on account of how he impacted on the lives of his people and not the many political battles he fought and won or lost. As such, he has been preoccupied with providing leadership to his people as his administration takes one progressive step after another towards the new horizon of prosperity and happiness which he promised at his inauguration in 2015 to bequeath.

    Armed with a prodigious intellect and business acumen, it is not lost on Ayade that for Cross River as a federating unit to actualize its ambition of transforming from a third world to a first world, it needs the support of the federal government.

    But it is not just for the sake of Cross River that Ayade is friends with the first family.

    Ayade’s campaign which saw him berth at the Government House in Calabar was anchored on the philosophy that politics must be guided by ethics; hence the slogan; Politics with Ethics.

    On this philosophy, the good in an individual must not be obstructed or blurred by politics. And that no individual should be denied the opportunity to contribute to the development of the society simply on account of the political party he or she belongs.

    He adores and respects the president for the principles he represents, the principles of honesty, hard work and love for country.

    In forming his cabinet, the governor cast his net far and wide. It matters not to him which political party an individual belongs to once he can identify capacity and ability to deliver.  This explains why for instance, the state chairman of Labour Party (LP), Austin Ibok is the special Adviser to the governor on Inter-Party Affairs.

    Within his PDP, he found accommodation for those who even worked against his emergence, first as the party’s gubernatorial candidate and later as governor. Through concrete actions and not just precepts, Ayade has shown that he is above politics of pettiness, hate and party lines. This is certainly a new approach to politics that should be encouraged.

    Washington will give anything to have a person with Ayade’s philosophical understanding emerge as its next president to unite a political class divided by party lines. Tellingly, Ayade’s relationship with the presidency has not in any way weakened the dominance of his party in the state.

    The recent re-run election into Yakurr II State Constituency, despite the governor’s absence from the state on a working visit to Europe, Asia and South America wooing investors, was won by the PDP in spite of the fact that most of APC’s leaders in the state come from the area.

    What this revealed was that Ayade has a persona that attracts and galvanizes one with a buy-in personality. He is a good husbandry of ideas and creativity. He is like a midwife who is ever ready to deliver the next generation into the world.

  • Ohuabunwa urges managers to embrace ethics

    Former Chairman/CEO, Pfizer West Africa Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa has urged managers to imbibe ethical values in their workplaces.

    Speaking at Nosak Group’s retreat for its workers in Lagos, Ohuabunwa, who was guest speaker, said: “Value is essential for business growth because it ensures that the consumer is well protected in terms of genuineness of the product he is buying. Therefore, total quality management principle must be adhered to at all times in the production lines.’’

    The theme of the retreat, which was attended by over 30 managers and departmental heads, was  “Turn and accelerate: from stability to leadership”. It was facilitated by Vital Solutions Consult Incorporated.

    Nosak Group’s Chairman, Dr. Toni Ogunbor said training is the bedrock of corporate success.

    Ogunbor, who led a session on ‘The state of the company and trends in the Nigerian economy,’ said it is a global and well known ýpractice for businesses to go on retreats where various issues affecting their businesses are analysed and remedied for future growth.

    He announced the newest baby in the Group, Nosak Farm Produce Limited, which he said, is a premier manufacturing company that provides over 300 direct and indirect jobs, and ranks as one of the top vegetable oil refiners in the country.

    Ogunbor said: “With a capacity of 200 tonnes per day and a farm size of approximately 800 hectares, the company is set to acquire an additional 20, 000 hectares in Edo State for backward integration and further increase its refining capacity in 2016″.

    He said this measure was aimed at creating more jobs and export opportunities for the country, in tamdem with the Federal Government’s policy.

    Ogunbor praised the organisers and participants of the retreat, affirming that the event was outstanding and the results would help to enhance staff performance and position the company for growth and leadership in the business environment in Nigeria and West Africa.

  • Alleged fraud: Senate orders arrest of ex-EFCC boss

    Alleged fraud: Senate orders arrest of ex-EFCC boss

    The stage may be set for the arrest of immediate past Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde over alleged financial crime and corruption.

    The Senate Thursday asked its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to comply with relevant Sections of the Constitution that empowered it to issue a warrant of arrest on Lamorde for refusing to appear before it when invited.

    The 11-man committee investigated allegations of financial crimes and corruption brought against Lamorde by Dr. George Uboh, a human rights activist.

    Chairman of the investigative Committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, presented the report of his committee to Senate in plenary Thursday.

    Anyanwu told the Senate that after a series inviting Lamorde to appear before the committee to tell his own side of the story on allegations of financial crime and corruption leveled against him by Dr. Uboh, the former EFCC boss failed to honour the invitation.

    The committee chairman specifically referred to three letters of invitation written to invite Lamorde to appear before the committee dated 19th August 2015, 3rd November 2015 and 11 November, 2015 which he said did not convince Lamorde to appear before the Ethics and Privileges Committee.

    He noted that on receiving the letter of invitation dated 19th August, 2015 from the Committee, Lamorde wrote the Committee through his Special Assistant to claim (1) “That due to time constraint and the nature of their operations, the EFCC Chairman was unable to appear before the Committee, and suggested 31st September, 2015 as a more convenient date he would appear before the Committee;

    (2) That if what the Committee wanted was comprehensive information of all recoveries forfeited and/or restituted funds and property in defence of the said allegations, then the Committee must wait until September, 2015 when it (EFCC) would submit its annual report to the National Assembly.

    (3) That the petitioner, Dr. George Uboh was an accused person in a case instituted against him by EFCC (FRNV George Uboh, CR/21/09) before Hon. Justice A.J. Aledetoyinbo of High Court 3 of the Federal Capital Territory Judicial Division on charges bordering criminal breach of trust;

    (4) That the petitioner was once convicted by a US Court for engaging in credit card fraud.”

    Anyanwu told the Senate that after his committee digested the contents of Mr. Lamorde’s response, it again invited Mr. Lamorde to appear before it, advising him not to confuse the invitation of an investigative committee to appear before it to say his own side of the story as a public servant over a serious allegation against his person, with EFCC’s routine annual report responsibility to the National Assembly, or the Senate President’s previous invitation to a briefing.

    The Committee chairman said that Lamorde further responded through his Special Assistant “That he was at St. Petersbury, Russia, attending the 8th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) and that he had been there since 29th October, 2015.”

    Anyanwu said that Lamorde again requested for a new date and time to enable him to honour the invitation.

    He noted that when the committee received Mr. Lamorde’s second letter of excuse, it decided to write a third letter of invitation dated 11 November, 2015; this time, threatening that it would no longer accept flimsy excuses for his non appearance.

    He said that after going through the facts available, the Committee observed “that having waited in vain for the appearance of Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde since 24th November, 2015 and not seeing or hearing from him, it was forced to conclude that Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde wants to evade investigation by the Committee.”

    Anyanwu noted that “Consequently, the Committee reasoned that the only way to get the former EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, to appear before it was to invoke the powers of the Senate in Section 89(1c&d) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and compel his appearance.”

    He said that the Committee was “convinced that unless this line of action was taken, the National Assembly might be drawn into consequential disrepute in the future.”

    The Committee therefore recommended in its submission (1)“That to save the National Assembly, as the highest law-making body of the nation, from irreparable damage to its reputation and capacity to summon, the former EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, be compelled to appear before the Committee to answer for activities of his tenure.

    (2)That to effect recommendation ‘1’ above, a warrant of arrest be issued by the Senate for his arrest.”

    Anyanwu said the Senate may wish to consider and adopt the recommendations of the Committee as proposed.

    Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu intervened by raising a Point of Order.

    Ekweremadu referred the Senate to Sections 88(1) and 89 (1c&d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended.

    He said; “Subject to the provisions of this constitution, each house of the National Assembly shall have power by resolution, published in a journal or the official gazette of the federal government to direct or cause to be directed, an investigation into (a) any matter with respect to which it has powers to make laws. (b) the conduct of affairs of any person, authority ministry of government, department, charged with the responsibility of executing or administering laws enacted by National Assembly and disbursing or administering money appropriated or to be appropriated by the National Assembly.

    “So on the basis of this section that this enquiry is being conducted.

    Now the subject under investigation has refused to come; what do we do?

    “That is what is now covered by section 89 which says;”

    “For the purposes of any investigation under Section 88 of this Constitution and subject to the provisions thereof, the Senate or the House of Representatives or a committee appointed in accordance with section 62 of this constitution shall have powers to:

    (1)    Procure all evidence written or oral, direct or ask as it may deem necessary and examine all persons as witnesses whose evidence (2)may be relevant to the investigation

    (2) Require all evidence to be given on oath

    (3) Summon any person in Nigeria to give evidence at any place or produce evidence in his possession.

    (4) Issue a warrant to compel the attendance of any person who after having been summoned, fails, refuses or neglects to do so and does not excuse such failure, refusal or neglect to the satisfaction of the House or the Committee in question and order him to pay all cost due to have been occasioned in compelling his attendance by reason of his failure, refusal or neglect to obey the summons and also impose such fines that may be prescribed for any such failure  shall be recoverable in the same manner as a fine imposed by a court of law.

    (5) The warrant issued under this section may be served or executed by any member of the Nigerian Police Force or by any person authorized by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives as the case may be.”

    Ekweremadu said that “what is required here is for the committee to issue a warrant of arrest and then the President of the Senate will direct the Police to effect the arrest.”

    He added, “It is not the business of the Senate in plenary to do so otherwise we will be offending this part of the constitution.

    “So the issue of warrant of arrest is not something that we will take a resolution on, the resolution has already been taken by the committee.

    “If there is any consequential order that needs to be made, the committee can deal with that and direct it through the Office of the President of the Senate who will direct the Police to effect the warrant.”

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki sustained Ekweremadu’s Point of Order

    Saraki said; “The issue has been well spelt out by the Deputy Senate President, he has clearly referred to the constitution.

    “Based on the Constitution this matter does not need to come to us at plenary.

    “It should be left at the level of the committee and in accordance with section 89 of the Constitution. So I will sustain the point of order of the DSP.”

    Anyanwu had, reeled out Uboh’s allegations against Lamorde to include:

    That EFCC operates accounts in banks to warehouse recovered funds which do not reflect in EFCC’s audited account;

    That EFCC doctors and manipulates bank accounts to conceal diversion of funds

    That EFCC releases recovered funds to unidentified persons and EFCC officials

    That EFCC moves fund from its recovery accounts to EFCC operations account from where it diverts same.

    That over 95 percent of EFCC recoveries in foreign currencies, other than those from multi-national companies, has been diverted.

    That EFCC trades with recovered funds through bank deposits and placements.

    That EFCC colludes with real estate companies in order to grossly under value seized assets before they are sold to their cronies.

    That EFCC has not accounted for offshore recoveries

    That over half of the assets seized from suspects were not reflected in EFCC exhibit records.

    Anyanwu said that Uboh prayed the Senate to stop from receiving further allocations from the Federal Government until it accounts for the huge remittable funds recovered which the Commission is still holding back, contrary to the EFCC Act, 2006 and financial regulations

    Ten out of 11 members of the committee endorsed the report presented by Anyanwu except Senate Deputy Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Kebbi South.)

     

  • Ibom Power MD to engineers: ethics very important

    Ibom Power MD to engineers: ethics very important

    The Managing Director of Ibom Power Company, Dr. Victor Udo, has urged engineers to uphold the ethics of the profession.

    He spoke at the seminar organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) tagged “Infrastructure Decay: A case study of Akwa Ibom State”.

    The MD said: “Engineers ought to be at the vanguard of infrastructure development and management for sustainable development.”

    He urged engineers to “be involved in the technical, financial and public policy aspects of infrastructure development”.

    He added: “If engineers concentrate only on the technical aspect, neglecting the other two, the problem of infrastructure decay will persist. The problem of infrastructure decay cannot be blamed solely on corruption because Engineers also have a role to play.

    “Engineers should take responsibility for infrastructure management by shunning the use of substandard materials for infrastructure projects. Infrastructure decay can be minimised if there is core competency development with private sector involvement. Core competency development includes public policy analysis, financing acumen and the technical aspects of infrastructure development.

    “Private sector involvement can be either through Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) or Build Own and Operate (BOO).”

    The MD concluded that “to curb the problem of infrastructure decay there must be improved management and maintenance culture for sustainable development”.

  • Promoting judiciary independence and ethics

    Promoting judiciary independence and ethics

    Essentially, ethics refer to well-based standards of right and wrong that spell out what human beings ought to do in certain circumstances. These refer to well-accepted virtues such as honesty, dedication, loyalty, dignity of purpose, etc.

    Therefore, ethics in the legal profession refer to the actions of members of the bar and bench alike in the overall discharge of their responsibilities and in the exercise of their rights and privileges.

    The legal profession, being a noble and prestigious profession, just like every other profession, has its code of conduct which regulates the general affairs of its members, be it in their relationship with clients, the court, the public, etc.

    These set of rules are now known as the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, (RPC) 2007. As a matter of fact, Section 1, RPC captures the general duties and conducts of legal practitioners.

    As the oldest and perhaps, most noble profession in Nigeria, extensive ethical rules of professional conduct were first drafted and adopted by the General Council of the Bar in 1980. In the same year, the Federal Government Officially gazetted the said rules. It is important to note that this set of rules has been reviewed, the result of which is the “Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners” dated February 7, 2007 which is the extant rules.

    For a proper discussion of this very important theme, I consider it apposite to briefly highlight some of the major issues bordering on integrity of legal practitioners.

     

    Dealing with clients property and conflict of interest

     

    As regards dealing with Clients property, two major issues arise:

    On Remuneration for fees for legal services rendered – Rule 48(1) states thus: A lawyer is entitled to be paid adequate remuneration for his service to the client. On dealing with client’s properly, Rule 23(2) states thus: “where a lawyer collects money for his client, or is in a position to deliver property on behalf of his client, he shall promptly report, and account for it, and shall not mix money or property with, or use it as, his own.”

    On the other hand, conflict of interest is an area that has given rise to so many issues bordering on the integrity and dignity of lawyers. It is simply a breach of professional ethics. Many at times, lawyer’s vested interest conflicts or clashes with that of his client, which immediately raises questions about his integrity.

    There are decided cases on this issue (both local and international). I shall quickly reel out a brief facts and decision of the court on a particular case which, to my mind, will further shed light on this sub-head. I refer to Law Society of New South Wales v. Harvey (1976) 2 NSWLR 15.

    Relationship with client within the bounds of the Law

    In this regard, the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) have received various petitions in response of lawyers’ breach of certain rules subsumed in this sub-head, such as professional negligence, breach of duty of confidentiality, professional incompetence, mismanagement of client’s money, property, etc. In many instance, acts have been adjudged to be infamous conducts.

    Essentially, Section 12 of the Legal Practitioners Act provides four (4) offences for which a legal Practitioner can be punished by the LPDC, they are:

    i. infamous conduct in a professional respect; or

    ii. being convicted of any crime which is incompatible with the status of a Legal practitioner by any court of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria; or

    iii. obtaining enrolment by fraud; or

    iv. for any act that is generally regarded as incompatible with the status of a Legal practitioner

    It is interesting to note that conducts that qualify as infamous conducts are not stated in the Legal Practitioners Act but some decided cases, both local and foreign have given us some ideas of such acts.

    In Allison v. General Council Medical Education and Registration (1894) 1 Q.B 750, the English court defined an infamous conduct as such conduct “regarded as disgraceful or dishonourable by his professional brethren of good repute and competence.”

    In MDPT v. Okonkwo (2001) 7 NWLR (Pt711) 206, a case which borders on medical misconduct by a medical practitioner also provided a good opportunity for the Supreme Court to describe what would amount to an infamous conduct. Ayoola, JSC, while reading the lead judgment described an infamous conduct thus:

    “A charge of infamous conduct must be of a serious infraction of acceptable standard of behaviour or ethics of the profession. It connotes conducts so disreputable and morally reprehensible as to bring the profession into disrepute if condoned or left unpenalised …”

    I consider it very important to also state that the relationship between the lawyer and his client is one of confidence. This duty of confidence also gives rise to an ethical obligation whose breach would be ground for disciplinary action by the LPDC.

    Let me also be quick to state that the duty of confidence is not without some qualifications, such as where the client consents or where the lawyer is compelled by an enabling law to make certain disclosures on his client’s instructions or where such disclosure are in the public interest.

    A lawyer must, in the discharge of his duties as a minister in the temple of justice, always remind himself of the need to preserve his integrity and not sacrifice on the altar of pecuniary gains. Personal integrity is the most essential quality of a lawyer.

     

    Engagement in Business

     

    This issue has over the years, given rise to disciplinary actions by the LPDC regarding the conducts of some lawyers. It is rather unfortunate to discover today that many of our colleagues have suddenly become “Jacks of all Trades”. The desperate pursuit of penicuniary achievements have led many lawyers to carry out unwholesome acts not befitting of a member of this noble profession.

    The General Council of the Bar in its wisdom had anticipated that if lawyers were not restricted to law practice alone, their personal integrity may be tarnished; hence the RPC. Rule 7(1) of the RPC states as follows:

    “(1) unless permitted by the General Council of the Bar (hereinafter referred to as “Bar Council”) a lawyer shall not practice as a legal practitioner at the same time as he practises any other profession.

    (2) A lawyer shall not practise as a legal practitioner while personally engaged in the business of commission agent.

     

    Discipline of Legal Practitioners

     

    This is perhaps, the most talked-about issue among colleagues at different fora organised to brainstorm and articulate new roadmap for the profession. Both the bar and the bench have in recent times been inundated with cases bordering on professional misconduct, abuse of trust, negligence, etc.

    Quite a number of these cases had been entertained by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), a body established pursuant to Section 10, Legal Practitioners Act (LPA), CAP L11, LFN, 2004 to handle or deal with cases of professional misconduct.

    The said Section has clearly set out the penalties applicable where a legal practitioner is adjudged culpable as alleged.

    In this regard, the LPDC may impose the following penalties:

    a) Order the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court to strike off the name of the alleged offender from the roll of legal practitioner in Nigeria

    b) Suspend that person from practice as a legal practitioner for such period as may be specified in the direction

    c) Admonish that person.

    It is important to state at this juncture that “the LPDC, in wielding the big stick, looks carefully at the severity of the alleged misconduct or offence for the purpose of determining the appropriate sanction.

    For instance, where a legal practitioner is adjudged guilty of a misconduct not amounting to an infamous conduct, but same is incompatible with the status of a legal practitioner, the LPDC, may in its wisdom, suspend or admonish such a legal practitioner regarding his future conducts. His name cannot be struck off the roll of legal practitioners.

     

    Liability in Professional Negligence

     

    Neither the Legal Practitioners Act (LPA)  nor the RPC defines what is meant by professional negligence. However, resort could be had to the ‘Black’s Law Dictionary” Sixth Edition page 1032 for the meanings of the word “negligence”

    I quote as follows: “The term refers only to that legal delinquency which results whenever a man fails to exhibit the care which he ought to exhibit, whether it be slight, ordinary, or great. It is characterized chiefly by inadvertence, thoughtlessness, inattention, and the like …”

    This, no doubt gives us an idea of this sub-topic. A legal practitioner, like any other professional, is liable to any wrong committed in his private capacity in relation to his client’s express instruction(s).

    He may be sued in contract, tort or criminal misconducts. The limit of his liability is as contained in Section 9, LPA

     

    Compliance with the rules of professional ethics by lawyers

     

    It is unfortunate that the level of compliance with the rules of professional ethics is declining by the day. Substantial numbers of lawyers have engaged themselves in deliberately flouting the Rules of professional conduct as provided for in the relevant rules of professional conduct as explained above.

    This might not be unconnected with the increasing number of lawyers and the decline in social value. We have noticed, in the recent past, breaches of the major rules of professional ethics.

     

    Enforcement of the rules of professional ethics

     

    The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) is the body statutorily charged with the responsibility of maintaining and enforcing discipline among lawyers. Section 10 of the LPA establishes the LPDC with the duty of considering and determining cases where it is alleged that a person whose name is on the role has misbehaved in his capacity as a legal practitioner.

    There have been complains in some quarters that the Disciplinary Committee of the NBA has not been very active in the enforcement of the rules of professional ethics among lawyers. However, there have been reported cases in recent time where the L.P.D.C sanctioned lawyers who were found guilty of professional misconduct.

     

    Conclusion

    This paper has only attempted to bring to the front-burner the lingering issues that border on the general conduct of legal practitioners. Three basic issues have been highlighted in this speech, which are: A legal practitioner’s dealing with his client’s property and conflict of interest, relationship with clients within the bounds of the law and engagement in business. The spectrum of issues or conducts of legal practitioners that relate to the topic in discourse are more than those discussed herein for want of time. Beyond anything else, I feel compelled to reiterate the fact that the legal profession is a calling, and as practitioners, we are officers in the temple of justice, hence the need to imbibe the finest conducts.

    Further to this, we must be reminded that personal integrity is the most cherished quality and asset of a legal practitioner. With integrity, clients’ confidence is earned!

     

    •Adedeji is Managing Partner at Adedeji & Owotomo, LLP, Lagos

  • Registrar warns pharmacists against breaching ethics

    Registrar warns pharmacists against breaching ethics

    Pharmacists have been warned against breaking on the ethics of the profession. According to the Registrar, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), Mr. Elijah Mohammed, any errant pharmacist would be punished.

    Such defaulting pharmacists will be made to face PCN’s disciplinary committee and sanctioned, if found guilty.

    Mohammed told rporters in Lagos: “The system is faced with moral and ethical crisis arising from decades of neglect, disobedience and passivity by many which have produced a culture ofpharmacy practice that lacks self-actualisation, control and the true commitment to the ethics of the profession. The system is bedeviled with landmark legislation and executive recklessness, a situation that has assumed illegality on demand and removed the essence of pharmacy practice from the public arena.”

    He likened the system to, “the Nollywood industry with all shades of actors acting various scripts to suit a hodgepodge of producers and directors alike. The pharmacy practice has long suffered from a generational gap with little genuine appreciation, understanding and co-operation between the older and younger generations of practitioners.”

    Mohammed said there was the need to bring together these generations to infuse them with common vision, a unified sense of purpose and recognition of their mutual independence. “These generations moving together towards a shared goal, can accomplish more than each of them could achieve separately. What it would take to lose everything was for one generation to fail in transferring its beliefs and principles to the next. The consequence of this was for the practice standing now at crossroads where it either turns back to the god of pharmacy, for redemption or face greater deterioration and ultimately self-extinction,” he stated.

    “We are going to move from transactional to transformational leadership structure in the system.  Transformation leadership, occurs when all concerned subscribe to the core values of integrity, honesty, dedication and transformation. Revolution rarely begins suddenly.  Instead, it grows over time as people become less satisfied with the conditions as they are.  One incidence will lead to another and tension mounts until finally catalytic event becomes the flash point that propels them into action”.

    He said: “These critical times call for radical response from people of conscience.  Traditional means, methods and modes of thoughts and actions, are insufficient to meet the needs of the present hour.  A more drastic approach, therefore, is required. In every generation, people of conscience usually come forth from within to bring about a change for good.  These people are men and women who are satisfied with nothing less than undivided devotion to the good of humanity, uncompromising obedience to the will of doing what is right and an unflinching engagement with a culture that is hostile to all things of good conscience”.

    The Registrar said there is a need for result-oriented regulation, monitoring and controlling activities for all aspect of pharmacy practice in Nigeria including the education and training of pharmacists and pharmacy-related personnel through the use of highly motivated officials, backed with adequate logistics and cutting-edge technology.

    ‘As a professional body’, he asked rhetorically, “must we wait for this to happen before we know that things must change for good?

    Mohammed lamented that, “The pharmacy profession and indeed the nation has watched,  mostly in silence, as the voice of reasoning and the laws of the practice have been progressively legislated out of the public arena just as the gladiators worship at the altar of greed, materialism and selfishness to perpetuate the malevolent deeds. My mission is a revolution devoid of violence and destruction but of love, professional sanctification and radical devotion to what is good that can bring the pharmacy community out of the woods. This is only achievable through a process of self and systemic transformation and actualisation.

    “The way forward, is for the system to create the opportunity for self-transformation through training and re-training, education and mass enlightenment campaign. That, is the only way to elicit the spirit of self-conviction and embedment of the mentality of ‘what must we do to be saved, the passion for and to do good for humanity which is the essence of the pharmacy practice’.

    Other ways, he said, will be to motivate the people to solve problems through collective responsibility and empowerment rather than reinforcing the over-lordship of the state on citizens. He said:”We should see ourselves as a bridge generation that builds on the past, lives in the present and plans for the future”.

    On his intention, Mohammed said: “I am here to rebuild the pharmacy practice, the civic office is too serious to be entrusted in the hands of charlatans, when serious people turned away from leadership roles, the field will be left to those who have nothing to offer than crass opportunism and damage to the people’s wellbeing. I call on all pharmacists to embrace the oath taken and abide by the ethics of the practice because there is no room for compromise again, under the new administration.”

    The Chairman; Bruno Nwakwo, said all fields of pharmaceutical practice will be visited and regulated, “we are in the business of healing through medicines. So let all pharmacists, especially in the clinical and community practices, cross check prescription brought to them by patients, so that wrong prescriptions can be tracked and patients saved.”

  • ‘Make ethics and values constitutional matters’

    The leadership of the ongoing National Conference has been advised to set up a committee on ethics and values with the intention of making it part of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This, she said, will help to improve the developmental values of the country.

    Speaking with reporters in Umuahia, the Special Adviser to the President

    on Ethics and Values, Dr. Jubril said with the introduction of the ethics and values in the constitution of the country, the country will be on the march to greatness.

    “The ethics and values if added in the constitution will help to entrench a system in the country’s constitution that will effectively tackle anti-social behaviours militating against the attainment of the country’s developmental goals.

    Dr. Jubril said a national ethics bill had been forwarded to the National Assembly, even as she described ethics and values as indispensable core in any country’s existence, growth and transformation. She added that it will also help in the transformation agenda of the present administration.

    She attributed corruption, insecurity and other forms of vices being witnessed in the country to eroding societal values, pointing out that her office was working with various agencies, youth and women volunteers at the national, zones, state and local government levels to reposition ethics in the scheme of things.

    The Presidential Adviser commended the Abia State government for the steps taken so far for the restoration of ethics and values in the state and urged all Nigerians to be actively involved in the campaign.

    Dr Jubril called for the replication of the 35 per cent affirmative action at the federal level, in states and local government areas, stressing that women were indispensable in the polity and should not be marginalised.

  • Utomi urges executives on ethics

    A political economy and management expert, Prof. Pat Utomi, said for leaders to command the respect of the international community, they must imbibe the ethical principles governing global relations.

    He spoke at a seminar by Poise Nigeria at Oriental Hotel, Lagos

    He said Nigerian leaders should exhibit the values of integrity and good judgment, in addition to expertise in their various fields.

    Defining a global leader, the Human Resources Executive, MTN, Mrs. Amina Oyagbola, noted that “competence in a job is only an infinitesimal part of the needed criteria”.

    She said a global executive must possess what she described as a corporate citizenship, which implies a high degree of “versatility and agile-mindedness”.

    She added that leaders needed to be highly intelligent emotionally, socially and intellectually, in order to create, shape and transform the world.

    In his paper, the Managing Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Seni Adetu, said a leader must be global-minded to succeed in today’s world.

    Adetu, who was represented by Mr. Michael Onuoha, Head of Public Sector, Guinness Nig. Plc, further said only solutions that had been provided by a collaborative and multicultural approach would transcend time.

  • Embracing ethics and creativity management in your firm(3)

    Last week, we said you need to give employees time to dream and remember that creative employees need downtime to recharge. We added that you should ensure that your employees are given time and room to think, explore, question, even play.

    We educated that another strategy for managing creative staff is to stress the importance of balance by surrounding them with semi-boring people, especially that the worst thing you can do to creative employees is to force them to work with someone like they are, a situation that can lead competition for ideas, eternal brainstorming, etc.

    We submitted that creative people need to spend time working without being micromanaged, meaning giving freedom to spend time developing uncommon ideas without having to constantly report on their progress.

    We said another thing is to direct creative staff at your actual problems and provide them with information and direction so that they grasp the big picture rather than becoming obsessed with the smaller details.

     

    Never put pressure on creative people

    Creativity is usually enhanced by giving people more freedom and flexibility at work. If you like structure, order and predictability, you are probably not creative. However, we are all more likely to perform more creatively in spontaneous, unpredictable circumstances — because we cannot rely on our habits. So do not constrain your creative employees by forcing them to follow processes or structures. Let them work remotely and outside normal hours. This is the secret to managing Don Draper, and why he never went to work for a bigger competitor. This is also why so many top athletes fail to make the transition from a small to a big team, and why business founders are usually unhappy to remain in charge of their ventures once they are acquired by a bigger company.

     

    Poor pay

    There is a paradox about motivating creative people. This is that you need to pay them poorly. There is a longstanding debate about the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of Business Psychology at the University College London (UCL) and vice president of Research and Innovation at Hogan Assessment Systems says over the past two decades, psychologists have provided compelling evidence for the so-called “over-justification” effect, namely the process whereby higher external rewards impair performance by depressing a person’s genuine or intrinsic interest.

    Most notably, two large-scale meta-analyses reported that, when tasks are inherently meaningful (and creative tasks are certainly in this condition), external rewards diminish engagement. Chamorro-Premuzic stresses that this is true in both adults and children, especially when people are rewarded merely for performing a task. However, providing positive feedback (praises) does not harm intrinsic motivation, so long as the feedback is perceived as genuine.

     

    Moral of the story

    Chamorro-Premuzic says the moral of the story is that the more you pay people to do what they love, the less they will love it. I am sure this assertion may not hold here in Nigeria because of desperation for survival. In the words of Czikszentmihalyi, “The most important quality, the one that is most consistently present in all creative individuals, is the ability to enjoy the process of creation for its own sake.” More importantly, people with a talent for innovation are not driven by money. Research on over 50,000 managers from 20 different countries indicates that the more imaginative and inquisitive people are, the more they are driven by recognition and sheer scientific curiosity rather than commercial needs.

     

    Building a team

    Employees want the respect of their peers; peer recognition and the power of the team are great motivators. Find ways to ensure that your workers can earn the respect of their peers, and if necessary employ group pressure to hold them accountable for their work. Ensure that people’s productivity is measured in terms of more meaningful criteria than mere hours spent working.

    According to T.S. Eliot, “Most of the trouble in this world is caused by people wanting to be important”. And the reason is that others fail to recognise them. Fairness is not treating everyone the same, but like they deserve. Every organisation has high and low potential employees, but only competent managers can identify them. If you fail to recognise your employees’ creative potential, they will go somewhere where they feel more valued.

     

    Surprising them

    Few things are as aggravating to creative people as boredom. Creative people seek constant change, even when it is counterproductive. They take a different route to work every day, even if it gets them lost. Creativity is linked to higher tolerance of ambiguity. Creative people love complexity and enjoy making simple things complex rather than vice-versa. Chamorro-Premuzic asserts that instead of looking for the answer to a problem, they prefer to find a million answers. It is therefore essential that you keep surprising your creative employees or at least let them create enough chaos to make their own lives less predictable.

     

    Final note

    Even when you are able to manage your creative employees, it does not mean that you should let them manage others. Research shows that natural innovators are rarely gifted with leadership skills. There is a profile for good leaders, and a profile for creative people and they are rather different. Chamorro-Premuzic says Steve Jobs had better relationships with gadgets than people, and most Google engineers are utterly disinterested in management. One of the reasons for the rapid collapse of start-ups is that their founders tend to remain in charge.

    Mark Zuckerberg brought in Sheryl Sandberg to make up for his own leadership deficiency. Research confirms that corporate innovators, that is, intrapreneurs exhibit many of the psychopathic characteristics preventing them from being effective leaders. They are rebellious, anti-social, self-centred and often too engaged to care about the welfare of others. If you manage them and their inventions well, they will impress you. By putting ethics in place and managing creativity well, the sky is the beginning not the limit of your firm’s potential for great achievements.

    Till we meet on Wednesday.

    •GOKE ILESANMI, Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is an International Platinum Columnist, Certified Public Speaker/MC, Communication Specialist, Motivational Speaker and Career Management Coach. He is also a Book Reviewer, Biographer and Editorial Consultant.

    Tel: 08055068773; 08187499425

    Email: gokeiles2010@gmail.com

    Website: www.gokeilesanmi.com

     

  • On ethics and leadership in Africa (I)

    On ethics and leadership in Africa (I)

    Last Thursday, June 27, a Kano based public relations company, Direct Contact Promotional Communications Ltd., made a public presentation of Kwankwasiyya, its newly published illustrated children’s bilingual biography of Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the Kano State governor. It had invited me to speak as guest of honour on the topic of leadership. The notice was short but I accepted the invitation because it provided me an opportunity to present a paper I had prepared on the topic two years ago for another occasion but which I never published. After re-reading it I thought it was even more relevant today than it was two years ago, considering the shameful spectacle of squabbling governors over the simple election of the chair of their forum alone with which they have been entertaining the public.

    In the end I could not present the paper in person because the publishers suddenly shifted the venue from Abuja to Kano. However my friend and professional colleague, Ujudud Sheriff, who was spending the week in Kano, his home state, accepted my request to stand in for me. The following is the first part of the paper:

     

    What is Ethics? One definition by the ENCARTA CONCISE ENGLISH DICTIONARY is that it is “the system of moral principles governing the appropriate conduct for an individual or group”. Another dictionary, the WEBSTER NEW TWENTIETH CENTURY DICTIONARY, defines it as “the system or code of morals of a particular philosopher, religion, group, profession, etc.”

    Ethics, in other words, is simply a set of rules about the dos and don’ts, virtues or vices, in a society. By universal consent, behaviours or actions like honesty, patience, loyalty, modesty, equity, justice, faith, etc, are virtues. Among vices are of course the opposite of all these.

    Probably the most concise articulation of these universal virtues are those famous Biblical Ten Commandments to mankind never to do certain things i.e. that Man should not kill, steal or lie, etc.

    Obviously any society in which vices outweigh virtues will not make progress. Instead it will degenerate and eventually collapse. This is pretty much obvious in the rise and fall of empires since Adam and Eve. Historically empires have collapsed more from internal decay than from external attack.

    Every society has custodians of its virtues. These, by definition, are its leaders. ENCARTA defines a leader variously as “somebody whom people follow” and as “somebody in charge of others”. WEBSTER defines a leader simply as “a person or thing that leads”.

    People acquire leadership status by virtue of their knowledge, experience, wealth or sheer personality or a combination of these. They may become leaders through the ballot box or the barrel of the gun.

    Logically any society that has a preponderance of good leaders would prosper and that which does not, won’t.

    Africa, it would seem, has had a preponderance of bad leaders at least since a little after the departure in the ‘60s of the Europeans that had colonised it for about a century. As Africa celebrated 50 years of its independence from colonial rule this year it remained the poorest region in the world and falling even further behind all the other regions.

    According to Martin Meredith, a British journalist who has written extensively on Africa, in his 2005 book The State of Africa, the continent’s average per capita income is one-third lower than that of the world’s second poorest region, South Asia. The per capital incomes of most of its countries, he says, has halved from those of 1980, or in some cases, from those of 1960. Half of its nearly 1 billion people live on less than a dollar a day. Its entire economic output is about $420 billion, which is 1.3% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product, “less than (that of) a country like Mexico,” which itself is among the poorest in the world.

    Africa, continues Meredith, is the only region where school enrolment and life expectancy are falling.

    The most glaring contrast in the development trajectory of Africa and Asia can be seen in the post-colonial histories of Nigeria, the continent’s most promising at independence, and Singapore, a tiny island state, which started out as part of Malaysia.

    With a population of at least 150 million, Nigeria is the most populous on the continent and the 10th largest in the world. It produces about 2 million barrels of oil a day, making it the fourth biggest producer in OPEC. Its arable land is one of the largest on the continent and it is also well-endowed with solid minerals that are in great demand world-wide.

    By contrast, Singapore has a population of 5 million and has no mineral resources. Its only natural endowment is its deep seaport. Fifty years ago Singapore, as part of Malaysia, was poorer than Nigeria. Its prospects looked bleak as it was forced to leave Malaysia due to ethnic and religious differences with the mainland.

    Today, Nigeria, with a Human Development Index of 46.6, according to a recent The Economist Pocket World in Figures, remains among the poorest in the world. In sharp contrast, Singapore, with an HDI of 90.2, has moved from its status as a poor Third World country to the rich First.

    The difference, it seems, has been in the leadership of the two countries. No one has put this better than Chinua Achebe, Africa’s finest novelist and essayist.

    “The trouble with Nigeria,” he said in a pamphlet of the same title he wrote over 27 years ago, “is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership”.

    In a lecture to the Nigerian chapter of Oxbridge Club he delivered at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs on March 17, 1989, former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, arguably Nigeria’s most influential leader since independence, seemed to agree completely with Achebe.

    At the time of his lecture he was already four years in office out of a tenure that eventually lasted eight years. In those eight years he changed the face of Nigeria’s political-economy, for better or worse, more than any leader before him or after.

    “I venture to suggest”, he said in the Oxbridge lecture, one of his most controversial, “that it is the nature of the competition among us, the so-called elite… which have been at the root of our national problem.”

    “Who are the elite in our national context?”, he asked rhetorically and quickly answered himself. These, he said, are “a few of us, numbering a few thousands out of a population of more than 100 million (who) find ourselves in positions of leadership and influence in the professions and academic, the armed forces, the bureaucracy, industry, agriculture and commerce, in the media houses, in the courts and councils of our traditional and political associates,”

    “You will perhaps agree,” he said, “that the worst attitude of the Nigerian elite over the last three decades or more have included factionalism, disruptive competition, extreme greed and selfishness, indolence and abandonment of the pursuit of excellence.” These vices, he said, also included indecisiveness and inconsistency in policy making occasioned by self-interest.

    Having diagnosed the crisis of leadership he said the country was suffering from, he proceeded to offer a solution which he said was indeed THE only solution.

    The Structural Adjustment Programme his administration had introduced in 1987, he said, was “the only possible answer” which should be embraced in all its ramifications by anyone who considered himself a patriot. It had its pains, he admitted, but its liberalisation and the deregulation of the economy unleashed the spirit of enterprise among Nigerians. The “good results” of SAP, he predicted, should be evident “from the middle of the next decade onwards,” i.e. 1995.

    Four years after Babangida’s prediction, The Economist published a survey on Nigeria entitled “Anybody seen a giant?” The survey, in the magazine’s edition of August 21, 1993, entered a verdict that contradicted Babangida’s prediction.

    “Nigerians” said, the survey’s author, Sophie Pedder, “are forever being told, and forever telling visitors, that they are the giants of Africa. If Africa is ever going to produce a South Korea, they say, it will happen in Nigeria. Yet each time the country has the chance to turn itself into a prosperous model for still poor Africa, it blows it.” Babangida, the author concluded in not so many words, was yet another disappointment. And whoever succeeds him from August 27 1993, she said, was unlikely to be any different.