Notes: Our program has resumed after the pause, arising due to the protests in Nigeria. Scheduling for Zoom reviews for members who returned their Labs for review resumes. For members asking for project experiences, Tekedia capstones which award a different certificate, separate from Tekedia Mini-MBA, is available. We have 10 tracks therein. Learn more here. Tekedia […]
Week 9 Session
Notes: Our program has resumed after the pause, arising due to the protests in Nigeria. Scheduling for Zoom reviews for members who returned their Labs for review resumes. For members asking for project experiences, Tekedia capstones which award a different certificate, separate from Tekedia Mini-MBA, is available. We have 10 tracks therein. Learn more here. […]
The Need to Go Beyond the Law Enforcement to Secure Lives and Properties
When I was managing a school some years ago, we had an incident that made me realise how important it is for us to maintain good relationships with our neighbours. In this very incident, the school’s security man saw a boy that dumped his refuse near the school fence. He called the small boy to remove what he dropped but he was headstrong. Well, the security man went into the office, took his whip, and landed some slashes on the boy. Unknown to him, one woman was watching what was happening and so when this security flogged the boy, she raised an alarm and claimed that he wanted to kill the boy. And so, a gang of angry mobs gathered at the front of the school, demanding for the head of the security man.
When I came out to placate with these people, they did not want to listen to me. They were even responding to me in Hausa. I sent for two Hausa school teachers that lived around the area so they could help me talk to the mob. From the response they gave me, I realised that the mob said they will burn down the school if I don’t hand over the security man to them. At a stage, the youths among them started scaling the fence into the school. That was when chaos came. The pupils started shouting. Teachers ran into their classrooms, banged the doors and started calling me to run. Everywhere was hysterical. Even I was confused. I refused to run because I knew it wouldn’t solve the problem. Besides, where will I run to?
Those young men moved around the school’s assembly ground with great agitation. Some stood with me near the gate, pointing into my face and yelling in Hausa. I was standing there like a statue, staring at them helplessly. Well, an angel finally came in the guise of one of the youths.
Just as these boys-men were about to head towards the administrative office to either search for the security man or to start vandalism (they had checked the security house and did not see the ‘suspect’), a young man climbed the wall, stood on it and yelled, “kei!” He said something to those inside the school compound and waved them to come out. Then he looked at me and said, “Malama, sorry” before he jumped out again. These young men inside began to leave one after the other, through the way they came in, still making threats. It was at that moment that it occurred to me that I should have called the police. It was then I remembered I had a phone and would have used it to call for help. It was actually then I realised the danger I, my children, students and staff in that school faced. Ok, I sent for my phone as these people were debating heatedly outside the school and called the DPO of the area. But before he came with his team, the mob had long dissolved.
Now, you might wonder who this young man that saved the day was. His child isn’t even in the school. If I see him today I won’t even recognise him. But then, he came to our rescue because of how good the owner of the school was to the people in the community. From what I later gathered, the young man argued with the mob that the woman has always helped them through the school. He reached the conscience of the mob and disarmed them. He reminded them of what they should have considered before raising hell. And of course, he justified the security man’s action.
You see, my boss formed the habit of providing financial help and food stuffs to those that came to her. She has helped some women to secure small jobs. She allowed some of their children to pass through her school with partial or full scholarship. She takes it easy on her debtors (school fees drive wasn’t common in the school). She has always mingled with women in that area, irrespective of their status. She has never “shown them levels”. She was a good neighbour. Hence, the day people forgot how good she was to them and wanted to destroy what was hers, somebody came to the rescue.
This story came into my mind this morning after I spoke with my neighbour. I asked him how he managed to pass through the mob that were vandalising people’s properties on Wednesday, 21 October, during the violent protest that rocked Enugu. He told me that most of the boys that were protesting were people that must have done one or two menial jobs for him or they knew those that he has helped; hence they “cleared road for him”. It is not that he throws money about but he has always lent listening ears to people, especially those set of people that can easily be turned into human weapons. He has never belittle them. And so when he needed help, they came to the rescue.
This makes it imperative for us to re-evaluate our security system.
Yes, we have the law enforcement agents to protect our lives and properties; but then, they are never quick to respond to calls of distress. We might mount CCTV and other security devices but they might not prevent people from destroying our sweats. We might mount burglary proofs and security doors but our walls and windows could be the weak point. The best security we can ever have is our neighbours.
I once told someone that every business owner should endeavour to draw “area boys” to his side but the person told me it’s unethical. Well, the truth is that those area boys are the ones that will decide whose shop to vandalise and whose own to spare when lawlessness ensues. If you own a business and you “take care of the boys”, if an uprising starts, just as we have been experiencing for some days now, you might find it “easier” to appeal to them to leave your own shop and that you will “see” them later. Just the way you identify with the police in your area, also do the same with “the boys”.
All the same, wherever you find yourself, be in good terms with your neighbours; they are your chief security officers. Be humble and mingle. But make use of your discretion so you don’t get yourself muddled in the wrong affairs.
Nigeria Needs A New Beat
One of the best gifts Diamond Bank gave me in the training school was a book titled “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George Clason. I had read Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” and the “Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Peale while in college. And in secondary school, I read Pita Nwana’s “Omenuko”. Later while in the bank, I read “Acres of Diamonds” by Russell Conwell.
In all these books, I noticed one thing: police, guns and tough talks do not provide internal security in nations but ideas by the best who can find economic opportunities, and unlock them, for the wealth of nations. Take it to Nigeria, as the nation lies in ruins, with absolute breakdown of law and order, even the police have noticed that they cannot do anything.
This is how Premium Times summed it: “The hoodlums, who carried out attacks in different parts of [Lagos], in the days following the #EndSARS protests seemed undisturbed by security agents, as they carried out arson, destruction of properties, and looting of valuables in the state. Within 48 hours, Tuesday and Wednesday, no fewer than 27 buildings, including police stations, media houses, government secretariats, and the court were attacked and left in ruins.”
The office of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in Lagos was also set ablaze by hoodlums on Wednesday. The dockyard at Apapa was attacked, valuable items were stolen by the hoodlums, and vehicles and other properties set ablaze. […]
Popular malls and supermarkets in Lagos were also vandalised and looted by the hoodlums in operations which lasted till Thursday. Several shops were also broken into in many areas and goods carted away by the hoodlums.
Yes, the police were in siddon-look state because ideally the security from police is tangential, and we saw it in the last few days across Nigeria. You can secure against tens, but when thousands, the police fail. For the permanent security for that wealth in nations which Adam Smith postulated many decades ago, Nigeria needs to get back to build an economy that works for everyone.
The weakest ones among us define the strength of our nation. If we do not strengthen them, they will weaken any strength we think we have. Ask some senators how far? Those who used to bow to them, chased them into internal exiles from their homes!
Our leaders have work to do. We have tried many things, and I think it is time to examine if changing our economic architecture could advance the nation. Nigeria grew fairly well during the regional government structure when regions held power and were accountable to their people. But with the concentration of power in Abuja, regional comparative advantages froze and we became lazy. Is it time to return back to that old format which actually worked? Some have called it restructuring. For me, it is beyond that though!
Financially restructure Nigeria into 6 regional governments with only 6 governors: South South, South East, South West, North East, North Central, North West and the Federal Capital Territory. That means the South East will have one governor. All the present 5 states will collapse into one. From the SE State, there will be 5 senators representing it in Abuja. The House of Representatives will be 15, three from each of the present five states.
At the state level, for each of the present five states, the state house of assembly will present only nine representations in the state capital. In total, we will have 45 state house members. Phase out the political arm of the local government administration and move it into a ministry within the state. Through this, South East will save more than 40% on the present administrative costs. That money will go into developing the region. Those in other new states will do the same.
Our goal is to make sure that more resources translate into more development. That correlation can only happen if we have the right people in power. So, I want to see the states focus on manpower development and supreme accountability. By investing in attracting and retaining top minds in government, the states will make more progress.
How do we do that? We will begin from election. The regional state government under their own electoral umpire, different from INEC, must stipulate the maximum amount any politician can spend on primaries. At the main election, the state will also cap the spending. By making over-exceeding that limit a felony, money politics will dissolve to politics of ideas. We are already in the age of electronic banking; the state will track and ask the politicians to file paperwork.
And finally, no politician will give a gift to any voter that is more than N50. That will remove the bags of rice, vegetable oil, etc. Once we run these processes for two election cycles, you will see higher improvements in the quality of governance.
But without those core elements, restructuring will simply move corruption from Abuja to state capitals. Believe in Nigeria.
Uyo for Nigeria’s Texas on gas. Jos for Florida on tourism. Lagos for New York on banking. Yobe for Iowa on farming. Aba for Shenzhen on makers. And so forth.
But today, what we have is Uyo, Jos, Lagos, Yobe, Aba, etc for Abuja. That has to change for Nigeria to rise. Yes, we need a new beat on how we do business in Nigeria if we want to unlock more opportunities across the nation, to get young people busy with productive endeavours.
The Buhari’s Covid-19 Palliatives and the Power of Food [Video]
Sudan’s fallen ruler, Omar al-Bashir, won many fights for three decades. He mastered the politics of the UN. He overcame America and South Sudan. He triumphed over the IMF and World Bank. He fought rebels, friends and enemies – and won. But at the end, he fell because of BREAD. Yes, bread – so simple and harmless – brought down one of the last surviving yoyo men of Africa.
During the peak of Covid-19, we were all here chronicling how money men and women were dropping money like bread labels to support the governments to feed some Nigerian citizens. And the government was also announcing tons of money to support Nigerians and small businesses. Typically, once in a while, I had asked here: who had benefited from those funds?
Except some political jobbers who wrote to me privately, claiming that they received some funds from the government, most small businesses did not receive anything or refused to acknowledge publicly. Yes, from all angles, the support did not reach the destinations.
But it does seem that I was right: the website for the N75 billion fund sharing just went up this month. And the distribution of the fund is yet to begin. Scale this experience across state capitals, you will get the idea why the citizens are frustrated: the goodies have not reached them even when the hunger in the land has grown at an exponential rate. Why should it take this long for free resources given to the government in March to reach citizens in October?
Mr. President, you have a real challenge before you: if you do not manage all those vapor promises well, your government could be in trouble. How can anyone justify allowing food items donated by companies and well wishers to expire in warehouses when people are hungry? If EFCC does not see this as a moral economic crime, it has lost its usefulness. So, the politicians loot the treasury, and are now also looting garri, beans and rice?
Yet, that does not mean our young people should be looting. They just need to channel this energy to extract the maximum value from the political leadership. That value must include free and fair elections. If we have free and fair elections, most of these characters would not be on the scenes.