Striker

One of the popular phrases in Nigeria’s political diction is “lack of political will.” In actual fact, it is a decent way to say “lack of interest.” Yoruba have a saying for an absentminded or confused persons searching for what is not lost: “ohun ti a n wa lo si Sokoto wa l’apo sokoto,” literally translating to “what we set out to find at Sokoto town is right inside our pocket.”

But for clear lack of interest, which has occasioned untold trials, tribulations and misery to Nigeria and Nigerians, how could successive generations of elites in government, with very few exemplary exceptions, make believe not to discern how to organise its citizens to feed, clothe, educate, and house themselves, in an atmosphere of equality and justice, which is the panacea for peace, security and prosperity?

There is no society and no day upon earth when all fingers will be equal: there will always be the rich and well-to-do as well as those struggling to make ends meet whatever the enabling environment guaranteed by any government, but in a country fully wrapped in green (as doubly depicted in our flag), with permanent “summer” and overabundance of natural resources, something is deviously wrong with elite mentality because they can very well enjoy their many privileges in peace by simply putting in the average work in managing the human and material resources available to an over-blessed nation!

Today, we still keep searching for what is not lost, as we had done from Independence on October 1, 1960. The land is there, flowing with milk and honey; the populace is there, vibrant, energetic and sharp-minded to the point of equally constituting genius and nuisance worldwide.

So what should be done? Simply organize them for productive engagement. In so doing, it is clear to all well-intentioned human beings who aspire to lead people that the first port of call is education. Education is not classroom rote learning for certificate to which it has been reduced to. It is impacting knowledge and skills in citizens, so they can be useful (productive) to themselves and society.

The production of every kind of goods and services needs standard training – from the most menial service to astronomy and heart surgery; from making brooms and toothpicks to industrial robots. Society simply needs, through careful guidance of its committed and patriotic leaders, to create the enabling environment, from priority to priority, for productivity training (education) and engagement of majority of its citizens. It is no rocket science.

When properly done, Information and Communication Technology, agriculture and agro-allied industry alone can sufficiently engage the majority and guarantee healthy living enough to drastically bring down the budget for security, defence and healthcare! Not only will crime rate reduce drastically, conflict along religious, ethnic and political divides will reduce to barest minimum with correct education, particularly civic and cultural education, which should be compulsory for all at basic level.

The republic, democracy, federalism, all came under threat, no thanks to negative and seemingly apathetic elite’s mentality that could not manage booming oil money for the common good, oil money that then became the prized-hunt for the military brass, whose devastating interventions and long rule complicated and aggravated a bad system of managing humans and material resources.

The value of that oil and the potential “free” money it brings is going and will soon be gone! When the elite realise that there is a natural resource that is thousand times more valuable than oil – human beings – which every Nigerian region has in abundance, perhaps they will positively change their mentality, realising that if they manage that resource well, there will be enough for every citizen, and much more for them to enjoy in peace.

In just a decade, a half dozen Nigerians can create wealth in excess of oil money proceeds for fifty years; ask Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet and co.

One of the best known Bible parables told by Jesus Christ is that of the Good Samaritan. Indeed, it best demonstrates what is meant by sense of responsibility. When the Christ stated to his audience that the height of obedience to all laws is to love one’s neighbour like oneself, some mischievously wicked fellows from the audience asked the trap question, “who then is our neighbour”?

Jesus, in His glorious response, then told the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In summary: a fellow, definitely not from Samaria, was fatally wounded and laid, dying by the wayside where he was seen and unattended to by several passers-by, including men of means from Galilee, where Jesus had preached the good news. Only the Samaritan, from Samaria where Jesus had apparently not spread the gospel, got the heart and the courage to stop by, carried the wounded fella to where he could be treated and saved, and guaranteed to foot the bill. Jesus then asked the naughty inquirer: who was actually the injured fellow’s neighbour? Clearly, the Samaritan; and Jesus admonished them – “whomsoever you are in a position to assist, do so, he is your neighbour.”

Let me quickly assert that the love of neighbour as oneself – the golden rule – is not unique to Christianity but is shared in common by all major world religions to which majority of humanity belong. It was the intention of the authors that if only every man and woman in the world could wish for his/her neighbour what he/she wishes forhimself/herself and would not do unto his/her neighbours what he/her does not wish, the world would be a paradise – a correct proposition.

Perhaps, the best education on the Good Samaritan’s parable was given by the unforgettable Dr. Martin Luther King, Jnr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Forum, Nobel Peace Prize Winner and leader of the Civil Rights Movement, United States of America. It was he who said “compassion is more than merely flinging a coin at a beggar.” He opined that, in the context of America (and we dare add Nigeria), a lot of people will find dozens of reasons (excuses) why they should not stop to help the fatally injured fellow: “What will happen if I stop to help? Imagine if it is a trap or a setup to rob! What if the fellow died, either on the way to help or at arrival? E.t.c. King Jnr now said what such people don’t think about, which is what they should really think about is what will happen on the other hand, if they don’t stop to help? In the final analysis, what happens if they stop to help should not bother them; they would have satisfied themselves to have done “God’s will.” Let us add that they would have demonstrated the highest sense of responsibility!

Organisations of all types, including political associations and parties, exist to promote a set of objectives, which invariably promote the welfare of not only their members but development of society. Why should anyone belong to any of those organisations if not genuinely interested in the advancement and fulfilment of those objectives? How can one contribute to the realisation of those objectives except through active participation in the programmes and activities that will lead to it?

Here now is our main point. What should guide our attitude during active participations? The world is unfortunately the way it is today, thousands of years after setting down the golden rule, simply because our attitudes and activities, within associations, is hardly ever guided by sense of responsibility to others, only sense of responsibility to self, indeed at the expense of others.

As members and leaders of associations to which we belong, we must not only cultivate the correct sense of responsibility, be willing to accept responsibility for the welfare and goodness of others, we should always SEEK responsibility, and be active in promoting the common good, always looking out for the wellbeing of others, that they too prosper as well as we hope we do.

Leadership, especially, imposes the highest responsibility. Shying away from it inevitably leads to organisational setbacks. Whenever you see organisations in disarray, check the sense of responsibility of its leaders, and relate it to how it has negatively impacted on those of the followers. As our understanding of democracy and democratic practice continues to deepen, every citizen must come to the realisation that he/she has a part to play in order to have the kind of beautiful and prosperous society that we dream of. It will not arrive by magic or be decreed into existence by a messiah. One simple contribution we can pledge today is cultivation of the highest sense of responsibility to “our neighbours,” which we can findin all our various associations; and to always challenge irresponsibility and self-centredness, especially when it undermines the progress of organisations and constitute setbacks to attaining its objectives.

One of the very things the Corporate Affairs Commission will ask of you, if you want to register an organisation, is your Rules and Regulations, otherwise called Constitution. Why? It is simple. “Ni ilu ti ko ba si ofin, ese ko si,” literally translating to “there is no offence in a city without rules.” Serious organisations not only have clear rules and regulations in place, but in addition have a Code of Conduct – clearly set-out dos and don’ts – that all members must abide by, as well as stipulated punishments for the don’ts (infractions).

Discipline is simply the practice of making people abide by spelt-out rules and regulations and ensuring that members who don’t are punished accordingly. A simple study of our society, at all levels of organisation, will reveal that this failing – indiscipline – which has become a culture, is at the very root of most of our woes. Once somebody disobeys the rules and does not get punished, the door to disorder is open; and once unpunished disobedience becomes frequent, the door is wide open to anarchy.

How far any association goes in fulfilling its aims and objectives depends, to a large extent, on how disciplined it is. It is a function of how self-disciplined its members are; or how well they are disciplined and amenable to discipline. It is not a big grammar. An orderly and prosperous organisation must be disciplined. Its members must, on their own, abide by the rules and regulations of the association, and those who don’t must ALWAYS be made to pay the fine and face the music EVERY TIME they break the rules.

Example, they say, is greater (better) than precept. Leaders of associations, political organisations, non-governmental organisations, religious and cultural groups, etc, have a big duty concerning discipline. Those who must come to equity must come with clean hands. The kettle calling the pot black doesn’t always advance the cause of organisational discipline, and one essential need for self-discipline is “amojukuro;” that is, self-sacrifice and restraint, a large heart without greed. Inevitably, as the organisation grows in achieving its objectives, there arrive dividends to be allocated. Periodically also, there are goodies to be shared on special occasions. These are some of the times that truly test organisational and leadership discipline.

From punctuality, regular attendance at meetings and payment of dues, to seeking and accepting responsibilities and assignments, a self-disciplined leader sets an example for members to follow, making sure that appropriate penalties are paid by members every time rules are violated. Fairness and justice must be apparent at all times in order to instil orderliness, which is a vital condition for growth and development. An organisation where might is right, wealth is right, and favours and privileges are dispensed without pattern other than sectional loyalty has no future. Selective punishment and differing sentences for same offence cannot be. The seeds of indiscipline growing within such associations will lead it to inevitable doom.

As it is with organisations, so it is with nations. Nigeria, as can be generally observed, suffers a terrible deficit of discipline everywhere you turn – its citizens, institutions, state and leadership. Too many examples on a daily basis to be sited, from observance of simple traffic regulations to mind-boggling looting in high places: and the bigger the violation of the rules, the more our inability to punish it! When indiscipline is carried to areas of public health and national security, of course, everyone can now see that unless we have a rethink and make a change, we are speeding towards self-destruction. For the simplest instance, how else would we account for the inability of educated adults especially, to follow basic COVID-19 protocols, even if the uneducated live in senseless denial? A lot of people argue that corruption is our country’s biggest problem. All you need to know is that where there is corruption, there will be indiscipline; but where there is strict discipline, there will be no corruption, and anytime corruption rears its head, it will be ruthlessly dealt with according to the rules!

True, leadership indiscipline spreads disorder down the followership ranks and files, but the solution is two-way: it can either be corrected from leadership downwards; or from followership upwards. Not correcting it will continually leave us in trials and tribulations to live through and hand over to our children. Individuals have the capacity to demonstrate powerful examples of discipline that can reverberate beyond an organisation and become a change mantra. No one can forget that the Spartan discipline of President Mohammadu Buhari, for many years lived before his Presidential aspirations, became the eventual Joker for his triumph after several attempts.

There is a saying that “Small (positive) acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” It is particularly true for self-discipline with individuals and organisations. “Obedience,” they say, “is better than sacrifice.” One small but significant positive change you can make within your organisation is, as a disciplined person that you have now resolved to be and have become, begin promoting discipline, for the growth of your organisation and the fulfilment of its aims and objectives. It may turn out to be a big contribution to the redemption of your community, and indeed our dear country, Nigeria.