Chelsea after Jose Mourinho
I count myself as a Chelsea fan, even though I can’t accurately explain why. I also have some vagueness in my mind as to when precisely my allegiance to Chelsea commenced. Like most Nigerians of my generation (take that loosely to mean people currently aged somewhere between ages forty and fifty!), I started life knowing teams like Stationery Stores of Lagos, Mighty Jets of Jos, WNDC (later IICC) of Ibadan, Bendel Insurance of Benin and Enugu Rangers of Jos. The first club I regarded with affinity was of course Stores, but the one I first actively supported (curiously given the ethnic coloration of teams’ support bases) was actually Rangers.
In the famous Rangers and IICC Challenge Cup battles of 1977 (which almost degenerated into a threat to national unity prompting General Shehu Musa Yar’adua as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters to personally intervene), my team was Rangers. Initially I could not understand why virtually everyone around supported IICC when I thought it was apparent Rangers was a more purposeful team. I remember that thundering shot by Ogidi Ibeabuchi that won the game 1-0 for Rangers and the delight I felt then to the chagrin of neighbours watching the game in our house. They called me “Omo Ibo”-that was probably my first realization that Nigeria was a very complex society. I later developed other allegiances as Nigerian football evolved-Super Stores, Leventis United, Abiola Babes and New Nigerian Bank of Benin.
That was the situation until globalization, satellite broadcasting and big business caught up with football in Europe. The English league with which we had always being familiar was the flagship in this regard and the familiarity with English football which had for most Nigerians been at best a residual activity, now became an obsession for many. I would not class myself amongst those in that obsessive group, but gradually in the absence of a Nigerian outlet for our interest in football, I joined the English Premier League fans club. There was something purely white and British about Manchester United so I could not develop sufficient passion for the team even as I loved some individual players-Eric Cantona, Andy Cole, Ruud van Nistelroy, Paul Scholes etc. Arsenal was more accommodating of black and African players and whenever there was a Man U-Arsenal clash, I gravitated towards Arsenal. But I never became a core Arsenal devotee in spite of my predilection for supporting teams with Nigerian players, and Kanu was in Arsenal.
I began to be interested in Chelsea when Ruud Gullit who was one of my all time greatest players (some others being Johan Cryuf, Zico, Frank Rijkaard) became involved as Coach. I also liked Celestine Babayaro but not until a constellation of factors-Roman Abramovich with the resources, Jose Mourinho with the strategy and tactics, and then a stream of African players-Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and John Mikel Obi-transformed Chelsea into a world-class club did I adopt the team. The fact that Chelsea never became the club of the establishment (like Man U) or that of the “holloi polloi” (like Arsenal) helped!
Few will dispute that Roman Abramovich’s money was important in transforming Chelsea from the back waters of English football to unequivocally one of the top three clubs in England and one of the world’s top sporting brands. Abramovich is reputed to have spent millions of pounds in the last four years in his efforts to radically change Chelsea’s fortunes. But it was not until he hired Mourinho from Porto that the world noticed Chelsea. Jose Mourinho came to the job with remarkable credentials. Porto was no where even in the Portuguese league when he took over, but he won the Portuguese league in his first year on the job, repeated the league victory the next year and then won the UEFA Cup same year. To crown it Porto then won the Europoean Champions League unambiguously establishing Jose Mourinho’s credentials as one of the best coaches in the world. His exploits in Porto could not be ascribed to resources, team pedigree or players’ quality. There was clearly something about Mourinho that tended to result in victory. It was thus not surprising that Roman Abramovich hungry for success in Chelsea fired Claudio Ranieri and hired Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho has not performed badly at Chelsea-he won the premier league back to back, won the FA Cup and Carling Cup and got to the semi-final of the Champions League, but unlike many I do not think the record is sparkling either. Given the level of resources committed by Abramovich, I thought we should have won the last Champions’ League, especially as the premier league title which Man-U eventually won was no longer realistic. The more substantial complaint about Chelsea however was the absence of rhythmic football-“fantasy football” as Abramovich demanded. As a Chelsea fan, one could not help but admire the sweet football of teams like Arsenal, Barcelona (my other favourite team), Lyon and Villareal. On the other hand, I understood Mourinho. His objective was not to entertain, but to win, and that he frequently did!
Mourinho’s real undoing however was neither his inability to win the Champions League nor the functional approach to the game. It was his insistence that he alone and no other-not even the gentleman bankrolling the club would be the star at Chelsea. In relation to the players, I understood and agreed with Mourinho’s basic approach. He did not want “galacticos”-people who were already superstars with huge egos before joining Chelsea. He wanted very good players-such as Drogba, Mikel Obi, Essien, Salomon Kalou who still had a point to prove, and who would subsume their egos and profile to Mourinho’s. It was consistent with Mourinho’s other style-he courted controversy, engaged in mind-games, was outspoken-but the basic intent was to for him to take on the pressure personally while leaving his players free to fight for victory on the pitch. While the “sole star” approach would work with the players, it was bound to get Jose in trouble with Abramovich, and it just did.
Andriy Shevshenko and Michael Ballack were clearly galacticos. They had nothing more to prove in football and therefore did not fit Mourinho’s employee profile. To make matters worse, “Sheva” was Ukrainian (meaning Slavic affinity and closeness to Abramovich) and appeared to have been forced on Mourinho. Mourinho then tried to sabotage Sheva’s Chelsea career and in the end gave Abramovich an “either me or Shevshenko” dilemma. Now Mourinho has been fired, will our Chelsea unravel? Chelsea fans sincerely hope not, but that remains a distinct possibility. Our fears are in no way assuaged by the appointment of Avram Grant as replacement-perhaps he would be an interim choice. Key players-Drogba, Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho etc could leave. And after a while perhaps fans could also leave. Meanwhile as billions of dollars chase world soccer, in Nigeria the NFA and NFL squabble, delaying the commencement of the local league while the whole country deceives it self that it has conquered the world by winning an under-17 tournament!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Profiling Nigerian Leadership
This column has made a conscious decision not to comment on the Yar’adua Presidency until December 2007, by which time the regime will have been in office for more than six months. By that time a clear direction should have emerged (and if it has not, that in itself will have clear implications) and some patterns of actions would have been discernible. I believe in the validity of a conception of strategy as the pattern that is observable from a stream of actions. Patterns are created due to consistency of actions and behaviour, presence of some set of competences and skills, and perspectives and world view with which an entity responds to the environment around him.
While we allow President Umaru Musa Yar’adua to create his own patterns of policy, implementation, people and leadership however, perhaps we can profit from reviewing Nigeria’s past leadership, in order that we can see what may be learnt from them. In pre-independence Nigeria, the locus of leadership was not national but regional. Chief Obafemi Awolowo led the West along with his colleagues in the Action Group with strong support from the intellectual and traditional elite. He was leader and Premier of the Western region, but had his sights and heart set firmly on national leadership. Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto was also a leader with his centre of gravity in Northern Nigeria. Indeed his party made no pretences about who it represented.
While Awolowo attempted to maintain an (admittedly artificial) separation between the Egbe Omo Oduduwa and the Action Group, the Sarduana’s party unabashedly declared itself to be the Northern Peoples Congress. Ahmadu Bello was also Northern premier but unlike Awolowo he had absolutely no desire for national leadership, preferring to remain in the north, where he could remain proximate to his ultimate dream-Sultan of Sokoto. Dr Nnamdi Azikwe was somehow different from Awo and Sardauna. He was the foremost pre-independence national leader and had managed to forge a follower-ship that transcended his eastern region, although this may have been due more to the liberal political culture prevailing in Yoruba politics rather than any other factor.
Dr Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) was strong all over Nigeria, but particularly in Western, Eastern and the Mid-West regions of Nigeria. Many of Zik’s most loyal followers-TOS Benson, JM Johnson, Adeniran Ogunsanya, Olu Akinfosile, Adegoke Adelabu were from the West and Zik won elections in Lagos, and could have become Premier of the West but for the re-awakening of Yoruba consciousness created by Awolowo and his colleagues. Zik unlike Awolowo and Sardauna was a more consensual, less forceful and more diplomatic leader. That of course often has the corollary of being sometimes less principled.
If Chief Awolowo had chosen like Ahmadu Bello to stay and lead the West (perhaps sending the very slippery SLA Akintola to Lagos) leaving easy-going fellows like Zik, Akintola and Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, (Sardauna’s deputy who he delegated to go down to the federal capital in Lagos), perhaps the journey of Nigeria’s federalism would have been different. The regions would have remained the real sources of power, and we may have been spared the bitter power struggles which short-circuited Nigeria’s first republic. The first republic thus unwittingly started a trend towards having weak, leadership at the federal level. Unfortunately the subsequent development of Nigeria’s federalism engendered a massive transfer of power from the regions to these often weak leaders at the national level.
Gen Aguiyi Ironsi was purely a soldier with no views about political leadership. When the first January 1966 coup led by Ifeajuna and Nzeogwu failed, power fell on Ironsi’s laps. He did not know what to do with it and appeared to be dependent on civil servants of Eastern extraction for advice. Ironsi’s prevarication continued for six months until he was overthrown by Murtala Muhammed and Theophilus Danjuma leading a Northern response to the murder of their political and military leaders. In what was now becoming a Nigerian tradition, the real coup leader Murtala however did not take power. His colleague Yakubu Gowon, the friend of the British and another diplomat took power. Gowon of course lacked real power and shared authority with everyone-military governors, members of the Supreme Military Council, federal commissioners and senior civil servants.
Soon Gowon’s military colleagues got tired of the absence of clear direction and a group of younger military officers led by Shehu Yar’adua, Ibrahim Babangida, Joseph Garba and Fidelis Ochefu took power in July 1975 and handed over to the triumvirate of Murtala Muhammed, Olusegun Obasanjo and Theophilus Danjuma. This trio was committed and action-oriented. They had observed Gowon’s drift and visionless-ness and had thought about power and what they would do with it. So Nigeria experienced a burst of activity and perhaps for the first time since independence had decisive leadership. Unfortunately many of their solutions were poorly thought-out and it fell to one of them Obasanjo to reverse virtually all their actions in his second coming. To compound matters, Murtala was killed in the February 1976 abortive coup, and Obasanjo became Head of State “against his personal wish and desire”.
Alhaji Shagari who took over from Obasanjo was another reluctant leader, and in spite of being elected executive president under a Presidential system functioned like a leader of cabinet in a parliamentary system! The 4 year Shagari rule turned out to be an interlude of drift and soon the soldiers were back in December 2003 to take their power back. Buhari and Idiagbon were strong leaders. But what was their grand vision for Nigeria? Where were they going? Beyond talking tough about discipline and jailing politicians, it soon became apparent they had little to offer in terms of policy and leadership. Moreover they were very divisive and repressed human rights. Soon the real power behind the throne, who actually organized the coup that brought Buhari to power, but had chosen to stay as Army Chief, General Ibrahim Babangida took power for himself in August 1985.
Babangida had an excellent opportunity to transform Nigeria. He planned for power, had a strong power base, took the title of President and understood the economic issues. But he failed the twin tests of character and succession. Shonekan was an unelected interim administrator and sooner than later Abacha was bound to strike, which he did in November 1983. Abacha had neither intellectual nor moral grounding in leadership, and relied on force and brutality to sustain his rule. Abdulsalam was an interim leader, in the reluctant ruler mode, and he swiftly handed over to a leader the military could trust-Obasanjo-in 1999. In many respects, Obasanjo was the best prepared for leadership and could have done so much better; he did well with macro-economic reform, but not so well overall; and he finished somewhat diminished. What will be Yar’adua’s testament?
This column has made a conscious decision not to comment on the Yar’adua Presidency until December 2007, by which time the regime will have been in office for more than six months. By that time a clear direction should have emerged (and if it has not, that in itself will have clear implications) and some patterns of actions would have been discernible. I believe in the validity of a conception of strategy as the pattern that is observable from a stream of actions. Patterns are created due to consistency of actions and behaviour, presence of some set of competences and skills, and perspectives and world view with which an entity responds to the environment around him.
While we allow President Umaru Musa Yar’adua to create his own patterns of policy, implementation, people and leadership however, perhaps we can profit from reviewing Nigeria’s past leadership, in order that we can see what may be learnt from them. In pre-independence Nigeria, the locus of leadership was not national but regional. Chief Obafemi Awolowo led the West along with his colleagues in the Action Group with strong support from the intellectual and traditional elite. He was leader and Premier of the Western region, but had his sights and heart set firmly on national leadership. Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto was also a leader with his centre of gravity in Northern Nigeria. Indeed his party made no pretences about who it represented.
While Awolowo attempted to maintain an (admittedly artificial) separation between the Egbe Omo Oduduwa and the Action Group, the Sarduana’s party unabashedly declared itself to be the Northern Peoples Congress. Ahmadu Bello was also Northern premier but unlike Awolowo he had absolutely no desire for national leadership, preferring to remain in the north, where he could remain proximate to his ultimate dream-Sultan of Sokoto. Dr Nnamdi Azikwe was somehow different from Awo and Sardauna. He was the foremost pre-independence national leader and had managed to forge a follower-ship that transcended his eastern region, although this may have been due more to the liberal political culture prevailing in Yoruba politics rather than any other factor.
Dr Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) was strong all over Nigeria, but particularly in Western, Eastern and the Mid-West regions of Nigeria. Many of Zik’s most loyal followers-TOS Benson, JM Johnson, Adeniran Ogunsanya, Olu Akinfosile, Adegoke Adelabu were from the West and Zik won elections in Lagos, and could have become Premier of the West but for the re-awakening of Yoruba consciousness created by Awolowo and his colleagues. Zik unlike Awolowo and Sardauna was a more consensual, less forceful and more diplomatic leader. That of course often has the corollary of being sometimes less principled.
If Chief Awolowo had chosen like Ahmadu Bello to stay and lead the West (perhaps sending the very slippery SLA Akintola to Lagos) leaving easy-going fellows like Zik, Akintola and Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, (Sardauna’s deputy who he delegated to go down to the federal capital in Lagos), perhaps the journey of Nigeria’s federalism would have been different. The regions would have remained the real sources of power, and we may have been spared the bitter power struggles which short-circuited Nigeria’s first republic. The first republic thus unwittingly started a trend towards having weak, leadership at the federal level. Unfortunately the subsequent development of Nigeria’s federalism engendered a massive transfer of power from the regions to these often weak leaders at the national level.
Gen Aguiyi Ironsi was purely a soldier with no views about political leadership. When the first January 1966 coup led by Ifeajuna and Nzeogwu failed, power fell on Ironsi’s laps. He did not know what to do with it and appeared to be dependent on civil servants of Eastern extraction for advice. Ironsi’s prevarication continued for six months until he was overthrown by Murtala Muhammed and Theophilus Danjuma leading a Northern response to the murder of their political and military leaders. In what was now becoming a Nigerian tradition, the real coup leader Murtala however did not take power. His colleague Yakubu Gowon, the friend of the British and another diplomat took power. Gowon of course lacked real power and shared authority with everyone-military governors, members of the Supreme Military Council, federal commissioners and senior civil servants.
Soon Gowon’s military colleagues got tired of the absence of clear direction and a group of younger military officers led by Shehu Yar’adua, Ibrahim Babangida, Joseph Garba and Fidelis Ochefu took power in July 1975 and handed over to the triumvirate of Murtala Muhammed, Olusegun Obasanjo and Theophilus Danjuma. This trio was committed and action-oriented. They had observed Gowon’s drift and visionless-ness and had thought about power and what they would do with it. So Nigeria experienced a burst of activity and perhaps for the first time since independence had decisive leadership. Unfortunately many of their solutions were poorly thought-out and it fell to one of them Obasanjo to reverse virtually all their actions in his second coming. To compound matters, Murtala was killed in the February 1976 abortive coup, and Obasanjo became Head of State “against his personal wish and desire”.
Alhaji Shagari who took over from Obasanjo was another reluctant leader, and in spite of being elected executive president under a Presidential system functioned like a leader of cabinet in a parliamentary system! The 4 year Shagari rule turned out to be an interlude of drift and soon the soldiers were back in December 2003 to take their power back. Buhari and Idiagbon were strong leaders. But what was their grand vision for Nigeria? Where were they going? Beyond talking tough about discipline and jailing politicians, it soon became apparent they had little to offer in terms of policy and leadership. Moreover they were very divisive and repressed human rights. Soon the real power behind the throne, who actually organized the coup that brought Buhari to power, but had chosen to stay as Army Chief, General Ibrahim Babangida took power for himself in August 1985.
Babangida had an excellent opportunity to transform Nigeria. He planned for power, had a strong power base, took the title of President and understood the economic issues. But he failed the twin tests of character and succession. Shonekan was an unelected interim administrator and sooner than later Abacha was bound to strike, which he did in November 1983. Abacha had neither intellectual nor moral grounding in leadership, and relied on force and brutality to sustain his rule. Abdulsalam was an interim leader, in the reluctant ruler mode, and he swiftly handed over to a leader the military could trust-Obasanjo-in 1999. In many respects, Obasanjo was the best prepared for leadership and could have done so much better; he did well with macro-economic reform, but not so well overall; and he finished somewhat diminished. What will be Yar’adua’s testament?
Monday, September 17, 2007
Adventures of a Columnist
This newspaper published editorials on the crime and security situation in Lagos throughout last week. Apparently the publisher and his team decided some weeks ago to focus attention on crime and agreed to run those editorials from Monday September 3 to Friday 7th. The men of the underworld decided to play a joke on the newspaper and its readers and struck at its printers’ offices reportedly with over 30 heavily armed men in security uniform ransacking the premises, stealing laptops, desk tops, phones and other valuables. It was something of a pre-emptive, but confirmatory strike as the men struck on Thursday 30th August, days before the editorials were run. The next day, August 31, 2007, four armed men struck at your columnist’s home at 2.30am or thereabouts!
I was awakened by my wife running to lock our bedroom door and gesticulating frantically. I immediately understood the meaning her motions were meant to communicate-there are invaders in the house! From her finger-pointing and wide-eyed expression, it was apparent she had seen the invaders, and they were already on the upstairs floor in which we sleep. Your columnist does his mathematics, realizes that if the robbers are already outside my bedroom door, then that means they have access to my children. Confirmation comes as I hear my eldest daughter gently say “daddy”. I open the door, uttering the words, “I open this door in the name of Jesus” and I’m faced with three men, a gun, a crowbar, some metallic equipment, with my kids in tow, and then the adventure unfolds.
I am wearing boxers and pyjamas tops, and apparently do not resemble the master of the house, so the robbers first words are “wey your master?” I tell them I am the master, and they announce, “We are here on a mission to kill you”. Actually that statement did not shock me. From the point my wife awakened me, the only question on my mind is, “Are these robbers or assassins?” When they declare they are on a mission to kill, I silently begin to pray and ask God to receive my soul in heaven. The only other thought on my mind is that these people should not shoot me in the presence of my family. They should isolate me before shooting. But almost immediately my spirit rebukes me and I begin to ask God to take control, and to preserve my wife, children and I even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Soon they begin to ask for money and I sense the mission is really to steal and perhaps to scare as well.
Unfortunately there is very little money in the house, and I am the one who has the least. My thirteen year-old girl displays amazing presence of mind, offering the men her N3,000 and they take it! My wife musters up to N20,000 but my wallet contains less than N2,000-not a very good haul, and not worth a night’s labours. But the men are surprisingly calm and flexible-if they can’t get money what else is available? So they turn their attention to phones, wrist watches, even my cuff links and my reading glasses! My wife is able to add some items and then the guys discover my lap top, my multi-media projector (which they pick up inside my car on their way out) and after all they salvage some value for their hard work and tenacity. They lock up my children in a toilet downstairs and disappear as quietly as they came.
After their exit, we can begin to piece together the full story. My security man is tied up in the gate house. The burglary proof was neatly cut providing access into the house for one who probably opens the door to let in the others. It is as they make to enter the upper floor that my wife wakes up to some noise, comes out and is faced with the shocking sight of robbers at the door into the family lounge. We are not worried about the monetary value of what they have taken, but the value to me of my phone (actually the addresses contained therein), my laptop and the multimedia projector goes beyond money.
After the intruders leave, we inform neighbouring security men who offer the only thing they have-sympathy, not worth very much thank you. Most neighbours are away for summer holidays, so there is little by way of adult support. There is a Police DIG’s residence down the road. I report to the officers on guard who ask me to report to the Police Station. I reassemble my family, commend my wife and children for their exemplary calm under pressure and we pray and go to sleep. In the morning, I report to the police station, give statements and the officer asks me to thank God that no life was lost. The Police is my friend!
My son makes two surprising but remarkable statements after the robbers depart. First he is angry that he can’t defend his family in the face of robbers. I assure him he did the wise thing since the men carried a gun. He then says “daddy, what will we do about poverty in this country?” The only thing I can do is to write about it. But then it is also not just about poverty. It is also about values. People see all “rich people” as having stolen their wealth, so they have no reservations stealing it from them. It is also alright to steal from fellow poor, before they steal from you! The society glorifies wealth without concern for how it is obtained, so it does not matter whether you carry arms and dispossess others of what they own or stole.
Of course it is also about the breakdown of the sense of community. We do not know who our neighbours are; we do not cooperate to protect our common interests, so robbers can isolate us and deal with us one after the other. It reflects the wider social decay and self-centredness that has overtaken our society. We are no longer Africans who live in inter-connected communities where everyone is their brothers’ keeper. But neither are we Europeans and Americans who have replaced the village sense of community with competent mayors, district attorneys and policing systems. So we live in a social vacuum, a no-man’s land resembling a state of anarchy, in which impunity of the powerful and the aggrieved reigns.
As you would imagine, one or two people have attributed your columnist’s escapades to my writings and pleaded with me to stop writing. Some have referred to particular recent articles and theorised as to “warning signals” from unhappy sources. I was a bit surprised too when I subsequently learnt that robbers had visited Businessday’s printers exactly twenty-four hours (almost to the minute) before visiting my residence. And in both cases, there appears to have been some interest in laptops and computers. But I can not presume there is a connection between both incidents. What I know is that anytime evil lurks, the entity behind it seeks not just to steal, but to destroy and to kill. And that entity does not have to physically carry a gun, there are men who will always do the devil’s bidding. When what is stolen is replaceable, when we are not destroyed, and when we are alive and well, then we know there is cause for prayer and thanksgiving.
This newspaper published editorials on the crime and security situation in Lagos throughout last week. Apparently the publisher and his team decided some weeks ago to focus attention on crime and agreed to run those editorials from Monday September 3 to Friday 7th. The men of the underworld decided to play a joke on the newspaper and its readers and struck at its printers’ offices reportedly with over 30 heavily armed men in security uniform ransacking the premises, stealing laptops, desk tops, phones and other valuables. It was something of a pre-emptive, but confirmatory strike as the men struck on Thursday 30th August, days before the editorials were run. The next day, August 31, 2007, four armed men struck at your columnist’s home at 2.30am or thereabouts!
I was awakened by my wife running to lock our bedroom door and gesticulating frantically. I immediately understood the meaning her motions were meant to communicate-there are invaders in the house! From her finger-pointing and wide-eyed expression, it was apparent she had seen the invaders, and they were already on the upstairs floor in which we sleep. Your columnist does his mathematics, realizes that if the robbers are already outside my bedroom door, then that means they have access to my children. Confirmation comes as I hear my eldest daughter gently say “daddy”. I open the door, uttering the words, “I open this door in the name of Jesus” and I’m faced with three men, a gun, a crowbar, some metallic equipment, with my kids in tow, and then the adventure unfolds.
I am wearing boxers and pyjamas tops, and apparently do not resemble the master of the house, so the robbers first words are “wey your master?” I tell them I am the master, and they announce, “We are here on a mission to kill you”. Actually that statement did not shock me. From the point my wife awakened me, the only question on my mind is, “Are these robbers or assassins?” When they declare they are on a mission to kill, I silently begin to pray and ask God to receive my soul in heaven. The only other thought on my mind is that these people should not shoot me in the presence of my family. They should isolate me before shooting. But almost immediately my spirit rebukes me and I begin to ask God to take control, and to preserve my wife, children and I even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Soon they begin to ask for money and I sense the mission is really to steal and perhaps to scare as well.
Unfortunately there is very little money in the house, and I am the one who has the least. My thirteen year-old girl displays amazing presence of mind, offering the men her N3,000 and they take it! My wife musters up to N20,000 but my wallet contains less than N2,000-not a very good haul, and not worth a night’s labours. But the men are surprisingly calm and flexible-if they can’t get money what else is available? So they turn their attention to phones, wrist watches, even my cuff links and my reading glasses! My wife is able to add some items and then the guys discover my lap top, my multi-media projector (which they pick up inside my car on their way out) and after all they salvage some value for their hard work and tenacity. They lock up my children in a toilet downstairs and disappear as quietly as they came.
After their exit, we can begin to piece together the full story. My security man is tied up in the gate house. The burglary proof was neatly cut providing access into the house for one who probably opens the door to let in the others. It is as they make to enter the upper floor that my wife wakes up to some noise, comes out and is faced with the shocking sight of robbers at the door into the family lounge. We are not worried about the monetary value of what they have taken, but the value to me of my phone (actually the addresses contained therein), my laptop and the multimedia projector goes beyond money.
After the intruders leave, we inform neighbouring security men who offer the only thing they have-sympathy, not worth very much thank you. Most neighbours are away for summer holidays, so there is little by way of adult support. There is a Police DIG’s residence down the road. I report to the officers on guard who ask me to report to the Police Station. I reassemble my family, commend my wife and children for their exemplary calm under pressure and we pray and go to sleep. In the morning, I report to the police station, give statements and the officer asks me to thank God that no life was lost. The Police is my friend!
My son makes two surprising but remarkable statements after the robbers depart. First he is angry that he can’t defend his family in the face of robbers. I assure him he did the wise thing since the men carried a gun. He then says “daddy, what will we do about poverty in this country?” The only thing I can do is to write about it. But then it is also not just about poverty. It is also about values. People see all “rich people” as having stolen their wealth, so they have no reservations stealing it from them. It is also alright to steal from fellow poor, before they steal from you! The society glorifies wealth without concern for how it is obtained, so it does not matter whether you carry arms and dispossess others of what they own or stole.
Of course it is also about the breakdown of the sense of community. We do not know who our neighbours are; we do not cooperate to protect our common interests, so robbers can isolate us and deal with us one after the other. It reflects the wider social decay and self-centredness that has overtaken our society. We are no longer Africans who live in inter-connected communities where everyone is their brothers’ keeper. But neither are we Europeans and Americans who have replaced the village sense of community with competent mayors, district attorneys and policing systems. So we live in a social vacuum, a no-man’s land resembling a state of anarchy, in which impunity of the powerful and the aggrieved reigns.
As you would imagine, one or two people have attributed your columnist’s escapades to my writings and pleaded with me to stop writing. Some have referred to particular recent articles and theorised as to “warning signals” from unhappy sources. I was a bit surprised too when I subsequently learnt that robbers had visited Businessday’s printers exactly twenty-four hours (almost to the minute) before visiting my residence. And in both cases, there appears to have been some interest in laptops and computers. But I can not presume there is a connection between both incidents. What I know is that anytime evil lurks, the entity behind it seeks not just to steal, but to destroy and to kill. And that entity does not have to physically carry a gun, there are men who will always do the devil’s bidding. When what is stolen is replaceable, when we are not destroyed, and when we are alive and well, then we know there is cause for prayer and thanksgiving.
Friday, September 7, 2007
A Crisis of Values
Why has the Nigerian nation so lost its way? Is it an absence of intellect? I don’t think so. At independence in 1960, Nigeria unlike many of its peers-developing and newly independent nations in Africa, Asia and South-America had a very strong pool of human capital. We had many graduates of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the best that the United Kingdom’s educational system could offer. We also had graduates of the London School of Economics, University of London and other top British schools-Manchester, Leeds, Durham, Sheffield, etc; graduates of American Universities including institutions such as Harvard, Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); world class professionals-lawyers (including those worthy of the status of Queens Counsel-the highest UK honour at the Bar), doctors, engineers, accountants, economists etc; the University of Ibadan was itself a world-class university; and graduates of the Yaba College of Technology, and teachers colleges abounded all over Nigeria.
Was it a failure of administrative skills? There is no reason Nigeria should be inferior in administrative capacity to any nation of the world. We had the quality of intellectual and human capital referred to above. We also had a well-trained civil service, schooled in civil service practices and procedures by the quintessential administrators-the British. The federal and regional civil services at independence were already well established and had been indoctrinated in public service best practices by colonial superiors who in spite of their imperial alienation were committed to helping the young Nigerian nation find its feet. At independence, departing British colonial officers were confident that their proteges thoroughly understood the nuances of public administration and were more than ready to take the country to a leading position in international affairs.
Was it a failure of resources? Of course we can easily dismiss this possibility. We are one of the most resource-endowed nations of the world. Even before the discovery of oil, we had a rich agricultural base. Most agricultural products thrived in the rich abundant Nigerian soil-cotton, cocoa, maize, rubber, palm-oil, groundnut, timber etc The potential for food production was almost limitless-yam, cassava, rice, cowpeas, beans, pepper, plantain and all manner of fruits-oranges, pineapples, pawpaw, water melon, bananas amongst others all grew naturally in Nigeria. We had minerals-coal, limestone, marble, columbite, zinc. lead, tin, salt-for instance. And then we found oil, and the Arab-Isreali war and OPEC turned it into the richest mineral resource a country could have.
We have fantastic location-six hours by air from London and Johannesburg, rightly situated in the “heart of Africa”. We had huge land mass, one of the largest countries in the world and abundant population. We are situated on the Atlantic Ocean and have navigable waterways not least of all Rivers Niger and Benue. God designed Nigeria as a transportation systems paradise, a natural hub of sea, air and land transportation. We also had railways until we allowed those to decay and diminish in functionality. We should also have been a tourist’ delight-multiple tourist destinations-rocks, mountains, hills, game reserves, waterfronts, beaches, even deserts and forests which attract many from other climes. There are fantastic cultural festivals all over the country-masquerades, eyo, Ojude Oba, fishing festivals, durbars, dance and song around which an all-year round tourist calendar can be built. And there are many historical sights-palaces, slave routes, colonial buildings, museums, art and artifacts, so many that no tourist could exhaust. Our weather is friendly and conducive all year long-no earthquakes, typhoon, tsunamis, volcanoes, hurricanes and the people were friendly and hospitable until the culture of “419”, hostages, area boys, and such vices became the norm. Nigeria has rich, diverse and multi-ethnic cultures. It could have been a major strength if we wanted it to be, but we turned it into a weakness.
Was it a failure of entrepreneurial energy? Certainly not! We had millionaires-the Odumegwu Ojukwus, Da Rochas, Dantatas, Jimoh and Adeola Odutolas who did not have to steal government or company money to be rich. Even those who were not millionaires-small time traders and business people deploy incredible energy and enterprise just to make ends meet. I doubt that you can find any population of natural traders and commercially-minded people as are assembled in the territory called Nigeria. The Ijebus, the Ijesha, the Ibo businessmen, the Kano merchant class, all symbolized commerce and entrepreneurship. They were not government contractors but created thriving businesses from simply meeting the needs they identified in the market place. They did not study economics or business, but they knew instinctively how markets function. And they had a large market to explore and satisfy, not just because of our population, but because Nigerians are natural consumers-they need very little persuasion to try a new product, service or idea and they are willing to pay for it.
Was it a failure of faith and destiny? I do not think so. Nigeria appears to have a rich destiny. No one can write off the Nigerian nation. God did not put so much treasure, so many bright and energetic people and so much talent in Nigeria because he intended it to fail. And the people claim to worship God, like no other nation on earth. Our footballers are the only ones who pray before and during games, we have more pastors and churches per capita than the Vatican, our Northern Muslim brothers express so much piety and have a deep Islamic heritage inherited from Uthman Dan Fodio, and even those who continue to worship traditional gods and religions claim that their gods do not condone evil. Yet all these verbal piety and apparent holiness does not reflect in our governance and public ethics. In spite of religion, we are probably the most corrupt nation on earth. Perhaps while we are in churches, mosques and shrines praying, some demons descend on the nation and perpetrate corruption, because it is difficult to believe it is the same pious worshippers who do it.
Nigeria’s spectacular failure is one of leadership and values. It is not so much about policies (even though the right policies matter); it is not about resources as the contrast between the differing outcomes in Nigeria and Singapore illustrates; it is not about education only (even though education helps); it is about values. The reason our leaders-most of whom were strong, educated, charismatic individuals, sometimes even committed failed is because of the vacuum or duplicity of values in which they operated. We need a values-based leadership not just in politics and governance, but in business, the professions, the media, in our communities and homes, and in our religious institutions. Today it is all about money, power and status and that must now change. President Umaru Yar’adua and Governor Babatunde Fashola in Lagos offer encouraging early signs, but the months and years to follow will show whether they can lead the reconstruction of values in Nigeria.
Why has the Nigerian nation so lost its way? Is it an absence of intellect? I don’t think so. At independence in 1960, Nigeria unlike many of its peers-developing and newly independent nations in Africa, Asia and South-America had a very strong pool of human capital. We had many graduates of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the best that the United Kingdom’s educational system could offer. We also had graduates of the London School of Economics, University of London and other top British schools-Manchester, Leeds, Durham, Sheffield, etc; graduates of American Universities including institutions such as Harvard, Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); world class professionals-lawyers (including those worthy of the status of Queens Counsel-the highest UK honour at the Bar), doctors, engineers, accountants, economists etc; the University of Ibadan was itself a world-class university; and graduates of the Yaba College of Technology, and teachers colleges abounded all over Nigeria.
Was it a failure of administrative skills? There is no reason Nigeria should be inferior in administrative capacity to any nation of the world. We had the quality of intellectual and human capital referred to above. We also had a well-trained civil service, schooled in civil service practices and procedures by the quintessential administrators-the British. The federal and regional civil services at independence were already well established and had been indoctrinated in public service best practices by colonial superiors who in spite of their imperial alienation were committed to helping the young Nigerian nation find its feet. At independence, departing British colonial officers were confident that their proteges thoroughly understood the nuances of public administration and were more than ready to take the country to a leading position in international affairs.
Was it a failure of resources? Of course we can easily dismiss this possibility. We are one of the most resource-endowed nations of the world. Even before the discovery of oil, we had a rich agricultural base. Most agricultural products thrived in the rich abundant Nigerian soil-cotton, cocoa, maize, rubber, palm-oil, groundnut, timber etc The potential for food production was almost limitless-yam, cassava, rice, cowpeas, beans, pepper, plantain and all manner of fruits-oranges, pineapples, pawpaw, water melon, bananas amongst others all grew naturally in Nigeria. We had minerals-coal, limestone, marble, columbite, zinc. lead, tin, salt-for instance. And then we found oil, and the Arab-Isreali war and OPEC turned it into the richest mineral resource a country could have.
We have fantastic location-six hours by air from London and Johannesburg, rightly situated in the “heart of Africa”. We had huge land mass, one of the largest countries in the world and abundant population. We are situated on the Atlantic Ocean and have navigable waterways not least of all Rivers Niger and Benue. God designed Nigeria as a transportation systems paradise, a natural hub of sea, air and land transportation. We also had railways until we allowed those to decay and diminish in functionality. We should also have been a tourist’ delight-multiple tourist destinations-rocks, mountains, hills, game reserves, waterfronts, beaches, even deserts and forests which attract many from other climes. There are fantastic cultural festivals all over the country-masquerades, eyo, Ojude Oba, fishing festivals, durbars, dance and song around which an all-year round tourist calendar can be built. And there are many historical sights-palaces, slave routes, colonial buildings, museums, art and artifacts, so many that no tourist could exhaust. Our weather is friendly and conducive all year long-no earthquakes, typhoon, tsunamis, volcanoes, hurricanes and the people were friendly and hospitable until the culture of “419”, hostages, area boys, and such vices became the norm. Nigeria has rich, diverse and multi-ethnic cultures. It could have been a major strength if we wanted it to be, but we turned it into a weakness.
Was it a failure of entrepreneurial energy? Certainly not! We had millionaires-the Odumegwu Ojukwus, Da Rochas, Dantatas, Jimoh and Adeola Odutolas who did not have to steal government or company money to be rich. Even those who were not millionaires-small time traders and business people deploy incredible energy and enterprise just to make ends meet. I doubt that you can find any population of natural traders and commercially-minded people as are assembled in the territory called Nigeria. The Ijebus, the Ijesha, the Ibo businessmen, the Kano merchant class, all symbolized commerce and entrepreneurship. They were not government contractors but created thriving businesses from simply meeting the needs they identified in the market place. They did not study economics or business, but they knew instinctively how markets function. And they had a large market to explore and satisfy, not just because of our population, but because Nigerians are natural consumers-they need very little persuasion to try a new product, service or idea and they are willing to pay for it.
Was it a failure of faith and destiny? I do not think so. Nigeria appears to have a rich destiny. No one can write off the Nigerian nation. God did not put so much treasure, so many bright and energetic people and so much talent in Nigeria because he intended it to fail. And the people claim to worship God, like no other nation on earth. Our footballers are the only ones who pray before and during games, we have more pastors and churches per capita than the Vatican, our Northern Muslim brothers express so much piety and have a deep Islamic heritage inherited from Uthman Dan Fodio, and even those who continue to worship traditional gods and religions claim that their gods do not condone evil. Yet all these verbal piety and apparent holiness does not reflect in our governance and public ethics. In spite of religion, we are probably the most corrupt nation on earth. Perhaps while we are in churches, mosques and shrines praying, some demons descend on the nation and perpetrate corruption, because it is difficult to believe it is the same pious worshippers who do it.
Nigeria’s spectacular failure is one of leadership and values. It is not so much about policies (even though the right policies matter); it is not about resources as the contrast between the differing outcomes in Nigeria and Singapore illustrates; it is not about education only (even though education helps); it is about values. The reason our leaders-most of whom were strong, educated, charismatic individuals, sometimes even committed failed is because of the vacuum or duplicity of values in which they operated. We need a values-based leadership not just in politics and governance, but in business, the professions, the media, in our communities and homes, and in our religious institutions. Today it is all about money, power and status and that must now change. President Umaru Yar’adua and Governor Babatunde Fashola in Lagos offer encouraging early signs, but the months and years to follow will show whether they can lead the reconstruction of values in Nigeria.
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