“Nigeria is broken and will remain broken because the bulk of Nigerians have failed to tune on the right mindset.”
On October 5 President Yar’Adua stated that the Niger Delta security problem gives his administration nightmares. True, the situation has assumed a worse proportion in scope and scale. But for the C-in-C to come out and drop the bombshell means only one thing in my book: Mr. President lacks the vision and the leadership wherewithal to see the opportunity the Niger Delta morass presents to this administration and Nigeria. For every pound of problem there is a pound of opportunity, does Mr. President know this?
However, there is another side to Mr. President’s declaration: He has simply projected how the ordinary Nigerian feels – not only about the Niger Delta, but about Nigeria in general. That the people lives a nightmarish existence is not an overstatement, but a reality that is best discerned by those ordinary folks – people living in the country without the paraphernalia of power that political class enjoy.
One of the fallouts of this bleak frustrating existence is a hard-to-shake sense of apathy – or what Solomonsydelle, my blogger colleague, calls “persistent psychological paralysis” (PPP) – “a sense of constant and pervasive powerlessness, general feelings of hopelessness, despair and fatigue over the country’s state of affairs”. According to the blogger, PPP is the “most influential factor affecting the very existence of every single Nigerian be they inside or outside Nigeria’s borders”. And I’m in total agreement.
As Solomonsydelle plans to offer suggestions on how to limit the effects of PPP on the Nigerian psyche on her blog, Nigerian Curiosity, I also will proffer some ideas here on Grandiose Parlor.
The issue is straight forward: Nigeria is stuck in deep miry clay of failed polices and ineptitude, just as it is awash in state of apathy that has assumed a national dimension. There is need for multisystemic change in the national mental psyche; Nigeria needs to move forward. The question is “How”.
While I will not be able to fully discuss the details in one post, I will start by laying the framework of my idea – which I have tagged “The 80-20 3 level Concept“.
First, there’s one caveat I need to address before I start. Anyone vaguely familiar with Nigeria knows what the overarching problems are: Failure of leadership, corruption, lack of infrastructure, security lapses etc. I plan to dwell on all of these elements in a practical manner using concepts and ideas that have worked in other societies, and in relevance to the task at hand – tackling PPP, boosting the people confidence, and moving Nigeria forward.
The “80-20 3 Level Concept” Framework
- A reversal of the downward trend of national morale and efficiency does not require having all hands on board. I would like to point you in the direction of the Pareto’s Principle i.e the 80-20 rule: 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
- This 20% pool of Nigerians must be identified and mobilized properly on a scale that is in right proportion to a land of 140 million people of diverse background that Nigeria is.
- This 20% will operate on three (3) levels within the socioeconomic spheres of Nigeria.
- The effects of the 20% will positively impact the 80% on several levels, thus bringing about changes that not only impact mindsets but infuse a fresh dose of vigor into the Nigerian system.
In the next post, I will shed more light on what those 3 levels mean, in a sense the “what”’, “who” and “how”. In the meantime, feel free to inject your thoughts and ideas too, just as I will be keeping Solomonsydelle’s blog in sight to see how our ideas relate.
Related:
Nigerians are depressed – if I may use that word – for several reasons. And no amount of brain washing can reverse than until there are visible changes in how government impacts their lives. It is that simple. A little change begets more changes, and the flow continues.
I’m interested in seeing how your concept will impact Nigerians and make the society better, particularly working from the outside.
Good one!
October 10, 2008 at 11:15 am
“And no amount of brain washing can reverse than until there are visible changes in how government impacts their lives”…. In a normal setting, who is the government? The people! Why wait for the government? We will wait till eternity. What has all these years of waiting for the government brought us? Changes can be initiated from various orders and sequencies. Let up begin by ourselves! In management, there is something call buttom-up management.
As the blogger has already observed, part of our core problem is: Mind-set. Corruption, short-cut to riches,not ready/willing to work hard and wanting to live large, lack of self reflection and correction, lack of inner sense of civilization, our ideas of what is wrong and right has been corrupted over the years, thieves are treated as heros.
We need to reach inside ourselves and re-define what is it we require and are willing to give to turn the tide around.
Blogger, I can’t wait to read your follow-up write-up on this topic.
October 10, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Interesting blog. I like your ideas and your passion. I agree with you man. I’m sick of pointing fingers at bad leaders. We know our leaders have always been bad. Clearly, there’s no end to bad leadership in sight. What does that tell us? We either get completely screwed of do something ourselves.
October 12, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Thanks for your link to my PPP post and for taking the time to share your ideas on the issue. For some reason, I am unfamiliar with the Pareto’s Principle. That coupled with a necessary trip stalled my response to your thoroughly insightful reaction to PPP at Nigerian Curiosity.
That being said, I will go learn some more, do some thinking and react to your take on things.
Take care!
October 12, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Thanks for the comments, folks. The discussion has been updated here, what do you think?
Solomonsydelle: I hope you are having a great time wherever you are.
October 14, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I agree with your postulation. Nigerians by nature are conformists and will conform to the status quo, what ever it is. The first thing we need to do is attitudenal re engineering, having the Nigerian believe in Nigeria again, a big psycholgical shift. Then there will be an expectation of good then conversely there will be an attitude of good, and positive expectations from the polity, Nigeria.
October 17, 2008 at 2:05 am