Steering the nation towards ascending paths of national development requires, among many other things, an intentional effort towards promoting the spirit of nationalism and value among citizens.
Nationalism, on the one hand, ensures that people are patriotic and remain committed to the cause of the entire nation. On the other hand, a strong value system creates a surrounding that shapes citizens’ principles and ideals, which guides their judgment about national cohesion and nation-building. These two attributes of a well-functioning system jointly determine the extent to which citizens of a country will be willing to make sacrifices for the wellbeing of the entire nation.
To create a country charged with nation builders and value-driven citizens, the system of governance should be well accommodative of a non-prejudiced, well-balanced and value-oriented reward structure. While many believe that corruption is a major challenge in Nigeria, it may be surprising to discover that corruption in itself is a brainchild of a valueless reward system.
Ideally, who and what a system rewards matters. Appropriately rewarding persons or actions regardless of their cultural, tribal, religious or social class goes a long way to define the value system in the region of consideration – be it a country, a state, an organisation or even a family unit.
Sadly, Nigeria’s system as a country is not merit-based. For this, experiences of an ill-structured government body, poorly motivated labour surplus, negatively skewed oriented youngsters, and an increasing population of morally deficient youths abound in the country.
To start with, political appointments in Nigeria are highly prone to unfair selections. Choice positions are reserved and filled as a reward for long-standing loyalty to some father figures within the political space, disregarding the place for fair competition and competence. Many federal and state appointees in Nigeria are barely half as fit for their position, which shows in the quality of their results. There are cases where some political leaders cannot eloquently express themselves publicly in good grammar.
More heart aching is that many ministers of the federal republic of Nigeria occupy positions for which they were not trained. Among these, one will find an office in charge of education, whose head is a qualified accountant and then explored journalism at a higher degree level. In Nigeria, a leader who was trained in international studies and law heads the sports ministry. Interestingly, a medical doctor supervises the entire country’s labour market operations. At the same time, Nigeria’s industrial destiny lies in the hands of a lawyer.
It has been long said that agriculture is one sure path the nation can return to if it must experience a competitive and buoyant economy. This sector is currently run by a business administrator who also possesses a higher degree in public policy and administration. Hence, wondering why the nation’s resources are poorly managed may not be so hard a question to answer.
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Rewarding educational excellence in Nigeria is another area of concern, and the country’s future is at stake if human capital development is not promoted as it usually should. It is irking to find that remotely related causes toward national and economic development are given serious attention while pro-educational issues are sorely neglected or poorly promoted. For instance, the popular Big Brother Naija entertainment show, whose overall contribution to national development is in light fractions, boasts of a competitive reward system for its contestants. Grand prizes for winners have ranged from $100,000 to N90 million. The winners often earn the prizes and then go about their normal lives after the show.
Educational programmes like the Cowbellpedia mathematics quiz competition feature bright youngsters from various secondary schools who compete for merger prizes after a tough quantitative battle. Students are expected to answer tricky, nerve-demanding questions in seconds, and the winners are rewarded accordingly.
The first stage of the competition awards a maximum reward of N30,000 to the first position while the second and third position go home with N25,000 and N20,000 each, respectively. The first position is awarded a N2 million prize in the second stage, while the fourth position is awarded N150,000.
Recently, a first-class graduate from the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) emerged as the overall best graduating student with a CGOA of 4.89 out of a 5.0 total. As a reward, he was given N100,000 by the university. Many cases like this have been reported, where excellence was barely rewarded, leading to low motivation among striving stars.
This sad reality shows that the country is not ready for value-based development or willing to discourage millions of talents from getting lost to more developed nations whose thirst for the black geniuses never quenches. If Nigeria must truly change, then the current narrative must be altered to usher in a more competent-based political structure, and appropriate investment in human capital creation and retention must be prioritised.
