For those of that you that may remember, I wrote my weekly ‘Outsider Inside’ column for approximately two years: October 2005 to 2007. At that point I returned to the corporate world as CEO of Promasidor Nigeria Ltd. Now, having just ‘semi-retired’ to become non-executive chairman, the shareholders have been gracious enough to allow me to resume writing. After seven more years, presumably a little less Outsider and a little more Inside, abi?
Seven years “is no small matter” and running a business that caters for Nigerians who need to be able to buy their milk, tea, coffee and chocolate as well as seasoning in denominations of N10 and N20 continued to give me insight into the realities of Nigeria’s development as it affects the lower parts of the economic and social pyramid. Back in 2007 we were all talking of entering into the top 20 economies by 2020 and by my reckoning that makes us chronologically halfway there. Certainly, the rebasing of GDP calculation has given us a giant step forward in headline terms but today it is as relevant to ask what this means to the ordinary Nigerian on the street as it was when I was writing seven years ago. It might all look rosy to the portfolio investor but clearly Mama Put or meatpie vendor has a different view.
This kind of scrutiny can inspire anger and frustration. If this is how I feel when my lights click off and on 10 times in an hour or I talk to youths about their lack of a future, then how bad must be the feeling for Nigerians who witnessed the throwing-off of the colonial shackles in 1960 and experienced the short-lived upsurge in nationalism and optimism? In looking at my columns I came across a review I did of Niyi Osundare’s collected Newswatch columns. If it is exasperating to see how much remains the same from when I last wrote in 2007, how much worse when looking back further.
“What may have been worthy of some scrutiny, though, is how columns written between 1986 and 2003 can still be relevant today … And as such, I am more than struck by the echoes between what he wrote then and what we face now. When his columns declaim the SAP (Structural Adjustment Programme) of the time, today we have NEEDS and the 7-point Agenda. When he decries NEPA, today we lament over the failure of PHCN. When he talks of the Ogonis and Saro Wiwa, today we still open the newspaper to Delta crisis, amnesty and MEND attacks in Lagos. When he cries ‘khaki no be leather’ concerning the corruption of military governments, it is equally a comment on that of today. When he fumes over campuses emptied by cultism, we see that today they are again laid to waste by ASUU disputes. It is no wonder that the satire and ridicule that appealed to Newswatch readers originally should be so contemporary at this very moment. Is it no wonder that Osundare’s wit and humour, his passion and connection barely disguise anger and frustration?”
In fact, not only are these columns relevant today, they even seem they were somehow prescient. In fact, in March 1993 in ‘A nation adrift’, he wrote: “Surely, Nigeria’s democratic experimentation must be the most expensive in the world.” Did he know then the cost of today’s legislature?
Finally, I see back in 1987 Osundare said: “Distance is that fatal wedge often thrust between the ruler and the ruled by the juggernaut of power.” This is only too poignant today, right now.
Reviewing my own columns only repeats the sense of déjà vu. My themes were so often repetitions of the same major issues including poverty reduction, youth unemployment and the potential for a violent backlash, infrastructure failure, lack of progress on Millennium Development Goals, the lack of rule of law, and inevitably corruption. (Clearly a bleak list, though my other constant themes were: the strength and dignity of ordinary Nigerians struggling to make a living, the wealth of talent, particularly in the arts, courage and the ability to ‘manage’ in adversity and an amazing sense of humour.) Whilst it is possible to see patches of light in the darkness, predominantly in specific states like Lagos, Rivers, Edo, etc., it is hard to see where much has improved overall.
On poverty reduction, ‘Little traffic girl’, November 2007:
“The same kind of thoughts came to me as I read Governor Fashola’s words in New York recently on Lagos being one of the world’s mega-cities. He echoed this speech in his anniversary message last week. I remain cautiously optimistic about the approach of the new administration in Lagos and it is clear the attraction of new investment into our decaying infrastructure is necessary.
As we lay down our plans and bring in the investors to support our path to 20/20, to become Africa’s leading nation and to develop Lagos into a modern city, let us not forget the little traffic girl. Whatever we do as Nigerians or as expatriates who live and work here, poverty reduction must remain one of the primary elements of our collective endeavour.”
On corruption and the rule of law, ‘Tarnished empires’, February 2007:
“The whole point about these is that no country, government or organisation is completely free from corruption, nepotism or plain negligence. Individuals have always and will always take actions detrimental to their society or company for their own betterment … The biggest threat to Nigeria today is the power of the rule of law, or the lack of it. The most obvious example is in the Delta and other oil producing regions where, as we have seen, even police stations are not secure, the waning strength and independence of the judiciary is the real threat undermining the foundations of the rule of law.
As I gloomily read the UK newspapers and argue with British colleagues over a beer at what is happening in the UK, I do so with the knowledge that in Britain we can still generally rely on the rule of law to restrict the misuse of corporate and government power. I regret that I am not so sure we can say the same in Nigeria.”
On youth unemployment and the threat of social unrest, ‘The anonymous graduate’, November 2005:
“Now, I shall tell you some statistics of my own. I am one of 99.9% of Nigerians under 25 who think all politicians serve the interests of a small group who do not have the needs of their people at heart. I am one of 99.9% of Nigerians under 25 who have no clue what any political party actually stands for. Nor any of the presidential aspirants for that matter. In fact, I am one of 95% of Nigerians under 25 who will not be voting unless someone pays me to. I am one of a majority of Nigerians under 25 who thinks his father’s generation has messed up and no longer deserves the respect accorded the elders: politicians, businessmen, preachers, economists, statisticians, professors. You discuss me and count me. You measure me and categorise me. But you don’t know me.
Here is a new statistic. I am of Nigeria’s Generation X … I, who have come of age in our bright new age of democracy. I, who am already strong and getting stronger will one day know my own strength. I am the new majority. I am your future. Fear it.”
And, ‘Orile youths’, September 2007:
“I hope Governor Fashola’s office will ensure these promises are kept and that groups such as this are supported and encouraged. Do not plant a signboard and leave it as a monument to inertia and corruption. Eliminate hope and you create despair and out of despair will come desperation and anger that will lead to more crime and violence on our streets.”
Some of the terminology has changed. Instead of ‘NEEDS’ and ‘20/20’ we have ‘Transformation Agenda’ and ‘BRINCS’, instead of PTF we have ECA, and so on. The headline security issue is no longer kidnapping in the Delta by MEND but indiscriminate murder in the north by Boko Haram but the roots still lie in poverty, lack of hope and ignorance. Now as then, the issues remain the same.
So, going back to my writing, I feel an even stronger motivation even as an Outsider. Possibly now at my age I feel even more free to tell it as I see it. Obviously, while I am still associated with various organisations and institutions, Outsider Inside will be my own views and no one else’s. After all, with elections coming up, the oil price plummeting, the naira in free fall, corporate results looking sick and security at the front of everyone’s minds, something tells me there will be no shortage of inspiration.
Keith Richard
