REBUILDING OUR PEOPLE’S SELF-VALUE AND DIGNITY

REBUILDING OUR PEOPLE’S SELF-VALUE AND DIGNITY

We are in an era where the quest for national development is ever increasing. We the youths are more aggressive about this cause because we suffer from the continued underdevelopment and retrogression in standards of the economic system, educational system, decay in infrastructural facilities among others. While trying to take a deep look at the whole issue of national development vis-à-vis the people of the nation, I realized that the people’s self-perception and mutual value is an essential part of the foundation for building our nation though it is the most over-looked.

Nigeria like other developing nations around the globe suffers fundamentally from a population with helpless self-perception, victim mentality, low or no self-value. I have tried to imagine the root of this epidemic. Prior to colonisation, it is not impossible that there was oppression in our traditional but organized setting but it was a lot minimal. Colonisation or better still, imperialism brought oppression and leadership with impunity to its apogee.

A more organized colonisation began in Nigeria in 1884 as a result of the Berlin Conference. From 1884 straight to 1960, Nigeria witnessed the highest level of economic exploitation with oppression and drastic decline in the self-value of the people. Though few people like Herbert Macaulay, Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe to mention a few through individual tick skin, education and exposure did not lose their self-dignity amidst the prevailing dehumanising order, most people of the nation helplessly succumbed.

At the time of independence, the impact of education and exposure had increased among the people. However, the major error of this era was that the privileged educated and public influencers did not do so much to make this liberation of the mind spread across the nation thereby creating a legacy that will run through generations to come. This is one of the clear distinctions between United States of America and Nigeria. The legacy of the American freedom in the late 17^th century is a great breakthrough that is still ingrained in the American system today.

Upon independence, the immaturity and lack of know-how of the leaders on how to utilize politics (the political institution) to promote a selfless developed Nigeria cost the nation of her young local leadership to military intervention. This influenced another level of mental struggle for the nation. Things grew worse for the nation till 1999 when General Abdulsalam Abubakar revived civil leadership in Nigeria. I should quickly state that the legacy of freedom that spread through the new nation of America over two hundred years ago did not allow military dictatorship to lead. Military people interested in public leadership had to go through the process of democracy. Most of America’s Presidents had military experience but never gained leadership through force. There was a great deal of respect for the people and legitimacy of power.

Not to dwell too much on history, Nigeria has substantially suffered from dehumanising leadership for over a century. Unconsciously, the remains of this kind of leadership in Nigeria include the victim mentality, low or no self-esteem, lack of initiative, poor reasoning, leadership and management skills among others. In view of this, it may not be surprising the quality of leadership we have been experiencing in public offices, private organisations and even in families. After all, you cannot give what you do not have (nemo dat quod nod habet). The people who have opportunity to lead, lead with inferiority complex, selfishness, greed, low self-esteem, not respect or value for the people and at times wickedness.

The people that have broken free from this virus are those who have realised this and invest heavily to gain their liberation from it; those who are groomed by the liberated ones; those that have lived abroad where the environment helped to shape them; and uniquely those whom God has by His mercy liberated out of a mindset incarcerating environment. It is necessary to mention the investment that some private organisations currently make in their personnel on self-value and dignity. No organisation- private or public or even family will derive profit in the absence of the quality of its people beginning with their self-value. Perhaps, the most valuable part of any person is his/her self-worth and value. Destroying this destroys the person.

We need to bear in mind the fact that for the nation to progress or develop, the people’s self-value, dignity and mutual respect are essentials to work at on the foundation of national development. A citizen can only be more patriotic when he/she has correct self- value and dignity. The feeling of I am indeed a valuable part of the whole will help the citizen to realise and utilise his/her gifts and talents to make a good living and ultimately contribute to the growth of the nation. An environment saturated with mutual respect will facilitate national development.

One may ask where do we start from in view of the fact that our public leadership is substantially saturated with self-serving people who take undue advantage of the people’s weakness, helplessness, poverty and circumstances. It indeed calls for deep sigh. But we should not be overwhelmed by the challenges of today though they are real. They are products of yesterday’s thoughts and actions. There is still a better tomorrow for us if we faint not but will work on our thoughts and actions to realise it.

We should therefore start with our selves. We should engage to break free from this victim and helplessness mentality to a point if self-liberation. From here, we can be treating others with respect and a sense of value. No one is worthless or without something to contribute. Our degree of contribution may vary and no one can be self-sufficient. We all exist to compliment ourselves and efforts. The security man and house help are also valuable- we only outsource security and housekeeping jobs to them respectively. This ignites the demand for respect for the dignity of labour.

This is a wakeup call on parents, teachers, religious leaders, social groups and community leaders, corporation leaders, public office leaders and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to take responsibility for rebuilding our people’s self-value, worth, dignity and mutual respect. This is a quintessential part of the foundation for our national development.

Olusola Akinyemi Esq.

President

Joseph Initiative, Lagos.

ANTS AND CRABS IN NATION BUILDING

ANTS AND CRABS IN NATION BUILDING

I was watching a movie (can’t recall the title) sometime ago and in a scene, an elderly man was walking with a boy around the age of ten. As they passed by an ant hill, the boy was staring at the ant hill. One can imagine what was going on in the mind of the boy. The elderly man quickly suspected and told him, that is an ant hill which was built by millions of ant. At another time, the thought of crabs in a container trying to get out, and pulling down any that attempts to get out also came to my mind. I was reflecting on these two scenarios recently and decided to do a little research about ants and crabs in view of building their different environments.

An online search about ants on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant reveals as follows:

          Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae…

Ants form colonies that range in size from a few dozen predatory individuals living in small natural cavities to highly organized colonies which may occupy large territories of millions of individuals. These larger colonies consist mostly of sterile wingless females forming castes of “workers”, “soldiers”, or specialized groups. Nearly all ant colonies also have some fertile males called “drones” and one or more fertile females called “queens”. The colonies are sometimes described as a unified entity, collectively working together to support the colony.

Ants have colonized almost every landmass on Earth… Their success in so many environments has been attributed to their social organisation and their ability to modify habitats, tap resources, and defend themselves. Their long co-evolution with other species has led to mimetic, commensal, parasitic and mutualistic relationships.

Ant societies have division of labour, communication between individuals and ability to solve complex problems… However, their ability to exploit resources brings ants into conflict with humans, as they can damage crops and invade buildings.

Many animals can learn behaviours by imitation but ants may be the only group apart from mammals where interactive teaching has been observed. A knowledgeable forager of Temnothorax leads a naïve mate to newly discovered food by the process of tandem running. The followers obtain knowledge through its leading tutor. Both leader and follower are acutely sensitive to the progress of their partner with the leader slowing down when the follower lags, and speeding up when the follower gets too close.

More interesting is the fact that the life expectancy of an ant is 45 to 60 days- lingolex.com/ants.htm. More so, an ant has 250,000 brain cells as opposed to humans with 10 billion brain cells. The abdomen of an ant contains two stomachs- one stomach holds the food for itself and the second stomach is for food to be shared with other ants.

It won’t be an overstatement that there is much to be learned from the world of ants. No wonder the Book of Proverbs 6, says “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise. Which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest”.

In view of the above, I will discuss ants under:

1.      Organisation

2.      Unity

3.      Strength

4.      Leadership

Organisation:         Ants are described as social insects. This would surely inspire their having organized colonies; these colonies with workers, soldiers, drones and queens. The organisation is to the extent that each colony has a unique smell that if an ant from a colony enters into another, it is easily and quickly identified. Comparing this to the human world, we are also social beings with organisation to the extent that we design it.

Unity:                    Our easy observation over the years will establish the spirit of unity among ants. They operate as a unified entity collectively working together to support the colony. It cannot be over-emphasised that the strength and achievements of ants are predicated on their unity. Talking about the ant hill mentioned earlier, it would never have been achieved without unity and commonness of purpose bearing in mind the fact that an average ant will not live for more than 45-60 days. The sustainability of the ant hill is also largely based on unity.

                            

                             This stresses the importance of unity in development. Unity in Nigeria is a pre-condition for national development. Disunity has always threatened progress in any setting. As per the place of unity in development, I can’t help mentioning the United States of America. The unity of the US from prior to its independence to date is most admirable. For South Korea and China, their development is a project which all the people are in agreement with and are tirelessly working at.

Strength:               It was stated that ants have colonized every landmass on Earth. They have such strength and ability to modify habitat, tap resources and defend themselves. They have the ability to solve complex problems. As we would have observed, when ants invade anything and there is a sudden obstruction, they are most likely to device another means to their invasion. Ants are highly determined and unrelenting in supporting their colonies. More astonishing here is that an ant has 250,000 brain cells.

                             We humans have 10 billion brain cells and exist in a community, state and federation. We have so much capacity to make our world a far better place. With the current state of the nation characterised by unemployment, poverty, environmental degradation among others despite our blessings in human and mineral resources, we should utilize our strength towards creating solutions to achieve national development. But I suppose if we had utilized our strength enough in the first place, these problems will not be there; we will only be contributing further to our development.

Leadership:            The leadership structure in the world of ants is more interactive. Every ant’s talent and resources are maximized in building the colony. Both leader and follower are so sensitive about each other’s progress, with the leader slowing down when the follower lags and speeding up when the follower gets too close. This is the highest form of leadership with impact.

                             In fact, there is no leadership without relationship. Someone once said, “Don’t get too far out in front of your people or they will mistake you for an enemy”. While standards must be upheld, the leader cannot hold those standards in some cold, distant fashion, unfeeling of the people-heart. No leader will ever make impact in the follower he/she is not close to.

                             Two basics can be drawn from this. 1, everyone’s talent, ideas and resources must be maximized in building our nation. No one is without something to add, no matter how little it is towards national development; and 2, Leadership should be more sensitive enough to move close to the people being led. This should not just be by words of mouth but deeds should establish this.

CRABS

There is not much to discuss about crabs. From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab, it can be said that crabs are mostly active animals with complex behaviour patterns. Crabs tend to be aggressive towards one another. Crabs are known to work together to provide food and protection for their family and during mating season, to find a comfortable spot for the female to release her eggs.

Apparently, the best of crabs is limited to the family unit. Relating with others is with aggression. One can better understand why crabs put in a container will always pull down any that tries to get out.

We have people with crab mentality in our environment. Some are in leadership, some are elites but more frightening are the people who are neither leaders nor elites but can’t stand people who try to do anything beyond them or provide an idea that outweigh their initiatives. The best of people with crab mentality is always limited to a small unit and never spreads to the larger environment.

Trying to distinguish between ants and crabs, ants are generally cooperative, sacrificial, supportive, resourceful, secure and sensitive about one another all for the ultimate purpose if building the colony while crabs are aggressive, selfish, insecure, and easily threatened by others progress and welfare. Unfortunately, the people with crab mentality pose strong hindrance to national development.

We must always remember that we are part of a larger entity. The progress of the nation will directly influence our individual comfort, welfare, prosperity, and security among others.

In conclusion, this piece is to stir us to self-assessment and challenge us to utilize our resources towards national development. The nation will be a far better place for us all when people with crab mentality retrace their steps and join in the pressing cause in developing our nation. We therefore need more people who are indeed 40,000 times better than an ant in the cause of building our nation.

Olusola Akinyemi Esq.

President

Joseph Initiative, Lagos.

MAKE YOUR PASSION YOUR PROFESSION

MAKE YOUR PASSION YOUR PROFESSION

Sometime in 2004 when I was in the university (Olabisi Onabanjo University), I read a book titled Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. In this book, Kiyosaki used an analogy of the Rat Race. The Rat Race is the practice of “go to school; get good grades to get a good job”. By this, you can make a good living for yourself.  This Rat Race has been in practice and more in our country in this age. However, one of my models, Sam Adeyemi said, no matter how smart you are in running this race, you still remain a rat.

The Rat Race has almost become a national culture in our country. An average family wants the children to go to school, make First Class or Second Class (Upper Division) so as to qualify for good jobs in banks, multinational corporations, conglomerates and more attractively civil service (to have job security and retirement benefits). Closely related to this is the professional course culture, i.e. the study of courses like Law, Medicine, Engineering, Accounting and the likes. Those who do not study professional courses run after certificates of other Professional Bodies. This I describe as the Certificate syndrome. Who is to blame? There is an unconscious stigma for not having a University Degree Certificate or Higher National Diploma (HND) to say the least. This is what one of my friends described as nopaliphobia- the fear not having a BSc. Of HND Certificate (permit the grammar).

I am a lawyer but I am not writing this piece to kick the ladder to being a graduate or having professional certificate away so that others will not achieve same. That’s far from my motive. I rather want us to appreciate this subject in context. Education to any extent (SSCE, Technical School Certificate, Diploma or Ordinary National Diploma, Higher National Diploma (HND), Bachelor of Science (BSc), Post Graduate Diploma (PGD), Masters, Masters in Philosophy (M. Phil), Doctor of Philosophy (PHD), Professor and Professor Emeritus) is basically to aid our problem solving skills. The higher one goes, the “likelihood” of more sophisticated approach to problem solving. One basic thing to know is that education is not limited to formal education as in schooling and one’s field of interest will determine the kind of education one should pursue. There are also vocational training centres (dealing with informal education) where people are trained in different skills of interest.

We should know that formal education is no automatic guarantee to riches or fulfillment. For this we can ask Chief Oyin Jolayemi (the multi-millionaire) who never had SSCE Certificate or Alhaji Aliko Dangote whose rank of riches is at the continental level who is not a graduate but employs the best set of graduates and professionals. We can also think of the world’s richest man Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft Corporation) who dropped out of Havard to follow his passion. Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple) also dropped out of college to work on what interested him. These are people who have also distinguished themselves in their fields on interest.

From the movies I watched recently, I love to mention 3 Idiots and Good Deeds as they are relevant to this subject. 3 Idiots have a singular message which is the title of this piece: make your passion your profession. You don’t normally struggle to function in your natural habitat. If one can strive to discover his passion or what interests him and make just that his profession, there is huge chance of being able to distinguish one’s self in it. We can easily think of the popular comedian Basket Mouth who is currently the highest paid comedian in Nigeria. His passion is simply making people laugh and he followed it. Today, riches and fame are the reward of following his passion. Genevive Nnaji the popular actress with an international repute is another whose record speaks for her. I also like to mention Chimamanda Adichie who has distinguished herself through writing. She is a superstar through just through writing.

Good Deeds is a movie by Tyler Perry (acting as Wesley Deeds) who was groomed by his father to run the Deeds Corporation and raised by his mother to be a gentle man. All his activities were practically dictated including how to barb his hair and the lady he should marry. Indeed he was brilliant at his work and delivered results but was never happy nor was he fulfilled. He was living up to a dream but the question is whose dream? He eventually quit and went after what interested him. This reminds me of the statement of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (an ex- American President- 3^rd best in survey in Presidential Leadership) to his interfering mother- “Please don’t make any more arrangements for my future happiness”. It is however not impossible that one can be groomed by parents or guardian for a life one may eventually be passionate about and have fulfillment in.

Certificate on its own has never made any nation great or guaranteed good standard of living of the people over the creativity and innovation of a value-driven population. In fact, it is the activities of creative and innovative value-driven population that enhances a nation’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP). China is a perfect example if this. I need to say that there must also be exploration of the knowledge of our Certificate holders. I sometimes wonder why our PhD holders and Professors are mostly engaged by international bodies for research and opinions than our own government and public institutions.

Without much ado, it is necessary to briefly highlight how people can discover their passion. For this, I like to use what Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Life described as the acronym SHAPE but with my explanation:

S- Spiritual Gifts:   Talents- writing, help, administration, pioneering, leading, visionary, communication, teaching, advocacy, creativity, negotiation, conflict resolution, love for people…

H- History:            Upbringing- what you enjoyed or were denied of, what irritates you and feel like changing, culture and tradition…

A- Ability:             Skills- art, acting, singing, cooking, researching, designs, talking, sales, figures, organizing, coordinating, sports, construction, tidiness, health, plants, animals, farming, driving, problem solving, tailoring, planning…

P- Personality:       Temperaments- Choleric, Sanguine (who are majorly extroverts), Melancholy, and Phlegmatic (majorly introverts).

E- Experience:      Personal or people’s experiences, situations…

Personality mostly help to easily determine where our natural strength lies. Information is another viable medium of discovering passion through reading books or magazines, listening to presentations or messages or by watching videos. One can also discover his passion through people e.g., an admired person or hero’s activity (ies). The list is not exhaustive.

All these call for self-discovery. Paying attention to one’s self is necessary. I once heard that those who have not discovered theirs display this passion at least one a week- especially for those in the employment they do not like. When they act on this passion, they feel elated and energetic with a sense of achievement. Some call it “find your bliss”. One thing about this is that you don’t need to think too deep to discover it- it’s just around you. It is a field that you don’t feel the pressure even when you have a short target time. Just pay attention to that thing you do unconsciously and effortlessly but make you feel happy. I can also say find the simplest valuable thing you can do and become an exceptional person at it. It is the simplest thing you can do and earn a living from it. You can talk to friends, family members, “secure” superiors or a counselor to help identify this passion in you. Our nation needs public guidance and counseling personnel now than ever. You may visit http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi. if you don’t mind.

After the discovery of this passion or bliss, identify the industry it falls in and discover how best to train to be a professional at it. For those who like teaching or researching in any field, university education to post graduate programmes is essential while for those interested in football which is also a career now, a BSc. may be surplus to requirement.  The truth is that whatever the field of passion, there is an appropriate training platform. Just follow it, work hard in that simple thing and distinguish yourself in it.

Some people may have passion in more than one thing. This class of people should try to itemize these interests and identify them in order of preference. They will know the one to follow first or more. And some other may discover that passion in one thing may connect to another. The important factor here is that one should not be mistaken on what to do in view of where his/her interest lies. This is actually the secret to loving what you do as the resources to function well are mostly from within you.

Our nation has experienced transformation in the entertainment industry especially in music. This transformation should extend to art and culture, the movie industry, education, science and technology, fashion and textile, cuisine (Nigerian dishes), business, public leadership, governance… This transformation will become achievable when our people discover their passion and follow it.

Discovery of passion and following it is the major breakthrough to nation building. This will remarkably boost a viable Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) and sporadically improve our GDP with a multiplier effect on our national wealth. Our citizens will have what it takes to earn a living and cater for their own needs with no dependence on aid. It is important to state that when the government works hard at providing the basic infrastructural facilities around the nation, our peoples’ productivity will be more enhanced.

While we are not ignorant of the fact that poverty (of finance and knowledge) can limit people’s ability to discover their passion and follow it, it should also be noted that discovery of passion and following it is the major cure for poverty. National development is Nigeria’s dream; it will become a reality with our peoples’ special attention to their passion and following it.

Kindly share this with as many people as you can. Nation building starts with information.

Olusola Akinyemi Esq.

President,

Joseph Initiative, Lagos.

NATIONAL MANPOWER BOARD ACT

NATIONAL MANPOWER BOARD ACT

Nigeria had been once referred to as the Giant of Africa. The reputation was earned by the substance of our riches in mineral resources, progressive economy, and ebullient manpower with growth in the standard of living of the people. Our national experiences over the years have however witnessed geometric retrogression of the basis upon which the reputation “the Giant of Africa” was earned. It will be self-deceit not to admit the poor state of the nation vis-à-vis our potentials.

Our nation is struggling with poverty, corruption, unemployment, degradation in public properties, ill management of public investments, poor health system, collapse of the education sector, and insecurity among others. While, we struggle with these, it is imperative to know that we also seek solution to redressing our national challenges.

In my last piece titled NATIONAL GROWTH VS. FOREIGN RELATIONS, I did mention that Nigeria has a number of documents that contain auspicious avenues to finding our path back to national greatness but must be worked at. There I mentioned the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (NEEDS) which I objectively consider laudable. To access this, I refer us to the NEEDS Nigeria document at http://www.ng.undp.org/documents/NEEDS/NEEDS.pdf

For this piece, I want us to consider the National Manpower Board Act Cap N57, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004). This law was promulgated by Decree No. 18 of 1991 on the 30^th May, 1991. The law established the National Manpower Board to among other things, determine and advice the Government on the nation’s manpower needs in all occupations. I will only try to state out some of the provisions that I consider essential to note.

          Section 1. Establishment of the National Manpower Board etc.

(1)   There is hereby established a body to be known as the National Manpower Board (in this Act referred to as “the Board”).

(2)  The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal.

(3)  The Board may sue and be sued in its corporate name.

(4) The Board shall have four operational zonal offices to be located at Owerri, Bauchi, Akure and Minna.

Section 2. Membership of the Board

(1)  The Board shall consist of a part-time chairman and the following other members that is-

(a) a representative each of the following Federal Ministries, that is to say-

(i)               Finance;

(ii)            Education;

(iii)          Employment, Labour and Productivity;

(b)         a representative each of the following Federal establishments or bodies, that is

(i)               Federal Civil Service Commission;

(ii)            National Universities Commission;

(iii)          Federal Office of Statistics;

(iv)          Industrial Training Fund;

(v)             Employers of Labour;

(vi)          Nigeria Labour Congress; and

(c)          the Executive Secretary of the Board.

(2)  The chairman and other members of the Board shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Minister.

(3)  The Executive Secretary of the Board shall be an ex-officio member of the Board and shall not have the right to vote at meetings of the Board.

(4)The supplementary provisions contained in the Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to the proceedings of the Board and other matters contained therein. [Schedule]

Section 5. Functions of the Board

(1)  The functions of the Board shall be to-

(a) determine and advice the Government on the nation’s manpower needs in all occupations;

(b)   formulate manpower development and utilization policies and programmes in order to ensure optimum implementation of same for the enhancement of the nation’s manpower resources;

(c)    co-ordinate manpower policies and programmes of Federal, State and Local Governments;

(d)   collect, collate, analyse and publish manpower and employment information and data generated through surveys, studies and enquiries including administrative means.

(2)  It shall be the duty of any person so required by the Board to furnish the Board such as the Board may require in the discharge of its functions under this Act.

Section 6. Board to make input in certain matters

Without prejudice to the provisions of Section 5 of this Act the Board shall be consulted and the required to make input on important policies and programmes relating to-

(a)  the distribution of scholarships, bursaries, fellowship awards, student loan schemes and employment promotion schemes;

(b)   manpower development and utilization for government agencies;

(c)    manpower, issues concerning-

(i)               the Federal and State Ministries of Education and of Employment, Labour and Productivity;

(ii)            the National Board for Technical Education;

(iii)          the Industrial Training Fund;

(iv)          the Centre for Management Development;

(v)             the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria;

(vi)          the Management Services Department of the Federal Civil Service Commission;

(vii)        the National Universities Commission;

(viii)     the National Directorate of Employment;

(ix)          the Commissions-in-charge of each level of the Nigerian educational system and all relevant training institutions in the private sector requiring governmental recognition;

(x)             the National Productivity Centre;

(xi)          the Nigerian Education Bank;

(xii)        the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission;

(xiii)     the statutory bodies such as councils and institutes controlling the training of professional bodies;

(d)   the preparation of periodic master plans for the coordinated development of institutions of higher learning;

(e)    the formulation of-

(i)               training programmes by all government agencies, including, Ministries, corporations and government-owned companies;

(ii)            policies governing scholarships and students’ loans tenable within or outside Nigeria;

(f)     matters pertaining to the under-employment in Nigeria of trained manpower;

(g)   the formation of employment policies including measures for promoting employment as well as skills development and enhanced productivity of employed persons; and

(h)   the implementation of manpower policies and programmes relating to-

(i) expatriate employment;

(ii) the training efforts of private firms; and

(iii)    the participation of Nigerians in the management of business activities.

Section 7. Duty to liaise with professional bodies

The Board shall liaise with professional bodies and institutions involved in the development and training of professional manpower for the purpose of identifying the stock flow and distribution of professional manpower in the senior and junior categories.

          Let me rest it here for this work.

Beyond what I conceived in my mind in writing this piece, I want every reader to consider how strict adherence to the provisions of this law by the Board would have contributed immensely in building our nation.

It is my culture to search for any material, document or programme on how to move our nation for forward. It is in this spirit that I also recently stumbled on the National Manpower Board Act. I had never heard about the Board functioning bearing in mind that the nation needs an aggressive operation of such a Board at this point in time. I even doubt if the Ministries concerned or the Federal Government establishments are oblivious of this national assignment given to them. It is however not impossible that our national ordeal with the military regime could have beclouded all parties concerned. At such a time as this, what the country really needs is way forward from this state of national retrogression.

This law has established the indispensable role of education in building a formidable manpower to advance our national experience. If we have public leaders that are working hard and deliberate enough to overcome saboteurs of our national growth, our nation would have advanced far beyond our current state. I say this bearing in mind the fact that there is no field of expertise around the globe that a Nigerian is not a part. So if this is, how much more will the nation have advanced with an efficient National Manpower Board. The educational sector is nose-diving because we do not have people thinking and working at it.

It is inconceivable and worrisome that anyone or establishment can think of suspending Part-time programme in our higher institutions. This is a show of ignorance impact of education in national development. Institutions in other nations are working more at a system whereby people can study from home over the internet irrespective of location around the world and some are by implication trying to sabotage our national development. Instead of us working at making education most flexible for more people to access, some people cannot just think right. This suspension will definitely increase the amount of money Nigerians spend on education outside the nation (for those that can afford it). Like the Yorubas say, cutting off the head is not the right prescription for headache. If the products are not efficient enough, we should rather upgrade our system than kill our manpower.

Briefly, one of my reservations to this Act is with respect to the location of the operational zonal offices. It is inconceivable that such offices will function efficiently and effectively in such locations where they are relatively far from essential establishments to relate with in carrying out their responsibilities. Take for example, most of the professional bodies have their headquarters in Lagos State and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Most labour force of the nation is in Lagos, F.C.T. Abuja, Port Harcourt and some others than the ones provided for in the Act. Not locating an establishment such as this in some essential places may cause its natural death. This may necessitate a review of the Act for optimal operation.

This is a wakeup call on all parties concerned to rise up to this national responsibility clearly stated in the National Manpower Board Act starting from the President to the Ministries of Finance, Education and Employment, Labour and Productivity among other Federal Government establishments. Part of the solution we seek is not far from us. We however need to get serious and work hard towards building our nation and earn beyond the reputation of being the Giant of Africa, or being becoming one of the BRICS to being one of the top 5 economic powers in the globe.

Olusola Akinyemi Esq.

President

The Joseph Initiative, Lagos.

DOMESTIC GROWTH VS. FOREIGN RELATIONS

DOMESTIC GROWTH VS. FOREIGN RELATIONS

The business of nation building is a deliberate and strategic one. On account of the current reality of the world being a global village, the place of international relations cannot be underestimated. This is also coupled with the advantage of leveraging to achieve an end or another by nations. However, it is quintessential for a nation to approach each strategically in the pursuit of national development.

It is substantially the duty of each nation to take responsibility for its growth and the welfare of the citizenry. There can be no substitute for this in whatever form. The avenue to achieve this includes government policies, legislations, regulations and ultimately strategic plan. In fact nations like US, France, South Korea, Brazil, Singapore, China, United Arab Emirate, and Qatar to mention a few that have all made it to national prosperity take domestic responsibilities more seriously and this influence a good chunk of their foreign and diplomatic relations strategies. It will cause more evil than good for any nation to rate foreign relations higher and above its domestic responsibilities. I will like to discuss from the nations mentioned earlier, South Korea and China.

A piece titled: THE RISE OF SOUTH KOREA, A LESSON FOR AFRICA published in NewAfrican magazine, April 2011 edition contains my captivation. With reference to a book titled Bad Samaritans- The Guilty Secret of Rich Nations and Threat to Global Prosperity by Ha-Joon Chang, it states:

…According to Chang: The country’s obsession with economic development was fully reflected in our education. We learned that it is our patriotic duty to report anyone seen smoking foreign cigarettes. The country needed to use every bit of the foreign exchange earned from its exports in order to import machines and other inputs to develop better industries.

Valuable foreign currencies were really the blood and sweat of our industrial soldiers’ fighting the export war in the country’s factories. Those squandering them on frivolous things, like illegal foreign cigarettes were ‘traitor’. Imagine any African country doing that? It would be promptly charged with “draconian laws”. But South Korea went even further than that. “Spending foreign exchange on anything not essential for industrial development was prohibited or strongly discouraged through import barns, high tariffs and excise taxes (which were called luxury consumption taxes),” says Chang. “Luxury items included even relatively simple things like small cars, whisky or cookies…

“Foreign travel was banned unless you had explicit government permission to do business or study abroad. As a result, despite having quite a few relatives living in US, I had never been outside Korea until I travelled to Cambridge at the age of 23 to start as a graduate student there in 1986.”

But wait for this: Like the strict rules of currency transactions in Europe under the Marshall Plan, the South Korean Government took absolute control over the country’s then scarce foreign exchange. Chang recalls that violation of the foreign exchange controls could be punished by the death penalty!

For China, from the same edition of the NewAfrican magazine, a piece titled FROM POVERTY TO WEALTH… HOW THE OTHERS DID IT states thus:

Like the USA in the mid-19^th century, or Japan and South Korea in the mid-20^th century, China used high import tariff to build up its industrial base. Right up to the 1990s, China’s average tariff was over 30%. Chang admits that China has been more welcoming to foreign investment than Japan or South Korea were, but China still imposed foreign ownership ceilings and local content requirements that demanded the foreign firms should buy a certain proportion of their inputs from local suppliers.

Contrary to the liberalisation theory and hands-off-by-the-state sermons preached to Africa, China used heavy state intervention and an enlightened state-owned enterprise (SOE) strategy to grow its economy to a point where it is now an economic superpower vying for global domination with the more established big boys. In the past, all Chinese industrial enterprises were owned by the state, but today, the SOE sector accounts for 40% of industrial output.

This is heavy food for thought for Nigeria. To the extent that South Korea and China understand the place of international relations, they were strategic about it and will not allow it dominate their domestic life but otherwise.

I indeed agree with a number of us that have maintained the position that Nigeria does not need to adopt the approach of other nations to development but a Nigerian solution must be designed for the Nigerian problem. However, some factors are fundamentally constant on nations’ path to development. A cursory look at the China’s approach with that of Nigeria reveals the Nigeria is also adopting Foreign Investment (through direct and portfolio investment) and the Local Content recipe.

On Foreign Investment, Nigeria is making huge effort to attract foreign investors, more so with some incentives to encourage same. There has been growth in economic activities of the nation but the nation is not recording the expected attraction. This may not be unexpected in view of the poor infrastructural facilities, insecurity among others bothering the nation.

The salient question to ask is how far foreign investment will help the nation to achieve the desired economic prosperity. Being objective, any foreigner dealing on the Nigerian soil has the guaranteed right of repatriating the profit realized to his home country to the tune of 100%. So if the foreigner repatriates the profit, the money so made is no more exchanging hands within our system. The solution is then cosmetic. The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry boss stated recently that a real and sustainable growth in the nation’s development will be achieved when we have more Nigerian investors whose moneys will remain and revolve within our system. By this we won’t be at the mercy of foreigners.

With respect to Local Content, Nigeria in 2010 promulgated the Local Content Act. The objective of this is essentially to increase value-added content, thereby contributing to national economic development as well as that of stakeholders, partners, clients, companies, employees and contractors, technology transfer and develop local know-how. This is quite admirable being an appropriate step forward. But there appears to be more emphasis on the Oil and Gas industry, then others passively. Even though this industry accounts for about 87% of our nation’s income, we should always remember that there are other viable sectors which have been ignored upon the discovery of oil in Nigeria.

Further to this, implementation, monitoring and enforcement are major challenges to a number of government policies, programmes and enactments. The Local Content Act is facing its own now. More than this, the workability of this law is frustrated by a number of factors including inadequate access to finance, quality of our personnel or manpower, sabotage and poor infrastructural facilities that should aid the functioning of our local industry. In all, enacting a law such as the Local Content Act without considering and ensuring its effectiveness by other factors amounts to a substantial effort in futility.

In the course of my study on Nigeria, our economic history, growth strategies and plans (which is still in progress), I discovered that we have a number of documents which if lived up to, would have moved the nation farther than where it currently is. As I do not intend to turn this piece into a thesis, I will briefly mention the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategies (NEEDS) which evolved from the nation’s compliance with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Like the era of National Development Plan in Nigeria, the NEEDS should be the major influence in drawing the national Budget, Legislations and Policies.

It is imperative to note that the goal of a nation’s development is first and foremost a deliberate and strategic project. Leaders can go about other nations seeking for collaboration in moving a nation forward, it will most certainly not be to the advantage of the aspiring nation.

In conclusion, our national growth will not depend more on our foreign relations or collaboration but more on our domestic seriousness, deliberate and strategic plans to achieve development. In fact, foreign relations will not guarantee national development in the absence of local seriousness save we are travelling back into imperialism.

Olusola Akinyemi Esq.

President

The Joseph Initiative, Lagos.