Countries where the government seeks to be the largest employer of labour tend to suffer instability and are prone to poor economic development. The Public Sector actually becomes a War Front where there’s intense competition among the various interests to corner the bulk of the resources while being oblivious of the real work. The wage bill becomes atrocious and the incentive for tax almost nonexistent. The Capacity Utilization Index per capita becomes extremely low and the whole system becomes highly inefficient. There’s a greater tendency towards Income Sharing than Income Generation.
Intrinsic Tension is engendered and initiative tends towards zero. Such countries generally suffer greater bureaucracies and poor implementation of policies if any. They go about in circles and locked down in misery. This misery spills down to the general society and disrupts the psyche of the populace…
Paul Collier, 1999.
Since we know these to be true, why do we do it? When asked the definition of Insanity, think the Nigerian Government!!! What a mess…
We have been regaled by the ongoing “Great Train Robberies” at the federal level, where cabinet ministers have not only been alleged to have put their hands in the cookie jar but made off with the whole jar.
A certain Mr. Magu was saddled with the job of recovering stolen funds but what was he alleged to have done? He made off with a substantial percentage of it! A cat was actually placed in charge of guarding roasted fish…the cat ate the fish!
In this same country, a certain Hajia Sadiya was saddled with the job of Humanitarianism for less privileged Nigerians…in truth, the cabinet position was next to stupid in the first place, but we run a most unwise presidential system with a constitution dedicated to the Propagation of Corruption. This woman claimed to have expended tens of billions to feed school children at home on lockdown for 4 months! Then she was alleged to have expended 72 billion in a few days as “palliatives” for the poorest of Nigerians…and so many more unaudited seeming scams running into hundreds of billions. And we are all the worse for it!
Or do we talk about a certain Mr. Akpabio? Who’s region lacks the most basic amenities of human comfort. Then got an annual budget of N81 billion and was shared like dinner! They didn’t fulfill obligations to their customers, nor their mandate to their constituents. They frigging shared an annual budget! Then came for the show of shame and total humiliation in public! At times, I do honestly believe some people should be fed alive to ravenous lions!!!
Much as we strive to blame the set of Integrity Challenged Buffoons masquerading as leaders, we must understand the root causes of the heists! The federal government has arrogated all powers of government and Economy to itself, and has closed the economic space to the people. But they lack the capacity to monitor every single step and procedure, and the myriad of nationals across Nigeria. The result is a wobbly structure, weak and leaky all over, hardly able to hold anything in…
So whatever is available must be stolen…
Whatever cannot be stolen must be frittered…
Whatever cannot be frittered must be scattered!
And the federal system becomes a way of bribing constituencies by appointments or allocations. And what do the people do?
We ask to crucify those that take advantage of a most ridiculous system…then we validate the stupidity of the system and help sustain it! The incongruity of such abomination befuddles me! How could a system be so callous but one supports it blindly? Oh! Just have your own thief installed first and have a chance to steal your turn?
It’s pathetic…
A system that allows those in power to steal at will, is a system that deserves to die already. The system shall continue to breed thieves, bandits and Treasury hired assassins! No matter the party in power or whatever, the system is so ridiculous that it would be almost stupid not to steal! Oh, you already knew that, didn’t you? That’s why you support this shame until yours gets there to steal for you all, ain’t it?
Nigeria as constituted, is a most traumatic tragedy… Nigeria as constituted, doesn’t deserve to exist! It’s not just a ridiculous place but a disgrace to human existence!
Baron Roy
