The malicious elite

A major misconception is labelling the Nigerian elite as greedy. I beg to differ on this as I see it as a mischaracterisation. Greed, in my view, may have a limit but malice is beyond any rational limit. Let me give a simple example of my thesis on greed and malice. Let’s say I only […]

A major misconception is labelling the Nigerian elite as greedy. I beg to differ on this as I see it as a mischaracterisation. Greed, in my view, may have a limit but malice is beyond any rational limit. Let me give a simple example of my thesis on greed and malice. Let’s say I only require two units of a particular thing but due to my insatiable greed, I corner 30 for myself. I do know that I will never need all these things but my greed got the better of me and instigated my action of taking what I will never need or even want. This is greed.

Malice on the other hand is needing only two of these things but maliciously grabbing 1000. This action is irrational and does not serve any meaningful or rational purpose. It is only spurred by malice to ensure everybody else is denied the opportunity to benefit from owning or acquiring the things that are desperately needed for survival in some cases. This is the mindset of the  Nigerian elite. I use the word elite to describe the people that have had the opportunity of being elevated to positions of authority in all facets of our national life. It is all encompassing as its membership spans the leadership of all public and private institutions including the professional, political, cultural and traditional classes. 

The consequences of the malicious actions and mindset of the elite continue to hamper our national development due to its corrosive impact on the nation’s citizenry. Public and private institutions continue to perform below the standard that will generate a viable and successful nation. The many ills that bedevil our nation including corruption, insecurity, economic underperformance, abject poverty, religious and ethnic strife as well as a dysfunctional educational system are all derived from the actions of the elite that have decided to treat its citizens with malice.

Nigerians are being dehumanised by a disconnected elite. It may be imperative for us to investigate what led to the state of affairs in our nation. Where did we get it wrong? How come an elite that has benefitted from the system and risen to the highest echelons of society becomes so insensitive and uncaring? Does this elite not see that their malice will inadvertently also affect them and their kith and kin? Or are they blinded by the false sense of security that their dirty loot affords them? Perhaps we can start by going down memory lane when we had an elite that was purpose-driven and visionary with a mission to be transformative immediately after our nation had gained independence in 1960. 

This elite had already been at the forefront in the quest for achieving independence from our colonial master and did record substantial progress culminating in attaining the ultimate goal by 1960. At that time, we had an elite both in the public and private sectors that had the fire in them to develop their regions which led to healthy competition in identifying the core comparative and competitive advantages anchored on sectoral development in agriculture, mining, processing and other economic endeavours that would guarantee revenues to their respective regional government’s coffers. Of course, their commitment was visible to their citizens who discharged their civic duty of paying taxes. The common thread they had was their commitment and passion for both human and economic development. 

Perhaps we can say that they were also driven by the euphoria of the newly attained independence and saw themselves as founding fathers of a new nation with a patriotic zeal that is missing in our national life now. As we examine our present state of affairs, we can deduce that there is no patriotism or even basic commitment by the political, public and private elite now. It is an era of self-service and the primitive acquisition of illicit wealth. There have been those that say our public servants lost their patriotic zeal in 1976, after the Murtala Mohammed purge and restructuring of the civil service that led to a feeling of financial insecurity. The fear of retiring with no house to call  home aggravated these insecurities and fuelled their insatiable greed. Whether this justifies their malicious attitude is left for citizens to judge. In my humble view, justifying lack of performance and failures in governance as a result of elite fears of material disenfranchisement is not tenable. 

The nation has immense human and material resources that can be developed to generate the kind of wealth that will lift millions out of poverty and justify the riches of those who are able through their ingenuity and hard work to legally acquire their wealth. This should be the direction and path taken by all patriotic nationalists. The task of nation building is not easy and requires sustained and disciplined effort. This will remain the challenge that the elite face. Do they continue with the status quo that will lead to state failure and their loss of privilege or do they wake up and roll up their sleeves, change their grabbing attitudes and work diligently and selflessly to achieve national restoration that will guarantee their financial and physical security in a peaceful and progressive nation? The choice remains theirs.

 

Mohammed Bashir Ahmed is a public affairs analyst.