Justcash:

Nigerians in general, especially the masses are corrupt. The dreams of most Nigerians, both rich and poor, are to get an opportunity to dig their forks into the national cake and loot their part. This explains why as soon as a pauper is elected into an electoral position, he or she turns into something else, and suddenly becomes very corrupt.

I flew back from Yankee some few days ago and decided to organize a 5 hours e-commerce skill acquisition class for two days, where I intended to give out some of my new model laptops to some very small scale businessmen.

I contacted a not well to do man in the neighborhood 2 days ago, and decided to employ him on a part-time basis with a paltry salary of 15,000 P/day (Around $100), for the duration of the course. This, I expected to be enough for him to at least start up a petty shop after the end of the program. I even made him to promise to do so. All he had to do was to get as many small scale businessmen to attend the class, by going from shop to shop and talking to them. I was aware that they would exhibit some form of apathy about going to sit and listen, when they should be in their shops.

I specifically told him not to tell them that laptops would be given out. I intended to give them only to some outstanding few. I, however, planted some of my boys to monitor him and bring reports of his progress back to me.

To my biggest surprise, I got a report that the man had spread the news that laptops would be given out to everyone that would attend the class. Not only that, he was demanding for 500 Naira as attendance fee. He even went ahead to collect the money from some people and promised them brand new laptops, when he is not even the one that is responsible for that.

The question is, what is the difference between this man and a normal Nigerian politician? If this man happens to become a politician tomorrow, and leads Nigeria, you can guess how wayward he would be!!! Even after getting a contract to make 30,000 Naira in two days, he went ahead to extort money from his fellow countrymen, without even considering that they also find it hard to feed themselves and their families.
I think corruption is worse among the Nigerian masses than politicians.

I don't think that it is the nature of Nigerians. It is just a work of greed and lack of empathy.

MAY GOD HELP NIGERIA

High_Chief:

Corrrupt nation, begets corrupt leaders

Dis Guy:

_{If I run a one man painting service, how does an e-commerce seminar/lecture help me in Nnewi for example, this should have been directed at students or start-ups who at least know something about the internet/computing.}

Physicist:

@ poster
I totally agree with you. I have a poor background in Nigeria. I am now living a comfortable life in the USA through hard work and luck. Majority of Nigerians whether poor or rich are very corrupt. The poor masses are as corrupt as the politicians.

koruji:

@Physicist
Your story actually supports the opposite. It is because leadership is not "corrupt" in the USA that you have a semblance of a clean society. Every, well let me not say every, but most Americans "will slap a face" if they can get away without consequence. Their original founders put in place a set of core principles, and a system of choosing credible leaders that gradually produced a cleaner system.

We forget that the USA was the original land of the wild-wild west - I want your property we have a gun duel. The difference again is there came a set of leaders that were slightly cleaner than the rest of the populace, and with each set of leaders they got better at picking better leaders - of course not without the occasional "Richard Nixon". Those leaders came from the same corrupt populace, but they acted the role of leaders.

Better believe that if their leaders slack off in the USA it will only be a couple of decades of such before the country is indistinguishable from today's Nigeria. It is really a case of everybody watching everybody else, and insisting on enforcing their own rights.

MyJoe:

I agree with this. When people on this forum and elsewhere call the Westerners, particularly the British and the Americans, "hypocritical" for holding their leaders to higher moral standards than the masses, a la Clinton/Lewinsky and DSK, I shake my head. Leaders ought to be better than the led. "If you are not better than us, you have no business leading us," this is what the British and the Americans seem to say when they hound a public figure for a "mere" extra-marital affair. Extend that to accepting of gifts by public officials, and from there move on to inflation of contracts and outright embezzlement.

For Nigeria to change, it has to start from the stop. Elite consensus. Someone at the top has to stand up and say enough is enough. Once accountability is enthroned at Aso Rock and the various state houses the people will take note and change will come gradually. By the way, op's assertion that Nigerians are as corrupt as their leaders apply everywhere. There is an old saying that everyone wants less corruption or a chance to participate in it.

MyJoe:

I agree with this. When people on this forum and elsewhere call the Westerners, particularly the British and the Americans, "hypocritical" for holding their leaders to higher moral standards than the masses, a la Clinton/Lewinsky and DSK, I shake my head. Leaders ought to be better than the led. "If you are not better than us, you have no business leading us," this is what the British and the Americans seem to say when they hound a public figure for a "mere" extra-marital affair. Extend that to accepting of gifts by public officials, and from there move on to inflation of contracts and outright embezzlement.

For Nigeria to change, it has to start from the stop. Elite consensus. Someone at the top has to stand up and say enough is enough. Once accountability is enthroned at Aso Rock and the various state houses the people will take note and change will come gradually. By the way, op's assertion that Nigerians are as corrupt as their leaders apply everywhere. There is an old saying that everyone wants less corruption or a chance to participate in it.

Bawss1:

Many people do not want to take responsibility for their situations that’s why they usually blame their leaders. It’s much easier that way. This is not to say that our leaders are without faults when it comes to corruption. It’s just that when we blame our leaders the attention moves from us to the leaders, that way we delude ourselves that we are OK then can continue in our indolence and corruption. If we all did the right things within our own spheres of influence then corrupt leaders will scarcely emerge in our mists.

MyJoe:


For Nigeria to change, it has to start from the stop. Elite consensus. Someone at the top has to stand up and say enough is enough. Once accountability is enthroned at Aso Rock and the various state houses the people will take note and change will come gradually. By the way, op's assertion that Nigerians are as corrupt as their leaders apply everywhere. There is an old saying that everyone wants less corruption or a chance to participate in it.

Bawss1:

Very wrong. For Nigeria to change for the better, it has to start from its most basic unit - the individuals. And from there, the families then to the society at large. Waiting for change from Aso Rock is just another convenient way of shying away from the hardwork and responsibility required in bringing about positive change.  

Bawss1:

Very wrong. For Nigeria to change for the better, it has to start from its most basic unit - the individuals. And from there, the families then to the society at large. Waiting for change from Aso Rock is just another convenient way of shying away from the hardwork and responsibility required in bringing about positive change.  

Have you been reading my journals?

Odunnu:

Yea we have very corrupt citizens but in it all[b] there are many chaste ones[/b]

MyJoe:

There is no amount of honesty or good work from you, Bawss, that can change the entire system. That does not apply to the man at Aso Rocks. Saying it is the responsibility of leaders to lead the way is not shying away from anything. It is the way things are.