The story below, while apparently a joke and ultimately about the Bi-Courtney concession, is , in my experience, very real and indicative of the issues with our mentality many simply fail to account for while heaping the blame for our woes at the feet of others.

It applies to our entire continent and shows why we must temper naive pan-African zeal, seeking to blame 'whitey' and the West for everything, with the pragmatic acceptance of our own limitations and what we must change about our mentality that is independent of our relationship with others. We should all start understanding the concept of doing our bit instead of lazily seeking convenient "enemies" to account for where we are today. Most times, no one can do things to an adult they do not allow.





http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=108080:how-govt-politicians-nailed-lagos-ibadan-expressway-&catid=77:letters&Itemid=613

How govt, politicians nailed Lagos-Ibadan expressway
WEDNESDAY, 19 DECEMBER 2012 00:00 JOHN ANFELA, LAGOS OPINION - LETTERS
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SIR: A late former Head of State once invited three prominent Nigerian businessmen to a top secret meeting in Aso Rock. The sole agenda was to persuade the businessmen to either start new lines or invest more to expand their businesses to create more jobs for Nigerian youths.

The three businessmen, one each of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, met the General and agreed on all the proposals each of them presented to him, as well as the required capital. The General called in his ever-faithful CSO to deliver to each of the three businessmen substantial amount of money requested as capital, still secretly, to establish the businesses. They opted to receive the cash in Lagos.

The fourth invitee, Vinkart, as all of them called him, who could not make it on time, was a prominent Indian industrialist in Lagos. He came with excuse for coming late. The Yoruba man called him aside after their sympathies were offered and accepted. He was ready to give Vinkart all the money the General would give for the project, if the Indian would make him the sole distributor of the company’s products plus a seat as director. Vinkart said it was no problem. The Igbo man next called Vinkart aside and told him if he was made director and sole supplier of all the corporate input, including local and imported raw materials, machinery and parts, he would equally part with his money for the project. The Hausa also told Vinkart he would gladly part with his money to form a giant pool for the much larger investment, if he would be made the chairman of the board. Vinkart agreed.

Soon afterwards, the maximum ruler re-entered, saw Vinkart, listened to the explanations for his lateness, and equally offered his sympathies. The Hausa man then called the C-in-C and told him that Vinkart’s timely arrival had got the deal all sewed up. General was surprised and asked: What deal? They explained to him how they would form a gigantic company. He stopped listening. Next, he told them: “The deal is off this minute!” He stormed out of the meeting room.

When the CSO asked his boss the reason for his anger, he said: “I wanted them to compete with Vinkart. I wanted to show them off to Vinkart that these are the Nigerians who would take him on and beat him hands down. Now, to the last man, all of them won’t compete. They want to be his non-executive directors! What kind of slaves’ mentality is that? Rather than make loads of money from operational profits and expand the economy, they want sitting allowances and profit from services! The deal is off! Find me three better ones!”

This mirthless joke sailed through newsrooms nearly two decades ago to explain why Nigerians hold prestigious directorship positions in Indian companies, while the Indians dominate all sectors of the economy operationally. All those two decades later, a similar problem of slaves’ mentality aggravated by pervasive corruption stalled the N89.5 billion Lagos-Ibadan Expressway reconstruction and expansion project.


It’s been wheels within wheels from the day Bi-Courtney Limited (BCL) got the concession for the reconstruction, modernisation and expansion of the 105 km Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. Politicians and government officials in Nigeria are not in a hurry to embrace PPP, simply because it will not enrich their pockets. It took more than two years to approve the design for the road project, according to the report that the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan through the Chairman, Chief Ernest Shonekan. Many other stumbling blocks were placed on the path of this all-important PPP project by politicians and civil servants until the concession was terminated, and we are back to business as usual.

Shortly after, a construction firm was mobilised to site, a few days after a Director from the Ministry of Works announced on TV that the work so far executed within a month met International standard and the expectations of the Ministry.

• John Anfela, Lagos.

lol . . . interesting and educative piece.

In as much as this has nothing whatsoever to do with the Pan-Africanism ideology - however, you can't use the failure of an "individual" to judge an ideology...