Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl - Politics - Nairaland
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| Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by coninse: 11:15am On Mar 21, 2013 |
Posted: March 21, 2013 - 06:02 I used to think corruption was Nigeria’s biggest problem, but I’m starting to doubt that. Every time I probe into one of the many issues this country is encountering, at the core I find the same phenomenon: the widespread celebration of mediocrity. Unrebuked underachievement seems to be the rule in all facets of society. A governor building a single road during his entire tenure is revered like the next Messiah; an averagely talented author who writes a colourless book gets sponsored to represent Nigerian literature overseas; and a young woman with no secretarial skills to speak of gets promoted to the oga’s office faster than any of her properly trained colleagues. Needless to say the politician is probably hailed by those awaiting part of the loot he is stealing; the writer might have got his sponsorship from buddies he has been sucking up to in hagiographies paid for by the subjects; and the young woman’s promotion is likely to be an exchange for sex or the expectancy of it. So some form of corruption plays a role in all of these examples. But corruption per se does not necessarily stand in the way of development. Otherwise a country like Indonesia—number 118 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, not that far removed from Nigeria’s 139—would never have made it to the G-20 group of major economies. An even more serious obstacle to development is the lack of repercussions for underachievement. Who in Nigeria is ever held accountable for substandard performance? Since I came here, I have been on a futile search for a stable internet connection that does what it promises. I started with an MTN FastLink modem (I consider the name a cruel joke), and then I moved on to an Etisalat MiFi connection (I regularly had to keep myself from throwing the bloody thing against the wall), and now I am trying out Cobranet’s U-Go. I shouldn’t have bothered: equally crap. And everyone knows this. They groan and mutter and tweet about it. But still, to my surprise, no one calls for a class-action suit against those deceitful providers. A one-day conference I attended last year left me equally puzzled. Organisation, attendance and outcome left a lot to be desired, if you ask me. But over cocktails, after the closing ceremony, everyone congratulated each other over the wonderful conference—that started two hours late, of which the most animated part was undeniably lunch, and in which not a single tangible decision had been made. This left me wondering whether we had attended the same event. I thought these issues to be unrelated at first, but gradually I came to see the connection. Nigeria is the opposite of a meritocracy: you do not earn by achieving. You get to be who and where you are by knowing the right people. Whether you work in an office, for an enterprise or an NGO, at a construction site or in government, your abilities hardly ever are the reason you got there. Performing well, let alone with excellence, is not a requirement, in fact, it is discouraged. It would be too threatening: showing you’re more intelligent, capable or competent than the ‘oga at the top’ (who, as a rule, is not an overachiever either) is career suicide. It is an attitude that trickles down from the very top, its symptoms eventually showing up in all of society, from bad governance to bad service to bad craftsmanship. Where excellence meets no gratification, what remains to be celebrated is underachievement. That is why it is not uncommon to find Nigerians congratulating each other with substandard results. It is safer to cuddle up comfortably in shared mediocrity than to question it, since the latter might also expose your own less than exceptional performance. Add to this the taboo of criticising anyone senior or higher up and it explains why so many join in the admiration of the emperor’s new clothes. I have been writing this column for the last year, and after ten months I realised my angles were getting more predictable and my pieces less edgy. I figured newcomers do not remain newcomers forever and therefore decided to round up the ‘Femke Becomes Funke’ series this month, a year after it started. Ever since I announced the ending, tweeps have been asking me to change my mind and in comments on the columns and through my website I get songs of praise that make me feel my analyses of Nigerian society are indispensable. If I had no sense of self-criticism, I might be tempted to reconsider my decision to discontinue the series and start producing second-rate articles. Who would point this out to me if I did? The hardest thing to do in Nigeria is to continue to realise there is honour in achievement and pride in perfection. I imagine the frustration of the many Nigerians who do care for their work, who take pride in their outcomes and who feel the award is in a job well done. When you know beforehand that excellence will not be rewarded, you are bound to do the economically sane thing and limit your investments to accomplishing the bare minimum. This makes Nigeria a pretty cumbersome place for anyone striving for perfection. By Femke Van Zeijl Source: http://saharareporters.com/article/femke-becomes-funke-celebrating-mediocrity-nigeria-femke-van-zeijl 2 Likes
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| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by Nobody: 2:06pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
Unfortunately, Femke is correct. Nigeria is the opposite of a meritocracy: you do not earn by achieving. |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by EkoIle1: 2:09pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
Attitude, not corruption, is Nigeria’s problem –Jonathan http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news/attitude-not-corruption-is-nigerias-problem-jonathan/ |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by Nobody: 2:17pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
This is the most thoroughly research scholarship/observation ever about Nigeria and Nigerians... It further proves my point that everything that happens on NL mirrors how backward, medieval, incapable of thinking critically, and the innate culture of celebrating mediocrity - Nigerians are.... Nigeria is the opposite of a meritocracy: you do not earn by achieving. You get to be who and where you are by knowing the right people. Whether you work in an office, for an enterprise or an NGO, at a construction site or in government, your abilities hardly ever are the reason you got there. Performing well, let alone with excellence, is not a requirement, in fact, it is discouraged. It would be too threatening: showing you’re more intelligent, capable or competent than the ‘oga at the top’ (who, as a rule, is not an overachiever either) is career suicide. ^^^^This sums up everything... Femke needs to come on NL as well and see how most of them celebrate the dumbest people as their gods on here...  It's just safe to say that anyone with an IQ higher than 80 can NEVER survive in Nigeria - the place was created for re.tards with "owambe-ing" as their watchword The only way you might survive among them is just by clowning around with them and dumbing everything down for them...  Femke gatts a new fan!!  1 Like |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by idupaul: 3:32pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
shymexx: This is the most thoroughly research scholarship/observation ever about Nigeria and Nigerians... It further proves my point that everything that happens on NL mirrors how backward, medieval, incapable of thinking critically, and the innate culture of celebrating mediocrity - Nigerians are.... You have said it all .. An intelligent person becomes the dull in the land of retards |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by Rossikk(m): 4:30pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
A lot of stereotypical rubbish is contained in that article. The guy says you don't need to be able to do a job in order to get it in Nigeria. It all depends on ''who you know''. But this is really just stereotyped rubbish. Less than 5% of jobs today in Nigeria are being performed by people unable to do those jobs. Most people in their various occupations ARE COMPETENT and that includes farmers, traders, craftsmen, labourers, market women, hairdressers, taxi drivers, mechanics, caterers, doctors, bankers. Why are buildings, skyscrapers, flyovers and bridges not falling down all over the place? Weren't those who built them all chosen because they were family members and friends as opposed to being qualified engineers, architects and surveyors?? This is how any foreigner just comes in and types any ignorant, stupid rubbish about us and his slaves lap it all up. Fact is less than 1 in 50 Nigerians go for the sort of jobs in which you need to ''know someone'' to get. How then can that category be used to castigate the entire country? The writer obviously moved among a circle of elite folks, not REAL Nigerians. And what country is the writer himself from? I bet you there are many there in certain jobs because of who they know (they call it 'networking', 'old boys network'), and/or the colour of their skin, as opposed to being 'the best' especially the top elite jobs in politics and industry. I know for sure this goes on in the UK, USA and Europe. In order to push his ''mediocrity in Nigeria'' claim, he made some really insulting and highly inaccurate remarks like ''a governor is worshipped if he builds a single road in his entire tenure''. That's a flat out lie and insult to Nigerians. Gov Fashola is adored because he's done a WHOLE LOT MORE than ''build a single road''. From things the writer has never heard of like provision of free ante-natal care to patients to free eyeglasses to children under 12 to state ambulances, schools, hospitals. All the work of Fashola. The writer, obviously a fly-in-fly out foreigner with no clue, knows nothing about these and other measures undertaken by various dynamic governors. Governor Chime in Enugu State is adored for doing a lot more than ''building a single road''. As is Governor Akpabio of Akwa Ibom etc etc. Gov Duke of Cross River, Amaechi, Okorocha etc.. These governors have symbolised EXCELLENCE, not mediocrity, and are succeeding in putting pressure on other governors to show the dividends of their rule. These people need to be encouraged and emulated, not insulted by silly articles like this. |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by Onlytruth(m): 5:13pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
I hate when all these foreigners try to tell us the origins and roots of our problems. She only ended up showing us the SYMPTOMS that everybody knows already. The ROOT of those symptoms is TRIBALISM and ISLAMIC EXTREMISM. In Nigeria, you are more likely to advance if you are not competent BUT an Islamic scholar, than if you are a genius IGBO engineer. Many leading politicians in Nigeria only go about looking for areas dominated by Igbo. They will ignore all other areas. The last army imbroglio comes to mind. If these foreigners don't know anything about Nigeria, they should do us a favor and STFU. |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by Nobody: 7:09pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
Where excellence meets no gratification, what remains to be celebrated is underachievement. That is why it is not uncommon to find Nigerians congratulating each other with substandard results. It is safer to cuddle up comfortably in shared mediocrity than to question it, since the latter might also expose your own less than exceptional performance. Add to this the taboo of criticising anyone senior or higher up and it explains why so many join in the admiration of the emperor’s new clothes. |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by Afam4eva(m): 7:15pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
[size=13pt]Welcome to Nigeria. This Dutch man has captured the Nigeria that i know. I'm not surprised that some people are attacking the man's assertion. That proves that he's right.[/size] 1 Like |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by Nuryn: 7:44pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
I can`t realy criticise d article, though it doesn`t potray the entire nation but a state like KWARA is the victm. 1 Like |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by bloggernaija: 8:18pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
Onlytruth: I hate when all these foreigners try to tell us the origins and roots of our problems. you are an example of the same mindset this lady is talking about. You obviously think that competence is derived from belonging to an ethnic group ,nationality or race. However any liberated mind knows that excellence ,advancement and competence is more of an individual attribute.it is also more likely to be fostered in an environment that nurtures and celebrate it. Many nairalanders live in the developed world .they will tell you that the core of those society is quite small.most of the citizens are average ,mediocre or semi literate people. However the few talents are nurtured. I served in the eastern part of nigeria. I had a lot of interaction with the civil service .ranging from local government to the state apparatus.the mediocrity and unprofessionalism this lady is talking about is/was very visible.from the diorderliness to the dirt and dust covered offices.from the lateness to the unprofessionalism. I always say the best customers service you will get anywhere is at your beer palour and agbero who will at least help you with loading your bags. Same thing with my interaction with nigerian embassy official around the world and federal civil servants(Igbos included). In fact the best service I ever had in a federal agency was from an Hausa lady at the federal scholarship board in 2001. Nigeria is a mediocre country full of mediocre people and All tribes are well represented. |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by takedat(m): 8:22pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
Afam4eva: [size=13pt]Welcome to Nigeria. This Dutch man has captured the Nigeria that i know. I'm not surprised that some people are attacking the man's assertion. That proves that he's right.[/size]No be man o. Femke/Funke na woman! @Op, excellent analysis! A country where mediocrity takes precedence over meritocracy; strategic appointment given to unqualified political appointees; religious and regional quota overrides competence; and the only place where a clueless and colourless numpty can be made president on the pretext that he had no shoes! Welcome to the land of mediocrity! |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by EkoIle1: 8:24pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
Onlytruth: I hate when all these foreigners try to tell us the origins and roots of our problems. Look in mirror especially with your dumb post. The writer was talking about people like you. |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by ikeyman00(m): 8:28pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
@@@@ onlytruth u are so right on point |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by Onlytruth(m): 8:47pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
ikeyman00: @@@@ Thanks bro. Nigeria is very easy to diagnose. The country is self explanatory. The fact remains that some foreigners also have vested interest in Nigeria (some of which is also devious, lol). The ultimate truth remains that Nigeria has been unable to rise above tribalism right from the days of Ahmadu Bello who specifically had a policy in place to first hire a Northerner; if none was found, he went for a FOREIGNER; if none was found, he then went for a Southerner as an EXPATRIATE (working strictly on CONTRACT basis) IN HIS OWN COUNTRY. Go figure that. But let's fast forward to today. We have a President (GEJ) who has achieved more in office in 2 -3 years than Obasanjo achieved in 8 years. FACT. He is achieving more daily, and by 2015 would have achieved more than Shagari, Obasanjo and Yar adua COMBINED. Yet, he is the most HATED Nigerian president of all time -the hate coming mainly from the North and West of Nigeria. What is his crime? His is not from the traditional ruling part (alliance of North and West) in Nigeria. I cannot see any other reason he is so hated. Obasanjo and Yar adua condoned BIGGER and more endemic corruption than he is doing now. He would have done more if he were from Nigeria's power blocks. He knows he has limits as an Ijaw man from East. He is staying within those limits, but the same people keeping him in those limits are the ones hating him for not giving them el dorado on top of Nigeria's hellish foundations. I repeat that foreigners should really stay away from prescribing for us. We know our problems. A cancer man showing signs of pains cannot be told that his disease is PAIN. Nope. His disease is CANCER. Whoever is interested in Nigerian truth knows where to look. The problem is that a lot of lookers are not honest. |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by EkoIle1: 9:00pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
. |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by EkoIle1: 9:00pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
Onlytruth: This is why gobbles like you must never be taken seriously. Maybe just for laughs.. 1 Like |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by Nobody: 9:26pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
Every word of this is incontrovertible, and it is a crying shame. It gets even more shameful when it takes a foreigner to tell us some home truths. |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by OurYansh: 9:29pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
EzeNdigbo of Nairaland talking TRASH!!! |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by ikeyman00(m): 9:33pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
^^^^ no u are talking from ur yansh DECIDED 1 Like |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by Pataki: 9:57pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
When you look at mediocres like ikeyman and onlytruth.......you would surely know Femke is not far from the truth. @ Femke, Je hebt gelijk over mijn land. Goed gedaan van je! Ben je nog steeds in Nigeria? |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by otokx(m): 11:33pm On Mar 21, 2013 |
the writer is on point in certain areas, self deception abounds, fela called it no mentality, being short sighted and the saddest part is that its now a culture, doomed to continue for a long time. |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by StOla: 11:25am On Apr 11, 2013 |
That this very intelligent post didn't make it to the frontpage while silly pictures and unknown celebrity tweets made it, readily underscores Femke's submission. That trauma wearied bigots like ONLYTRUTH would use this as an opportunity to promote a corruption embracing President for reason of ethnic affiliation/alliance only proves they are themselves part of the other problems they rightly identified. That they even celebrate the mediocrity of the last 3years as greatness shows an inability to identify excellence. Yar'Adua might have been weak and slow, but he still made a mark with his anti-corruption stance(except with JamesIbori). He did not get a donation of a Mosque for his village from a contractor, he did not zone a university to his village, neither did he shield indicted public officers that were withing his powers to sack. The history of power sharing in Nigeria shows an active involvement of Igbos in the closest corridors of power, both before and after the civil war, yet some would have us believe that they are marginalized and that their kin have no blame for our sorry state. |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by Fabiens(m): 12:45am On Apr 12, 2013 |
[size=32pt]Why is this not frontpage? Instead of pictures of people drinking champagne?  [/size] |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by milkymesh: 4:53am On Apr 12, 2013 |
The moderators are mediocrity personified. They can't analyse an article/post worth pushing to the front page? |
| Re: Celebratng Mediocrity: Corruption Not Nigeria’s Worst Problem - Femke Van Zeijl by fsb(m): 7:57am On Jun 09, 2013 |
Remembering how a LCDA administrator invited a state governor to commission 1 transformer to mark the governor's 100th day in office...and the governor of-course showed up feeling all majestic like the project was anything to write home about. Decades of leadership by thieving politicians plus widespread poverty are the reasons for the widespread sycophancy and celebration of under-achievement in Nigeria. |
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