BusinessDay 31 Oct 2017

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Tuesday 31 October 2017 10 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 COMMENT comment is free Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com Maina’s saga ends this phase of PMB’s anti-corruption agenda MAZI SAM OHUABUNWA OFR Ohuabunwa is chairman, African Centre for Business Development, Strategy Innovation (ACBDSI). It is a pity that two and half years into PMB’s 4-year term we have to bring this phase of PMB’s anti-corruption agenda to an end. This has become very necessary to save PMB and all those who wish Nigeria well from continued embarrassment. With the high drama of Maina’s reinstatement into the civil service, it is reasonable to conclude that we are not making much headway with fighting real corruption in Nigeria. Maina was accused of embezzling or stealing billions of pension funds which he was called to manage. EFCC investigated him and found that he had a case to answer. The Federal Government that he was working for, after investigating him, dismissed him from the civil service. The National Assembly invited him; he refused to show up. The EFCC invited him; he failed to show up but ran away to a foreign country to evade justice. Thereafter EFFC declared him wanted and he became a fugitive. Then PMB came to power on the steam of an anticorruption and change agenda. According to Maina’s family, PMB and APC invited Maina to join them to bring change to Nigeria. Then the wanted Maina was escorted back into Nigeria and then given security cover by the DSS according to his family as they revealed in a press conference carried on national television watched by the entire World. Thereafter the AGF steps in and directs the civil service commission and the Ministry of Interior to re-absorb Maina, with a copy to the office of the head of service of the federation. Minister of Interior welcomes Maina and promotes him, backdating his promotion to the date of his dismissal in 2013. What a tale! Then some people raised their voices and PMB ordered the sack of Maina for the second time and asked for a report to be sent to his office on how the man who was dismissed in 2013, declared wanted in 2015 by the EFCC, came back triumphantly and was re-absorbed and promoted. Shall we know the contents of the report? Perhaps after the contents of earlier investigations on the SGF and NIA DG have been released. Meanwhile, the same Maina who was occupying an office in the Ministry of Interior that houses the department of immigration, vanishes into thin air once It seems that the current promoters of the campaign see corruption as the stealing or misappropriation of public funds by the officials of the past government or the opposition party. This view has been substantiated over time as the government seems to gloss over the misdeeds of its own officials and party members again and no one could arrest him, nor know his current whereabouts! Then the EFFC wakes up from sleep and remembers that he had property in Maitama and goes to raid and seize the property, following with declaring him as wanted (a second time!) and requesting the help of Interpol. See how the government and its agencies are insulting the intelligence of Nigerians! I had previously stated in this column that this current anti-corruption war was not holistic and that it seemed as if we had a limited definition of the concept of corruption. It seems that the current promoters of the campaign see corruption as the stealing or misappropriation of public funds by the officials of the past government or the opposition party. This view has been substantiated over time as the government seems to gloss over the misdeeds of its own officials and party members. In addition, the war seems to ignore the common everyday corruption that goes on in government ministries and agencies. I am completely downcast that after the allegations that the GMD of NNPC did not adopt good corporate governance procedures in his official transactions, the government has said nothing, except prompting the accused to continue to campaign that he did nothing wrong. Whoever admits wrong doing in the Public service? Even the accusations that the NNPC board and management appointments were lopsided and did not reflect federal character has been entirely ignored because it does not relate to corruption? The ongoing accusation of corruption and several unethical misdeeds against the IGP by Senator Misau and others has been allowed to fester in a regime that all thought had come to kill corruption. This is why I think that we need to bring this misguided notion of an anti-corruption war to an end. Then we must start a new phase that will be comprehensive and holistic. A new war that will fight every corruptive tendency in every strand of our public and private lives. This phase must start with an attempt to define what corruption really means and to identify its ramifications and manifestations. Then we take away politics from this fight. Every act of corruption must be treated with maximum reprehension without regard to political, religious or ethnic affiliations. In this new phase, we must show maximum revulsion against the least act of corruption. Government must never come out to defend its officials. Every indicted official must be suspended and put through investigation and or trial by the appropriate law enforcement agency. Also, government officials should no longer be asked to investigate infringements by fellow officials. Lack of bias cannot be guaranteed in these circumstances. The Police, the EFCC, ICPC and the DSS are the appropriate agencies that should investigate all acts of corruption and public malfeasance. Let me state that I am making these suggestions in good faith. First, I firmly believe that corruption is Nigeria’s biggest problem, given my broad understanding of what corruption means and the unquantifiable damage it had caused and is still causing in the country. Second, I fully agree with PMB that if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. And thirdly, so much faith has been invested on PMB by Nigerians and even the global community that he has the moral integrity to fight this battle successfully. But thus far, many are beginning to lose hope. Send reactions to: comment@businessdayonline. STRATEGY & POLICY Can a leopard ever change its spot? MA JOHNSON Johnson is a marine project management consultant and Chartered Engineer. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, UK. Sometime ago, I came across a report by some researchers who argued that a leopard can change its spot. But their report was not convincing because of some high sounding medical jargons used to justify their findings. So, I humbly say that the answer to the above question is a resounding NO. The leopard cannot change itself and it is not blessed with the capacity to change its spots. When one says that a leopard does not change its spots, it literarily means that the character traits of some individuals do not change no matter the condition they find themselves. Specifically, bad character traits do not change easily. This essay is on the current Maina debacle. A few reports on the Maina saga reminds me of one of my respected senior professional colleague and a friend, who always stressed the importance of courage: “When in doubt” he would say, “do what is right”. I have come across decent people in our society and beyond the shores of our country, but I have not come across an angel. In the real world there are people who can help you make it and then there are those who make life miserable without you ever knowing. How can a Maina who was dismissed in 2013 by the federal civil service for absconding his duty post now become a director in the Ministry of Interior? So, who smuggled Mainaback into the country, and on what basis was he promoted to grade level 17?Who are his Janusfaces in this matter? I heard this particular Maina is aspiring to be the governor of Borno State, but I argued strongly that this tale cannot be true. If it was true, then the people of the State will not sing doxology. I guessed he must have conducted a research and found out that corruption allegation levelled against him cannot stop his ambition. In fact, corruption allegation against him is helpful to enable him achieve his political ambition in a country where uprightness is rarely celebrated. The more crooked you are the better in a society that favours those who are morally bankrupt. For those who have perfected the act of compromising their integrity and principles on minor issues, it gets easier to make bad choices on the big issues. Every day you get to read or hear stories about how organizations and individuals fail to do what is morally or legally right- political scandals- “how top officials in the federal government (FG) of President Muhammadu Buhari played prominent roles in the reinstatement of Abdulrasheed Maina, ex-chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, into the civil service”. What do we say about government functionaries who abuse their authority and trust reposed on them by the people of Nigeria? This particular Maina and some highly placed people in the government must have concluded long ago that President Buhari is alone in the anti-corruption struggle. Without credible and truthful allies, he might be forced to either now or later give up the fight against corruption. The effort made by Buhari’s allies to reinstate Maina and grant him with a brand new identity may be a preamble to the grand surrender of the Buhari administration to the 1000- ton monster called corruption. In both the military and the civilian world, it becomes challenging to blow the whistle when the bad behaviour you observed is directly coming from your boss. Where will you get the courage to expose your boss who is busy using his office and status in the society to perpetrate fraud? Summoning the courage to fight for what is right may be difficult if you are to protect your job in a nation where unemployment is rising alarmingly. Courage is “doing the right thing for the right reason.” Humanity is in trouble when we lack leaders with the courage to do the right thing for the right reason. I smell a conspiracy against pensioners nationally. Nobody had the guts to ask this particular Maina to provide the money he fraudulently mismanaged. The “change” song that the current regime of President Buhari has taught Nigerians to sing will not solve the problem of corruption in our polity. For this singular act, I say with a lot of regrets that Nigerians have not been treated with dignity and respect by those who conspired to elevate a man who was accused of squandering pensioners’ money. Most pensioners are disturbed by this Maina’s saga. If appropriate sanctions are not meted out to this culprit, a time will come when no pensioner will receive pension. Why is it that the Minister of Interior did not have the courage as a military veteran to do what is right by exposing this Maina? This is what politics can do to a general especially when “blood is thicker than water”. The Minister of Interior only reacted when his principal ordered the immediate disengagement of this particular Maina from the office. The Head of Civil Service Commission denied knowing anything about this particular Maina. It is only in Nigeria that a fugitive can be elevated to the post of a director in a federal ministry. Just like that, a runaway civil servant emerged to become a director in Nigeria and was warming up to be a governor when those who come to work regularly are marking time on one appointment/rank for years without promotion. This is an embarrassment to the nation. Nigeria, I hail you! Nigerians can now see clearly what our so-called leaders are doing to us. We trusted them and handed over Nigeria to them to help us manage her. What we got in return is corruption- nepotism, inequity, plus injustice amongst others. There is something about this particular Maina that needs to be further investigated. Albeit, it is not easy for the leopard to change its spots! Send reactions to: comment@businessdayonline.com
Tuesday 31 October 2017 COMMENT RAFIQ RAJI Dr Raji is chief economist at Macroafricaintel. He was previously an Africa economist at Standard Chartered Bank, London, UK. (Twitter: @ DrRafiqRaji) Global trade, the merchandise exports component of which was about US$15.5 trillion in 2016, according to World Trade Organisation (WTO) data, is expected to shrink by at least half over the next half century due to 3D printing or additive manufacturing (AM). In tandem would be global value chains (GVCs), which were hoped togive African countries perhaps their last fighting chanceat industrialisation. At US$346 billion in 2016, African merchandise exports were just 2% of the world total. And 32% of these were oil exports. Still, African manufacturing has actually been on the ascendancy, growing in real terms by 3.5% a year to US$157 billion in 2014,up from US$73 billion in 2005, with exports doubling to more than US$100 billion in the period. But what is additive manufacturing? Simply put, as the name implies: it is manufacturing by adding. Unlike the conventional manufacturing process, where an object having been designed is put into form by “cutting, drilling, and milling”, “a 3D-printer starts with nothing and add stuffs to it”. With the aid of a computer programme, a 3D-printer is able to produce a 3-dimensional physical form of what was hitherto no more than a virtual representation. However, relative to traditional manufacturing, the additive kind is slow and expensive. In addition, the quality of produced objects SALIENT WEYINMI JEMIDE Jemide is a certified master coach and currently a doctoral candidate in applied leadership and coaching. He writes every Tuesday in BusinessDay Diversity and independence are important because the best collective decisions are the product of disagreement and contest, not consensus and compromise” – James Surowiecki in “The Wisdom of Crowds”. Diversity is a recurring theme in many large corporate organisations. However, it remains largely unappreciated relative to other social concepts. This article highlights four perspectives of diversity. Reality Diversity is a reality of nature, business and life. When companies are seeking to employ people, they cannot successfully identify homogenous groups to bring on board. The reality of human nature guarantees that companies and institutions will be diverse. Unfolding developments C002D5556 comment is free Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com Additive manufacturing: Implications for African economies can sometimes be doubtful. But it is fast evolving to overcome these constraints. Bespoke specialist products or prototypes are better suited, therefore. For now. Incidentally, there are indications that improvements could come about faster than expected. Take polymerbased manufacturing, for instance: digital light synthesis pioneered by Carbon, an American producer of 3D-printers, allows for a process 100 times faster than conventional printing. And objects produced are of far greater quality and strength. For metal printing, better methods are beginning to emerge as well. An example is “bound-metal deposition”, which produces objects 500 times faster than traditional laser-based ones. Thus, the ascendancy of additive manufacturing to mainstream production is only a matter of time. Manufacturing more and better with less On the face of it, the economics of additive manufacturing is very appealing, bar the earlier highlighted, but fast disappearing constraints. Altering objects or producing new ones simply require a change of software, for example. Under traditional manufacturing, this would entail the procurement of new equipment, re-training of staff, modifications to value chain activities and so on. Improvements would evolve at different paces for each type of printing, though. For certain kinds, complex and high-end objects like aircraft parts, satellites, racing cars and medical devices, speed is not what really matters. Greater emphasis is placed on quality and precision. For such, a relatively slower and more expensive additive manufacturing process entail costs that pale in comparison to the potential gains. And since the end-users tend to have the deep pockets and patience for that level of precision and quality, 3D-printing is already fast gaining ground for that manufacturing segment. There is evidence of this. American industrial giant, General Electric, is investing a great deal in 3Dprinting, to produce parts for jet engines, for instance. This is also the case for less China’s evolution is a typical example with its manufacturing jobs moving to other Asian countries (and expectedly African ones in due course), not only because wages have risen, but also due to a focus now on services space consuming, but equally (if not more so) complex bio-printing, which involves smaller laboratory-type equipment, but require greater care to maintain the sterility and salubrity of produced tissues. These could range from cartilage to more complex organs like hearts, livers and so on. With automation and 3D-printing, high-wage developed economies may no longer be in much need for manufacturers, whether as intermediates or finished goods, from African and other low-wage countries. Short of raw material constraints, any country would in the not-to-far distant futurebe able to virtually manufacture any good using a 3D-printer. And if advances in 3D-printing proceed as currently envisaged, it would be possible to do so at about or more than the current speed of traditional manufacturing processes. When that is the case, in about four decades from now, at least according to recent research by ING, a Dutch bank, there might not be that much need for labour-intensive manufacturing, the type African countries need to keep their teeming idle youth populations constructively engaged. ING’s report suggests about a quarter of world trade could be wiped out by 2060 on the back of advances in 3D-printing, especially in car manufacturing. Incidentally, this was the type of manufacturing that African countries were banking on and have actually been recording some progress with. A Chinese-backed car assembly plant in South Africa is expected to start exporting cars in early 2018, for instance. As the first new car plant in South Africa in at least forty years, it represents an expected trend of that kind of manufacturing moving to relatively lower wage economies from an increasingly pricey Chinese labour market; even though the South African labour market is amongst the most expensive and disruptive on the African continent. The move probably anticipates the earlier highlighted game-changing automation trends: most of the cars are to be sold in neighbouring countries, which makes sense. It would be cheaper to ship the cars across the border by road and rail, within a region governed by a single tariff regime, that is also relatively borderless, than to ship them all the way from China. Incidentally, the Chinese car manufacturer is following in the footsteps of more experienced and advanced competitors like Germany’s Volkswagen and BMW, Japan’s Toyota and America’s Ford. The Chinese move also pre-empts announced plans by authorities to phase out of fossil fuel cars in France and the United Kingdom (and likely elsewhere in Europe) from 2040, and indeed China itself, in what its authorities termed the near future. Of course, there are arguments that suggest this likely shrinkage in low-skilled labour-intensive manufacturing and its associated value chains may be grossly exaggerated, especially for developing countries. This is because there are still certain types of manufacturing that robots are not yet skilled at, or if nearly so, they are not cost effective. For example, the textile industry entails certain complications that advances in robotics are yet to master. But that is not to say that even in that sphere of manufacturing, robots are not increasingly taking the place of humans. They are. According to a recent report by The Economist in the UK, one American robotics firm, SoftWear Automation, produces machines that do what seamstresses do in textile factories – not everything yet, though – so-called “Sewbots”, which can already make pillows and bath mats, but would by 2018, if all goes according to plan, be able to produce 1,142 T-shirts per eight-hour shift. This is almost twenty times the output of a human involved in a similar task. BUSINESS DAY 11 And in the time horizon that recent research suggests 3D-printing would become fast and sharp enough to beat current traditional manufacturing processes, automation would well have become far more advanced. These advances are also somewhat egalitarian; China is a dominant buyer of industrial robots. Besides, a third of industrial robots that were shipped in 2015 were destined for middle-income countries; albeit the earlier mentioned Sewbots have only been sold in the USA. In fact, such are these advances now, the mystery behind current perennially tepid inflation in developed economies is beginning to be attributed to these developments. Even more groundbreaking, the orthodoxy of how countries are meant to develop is increasingly being challenged; which suggests that economies first make the transition to industry from agrarian agriculture before moving on to services. China’s evolution is a typical example with its manufacturing jobs moving to other Asian countries (and expectedly African ones in due course), not only because wages have risen, but also due to a focus now on services. With advances in robotics triggering so-called “premature de-industrialisation” in developing countries, as manufacturing jobs move back to advanced economies (which increasingly compare favourably costwise due to automation) from cheaper labour jurisdictions, suggestions about leapfrogging the industrial development phase straight into services is beginning to gain resonance. Clearly, current industrial policy and thinking in many African countries would have to be rethought in light of these developments. •Dr Rafiq Raji wrote this article for the NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies of the Nanyang Business School, Singapore, where he is an adjunct researcher Note: the rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @ https://businessdayonline.com/ Send reactions to: comment@businessdayonline.com Exploring diversity: Introductory perspectives across the globe are adding new realities such as gender and sexuality to the concept of diversity. Anthropological research consistently demonstrates that human classifications of the world hardly match environmental realities. Homogeneity factors such as genealogies and nationalities which people focus on bear overlaps and invisible cracks. Employers have to deal with these realities to various extents depending on where they are located. The realities have to be accepted and productively applied. Humanity Humanity and diversity operate with a neat hand in glove arrangement. People, nations, tribes, languages, personalities and abilities all guide the functioning of man on earth. Diversity is expressed in the uniqueness of each individual through DNA, genetics and biometrics all of which prove the diversity of humanity. Before DNA tests were invented, criminal investigations and paternity disputes were more difficult to resolve. The diversity of DNA put a stop to that. There are more than 6,900 living languages all over the world – further evidence of human diversity. Nations like Nigeria and Russia have hundreds of tribes. Global population is estimated to reach 9 billion by 2040. Although birth rates are decreasing in some countries, others are exceeding expectations and do not apply deliberate birth control measures. Diversity is increasing as human numbers are growing. Individuals and organisations should acknowledge diversity as a component of humanity. Practicality Diversity is not just a reality. It also has practical benefits for mankind. The diversity of skills, abilities, climates, vegetation and resources not only enables international trade and tourism, it fuels global competition and innovation.Companies can look for different types of skilled employees to fill their vacancies and perform functions. Education would be of less value without its diversity of subjects and teachers. Homogeneity has its advantages but teams are known to operate more successfully by bringing on diversity. Insights from Simon Hartley’s “Stronger Together” suggest that in spite of distinct and diverse roles, strong teams possess total appreciation of each individual. They also draw strength from their differences. Within organisations, a basic rule of controls is separation of duties. This can only be achieved by having individuals with different skill sets and competencies. As the opening quote of this article indicates the best collective decisions are sharpened by disagreement and contest. James Surowiecki avers that intelligent groups do not ask members to modify their positions to let the group reach a decision everyone can be happy with. Instead, they apply mechanisms to gather collective judgements representing what they all think. Bill Conaty and Ram Charan in “The Talent Masters” prescribe one of the principles of building talent as meritocracy through differentiation. In this regard, they provide a slogan: “Differentiation breeds meritocracy; sameness (the failure to differentiate people) breeds mediocrity.” The direct implication of this slogan is that diversity breeds meritocracy. Diversity bears practical value which we should productively utilise. Profit and Loss Now we come to the leading question for every profit and even non-profit organisation. What is the bottom line outcome of diversity? Let us derive answers from research results. Research by McKinsey has shown that diverse workforces have higher rates of productivity, retention, collaboration and commitment. Deloitte identified an 80% improvement in business performance with high levels of diversity and inclusion. A global study by The Peterson Institute discovered that 30% female representation on boards can increase net profits by 6%. We can also take a cue from modern business models with embedded diversity. Consider Uber, a taxi company with no taxis but many cars and drivers. Airbnb, an accommodation provider that owns no real estate but is not short of spaces. Facebook, a media business that creates no content but has billions of content developers. Netflix, the world’s largest movie house which does not own cinemas. Business history especially in financial services directs us to the impact of weak diversity in decision making. The Barings Bank collapse was partly attributable to the absence of diversity in trading decisions as one man controlled everything. Bureaucratic silos within large banks contributed to the 2008 global financial crisis. BP lack of connective diversity prevented valuable messages from being passed across to prevent a massive oil spill. The CIA and other intelligence services did not apply collaborative diversity which could have foreseen the threat of al Qaeda in 2001. The list is longer but space will not permit the many failures in applying diversity that led to losses. Diversity improves profitability and prevents losses. Get on board with it! Send reactions to: comment@businessdayonline.com
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