12092018 - APC PRIMARIES: Gov kick against conditions for consensus candidate

Keeping up with the
Joneses, a global
disease with terminally
ill patients in Nigeria
THE publisher of
Genevieve Magazine,
Mrs. Betty Irabor, told a very
interesting story on her social
media pages recently. She
recounted how people on the
same flight as her upon recognising
who she was kept
giving her curious looks. A
steady stream of people kept
coming towards her to ask if
she was OK because she was
flying Premium Economy!
They couldn’t understand
what she was doing there and
thought some mistake had
been made. One lady in
particular seemed angry and
ready to fight the airline on her
behalf, thinking Mrs. Irabor
had been downgraded or
given the wrong seat for some
reason. Another offered to
bring her champagne from
business class which she
politely refused.
For the avoidance of any
doubt,these people were not
being polite or solicitous. The
issue, as Mrs Irabor described
it, was that they could not believe
that a “celebrity” or
“someone of her status” would
be fine flying economy. This
story, although amusing,
points to the social malaise
which underlines and justifies
corruption in African countries,
especially Nigeria. Now,
one must ask, is there anything
wrong with flying economy?
And why are we so obsessed
with other people’s life choices?
What’s wrong with being a
regular Joe? Our society has
managed to give us the
impression that everyone must
be a big man or a show off to
be seen or even treated with
some humanity. After all, only
the poor suffer any form of
indignity or discomfort in
Nigeria as money buys the
right to access all forms of
opportunity. So, humility or
conservativeness are either
frowned upon or considered
strange: all we respect is the
in-your-face, crass, brash and
classless sort of spending
associated with the nouveau
riche behavior Nigerians now
tend to view as the norm.
Interestingly, some of the
richest people on the planet
are quiet, low-key types. When
Mark Zuckerberg came to
Nigeria, he shocked the media
with his unassuming ways. He
didn’t have a convoy of dozens
of black jeeps and police
operatives, which the average
tout in Nigeria summons once
he’s made a bit of money. We
keep claiming we want
change, better governance
and less corruption yet our
attitudes towards money point
to the opposite.
Everyone wants to live a lavish
lifestyle without necessarily
possessing either the talent
or work ethic needed to
achieve it. The mega churches
and their prosperity gospel
are in part responsible for this:
everyone awaits a miracle
without considering that God
helps those who help themselves.
Also, the rich in Nigeria
are far from honest about
how they got their start in life,
ascribing their success to
“God’s favour” which doesn’t
tell the full story. Without the
help of government contacts
and a system skewed in their
favour (e.g. that allows them
Our society has
managed to give us
the impression that
everyone must be a
big man or a show
off to be seen or
even treated with
some humanity
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 —17
to make 100% profits without
being taxed), many of those we
consider successful today in
Nigeria would not be
occupying such enviable
positions. Our hypocritical
society pretends not to know
what everyone is up to. We
would rather try to shame
honest people living within
their means for their lack of
ostentation than question the
true source of many of our socalled
idols’ wealth.
We refuse to address the root
causes of poverty; that is, the
people in our society who
defraud us and who are
therefore responsible for the
huge level of discontent in
Nigeria. Don’t get me wrong,
there is absolutely nothing
wrong with aspiring for a
better life. But the societies we
so admire did not get where
they currently are on soulless
consumption and aspirational
narratives alone.
Every time I see a Rolls
Royce advert on a billboard in
Lagos, I smile and wonder
what foreigners must think of
us in Nigeria. Sure, every corner
of the globe in this modern
era is home to consumerist
people who view happiness
in relation to material possessions:
this is the world we live
in. However, our consumption
in Africa only serves to keep
other people’s factories going.
It serves to keep other people’s
pockets full.
The entire structure of our
economy has been wrong for
decades and every government
talks about improving
non- oil exports with little real
success because we the people
are yet to embrace a new
mindset. Our current attitude
can’t get us anywhere, Buhari
or no Buhari. A country that
produces so little yet survives
on the importation of goods
from abroad is one where the
influence of social media, global
consumerism and capitalism
are sure to have a devastating
impact.
Entire businesses in the
West are built upon the misery
of others, preying on people’s
insecurities, therefore
encouraging them to spend
money they often don’t have
on products to make themselves
appear taller, thinner,
lighter, darker, younger, richer,
etc. The ethics of capitalism
aside, we as a people need
to realise what the game is
and play smarter so we can
truly claim a place for ourselves
in this world.
Presidential candidates
FOREIGN journalists
often ask me how it is
possible that a country such as
Nigeria with so many smart,
talented, resourceful, welleducated
people is dominated
by a political class which
rarely features these qualities.
Nigerians have largely
FIRS
The Chairman of the Federal
Inland Revenue Service, Mr
Tunde Fowler, says this agency
will soon begin to focus on
“defaulting taxpayers who
have billions in their bank accounts
but refuse to pay their
taxes”. Government has been
financed by oil revenue for so
long. Those at the top of the
social pyramid (aided by their
friends in government) have
paid next to nothing in taxes,
some going back a period of
Mental health
ACCORDING to a recent
study by doctors of the
Ahmadu Bello University
Teaching Hospital Zaria, 85
per cent of Nigerians who suffer
from mental health issues
are young people between 18-
38 years. In our status obsessed
society where the pressure
to belong, to own and to
covet what others have literally
drives people insane,
quality education in tandem
with an intensification of the
fight against corruption becomes
imperative. Corruption
not only sets a false standard
for people to compare themselves
to, it creates a false narrative
whereby one can succeed
without hard work or become
an overnight success
like so many of our business
people and politicians. Young
people who don’t have connections
or opportunities
which the children of certain
embraced anti-intellectualism
and the following, all too
common sayings: “na
grammar we go chop?” or “he/
she (insert name of candidate
with multiple degrees and
ideas) isn’t rugged enough to
win”. If one is required to be
*Mr Tunde Fowler
rogues take for granted need
education so they can better
understand the issues and realise
just how much the system
is rigged. Depression,
crime, illegal migration, drug
abuse, human trafficking are
the results of a society without
a concept of social justice.
But in a society where we’d
much rather fickle consumption
to righting wrongs, where
even the media delights in
defending roguish politicians’
right to oppress Nigerians,
where citizens themselves
reasonably smart and savvy in
the corporate world why
doesn’t the same requirement
seem to exist in politics? Why
do the main contenders seem
to have no real ideas or
ideology outside of vague
statements like “restructuring”
or “it’s my zone’s turn to
produce a president?” Why do
we keep accepting sub-par
representation?
several decades. As the Americans
say, no taxation, no representation.
If Nigerians pay
taxes, we’ll care what government
does with our money.
We’ll take a closer, more
stringent look at capital
projects and government finances.
Mr Fowler disclosed
that over 6,772 potential “billionaire
taxpayers” were
identified. Some Nigerians
have taken tax avoidance to
the extreme. In the United
States one can go to jail for
defrauding the Internal Revenue
Service. In Nigeria,
only the poor and middle
classes are threatened with
punishment for breaking the
law.
don’t seem to want an end to
corruption, when all around
you seem to suffer from the
same “money at all costs” disease,
what is one to do?
Tabia Princewill is a
strategic
communications
consultant and public
policy analyst. She is
also the co-host and
executive producer of a
talk show, WALK THE
TALK which airs on
Channels TV.