Lai Labode: Corruption is NOT Nigeria’s biggest problem

The Nigerian character is a cacophony of conflicting flavors of genuine  warmth, dangerous spontaneity, gapping brilliance, shocking ignorance, culture deep corruption and compulsive religiousity. – Lai Labode

Nigeria is a land of many untapped opportunities like America in the 1800s except for its unfortunate and very troubling ability to consistently celebrate mediocrity , offer false facades and respond to most serious matters in grueling  hypocrisy or for the sake of self preservation.

Most of us live in the illusion of Nigeria becoming a better nation without our deliberate individual actions or sacrifices. We are comfortable with corruption of any form as long as we are going to benefit , we are quick to judge others tenaciously for the things we ourselves are masters of without thinking of the repercussions of those actions on the ultimate well being of society .

We celebrate all sorts of absurdities and mediocrities in the name of patronage and survival , a state governor will get a full page congratulatory greetings  in THISDAY newspaper for presenting his budget to the state assembly ! . There are millions of Nigerians who do not think Ibori has done anything so terrible “after all many people benefited when he was in power” our people would say.

Nigerians of all classes have masters in complaining about things that are wrong with Nigeria, we have PHD holders in ‘NIGERIA’s Problems’ roaming the streets , in our schools, religious places, in our offices and in all manner of leadership positions. Everyone knows what’s wrong with Nigeria because we are all actors in what is wrong with Nigeria.

A classmate of mine back in Harvard Business School had described Nigeria as a country of too many ironies ,  a poor nation with unbelievable wealth of man and material . He wondered why such a huge human resource base and natural endowments could not sit at the Roundtable of the greatest nations on earth .

The Nigerian character is a cacophony of conflicting flavors of genuine warmth, dangerous spontaneity, gapping brilliance ,shocking ignorance , culture deep corruption and compulsive religiousity.

Nigeria’s biggest problem isn’t corruption, the problem goes much beyond theft of public funds. The real problem is the continued erosion of our values over time as entrenched by the ruling elite of both military and civilian leadership genres . The  problem is even more troubling  because  the  erosion of our best values is fast becoming a culture , a regular way of life which makes it much more difficult to deal with . We have a fledging culture of impunity .

When a politician fakes the commissioning of a borehole in a community, there are many accomplices in that community who know the implication of not having portable water to drink and its attendant consequences on the lives of members of that community. Exploitative facades are common place in our political dealings, we are ready to make any sacrifice for a quick buck as long as it does not affect us directly or in the immediate.

Our people must come to the realization that when leadership fails , followership  has a responsibility to rise to the occasion, followership has a duty to reset the button of leadership , governance and societal moral value system. Followership must step out of its comfort zone to to rescue society or else it fails self fatally in foolishness and self hate .

No nation is destined for greatness without the attitude of greatness by its people. Time and time again the followership have failed the country by aiding and abetting the rape of our democracy, looting of our treasury and miscarriage of justice to the detriment of society.

There is a national instinct across board to exploit one another at the slightest opportunity . I am yet to see any government institution been maned by people from outer space , those who run our offices are Nigerians , they are fathers and mothers who have children they are training ‘to become better citizens’ , they are church deacons and tittle holders in mosques who ‘ lead by example’ . They are reflections of a rotten value system that we all are part of .

Leadership in Nigeria is prone to too many mistakes , poor judgments and negative reaction due to either a conflict of interest, badly garnished advice, incompetence or outright corruption . Many Nigerians who have experienced the Nigerian police for example will tell you that fixing Nigeria will be a hell of a task. It is a total shame but surely a reflection of the larger society. Don’t expect justice unless you have money or you can make a lot of noise.

There is however a bright side to the rot in our system , there is a growing discontent across board that is driving the call for change to a higher and higher pitch by the day. The call for change is the new song in everyone’s mouth including the people that needs to be changed.

As a student of history, I know that growing discontent with a system always reaches a fever pitch at some point no matter how elastic the tolerance of the people are . The cup of always gets full , it is only a matter of time .

Those who understand the true nature of power understand its nothingness when its aura is diminished . Nothing diminishes the aura of power like growing discontent of an increasing frustrated people .

Don’t be fooled by those who say Nigerians are too timid to revolt , they speak as if the Niger Delta militants and Boko Haram are not Nigerians . There is a potential Boko Haram in all unemployed youths , there is a militant in all fathers and mothers who live in shame and can’t send their wards to school or feed them , there is insanity in many men and women w. ho can’t get justice or have a fair shot at restitution for injustice done to them.

The troubling truth is that all cards are on the table for Nigeria’s rebirth , we must act now or be taken by surprise!

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Lai Labode is the CEO of Salt & Einstein Ltd., a visionary business logic firm with vast experience of the peculiar African emerging markets. Lai is an alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School where he received certificates in corporate restructuring, Mergers & Acquisitions, Negotiation and Strategic Agility. He is the Chairman of PDP Youth Circuit and President of the People’s Senate. Lai also chairs the National Youth Movement for Constitutional Review. Lai is the Author of the 20 Laws of Democracy and Constellation of Thoughts. He is married to Ijeoma and they are blessed with two boys, Salt & Einstein.

Like toy soldiers...Ohimai Amaize

If you want to find young Nigerians who are bitter and angry with the Nigerian “system, Twitter is the place. I am, equally, on Twitter and I am an angry young Nigerian too. But I’m doing something different about my anger.

Nothing unites Nigerians like football. The patriot is easily awakened – in any Nigerian – the moment any of our national teams is locked in a battle of supremacy with another country. From the cadets to the senior teams, the fervour is the same.

When Nigeria’s national teams are on the field of play, Nigerians are united behind them in prayers.

Nobody cares how the players were selected. It doesn’t matter if the goalkeeper is Hausa or the captain of the team is Igbo. Nobody wants to know how many players are Muslims or Christians. Nigerians just want to watch a good game and see their beloved team win.

Some weeks back, the widespread joy and celebration that heralded the emergence of our Super Eagles as Champions of Africa is a clear pointer to the fact that the idea of Nigeria as one united happy nation is not a myth. It is indeed, a reality.

Nigerians love Nigeria. You know how passionate Nigerians are about this country when it’s Kenya against Nigeria on Twitter.

In the run-up to the Nigeria versus Kenya 2014 Brazil Qualifier, there was a humorous – and, not so humorous – tug-of-war on Twitter between citizens of both nations.

Nigerians brushed aside their political, religious or ethnic affiliation and, together as one united army, unleashed fire and brimstone on our friendly Kenyans. It was one salvo the Kenyans will not forget in a hurry.

The Nigeria-Kenya saga reflects the power of the Nigerian spirit when we come together united as one in pursuit of a common ideal.

But why is this impossible in politics? Why do we turn against ourselves with bombs, guns and daggers when it comes to the politics of how we should build a new Nigeria?

Let me focus on the youth space, which in the next six years will remain my primary constituency, as according to the National Youth Policy, I am still a youth until I’m above 35.

More than ever before in the history of our nation, there has been an awakening of youth consciousness in politics especially through the social media revolution.

If you want to find young Nigerians who are bitter and angry with the Nigerian “system, Twitter is the place. I am, equally, on Twitter and I am an angry young Nigerian too. But I’m doing something different about my anger.

While some of my friends have chosen to channel their anger at insulting politicians and everybody in government, I am striving very hard to make a difference in my little sphere of influence.

As young Nigerians who love this country, there is so much we can do working across party lines and reaching out to people who share different political views, different religious beliefs and, diverse, ethnic affiliation. We can do so much to impact this country not by the volume of our anti-government tweets per second but the value of ideas we constantly bring to the table of constructive engagement.

Today, it is impossible for anyone in government to engage our generation on social media without getting abused or insulted. If truly we are the turning-point generation, our ability to intellectually engage our governance systems on issues ought to be one of our greatest assets. Unfortunately, gossips, insults, cheap sleaze and rumour-mongering have taken the place of intellectual debates on social media.

We vent our anger at anything or anyone that disagrees with us. We demonise people we do not even know based on our worldview of what we think is the ideal. We condemn and fight systems we do not even understand in the name of freedom of expression. How can we be the generation that thrives in the age of so much information and yet exhibit such little knowledge?

How can we construct a new nation when we occupy ourselves with the business of tearing down people we dislike on social media? What really do we hope to achieve with ours Masters and PhD degrees in Destructive Criticism?

Eminem must have been referring to us when he observes in Like Toy Soldiers: “It ain’t just words no more is it? It’s a different ball game, calling names.”

How do I convince one brother that the time he spends on Twitter “subbing” the ruling PDP government could be spent building strategic alliances with young Nigerians who are equally passionate about this nation?

How do I get my rejoinder-loving friends across the blogs to understand that Mr. Fix Nigeria is not their problem but also a young Nigerian who loves Nigeria just as much as they profess?

Barack Obama said: “We can disagree without being disagreeable.” Is it too tall a moral?

How does one pass across the message that we are soldiers on the same mission but when we turn against ourselves in our journey to rebuild a new Nigeria, we are on our way to crumbling like a pack of Eminem’s toy soldiers?

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Ohimai Godwin Amaize is popularly known as Mr. Fix Nigeria, Amaize was born on September 9, 1984. He is an alumnus of the premier University of Ibadan, Nigeria with a post-graduate certificate in “Managing for Integrity”, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. He is a registered member, People’s Democratic Party. He tweets @MrFixNigeria.

PDP Youth Circuit Celebrates Chinua Achebe , Consoles Family & Nigerians .

PDP Youth Circuit Celebrates  Chinua Achebe , Consoles Family & Nigerians .

Today , one of the best writers  in the world passed onto glory . 

We celebrate the inspiring life of Chinua  Achebe , Father of African Literature .

The PDP YC stands with the Achebe family , Nigerians and Africans at this moment of great loss of one of our own . 

Chinua Achebe was a rare human whose spirit will speak from beyond to a world that never forgets his kind. 

Rest in peace Chinua !!

for : PDP Youth Circuit 
Sola Oyekanmi , National Publicity Secretary ,PDP Youth Circuit

PDP Youth Circuit : Our Journey To Re-Invent Our Party & The Mother land : Letter Series (1) by Lai Labode

''Political Engineering does not require bolts and nails, it requires brains, a sense of history and the audacity to dream dreams.” Lai Labode, 1st Jan 2012

My dear colleagues, the best of us are not the ones who see only what is wrong with the rest of us neither are the worst of us the ones who see too little good when the rest of us can see a much  bigger good .

If we must define what the best of us will be, it will be those whose purpose is not blemished by animosity, selfishness or lack of foresight . Men who are firm yet humble , men who can think beyond the moment or the fallibility of others. Men willing to show real character and rise above personal idiosyncrasies .

Distinguished colleagues, such men exist today within our ranks. A few have discovered their purposes, others are still struggling but will get there as long as consistency remains in their dictionaries. 

Too many young people of our age range have already given up on our ability to organise and build political organisations that can re-make our country or platforms that can break the  barriers of ethnic and religious bitterness .

Many have lost hope in our ability to stand together for a cause greater than all of us combined. Many of us are even much worse than the leaders we condemn with our ‘see no good’ attitudes. Our hypocrisy is evident in how we treat one another at every opportunity .

What lies ahead of us is much bigger than most people can imagine. Our country bleeds from lack of any coherent vision for its greatness , our country suffers from wide spread belief in short cuts , winner takes all or ‘the fire doesn’t burn in my farm’. We must turn away from the same pettiness that has come to characterize our dealings with one another, we  must be bold, deep and discerning to survive as a youth organisation with such big dreams of real and enduring prosperity for our people .

I can not in good conscience let even a temporary glow of political expediency obscure the journey to real greatness of the PDP and our country at large . I can  not betray the roaring instincts of selfless service that burns within many of us in the CIRCUIT  and beyond . I have come to respect many of you for even daring to join this great train of progress that will finally open a new chapter in our history . What we must do now is to rally the best of us to lift even the worst of us.  The time has come when we must inspire the people to something greater than themselves . Remember , no one has promised us our journey will be smooth or easy .   

For the  center to hold , we must rise above the windmills of fear , suspicion and complacency. We must take nothing for granted. We must reward loyalty with great audacity and punish treachery with subtle but sure hands .

Because our responsibility to our people is so sacred, we cannot afford to build the PDP Youth Circuit  structure on quick sand of shortsightedness or an inability to learn from the past or dream big for the future .

My distinguished colleagues , we cannot afford to mould a new country with the same attitudes of self-defeat that has bedeviled our country for so long . An attitude characterised by compulsive criticisms, hatred, jealously, hypocrisy and denial.  A destructive attitude unworthy of our heritage as a people. 

If we must lead at this time in our history , we must open up our minds to deeper thoughts about the real issues facing our country today.  Issues of rebuilding our  eroded values, issues of accountability, issues of education, issues of global competitiveness, issues of peace, respect and responsibility in the comity of nations . 

We must demonstrate our knowledge of history when we deliberate  , show understanding how they evolved when we plan and define what we must do differently to guarantee a better life for our people . 
As we build the PDP YC ,  we should remember that we are not the first to be registered with the party as a youth affiliate  neither are we necessarily the most loved  constituency by the ruling elite who hold firmly to power . Many of whom fear the potential of groups like ours if we ever get our acts together .

Our goal in all humility is to be the first to truly harness the vast potential of the Nigerian youth for a truly great cause and open new doors of opportunity for our people . We have in our hands a cause as great a opening a new page in the pursuit of happiness for 1/5 of the black race  . 
Let us be more discerning and tap into vast creativity and power of anticipation God has endowed us with. We should build our structure on solid ground so it can withstand the inevitable political hurricanes that will come our way as our influence grows in the ever slippery arena of political power.  Our task is already cut out for us . We will extract the best out of the good, the bad and the ugly of our people .

Dear colleagues, we will institutionalize our ideas so they can stand the test of time and prepare the foundation for a new nation where the well-being of one is the business of all.  We will build a nation founded on good values we can publicly propagate .

I may be your leader today but I will remain conscious of a time when the leader will become a follower again. I implore us to treat one another with more respect , love and patience so we can bond faster and better prepared for the battle ahead. 
Distinguished colleagues, the pen and ink that will write our stories have already been put to work by a combination of those who want us to fail and those who want us to succeed. The choice is ours now . 
I implore us all to be slow to judgment of one another, more accommodating of other people’s views and most importantly respect one another especially our leaders .

Our time has come, let us embrace it confidently, passionately and in great humility .

Imperfect me, 
Lai Labode , Chairman PDP YOUTH CIRCUIT

21 Rules Of Political Survival ( Liliput Version)...Lai Labode

21 Rules Of Political Survival  ( Liliput Version)

1. Be Strategically Cautious 
2. Exude positivity always 
3.  Be slow to shoot but shoot to kill 
4. Make less female enemies 
5. Negotiate passionately but unemotionally  
6. Never celebrate negativity in public 
7. Reward Loyalty at a good cost 
8. Punish disloyalty slowly but surely 
9. Seek self improvement always 
10. Respond to Political Attacks Like a King 
11. Avoid the trap of arrogance or pride 
12. Never be afraid of to Apologize 
13. Seek Knowledge Deliberately
14.  Sleep with political enemies but  in day time 
15. Be prepared for betrayals 
16. Use negative press positively  
17. Invest in information gathering 
18. Be known to friends and foes as politically reliable 
19. Choose long term political allies in no haste 
20. Never criticize your leader in public .
21. Arrange for others to blow your trumpet 


Lai Labode , 10th March 2013

Ohimai Amaize: APC, heal thyself first

My attention was drawn to comments in the media, last week, by the National Youth Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Ebikibina Miriki, castigating the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for what he posited as PDP’s failure to develop a comprehensive youth policy for the country. Hear him:

“It is against this background that we, the youth leaders of the merging political parties and youth from other associations, do hereby reaffirm our full support and commitment to the merger of our parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

Beautiful story; perfect myth!

But how did we get here and where do we go from here?

In not too recent times, fantastic myths like these have characterized our politics and rhetoric. It is easy, too easy, to single out what the ruling party is not doing well but it is very difficult to present a superior alternative. What the ACN youth leader has just done – on behalf of his fellow youth leaders in APC – is nothing but a casual assertion – something anyone could have carelessly uttered in the name of espousing an opinion.

Nigeria has never lacked the diagnosis of critics. What we have lacked is the “superior alternative cure.” As citizens of this great country, I believe we all carry a measure of the cure Nigeria needs, irrespective of whether we are APC or PDP. It bothers me when we reduce the politics of national development to political party A, B or C. At present, no political party in Nigeria can really boast of having the “superior ideology”.

None!

Sometime ago, I declared on this column that we are all PDP. I was, almost, wrestled to the ground with the bullets of Twitter outrage from those who think one has started eating the PDP’s political pounded yam. No wahala. But today, very few can deny the fact that what we have as APC, is at best, a distorted and very poor imitation of PDP. Such a vain contraption!

So, who is fooling whom?

We need to understand the psychodynamics of who we are as a people, where we are as a nation, what we have tried in the past and what suits our contextual reality. The Americans have “The American Dream”. What is the “Nigerian Dream”? Do we even need a Nigerian Dream simply because the Americans have one? Do we really need this “ruling party” and “opposition” contraption or what we need is a one party state as successfully practiced by China?

At some point, for us to make progress as a nation, we will need to decide what we want: party ideology or performance? Good manifestoes or good leaders? Maybe what we need is a seamless combination of all of these.

Permit my digression. I’m searching for answers.

I can see clearly that a superficial approach to our democratic experience will produce nothing but a bundle of contradictions as often reflected by the notion that what we simply need to advance as a nation is a change of the party in power. It is this sort of thinking that produces comments like the one credited to the ACN youth leader. No political philosopher could have captured the emerging contradictions of this paradigm as Paulo Freire in his landmark book; Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Freire posits that:

 “It is only the oppressed who, by freeing themselves, can free their oppressors. The latter, as an oppressive class, can free neither others nor themselves. It is therefore essential that the oppressed wage the struggle to resolve the contradiction in which they are caught, and the contradiction will be resolved by the appearance of the new man: neither oppressor nor oppressed, but man in the process of liberation. If the goal of the oppressed is to become fully human, they will not achieve their goal by merely reversing the terms of the contradiction, by simply changing poles.”

If we really want to perform in this “ruling party” versus “opposition party” orchestra, young Nigerians in opposition parties like the ACN or APC must begin to draw critical lessons from the PDP Youth Circuit where intelligent debates and conversations supersede anecdotal conclusions.

Evidence bears this out.

In 2001, under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the PDP government enacted a National Youth Policy. The policy provides an overarching framework for youth development in Nigeria and remains valid till this day. ACN youth leader and others, take note.

Up till this moment, no one in the APC or ACN has shown us what its national youth policy looks like. Apparently, none seems to exist. You can’t produce a better leadership for Nigeria by simply demonizing your opponents. You will need to sweat it out on the intellectual front. Nigerians aren’t stupid!

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Ohimai Godwin Amaize is popularly known as Mr. Fix Nigeria, Amaize was born on September 9, 1984. He is an alumnus of the premier University of Ibadan, Nigeria with a post-graduate certificate in “Managing for Integrity”, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. He is a registered member, People’s Democratic Party. He tweets @MrFixNigeria.

PDP Youth Circuit Congratulates Governor Godswill Akpabio

 The PDP Youth Circuit (PDPYC), offers our warmest congratulations on your latest addition to your already cozy cabinet of excellence as the Chairman of PDP Governors Forum.

Your emergence to Chair the Governors on the the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is no surprise to us as you have stood out as a shining example amongst your colleagues.

Your Uncommon Transformation drive in Akwa Ibom State cannot also be over-emphasized. The total emancipation of the Akwa Ibom Child, the free and compulsory basic education, to mention but a few stands to define your leadership focus that seeks to give plausible face to our beloved Party.
We can continue to enumerate your many achievements as our own, but suffice it to say that your reward is of God.

Indeed you have taken over a Forum that has endured long and sustained battering from people who by affiliations, do not understand the mandates of the Forum, and beneath the battering lies hatred and divisions that translates to everything but peace. We are however hopeful that by the grace of God and with your sterling quality as a peacemaker and lover, you will enthrone resilient peace, the sort that is enjoyed in Akwa Ibom to the Forum vis-à-vis Nigeria.

PDP Youth Circuit as a body was formed in line with the agenda of the National Chairman of Our Great Party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to among other things, rebrand the Party through Youth Participation and governance through the development of a network of disciplined, competent and principled individuals positively impacting Nigeria.
The PDP Youth Circuit is strongly and viably represented.

We wish you every success in your new role.

Please accept our Dear Governor, the assurance of our total supports.

Long live PDP Youth Circuit
Long live The Peoples Democratic Party
Long live Nigeria

National secretary