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UNDERSTANDING THE PSYCHE OF THE AVERAGE NIGERIAN[color=#0000FF][/color] Monday, November 3, 2008 at 10.38am
My foray into this topic is like an expert surgeon attempting to create a holistic interpretation of a seemingly vague x-ray film standing before him. I have always been intrigued by the stereotyped thought process of the average Nigerian. Therefore the piece below is analytical as I have forked a few of the most vivid traits and tried expounding them. It is by no means derogative: I’m passionate about creating change. As Nigerians we must begin to take our seats in the theatre of wisdom and higher logic.
The average Nigerian is not a leader and lacks leadership skills. He is ignorant and sometimes does not acknowledge it. This appears to be pervasive: he is averse to taking up leadership roles and responsibilities and is wont to blaming anyone for his woes instead of taking full responsibility and ownership of his life. He could expend money or days in prayer houses but would not as much as lift a finger concerning knowledge based seminars, programs and awareness campaigns; Mr. A would blame the government for short-changing the citizenry because of multiple tales of corruption and selfish tendencies but is reluctant leading a revolution for best practices within his local town hall meeting. Mrs. B would complain about the filth in the city but is lazy about walking a few meters away from her regular indiscriminate dump site to government authorized dump sites. This attitude I believe is sole causative factor for the dearth of leaders from Nigeria. Actually, at the end of day nothing gets done!
It would interest you that a fall out of this is an attitude of selfishness. Few selfless individuals. You would near always observe that scenic and massive Houses adorn both sides of grotesque roads which have gradually become demonic nightmares; have you ever watched the degree of fighting and discomfort individuals will trade with each other at the sight of a long awaited ‘Danfo’moribund volks wagen 15 seater bus? Transport fares are arbitrarily hiked (most times without clear justification) without recourse to the financial capacity of the prospective passenger. These self-appointed business men make money-making look like a do or die affair. I am usually appalled by the despicable customer service we have at the so-called international cum ultra-modern markets. This is where you buy goods without even a ‘one day warranty’ and after-sales service clearly not available. Of course this reduces the chances of making the right purchase at these stalls into a luck game.
It’s amazing how much low self esteem has permeated our social fabric as a nation. Our society places an unnecessary premium on paper qualifications and is ignorant of the importance of the right skill set, attitude, mental capacity etc Paper qualifications are a copy-cat work from the west that have since moved beyond that realm. The western world understands well this challenge of the average Nigerian and therefore will comfortably sell junk and junk ideas/expired wares/moribund technology/untested cars etc to the Nigerian market simply because it appeals to our larger-than-life ego. We are more comfortable with products from the west rather than same products from within Nigeria only because it appears to set us apart as elitist. The average Nigerian is yet to build his competency within. More worrisome is when his sense of well being and esteem is without.
The average Nigerian is ingenious but is not business savvy. He does not understand what good and sustainable business is. More worrisome is the fact that he is unskilled and he does not know that it is a problem. The regular Nigerian TV business reality show will reveal that we are not a nation lacking ideas. Our entrepreneurs are simply not skilled, poor strategist and not willing to delay gratification. The few that have defied this challenge, today, have become business behemoths. What can be done to salvage this problem? First, we must acknowledge that there is a problem (This is one of the objectives of this essay). When we deny or attempt to deny we only put the solution further away from us. It is also important to dimension the problem so that we have a complete understanding of the component parts of the issue. More so, we must ask the right questions to get the right solutions. For example, what can be done to solve the decay in social values which has consequently created selfish Nigerians? Do we need to put in place more accountability, monitoring and oversight functions? Do we overhaul the existing machinery of governance? Will strengthening the judiciary and control system make Nigerians less self-serving and patient enough to allow instituted processes take their normal course? Can we build more leadership academies, business schools, town hall meetings (melt pot for intelligent discussion) as much as we raise prayer houses?
A transformed Nigerian is Africa’s gold mine; so much on the globe depends on it. I’m interested in local champions but global competency. How about you?
_________________ No limits, No boundaries...a change agent!
Joined: Mon May 29, 2006 3:06 am Posts: 398 Location: UNKNOWN
I personally feel that the more we believe, the more we'll seek to learn (& do) and the more our selfishness will reduce. The average nigerian doesn't expect much from life so why should he put in much? Why shdn't he try to scam? When I didn't expect much from education I didn't put in much, I didn't believe much and etc Same applies to work, relationships etc. Many foreign films (i.e. US films) are motivational - just so that they, the viewers, can believe! And the only way to believe is to have an open mind and avoid fear mongering (fear mongering is the most common commodity in Nigeria)
Good post but like most essays/articles decrying Nigeria. The Author becomes a victim of what he is preaching against. He itemizes the causative factors and fails to show us the way forward.
I'm tired of reading about what is right/wrong with Nigeria. I'll rather read what you have done to make that change. That is the true inspiration.
Truth is everyone has some moral compass of where we should be.
Nigeria, we hail thee! Yes, we will not seize to offer solutions and be solution in ourselves to the many calamities of Nigerians. One thing I wish to say is we need to purposely fight ignorance in this nation, Nigeria. I mean purposely. Its not about academic degrees this time around. Its about the right conscience and attitude to issues. 'I can make a change' is a mindset many of us do not want to even accept as proper Nigerians. But we can even go as simply as this as a first step. We can make every man know and understand that he can make a change. No matter what, wherever any person is or whatever he does in Nigeria, we can say he still feels the pinch of the demoralized society. He feels the need for this change. I was home in Nija not long ago and was felt so bad(not exaggerating at all) about how people's lack of enthusiasm. We need to build people again, my people. We need to be enthusiastic about them, their issues and pains again! We need to show them that they can be leaders of positive changes. We need to point them to the heroes and why they became heroes. We really need to fight our ignorance. People need to feel themselves again. They are not dead, so they can be impacted and can create impact! I just cant seem to stop to explain these painfully plain insights in simplistic details because we have been told the wrong things too long and we have believed them far too long We need to let people know that it is really easy to make it! Am sure that last statement has triggered the wrong button on some minds but can you imagine that? We have always told ourselves you cant make it, nobody makes it in this country and all sort of ignorance propagating statement or failure generating statements have filled our minds. Sometimes, I wonder how I escape such a times but realize am still a victim to a large extent. We can make the impact. The more teach, speak or propagate these wrong statements the more they find ways to become our realities. We need a mind eraser!!! We need mind erasing. We need vision re-writers. They may be leaders in government. But they can be teachers, they can be journalists. They can be actors. They can be commentators. They can be parents. They can be bigger or older or richer fellows on the same street in the localiest of areas! They can be the next person! We can make the necessary change. We can rewrite our future. We can be the beginning of a new era, a new Nigeria. Once again, I say, Nigeria, we hail thee!
_________________ Ideabroker(c)- Ideas that fuel positive change come from the Most High God. Ibroker(c)
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We need to let people know that it is really easy to make it! Am sure that last statement has triggered the wrong button on some minds but can you imagine that? We have always told ourselves you cant make it, nobody makes it in this country and all sort of ignorance propagating statement or failure generating statements have filled our minds. Sometimes, I wonder how I escape such a times but realize am still a victim to a large extent. We can make the impact. The more teach, speak or propagate these wrong statements the more they find ways to become our realities. We need a mind eraser!!! We need mind erasing. We need vision re-writers. They may be leaders in government. But they can be teachers, they can be journalists. They can be actors. They can be commentators. They can be parents. They can be bigger or older or richer fellows on the same street in the localiest of areas! They can be the next person! We can make the necessary change. We can rewrite our future. We can be the beginning of a new era, a new Nigeria.