'To Fight Corruption, Change Mindset...........

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'To Fight Corruption, Change Mindset of Nigerians'

Roland Ogbonnaya
This Day
10th Nov. 2005

Over the past seven years, the Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation has tried, through its series of annual lectures, to change Nigeria's socio-economic, political and value systems. Every year, dignitaries are invited to speak or address one particular socio-economic issue or the other all geared towards making the system a better place to live.

On November 17, the foundation is also bringing international dignitaries to share their experience at this year's Anyiam-Osigwe annual lecture. Those expected to speak at the lecture include Brazil's former President, Ferdinand Henrique Cardoso and Mrs. Tipper Al-Gore, the wife of former United States vice president Al Gore.

The Coordinator of the lecture series, Mr. Michael Anyiam-Osigwe said these people are coming in keeping with the tradition of their mentor and father, Chief Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe.

He speaks further on this year's lecture: "Well, as you know the lecture series derives from our mentor's body of work where he is trying to express his view about his ideas on various aspects of human existence and development. This year our central theme is "The Mindset Factor in Creative Transformation". The idea, he said is to examine the underpinning philosophy for development because "if you look at the world today, in different countries that have made success of their economy, of their polity, of the standard of living of her people, we believe there are paradigms for success for that group that are working".

In all these, he however noted that Africa seems to be having a lot of difficulties in bringing about this successful transformation. In order to change the human person, he said there is a need to change the thinking of that person. So, he reduces the problem of what he regards as mind set factor as "the way we think impacts our behaviour, our behaviour impacts on our actions".

Anyiam-Osigwe explained that these year's speakers will be looking at that aspect of how do one uses the mindset "in bringing about creative transformation?" How you can engender in Nigeria a national mindset? How you can get the topics to address their minds to ideas you have?

"President Olusegun Obasanjo is talking about reforms. How do you translate this concept of economic, socio-political reforms to have a tangible meaning for each of us in our various stations in life? Whether we are in the villages, whether we are in the farm, whether we are in Aso Rock, whether we are journalists, business people. How do we get everyone to buy into this vision? What makes one country succeed and another one not succeed? What makes one region of the world to be able to transform itself and another one cannot do it?" he asked rhetorically.

Anyiam-Osigwe talks about the need to carry every member of society along, whether they are physically or mentally challenged people or at the low end of the economic ladder to carry everyone along. "So, we are also within that concept going to be discussing the integration of the physically and mentally challenged in the development process. And that's where you have the concept of all minds at work, all hands on deck," he added.

He said in Igbo language "we have something we say that a mad person is good to be offered to the gods. But there is one important consideration. From which family is he from? Because if you say this person is mad and you offer him to the gods, the question that will arise is from which family. That he is mad is okay, but which family did he come from? When you now offer him to the gods it impacts on that family. How do we care for our psychiatric patients, how do we care about our physically challenged people. Are we integrating them in the development process or are we just regarding them as object of welfare that has been left to the whims of you and I. It depends on how we feel about being charitable or not".

The lecture series coordinator said that the foundation is convinced that those coming to speak are versatile, "people with third world experience at transformation. Initially we were looking for people from what is called the "Asian Tigers" but then in the course of discussion we also felt we should also try to get people that have some familiarity with African influences.

"We decided to go to Brazil to get the former Brazilian President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. He has been responsible for a lot of transformation that Brazil has experienced. Also within that scope as well, we noted that we have written quite a number of books dealing with the subject matter and he may not come to tell us what to do but he will at least tell us how he did what he did. Perhaps, we can borrow or learn from that experience," the coordinator added.

Similarly, the foundation also invited someone who has worked and is still working with physically and mentally people in person of Gore's wife. He said Mrs. Gore who will speak on integrating the physically and mentally challenged in the development process, while Cardoso will speak on "Socio-Political and Economic Development: Engendering a National Mindset".

Others coming for the lecture this year include the King of Ashanti Kingdom, King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, a man whom studies reveal that he is one monarch who has transformed the traditional institution in the Ashanti Kingdom into what is perhaps the most modern African monarch. "So, we have invited him to do that underpinning of the need to be king with African identity."

He also takes on the democratic system, which he said, the country practice without actually understanding it. "If you look at our indigenous political system, how do the Igbos for instance structure representative government? It is through the congress of town unions. You come from your family. You are selected on the basis that you are bold or that you are very honest, or that you are very wise. You go and represent your family at the village square. At the village square the same considerations will be taken to pick those who will go to the town union.

"So, when you go there is not because Mr. Oji is richer than Michael that he will go there. Everybody knows everybody's family. So, it is very well insulated from the amorphous nature of politics. If you say you want 100 people from this street I can bring you people and other people from the next house and then we all go to the rally.

"These are things that we must begin to look at in understanding ourselves. Why have we not been able to get it right? We have not been able to get it right because we have not been able to engineer the proper leadership at all levels. You have some people in this country who are very good, people like late Ransome Kuti who was Minister of Health. He did exceptionally well. There are other people but we have not been able to create a situation where you can say we have our best eleven that are taking us to the level which we want," he stressed.

He expressed the need to fundamentally re-examine what "our mind set is and begin to look at these things in more critical details and see whether we can actually effect a paradigm shift. The foundation's overall perspective if you like, is that of intellectual activism of some kind. We believe that the work we are doing is to try to sensitise people at the intellectual level".

Anyiam-Osigwe said though there is no single answer to the nation's problems; however, he said the foundation feels strongly about the mindset as a factor. "Let me give you an example of this concept of the mindset. Some years ago we visited South Africa. We were on a visit to a certain mall with a quite number of Nigerians. After the tour some of us in the delegation brought out money to give to the tour guides just to thank them in return. And it was all in good faith. But they refused.

"They said thank you that we should write them a recommendation. We said where can we write that, they gave us the address and some of them even went and brought papers that we should just write a recommendation for them that we are satisfied with the way they conducted us round. We were all perplexed because it has never happened to you in your country. Some of us took pen and paper and wrote right there and then. And people kept talking about it. They never accepted the money.

This very incident has happened to me personally about six or seven times in South Africa. The last was at the airport on a recent visit. I got down and brought money to give but they said I should given them a commendation. The guy said to me thank you very much I would rather you give me commendation. Though I was busy I wrote a commendation at the back of my complimentary card and gave it to him.

"And one of the supervisors that were there came to me to thank me and say that he is happy that we understand what the practice is. For me that is a mindset. If they have succeeded in making someone to realise that it is more important to get a piece of paper for someone who has satisfactorily served than take whatever amount of money they think they are going to get," he speaks about corruption.

Corruption, he said is a systemic problem in Nigeria because "you go to the Catholic Church every Sunday the prayer is about corruption. Some people have questioned why that prayer because corruption is not always because you come in trying to induce someone to do something for you. Some times it is that people are standing on your way of what you rightly deserve. And if you don't give that money then your business or whatever will be frustrated".

He said it is not always right to reduce everything to poverty as it is perhaps a question of the mindset. "It is about what we are doing wrong and not necessarily what is wrong with us. It is what we are doing wrong that we have not been able to make right turn. Because it doesn't matter how long you have been on the wrong way as long as you make the right turn. The nation has to look and think of how to make the right turn".

Before now, there were people who already had positive mindset, what then went wrong? the coordinator was asked. "There are quite a number of people who are thinking right but we have not attained that critical point. How are we going to do it? Like I said, there is no magic wand approach. It is a painstaking process. We feel that this question of altering the mindset to engender an appropriate mindset within the populace as a whole, we require going back go the basics, from the cradle to the top".

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