The sin of quota-system and allocation of resources

By Chima M. Amadi… Allocation of the oil fields, quota-system allocation, federal fund allocation, state fund allocation, local government and council fund allocations. Allocation of this and allocation of that. Allocation is the root and mother of all the corruptions in Nigeria.

Undue and autocratic allocation of the state resources and sensitive government positions; to ourselves, to our friends, to our relatives, to special but less qualified individuals, to our regions and to our states, to our tribe and tribesmen, to our own religious affiliates, to where we have personal interests and expectations; by those with executive privileges in power, has been the most negative tool that has affected the development of the Nigerian state and economy since her independence.

The verb “to allocate” share common synonyms with “to share” and “to distribute” and it has been defined as “to give/share/distribute something to someone” (mostly, in form of token reward or outright present). In Nigeria, you cannot but discuss allocation without the mention of the word military, dictatorship, Godfather-ism, etc. A Godfather is all you need in Nigeria to get unduely faster and unfairly ahead of your colleagues and mates at federal institutions and schools, at the army, the police, customs, immigration, diplomatic posts, political appointments, oil fields, even importation of prohibited items, actually everything… This trend is so deep in the system that most Nigerians dream and struggle to “belong” than to succeed of their own skills and effort.

Looking back, the so many coup-d’etat and military dictatorships, no doubt destroyed all the burocratic apparatus installed by the British, before and after the independence. These military governments in my opinion systematically twisted, damaged and perhaps forced Nigerians to accept their fate in prayer instead of in reighteousness. They systematically forced Nigerians to learn to pray in as singular form “I shall succeed”, “me and my family”. Everyone wants a miracle, a life changing even and allocation, but ironically only those with Godfathers succeed. Psychologically, most Nigerians are mentally twisted, they see succeess in taking undue advantage of others, Godfatherism and undue allocation of (mostly govt.) resources at the detriment of fairness and at the detriment “together we are stronger”.
Some call it nepotism and some call it favoritism.

For me, it is not only the same thing as corruption, it is the root of all corruptions. Citizens do not believe in Nigeria of hard work, instead they work for years, hoping for their own chance, for what could be allocated to them by the system, by their friends in power. You can imagine what will happen when that opportunity eventually arrives. People confiscate government funds without remorse and without iota of guilt. After all the others make it through undue allocation and through quota-system advantage instead of on merit. It is the same reason no one loves Nigeria deeply.

When you give the people you represent, the people you are fighting for, founded and substantiated reasons to feel disadvantaged, to feel different from a few or from the others, to feel left behind and ostracized; then you systematically build a revolt, a protest which may take different shapes in manifestation. In fact, the irony is in pretending to be fighting corruption, but at the same time nurse and nourish the basic ingredients that fattens the same corruption.

Allocation of “state-owned” resources and positions to “special people or persons” in any state, in any country or in any organization is stealing of a special kind and it is worst than corruption. It is a perfect moral killer of the working class and it is a perfect recipe for lack of morals and remorseless undertakings by the citizens, against the same state/country they serve. Where undue allocation of anything to unfitting, to undeserved groups or individuals thrives, rule of law and fairness diminishes and stealing is encouraged. The consequence is one becomes a rogue in his/her capacity, to catch up.

Morally examined, there is no difference between a dictator who forced the national treasury account private unto himself, documents his stealing procedures, call them the state’s constitution and force them on his citizens (to keep his loots) and his secretary who stole his cheques and forged his signatures. This is exactly the case of allocation of govt. resourses and corruption in Nigeria.

A bigger thief calls the smaller thief a criminal. The Nigerian high ranking political executives (the bigger thieves) led by ALL her past presidents, hide under what I call “allocation constitution” which they made for themselves, and from there call their subordinates, the smaller thieves in other government arms and ministries criminals.

The truth is that the combined Nigerian operating system is corrupt because her foundation was built on unfair treatment of many, on allocation of resources to unmerited groups, to individuals and on deprivation of reward per excellence primarily based on birth right quota-system.

Circumstance they say make even a saint a thief. No one can seriously fight corruption at the federal level, in the states and local government quarters without first killing the Nigerian kind of quota-system (where the best comes last) completely. No one can fight corruption in Nigeria, without a radical unselfish executive order or legislative check and balance actions in place making it difficult for any one person, a president, a minister, a governor, a local govt. chairman or even a council chancellor to have the only and absolute access to public funds or to manage those funds without instant checks and balances from independent authorities readily available.

I thought these are some of the places where Buhari’s concentration should seriously be, fighting corruption in Nigeria. So far, he has in my opinion been busy cementy and solidifying the real causes of corruption in Nigeria.

Corruption can only breed corruption and fairness in most cases guarantees a peaciful mind. Just like anything in life, no one can sincerely fight corruption without first cleaning up the root of that corruption. No one can seriously fight corruption for instance without first cleaning up the whole bureaucratic flops and lope-holes that still “legally” allow a few Nigerians profit from every barrel of oil exported by the Nigerian state, while the others, especially the ancestral owners of the same oil-field watch from the sideline.

No private Nigerian citizen should have the right to own a Nigerian oil field through allocation benefits. We all know who did “the allocating” of those oil fields, how and why. Yet our previous and present presidents and their governments have failed to revoke those allocations.

Instead, they beat all around the bushes, pretend and lie to themselves. But the thing is, the kids and the Nigerians on the sidelines are watching. They have been watching and waiting for their own or any opportunity to strike back.

As long as there are still the Nigerian type of qouta-system in place (justified by the law), as long as they know that a Danjuma could sell his own oil field allocation for 500 million Dollars, they all will find justification in the same disfunctional system when their own time arrives.

If you still do not understand what is wrong with Nigeria, go ahead and continue to pray? And while you pray, do remember the “luckier than thou” Nigerians? Pray for them too.

Ripples Nigeria…without borders,,without fears

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