Nigeria's quota system

Nigeria’s Quota System… An Impediment to True Growth and Development

“We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.” --- John W. Gardner

In the United States at the present time, the movement against affirmative action (or quotas as my republican colleagues like to call it) resulted in a couple of states (albeit through private individuals), namely Washington and California taking their case to the electorate via initiatives aimed at gauging the political inclination of a majority of the people. In the state of California for example and subsequently Washington, proposition 209 (for the abolition of racial and gender discrimination and preferences at the local, state, and federal levels) was passed and rather handily. The passing of this infamous proposition in the aforementioned states was indeed reflective of the general attitudes of whites in America with regard to so called quotas, which they felt had unduly favoured blacks and other minorities even though the overwhelming evidence is to the contrary.

While the battle still rages on (both in and outside the courts), there is one thing that both sides agree upon… that it was a justifiable program (though may have been badly implemented over time) to correct the past injustices against minorities in the United States, African-Americans in particular.

This therefore provides a good lead into Nigeria’s own version of “affirmative action” or quota system, or better still “federal character”, as our predatory northern “brothers” like to call it. What they fail to understand is that not only does this program as operated in Nigeria not lack character (in so far as it lacks merit), but more importantly there is nothing at all federal about this exercise in “intellectual genocide” when one considers the false premise (regarding their over-stated numerical advantage) upon which it is based and the effect (or lack thereof) it has had to date on the people it was supposed to benefit. After all, the numbers show the north to be even worse off than ever educationally and regarding other meaningful indices of growth and development. To make matters worse, not only is the quota system used (or shall we say misused) in the allocation of federal funds (resources), governmental positions in all sectors as well as banks, and schools, but it is also used in sports… I mean quota system for sports, could this be any more ridiculous!

While I do not claim to be an authority on the so-called north, all credible statistical information to date if I may reiterate, would suggest that the quota system is a failed experiment that needs to be aborted, and now to ensure the spirit of fairness and accountability, as no nation can experience true growth without the creation of an atmosphere that encourages competition in every arena.

The culture of dependency in the north has given way to that of over-dependency, laughable expectancy and blatant parasitism. Worse still, the advent of religious fanaticism, and bigotry, sexism, ethnocentrism, as well as an entrenched xenophobic disposition make it unlikely for the north to ever emerge from its quandary and squalor. It would seem to any right-thinking individual, going by the belligerent posture of the northern hegemony towards any attempts to move that region forward, that they (the ruling class) probably like things just the way they are. In that case, it would seem rather foolhardy for the northern power structure to expect the south to continue to bear an overloaded and unrealistic burden… that would be amoral and therefore utterly untenable!

In the first instance, there was never a need (at least in my opinion) for this experiment to have been instituted. The south (the southwest in particular) took advantage and has continued to take advantage of the opportunities in all spheres of human endeavour within the Nigerian theatre of operation. These opportunities to the best of my knowledge have also been and continue to be available to the northern populace; however the aristocracy which has consistently proven itself to be lacking in character and vision, has reveled in the continued subjugation of its people with the continued denial of their right to self-determination.

According to the likes of Wada Nas, if there are thirty government positions, fifteen should go to the north, if there are eleven parastatal openings in the Ministry of Culture, and Tourism, six should go to the north, and if there are fifteen positions for physicians to be filled, probably seven should go to the north, right! By the way Malam Wada Nas (or whatever your delineation might be), should we also check their certificates to make sure they are qualified or whether they actually went through the four-walls of an institution of higher learning? Why do I get the feeling I know what your response to that question would be!

It is time for the culture of hard-work, personal commitment, accountability, as well as self-reliance and self-less dedication to come full circle, into the fray in the north. The recent agitation of the southern governors for the control of their resources and affairs must and will be heeded! It is in that regard that one is immensely troubled and disappointed (though not surprised) by the recent utterances of the northern governors to the contrary. The continued intransigence of these northern mal-administrators coupled with their inflammatory proclamations (obviously playing to the gallery of the lunatic fringe in the north) regarding the Oodua Peoples Congress (while a commission of inquiry is still sitting in Lagos) is evidence of the fact that they do not wish Nigeria well. As an American colleague of mine put it the other day, “if there is a malignant cancer in a part of your body, you cut that body part off!” The so-called north, from all accounts seems to have gone from being a benign cancerous growth to the real possibility of becoming malignant. There is without a doubt, a remedy for such an eventuality.

It would be criminal, were it not inhumane, to witness the continued rape and pillaging of the resources of the Niger-Delta while the inhabitants of that region have nothing whatsoever to show for their God-given resources. The life span of oil reserves is at most 100 years; the Nigerian economy has become too reliant on oil (accounting for 80% of the country’s revenue from exports) while its vast mineral deposits (which in contrast to oil have a life span of 400 years) have remained untapped. There is an urgent need for policy re-evaluation and economic diversification with a view to re-energizing the nations economy and the subsequent re-structuring of the body polity.

A society that realizes the existence of a culture of inequity in its domain but fails to act with a view to addressing this must obviously have rescinded itself to the unfortunate but avoidable fate of having its field of dreams become a nightmarish hell! The Nigerian government has the choice of either acting now (in good faith that is) or reacting later... as time is indeed of the essence. The great Eugene Ionesco couldn't have put it anymore profoundly when he said, "we haven't the time to take our time."

“The true way goes over a rope which is not stretched at any great height but just above the ground. It seems more designed to make people stumble than to be walked upon.” --- Franz Kafka