In a Sea of Brown Faces
Repost. Originally posted August 13, 2018
Hey look! It’s Angelina Jolie come to save us again! I wonder what they've brought to help us out this time!
Most of us have seen this type of picture before - A sea of brown and black faces, surrounding one or two white ones, that have come to give them relief or aid. From shoes, desks, bras and vaccines, to mosquito nets, water and drugs, we are always waiting expectantly for foreigners to come provide us with the basics that we could very well provide for ourselves.
We have been turned into a helpless people with no ideas on how to come together and solve our own problems, that we are consistently expecting more intelligent people to come tell us what to do or give us what we need.
With the proliferation of irresponsible leadership in our midst, we do not take care of our communities and end up requiring the help from ‘benevolent’ saviors, to provide little thing like socks, sanitary pads for women, eggs, rice and other food items we are more than capable of growing and producing for ourselves. What is the cause of this submissive and followership behavior that makes us look up - or defer - to outsiders without making sustained attempts - as a community - to solve our own problems, so we can maintain the pride and dignity of our people?
A young Nigerian entrepreneur had a great idea on how to generate and distribute local water supply for his community, he designed a model, carried out feasibility studies and drew up a proposal, which he intended to present to his state government, hoping for a public/private partnership that could bring a lasting solution to the water crises plaguing the country. His hope was that, if the system worked well, it could be replicated by other communities and help bring some much-needed relief to his fellow country men, when it comes to clean, portable water supply.
Fast forward 18 month later – this young, creative and ambitious Nigerian, who has struggled through several dozen attempts at breaking through the echelon of the government hierarchy without success, is on the verge of giving up on his dreams, because his elected government officials are unresponsive and uninterested in actually doing their work. For those he’d been able to meet - after paying “access fees” to gain their audience - were not interested in the project, because it was an honest attempt at solving a major problem and there were no kickbacks promised for them.
In a gathering among friends, an acquaintance who had just won a major road construction contract, finally told him he was going about it all wrong. The helpful friend informed him that the secret to success on a project like that, was to go directly to the top – the governor of the state – if he wanted approval for his project. But, he couldn’t go on his own or as the head of the project, because he would not gain traction if officials knew an indigene was the advocate for such a capital intensive project.
He kindly pointing out that those in power in Nigeria, rarely took Nigerian citizens seriously and were rather dismissive of their ideas and concerns. The trick was to find a white man to front for him and act as the idea behind the project to give him credibility and all doors would open like magic!
Drake University Professor Laura Kinnard, guest speaker for the grand opening launch of a multiple-story Innovation Hub sponsored by the Federal Government in Nigeria and Edo State.
Below: multiple-story Innovation Hub Edo
This is an unfortunate scenario, that plays out in every level of government, where the Nigerian – in Nigeria – can not gain traction for a project they conceive, to help improve their community and need the presence of a foreigner to gain access to their elected officials. For ideas that break ground, we end up passing on the glory for the ideas we have to the foreigner, fostering the idea that nothing good can come from within our country.
We cannot see the good that lies within us and yet, wonder why nothing works in the country. Our sense of regard, respect, self-worth and communal trust is at an all time low. We have ceded our dignity and intelligence to outsiders and seem to have lost the ability or willingness to look out for each other and the best interest of our communities. We have become a nation of followers, unable to come up with bold original ideas that break the mold. Is there nothing we can do to fix this? Can we take control of our destiny and re-imagine the things we can achieve as a nation, without help from outsiders?
A ‘followers’ state of mind does not and cannot breed real leaders. Unfortunately, the willingness of a large majority of the population to unquestioningly believe and follow religious leaders, who have lead us to believe that the solution to our socioeconomic problems lies in prayers - coupled with our lack of strong, purpose driven, innovative leadership - distracts from our claim to parity. We are continually viewed by the international community as the ‘lesser’ partner in the scheme of things, the one constantly lacking substance and ideas and always in need of aid and guidance. As our country continues to decline, we can and must do better to lift it up, from where it is today!