Come to think of it, all we have ever known as Nigerians, through the years, is that the rich get richer while the poor stayed poor, or are even getting poorer.
Don't get me wrong, the general standards of living have improved, and the types of abject poverty from way back in the day are no longer there; but still, the deprivation and the relative degree of lack has never alleviated one bit.
Great numbers of people still lack some of the things long taken for granted in western countries:
(1) Potable water: The rich among us still dig boreholes for water, while the poor have to either fetch water from the streams and rivers, or buy from water tankers.
(2) Healthcare: Most of our people rely on “chemists” and other forms of self medication to treat themselves of common illnesses. They only get to the hospitals when too late.
(3) Electricity: Only the rich are confident of enjoying a limited supply of electricity usually from gen-sets.
In the absence of these three key facilities, even if our food supply has improved somewhat, life expectancy cannot improve concurrently because of the complementary nature of all the instruments of quality living. Little wonder why Nigeria's life expectancy has not changed positively in years!
All these are making me to feel that maybe we should take a second look at the type of capitalism that we practice. Capitalism has many different shades, and the good news is that it can be shaped according to the culture of the people who practice it.
A careful look at the African, nay Nigerian, culture would reveal that -at individual levels- the people tend to look after one another more than counterparts in Europe or Asia for example. It is common to see a single rich Nigerian take on the burden of an entire village. A rich Nigerian is automatically expected to be a philanthropist, and most of the time they become one even if they didn't set out to.
This is African culture. It is taken for granted, yet is very significant if we really want to create an alternative development and economic culture best suited to our mental and cultural mindset.
This issue is significant because, though some of the rich Nigerians take care of their own towns and villages (building roads, schools, hospitals, etc), they never get any form of incentive from the government to encourage them to do more. What we have is a system that encourages everyone to seek wealth for personal financial security, and then collects tax from everyone (and even the poor through VAT), which may not be used by the government in such a way that benefits the less privileged.
Put bluntly, these funds mostly get lost in the bureaucratic wood-works, and are never used to provide the needs of poor people in Nigeria. The “every-man-to-himself” capitalist system only increases levels of competition in society and decreases the spirit of brotherhood among our people. That is how our society has progressively become so caustic that neighbors no longer even greet one another these days.
Neighbors children no longer play together, particularly peoples of different economic classes.
There was a time when a whole village would troop to the airport to welcome home a single member of the community that completed studies overseas. It was that way because every member of the community felt part ownership of his or her success. Today, what obtains is a frightening level of cynicism, jealousy, envy, and other negative feelings from kin and village members of a successful person. Such a feeling breeds all kinds of evil thoughts and machinations that make Africa a very bad place these days.
Why don't we try a different system, a system that, for example, would give tax credits, breaks and other loan facilities to successful men and women who provide for the upkeep of their own peoples?
These people already know their own communities, are already helping them, and know how best to solve individual needs among their own people. So, it would be a cinch for them to do these more, with enough encouragement by the government. Such a strategy would encourage more rich people to share their wealth where it is needed most -at the local levels. The government can also channel cultural and neighborhood improvement ideas through their “Rich for the poor” campaign and gradually use such vehicle to rebuild our civil society which has all but been destroyed by capitalism unchained.
When, for example, the former governor of Anambra state Mr Peter Obi decided to hand back the schools to the missionaries, that is exactly why the move proved successful. The missionaries used to own the schools, and knew all the issues involved and how to solve them.
Anambra today is consistently ranking top in Nigeria's secondary school education
This new system, if implemented well, can end kidnapping, armed robbery, "yahoo yahoo" crimes, sale of babies, rampaging wickedness -basically all associated societal ills can be rolled back.
Not every human being is entrepreneurial, and not even every human being may want to do 9am – 5pm jobs. Some can help the society in many different but useful ways. Some of these can take care of “chores” in the community such as walking children to and from schools, aiding old peoples in the villages and local communities, keeping watch to help local policing, running errands, doing farm work for villagers during farming season, and basically hanging out in the community keeping it alive, calm, less stressed, and entertained.
Just my thoughts!
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