The lack of good conscience in all of us 

SIR: Whoever is worried at the situation of things in Nigeria, wondering how a country with so many natural resources and generating so much wealth would have a vast majority of its citizens living below the poverty level must realise that nothing else should be expected from a nation where both the ruler and the ruled are people without conscience.

Quite sadly so. To begin with, leaders are chosen from the people and so whatever attitude any leader displays in government is what he or she has grown with over the years. It should therefore not be surprising that in Nigeria, once sworn into office, the so-called leaders often abandon the masses to their fate. This is because instead of implementing policies that can alleviate people’s sufferings, those that would be considered are white elephant projects and programmes which in the long run would only serve to further enrich their already wealthy associates and cronies.  

In their different walks of life, the people themselves do not fare better and the common denominator among Nigerians is extreme greed, self-centeredness and lack of consideration for others. At the market place, traders think only of the profit they are out to make without thinking about the low purchasing power of their customers.

As unskilled labourers, they always want to take the pains they go through on daily basis out on people who are also barely managing to survive. They devise all manners of pranks to ensure that people are denied value for whatever they purchase and most people always get home before discovering that they have been shortchanged.  

Artisans, no matter whatever they are engaged in also see whoever approaches them for assistance as the one to carry all their burdens for the day. They fabricate all manners of lies in order to milk their unsuspecting clients and still end up doing mostly shoddy jobs.

Landlords increase house rents indiscriminately without considering whether or not there is any increase in salaries and in order to meet up, tenants engage in so many unwholesome practices. Drivers of commercial vehicles work in conjunction with touts to make transport system in Nigeria a complete nightmare.

School heads appropriate to themselves money meant for the smooth running of their schools thinking it’s their own share of national cake and not minding whether or not their action would affect both the learners and the members of staff under them. Teachers in public schools also abandon their students and enroll for WAEC supervision every year in the excuse of trying to augment their salaries.

None of them ever bother about how learners are adversely affected by this attitude of taking on other duties instead of focusing attention on those for whom they are being paid salaries. Neither does any of them also see anything wrong in collecting salaries for work not done. Besides, many of them get deeply involved in examination malpractice because of what they stand to gain from it. It never occurs to any of them that their own very sector in which they are engaged is continually bastardised.

The Nigerian health workers are the worst. All that concerns them is money and only those with enough funds receive prompt attention while all others are abandoned no matter the level of their pains. So many lives are being lost daily owing to their lackadaisical attitudes and instead of the government coming to the aid of the people by ensuring a return to sanity to that sector, top government functionaries would rather opt for medical tourism. 

Since all these are the common attitudes of Nigerians at the grassroots, it should not be surprising that whenever any of them eventually finds himself at the corridors of power, the same attitude of self-centeredness is bound to continue and his allegiance and concern would be for only his cronies and loyalists and will be less bothered even if the entire land is on fire. Leaders without conscience who seek medical attention abroad will never ask themselves if their medical tourism would be possible if they were not in power. They will never think about what others without such opportunity but having similar problems would do. It is also lack of conscience that makes leaders abandon the roads and opt for choppers instead of ensuring that the roads are not only good but also safe for all to ply without any hassles. 

The reason why almost all the youths in Nigeria have their eyes outside the country is never unconnected with the general attitude of greed and utter failure to take other people into cognizance by both the ruler and the ruled in Nigeria. Leaders and people abroad behave differently. The governments play their parts convincingly well while the people also carry out their own civic responsibility willingly without any involvement of force by the government. That explains why everything is in order over there and Nigerians majority of who are ever without conscience find it convenient to troop abroad to enjoy the fruits of the noble labour of others. What a shame. 
Jide Oyewusi is the coordinator of Ethics Watch International Nigeria.