Corruption will not end unless something drastic happens. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Last week, Kenyans woke up to the drama of a highly-placed
individual behaving in a way that was way beneath the expectation of the
holder of such an office.
This
however is not the first case of office holders behaving badly. An
official was caught on tape slapping someone. There is also the footage
of two elected politicians engaged in a fist fight.
In
Nigeria, there was a time when members of the National Assembly threw
chairs at each other. When we see supposedly respectable people behaving
badly we get upset, but in reality the problem is deeper than what we
see. The problem is the expression of a society that is deprived of
decorum and good manners.
FRAUDSTER
There
was a young man who was recently arrested by the FBI. He was a Nigerian
who had portrayed himself as the newest thing in entrepreneurship. He
was invited to several places to share his story: Multitudes wanted to
hear his wisdom. At the end of it all, he was a fraudster and he was
caught.
I remember years ago another
young man who presented himself as the youngest billionaire in town.
People flocked to wherever he was speaking and they held on to his every
word. He was the toast of morning shows on television, and hopped from
one network to another. Again, it turned out that there was no substance
to back the image. It was all a facade.
Why are we so gullible? Why do we fall for the
same thing over and over again even when it is coming from politicians
or entertainers or so-called business people?
There
is the story of a couple that reportedly has a violent relationship.
That does not stop fans from gushing over them in admiration and hanging
on to their every word. When they hosted an event for couples,
thousands showed up. My wife, a colleague and I were discussing this and
the big question was, what did they tell people?
The
truth is that no matter what they said, people left the event full of
adoration for the “wonderful” couple, even though they probably fought
again when they got home.
THE PROBLEM IS US
The
biggest problem in our society is us. It is our lack of values of
distinction. I remember once when I went to a government office and
outside, there was a large sign that read, “This is a corruption free
zone”.
Inside, I met an official who
proudly told us that a businessman who had just left the office had come
with a $200,000 bribe for the government officials to approve a design
that did not meet the city requirements, and they did.
When
I asked why they would approve it, he said that now that they were in
office it was “their turn to eat”. He went further on to explain that
many people were depending on him, and so he needed to take care of
himself in order to take care of all his dependants.
And
therein lies our problem. We are a society that is more interested in
what people have than in how they obtained what they have.
CORRUPTION BY ANY OTHER NAME
It
is for this reason that corruption will not end unless something
drastic happens. When a person gives away more than their annual salary
at a single fundraising event, we celebrate it. It is the fault of the
people who created a conducive environment for theft to thrive.
The
concept of corruption will soon fade away, not because the vice has
ended but because it has attained a new status. Because of the
environment that we have created that looks only at actions without
regard for inner values, a person will steal and be called a thief,
steal again and still be called a thief, steal yet again and be called a
thief but get to a point where because of the good works they do with
the money, they will continue to steal and finally attain the status of
Robin Hood — the champion of the poor and the helper of the helpless.
At
that point, we will have a truly “corrupt-free” society, which is what
we deserve. It is the reward for placing a premium on how things appear
over how they really are.
Welcome to the continent of Robin Hoods. There is absolutely nowhere like Africa!
Wale Akinyemi is the chief transformation officer at PowerTalks
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