Two years ago almost to the month, my wife and I had embarked on a trip to Ibadan on the ‘new, improved’ train service. It was a trip of choice, borne out of curiosity. The destination was IITA – that scenic, well maintained Institute for Tropical Agriculture which had long survived the test of time – to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary. We went with another couple that had become close family friends and was having the same landmark celebration. We had heard nice stories about the Lagos-Ibadan train service and we thought the ride would set the mood for what we hoped would be a pleasant weekend which also included the 70th birthday of a family member.

The cynic in me had wondered whether ‘any good could come out of Nazareth’. Nazareth in this case meaning a Nigerian enterprise. We were pleasantly surprised. Besides what I thought were a few teething problems, we had a good ride. More importantly, it was on time despite the stops on the way. This is something we take for granted in other climes but which has been a problem with us. Could what we experienced be sustained, let alone improved upon? The cynic in me would not be quiet. It was not without reasons. After all, we had a thriving inter-state train service which I had used before. We had a thriving inter-state air service which I had used before. We had a thriving inter-state road service which I had used before. What happened to them? My answer is simple; Nigeria happened to them.

Just as Nigeria is happening to the Lagos-Ibadan rail service which is less than a few years old. A couple of weeks ago, citizen journalism, also known as the social media exposed the underhand deals going on among the officials. According to the report, passengers were encouraged to board the train without purchasing their tickets. Officials would then enter the designated cabins, collect money and pocket it. I am sure it is happening in the Abuja-Kaduna rail service as well. And I am pretty certain that many Ogas at the top are on the take. It is the Nigerian way. It is how the system is oiled. As this is going on, basic expenses would be inflated. The result is that expenses would begin to outstrip revenue. The services would gradually become unviable and soon degenerate into a drain pipe. Slowly, services would begin to deteriorate and coaches would begin to break down. Sadly, this scenario is all too familiar.

This is not just about government not being able to handle enterprises well. God knows we have had very dismal records on that – from agriculture to textile to steel. Virtually everything the government has set up has collapsed within years of being set up. But it goes beyond that because if it were limited to that, then we would still have those multinationals which dotted the landscape from independence until the late 70s. After all, they were privately run. But immediately we had our indigenization decree that had Nigerians running the enterprises, the companies started wobbling until they fizzled out one after the other. The few which survived have had to bring expatriates back to run them. It was not the competence of the Nigerian bosses that was in question – many of them were better educated than their foreign predecessors. It was their attitude.

The Nigerian story is a unique story. It is like the Ancient Mariner’s ‘water, water everywhere but not enough to drink’.

On the surface, there is the scarcity of dollar. Or put differently, a scarcity of investible funds which would yield more dollars. Yet, investible funds abound among Nigerians at home, Nigerians in the diaspora and foreign corporations and individuals. The need is there; the market is there; the funds are there; but the staff with the correct attitude are missing. The target of an average Nigerian worker is not to help build a company from the scratch. The mindset is to make as much as they can make before the company runs aground. And because they do not have the inclination to keep a start-up afloat, they hasten its death by fleecing the company as much as they can get away with. Many in the diaspora have regretted trying to invest in areas of the economy that look lucrative on the surface. As a result, money is tight only because morals are loose. I will use myself as an example. Some five years ago, I really wanted to go into the agro-allied business. I purchased a small rice milling machine with accessoies. It was not for myself because I knew I was not going to run it. I wanted it to run itself while providing employment for others. I thought it was a noble idea, a sort of CSR (corporate social responsibility). I found a site that was near some rice farmers and wanted to put up a building there.

Much to my surprise, it became an uphill task – and from inferior to under-supplied materials – everybody was there to fleece me. I developed cold feet. After all, I didn’t need the rice mill to survive. And without trustworthy hands to run the business, rice, its product, would not even get to the market. Now, what would have been a small, cottage business to provide employment for a few hands to feed their families with, has been abandoned, not because of capital but because of attitude; the dearth of good people with the right attitude towards bringing an idea to fruition and sustaining its viability.

As a way out for the country, there is no point pretending we don’t have an attitudinal problem when it comes to money and trust. We do. We need a complete social orientation. There is no point in providing infrastructures and amenities without thinking of how they would be sustained. Sustenance depends on the quality and orientation of staff. Seminars and trainings in accountability and loyalty to your employers should be put in place for core staff before the take-off of any enterprise. There should also be consequences for negative and anti-corporate actions. And in this digital age, controls are easier to have in place. Nigeria should be a desirable destination for investments if we could solve our internal contradictions. The worms eating up our economy are not just among us. They are us.

•Muyiwa Adetiba is a veteran journalist and publisher. He can be reached via titbits2012@yahoo.com

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