Nigeria's Middle Belt: the Silence of the Christians

Since doing this blog on-and-off over the past year (Murphy's Law is really real), I continue to find myself drawn to the constant drumbeat from thought leaders throughout the African continent whose drums beat loudly in unison around the message of moral leadership, government integrity, and moral transformation in Africa. With prolonged sectarian violence resulting in genocidal conditions, Nigeria seems to be one of the more outspoken countries when it comes to the issues of morality, leadership, and government.

In the July 12th article at dailypost.ng titled, UK report indicts Buhari Govt over alleged killing of Christians, makes shocking revelations, the pathology of Nigeria's turmoil is laid bare to the world. At its core are the pervasive problems of religious persecution, inaction, indifference, and complicity in what many are calling genocide in Nigeria. The article clearly chronicles these hellish conditions, which the author captures in the following:

The “intensification of conflict” in Nigeria in recent years comes at a time when Christians in the country have suffered some of the worst atrocities inflicted on Churchgoers anywhere in the world. Since 2009, Boko Haram, the Islamist militant group in “allegiance” with Daesh (ISIS) extremists in Iraq and Syria, has 424 “inflicted mass terror on civilians, killing 20,000 Nigerians, kidnapping thousands and displacing nearly two million”.425 The kidnapping of “mostly Christian girls”426 from a school in Chibok north-east Nigeria in April 2014 and the forced “conversions” to Islam of many of the students, demonstrated the anti-Christian 427 agenda of the militants.

The reader quickly comes to grips with the realities of Nigeria's Middle Belt, a region replete with torture, kidnappings, and killings, where over 20,000 Nigerians have been murdered since 2009! Amid the carnage and bloodshed, the silence from the world community is as disturbing as it is deafening. News coverage has been scant, and international leaders offer no floor speeches, resolutions, or in-country meetings on behalf of persecuted Nigerian Christians. One would think that at least religious leaders or ecumenical organizations would champion Nigeria's cause under the banner of human rights, but silence prevails here too.

Ethnic and religious conflict has been a part of Nigeria's history far too long, but as Eniola Anuoluwapo Soyemi writes in her 2016 article that appeared in The Conversation,

Failures of a weak state are to blame for Nigeria’s ethnicity problem, the problem begins and ends with the State and the government's inability to enact policies that facilitate cultural and ethnic trust among its many demographic groups. This is a compelling article that offers a excellent analysis as reflected in the passage below.

Although ethnicity is far from being a uniquely Nigerian phenomenon, it presents a serious challenge to Nigeria’s stability.

If we are to believe Robert Putnam’s thesis on national cohesion, trust is at the very centre of any successfully functioning society. But this trust is something that nation after nation, and country after country, has always had to build. And in Nigeria’s case, an inability to take nation-building seriously has enabled the persistence of the country’s ethnic divisions.

Ethnic divisions persist in countries like Nigeria not because the “cultures” of those countries are predisposed to ethnic strife, but as a result of a weak state. It is a weak state that has, up until now, been incapable of capitalising on policies that enhance and benefit a singular Nigerian national identity.

Countries like Nigeria, which has more than 250 ethnic groups and more than 500 spoken languages, are tautologically explained to simply be too “culturally” heterogeneous to ever be cohesive. It does not help that often “culture” takes on any and whatever meaning the user wishes to imply.

Sadly, where the Nigerian state does make an impact on the lives of individuals, these benefits are rarely in the provision of public goods available to all without consideration to wealth, gender, or ethnicity. Instead, it is in the provision of narrow economic benefits to individuals with personal links to specific actors in government.

As such, the socioeconomic importance of ethnic ties is maintained, and so is ethnic-based mistrust.

Soyemi convincincingly captures the essence of Nigeria's complex socioeconomic situation, and deeply rooted in this turmoil are the problems of religious intolerance and religious persecution. From world leaders to the global faith-community, the silence of the Christians worldwide must be broken to shed light on the atrocities in Nigeria's Middle Belt and to elevate everyone's moral expectations and moral outrage to effectuate change for the common good. Thankfully, Catholic bishops in Nigeria are challenging the government to reform and respond in meaningful ways. Ultimately, if conditions continue to deteriorate, church leaders globally must descend upon Nigeria as the collective Christian voice to defend religious freedom and to overwhelm inhumanity with boldness and the power of purpose in efforts to restore order and rebuild the walls of Nigeria, socially, politically, economically, and spiritually (1).

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1. "Rebuild the Walls" is a direct reference to the biblical story of the prophet Nehemiah and his vision to move Jerusalem from desolation to restoration. See Nehemiah 1:1-7; 2: 4-5, 17-18.

Contracts, Corruption, and Malaysia's Emphasis on Integrity

From procurement and bidding to oversight and project management, contracts are often fraught with malfeasance at all levels from beginning to end. The United States certainly continues to experience this whether it be with school systems, public housing, health care, or the Department of Defense (DOD).

Our government has worked tirelessly to incorporate critical safeguards and compliance systems to root out fraud, waste, and abuse, but evil-doers with evil intentions continue to circumvent anti-corruption countermeasures, which is costly to taxpayers and the overall public trust. In an August 1, 2017 op-ed article in The Hill titled, " Feds' rampant use of no-bid contracts the essence of corruption", David Williams revealed the following:

The Department of Defense isn't the only offender. In 2008, a federal investigation revealed that FEMA misspent nearly $46 million on four no-bid contracts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Department of Housing and Urban Development spends over one-third of its procurement funds on no-bid contracts. Only 58 percent of the Social Security Administration's contract spending is competitive. 

No-bid contracts don't just breed government profligacy, they also open the door to brazen acts of fraud and corruption.

There's no denying that these numbers are staggering, but as President of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, Williams is keenly aware of the pervasiveness of this problem and what is necessary to manage and overcome it.

The United States is not alone in this fight, however, as every government worldwide can attest to the pernicious problem of corruption in contracts. Take Malaysia for example. In a recent article in malaymail.com, Sarawak placing integrity officers in state ministries to stop corruption, Malaysian officials reveal their new initiative to respond to and overcome corruption's corrosive impact.

The state government will place trained certified integrity officers in all state ministries to ensure there is transparency and compliance with procedures in the awards of government contracts, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg said last night.

The article goes on to highlight Malaysia's commitment to making business and government much more accountable and responsible for the overall integrity of the state and that this responsibility must be shared mutually in order for Malaysia's economy to survive. Malaysia's Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg states, "...while the business community expects the state government to have high integrity, the state  government expects the same from the business community." The article concludes by saying, "[I]f corruption is allowed to take place in the state government, the economy will be in shamble. We must fear God, the business community must also fear God,”

As someone who studies, appreciates, and promotes the importance of applied ethics, collective responsibility, and personal and professional integrity, I find this article and the words of Malaysia's Chief Minister refreshing and reflective of a growing trend globally.

Shared responsibility, in particular, is the belief that moral harm can be imposed collectively due to the attitudes that inspire unethical behavior. Incorrigible actors share common beliefs and attitudes that influence others and create corrupt cultural norms. But if shared responsibility works this way to the detriment of society, it conceivably can work in reverse to inspire human goodness through the promotion of character and integrity collectively. In this regard, the nexus of responsibility is expanded beyond the traditional notion of the individual so that multiple people can both cooperate and conspire for either good or evil. When it comes to corruption, the state can certainly make this a powerful tool in efforts to emphasize its collective commitment to removing corruption at its core and elevating the virtues of character, integrity, and human flourishing. I applaud Malaysia and encourage robust strategies to make integrity the uncompromising new norm in government contracting and the role of business in government and society.

Nigeria: Former Leader Calls for Top-down Integrity

Integrity is the foundation of leadership as there are no moral shortcuts in the game of business and life.

We need integrity in the public and private business and it must start at the top. Organizations and public institutions must run their business in a forthright manner.

Make integrity the heart and soul of your business coulture.

--Olusegun Obasanjo, Ex-President, Nigeria

As I continue to research and write about our ever-increasing need to elevate integrity and moral expectations as essentials to civic life, effective leadership, and organizational credibility, Nigeria's name surfaces more-and-more in my searches. My latest find is a true gem because this former Nigerian leader (Olusegun Obasanjo) gets it!

The article is titled We need Integrity in Public, Private business: It Must Start at the top, and Obasanjo passionately states his case for a robust infusion of integrity throughout all levels of Nigeria's public and private infrastructure. From contract procurement to bureaucratic inefficiency, Obasanjo makes integrity the necessary antidote to dysfunction and corruption in Nigeria.

I am unfamiliar with Nigeria's eloquent ex-President, but this small sample leads me to like the way he thinks. What I especially like about the article is that his comments echo my belief in the importance of moral expectations. Obasanjo's quote above captures the essence of integrity as an expectation thus making it foundational and highly influential as a community norm. When the "will" to do right is baked into the culture of business and government and becomes a "given" for community conduct, moral excellence becomes the standard and human flourishing thrives. Morality as an expectation must be elevated by leaders, protected without compromise, and accepted by everyone as an essential community value. Obasanjo gets it: Nigeria must now get it.