Another public enemy that is secretly competing with corruption that has
\nmindlessly crippled us is MEDIOCRITY. We all encounter it everywhere we go
\nin Nigeria, but we all endure it and shrug our shoulders and wait for a
\nmiracle to eradicate it. It is a social danger, a cankerworm we must deal
\nwith if we must smell development. On Tuesday, April 2, 2013, I published
\na lead story in this newspaper Mediocrity overtakes Graft, wrecks Nigeria.
\nThe story received some rave reviews.<\/p>\n
I recall that it was a colleague, Ijeoma Nwogwugwu, editor of Thisday that
\nfirst hailed the story describing mediocrity as our major challenge that
\nhas tentacles everywhere we go. The source of that story was an article by
\na Lagos-based Dutch journalist and writer, Femke van Zeiji, fondly called
\nFunke. Her article on \u201cmediocrity\u201d that was trending then online had gone
\nso viral that I considered it newsworthy. The irresistible opening
\nparagraph of the article:<\/p>\n
I used to think corruption was Nigeria\u2019s biggest problem, but I\u2019m starting
\nto doubt that. Every time I probe into one of the many issues this country
\nis encountering, at the core I find the same phenomenon: the widespread
\ncelebration of mediocrity. Un-rebuked underachievement seems to be the
\nrule in all facets of society. A governor building a single road during
\nhis tenure is revered like the next Messiah; an averagely talented author
\nwho writes a colourless book gets sponsored to represent Nigerian
\nliterature overseas; and a young woman with no secretarial skills to speak
\nof gets promoted to the oga\u2019s office faster than any of her properly
\ntrained colleagues\u2026<\/p>\n
I thought that was a profound construct by a foreigner on the new
\ncompetitor. After the publication and reviews in 2013, there were calls
\nhere and there that it was a good article, a blueprint for productive
\nsuccess. But again, not even the national orientation agency operatives
\nconsidered it as a subject to be pursued as public policy. The issue of
\nthe celebration of mediocrity did not receive any attention again until
\nOctober 2015 in Abuja when a Nigerian Professor of English, Pius Adesanmi,
\nwho heads an African Centre at a University in Canada, addressed it at the
\nannual symposium, The Platform by Pastor Poju Oyemade\u2019s Covenant Christian
\nCentre. The man who said he was missing mediocrity, a trait he took away
\nfrom Nigeria\u2019s work culture when he got to Canada noted angrily that
\nNigerians should rise up against the spirit of mediocrity that has held us
\nhostage in the most populous black nation on earth. Again, the morning
\nafter The Platform, no one remembered the scourge again.<\/p>\n
There is too much room for ordinariness and near absence of excellence and
\nexceptionalism in our personal and public life. No nation can grow, no
\none\u2019s personal ministry can be recognized as a brand with the mindless
\ncelebration of mediocrity. Let\u2019s ban it.<\/p>\n
For young ones, the context of mediocrity I am drawing attention to is
\nwhat common dictionaries define as the state of only medium quality, not
\nvery good, average, banal. We can rename it: inferiority, ordinariness,
\ncommonplaceness, poorness, unimportance, etc. The most powerful
\ndescription here is not very good. It is called average in business school
\nterms where it is treated as the opposite of excellence. When we talk of
\nmediocre performance, we mean acts that are average, inferior,
\ncommonplace, insignificant, pedestrian, ordinary, so-so, run-of-the-mill\u2026<\/p>\n
At the common level, after the death of government technical schools (in
\nNigeria) where students used to acquire skills such as woodwork, plumbing,
\ncarpentry, block-laying and concreting, auto mechanics,
\nelectrical\/electronics fittings, we have been in trouble. Now in Nigeria,
\neven the electricity distribution companies do not have enough good
\nelectricians to maintain installations of customers. In the building
\nindustry, how do you get bricklayers, carpenters, plumbers, electricians,
\nfurniture makers, tillers and PoP makers, etc.? The truth today is that
\nwise and rich builders procure most of these skilled workers from
\nneighbouring West African countries, notably, Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana,
\nSenegal, etc.. The reason is not far to seek: We parade one of the worst
\nskills gaps in the world with a population of about 170 million now. This
\nis a manifestation of mediocrity at all levels. In our country today, it
\nis difficult to get good mechanics that can handle modern cars. You have
\nto patronize all these callous auto companies that shave our heads in our
\nabsence with atrocious bills: They don\u2019t repair: they replace all parts.
\nThis is a policy failure that keeps failing.<\/p>\n
No one is addressing expediency of reviving our technical schools to deal
\nwith mediocrity at some levels. The tentacles of mediocrity have reached
\neverywhere even our newsrooms. Now editors are suffering and smiling as
\nmodern and very \u2018educated\u2019 but incorrigible reporters and writers continue
\nto churn out terrible copies that are beyond redemption. Where will
\neditors find exceptional sub editors who used to be quality control
\nofficers in the newsroom? No one to transcribe interviews impeccably
\nanymore. You can\u2019t appoint holders of Master\u2019s degree in English as
\nproofreaders. Even when you listen to some Nigerian Professors speaking to
\nsome issues at workshops, you will immediately know why some Universities
\nthat are churning out a remarkable number of First Class graduates now are
\nmerely producing a generation of mediocrities (not mediocre, please). In
\nthe public service, even the retired permanent secretaries and directors
\nare very concerned that most of their successors cannot write good
\nmemoranda and minutes. Most documents to even the business and diplomatic
\ncommunities from the public sector are written in poor grammar.<\/p>\n
It is already noted, but there is no sufficient anger yet in any of our
\nleaders that we need to fix the broken walls of our education system at
\nall levels. That is really the starting point. You can\u2019t address
\nmediocrity without fixing the foundation: educational institutions
\nincluding teachers\u2019 training schools beyond meretricious level.<\/p>\n
At the leadership level, we see mediocrity on all fours. Most heads of
\ngovernment all over the world, head hunt excellent people to reduce
\ntension associated with mediocrity. They look for what Peter Drucker calls
\n\u201cknowledge workers\u201d to improve their brand equity. But not in Nigeria
\nwhere mediocrities are preferred so that our leaders can manipulate them
\nto do their bidding. Most leaders and governors in Nigeria prefer what
\nBenjamin Disraeli called a \u201ccabinet of mediocrities\u201d. As if he had Nigeria
\nin mind in his comments about Liverpool as recorded in a novel, Coningsby
\n(1844), Disraeli had mused about The Arch-Mediocrity who presided rather
\nthan ruled, over this Cabinet of Mediocrities\u2026 Indeed, there have been
\nsome \u201carch-mediocrities who are also presiding over a cabinet of
\nmediocrities\u201d in Nigeria. When mediocrities lead mediocrities, what else
\ncan we get apart from mega mediocrity?<\/p>\n
But there is a sense in which we cannot blame our young people too much.
\nAccording to an author who specializes in workplace wellness, Mike Martin,
\nwe cannot blame our young people for falling into the mediocrity trap. It
\nis a lesson that they have learned from us and only we as their adult
\nmodels can shift their thinking and behavior. It really does begin with
\nus. If we are going to move back from the brink of mediocrity, we have to
\nthink, talk and act differently, and we must be angry about this now.<\/p>\n
But what Femke, too should realize is that the military that midwived the
\nsecond republic (1979-1983) actually transferred a culture of mediocrity
\nto the new arch-mediocrities called Democrats now. According to the
\nrecords of primaries in 1978, there were six strong presidential
\ncandidates in the then truly national party, the National Party of Nigeria
\n(NPN) including Joseph Tarka, Professor Iya Abubakar, Dr. Olusola Saraki,
\nAlhaji Maitama Sule, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Adamu Ciroma. But at the
\nCasino Cinema, Yaba Lagos, convention venue of the Party then, there was
\nan eventual tie between Alhaji Shagari and Alhaji Sule. It was said then
\nthat although the progressives in the Party preferred Alhaji Maitama
\nbecause of his sophistication, experience, and erudition. But the
\nmoderates would have none of that as they preferred the less endowed
\nAlhaji Shagari. That was how the powers then mounted pressure on Maitama
\nto concede to Shagari. As we often say here whatever happened later to the
\npresidency of Shagari is left to history for judgment but the story is
\nwell known.<\/p>\n
From then and up and until now as Bishop Kukah has often noted, we have
\nbeen producing mediocre office holders but not leaders. The cleric and
\nscholar observed in 2012 that from the beginning of democratization, the
\natmosphere has not been favourable for the erection of a
\nstructure\/platform (political parties) and the development of a process
\nand culture of leadership recruitment and discipleship\u2026\u201d This is the
\nsystem that has been producing all sorts of \u201cexecuthieves\u201d, \u201clegislooters\u201d
\nand \u201cjudicial rascals\u201d from a pool of mediocrities, especially from the
\nsecond republic. If we jump the military juntas to 1999, we would see how
\nwe have been celebrating democratic mediocrity in leadership recruitment.
\nThe Abdusalami regime, an offshoot of the IBB-Abacha regime did not allow
\nthe South West to choose an authentic presidential candidate. They
\npardoned and released General Olusegun Obasanjo from prison and imposed
\nhim on the South West and the nation.<\/p>\n
In 2007 when it was time for Obasanjo to leave office, he too imposed a
\nmediocre process: He stopped Umaru yar\u2019Adua from teaching in Ahmadu Bello
\nUniversity, Zaria. So, Yar\u2019Adua was imposed on the North West and the
\nnation. And in 2007, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was satisfied as a governorship
\ncandidate but was imposed on the nation as a vice presidential candidate
\nin a complex political shenanigan at the Eagle Square. The unprepared vice
\npresidential candidate from the Niger Delta was to be president for six
\nyears\u2026Never in the history of political leaderships have so many
\nmediocrities been so imposed on a people.<\/p>\n
The result of 17 years of democratic mediocrity is what Femke reflected in
\nthese lines: The hardest thing to do in Nigeria is to continue to realize
\nthere is honour in achievement and pride in perfection\u2026
\nThe time has therefore come for us to speak out against the Russian word,
\nMEDIOCRITY. We all should develop a culture of anger towards it. There is
\ntoo much room for ordinariness and near absence of excellence and
\nexceptionalism in our personal and public life. No nation can grow, no
\none\u2019s personal ministry can be recognized as a brand with the mindless
\ncelebration of mediocrity. Let\u2019s ban it. But the starting point is serious
\nattention to quality in our education from primary to university level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Another public enemy that is secretly competing with corruption that has mindlessly crippled us is MEDIOCRITY. We all encounter it everywhere we go in Nigeria, but we all endure it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n