There is no iota of doubt in the fact that copious articles, letters, and indeed, comments have been put forward in media to trace the factors responsible for the perpetually retrogressing state of development in Nigeria, and indeed, many other African countries. Commendably, many astute analysts, including essayists, authors, opinion leaders, political experts, academics, journalists and even prophets, were able to blame the country's slide into the precipice on large scale corruption by public servants of the rank and file, who in a criminal bid to become wealthy out of blues, engage in massive lootings of public funds and other illicit acts that run contrary to the Constitution of the land.True, corruption, clad in various deceptive gabs, is the monster bedevilling the nation. But this is just the off-shoot of underlying social beliefs, cultural practices and value systems of the black race, which precipitate the widespread graft believed to be the chief enemy dragging the whole nation to the mire of degradation, to say the least. So, one can infallibly say while corruption and other allied evils are the superficial factors identifiable in the country's quagmire, the trios of culturally rooted stratification, value system and socio-political structure are the underlying factors that trigger corrupt practices of Nigerians in all facets of life.Wondering why depraved practices, ranging from theft of public funds, collection of bribes, nepotism, twist of justice, lies, to other apparent vices have firmly taken root in our country, I discovered, shuddering, that part of primordial practices in African setting are implicitly responsible for the social evils among Nigerians. For instance, the pre-colonial Yoruba nation, history unveils, not only celebrated the wealthy and those in positions of authority, like kings, chiefs, the chief priests, king makers, among others, but also went to the extent of defying them. Thus, the defied position of the kings and chiefs, as opposed to the slave-like status of their subjects, the unfettered power of the rich over the majority poor, the idolised reference accorded the educated and enlightened, as against pauperised and benighted look cast on the unlettered, as well as a gulf between the people wielding the almighty staff of power and the denouncing folks on whom they lord it over, all contribute significantly to the decay witnessed in our society today. If you want to prove me wrong, take a look at epic movies in Nigeria, and you will shealth your sword of fierce reactions to the supposed cultural onslaught. The trend continued in virtually all the tribes in the country, including the major ones like Igbo and Hausa, and indeed, some other African nations till the advent of the Europeans, whom we hitherto, accuse of engineering our problems. Prior to the partial imbibing of the white culture, ritual killings, especially death sentence usually placed on twins before Mary Slessor came to our rescue, were the order of the day in the continent. When civilisation, via Western colonisation, lightened Africa, which Joseph Conrad, the Polish writer, described as the Heart of Darkness, some of the pernicious practices were abandoned. However, the events unfolding since the departure of the colonial masters sadly reflect the primordial practices of our fathers. The past ethnic clashes in the country, especially ones that involved, years back, the Ijaw/ Itsekiri, and Ife versus Modakeke, the first coup of January 15, 1966, and many that followed, which resulted in the perhaps Africa's most bloody and protracted civil war, the inordinate crave for political power, human inhumanity to man, as witnessed in wanton killings and destruction of property, and many evils hacking the nation to pieces are psychological corollaries of the cultural practices of our progenitors.Today, the undue recognition accorded the wealthy accounts for desperation with which wealth is sought, the encomiums and pride of life enjoyed by those in power explain the bloody manner politicians crave powers just as the problem of tribalism and religion and their pronounced influence are indicative of the needless current massacres of innocent people in the North by the Boko Haram. All these originated from the class system deeply rooted in African culture.On the value system, one does not need to stretch one's thought too far to know that in this clime, money is all that matters, and any other thing in life is ancillary. It is here you see a mortal hunting for the soul of his fellow to make money. It is also in this race that you find a group of people demanding bribe before any project that would benefit them could be embarked on their land. It is equally in this clime that you find politicians and public servants stealing in billions, despite pauperised environment and terrible state of the nation's economy. With this system in operation, the economic and social development suffers untoward neglect. How to build a solid environment, characterised by rich infrastructure, social amenities, security of life and property, thriving economy, manufacturing of goods for exports, creativities and inventions is never the concern of a typical Nigerian. All that matters to him is making money and flaunting such in a riotous and epicurean manner. This informs why he can never be a white man in orientation, views and ways of life and ideology. A white man thinks of the aforementioned, and strives to print his name on the indelible sand of memory. Thus, the exploding world of endless technological and scientific innovations is sustained. Then, the love of money does not exist in vacuum. The way and manner the society is politically and economically structured also plays a damning role in ensuring search for money, with a desperate passion which becomes the norm in the society. Right from independence, the country has been unfortunately largely run by the military juntas, who with the connivance of some civilians, popularised theft of public funds, and with the aid of unpropitious constitution for our culture, stage-managed the Nigerian economy and politics in such a way that today, the whole system is a fully monetised one.Thus, in the system exists a big gap between the rich and the poor, just as there is absence of credit market, making basic needs exclusive preserves of the financially buoyant. Loans are nepotistically granted, if they are at all, jobs are decidedly made few by the power that be, to exploit the youth to satisfy their whims and caprices, and above all, Nigerians across different endeavours are impoverished by the structure, so as to be willing tools and stooges to these powers. Conversely, in the United States, the economy is structured to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich, and to make sure individuals are not too desperate for money. Instances of provisions for in this lofty system include loans and credit system, food subsidisation, health insurance for the unemployed, welfare services for the aged, job provision, judicious expenditure of public funds, among others.For Nigeria to surmount its problem of corruption and achieve economic growth, there must be massive orientation tilted towards radical changes of value system and world view. These could be effected through agents of socialisation in the country. Moreso, our political structure should be holistically reviewed, as mechanisms should be put in place to curtail excessive wealth in the society.Ajayi is on the staff of the Nigerian Tribune.
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