What Would You Rather Condone Between Corruption And Incompetence?

NIGERIA

I was asked this critical question last week, and the understanding I got is what I am sharing here.

POINT 1: Both corruption and incompetence are economic disasters with different types of handling. One is like FAMINE while one is like FLOOD with both of them causing serious socio-economic havoc. Give your car to an incompetent mechanic and he will mess it up because he is not intelligent on the job. Give it to a corrupt one and he will install fake parts and still mess up your car in the process, because though he is intelligent on the job, he is crooked in his ways. It takes a measure of intelligence to be a cheat. Corruption and incompetence are two sides of the same coin. With corruption a system slow paces and with incompetence a system stagnates.

POINT 2: If corruption exists in a system, and to curb it you employ an honest but incompetent person to tackle it, then you are only tackling the MODE of the existing corruption and not the corruption itself. It's like a lady wearing transparent silk material and in checking her indecent dressing she was given a lace dress with large holes. Then her indecent dressing has only been modified not curbed. Incompetence can only transform corruption. If you employ an honest teacher to manage a bank because the competent banker is corrupt; the ignorance of the teacher in the banking service despite his honesty and integrity will only modify corruption in the bank and wreck the bank faster. Late Dr. Tai Solarin comes to mind; he was an educator and an activist but was made the Chairman of People’s Bank of Nigeria in the 80s by President Ibrahim Babangida because of his integrity. What happened to People’s Bank? It collapsed and ruined people’s investment due to modified corruption under an honest but incompetent man for the job – with all due respect to him. It takes more of intelligence, divine wisdom and diplomacy with job competence than integrity and honesty to fight corruption. Though corruption is a crooked way of life, it is an intelligent practice.

In the first place, what births and fosters corruption in any system is incompetence of those managing the system. An incompetent administration may shut the door against corruption; it will only create windows without burglaries for it. Nothing really gets to change than its mode of operation - corruption now has to go through the windows and not the door. Incompetence can only modify not eradicate corruption.

Point 3: Where a nation is under the administration of honest but incompetent leadership, progress is arrested and the nation retrogresses for poor job and social intelligence on the part of the leadership. So to manage this situation, the only solution is change of the leadership. Integrity is very crucial but it cannot make up for competence.

Where the system is corrupt, progress is slowed down not arrested. It points largely that the people have intelligent but crooked minds. So to manage it, enforce severe discipline, make scape goats but also reward changed attitude and create enabling environment for positive and rewarding productivity, and you will see the same crooked intelligence that promoted corruption straightened out for positive productivity.

I will not condone any of the two really, because an incompetent leader leads a CLUELESS administration and a corrupt one leads a CROOKED administration. But I think that there is a possibility of progress with a corrupt system than with an incompetent one. Integrity has its place and competence has its place, but you will not settle for an honest truck driver in place of a corrupt but competent pilot to fly your plane when you must fly except you want to fly beyond.

How blessed will a nation be if it’s lead by honest and competent men. Such a nation, even if it does not have any natural resources will still thrive economically and blossom. No nation can thrive beyond the thinking of its people. It is more of human resources than natural resources that make a great nation.

Good morning,

Peju Akinwande
GOODLAND CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Related Topics: #CorruptionAndIncompetence #PejuAkinwande

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