Loyalty to a fault is often cited as the primary driver of corruption, as the media, especially social media; carry stories about everything from political scandals to corporate intrigues to religious or cult killings. We are awash with stories about media firms and even journalists who didn’t report misconduct out of loyalty to a dishonest politician, friend, colleague or even a firm and/or agency, who embezzled money from a collective pool while remaining loyal to one another.
A majority of us feel loyalty, whether it is to our clan, ethnic group, religious affiliation, comrades, an organization, or a cause. Loyalties, irrespective of who receives it, are often important aspects of our social identity, of which it is necessary for human survival and propagation of the species. Loyalty to one’s in-group is deeply etched in human evolution and has grown across different capacities over the years. However, incidents of misconducts that have flooded the headlines often makes loyalty seem like a bad thing, and has corrupted quite a number of different aspects of our personal and professional lives. Thus, suggesting that the concern on loyalty is largely misplaced.
The media scene in Nigeria has been busy with several news items; colloquially put: one major headline per day. Many columnists have averred that just one out of the myriad of news being put out on a daily basis in Nigeria could have gotten not a few nations to its knees, but like its being peddled “everything goes in Naija.” Majority of the Nigerian population are being loyal to a fault, from the Dasukigate scandal to Nnamdi Kanu’s detention to FireonBuhari/GoHarderBuhari, loyalties are being misplaced. Such misplaced loyalties highlights the importance of ethical principles, that is, bringing people’s attention to the fact that acting ethical is the right course of action. Loyalty and ethics don’t run in tandem with each other as several researches have shown, and as such one is bound to clog the other. This situation is currently and clearly displayed in Nigeria, albeit the social media.
Several conversations on the media have pitted two sides against each other, primarily on the basis of party affiliation (APC and PDP), while others are divided based on personalities (the Buhari Camp against Jonathan’s diehards), all these without recourse to the entity they affect (Nigeria). They forget that irrespective of their self-effacing loyalty for their in-group, their loyalty should first be with the entity which they confess to shield. The fight on corruption (infamously termed Dasukigate) currently being waged by the incumbent government, have made quite a number blinded to the values of ethics, as their discourse, opinions and advices have been tilted towards the media projected figure(s) on which they have naively pledge their allegiance. The corruption fight is now dismantled in segregates, instead of viewing it from a wholesome perspective of making Nigeria healthy. Both sides of the divide have succeeded in making a mockery of the stern business of fighting corruption, which other serious nations wouldn’t make concessions for.
The twitter hashtags FireonBuhari and of late GoHarderBuhari, although innocently and/or passionately created, simply depicts a nation with misplaced loyalty and a narrative far from being patriotic. It shows that we place more emphasis and trust on individuals than our institutions, which is absurd. Such campaign goes to show that we need stronger institutions that are free from political interference. Oby Ezekwesili speaking through her twitter handle @obyezeks reiterated the need for stronger institutions that will perform their functions based on the act which gave rise to them and not on executive orders. This is coming on the heels of the Dasuki debate, where she further added that, “if this abominable Dasukigate saga does not mark a turning point in judicial sanction and public intolerance of corruption, (there’s) no hope (for) Nigeria.” This circuitously indicates that the Transparency International co-founder places the task of reforming the Nigerian system solely of the back of institutions and the public, and not solely on whims and caprices of an individual.
That being said, it’s no rocket science to deduce that individuals run institutions, however, if the right policies and processes are followed by individuals running these institutions, it would be difficult for one individual to alter the collective arrangement. This is why the President and other appointed or elected individuals should be ready to allow institutions run without “much” interference. It’s time to shed that cult loyalty to an individual and embrace a more national patriotic stand, to avoid a repeat of executive recklessness, where the president would think deeply before coming on national television with a body language suggesting that he overruled on the bail applications of Sambo Dasuki and Nnamdi Kanu, when in truth, the agencies concerned in prosecuting these men are handling it through the legal process effectively and efficiently.
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