TOP-BOTTOM

TOP-BOTTOM

Praise God "somebory", I have finally obtained my temporary driver's licence after appying 14 months ago and spending 4 hours this morning with the FRSC. The FRSC guys were running a parallel line of data capturing to those of us on the official queue but I do not know if they were collecting on the spot kickbacks for that purpose. Some people will say the FRSC guys are corrupt and should do better than circumvent the process to favor some two-headed individuals over those with one head.

They will say if the FRSC guys change their ways Nigeria would change. No doubt they have a good point but have we for a second thought about why some of our law enforcers do what they do? Today was my third visit to the data capturing centre with the previous occasions characterised by a crowd and new dates scribbled on our forms. I miraculously got a text from them in September when I was out of town meaning that I could not report there. So another text on saturday must mean that something credible at least is now happening there totally different from the chaos of the past.

Disorganization with respect to obtaining official documents mostly happens in Lagos. Why? The population is outstanding with a greater proportion of individuals exposed enough to demand for such materials. The Nigerian factor of balancing equations is also responsible. The facilities and personel required to ensure speedy and hitch-free processing of applications are usually in short supply relative to what is made available in other states. This causes a gridlock like the traffic jam that is pathognomonic of Lagos. Lagosians generally feel they have to be in a hurry and would readily palpate itchy palms to get first class treatment and access.

The deficiency of resources only serve to make matters worse; perhaps proper planning and allocation of materials will discourage would-be opportunists from establishing franchises for ripping desperate people off. Perhaps common sense could have made the distribution of permanent voter's cards less cumbersome and chaotic; the sight of fellow citizens scrambling like pinballs to get re-registered or to collect their cards as shown on the news is as appauling as when "onorabu" representatives exhibited their fitness levels by indulging in high jump and gymnastic routines.

The mess from the top creates disaster at the bottom just like Mr Interior's immigration disaster led to the death of job seekers. In saner climes, heads roll for that and nothing is left undone to ensure justice and closure. The 1989 Hillsborough disaster that led to the deaths of 96 football fans due to a human stampede was thoroughly investigated and policies altered for good; the police, emergency services and stadium operations were amended. These are the standards we should aspire for as a nation; we should not demand for the police woman at an illegal roadblock to cease from demanding "wazo" while the politician in the executive makes away with stealing billions of dollars (common stealing is not corruption). Forfeiting 50naira compared with 20 billion dollars; which of these transactions would drastically improve the lives of Nigerians?

A top to bottom approach followed by a reciprocal bottom up change of behavior I believe is the way to curb corruption and limit its effect.

joa
24-11-14