Farmers News - Farmers and hunters in governance

In marketing, it is usual to ask if personality is the main criteria for determining a successful salesperson. This is because of the feeling that to be good at sales, you either have ‘it’ or you don’t. The fact remains that to be a successful salesperson is not about personality alone but it is a contributory factor. Experience, skills, subject matter knowledge and process however play important roles. In order to have the right person in a sales role, it is necessary to match the right PERSONALITY with the right ROLE. An analysis of this equation starts with answering the question for each salesperson: Are you a farmer or a hunter?

Last week, some newspapers presented reports on unpaid salaries by state governments to Nigerian workers and pensioners. After going through some of the newspapers, it suddenly occurred to me that I attended a leadership programme in 2014 organized by the Institute of Transformation. During the programme, participants discussed extensively two prevalent mindsets in life: the farmer mindset and the hunter mindset. In order to understand the mindset of the hunter in this piece, there is need to consider its qualities. The skilful hunter has the ability to locate a prey, pursue, deal the deadly blow and gather the kill. In spite of these qualities, the skilful hunter has a limitation in that he hunts one animal at a time, while equating this activity with productivity. In other words, the skilful hunter spends time to hunt instead of utilizing his time to improve efficiency. He hunts for new prey every day with the assumption that animals will always be available. He is however not focused and not good at follow-through. No matter your impression of the skilful hunter, he may be well-educated and could innovate. But these do not negate the fact that he is a hunter. In summary, a hunter can be likened to a chaser who chases finished products to kill.

On the other hand, the skilful farmer has the ability to plan, nurture, innovate, improve and progress. He is a master planner. He turns challenges to opportunities, creates opportunities for growth, and collaborates but may not always be good at prospecting. The skilful farmer is committed to achieving success in all his endeavours. He is regarded as a technocrat when he subordinates politics to technical, professional and managerial abilities in managing resources to achieve national objectives.

Today, there are politicians with either the farmer or the hunter mindsets in government. When reviewing the dehumanization of Nigerian workers in this austere time, you may wish to think that all leaders should be farmers. This is the ideal but in real situation you will have both farmers and hunters parading themselves as leaders in any society. What we do not deserve at this stage of our national life is to have more hunters in leadership positions at state and federal levels. There is an African adage that ‘when you fight for a piece of land empty-handed, the one who owns the seed will eventually cultivate it at the end’. It is almost becoming a culture now in Nigeria for salaries and wages of workers not to be paid. Not paying wages of workers has negative effect on the nation’s psychology and modes of behaviour of not only those affected but all citizens. This, to say the least, is very dehumanizing. In fact, pensioners are not left out of the act of dehumanization that has pervaded the entire public and private sectors in the country. When workers are not paid salaries, and pensioners are neglected, they have to do anything whether criminal or legal for survival.

When this writer observed in 2014 that there was sharp drop in oil prices in the international market, I published an article in this column on 2 December 2014 titled ‘The playboy days may soon be over’. It was reflected in the concluding part of the article that ‘if the truth must be told, we need to cut cost through waste reduction in the public sector without compromising productivity, while available funds are to be spent prudently and efficiently. Accountability and transparency must be encouraged in governance; if not, the “play boy” days may soon be over’. In that article, states were advised to have a “contingency plan” for the year 2015 as their survival will depend on their economic viability in this austere time. There were reports last year that most states could not meet their financial obligations such that salaries of some workers had to be reduced to pay others. Since all state governors go to Abuja every month to collect their own share of funds accruable from the sale of crude oil, the writer knows that ‘hope’ cannot be a survival strategy in 2015 for those economically-backward states. It is not only states that are unable to pay staff salaries; private firms do owe their workers’ salaries too. It is common in Nigeria not to pay workers’ salaries and this is almost becoming a culture. This is not what the people bargained for when they clamoured for democracy in 1999.

It is the middle of 2015, the media is awash with reports that 22 states out of 36 cannot pay salaries and pensions to serving civil servants and retirees. With the exception of a few states, most have no contingency plan on how to survive these austere times. Those states alleged to be incapable of paying salaries include Akwa Ibom, Imo, Oyo, Osun, Benue, Plateau, Rivers, and Kogi. Others are Abia, Bauchi and Cross River. At the time of writing this piece, report has it that all governors are in Abuja under the umbrella of Governors Forum requesting for assistance from the presidency. If Katsina State can pay its workers, why can’t oil-producing states such as Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers? The governors must be reminded that the Federal Government is also borrowing money to pay salaries of its own staff at the federal level. This is failure of leadership at state and federal level. The PDP government of 16 years left behind a legacy of liability such that the nation owes about $63.7 billion. States can owe to provide infrastructure and basic service but certainly not to pay salaries.

Most of the governors said they used some of their monthly appropriations for Federal Government projects in their states. Perhaps they forgot to say that part of their monthly allocations was used to campaign for either election or re-election into office.

The Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, was recently quoted as saying that his administration has performed well (Punch, 10 June, 2015, pg 8). ‘No state has done what Osun did in the area of security, which today has totally checked crimes and other anti-social activities in the state. Huge amount of money was committed to purchasing armoured personnel carrier and ambulances which are strategically located in the state and responding to distress calls round the clock…. If all the programmes with huge cost involved are factored into the accruable revenue of the state, it will be crystal clear why the state is where it is today,’ Governor Aregbesola was quoted to have said in the same report. The effort of the Osun State governor must be praised at this point. However, it must be noted that security goes beyond defending the people. Defence is just a component of national security. There are other nine or more components depending on how the government defines security.

Are state governors saying that their civil servants do not need to feed, clothe, transport and accommodate themselves, as well as pay for other utilities? Will they not pay school fees of their children? Won’t the young and aged pay medical bills? In a democracy, all state governors must rethink security. Over to you, Mr President! Please assist these governors if you can without forgetting to pay workers and pensioners at the federal level monthly.

Source:     http://businessdayonline.com/2015/06/farmers-and-hunters-in-governance/#.VYkXSvlViko