Building a Culture of Basic Truth
By Victor E. Dike

As the world is in the twilight of 2006, it is proper to reflect over the past year and think about where we are, individually and as a nation, and where we are headed. The past year (2005) was a busy one. For some people it was a year of tragedy and frustration, and for others it was a year of triumph. Those affected by the tragedies (airplane crashes, etc) should take heart; such is the nature of life, which goes up and down! As a nation, however, 2005 would not be regarded as a good one for Nigeria, not only because of the airplane tragedies, but because individuals who have no regard for basic truth and honesty are leading the nation. This is promoting the culture of leadership by fraud, lying and deception in the society, causing some people to begin to regard the dark years of the military as “The Good Old Days.” Fufiakwa!

The negative and hand-slapping response to lying shows how reprehensible creating false belief could be. Liars tend to get more proficient in the act in order not to get caught. It is socially awkward to catch a liar in the act and if one dare to challenge the person’s truthfulness, the challenge rarely changes the behavior of the blatant liar. That seems common with politicians of Nigerian breed because the society is not founded on the culture that values honesty and telling (modeling) basic truth. Like organizations, good nations have goals, mission, and objectives for which they have passion for, and which they strive to pass on to the coming generations. Lying and honesty has direct and extensive consequences on nations, as in organizations. Building a culture that values and rewards honesty and hard work could help Nigeria tackle its myriad problems.

For centuries culture has been variedly defined with Taylor (1871) defining it as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and many other capabilities and habits acquired by...[members] of society.” For Murphy (1986) culture is “the total body of tradition borne by a society and transmitted from generation to generation.” And for the American Heritage English Dictionary, culture is “the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.” This article focuses on the ‘socially transmitted behavior patterns’ for which an organization or a society is identified.

The cultural life of a nation determines how things work in the society - its values, the quality of type its leadership and education it gives to its youths and measures taken to insure the health of the citizens. Culture is also a determining variable in the pace of its development (politically and economically). As Will (Jan 18, 1999) note the spread of democracy, free markets, technology, and information is not enough to rescue many nations (including Nigeria) “from the consequences of their cultural deficits.” Our “culture is a reflection of who and what we are,” which includes the ways the people “respond to their physical environment, their history, their economic life, their social life, and their political life.”

Casey (2001) highlights “an entirely new form of culture” and struggles to answer the question of whether a life lived without the experience of meaning is desirable. In a society, which distinguishes between the “noble” (fraudulently rich) and the “slave” (hardworking poor) has hopelessly produced “mediocre” men and women as leaders, simply because they are fraudulently rich (but not intellectually and ideologically prepared for leadership). Nietzsche (1994) “sees the need for meaning in a meaningless world as essential for modern human existence” and progress. Obviously, life without meaning is neither proper nor desirable.

Truth and culture appear related. Ancient and modern philosophers have been laboring to help the world understand what truth is and the advantages of telling the truth (James 1911). Soames (1999) highlights “the notion of truth” and the role it plays in our ordinary thought, identification of the bearers of truth, and the basis for distinguishing truth from falsehood, etc. For any society to progress the majority of its citizens should be educated to always say the basic truth of life. The simple definition of truth is avoiding the liar.

Nigeria is overburdened with a lot of deficiencies (corruption and fraud, lack of reliable data for planning, lack of knowledge and skill and ideological framework for leadership), and for that the managers of the society are incapable of tackling the issues facing the nation. Let’s mention in passing that ideology is not everything, for a leader could shift on his or her ideology. As Friedrich A. Hayek (1899-1992) notes “To live and work successfully with others...requires an intellectual commitment to a type of order in which, even on issues which to one are fundamental, others are allowed to pursue different ends.”

As noted earlier, getting reliable information in Nigeria to resolve its socioeconomic and political problems is tasking, causing the people’s needs and wants to outgrow resources most of the time. Recently, a BBC News reporter, Anna Borzello, in an article, “Nigeria-where the truth is hard to find” (October 24, 2005), portrays Nigeria as a society where truth is difficult is to find. That was when the aviation authority could not locate the wreckage of the Bellview airline several hours after it crashed into the thick jungle of the village of Lisa. She notes that “getting accurate information is notoriously difficult in Nigeria” even from the government.

What can the society do about it? Nobody wants to settle down to build a database to house from the plethora of information littering the society because hard work and truth telling is not properly rewarded. In Nigeria known rouges and pathological liars are local and national champions! Any wonder then why telling the truth, hardworking and honesty has stopped making some sense in the society? People should be rewarded according to individual efforts, skills and abilities! In a fair social system individuals and communities normally get what they work for according to predictable rules that apply to everyone -no selective treatment (but the “naked gods” have turned things in their head).

Can a society progress when liars and rouges are in charge? In societies “where truth is hard to find” the leaders are not sensitive to the yearning of the people because they lead by deception and non-adherence to prescribed modern method of public administration. And the consequences are Nigeria’s underdevelopment and the preventable tragedies and misery. In Nigeria commercial planes are allowed in the air without proper maintenance and inspection. Nigerian politics is notoriously grounded in fraud, dishonesty and deception. The politicians are known to kill one another to assume and remain in power and currently the President and some Governors (and their sycophants) are ganging up to circumvent the Constitution to remain in power. Some teachers sell grades to make a living and some court judge pervert justice when their palms are greased. The police are known to mount roadblocks to “slow down movement” and to extort money from motorists, and some often turn into armed robbers. And known rouges and incompetents are political leaders, etc.

One of the major problems facing Nigeria is that the so-called leaders find it difficult to transform words into positive actions. Because of social injustice, which the government has not cared to resolve, the suffering and hardship in the Niger Delta where billion-dollar oil companies operate remains alarmingly unbelievable. As the BBC reporter notes “no one person ever seems to be in overall control, or to have the whole picture,” as to where the society is headed. Without some form of moral re-birth among the leaders (and followers) and without the leaders being guided by some degree of morality, truthfulness, honesty and social justice Nigeria could “descend into anarchy.” The change must not be cosmetic and temporary. As Friedrich Nietzsche notes in On the Genealogy of Morals, “if something is to stay in the memory it must be burned in.”

The people are yearning for a nation where honesty and hard work, instead of titles or ill-gotten wealth, are celebrated. They are looking forward to a day when Nigeria will be restructured into a nation where the dignity of human beings is protected and respected. Nigerians needs a nation where every Nigerian could move to any state of his or her choice and live, raise their children and contribute to the development of the community without the fear being classified as a foreigner. The nation needs economic and political stability because stability breeds peace and progress. Peace leads to national security and with security both local and foreign business people would invest in the society. All these may not be possible without building a culture of honesty and basic truth in the society.

Nigerians should start all over and challenge the status quo. To build a culture of basic truth the leaders must support and encourage the people to always tell the truth and allow sincere “admission of error and failure as normal part of learning curve on the way to excellence” (Bell and Smith, 2002). The society must consistently demonstrate how societal efficiency and community relationships would improve when liars are not rewarded. Commitment to telling the truth must be an integral part of Nigeria’s mission, vision, goals, and objectives. Schools have a role to play in this; they should begin now to design courses for teaching the youths the importance of telling the truth, honesty and hard work. Corporate training sessions and orientations at work are also necessary to effect mentality change. Thus only honest and skilled individuals are allowed to lead and dishonest politicians should be shown the door, as everyone should be appraised on his or her professional integrity. There must be no excuses for disastrous leadership actions, because others may follow the bad example if appropriate consequences are not given.

Establishing a culture of truthfulness must be a high priority of any Nigerian leader. The people’s sources of income should be investigated and ascertained because there are many “rich” people in Nigeria today who were only civil servants. How did they do that? This may appear utopia or too idealistic, but it doable in Nigeria (as it has been done elsewhere) if the right system is put in place. Many of the people running around today as leaders in Nigeria are simply rouges and “ego-leaders.” Chief Obasanjo and his corrupt group that have an appetite for political power and money that will not be satisfied, and who do not listen to any other opinion, fall into this category. The depth of corruption in the society is shocking, even to those in his camp. The few honest individuals who are not skilled for leadership should be made to spend sometime in leadership boot camps before they assume some national leadership roles.

Building a culture of basic truth and honesty, a thing that Nigeria lacks, is the key to the nation’s sociopolitical and economic problems. No amount of ‘economic reform’ will transform the rouges into saints; a vulture, as it were, cannot become a dove! Individual truthfulness and integrity are easy to maintain when honesty, truthfulness, and good values are encouraged and properly rewarded. The political “bad apples” in Nigeria are rotten to the core and the society must take the responsibility in throwing them into the dustbin of history. There should be unconditional commitment to doing this; the society must adopt a transparent process of monitoring the progress of national transformation.

Fasten your belt, folks! It is a hard, bumpy and daunting road ahead! Wishing everyone a healthy and happy New Year!

Notes and References

Bell, Arthur H., and Dayle M. Smith. Developing Leadership Abilities [Prentice Hall, 2002].
Borzello, Anna (BBC Reporter): “Nigeria-where the truth is hard to find” (October 24, 2005).
Casey, Michael. Meaninglessness: The Solutions of Nietzsche, Freud and Rorty [Freedom Publishing, Melbourne, 2001]
James, William. The Meaning of Truth [New York: Longman Green and Co, 1911]
Murphy, Robert. Culture and Social Anthropology: An Overture. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1986: 14
The American Heritage English Dictionary: see a primary definition of culture.
Soames, Scott. Understanding Truth [Oxford University Press, December 1998].
Nietzsche, Friedrich. On the Genealogy of Morals [New York, NY: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994]

Victor E. Dike, CEO, Center for Social Justice and Human Development (CSJHD), Sacramento, California, is the author of Democracy and Political Life in Nigeria [Second Edition, forthcoming; the First Edition was published by the ABU Press, Zaria, Nigeria, 2001].

Robot  Villager

# 1 As the world is in the twilight of 2006, it is proper to reflect over the past year and think about where we are, individually and as a nation, and where we are headed. The past year (2005) was a busy one. For some people it was a year of tragedy and frustration, and for others it was a year of triumph. Those affected by the tragedies (airplane crashes, etc) should take heart; such is the nature of life, which goes up and down! As a nation, however, 2005 would not be regarded as a good one for Nigeria, not only because ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 05.01.2006 01:59

Guest

# 2 Good write-up! Posted by Guest| 05.01.2006 09:31

Unregistered

# 3 Hello Mr Dike, what if I told you that there's no nation in the world where "telling the truth" (as far as I can tell) is part of their culture. Your whole essay comes across as an appeal to morality based on choice - and that betrays a rather naive understanding of the way human morality works. You also seem to have neglected the importance of the pursuit of abstract Purpose as a national tradition which has NOTHING to do with morality, but translates to qualitative survival. "Doing the right thing" isn't necessarily an arbitrary choice based on innate goodness - but an activity which is reinforced by knowledge of risk of punishment or negative reward upon commission of evil. A society cannot be based on the expectation that people will make the right moral choices, in the absence of checks and balances. Do we bring up our children by just hoping that they will turn out right, or by constant correction and reprimand, sometimes stridently? I do agree with you that the Nigerian society can be described as one that seems unable to follow any singular train of (philosophical) Thought or Ideology to its conclusion - since the maintenance of the socioeconomic status quo of the elite must and does PREVAIL above all considerations, plans, hopes regarding the Nigerian people. Thus, it is difficult for the people to learn and consolidate enduring and society-developing lessons, since the surface of our collective perceptual pond is constantly ruffled, and the Voices that make references to the PURPOSE OF THE MANY aren't heard above the strife. Yes, in that sense we have lost a sense of Truth, if we define truth as definite and enduring perspective leading to growth. Indeed we have twisted even religious truths to serve our lack of Truth. Truth will come when no particular axis of interest (ethnocultural, or religious) can impose its will on other interests in Nigeria without successful challenge. In this case, behaviour becomes accordingly directed, rather than being whimsical. And the basis of this state of balance of Powers is yet another set of Truths which we continue to avoid to our detriment. Posted by Unregistered| 05.01.2006 14:48

Shoko Loko Bangoshe  Villager

# 4 Hello Victor, Thanks for a very interesting article. I agree that Nigerian leaders need to be more direct and honest about their communication - this would help to get people to understand whatever well-intentioned policy that they might be trying to implement. However, you seem to be placing establishing a 'culture of truthfulness' above economic reform when you say this: No amount of ‘economic reform’ will transform the rouges into saints; a vulture, as it were, cannot become a dove! Individual truthfulness and integrity are easy to maintain when honesty, truthfulness, and good values are encouraged and properly rewarded. Well, guess what? Even if someone decided to establish a culture of truthfulness as his top priority at the expense of economic reform, rogues would still not be transformed into saints, nor vultures into doves! No amount of lecturing or hectoring in the name of establishing the culture you speak of will make a difference if the things that cause people to be dishonest (like low wages and opportunities to steal) still exist. Indeed, economic reform isn't about changing people's behaviour... it's about changing the system so that the opportunities that many rogues had to steal money are now blocked. It's about freeing up the ability of people to make money so that they don't feel that stealing is the only way they can have a good life. And finally, it's about growing the economy and tax base so that government can actually properly reward those civil servants who have displayed honesty in communicating with the public Posted by Shoko Loko Bangoshe| 05.01.2006 19:22

Sheffer  Villager

# 5 It is critical to understand it isn't only the politicians that need to be truthful. Truth has to be adequately widespread in order for it to become part of the normal societal narrative, which in turn influences behaviour. One isn't speaking of Truth as a moral frame of mind but as a liberating set of shared ideas which is peculiar for any society. The fact of the need for Law and Order, for instance, doesn't become a Truth until the sense of sanctity of the principles contained therein is shared by most of the population. That is the critical part - adequate socialisation of ideas, even to the most "average" person on the street - and this is the purpose of Education. So the important question arises - which single idea or Truth has found root in Nigeria as far as Growth is concerned? We can argue that the ONLY idea which MAY have gained some ground is the idea that the civilian administration is preferable to a military regime and therefore needs to be preserved - but this is such a basic perspective and may be in danger of being swamped by the current situation in the country. Indeed we haven't fully elucidated the role of the "ordinary" citizen in the national process beyond elections. And as far as the issues of economy, technology, sense of international competition, and elevation and development of our cultures are concerned - we have not discovered any particular recognisable framework of viewing these things. Or haven't we, since nature abhors a vacuum? After all, deification of Power is one of our "strong" points; let us ask the professional sycophants. And so we must now begin to earnestly pursue the question; what exactly are our African Truths? Posted by Sheffer| 20.01.2006 00:55

evenkill  Villager

# 6 how do you begin to talk about truth without cracking the faith nut? how do you question leaders who get on the religious high horse proclaiming god's devine to rule. behind truth are verifiable fact. you can question and get real answer. these smart oles know the weakness of the religious zombies and they're and will continue to take full advantage of it. Posted by evenkill| 20.01.2006 02:40