WORK ETHICS AND THE ACTUALIZATION OF VISION 2020

Achieving a peaceful co-existence within the human world is premised on

adherence to certain rules otherwise called ‘ethics’. When everyone respects and upholds

the ideals of such rules (written or unwritten) that regulate their actions and interactions,

they experience a symbiotic balance where no one thrives at the expense of the other.

Mostly, such rules vary with culture and environment but the underlying objectives of

moral wholesomeness and optimum resourcefulness remain platform independent.

Notable platforms in this regard include religious affiliations, social class, cultural

group, professional discipline and not in the least, work force. While each of them exists

in different forms and nomenclatures, they collectively aggregate to etch a unique

identification for a Nation. On the other hand, ‘Vision’ though means ‘sight’ but connotes

‘foresight’. It is imperative to assign a physical dimension and magnitude to an abstractly

existing vision before any attempt at evaluating either the intrinsic or extrinsic worth of

such an idea is made. To further eliminate ambiguity as it relates to the topic in question,

the word ‘vision’ means: ‘An imaginary insight into the future’. Against this background

therefore, the subject matter can be stated thus ‘Appraising Work Ethics In Meeting The

Challenges Of Becoming One Of The Top Twenty Industrialized Nations In The World By

The Year 2020.

In the words of George Santayana, “Those who fail to learn from their past run a

risk of repeating their mistakes”. This idea proved to be a precursor to the lager than life

problem of poverty that has plagued Nigeria since time immemorial. It is undoubtedly a

recurring decimal in the tales of retrogression of the Country and the Continent by

extension, hence, the use of the adjective ‘dynastic’ by the World Bank in describing our
variant of poverty in Africa. Much as it is logically expedient to diagnose previous

efforts aimed at attaining a superlative level of industrialization, spatial constraints will

not permit an exhaustive analysis. However, a brief review of some causative factors will

be made. To start with, various unfriendly economic factors such as super high cost of

production occasioned by a hydra-headed inflation rate and an alarming foreign exchange

rate coupled with fiscal recklessness of some Custodians of public fund. In the same

vein, certain technical errors contributed their bit to the process of incapacitating the lofty

objective of industrialisation. Capacity underutilization of existing systems, resulting

from requisite technical manpower deficiency as well as lopsided and premature

introduction and implementation of indigenisation decree without prior appraisal of local

potentialities with a view to establishing a reconciling medium of transition between the

status quo ante bellum and the desired expectation. Also, the near total collapse of the

power sector did no small amount of damage to the drive towards industrialization.

Another culprit is found in our political antecedent. For a significant period of our

existence as a Nation, the political climate of Nigeria was extremely far from being

congenial for industrial growth. From the shenanigans and surreptitious manipulations of

the self seeking Civilians allegedly voted into power to the draconian oppression of the

maximum military Dictators, the last vestiges of hope of industrialization is still buried

deep in the ruins of the misrule of the past. It will be unequivocally admitted that the

myriad of problems that summed up to plunge the Country into an industrial graveyard

stemmed from a common base – the human factor. If the lack lusters past described

above form an antithesis on one hand and the grand vision 2020 form the thesis on the

other, then there must be a resultant synthesis which will reconcile the two. The resultant
synthesis is the human factor. Since human factor precipitated other factors earlier

mentioned and the actualization of vision 2020 requires human agency, then a paradigm

shift through human capital development and value re-orientation is necessary for the

reconciling resultant synthesis so that mistakes of the past are not repeated when drawing

the road map towards 2020.

The policies and implication of same which will determine the fruition of vision

2020 must emanate from the clear heads of morally sound, result oriented, objective-

driven, empathic and selfless leaders who formulate impeccable policies with human face

and stipulate the guiding principle (ethics) for the diligent, industrious, resourceful and

sensible Work Force to implement with all sense of belonging. For instance, the political

class (always the minority) who formulates or adapts foreign policies depend on the

Civil/Public Servants (who are always in the majority) to implement such. The psyche of

the Workers who will give physical dimensions and magnitude to the vision of the policy

makers must be free of corrupting influences. The Workers should be able to translate the

prognosis conceptualized by the political class into life changing deliverables. The

guiding rules (ethics) should reflect a shifting in paradigm of morality through structured

training which would combine resourcefulness with conscientiousness as objectives so

that the heart can move in tandem with the mind. While federal character factor

sometimes downplays professional necessity by sacrificing excellence on the altar of

sentimental and of course hypocritical ethnic equality, the code of conduct on the other

hand should place premium on instilling virtues which in effect will result in

maximization of potentials. To this end, a cautious but conscious pattern of evaluation

should be established to progressively monitor the efficacy of ethics so that rules which

have no relevance with modern realities can be identified and jettisoned.

Conducive work environment and favourable condition of service will certainly

go a long way in dampening appetite for corrupt practices. A poorly remunerated worker

is predisposed to perpetrating corruption. As earlier hinted, there is a striking correlation

between corruption and poverty. The poor ranking of the Country on the list of most

corrupt Nations vis-à-vis the report that an average Nigerian lives on below two dollars

daily lends weight to this belief. It is therefore reasonable to adequately remunerate

Workers. Having said that, the possibility of having a handful of compulsive defaulters

can never be foreclosed. When the corrupt ones are in the minority, it will be difficult for

corruption to thrive without anyone challenging and conversely, when the majority are

corrupt, corruption may thrive with relative ease.

In the light of the foregoing, it is therefore recommended that credit be given to

merit by way of awards and special recognition to deserving Workers who distinguish

themselves in such areas as accountability, fiscal discipline, moral uprightness and

professional excellence. This will go a long way in auto-driving the ideals of the ethics

that the Code of Conduct Bureau sets to transmit. On the other hand, existing rules

governing conditions of service such as Public Service Rules should have more legal bite.

Administrators of such rules should be more willing to enforce them so that the spread of

unethical practices is timely forestalled.

AKINLEYE OLUWATOSIN AKINTUNDE

BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION, OKE-MOSAN, ABEOKUTA.