The Lucifer effect
I
heard many years ago about the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment,
where normal university students were selected randomly for an
experiment, where they took on the roles of either prison guards or
prisoners, grew to be so brutal that the trial had to be prematurely
ended.
Discussing the
results amongst friends, we marvelled at how circumstance could bring
out qualities in ourselves that we were unaware of.
Philip Zimbardo,
the Stanford professor who carried out the experiment in 1971, names
this ‘transformation of human character’ the ‘Lucifer Effect’, named
after God’s favourite angel, Lucifer,.
Many of us would be
un-surprised to learn that ‘The Lucifer Effect’ is strikingly similar
to ‘The Nigerian Factor’. You know what I mean? It is a phrase that
surfaces when planning for a project or an enterprise in Nigeria is
being discussed in a mixed group that includes expatriates, repatriates
(Nigerians returning home from residency abroad), or ‘virgins’ – those
people we call JJCs (Johnny Just Comes), new entrants to politics,
business, industry, education, or to any sector that you can name.
At some point
towards the end of the planning process, the phrase ‘the Nigerian
Factor’ is introduced and the debate commences. Then comes the
challenge: “Are you saying that something tried and tested in the
world, in both developed and developing countries alike, cannot work
here?!”
Firstly, there is no real consensus about the influences that make up the Nigerian Factor.
I think what we can
agree on is that, while Nigeria is a country that shares elements of
its climate and topography with other countries in the world, and that
while Nigerians share the humanity and beliefs of other citizens of the
world, the combination of geographical environments, peoples and
cultures, have created something both familiar and unique that needs to
be ‘factored’ into our interactions with each other and with outsiders.
We have what
linguists call ‘false friends’. These are words that have the same
spelling in different languages but have dissimilar meanings. For
example, both English and French have the word ‘sensible,’ but while it
means reasonable in English, in French it denotes that you are
sensitive.
Trap of false friends
Visitors to
Nigeria, and Nigerians visiting another region of the country, often
fall foul of ‘false friends’. Because we speak a variation of English;
because Western clothes and mannerisms are common here, because we
share the major religious beliefs, many visitors believe that they can
interact with us as they would another Westerner. Big mistake.
Because we are very
hospitable; others believe that Nigerians accept strangers easily.
Wrong conclusion. Just ask couples who wish to marry someone from a
different religion or another ethnic group, not to mention a foreigner.
Most importantly,
the belief that because, traditionally, we are used to deferred
gratification – to investing money and time in livestock, seeds, and
goods, and seeking the best markets in which to sell them in order to
make a good return – that Nigerians are prepared to wait for the
business deal or the contract to be completed before getting their
return in terms of profit or national gain…THAT is the heart of the
matter.
Perhaps it was true
once upon a time that we were prepared to wait now for future gain.
Now, gratification must be today, NOT later.
The system that we
live and work within that has been evolving for the past 40 years,
almost guarantees that no matter how good or well-meaning you are, the
longer you stay in the public and political system, the more brutish
and greedy you will become. If you don’t ‘play ball,’ your life and
your family are threatened, your business is blacklisted or, if they
like you, you would be powerfully encouraged to leave.
To have any hope of
escaping ‘The Lucifer Effect,’ we have to ditch a system that turns
good people bad, and establish a system that will keep even bad people
relatively honest. Lobby whomever you know for electoral reform.
Support banking reform. Scrutinise and protect your rights as our
constitution goes through review and change. And write to your
legislators regularly and repeatedly. Make the Nigerian Factor work for
you rather than against you.
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