By Donu Kogbara
Last week, I expressed the view that Nigeria can only move forward in the near future if certain government functions are outsourced to top-class foreigners.

I’m not saying that we should be re-colonised by Caucasians. I am seeking freedom from prolonged failure rather than slavery and racial oppression!

I just want us to admit that good governance is not one of our talents, get rid of most members of the current ruling elite and hire honest and highly skilled foreigners of all hues – Black and White Americans, Europeans, Asians, etc – to run our economy and transform Nigeria into the great nation it will become if the right kind of people are invited to bail us out of the mess we are in.

If I had the power, I would recruit an army of formidable professionals from overseas, but not Nigerians who live overseas because Nigerians, as a general rule, can only be sufficiently effective when they are not working in Nigeria!

I wouldn’t even hire myself within this context, even though I grew up in London and was well-trained by the British and have an Oyinbo-ish mindset.

Why? Because it is much more difficult to be emotionally detached and ruthlessly efficient when you are a son or daughter of the soil.

Even if you were brought up abroad and have not hitherto been prone to tribalism, ethical lapses and incompetence, the minute you land in Naija and take up any senior job, your relatives and family friends will pounce on you, demand positions and contracts they are not qualified for, expect you to solve all of their financial problems, push you to contribute funds to every burial and hassle you to pieces if you dare to treat folks from all corners of Nigeria equally.

Relatives and family friends will constantly distract you from your duties and mock or berate you if you attempt to live on your salary. Relatives and family friends will never quit urging you to do things that will undermine economic growth, damage institutions, encourage corruption and promote mediocrity.

It is almost impossible to coldly withstand such emotional blackmail, so better to hand the reins over to those who have no emotional ties in Nigeria!

What I have in mind are individuals who do not have a drop of Naija blood in their veins and are known to possess integrity and have successfully managed key sectors and important organisations in enviable developed countries.

They’d be paid employees rather than imperial masters. They’d have to report to our President and take orders from him or her. They would only stay for five to ten years and would be instructed to create jobs and build indigenous capacity.

To make this experiment fly, we would have to acquire a Head of State who doesn’t have time for local nonsense and is totally committed to progress.

Here are some comments Vanguard readers sent to me when I mentioned this idea last week:

From: Ifeka Okonkwo <[email protected]>

 Donu,  our politicians and civil servants have brought our country down on her knees with their insatiable greed . If foreigners are allowed to manage our resources from now henceforth, our country will become a paradise on earth. The British could have developed our country like South Africa if our founding fathers did not drive them away prematurely in 1960!

From: Henry Ajenu <[email protected]>

We all share your frustration ! The most disappointing part is that people who have seen how things work abroad do not perform when they get a chance to serve at home and sometimes end up worse than the local breed…The Petroleum Minister, I hear, went to Oxford or Cambridge. The crux of the problem is the absence of the rule of law. We need just ONE SERIOUS leader to save this country.

While I voted for GEJ for religious reasons, I knew in my heart that Buhari would be better for Naija. I was hoping for some miracle that will transform GEJ,..but alas!    

 From: Cyril Edor <[email protected]>

Dear Donu, I am 100 percent in support of hiring foreigners in critical areas in Nigeria. Surely this country is going under. The best are left out of governance deliberately due to greed…The masses are too feeble minded to do anything about it. In fact, only the Yoruba have shown any inclination to suing for good governance.

A South-South man is the president of Nigeria but has made no impact in the zone.

 +234806094596 Fidelis Nwagwu

It would never fly with such corrupt environment like ours. These foreigners are also corrupt if given opportunity to operate in a corrupt environment. We should make our system and rules uninhabitable to corrupt people. We must get it right one day.

+2348036373731 Kalu Omokorie

I am very apprehensive about your suggestion. It is not giving monkey water that is the problem but to retrieve the cup….

 +2348055939013 Anonymous

Donu, your piece on foreign intervention was interesting….The leadership has failed woefully. Those clamouring to take over from the present inept leadership are no better either. In support of your piece, I am of the opinion that we hand over the Presidency for five years to UK or USA at first instance. Thanks for your good work.

+2348067135823 Anonymous

I don’t think you know what it took before independence was given to us. Think wisely.