“When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – When you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favours – when you see that men get richer by graft and pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming self-sacrifice, you may know that your society is doomed.” — Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957.

The above quote, from a book titled Atlas Shrugged written by Ayn Rand and published in 1957 is a thought-provoking one, considering the state of affairs in our dear country, Nigeria. The author, was a Russian-American writer and philosopher formally known as Alice O’Connor but was born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum(1905-1982), better known by her pen name, Ayn Rand. Born and educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. The quote itself has been posted in the social media by many other people from diverse backgrounds who found it thought-provoking and in the Nigerian context, reflective of the prevailing state of affairs.

Let us examine the quote, and see if in reality it applies to us here or not. If you want to produce anything (from farm produce to industrial products), you will need a lot of permits from various regulatory organs of government presided over by people who themselves produce nothing. If  it’s a poultry farm, for instance,  you need an establishment permit from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Ahead of this, one must first acquire a commercial feed license from the Federal Ministry of Health. Also needed is another permit from the Federal Ministry of Environment. These ministries are headed by politicians as ministers, and we all know how politicians derive their living in Nigeria. Many of them produce nothing, but as Rand pointed out, an intending poultry farmer must obtain permission from them to operate.

It is in the transport sector that this is most evident. If you intend to go into the transport business as an operator, after generating the funds needed to buy a danfo or korope, or even, okada, you need the approval of local kingpins in your area before you can start business. That is after you have painted the danfo in the stipulated colours in your state, obtained hackney permit, driver’s license, roadworthiness certificate and a host of other documentation. After these, you have to contend with the shenaningans of the transport unions who determine what happens on our roads and motor parks, without which you just can’t operate.

In the transport sector, there are no laws to protect the drivers against the antics of transport union kingpins, and where there are laws, there is no enforcement. We now see bands of tough-looking young men at the bus-stops and traffic intersections, holding rubber tubings which they slam against the body of trucks passing by, extorting money from them. This began in less than two years ago, but has since blossomed into an industry that is generating millions of naira daily, by some estimates. The operators of this nefarious business of extortion are beneficiaries of pull — connections that make them untouchable.

What’s worse, we now have ministers and legislators with dubious records. While the Senate was screening nominees on the President’s ministerial list, a nominee from Sokoto State appeared with Two Credits from his WAEC results and boldly and confidently told the Senate that it is good enough. There was another nominee whose CV (curriculum vitae) indicated that he enrolled in primary school at the age of three. In Nigeria!

Against the law, there are fellow Nigerians who contested in primaries for two different positions against the letters of the Electoral Act but who managed to survive. It is on record that Ahmad Lawan, the former Senate President, contested for the presidential ticket of the APC. Perhaps borrowing from famed magicians like Harry Houdini or our own Professor Peller, he managed to secure the ticket of his senatorial district in Yobe State. The system helped him machinate out Bashir Machina, who had initially secured the ticket. In the process, our laws were trampled on.

While we are all gnashing our teeth, wringing our hands, and knocking our heads against stone walls to make ends meet as the effects of petrol subsidy removal threatened to choke us all to death, federal legislators got prayers sent to their mailboxes. The prayers, as we now know, were alerts of millions of naira for the law-makers to enjoy themselves with while on holiday

It is in the light of these and many more that we all must ask ourselves the question that is inevitable from Ayn Rand’s quote: Is our society doomed? The answer should tell us what we need to do.