When I was on campus, I was an addict who believed in self-improvement. In addition to lectures and religious gatherings, you can find me at most skill-building workshops and seminars on campus.
One fateful day, my faculty organized one of those events. No, the faculty approved the seminar and with that approval parted with her last N500 to pay the admission fee.
I went back to my hostel that Friday afternoon feeling stupid for throwing away my last “card” for the chance to listen to some random man who offered to teach me a skill that would change my life. I remember. Still, I remained hopeful.
This wasn't the first time I've paid for an event like this, and it won't be the last. A year later, I donated my 10,000 naira monthly salary to attend a financial seminar at a luxury hotel in Zaria. I went hungry for weeks, but I survived by vowing never to do it again.
But who could I resist? There were posters on bulletin boards around campus, and all you had to do was dial the number underneath and ask, “How do I pay?”
So the following Saturday, I arrived early and secured a front row seat in the faculty lecture room where the seminar was held. I gave the “widow's tick” for this so the worst I could do was sit in the back.
At 10 a.m., the resource person, a tall, fair-skinned man in his early 30s wearing a dark blue suit, took the stage to cheers.
“If the profile the anchor just read out is true, then I didn't come here in vain,” I reasoned. After a wonderful and lively 45-minute talk, Tobi, who was later identified, introduced us to multi-level marketing, which Nigerians call “bring two.” All stories are connected here.
Omit unnecessary details. But the two people I managed to bring in recruited two others who could no longer recruit people. So my dream of becoming a millionaire at the age of 24 and traveling the world with the love of my life fell into disrepair. I struggled to make my network longer, but I couldn't get my “downline” to work. Three months later, I cut my losses, closed the shop, and headed off to study.
The stakes weren't that high for me, so it was easy to close up shop. After all, I was an undergraduate student with many dreams, no dependents, and many worries. What if I'm president and a failure in my downline means a failure of the country? What if it means being labeled a failure, a liar, a promise breaker?
This may explain why President Bola Tinubu issued growls of warning to some of his subordinates, namely senior civil servants, during a candid meeting at Aso Rock Villa last Thursday.
The Director of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Treasurer-General of the Federation, the Auditor-General of the Federation, the Permanent Secretary of the Federation, and the heads of several agencies were present.
Similar to MLM, leadership and governance rely on subordinate performance and hierarchy to function. In an MLM scheme, an individual's success is highly dependent on the recruitment and performance of his or her downline members. The more productive the lower tiers are in selling products and services and recruiting other people, the more benefits accrue to individuals higher up in the hierarchy.
Similarly, presidents rely on hierarchical executive structures, with cabinet members, advisors, and other government officials playing critical roles in implementing policy and ensuring the success of their administrations. Their performance determines a president's ability to achieve policy goals and maintain public support.
However, there is a big difference in purpose. Unlike pyramid schemes, where the goal is often personal financial gain and success is measured by sales, recruitment, and resulting income, presidential goals are more complex and public-oriented; The welfare of the people is at the center of this.
The president benefits from the performance of his administration, but his ultimate goal is (supposedly) the welfare of the country and its people.
Inside the House floor, Mr. Tinubu was furious, saying the civil service was slowing down the implementation of his well-intentioned programs as well as poor performance on the downline. He also expressed shock that some public officials had held part of his welfare efforts to ransom.
Armed with the data, Tinubu asked why a large portion of the 35,000 naira monthly wages promised to workers last October remained unpaid until he called from far away in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Here are the results: “Let's make our children's dreams come true. Why delay it? It's not just embarrassing. It's unacceptable. We pledged to lift our people out of poverty. We're increasing their vulnerability. We should not. Please help Nigerians get out of these problems and not make a difficult situation worse with unacceptable delays.”
The president also warned that inefficiencies and unnecessary bureaucracy that delay economic interventions and programs targeting vulnerable populations are unacceptable.
As a result, the President has requested that monthly briefings and key performance indicator reports be submitted to his office for consideration by the Directors of Services, and that interactive meetings between the President and the Permanent Secretariat be held quarterly. I ordered it to be scheduled.
A presidential official familiar with the discussions at the meeting told me: He was very angry that his plans were ruined.
“He said he expects public servants to actively respond to the longings of more than 220 million people and has a duty to give them hope.
“He was angry because in October the President made a lot of promises to Nigerians. One of them was to make 75 billion naira available to 100,000 businesses and start-ups and to provide 35,000 naira monthly wages. However, nothing has been done since then.
“The president was unhappy that the 35,000 naira wages given to civil servants were not paid until he called the civil servants. What's going on?” he asked. The bonus is for six months, but it will only be paid until December 2023.
“They promised to pay the rest immediately. The theme of what he said here is that he is just not satisfied with the service and expects it to improve. We hope this service does not exacerbate people's poverty.”
After the punishment, President Tinubu and his followers exited the chamber smiling and sometimes posing for photos. Whether or not the grunts gradually turn into bites will depend on how well the downline performs going forward.
