About 10 years ago, I wrote a short note on the "Complicity of Professionals-1". After over a decade, the status quo remains the same. No, the situation has worsened!
Professionals, especially in Africa, could do more to promote good governance and development in their different contexts across the region. They possess comparable knowledge and skills to other practitioners in any part of the world. So, the puzzling question is: Why is there such a slow pace (if any) in development in these parts of the world, where they have professionals in different fields of endeavour, who could trigger and sustain modern development through their innovation and leadership of the various sectors? Interestingly, in a significant number of countries, professionals head their respective ministries, departments, and agencies: lawyers are usually in charge of the Ministry of Justice and Office of Attorney General; finance and account experts oversee the Ministry of Finance and relevant departments; medical doctors superintend the Ministry of Health; and a similar pattern is seen in other ministries. So, why are we not making appreciable progress in Africa?
I have identified a lack of courage as a major reason. The lack of courage to stand firmly on professional protocols irrespective of the pressure to compromise standards. The lack of courage to speak the truth to power based on conviction; the lack of courage to risk the power and perks of office by upholding integrity and transparency; the lack of courage to resign when it is no longer tenable to keep a position without the opportunity to deliver on the values that enhance the quality of life of the people served; and the lack of courage to shun parochial interests.
Africa, and indeed the rest of the world, can make more progress if citizens, including professionals, summon more courage to confront corruption, first by living by example and subsequently propagating this lifestyle both upstream and downstream of their cycle of influence, interactions, and transactions. We cannot afford to retell this story every decade. The knowledge, skills, and tools needed to advance humanity are more at our disposal in this era than in any other period in our history. What are we doing with this opportunity?
Another factor causing the complicity of professionals is putting sentiment beyond knowledge and skill at the strategic level of decision-making in organizations, ministries, and agencies. This has over the years discouraged professionals in the continent from promoting justice to embrace eye service, lies, and deceit in their professional practice. Some leaders were not interested in mentoring the upcoming generation instead, they were beclouded by the battle of supremacy among colleagues in the sector hence, snowballing the slow pace in the development of young professionals.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, sir
I agree with you. Professionals need to be more dispassionate in their approach to decision-making, and to take necessary actions based on evidence and strategic pivot.
DeleteThanks for your comment.