We were discussing life in general and other things with Marzuq Ungogo when our conversation veered into my entrepreneurial journey. I told him that my biggest challenge is not the lack of competent hands to join me in achieving my goals but the lack of honest and willing supporting staff. He raised concerns about the paycheck, and I told him I was willing to increase my staff’s salaries by 100% if they were ready and willing to do what they were employed to do.
You see, I completely agree with my friend’s concern about the general welfare of staff, which is nothing to write home about. Many employers have not done enough in that regard. However, the concern of employers, which is largely unseen and hardly discussed, is the culture of anyhowness among many employees regarding the demands of their jobs, which they willingly signed up to do. This, in my opinion, deserves just as much attention because no economy can thrive where trust is constantly in short supply.
For example, to check excessive egg theft, we deployed CCTV, but that didn’t stop the stealing. We then employed another person whose job was to search for eggs hidden in the workers’ clothing and other crevices. You think you have solved the problem until you discover that the supervisor, whose only job was to search for stolen eggs, ended up conniving with the culprits. As the owner, you then have to supervise the supervisor. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Now think about what all of this means. One dishonest act leads to the installation of CCTV. CCTV is not enough, so another person is employed. That person also has to be supervised. Before you know it, time, money, and energy that should have gone into growing the business are now being spent watching people watch other people. These are real costs of doing business, and someone eventually pays for them—the business owner, the customer, or both.
What prompted this early morning rant was a video of Kemi Adeosun that I came across about the dishonest behaviour of many employees. Her argument was that this culture of dishonesty is more consequential in determining the economic development trajectory of our country than high interest rates, poor infrastructure, and many of the other problems we often talk about. I completely agree with Madam Kemi.
If we were to quantify the number of businesses that have closed or were never started because of the now-normalized and accepted culture of dishonesty and anyhowness, it would be enormous. I always tell people who care to listen that there is abundant capital—indeed, too much capital—looking for trustworthy people and profitable ventures. The challenge, in many cases, is not simply the availability of money but the confidence that the money will be managed honestly and competently. This is not just a Nigerian situation; it exists in many parts of the world. Prof. Mariana Mazzucato of LSE made a comprehensive argument about the abundance of capital seeking productive opportunities.
So, while I acknowledge Marzuq’s concern, the biggest challenge remains our attitude towards our respective endeavours. I have seen countless abandoned farms, not because the poultry business is no longer profitable, but because of the dishonest behaviour of managers. In many cases, the manager has both the knife and the butter. He is the one who determines what to allocate to himself as salary and how the business is run. But guess what? The owner eventually has to shut down the farm because it has been turned into a basket case—another misadventure in the hands of dishonest people.
Lest anyone misunderstand me, dishonest employers also exist. Some delay salaries, break promises, exploit workers, and create toxic work environments. None of these should be defended. But acknowledging that reality should not prevent us from confronting another reality—the damage caused by dishonesty and negligence among employees. If we are serious about building a prosperous country, then both employers and employees must be willing to look in the mirror.
One more thing. I recently learned that all the managerial staff at Wellcare in Kano are foreigners. I don’t know all the reasons behind that decision, but it has given me something to reflect on as I contemplate our own growth and expansion strategies. If businesses increasingly believe they have to look outside the country for trusted managerial talent, then perhaps we should pause and ask ourselves some uncomfortable questions. Trust, after all, is not just a moral virtue; it is also an economic asset.
