A ‘meritocratic’ state for Africa

The purpose of this think piece emanated from the deep conviction that an African renaissance can only happen with the development of each and every African and the collective skills, aptitudes and visions of our citizens. It is indeed timely and apposite to discourse on the subject of empowered professional self development. The piece hence seeks to explore the changing nature of international debates about empowered self-development and its implications for human empowerment to achieve our declared goals for the next five years and the MDGs.

        Do human qualities spur development? Yes they do; but… On the global arena, a consensus has emerged that a concerted massive action over a sustained period, on the development and utilization of a pool of critical human qualities at all levels and spectrum of society would provide the foundation and engine for gaining a respectable and beneficial place within the process of self-development and self-management. A disciplined, healthy, nourished, and motivated labour force is required to produce and distribute the goods and services needed for sustained human development. Leadership teams that are committed and willing with positive attitude to facilitate the process of opening up greater opportunities for every citizen are needed.

        With the groundswell of political consciousness and opportunities for political change that has emerged in Africa, the discourse on cultural democracy can and must take place to ensure its ultimate sustainability. It is also a challenge, because, for a third time in a generation, we are faced with the daunting task of building up new and equitable relationships; and hence the litmus test to our ability to participate in reshaping the future of a nation. It is also an opportunity for Africans to marshal their experience and knowledge to play a constructive role in national development.       As the march of meritocracy has now slowed to a crawl in Africa, and, on some fronts, has even turned into a retreat, the real threat to merit-based career development comes not only from within the government and the private sector but from society at large. The biggest risk to our development is the erosion of the competitive principle.

        Which world are we living in? Amid the turbulence of the divisions that marked the debate in the Cold War period, which was dominated by the great ideological differences between liberal-capitalism and socialism, and in which the contest was seen to lie in the competing claims of the primacy of civil and political rights on the one hand and economic and social rights on the other. At the heart of the controversy in self development was the role of the market in the organization of economy and the well known critique by Marx that established a better framework for rights in which economic and social rights were ensured to all people, enabling them to live a life of dignity and hence nations analyzed rights in class terms. Leaders hovered uneasily between these opposed views, reluctant to disengage from the rhetoric, which had been invoked extensively in the seventies, but also conscious of the difficulties of establishing political authority, especially in multiethnic societies, and increasingly driven to restrictions of rights. The end of the Cold War changed dramatically the context for the discourse of self-development widely represented as the victory of human right and Western (Mainly American) democracy. The discourse achieved a high salience. The west defined its mission the extension of rights and democracy to other parts of the world... followed by its dominance of Western culture. Soon Coca Cola and Hollywood became the icons of the new ‘cultural revolution’.

On our end, throughout African history, activists have worked in socially broad-based movements to challenge social injustice in oppressive eras, regimes, and faith aristocracies that challenged the very idealism of humanness and human dignity. The ethic that has brought about this change has been manifested in more ways than one; by emancipation-spirituality that inspired widespread grassroots renewal all over the world. The contemporaneous forms of inspirited social-change masterpieces that it brought deserve considerable attention in any discourse of human development, distribution of wealth and well-being; especially when it comes to building robust communities of faith, resilience, and ethics.

        Good enough never is - do a little more: No matter how common the task, it should be done uncommonly well. Such a choice is always wise; after all, the path of excellence is never crowded and is a highway that leads to the top. Excellence is not a destination we reach, but is an unending process of constant improvement. What better way to live than by growing better each day? Those who pursue excellence are not in direct competition with others, for they measure themselves against their own accomplishments. The real contest is always between what you’ve done and what you’re capable of doing. You measure yourself against yourself and nobody else." Excellence is deliberate, not an accident that we stumble upon. It is about asking of ourselves more than others do; it is about harbouring thoughts of excellence in our hearts and minds. As long as we aim for a more ideal self, success will naturally follow. Moreover, the good news is excellence is within the grasp of all, for it is merely about doing our best at every moment. It is not about perfection, which is an illusive goal, but about becoming what we are capable of being. Those who stand by the sidelines and watch others succeed, know what is necessary, but are unwilling to devote the time and effort to bettering themselves. So, each of us have to make a decision.

        To do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way; to do some things better than they were ever done before; to eliminate errors; to know both sides of the question; to be courteous; to be an example; to work for the love of work; to anticipate requirements; to develop resources; to recognize no impediments; to master circumstances; to act from reason rather than rule; to be satisfied with nothing short of perfection. Those who are successful in their quest for excellence simply do what they do better and do more of it. They go about life always alert for better ways of doing things. Every endeavour they engage in is imprinted with their mark of excellence. They understand that if you do a job quickly, people will forget about it. But if you do it well, people will remember. Founder of IBM, Thomas J. Watson (1874 ~ 1956), in his work the Path to Excellence said that: Care more than others think is wise. Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible. Strive more than others think is worthwhile. Do more than others think is necessary. Be more than others think is sufficient.

        Greatness is not power, wealth, fame, beauty, or talent. Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service, and character. (William Arthur) In other words, it is becoming someone you admire. Not because of egoism, but because of the innate desire to be and do one’s best. This is the single most powerful investment nations can ever make in life - investment in human ability to deal with life and to contribute. People are the instruments of their own performance, and to be effective, they need to recognize the importance of taking time regularly to sharpen the saw. The more proactive you are, the more effectively you can exercise personal leadership and management in your life. The more effective you manage your life, the more renewing activities you can do. The more you seek first to understand, the more effectively you can go for synergetic win-win solutions. The more you improve in any of the habits that lead to independence, the more effective you will be in interdependent situations. Renewal is the process of rejuvenating ones character, demeanour, and habits.

        The main reason for America's success lies in the organisation of its educational system asserts The Economist. “This is something other countries can copy... but they will not find it easy—particularly if they are developing countries that are bent on state-driven modernisation. America does not have a central plan for its universities….it does not treat its academics as civil servants. Instead, universities have a wide range of patrons, from state governments to religious bodies, from fee-paying students to generous philanthropists. The academic landscape has been shaped by rich benefactors such as Ezra Cornell, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, and John D. Rockefeller”. This is something that can be emulated by our private sector however nascent or underdeveloped.

        Meritocratic governments (such as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, China, and India), South Korea, Ghana, Tunisia, Singapore, Malaysia to name a few) and the corporate world stress talent, formal education, and competence, rather than existing social differences. Meritocracy is now often used to describe a type of society where wealth, income, and social status are assigned through competition, on the assumption that the winners do indeed deserve their resulting advantage. As a result, the word has acquired a connotation of Social Darwinism, used to describe aggressively competitive societies, with large inequality of income and wealth, and sharply contrasted with egalitarian societies. Social Darwinism is a form of contemporary socio-biology is natural selection applied to human social institutions; whose proponents often used the theory to justify social inequality as being meritocratic. Others used it to justify racism and imperialism and at its most extreme, it appears to anticipate eugenics and the race doctrines of the Nazis.

        In a plural soiety where power is theoretically in the hands of the elected representatives, meritocratic elements include the use of expert consultants to help formulate policies, and a meritocratic civil service to implement them. The perennial problem in advocating meritocracy is defining exactly what one means by merit. Hence, in devising a meritocratic state for Africa, we need to look at several of the state functions that must as a necessity be accomplished by well-developed teams and change agents. On the political governance arena, it is important that legislators understand their role with mechanisms whereby members of the legislature have sufficient access to research services, libraries, information and technical resources and staff to enable them to make informed decisions and not generally acquiesces to executive demands.

        In analyzing the Executive Arm’s ability to perform, the first question is whether there is a civil service, with appointments based on merit that has inter alia minimum entry requirements such as the Indian Civil Service and where large sectors of the population are not automatically guaranteed a job in the public sector, although it is important to tackle the unemployment challenge through a vibrant private sector. This is an important point of departure to evolve a clear system of promotion based on merit, and with checks and balances to ensure that this is implemented. This also enables the state to ensure that specific functions are clearly described, and chains of command clearly delineated and avoid widespread instances of promotion and appointment based on patronage.     Equally relevant arena for consideration is the compensation for civil servants i.e., the salary paid to civil servants is similar or even better to that which they could earn in other sectors (to prevent brain drain from the nation and civil service) and are there are benefits and access to government structures that afford significant attractions to join the civil service? Coupled with good remuneration and post-adjustment packages, the existence of alternative employment opportunities for civil servants can render the civil service a preferred profession. The necessity for a publicly acknowledged system of appointment, that encourages most senior positions to be held by career civil servants; has been time and again tested in those developing economies and emerging markets such as the The CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa) that have successfully transited out of penury.

        Such a system of appointment based on merit will indubitably ensure that budgetary policies and priorities are set correctly. It also provides the incentives for government agencies and state owned businesses to develop more cost efficient ways of doing business and enhances decentralisation of resource generation and allocation. Thus under such a capacitated state, local authorities are able to collect revenue and programme it for human development and human security. It also means that local authorities develop their own budgetary priorities and programmes. The most significant of all is the existence of a favourable environment for private enterprise; with regulations and administrative procedures, which need to be followed, that facilitate private ownership of property. In the arena of participation and communication, it is significant that there is a range of well-developed countervailing intermediary civic organisations such as policy or political and economic think tanks and professional associations that function freely and openly, serving a variety of sectors of the population and can peacefully function as pressure groups, lobbying for specific interests.

The three essential capabilities for human development are for people to lead long and healthy lives, to be knowledgeable and to have access to the resources needed for a decent standard of living. If these basic capabilities are not achieved, many choices are simply not available and many opportunities remain inaccessible. Nevertheless, the realm of human development goes further: essential areas of choice that are highly valued by people, range from political, economic and social opportunities for being creative and productive to enjoying self-respect, empowerment and a sense of belonging to a community.

Thus, the achievement of the goals propounded and enacted in the five year development plans by the African legislatures is in many measures a decision that will launch growth trajectories into a new era of human development (and as much as I refrain to use the phrase – ‘poverty reduction’). Hence, a nation needs a work force with a sense of purpose, work ethic, vision, integrity, direction has to do with creating conditions for the existence of the broadest possible range of dialogue, opinions, and human sentiments to achieve the goals enshrined the vision of African legislature. Developing and maintaining such a work force implies acquiescing to a system of economic and social governance based on rule by ability (merit) rather than by quotas, connections, wealth, race, or other determinants of social position.