WANTED! PERSONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRITY, By Folu Olamiti

In a world that has turned upside down like the bat of the night (apology, Shola Oshunkeye), integrity has become a rare commodity. So important is this seven-letter word that psychologists, sociologists and experts in human relations believe it is the oxygen humans need to live a successful and glorious life. Indeed, integrity is so crucial to human existence that experts believe one can never have enough of it. In fact, they insist that one has nothing in this wide world if he doesn’t have integrity.

So, what is integrity?

From my perspective, integrity encompasses the attributes of being honest, being upright, having a great sense of probity and accountability, decency and nobility, high-mindedness and right-mindedness, strong moral principles and strong strength of character, as well as a strong personal resolve to be consistent and submit to high moral and credibility standards.

In ethical terms, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one’s actions. Integrity could also mean the personal quality of fairness that we all aspire to attain in life. It thus goes without saying that having integrity means doing the right thing in a reliable and appropriate way. Indeed, integrity is a lofty personality trait that many lack, but which many more admire and aspire to have because it is a moral compass that helps the beholder never to waver nor falter.

Having defined ‘integrity’, there is the need to underscore the fact that whether at personal or institutional level, integrity connotes the same attributes of moral rectitude of positive and predictable behavioural patterns. This reality is undeniably accentuated by the fact that institutional integrity is a subset, as well as a web of aggregation of personal integrity by the people that drive particular organisations or establishments regarding their mission and vision for the common good of the society. At this juncture, it may not be out of place to address the concept of HONESTY. Certainly, honesty remains a key issue at the heart of integrity; be it at personal or institutional level, particularly, in relation to our society of today.

Of course, by honesty, it means that our behaviour is perceived to be predictably devoid of LYING. The universal fact here is that, lying breaks down trust and damages or destroys relationships. On the long run, it is demeaning to self as it hurts and damages personal esteem. Another important co-efficient of HONESTY, as the central issue in integrity at both personal and institutional level, is the reality that our behaviour should be perceived by others, as being predictably devoid of CHEATING. It is incontrovertible to state that cheating destroys trust and ruins individual or group cooperation and cohesion. Hence, it is always good to be honest at all times.

Before I proceed, I will like to share one of my write-ups that was widely published in both the print and online media, on July 29, 2016. It was titled; ‘WHO CHEATS’? The headline was taken from an Anti-Corruption International Blog – the FCPA. The writer of the article, Caveni Wong, discussed something so intriguing that would normally pass for our behavioural traits, but never taken seriously. Yet it is one of the major reasons cheating is taken as an integral part of corruption. Caveni, in the piece, wrote: “It is an uncomfortable thought, but given certain circumstances, most of us would cheat”. He said his colleague, Ron Carrucci, once wrote about how easily one can ‘cross the line’. Various studies have repeatedly shown that most people cheat when asked to self-report their performance on a task, if it means a higher pay out. But they only cheat, a little enough to gain extra benefit, but not so much that they would feel bad about themselves for the act. The truth is that it does not pay to cheat.

Carrucci further remarked that this attitude was consistent with what he observed in his earlier career, when he would go out with few of his colleagues for what they would classify as a ‘client’ meal in which actual client names would be scribbled on a receipt and submitted for re-imbursement. A colleague, he said, once told him that he often embellished expenses. Yet, oftentimes, employees never knew they had crossed the line. They only saw their actions as part of the informal culture. That is the insidious nature of minor cheating that goes on continually and unchecked in organisations. Cheating slowly builds up a culture that eventually leads to the stage where more serious violations often birth mega corruption. This is the crux of the matter as our nation sprawls in a swamp of corruption today! The question, therefore, is: As adults, have we not crossed the red line in the past? Thank God that some of us, after accepting Jesus Christ, confessed and paid restitution by battling flesh and its awkward tendencies so we can make heaven and be on the right side of eternity.

I love the Gospel in John Chapter 8. In it, we read the story of how Jesus exonerated and rescued a woman allegedly caught in an adulterous act from her accusers. In a self-righteous indignation, her accusers had mobbed her and were ready to stone her to death. He woman ran to Jesus. Her accusers were seething with rage. Without looking at her accusers, Jesus simply stooped down and scribbled something on the ground and asked a thunderbolt of a question: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”. That question pricked their consciences and they saw their own nakedness. One after the other, they all moved away and the accused was saved.

What a timeless lesson for all us here! Today, many of us are looking for ‘Mr. Integrity’ and discussing corruption at every forum, but in our subconscious minds and at our closets, are we not as guilty in one way or another as those we want to stone openly? Do we not cheat? Take a quick look round the country today and tell me whether corruption is not prevalent; whether corruption has not reached epidemic proportion and starring us in the face like a sore thumb? The holier-than-thou attitude of our so-called leaders makes them look like people hiding behind a finger. They blow the bugle of anti-corruption at roof tops and minarets but commit heinous crimes with their pens against the people in the cool confines of their executive offices. This is the order of the day in Nigeria.

A perfect example of personal integrity is presented Biblically in Daniel Chapter 3, verses 17 to 18. Remember Daniel? Remember how Shadrach and two of his friends – Meshach and Abednego – stood up to King Nebuchadnezzar as they were about to be thrown into a flaming furnace for refusing to deny the living Almighty God, but rather bowed down, saying: ‘Your Majesty, we do not need to defend ourselves. The God that we worship can save us from you and your flaming furnace. But if He does not, we will not worship your gods and the gold statue you have set up.’ By their heroic action, the three men taught us a great lesson: It is better to lose everything else, even our lives, than to lose our integrity. When everything else is gone – money, family, friends and shelter – what remains is our integrity. My point here, therefore, is that we should not compromise integrity to gain money, power or prestige. You may not know how things will turn out when you stand up for truth and integrity in the face of worldly pressures to do wrong. I can assure you that it would not be dull – it will be bright and right at the end of the day.

There is no doubting the fact that integrity is a fundamental value sought by   employers in their employees – private, corporate or public life. It is the trait of a person, who exudes sound moral and ethical principles at work and in life generally. Integrity is the foundation on which workers build trust and effective interpersonal relationships. And, it should be the underpinning principle behind both public and private workers in their official relationships with the larger society. It is universally upheld and appreciated accordingly that people who exhibit integrity draw others to them because they are trustworthy and dependable. They are regarded as principled and they can be counted upon to behave in honourable ways, even when no one is watching or even knows about their private or official assignments. There is no doubting the fact that this is what should be the norm and culture in all our private and official undertakings, as patriotic Nigerians.

Having gone this little stretch to explain integrity at both personal and institutional levels, the natural question that follows is: Can our society be said to be genuinely and roundly blessed with men and women of integrity? Is integrity ever allowed? Is integrity unanimously accepted as the norm in private and public life? Sadly, the answer is a resounding NO! And, the reasons for this are not farfetched. Take the macro-level of governance as an example. The issues of monumental graft being exposed and investigated by the anti-corruption institutions like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and even International Police (INTERPOL), are enough evidences of the abyss our nation has sunk. The level of degeneration in our society today, based on massive dishonesty and unbridled display of lack of integrity by most of our political leaders, private and public functionaries, is mind-boggling.

Integrity failure in our society is not just about political leaders or politicians, who promise the electorate what they know they would never deliver. They promise all the same because of greed, monumental corruption and culture of primitive acquisition. There is also massive failure of integrity in the corporate sector. We couldn’t have forgotten so quickly the menace of the infamous Wonder Banks in the concluding years of the last century; and the near collapse of the banking sector at the turn of the current decade in our country. In recent times, the shaky pillar of our beleaguered educational system has further been corroded by an absolute integrity deficiency issue of sex-for-pass-mark.

Lastly, it must be stressed that at the micro or individual level, we are all culpable of integrity failure as we find it very convenient to lie and cheat in our official and interpersonal relationships within family, schools, offices, market or business places, churches and mosques. A very sad side to all of this is that in most cases, we even lie, cheat and brazenly underscore our integrity failure by swearing in the name of Almighty God!

But all hope is not lost. I believe that we can return to the path of probity, honesty and integrity by truly going into restitution of living our faith as established in the holy books. I strongly hold the belief that we can still return to the path of self-esteem and integrity in Nigeria, as a way of life, as dictated by our cultural ethos, and as it has been done in other saner societies, where things work organically for the overall good of all because of the existence of high level of integrity.

It is quite inspiring after reading my earlier narrative that I got a feedback from a colleague, Femi Adefemiwa, which reads: “What a sound argument! The resonating fact remains that there is no collective guilt but individual guilt. By nature, every human being is selfish and self-centred. The background of deprivation, which a significant number of those of us that are experienced and undue societal expectations from us, have all created some primordial tendencies in us to behave negatively.

“This is particularly so because of the infamous urge in us for primitive acquisitions. To make matters worse, justice in our land is always given to the higher bidder. So, an innocuous combination of these ills has put us where we are today. But we have to start somewhere. Cleaning the mess must not be a mere academic exercise, it has to be complete and total. Whether we are all guilty or not, we just have to draw a line and start from somewhere. And perhaps we have started. This, I believe we can achieve by consciously instituting and promoting at all times,  a culture of self-esteem in our families, and in all institutions of character-moulding and socialisation, from infancy through adolescence to adulthood.”

Another colleague, Ademola Adigun, has this to say: “A lecturer wanting five rounds (of sex) for pass. A policeman demanding money as bail from citizens; a judge demanding millions for judgments, a public servant demanding money for his/her vote; and a clergyman demanding huge sums of money for blessings; leaders closing their eyes to corruption and nepotism; parents offering money for children’s admission into schools or paying for examination questions; and a society rewarding incompetence; a society closing its eyes and mind such that mediocre get to the top in administration at the expense of our brightest and the best; a society that justifies all things in the name of politics, tribe, ethnicity and individual benefit; a society that blackmails others for differences in thinking-nation that we are all striving to build but some working towards oppressing the other; a society where impunity  is the order of the day; a society with low or no expectations from its leaders; a society in conflict with itself; a society where all issues are swept under the carpet, depending on who holds the broom. Nigeria should no longer be part of such sick arrangement’.

Undoubtedly, INTEGRITY is the bedrock of monumental technological and industrial feats. It is the oil that lubricates the engine of production and productivity and engenders giant socio-economic strides, which are the hallmarks of the successes achieved by Europe, United States of America, Asia and Oceania in the last five centuries. We should be ready to get it right in Nigeria. It is not too late to start fighting corruption from our little corners. We can kill corruption if the will is there. And it does not require rocket science.

Man’s insatiable greed for primitive acquisition, particularly, in our society, is so alarming that one keeps wondering whether people ever think of that great day when they will leave Mother Earth. It is disturbing and unbelievable when we look at the crazy acquisition by those who have access to our commonwealth. It is more painful when one realises that their rotten wealth and acquisitions are products of cheating and graft.

On the way forward, a number of suggestions could be useful. To begin with, there is need for attitudinal change. This must cut across all strata of our national life. We should see corruption as a serious plague and imbibe good morals of integrity, honesty and sincerity. The family, educational institutions and religious centres should rise up to this task of moral rejuvenation in the society. Secondly, those found guilty by the law for corrupt practices should be hauled to long jail terms and banned from holding public office or any position of trust for life. This will serve as deterrent to others. Hard work, honesty and diligence should always be appreciated and rewarded. Thirdly, political offices should be made less juicy in order to discourage do-or-die politicking and promote genuine service to the nation.

To enhance better stewardship and reduction in the cost of governance, there is the need to explore the possibility of unicameral legislature involving part-time law making. Furthermore, well-designed mechanisms should be put in place to make Nigerian leaders more accountable through objective appraisal and assessment of their promises before and during their tenure in office. Administration of justice should be faster to make it possible to curb bureaucratic graft with ease. E-governance and the deployment of information technology to government business should reduce the involvement of person-to-person financial transactions. Any person aspiring to lead this country should have a minimum of first degree.

Anti-corruption agencies should better funded and adequately staffed to perform their statutory duties. More importantly, the media should continue to play its watch-word role in the society. Obviously, our nation, and Africa in general, would remain clay-footed, to catch up with the monumental developments in the other continents of the world, unless we are positive and noble in every existential undertakings that we embark upon. I charge you all at this summit to work towards truly making Nigeria a better place among the comity of nations. Let our mantra, henceforth, be INTEGRITY and HONESTY always. This is what our country urgently needs to compete effectively in this globalised world.

Thank you all for listening. God bless Nigeria.

• Sir Folu Olamiti, a former Resident Consultant (Media and Publicity) of the ICPC, delivered this paper at a mega summit organised by Kingdom Men, a global network of Christian men in leadership, held in Lagos on May 17, 2018. The event was titled: PERFECT PURPOSE.