Omoluwabi

Omoluwabi “ Business excellence the Nigerian way”

Whilst the media and most commentators are enthralled with the antics of the Nigerian political classes as to whether there will be a third term or not, we as business people can ill afford such distractions. Since this is just an outline let me just mention one reason, the Nigerian population under the age of 15 stands at over 40% and our population keeps growing at just below 3%. This means to achieve any appreciable change in poverty the economy has to grow at least at 6%. We need to generate the economic expansion and job creation that will deliver these critical goals. This is not going to come from government even though they are critical for creating the enabling environment. It is also not going to come exclusively from oil or any other extractive industry because the market is too fickle, its expansion opportunities are too minimal. It can be a catalyst at best. The saving grace for our economy, our prosperity and the future of our children are going to be in the Small businesses across the land. It is the growth and transition of ‘mama put’ and market women, the expansion of the mechanic and the Alaba market trader. It is the transition from an informal sector to formal, from owner manager to small employer and finally to the broad spectrum of medium sized employers with up to 50 employees that will be the engine room for the economy. I know I can hear your Amen.

The challenge to achieving this much-needed expansion is that we are a low trust economy with a high transaction cost . There is very limited investment in Small and Medium size businesses as a result. Put simply, because we have little trust in each other, the cost of doing business is extremely high at the same time as there is refusal to take risk through investment. I do not suggest that there is no basis for this suspicion but it leads people to demand upfront payment in some cases two years ahead tying up much needed liquidity. If we want this growth then we need to change it. My fundamental position is that our social capital is low because the Nigerian character has been eroded into one value, conspicuous consumption. It acts as a masquerade for rampant mediocrity. Our character is inevitably our brand and it is synonymous with fraud, corruption and aggression. Everything is pursued on the short term with the sole purpose being quick financial reward. My answer to this is to develop a matrix and standard for character that we need in order to succeed individually, institutionally as well as nationally. Far more importantly we need it to sustain success. My choice is the concept of Omoluwabi.

Omoluwabi is Oyo Yoruba for ‘ Omo ti Olu Iwa bi’ its literal English is the offspring or child of the Lord of character. It is part of an ancient code in the same way that most noble Japanese were raised on Bushido. However it was never just linked to birth but a manifestation of values, attitude and behaviour. It is in the same way that Unbuntu is emerging as a model of progressive and ethical business conduct in South Africa and also being used across the world is the same way that Omoluwabi will offer a much needed standard for excellence in the Nigerian character. It should be our contribution to Management philosophy and Leadership thinking across the world. I hasten to add that what I offer is Omoluwabi for the 21st Century freed from the confines of its Yoruba origin and projected into the service of a Nigerian Transformation as well as an African Renaissance.

© Adewale Ajadi for Adaptnomics Ltd Page 1 3/5/06
There are seven elements or components emerge from my attempt to update Omoluwabi. Description, methods and practices indicators underpin each of them. They are the following:

1. Isiju: Illusions or distractions. They are mainly borrowed industrial philosophy that oversimplifies reality for the sake of efficiency without any real consideration for their effectiveness.

2. Oju Inu: Insight or trained intuition. This is critical to self evaluation and evolution of consciousness

3. Ami: Symbols and omens. This is about analysis and recognition of pattern as well as revelation.

4. Iwalewa: Character is beauty. The behaviours that reflect your values and beliefs

5. Eniyan lasomi: People are my clothing: The primacy of relationship in all human affairs and system

6. Afose: From word into action. The essence of continuous improvement especially the effective execution of words into action.

7. Ire : The blessings and prosperity that are result of values, behaviour and accountability

In summary we have reached a time when our battle is that of ideas. The most pressing idea is about indigenous business models that will lead to growth and success. I submit to you the concept and matrix of Omoluwabi offers at least the same level of possibility that you will get from any MBA programme. On the other hand it could be a more viable alternative. Either way the book that captures this dynamic process will be my humble contribution towards creating a competitive, sustainable and prosperous Nigeria. It will help create an economy that is the pride of Africa, envy of the world and a bastion of commercial excellence in its character and business results. It will achieve all of this without selling its soul. As entrepreneurs we should recognise this as an opportunity too important to ignore.












© Adewale Ajadi for Adaptnomics Ltd Page 2 3/5/06

Complexity Course update

I sincerely apologise that my decision announced on this forum to update on my progress on the NECSI course did not manifest. Unlike many courses of this type that advertises its intensive programme, this was in fact intensive with a Capital I. The phenomenal intellect and energy of Yaneer Bar-Yam was mind expanding but most challenging was his energy as the man went for hours daily without much relenting. I was extremely grateful for the the regular clarifying questions from his father who redefined for me the unique love of father to son. By the end of the event my mind had gone into retreat and so far I restrain any attempt to harvest this feast because it is extremely rich in wisdom and insight.

At the same time there are lenses which have been added or clarified as a result of the event which by the way I seriously recommend to anyone in pursuit of extraordinary insights into the way our world works. The lenses include :

- Patterns and pattern recognition including Power laws

- Multiscale perspectives

-Evolutionary processes

- Goal oriented behaviour

I commend Yaneer Bar-Yam's book Making things work 'Solving complex problems in a complex world' to any serious thinker out there. I am doing my second read and it just packs an exceptional intellectual framework for deep insight into the nature of things.

I continue to harvest because there is an emerging 'holding space' for my own work between the Adaptive Leadership of Dr Hiefetz, the Four Column of Professor Kegan and Lahey, Yaneer Bar-Yam's take on complexity and my life long work on diversity. What is emerging is a book on a Nigerian Renaissance.


Watch this space

Why Oyinbo Ice is colder in Lagos

There are many things about my Nigerian heritage and upbringing that has contributed to my strengths in business transactions in every part of the world in which I have had the good fortune to operate. One of these things is the fact that we are rarely overawed and neither are we usually subservient in our interaction with Europeans or those of European descent. This is unlike many other formerly colonised or enslaved people or so I thought. Like many certainties of my upbringing it is with great concern I watch the fawning faces of Nigerians both elite and masses at the sight of expatriate European ‘competence. I write this, as my fear is that this is becoming a systemic issue that will further entrench misguided notions of white supremacy in ways that will destroy the hunger and will for excellence amongst our people.

Let me state clearly this is not a racial argument but an economic one. I know there is only one Race of people, the Human Race. I also know that all humans that have lived, that are living and that will be born are descended from Africans. I am under no illusion therefore about what the differences that we observe in our skin and is projected in our behaviour is. Simply we are different in cultural terms and our cultures are the resulting accumulation of the wisdom of our ancestors. With that out of the way, it has always been clear to me that most of what passes, as education is a thinly veiled inculcation into European culture and its claim to being a civilising influence. As I grew up I remember that when people complemented my spoken English or the Oyinboness of my nose, my status rose accordingly. I also remember that in many absurd ways we show preference for European culture from calling our languages vernacular, wearing wool suits and ties in the boiling sun and ostracising those who commit grammatical errors in spoken English. I cannot help but note the way the current President of the US mangles the English Language would have made him a pariah in Nigeria long before any misadventure abroad. In fact there were many of life opportunities accorded including girlfriends and court motions on the basis of spoken English rather than any substance involved. However they all seemed just peculiarities even when I had to don a white wig and black gown it was just seemed another level of buffoonery. We are however now exceeding even these seemingly petty examples of what can be termed colonial mentality. Since these are results of borrowed systems and language, they eventually can be adapted or adulterated or end up dotting the landscape like relics.

What we now face is open and abject white supremacy coated in the cloak of economic necessities and masquerading as the purchase of competence. We have somehow in the process of seeking economic survival become a compromised people. In negotiating for material progress it seems we have chosen to bargain away our self-esteem. This is disrespect writ large written in the manner of the many expatriate swagger and adorned in the complementary patronage of their Nigerian hosts. I know this is not completely new. In the 70s we purchased at exorbitant price but masked with the facade of new wealth. It just confirms the Nigerian elites have always been more concerned with short-term economic benefit than any self-respect.

What is new is the power in the swagger of these foreign ‘experts’, their disdain for their hosts and the lack of any accountability or even expectation of good manners. In my experience unlike the many Nigerian talent that ply their trades in distant shores often amongst our most talented and succeeding against great opposition as well as adversity, many of these visiting experts’ are those who are uncompetitive in their own land. They are not chosen in large part for competence but for the simple fact they are white. It is not unusual to watch humiliating treatment of Nigerian staff or direct exclusion of entrepreneurs from choice areas or even business opportunities when possible. They are sequestered out of interaction from the host population and inhabit exclusive clubs, facilities and luxuries. They treat the Nigerian populace like the great unwashed. This is at least a systemic and carefully constructed form of self as well as official segregation.

In recent times I have been asked to specifically headhunt white executives because it opens doors and get results. I am in this case not talking about their competence but their heritage. In all cases these have been educated Nigerians requesting these things. More disturbing is the credibility that comes when a white person says something. I have watched with a sickening feeling as my people brown nose a lesser qualified, inferior opinion or presentation of a white speaker and totally ignore a better contextualised and superior effort of a local. I had a recent experience in which a colleague visiting from the US and joining a conference I help to facilitate suddenly got the unheralded title of expert without uttering one word or contributing any paper. It was her first day in Nigeria, her first introduction to the subject and she was yet to write the first word. In fact after she was crowned and feted as lead expert she now proceeded to ask for guidance on what the subject was about. To be fair to her she tried to correct the impression of all the ‘big men we visited pointedly telling them that I wrote the concept paper and I was the subject matter expert but it was to no avail. She was white and she was all right.

What kind of self-loathing leads one to watch a Nigerian graduate become a labourer and recruit a European of dubious competence into the Executive suite?

In my many years outside Nigeria I built a name fighting for Equality of opportunities and parity of esteem for all human beings. I achieved this I thought because I lacked the chip on my shoulder that many of my colleagues from other African countries as well as the broader black Diaspora suffered from. I claimed to all that I am a success because I had the good fortune of being born to a nation that is not subservient to anyone on the basis of colour or creed. It is my sorry conclusion that this is hubris.

In seeking answers to my observations many say to me I have been blind. It has ever been thus. Others say we live in times of survival and anything goes. But as I read Nigerians exchange insults in the name of political combat and hear them denigrate their nation because of material and organisational shortcomings, I wonder if this is not a pathological self-hatred. Is this not the sign of a form of national psychosis?

The economics is simple we need many jobs for the over 50% of Nigerians under the age of 25 which at conservative estimate is over 60 million. This is more than the population of the United Kingdom entirely. Our economy at best of times grows at about 5% short of twice the rate population increase necessary to start to provide for and address poverty. At the same time we displace any original thinking Nigerian abroad or we whittle them down into conformity with mediocrity. I had the good fortune of being introduced to the work of a Nigerian computer specialist who in the US holds over 400 registered patents through his work on semi-conductors. My host another Nigerian feted abroad as a Genius confirmed my experience and his refusal to subject himself to the doubt of his country folk. No nation can view itself through the eyes of disdain; engage its own people with a practised and perfected discourtesy; kill the fatted cow for many visitors who see this as expected complement of their superiority and expect to reverse a decline.

We have a fight on our hands. This is for the soul of our country and the recognition of Nigerian excellence wherever it comes and whatever gender, ethnicity and qualities it embodies. This is not a rallying call for exclusion of Europeans but a clarion call for meritocracy. Let us recruit the best using agreed standards, open process and job effectiveness. This is a battle everyone must join, for coming generation, the posterity and us. If we can get this right maybe we can welcome talent from all over the world on the basis of mutual respect and added value. That day cannot come too soon to realise oyinbo or adulawo ice is ice.

Complexity Course day one

Greetings one and all or Ire O, the meaning of which is goodwill at least blessings in its essence and prosperity in the face of a young year still emerging from the sac of emergence covered in the fluids of memories yet to be forgotten. I have not written in a while because somehow life took on a turbo charge with little or no time but to hang on for every nuance and permutation.

Here I am in Cambridge girded by the cold surrounded by nubile minds and disturbed by own snoring into the hollow chamber of life. So I came to explore and engage Complex Physical, Biological and Social systems, today was my first day. It was a challenging one. The location is MIT which compared to Harvard is a sterile urban landscape covered with in the sweat of nerds. The coldness of Cambridge air pervades every effort. Like in Harvard my Teacher is Jewish and has a father figure in tow both are incredible intellectuals with the attendant detachment and dislocation. My colleagues are from all over the world so I am now esconsed with them preparing for the day. It came with all my enemies in tow, Mathematics, calculus, physics as well as computer modeling. So the day was on to a start and I was struggling to process.

I suppose my key learning points today was about the use of modeling as a way of describing emerging patterns in a complex system is an art which uses key relevant parameters but cannot ever provide a detailed representation. So in essence the model is a caricature of the real system with focus on the main issues. The second aspect is there are very limited amount of pattern models but they have universal explanatory capacity. So we then examine emergence, interdependence, Networks and evolution. In engaging Fractals which are patterns that retain features irrespective of scale e.g coastline as opposed to patterns that get lost when it is observed as a big distance.

I am still processing a lot of these maybe I should not write about it but the point of serious disequilibrum was when we got into discussing modeling of Ethnic Violence and their Global pattern. What was amazing was coarsening model that is used to understand how oil and water behave actually is able to identify and predict patterns and emergence of ethnic violence in Bosnia.

I think much on this as my brain starts to really motor. For now need to get sleep my team and I have a project to address Complexity as it works in Social capital within the EU.

Ire O!

The Apala of Oga Tunji

So the Nigeria or the Nigerian project will be officially or formally 45 years old this week wow! Many did not give it 5 years without the hands of its colonial parents. Here we are 45 years after still acting like a teenager all noise but no tremors, all trousers no rhythm. Nevertheless this piece is a significant love letter using pieces of my essence. First my brother the real Oga Tunji ' Okunrin meta ' we have a standing joke which cannot fully translate but he is the original vagabwoys. In this little exploration of our direction he is the strawman, even though for me he represents the dignity of the divine and the ultimate cool. Then there is the Apala, the kind of blues that wakes up my soul in the ultimate memory of my Nigerianess, played on early Sunday morning on my fathers 78s the mournful and soulful voice of Yusuf Olatunji, the late Baba Legba crooning to the goje vibe. My father in his 'Gbariye' floating to the soft groove, it has the same effect as 'abula' in the morning, the picture of earthy energy grounded in the poetry of human travails. So two 'Tunjis' but like the proverbial tripod that keeps the stew from keeling over there is a third one. The final Tunji is the renaissance of reawakening because the name or the word is literarily reawakening like the Hamlet of Oyotunji in the United States. Now before lunching into my Apala lets define Oga for those who have never engaged the Nigerian power holder in the fullness of their indignation or on the other hand who have experienced it but assumed it to be personal arrogance in pursuit of fifteen minutes of fame. Oga is Nigerian authority personified, it is a child of the illicit affair of the racial superiority of the Colonial administrator with the traditional reverence of the native nobility. Simply it is a bastard child come to rule with all the attendant insecurity of a chip on the shoulder accompanied by ravaging effect of an unbridled male libido my view it is now a luxury that Nigeria at the age of 45 can ill afford.

Apala Stanza 1 ' The Insight'

Nigerian recorded history and contemporary dialogue has been strictly speaking the story of the Ogas, their many distractions and conflicts. The British in understanding the symbolic power that Ogas represented took out a cadre of true patriots like Jaja of Opobo, Esugbayi Eleko, Ovaranmin of Benin amongst many who could challenge their hegemony. As a starter for ten these guys (they were and in most part continue to be exclusively male) were not simply romantic heroes but largely benevolent dictators. The British followed them with their own form of unaccountable domination because the noble rule that proceeded had checks and balance, whilst colonial rule was an occupation rule. Anyways there is no place in the world where you can get a better training as an authoritarian than amongst the middle and ruling classes of Nigeria. The addition of the military to this stew was an inspirational choice of casting. The final results discernible in Nigerian successful males is a triumph of Ego over reason, harnessed by qualifications, spiced up by titles and baked in testosterone. Believe me as I am one of them a Nigerian male authority figure has only one rival for his throne that is a Silver back Gorilla in full duty. This is not necessarily bad but in a country of 140 million est with about 20 million aspirant Ogas the delays in progress are often underestimated. In this context and with this lens observe the current dispute between the President and his Vice or the strutting comments of Governor Kalu vis the president or the rantings of Dokubo Asari. The not so obvious thing is that this same authoritarian exercise of power is fully embedded in the private sector. In fact a Nigerian entrepreneur was quoted as saying that there only two types of Nigerian employees, thieves or animals. What!?! In my president I find the benign use of Oga with a paternalistic streak, a true Nigerian committed to the project and blinded by his own instincts. We have been so lucky that in general these impulses have been relevant and benign however we are back to 1979 where there will be others who rule with the same model but which more ambivalent impulses. Here is the problem of the Oga that at best he deskills those around him at worst he destroys their drive and reduces them to servile ineptitude. The consequence is profound for productivity but more importantly leads the very Ogas to an early Grave.

Apala Stanza 2 The Times

We now live in a time where the complex, self organising and interdependent context that we all live in demands a ore sophisticated response. Like the old Yoruba proverb when you plan madness for a hundred years, how many years will it take to execute it? It is extremely depressing to countenance a Nigerian census that for legitimate fears of conflict refuses to collect data about ethnicity or religion. It means that even if we know the number of people we have little qualitative data about their identity or cultural disposition consequently we are blinded to some of the key determinants of motivation, values and social capital. In a world where socio-cultural identity is being used for economic excellence as in the case of International Chinese and for destabilising nation state as in Kosovo or the Delta it seems extremely blind. We live in a world where the industrial model of problem solving which depends on expertise, planning, centralising and roll out of implementation is largely ineffective. The classic is the current Iraq war but also reflected in the increased failure of other planned interventions like the remodernisation of the NHS here in the UK. This is a time for developing the flexibility to adapt and evolve solutions that correspond to the regular and qualitatively connected feedback. It requires decision making at regular and critical interval rather than the big set piece strategic plans. With that in mind the NEEDS plan of the Nigerian government is doomed to failure in its outcomes but will be successful is some outputs. This has nothing to do with the content which is quite good but it has a lot to do with the phenomenal rate of change and complexity of the context. The sae applies to the idea of a super company Transcorp. They are both too high a scale and to broad a church to be nimble enough to respond effectively to the dynamics of their context. The altenative is to recognise the limitation of engineered solutions to complex social dynamics. To follow this up with limited but grand oversight agenda for core values and issues at the centre. To facilitate direct ownership of that agenda at local level demanding a resulting agendaof action. They then maintain flexibility, diversity and ccountability from the centre. This should within the context of a culture of continuous improvement and underpinned by exceptional socio-economic intelligence.

Stanza 3 Penkelemese

2007 election will be a Penkelemese (peculiar mess) affair if we do not embrace the insight and contextual understanding that will enable us to think outside the box. As Nigerians we delight in complaining about what is wrong but ask us to do something aside from conventional wisdom then we tell you why that is not the way things are done here. To paraphrase Einstein we cannot resolve the problems of today with the same level of thinking or mindset with which it was created. One example is the debate whether the President is going for a third term or not. The Yoruba saying that pours scorn on people who ignore leprosy sores and focus on ringworms comes to mind. Surely one mans choices cannot be what determines the future of 120 illion people. There is no doubt that the choice of who is President is important but perharps ore critical is that over 40% of Nigerians are under the age of 20 moats of who are not gainfully employed. The economy has to create 10 of millions of jobs immediately for those people and at best government can help but these will only come from a competitive, organised and socially responsive private sector. We most urgently need a meritrocratic labour market where talent not certificate is celebrated. We need a vocational skills revolution that creates parity of esteem between skilled and graduate employment. We need to harness the entrepreneurial passion that nigerians have in oodles by creating supplier link with National and ultinational cooperation that leads to growth in the SME sector. We need new business model that encourages staff productivity through shared ownership schemes. Yes we need a good government but far more importantly we need a productive populace committed to their prosperity in spite of government.

So lets reawaken the Oga so hubris does not become his destiny. Lets awaken Nigeria so its evolving solutions for posterity. Lets awaken our steps so that the Apala of these times carries the ripple of the Gbariye as it twirls around to baba legba in celebration. Lets awaken to true demands and obligation of our existence.

Blast from the past

Hurricane Katrina dusted up a lot of things including some old writtings on the issues of Race. To hear it said by the talking heads on TV Race is just skin colour. Here are some of my ruminations on this ancient debate. Whether it was class or Race it seems that the face of misfortune and misadventure in this pitiful situation is largely African American, it therefore stands to reason that their perception takes precedence. To the people of the Big Easy and those who have passed on let this be a turning point. 16/09/05





Race and oversimplification

The concept of Race represents a classic example how we oversimplify issues of human differences with negative and often comical consequences. In Race we deal with one of the most emotive subjects possible, on which everyone walks on eggshells. Nothing in this article is meant to justify racism or any form of discrimination.

Race as a concept is one of those that has endured for centuries out of an intellectual laziness and social dishonesty. It is now fundamentally established by the Human genome project that there is only one Race i.e. the Human Race. This biological fact is further magnified by discovery that confirms a common homo sapien ancestry traced to the African continent. In any other area of human enquiry that would have put paid to the belief that we are made up of different constituent races but we seem to be stuck on this haphazardly constructed model, we often signify this with skin colour which is a biologically insignificant marker and is environmentally adaptable. This enduring quality is based on something more powerful but far more complicated or complex, which is the power of culture that is reflected in ethnicity. Race is shorthand for ethnicity and in the Victorian world where African origin was associated with blackness and the relation of that colour to negativity and evil you can find the murky foundations of Racism. However in the 21st Century with its phenomenal access to information this cannot be sustained.

The way we use this redundant Race model is often misguided especially as a way to respond to the agenda of those who use it to hate, discriminate or manipulate. Let’s take the census categories used in the 2001 census in the United Kingdom. The official ethnic group classification or categories range from White, Mixed, Asian or Asian British; Black or Black British; Chinese or other Ethnic groups. The sub categories under these headings often deal with geography or nationality e.g. African or Indian. None of these categories are ethnic groups not even Caribbean or Indian. For example Africa is one of the most ethnically diverse continents in the world, the term black African covers people as fundamentally different as an Ashanti from Ghana and Fulani from Nigeria. Let’s take white even if accompanied by English or Welsh or other categories it still lumps a Romany traveller in with a Cockney. These choices of categories are largely reactive choices to the association of Race with pigmentation and nothing to do with collecting information that truly deals with requirements of the different peoples. For example a large number of asylum seekers were recently from Eastern Europe and like travellers end up in a white category even though the significant issue for travellers is lifestyle needs borne out of their culture.

Also these are not superficial simplifications, for example it is this thinking that has meant that the success of Gujarat Asian African migrants, who are mostly middle class or merchant class, has been extended to all Asian groups. This has meant that the needs of descendants of Pakistani and Bangladeshi migrants’, who are largely working class and rural, had been overlooked. The economic shift from manufacturing to services amongst many others has radicalised these young men and led to serious confrontation on the streets of some Northern UK cities.

It is the same simplification that leads to stereotypes of disadvantage that in turn drives government policy. A glaring example is the much proclaimed underachievement of black boys in Secondary education; for the more sophisticated the focus is Black Caribbean boys. However the biggest gap is actually between children of parents of professional class and those whose parents are working class parents.

The solutions to addressing Racism as a peculiar and conscious perversion of reality cannot be found by adopting the very simplistic lenses of those of thrive on exclusion. The effect of this simplistic approach is to create a stereotype of perpetual Black victim hood which becomes internalised and institutionalised by both officialdom and those of us who are so labelled and it leads to lowering of standards and expectation by all concerned. There are those who want us to wait for discrimination to end before we exhale. This means that those who use Race to divide set the agenda and we all respond.

However there are real differences in culture, they are many, varied and complex, and they do not fit the simplification of skin pigmentation nor historical pseudo science. Culture is the basis of our differences in making meaning, the backbone of ethnicity and a major driver of our choices, it can be a source of conflict or when effectively utilised the bedrock of a new civilisation.

Part Two

Race and oversimplification ‘Culture instead of Race’

So what different insight would the world see if we exchange the concept of culture for Race? Imagine what the world looks like to me in terms of its operating culture. The default global operating software is European culture or more specifically Anglo American protestant culture. All the institutions that determine the nature and quality of human existence are largely built to operate this default cultural model.

Let’s illustrate this with a few choice examples from the subtle to the sledgehammer. Imagine what happens when the United Nations has a dinner for all members Head of States, what crockery do you think is used to eat the food, chop sticks? You bet they are served with a bewildering array of finest silver forks, knives and spoon. My point is if you are from Ibadan like me where dinner etiquette is allowing your elder to choose a big piece of meat from the communal bowl with their hand why should it be assumed in an international body that the polite or civilised way to eat is to position metallic contraptions in your mouth.
Maybe this example does not exemplify the power and omnipresence or pre-eminence of Anglo American cultural assumptions. Another example is the definition of ‘professionalism’ this is culturally loaded term because it assumes effectiveness is shaped by a dispassionate and objective approach that is able to detach the personal and exercise the rational. This is more in line with cultures that view emotion with suspicion and delineates human transactions and roles into water tight compartments. It is not only debatable whether this is ever truly achieved but it contradicts the cultural framework of many other civilisations that make up the world. Lets consider whose cultural frame work is used to develop something as important as the United Nations Human development Index which classifies national progress, what assumption are the indicators based on.

The unit called the Nation state emerged from European cultural history, the assumption of the marketplace being determined by the mechanism of demand, supply and price is also culturally shaped. We decide on countries who are justifiable to apply sanctions upon whether they a democratic or not even though democracy is only one tradition of representation and accountability from the European experience. Other civilisations have viable and alternative solutions but they are not allowed to evolve as every multilateral institution pushes this method as a prerequisite for support and now it’s a justification for invasions and other extra legal intervention. Lets not talk about the costume of choice the morbid suit, shirt and tie. It is also scary that education has now been narrowed to the certification approach that evolved from the European experience only.

The purpose of this excursion is not to say that these cultural devices are not beneficial to the world, in fact they are significant contributions to the interaction and progress of humans. However it creates a cultural superiority where it is assumed that European or Anglo American culture is the normal aspiration and achievement of civilised and developed societies. It often means that those who are not brought up in that tradition are at a disadvantage and since most of these devices are indoctrinated or coerced rather than a matter of choice it leads to dislocation for outsiders. It often means that their indigenous culture is rejected, relegated or subverted and they do not develop solutions that are consistent with their meaning system or their own circumstances. The effect of these on communities in Africa, Asia, Middle East and South America is profound as their choice is to become European caricatures or rebellious outsiders.

We all lose by this failure to respect and develop the different cultural frameworks from other civilisations and have a healthy dialogue about best solutions to some of the critical problems of the world. The assumption of European cultural supremacy often means that we have only one perspective and tradition to draw on for accepted ways forward. We are not using diversity where it counts the most and it has it greatest efficacy. Is it as surprise that we continue to use sanction and force with those whose cultures are at odds with ours, we dehumanise them and characterise them as underdeveloped. On individual levels it destroys human potential but on a society level it facilitates dependent cultures that depend on outsiders for solution. It is these that are the real challenges not a manufactured difference called Race.

Rhythm of Life

They say we dance out of style
Their coventions are nothing but lies
How much bile do they rile
Creating wounds by the mile

The simple choices of conclusion
The hidebound prisons of tradition
Their position is always classic
Yours barbaric
Asking me to stop being theatric

They shout integration
Purpose subjugation
They preach tolerance
Disdain your relevance
Shout for justice in protestation
Continue life in discretional deportation





I sweat out the ice
Eating my Okra with chilies and spice