Job Osazuwa
In a bid to curb indiscipline, idleness and sharp practices in business and in other spheres of life, the Rotary District 9110, Lagos and Ogun States, recently gathered professionals from different fields to enlighten Nigerians on the importance of adhering strictly to ethics in their day-to-day activities.
The event took a different dimension as some of the panellists talked about the kinds of jobs they did and how ethics could be altered or viewed differently from the general belief.
The seminar, which was held in Ikeja, Lagos, saw medical practitioners, lawyers, police officers, advertising gurus, chartered bankers, financial and management consultants doing justice to the seminar’s theme, “The Imperative of Ethics in Business and Professions in Nigeria.”
At the end of the day, they all agreed that ethics could only work when basic things are put in place to ensure that the system works better for everybody. The discussants argued that a dutiful worker who is owed salaries for months might be predisposed to jettisoning ethics when his or her patience is overstretched. And they warned that the situation could get worse if the drift is continually ignored.
The chairman of the occasion, Mr. David George-Taylor said the seminar was in line with one of the Rotary ‘four way test’, which highlights fairness to everyone concerned in all forms of businesses and dealings with one another.
He said Rotary cherishes high ethical standard in business and profession, and stressed that without ethics, whatever anyone does would give room to insincerity and unfairness.
The district Governor, Mr. Kola Sodipo said the club believes that if everyone obeys the guiding principles in vocations and professions there wouldn’t be much conflict as being experienced today.
He said Rotary is driven by its core values, which include service, fellowship, diversity in culture, gender and profession, leadership and integrity. He said whatever the club does was channelled towards reflecting transparency and honesty.
The chairman of Vocational Service Committee, Rotary, Mr. Steve Bossey, said the event was a display of the second stanza of the object of Rotary, which calls for the need of high ethical standard in business and profession; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve the society.
He explained that the club dedicates every January to different vocations, where professionals are celebrated as well tasked to their wealth of experience to impact others.
“Looking at the brilliant minds invited to speak on the topic, this seminar is to further guide us on the right path,” he said.
Mr. Wemimo Ogunde (SAN) described ethics as more dynamic and complex than it is seen on the surface. For instance, he said mere confession by a person of wrongdoing was not enough to declare the person guilty. Otherwise, he noted, there would be no need for prosecution, the judges would have nothing to do and the law would not be tested.
He said: “You will find out that when it is so, it will become an escape route for prosecution. So many people will be compared to confess guilt even when they are innocent. In this situation, you will see how complex ethics might appear to a layperson.
“Another example is if a poor man comes to me to handle a brief for him, it does not make me to charge him lesser than what I ought to collect from him as a SAN. I will rather take the case pro bono. How do I explain to the poor man that if I undercharge him it becomes a professional misconduct on my part? Or how do we define ethics in this situation?
“This is why I have handled many cases for free, and not necessarily that the clients could not pay but they could not pay up to what I ethically ought to have charged.
“Another point is that we as lawyers are bound with the duty of confidentiality when defending a client. You are not expected to tell lies or mislead the public but at the same time you are not expected to give information that is not required. A client who might be a public officer tells you that he has declared N1 million before a court as his asset while confiding in you that he has another N10 million; you can see the complexity of ethics.”
Ogunde stressed that ethics is oftentimes faced with conflict of interest, which is far deeper than mere morals.
He said virtually all Nigerians should be blamed for the ethical failure confronting the country. According to him, the frequent question that an average Nigerian asks lawyers who represent them at court is “how do we ‘see’ the judge”? He said many corporate organisations also ask the same question, which he said was ridiculous.
A public health expert, Dr. Ibironke Sodeinde said Nigeria was not there yet in terms of upholding ethical standards in our work environment. She urged everyone to play their part irrespective of the position they occupy in government, workplaces and families.
She said the attitude of some medical workers at government and private hospitals was nothing to write home about.
On his part, Mr. Idy Enang, the past President of Advertisers Association of Nigeria, said there were several myths misleading people on the definition of ethics. In his view, behaving ethically is doing what is morally right. He said it was unfortunate that many Nigerians were pursuing success as defined by others.
“You hear people saying that everybody is doing it, so there is nothing wrong with it. And this is why our society is getting rotten by the day. There are no right ways to do wrong,” he said.
In his contribution, a police officer, Joki Lasisi, who represented Kayode Samuel, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, said we must accept the fact that ethical issues are multifaceted in nature, especially when it comes to police welfare.
“But l will like us to face the reality. A police officer is expected to defend the weak, provide succour to the depressed and respect the constitutional rights of the citizens. But what we find in Nigeria mostly is that this is not always so. You might be asked to fuel their car or they ask you to follow you or pay some amount of money.
He wondered what the fate of ethics might be in a situation whereby a DPO is posted to a remote area without being provided an accommodation or a decent office.
“When any member of the community or organisation sees the ugly situation and offers to help, will you begin to investigate the source of his money before you accept or not?”
In his submission, a professional trainer and chartered banker, Mr. Orji Udemezue said many big businesses were struggling to survive, including some banks, as a result of poor ethical standard in terms of financial management and behaviour.
He said there had been breach of ethics across all field of endeavours, but particularly in the civil service and public office, including contract racketeering, certificate scandal and stashing of cash in private apartments.
Udemezue argued that leadership has a stronger role to play in restoring the eroded ethical standard in Nigeria. He said leadership determines the flow of things in all spheres of life.
Said he: “The way Nigeria is now, we need leaders who will disrupt the whole system and who are willing to lay down their lives for the country to survive.”
He, however, said that ethics could never be 100 per cent perfect, but noted that the closer the people strive to abide by rules and regulations in businesses and vocations, the better the society would be.