A security expert, Lawrence Pepple has warned the managers of Nigeria’s leadership space to be wary of rewarding devious behaviour in the society as it could serve as an incentive for a rise in criminality.  

Pepple, who is a Post-Conflict and Community Development Consultant, spoke on the topic, “Why Follow The Path? Exploring the Nexus of Crime, Poverty and Development in the Niger Delta” at the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TEDx) conference held at the Horlikin’s Event Centre, Port Harcourt.

Interrogating the linkages between how society is managed and the reality of poverty, Pepple noted that wrong choices by those in leadership positions, which lead to creating challenging situations that inhibit reward for diligence and responsible living, often result in flipside choices by young people who resort to negative lifestyles.

“Today’s Nigerian society accords respect and ascribes honour to the rich, irrespective of how the riches were gotten, creating a huge divide and disconnect between the ‘haves and have nots.’  Oftentimes, this disconnect had driven children turned adults who lived under poverty conditions to begin to aspire to live comfortable lives, of which they had been denied of. This will lead them to either work hard or ‘work hard’ if you see what I mean!”

“The implication of these situation is the birth of developmental challenges like endemic rural and urban poverty, high rate of unemployment, debilitating youth unemployment, low industrial output, unstable and deteriorating exchange rate, high inflation rate, inadequate physical and social infrastructure, very large domestic debt, and rising stock of external debt.”

Lawrence Pepple was the Chief Security Officer to a former Governor of Rivers State, Dr Peter Odili, Directing Staff at the Institute for Security Studies, Abuja, and later Executive Director of the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA). He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Que & Que International.

Exploring his topic more profoundly, the development enthusiast raised the following posers: “Why would I follow a path whose outcomes are not celebrated while others would follow another path of ‘hard work’ and are celebrated at the end; why follow the path that leads to increased number of children that dropped out of school?”

“When as a nation and largest producer of oil in Africa yet we export crude to be refined overseas and imported at a higher cost; when we have become the poverty capital of the world, even though several trillions of dollars have been earned in oil and gas transactions?”

“Why follow the right path when I know that illegitimate paths will result in compensations in forms of amnesty to armed bandits, kidnappers and rustlers? When corrupt officers are treated with kid gloves and the leaders are hypocritical and speak from both sides of the mouth?”

“Why follow the path of building a career in the oil and gas sector, whereas a pipeline vandal could attack and burst a pipe and become ‘rich, famous and celebrated’ by the society over one who has put in a number of years in service to my fatherland with no reward? Why would I follow the path when I know that the society does not appreciate or reward hard-work, when the society’s reward system is skewed towards incompetence as opposed to the competent and cerebrals?”

“Why follow the righteous path of abstinence from corrupt practices when my corrupt colleagues will go unpunished when they divert public funds earmarked for the development of the Society; why follow the path?”

He charged those in authority at various levels of government and the society to focus on creating enabling environment for creativity, innovation and ingenuity to thrive, asserting that only that trajectory can lead Nigerian out of socio-economic and socio-political quagmire it has found itself.

Pepple equally urged the youths to task their creative abilities and come up with solutions to the problems of society, noting that waiting on parents or the government to provide basic necessities may turn out a pipe dream, challenging them to take their destinies in their hands.