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By Chukwudi Abiandu.

An urgent call has been made to leaders in Nigeria to return to the path of integrity in all their dealings as a matter of imperative to sustain national development.

An erudite scholar, biologist and Vice Chancellor of Delta state University, DELSU, Abraka, Prof. Andy Egwuyenga made the call while delivering the 2024 Annual Public Service Lecture of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association (UIAA), Asaba chapter.

Speaking on the theme: “Integrity and national development: What nexus?”, he underscored the importance of integrity as a vital variable in the determination of national development in Nigeria pointing out that the country is where it is today because this vital variable has been jettisoned by policy makers and state builders over the years. “And until the nation returns to the path of integrity in all our dealings, the road to national development in Nigeria may become even longer,” he posited.

Egwuyenga said that the connection between a culture of integrity and national development is straight forward as it begins with leadership. Quoting an expert, he said a leader of integrity would always deliver on good governance, which is an overwhelming recipe for national development that involves the efficient and effective development of the resources available in the state to meet the immediate and long term needs of the people.

For the professor, it is only leaders of integrity that can identify and optimize the opportunities provided by the resources in attaining excellence. Pointing out that a corrupt leader will see these opportunities as a means of personal enrichment and by so doing misappropriate them, Egwuyenga observed that good governance calls have been strident in Nigeria especially at these times when there have been national protests under the #EndBadGovernanceNow! clamour. He said: “The culture of integrity will eliminate corruption right down from the family level through the corporate level and then up to the national level. The gap between the rich and poor countries in the world is only being widened by the degree of integrity that is available in such states. Integrity transforms a society and open up endless opportunities of growth and development.”

In his conceptual clarification, Prof. Egwuyenga stated that integrity can be seen as the quality of high moral uprightness and indiscipline in an individual or an organization, a situation that entails conducting oneself along strong moral principle towards excellence.

According to him, a person of integrity deliberately seeks what is good and acceptable in any given setting, then aligns himself with it and channels his efforts towards attaining it. He posited: “integrity is attitudinal and mostly self-propelled in efficiency rather than being externally enforced. Integrity evolves from an internal conviction from within the individual or organization about the path to follow in achieving excellence albeit in a personal, corporate or even public setting. For any entity to be sustained and developed, it must adopt integrity as its fundamental core value. It is the father of all core values and the foundation on which other values may be built.”

Egwuyenga continued: “Integrity calls for individuals to be honest and to have a set of strong moral principles upon which they do whatever they have to do. A man of integrity does not change his principles upon which they do whatever they have to do. A man of integrity does not change his principles of conduct easily once he has resolved within himself to pursue them. He is consistent in his dealings with others. A man of integrity does not claim to be perfect, but usually aspires towards perfection in all that he puts his mind to do. He easily accepts his mistakes and quickly seeks ways to correct them to attain perfection. He is an ever- willing learner and craves for knowledge of what is required to attain excellence at any given time. He is often submissive and very humble, and does not engage in unnecessary arguments.

“A man of integrity is sincere and his ‘sincerity comes from a pure motivation to do what is right even when it might be inconvenient’. Your integrity as an individual is often very well tested during times of crisis and serious difficulties. The strength of your integrity is underscored by your ability to avoid compromise in your resolve to do what you believe is right even at the risk of standing alone,” Prof. Egwuyenga said.

He listed four types of integrity to include personal integrity, workplace integrity, professional integrity and political integrity. Taking queue from the scheme laid by Cox, La Caze and Lavine, Prof. Egwuyenga stated that in personal integrity the individual sets his own moral standards of honesty and sincerity independent of what the society offers and work conscientiously to maintain such standards anywhere he finds himself. “The individual, whether in his closet or in the glare would exude the sterling qualities of a man of integrity and he is seen by others as such. A man of integrity does not publish himself, others publish him,” he said.

On workplace integrity, the professor said the integrity is required to demonstrate high quality of honesty and ethical behavior when dealing with clients and colleagues at the workplace. Such employees have a strong moral compass to do what is considered to be the right thing whether or not someone is watching. The employee is not the Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne kind of worker whose productivity is highest when he is aware that he is under watch or supervision. A bank teller who returns a customer’s over payment when the latter is unaware of making such over payment may be described as having integrity, just as a taxi driver that returns valuables forgotten in his car to the owner-client. In the same way, a university lecturer that refused to yield to students’ temptation to take money for “blocking” even when nobody is aware has integrity. Characteristic workplace integrity requires that employees take responsibility for their errors and not blame others for such.

On professional integrity, Prof Egwuyenga posited that unlike workplace integrity, which concerns workplace relationships, professional integrity requires the individual to uphold the ethos of his particular profession even in the midst of whatever threats from the environment. In the academic circle, the issue of professional integrity is often tested when academics attempt to publish what is expected to be their original research in learned peer-reviewed academic journals.

On political Integrity, Egwuyenga said this type of integrity would be required of political officers who are expected to keep to their promises upon ascension to political power. According to him, a key component of political integrity is consistency of principles and actions. While noting that it is often said that the politician is “a man of many words,” Egwuyenga said this epitaph was perhaps the result of the people’s experience of many years of “failed promises from political officers. “Their political decisions and actions should be based on reasonable arguments or promises and these should directly reflect the set of principles which such officers hold in their public offices. These types are all related and they strengthen each other,” he said.

On the question, why integrity? The Professor of Biology said individuals need integrity as a key component of their personalities for the following reasons:

• Building trust, noting that trust is the key to every business success, he said people desire to do business with those they can trust. “If clients have doubts about your sincerity in business they are very likely to lose trust in you,” Egwuyenga said, adding that a man of integrity will always command trust in his relationship with his neighbours, clients and business partners.
• Building reputation, which is the respect and name that is earned over the years in a man’s relationship with others. Because reputation is exclusive and earned, not awarded, Egwuyenga posited that a man of integrity builds reputation on a continuous basis through honesty, reliability and consistency in his behavior when relating with others around him. “If you desire reputation, follow the path of integrity,” he said.
• Providing good leadership, according Egwuyenga, is a critical quality of a leader with integrity as leadership built on integrity will always deliver on good governance. He said: “The first question that electors at public elections or organizations looking for leaders would ask is ‘Is he a person of integrity?’ Followers seek leaders who have integrity and can bring them to excellence. Once your integrity as a current leader is challenged from the onset with substance, followers next time will be reluctant to decide their future leadership in your favour. Even if you finally emerge the leader ‘anyhow’ your integrity will continue to be put to test and you task therefrom will become enormous trying to prove challengers wrong through honest and accountable leadership behavior. Yet if you do not have integrity, you cannot fake it.
• On success, Prof. Egwuyenga said long-term success in business can only result from years of integrity, pointing out that integrity seeks all round excellence in behaviour and that this can only lead to success. He said that in private organizations where the goal is profit-making, the relevance of integrity among staff cannot be over-emphasised, adding that the opportunities and the reaches of a man of integrity are endless and armed with the strong moral principles of excellence he can attain long-term success in his behaviour.