From the mouths of great philosophers and those of great politicians and statesmen, we know that politics and government should be about improving the lives and wellbeing of citizens. Aristotle spoke for the philosophers when he said that politics is “primarily concerned with the development and actualisation of human flourishing”. In other words, for Aristotle, politics is about the pursuit of the higher good of living well. And Thomas Jefferson spoke for the statesmen when he posited that “The care of human life and happiness … is the only legitimate object of good government”. In a democracy that, indeed, should be the criterion of good policy. Yet for too long many governments have ignored this primary duty. However, this now appears to be changing.
Today, more countries are using the happiness of their citizens as a measure of social progress and a goal of public policy. Furthermore, several organisations, including the United Nations, regularly produce indexes that rank the extent to which different countries achieve social objectives. My concern in this piece is Nigeria. How well has it fared in the social progress surveys, and what factors are shaping the perceptions of happiness in this country? But first let’s consider the history and rationale for the use of happiness and wellbeing as a guide for public policy.
At the multilateral level, the United Nations kicked this off in 2011 when the General Assembly passed a resolution urging member countries to measure the happiness of their people and to use this to help guide their public policy.
The UN later declared 20th March the International Day of Happiness. However, long before the UN Resolution, some countries have prioritised happiness as a public policy goal. For instance, Bhutan, which sponsored the resolution at the UN, has been using happiness as a measure of social progress since 1972, and even has a Minister for Happiness. The United Arab Emirate is another happiness aficionado. Indeed, the UAE sets itself a national goal “… to be the happiest of all nations”. The UK also takes the wellbeing of its citizens seriously. In 2010, Prime Minister David Cameroon launched the National Wellbeing Programme to “start measuring our progress as a country, not just by our economy is growing, but how our lives are improving”. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the rich countries’ club, also produced guidelines for its members on how to measure wellbeing.
Now, why the sudden shift towards measuring happiness and wellbeing? Well, the answer lies in the growing realisation that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) alone does not tell the whole story about social progress. Indeed, Bhutan coined the term Gross National Happiness (GNH) for this reason. It believes a country’s progress should not be measured solely by GDP. But, let’s be clear: national income per head is still the strongest determinant of social progress. The better off a country is economically, the more social progress it is likely to make. What the advocates of happiness measurement are saying, however, is that national wellbeing is about more than the economy. Indeed, all the surveys show relatively poor countries, such as Bhutan, with a very low GDP per capita, which nevertheless rank among the happiest nations in the world.
Now, what about Nigeria? Well, we have topped the world league tables twice. First, in 2003, the New Scientist magazine in the UK, in a survey of 65 countries, named Nigeria the happiest country in the world. Many did not believe it; they felt the result was due to the ever effervescent, “shuffering and shmiling” nature of Nigerians, as Fela sang. However, seven years later, in 2010, Gallop World Poll, in a survey of 53 countries, also ranked Nigeria as the happiest place on earth, rating Nigerians at 70 points for optimism.
But, since then, the reality has kicked in as subsequent surveys have put Nigeria at near the bottom of the global pecking order. The worst, perhaps, was the 2013 Bloomberg survey, which described Nigeria as the most stressed-out nation in the world. In 2014, the Legatum Prosperity Index also named Nigeria “the 20th saddest place to live on earth”. On the index itself, Nigeria was 125th out of 142 countries, falling below not only South Africa (at 81th), but also nine other African countries, including Ghana (at 98th). The well-known UN Human Development Index ranked Nigeria 152nd out of 185 in 2014, below South Africa (at 118th) and Ghana (at 138th). Then, there is the Social Progress Index 2015, which ranks Nigeria 125th out of 133 countries, again, below South Africa (at 63th), below Ghana (at 94th) and below eleven other African countries. These surveys support the hypothesis that happiness and wellbeing are not just about national income. For, despite being the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria performs worse than several poorer African countries on the global wellbeing, prosperity, human development and social progress rankings.
However, the 2015 World Happiness Report (WHR) has caught my attention because it paints a much more positive picture of Nigeria. The WHR is produced under the auspices of the United Nations, and edited by world-renowned professors John Helliwell (British Columbia University), Jeffrey Sachs (Columbia University) and Richard Layard (London School of Economics). The 2015 edition averages the results for the 2012-2014 country rankings. It ranks Nigeria at 78th out of 158 countries, below just three African countries, Libya (at 63rd), Algeria (68th) and Mauritius (71st), but above all other African countries, including South Africa (at 113th).
What is fascinating about the results is not just Nigeria’s middle-ranking performance, but also what the data reveal about what contributes to perceptions of happiness among Nigerians. The report considers six variables: GDP per capita, health life expectancy, social support (as measured by having someone to count on in times of trouble), trust (as measured by a perceived absence of corruption), perceived freedom to make life decisions, and generosity (as measured by charitable donations). Each country’s position is explained by how much each of the six variables contributes to the perception of happiness by its citizens.
The two significant contributors to Nigeria’s position (78th out 158) are social support (about 40.5 percent) and GDP per capita (about 27 percent). These are followed by freedom to make life choices (13.5 percent) and generosity (10.8 percent), and then by healthy life expectancy (5.4 percent) and perception of absence of corruption (2.7 percent). These are significant findings because they show that perception of happiness in Nigeria derives largely from social support. The contribution of GDP per capita is important but relatively small at just 27 percent. Social support is largely what makes Nigerians feel happy. But to understand what social support means in this context, consider the question asked in the survey: “If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them or not?” According to the survey, Nigerians are saying that help from relatives and friends are the biggest source of their material happiness and wellbeing.
Most Nigerians living abroad who send money home regularly to support relatives and friends will identify with this. So will Nigerians at home who are relatively well-off and have to support relatives and friends financially or otherwise. In many Western countries, such as the UK, people in need rely mainly on the state for support: unemployment benefits, housing benefits, child allowance, and many others. But in Nigeria, it is relatives and friends that those in need run to for assistance. Now, that’s not a bad thing. After all, that’s part of what makes us Africans.
However, when social support, in the form of help from family and friends, constitutes about 40 percent of the source of happiness and wellbeing in a society, you could end up overburdening and possibly impoverishing a small relatively well-off segment of the population, except, of course, those who are very rich either legitimately or through public or private corruption!
Of course, every society must have a safety net for the needy and the vulnerable. This can come either through the state, as in the UK, or through family or communal links, as in Nigeria. I believe Nigeria should not go down the route of state provision of welfare hand-outs. The unintended consequences of a welfare state are often huge and very negative: ask Britain and South Africa, who are struggling with this. So, social support by relatives and friends must continue to form a key part of our social fabric.
However, social support, either by the state or relatives, should not dwarf the contribution that the economy should make to improve people’s lives. The best way to help the needy and protect the vulnerable is to generate economic prosperity. Most people want to work rather than depend on hand-outs from the state or relatives or friends. It is sad that, in Nigeria, not only is unemployment widespread, even most of those who are working complain of hardship because of poor wages and high costs of living. Clearly, if General Buhari wants to increase the happiness and wellbeing of Nigerians he should seriously address the issues of unemployment and costs of living in the country.
But, as all the surveys also make clear, happiness and wellbeing are not just about the economy. For instance, the World Happiness Report states that happiness is also likely to increase in a country with sufficiently high-quality of social capital. Here, social capital includes trust, as measured by good governance and perceived absence of corruption. The WHR findings show that perception of absence of corruption contributes just 2.7 percent to what makes Nigerians feel happy. In other words, Nigerians would be happier if there is no corruption in Nigeria. Thus, from a policy point of view, the Buhari government can increase the happiness of Nigerians by tackling corruption head-on and by engendering trust in government.
Social capital also includes generosity in the form of charitable donations. This accounts for about 10.8 percent of happiness perception in Nigeria. Nigerians are generous people, but Nigerian billionaires and millionaires can do a lot more to help support social progress in the country. They should adopt John Wesley’s maxim: “earn as much as you can, save as much as you can, give away as much as you can”. They should be good capitalists, and emulate their peers in the US and the UK, who are great philanthropists and social entrepreneurs.
The message of the 2015 World Happiness Report for Nigeria is significant. First, the government should generate sufficient private-sector-driven economic prosperity to create jobs and reduce penury. Economic prosperity is still the best route to social progress. Secondly, Nigeria should invest heavily in social capital in terms of good governance, generalised trust, absence of corruption, and pro-social behaviour, such as social support and generosity. All of these will increase the happiness and wellbeing of Nigerians. Finally, the Buhari government should implement the UN General Assembly Resolution: it should measure the happiness and wellbeing of Nigerians and use this to guide its public policy. This would be a test of General Buhari’s commitment to transform the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
Olu Fasan
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