History for Today (11): African Governments and Debts

Dr Aliyu U. Tilde 

The notoriety of African governments and private corporations for ruining businesses by failing to pay for goods and services they receive has a long history on the continent. Many of us also do not care to pay back the kindness done to us. Here is how Mr. C. H. Robinson was delayed from leaving Kano by the Maji in 1891. 

“Dr. T. went to the Maji today to say that

I had decided to leave Kano shortly, and to ask for the payment of four hundred thousand cowries which are still owing. He was very civil, promised to pay within two days…

“The difficulty just alluded to of obtaining payment for goods sold to a king was one of constant occurrence at the various places at which we stopped. The king was usually willing to pay thirty per cent, more than anyone else, but this advantage, as far as we were concerned, was often more than outweighted by the difficulty of extracting from him or his representative the amount agreed upon.

“In Kano the excuses invented for delaying payment would have been amusing had they not at the same time caused us really serious inconvenience. If, for example, after waiting several weeks we sent a polite message to the Maji to say that we were in need of money and desired to be paid at once, he would say, "Sai jibi" i.e., "It shall be paid the day after to- morrow." If, after waiting three or four days more, we sent again, he would say, "Sai gobe" "It shall be paid to-morrow." 

“If we sent to receive it on the following day, he would take care to be out ; if at home, a message would come out to say that he had been taken suddenly ill, and was not fit to see any visitors or to answer any questions ; if caught in the very act of going out, he would say, it shall be paid that very evening ; if we sent again in the evening, a message would come to say, that he had gone out to eat with somebody else, and could not therefore attend to business. 

“If eventually found in, say next morning, he would say that he had ordered the money to be got ready but that some mistake had occurred. He would even try to give an air of plausibility to his lies by a piece of acting : thus he would call up one of his servants and tell him in our hearing to go and fetch the money at once. The man would stay away until our messenger, whom we had left to bring the cowries, had grown tired of waiting, who would then be told that if he would only be good enough to go away, the money would be sent after him immediately.

“In this way we were kept waiting for part of the money due to us for very nearly three months.”

Robinson C. H. 1896. Hausaland or Fifty Hundred Miles through the Central Sudan. Pp 108 - 110.

Me:

Debt have ruined many businesses today. Unnecessary failure or delay in paying back debt is one of the greatest signs of irresponsibility in a person.

But it is not just about business. We all owe one another one debt of good act or another. The world will be a better place if we are less selfish and learn to pay back the people we owe a good or a kindness as prompt as we can afford to do.

Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde

13 August 2023