Nepotism: How Far is Too Far?

Nepotism has become the order of the day, a global one, perhaps. This is the act of favouring family members or relatives with jobs, contracts, opportunities, privileges and so on. It mostly revolves around job and contractual opportunities. Here in my part of the world, we have a term known as “connection.” The word means just what it is. However, a person in a strategic position is the connection. And this goes beyond family members and relatives.

It's important to understand and recognise that the person being favoured is mostly and in many cases not qualified for that role. The reason they get it is that they have somebody there who by the snap of a finger made it happen, or through some behind-the-scenes movement by someone who though not having the power to do it with the snap of a finger, had a connection with someone who could do just that, so they too enjoy the favour.

It's sometimes a loop that keeps running around a family or relatives. This is the effect of nepotism. It limits opportunities from a more diverse audience. That's why you can find a company, firm, institution or whatever commercial venture, and a certain family name is dominant there even when it's not a private venture, but a public one. The qualification could be one's last name, or who they know, or who they have there that knows someone.

Nepotism goes beyond a direct effort, but a connecting effort in some cases. One of the problems and effects of nepotism is that it discourages and ridicules meritocracy. As I mentioned, what one could need is just a last name or someone they know. Also, this is the order of the day and everyone is bending towards it. It's even funny but painful when you find out that there are people on payrolls and job opportunities while they're still in school.

When merit is tossed into the bin to give room for nepotism, which is mostly unqualified or less qualified, what does that say about the output of labour? Productivity of work is affected by this act of nepotism since it doesn't favour who's better and bring in more. Again, what does that say about meritocracy? For someone who has strived to learn and is better equipped for a role, it's usually a pain to lose out on opportunities this way. It discourages and weakens.

This has so far revolved around the public sector. But what happens when it's a family business or a private enterprise, and they decide to consider their loved ones? What about that? I don't know if one can really complain about that. They might want to do nepotism and not much can be said since it's their own venture. One of the main cases with nepotism is that it affects optimum productivity. If they're okay doing that with the effect in mind, it's their choice then.

When it comes to public sectors, care should be taken and nepotism should be grossly discouraged. We can't afford to have less functioning and productive institutions, sectors, and firms as a country because of acts of nepotism. But can this change? Hardly today. It's the order of the day, as I said. We should help our loved ones or others when we're in a position to and we can. But let there be merit attached to that help. That way, it profits both ends.

Image is AI generated.

Thank you for reading!