Nigeria, Sept. 5 -- Nepotism, one word that immediately evokes suspicion, conjures images of powerful people handing opportunities to relatives, friends and loyalists while more qualified strangers watch helplessly from the sidelines. Yet beneath the outrage lies a more complicated, yet uncomfortable fact, that human beings naturally trust people they know and have shared experiences with. In politics, business and public administration, this tendency can produce both benefits as well as disabling distortions. Essentially, nepotocracy, a situation where power, opportunities and influence are concentrated within families and close personal networks, is therefore neither entirely good nor inherently evil. The consequences of nepotocracy de...