Nigeria: Africa’s Appreciating Asset

first written: 12-07-13

In his book, ‘Nigeria: Africa’s Failed Asset’ published by Bookcraft, Sir Ajayi wrote thus, ‘to confer the national political leadership of Nigeria to Northern Nigeria under the auspices of the Northern People’s Congress, as the British Government did on the threshold of the country’s independence, was like a reckless and heterodox marriage whose disastrous divorce was around the corner’. In my view, the British could say that they are handing political power over to the north - not the Nigerian people - simply because of the system of government they bestowed on us. The parliamentary system of government meant that the party with the largest number of seats automatically holds the right to form the government at the center. The NPC, being a regional party in a monolithic north could hold sway because they have the majority of seats in the parliament. The other two major parties in a divided south, the NCNC and AG did not have such luxury. Therefore, ab initio, the leaders of those two parties were confronted with the sad reality that try what they may; they can never control the central government. They were left with the option of one of them being a junior partner in a coalition government. Between them, there were intrigues and subterfuges in a bid to outwit one another. These are natural and understandable but they were taken too far.

 They could also say that because at that time, in the 1950s, there was no pervasive mass communication medium except for radio owned by not too many. It was really impossible for someone in the south to project his or her ideas about the way Nigeria should go and how Nigeria should be to people in the north and vice versa. Consequently, everyone was content identifying with political parties and movements that held sway in their region. Ideological content and platforms or manifestos were a superfluity. The political system was already rooted in tribal and regional consciousness. Therefore, it was the only logical thing they could do among the choices they had. We can’t blame the British much for that. Amidst the clamor for independence and the need for them to disengage from the polity, they felt that’s the best way to achieve it.

 Unfortunately, the new nation had weaknesses. One of such weaknesses was that of civil conduct. The virtues of democratic governance and civil conduct of individual and communal affairs within the ambit of the law was alien. Democratic culture was yet to be internalized. All these because the Nigerian nation was cobbled together from societies and people that had a long history of gaining political relevance and economic advantage through communal wars, conflicts, and clashes. Infact, as at 1953, Nigeria was reported to have a population of about 31 million people speaking about 200 languages (we are officially 170 million at present). Our population at that time was a seventh of the inhabitants of Africa. The political system was not rooted in ideas and the people have not been made to realize that to maintain the system and for peaceful coexistence, politics should be conducted based on ideas. They have not been made to understand that you have to convince the other person to join your political party or movement based on a common national aspiration.

Nigerians therefore, instead of national loyalty still had tribal, ethnic, and regional fidelities which superseded their allegiance to the new nation. Politics soon degenerated to fisticuffs, clashes, battles and combats. To make matters worse, the security and law enforcement agencies as well as the courts lacked the capacity to maintain order. Besides, to get independence, some Nigerians also resorted to the use of force. There were reported hostilities and threat to physical harm faced by the colonialist. After we got independence, these agencies were adopted in the politics of the new republic. Unfortunately till today, we are yet to root out violence in our politics because among other reasons; our politics is not based on ideas but might, swagger, sentiments, ‘brigandage and braggadocio’; we have not modernized or refined our orientation about politics; and we lack strong independent institutions for law enforcement .

Apart from the foregoing, the colonialist perhaps felt that the duo of Zik and Awo were highly ambitious - Aminu Kano nominated Tafawa Balewa to be Prime Minister; I doubt if Awo or Zik could have nominated anyone to be Prime Minister if they were in the position of Aminu Kano. They were politicians to the core. For they were not just interested in freeing their people from the shackles of imperialism, but wanted to preside over the affairs of the new nation in a manner which suggests that they were driven by personal ambition instead of national mission.

The British vehemently rejected memoranda to divide Nigeria up into states before independence.

The British masters might in a bid to teach them [Zik & Awo] some bitter lessons - for with their spirited demand for independence, unlike their peers from the north, they were thorns in the flesh of the colonialist - set forth to create a regional structure and system that will make their ambition unrealizable. They can be ‘kings’ in their domain but not over the new republic. That was how the seed of unhealthy rivalry and political conflicts that tore the country apart in the 60s was sown. It can be deduced from these postulations that the generation that will transform Nigeria must embark on mission driven politics rather than ambition driven political participation.

 Luckily, we are living in a world light years ahead of the one our founding fathers met. Today, we can reach someone in Port Harcourt from Kano whenever we wish. Technology has made the world smaller to such an extent that the world is now fittingly described as a global village. If the world is a global village, then Nigeria is a national village. Our political elites have not been resting on their oars either. With the objective of fostering national unity, the political system perceived to have brought so much strife, contestation and division was done away with in 1966 when the military intervened. This was legitimized by the 1979 constitution that ushered in a presidential system of government where power will truly belong to the people of Nigeria not regions of Nigeria. Henceforth, any qualified Nigerian from any part of the country who wishes to preside over the affairs of the nation as President, with the mission of making it a better place, has to politically engage Nigerians in every part of the country to achieve his dream. There is therefore absolutely no need to whip up ethnic or regional sentiments to achieve an altruistic national goal. The pretext for that has been abolished and thrown into the dustbin of history.

 This didn’t come cheap. It took us a devastating strife and civil war that lasted between 1966 and 1970 which claimed millions of lives and destruction in its wake to realize that we have to bring an end to regionalism. Therefore those who are clamoring for political power at the center based on regions instead of national political party platforms are living in the past. We have over-growned that British contraption of handing power over to the north. Before, it was possible for someone to become the commander-in-chief of this great nation based on regional votes, but now, it is absolutely impossible. That’s the reality present day regional champions should come to terms with. No one should attempt to use national institutions and platforms to solve regional problems. National institutions and platforms should be used to solve national problems while regional, state and local institutions and platforms should be used to solve regional, state and local problems respectively.

 Moreover, in an effort to foster national unity and inclusion, we had the National Party of Nigeria, NPN which formed the national government in 1979. Unfortunately, in a bid to promote or perhaps force national unity, NPN was reported to have trampled on some values that bind a society together - the values of honesty, tolerance for the opposition and integrity. They could not conduct free and fair elections in 1983. This eventually led to the crisis which aborted that republic. From then on, political instability became our second name. Without political stability, no meaningful economic progress can take place.

On the other hand, I can safely say to the credit of our political elites that, fair or foul, they are masters of preservation of national unity. This is one skill they have perfected to the chagrin of the rest of the world who keep wondering how a nation like ours is still in one piece. It will do us much good however, if they can learn political stability, social harmony and economic prosperity skills. This will require that they make some sacrifices. The sacrifices our political elites need to make are to stop impunity and the abuse of the system, institutions, due process and laid down rules and regulations.

In any case, fortunately for us, we are now 14 years into a new era of civil rule. It has not been smooth but our turbulent past has helped keep us in check and on course. It is to our credit that today, based on past experiences; we have come to the realization that no regional party can win a presidential election. Infact, Nigerians have become so cosmopolitan and universal now that they don’t have any interest to restrict themselves to their geographical enclave. Everyone wants to be part of something bigger. Nigeria therefore to the surprise and perhaps delight of former President Babangida, is spontaneously gravitating towards a two ‘national’ party state through practice. Something he decreed into existence - during his regime’s convoluted transition programme - by force with military fiat that could not work.

 Possibly, one of the conclusions of the British composed Minorities Commission Report in 1958 that ‘the spontaneous evolution of social forces could be relied upon eventually to reconcile transparent discrepancies of history’ might be playing out. Nevertheless, certain issues remain to be addressed. They have their origin from the beginning - pre independence. They are the issues of civil conduct; ideas driven political parties; mission rather than ambition driven political participation. They are the issues of respect for the rule of law; the weakness of the institutions of law enforcement; the lack of values, honesty and integrity in the conduct of government affairs and many more.

 These issues are before us, waiting for us to deal with them so that we can enjoy our country. Figuratively, like wild animals, they are on the prowl in our national village killing our women, children and some unlucky men. They are slaying our chickens, goats, cows and other domestic animals of economic consequence. They are draining us economically and socially. They have made the cost of doing business here prohibitive thus reducing our competitiveness among the comity of nations. They have prevented many good natured businessmen from coming to our shores; mostly hardened capitalist and profiteers venture here. Metaphorically, the solution is not for some who have had the opportunity to be closer to the national till to build fortresses for themselves and drive around in armored vehicles. The solution is for us to fortify ourselves, come to the village square at noon, strategize and reach a consensus on how we can eliminate them at night. We can only drive them away if we are united and fix our eyes on our real enemy – indiscipline and the lack of values and principles in the conduct of politics and government business in Nigeria.

 This is important because no society where anything goes, and where impunity is the order of the day can experience holistic and robust prosperity and development. By changing our petty, greedy, selfish and lawless ways, we can fast-track our forward march as Africa’s Appreciating Asset.