Nigeria: Bumpy Road to 2019
Introduction
1. I thank most sincerely, the organisers of this event, the Publishers of City People magazine for this opportunity to talk about our Nation, our politics and our history. There is no better time other than now, when our Nation is once again at the threshold of making a critical decision about our collective social existence.
2. There is no way we can discuss the way to 2019 without looking back to where we are coming from; in fact we need to have a deep appreciation of who we really are, what made us what we are. And I guess, this will then summarize how our ‘roads’ which literally translates our ‘next political journey” towards 2019 will be. But far beyond that. Is 2019 our real destination? Definitely not. This is because we are not really travelling in Time, but we are journeying towards an idea, the idea of “Nationhood”.
3. Ladies and gentlemen, in addressing this very topic which was made more complex by the tricky word”bumpy” suggesting some kind of undulations, infrequent bumps of varying heights on the way to the elections of 2019, I will be looking at Nigeria as a concept, rather than as what we all seem to know and ascribe to it, in four different ways. I will be discussing Nigeria as:
A country
A Nation
An idea; and
A Project
4. I believe this is very important because it lays the foundation for where we are heading in the next few months. The “road to 2019” presupposes a movement from somewhere to another destination. This lecture therefore is about: 1. where are we coming from? 2. Where are we going to? And 3. Why will our roads, the path we have to travel to get to our destination be rough (bumpy)?
5. We will also been looking at the different phases in our social contract as a nation, the characteristic of each era of struggle and the distinguishing factors which defines them: Before Independence, After Independence, and The Post June 12, 1993 paradigm shift.
Robert Mackenzie (1880) wrote:
“Human history is a record of progress – a record of accumulating knowledge and increasing wisdom, of continual advancement from a lower to a higher platform of intelligence and well-being. Each generation passes on to the next the treasures which it inherited, beneficially modified by its own experience, enlarged by the fruits of all the victories which itself has gained… The growth of man’s well-being, rescued from the mischievous tampering of self-willed princes, is left now to the beneficent regulation of great provincial laws”
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6. We need to be clear on some terms. Severally, Nigeria has been described as a country, at other times, as a Nation. We need to interrogate all these descriptions closely so as to determine if we are in anyway near our destination politically and socially.
Is Nigeria a Country? According to The NewWebster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language (EncyclopedicEdition) 2004: A country, among other definitions is:
1. “A land under a particular sovereignty or government, Inhabited by certain people, or within definite geographical limits”. 2. “A particular nation, or the institutions peculiar to it; the land of one’s nativity or allegiance”. 3. “A tract of land of indefinite extent; a region” as well as a “A rural region, or farming district, as opposed to the city…”
Same dictionary defines a Nation as:
1. “A people as an organized body politic, usually associated with a particular territory and possessing a distinctive and cultural and social way of life. 2. An aggregation of people of common origin and language. 3. A race; tribe; specifically, a tribe of American Indians or the territory occupied by them”
Nigeria as a Country or Nation. We need to have a clearer understanding of what a country is and what a nation and to situate the present geography within that context.
7. Ladies and gentlemen, within the context of the definitions above therefore, can we then ponder if Nigeria as we all know it is a country or a Nation? I do not want to be judgemental on this. What we all know today as Nigeria, derived from “Niger Area” which approximates the land, the people, community, nations and culture in the proximity of the River Niger, was for administrative convenience of the colonialists. In this context , the “common origin and language” is clearly missing. A country was formed, definitely not a Nation.
8. I hope I must have attempted the first two concepts of Nigeria as a country and a Nation. Now, let us look at the concept of Nigeria as an idea and as a Project. Though Nigeria as an Idea has its foundation in Administrative convenience, it has evolved in the course of time to becoming a Work-in-Progress, a complex social experiment.
9. Let us look at where we started from:
Martin Meredith, in his 2005 book, “The Fate of Africa; From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair, A History of Fifty Years of Independence recalled:
“The maps used to carve up the African continent were mostly inaccurate; large areas were described as Terra incognita. When marking out the boundaries of their new territories, European negotiators frequently resorted to drawing straight lines on the map, taking little or no account of the myriad of traditional monarchies, chiefdoms and other African societies that existed on the ground. Nearly one half of the new frontiers imposed on Africa were geometric lines, lines of latitude and longitude, other straight lines or arcs of circles… Nigeria for example, contained as many as 259 ethnolinguistic groups… Like in Sudan and Chad, Nigerian people of diverse cultures and religion, Muslim and non-Muslim were thrown together in “latent hostility’
10. The underlying factor was that the colonial Britain do not have sufficient hands and manpower to oversee such a large country (as in land area) and they resolve to merge such various and diverse culture in a composite whole. Take for example:
“In northern Nigeria, Frederick Lugard set out to rule 10 million people with a staff of nine European administrators and a regiment of the West African Frontier Force consisting of 3,000 African troops under the command of European officers. By late 1930s, following the amalgamation of the northern and southern Nigeria into one territory in 1914, the number of colonial administrators for a population of 20 million people was still less than 400”.
“The model for indirect rule was devised by Lugard in northern Nigeria where Fulani emirs had governed in accordance with Islamic traditions of law and discipline stretching back for centuries. Lugard posted British residents at their courts but allowed the emirs to continue to police, tax and administer justice on their behalf much as before.” In some cases where chiefs did not exist, as among the acephalous village societies of the Igbo of southern Nigeria, chiefdoms were invented. In other cases, ‘traditional’ chiefs were left bereft of all functions”.
11. To be precise, from the British perspective, Nigeria was a Corporate Idea for administrative convenience and not a planned design to evolve into a nation. The intense diversity at independence was far too wide and sharp to contemplate such. Even several of the country’s leader at independence agreed on this:
Nigeria’s first prime minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, in 1948 posited:
“Since 1914 the British Government has been trying to make Nigeria into one country, but the Nigerian people themselves are historically different in their backgrounds, in their religious beliefs and customs and do not show themselves any signs of willingness to unite… Nigerian unity is only a British invention”.
In similar vein, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Yoruba leader, in a book published in 1947 maintained that:
“Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression. There are no “Nigerians” in the same sense as there are “English”, ” Welsh”, or “French”. The word ” Nigerian” is merely a distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Nigeria and those who do not”.
Even the Sultan of Sokoto, the first premier of the Norther region, after travelling to Lagos for the first time in 1949, observed:
“The whole place was alien to our ideas and we found the members of the other regions might well belong to another world as far as we are concerned.”
12. This was how Meredith captured the situation in pre-independence Nigeria:
“The birth of Nigeria as an independent state proved especially difficult. The most populous country in Africa, it was beset with intense rivalries between its three regions, each of which was dominated by a major ethnic group with its own political party. No national party emerged.”
13. This was our reality at independence. Nigeria and Nigerians was divided along ethnic, social and cultural lines so sharp that the Constitution was frequently changed, modified, and amended, all in the search for nationhood. From the 1913 (the Order in Council for a Crown Colony which took effect from January 1, 1914) to 1922 (Clifford Constitution which established the elective principle for the first time in Nigeria); 1946 (Sir Arthur Richards Constitution); 1951 (John Stuart Macpherson Constitution); and 1954 (Oliver Littleton Constitution) which established the federal principle and laid the foundation for the independence six years later; all through the Independent and Republic constitutions of 1960 and 1963 respectively etc. Nigeria’s democratic experiment has always been bumpy, never a smooth ride.
14. Do we really find a Nation in all of these search?
According to Francis Fukuyama: “…history understood as a single, coherent, evolutionary process, when taking into account the experience of all peoples in all countries”. paraphrasing Karl Max and G.W.F. Hegel, Fukuyama concluded that ” the evolution of human societies was not open-ended, but would end when mankind had achieved a form of society that satisfied its deepest and most fundamental longings”.
Nigeria at Independence
15. If the British idea of a nation failed, let me quickly say that the post independence era were no different from the pre- independence era in terms of uncertainties, and hostilities. The only difference was that while ethnicity and religious distinction characterised the previous era, post independence Nigeria was largely divided along Class lines. The Class distinctions between the rich and poor, literacy and illiteracy. This is significantly because, according to Meredith:
“The small elites that colonial rule produced in the 1920s and 1930s were preoccupied primarily with their own status, seeking to gain for themselves a role in administration in preference to the chiefs whom they regarded as rivals for power. They paid little attention to the welfare of the rural masses. Few espoused nationalist ambitions”.
16. The complex social experiment then continues, Nigeria started toying with various systems of government. Started with the Parliamentary system of government and after several military interregnum, introduced a Presidential system of government. To sustain the Class wars and to self-preserve, the new ruling class, the elite will use and recall the ethnic and religious differences as a weapon while the majority remain united in poverty. The experiments will include slogans appealing to the greater emotions and base instincts of individuals. Twice in 1996, the military struck and intervened in the political process, and by the nature of these two interventions, the divisions among the various nations within the country became more pronounced, ensuing ethnic tensions, distrust and violent rivalries etc.
Nigeria as a Project and the Paradigm Shift
17. Nigeria entered into another tricky phase in its quest and search for nationhood shortly after the now famous annulled June 12, 1993 elections. The nation had survived a very deadly Civil war which lasted the whole of three years (1967 to 1970); the world looked in consternation at the cosmetic recovery of a nation at the brink of disintegration. The June 12 episode provided another episode of a potential break up, yet, when it looked like everything was going to collapse, Nigeria always rises from its own ashes like a Phoenix. In the June 12, 1993 elections, Nigeria got very close to its quest. All distinction lines (ethnicity, religious, and class) almost erased. In that election, Nigerians voted without prejudice to any of those known antitheses; ignored the Muslim-Muslim ticket of M. K. O. Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP); Atiku Abubakar, Northern Moslem from North East stepped down for an M. K. O. Abiola, a Yoruba man from South West, in a Party primaries against a fellow Northerner, Babagana Kingibe from the same North East region; Bashir Tofa, a Northerner from Kano winning election massively in the South East; Abiola, a Southerner gaining maximum votes from the North West and elsewhere. That was the closest we got to finding a nation in all our years. The overwhelming strength of that singular event (a clear demonstration of the power of unity), produced a chain of events which brought us back to democracy in 1999. The ghost of June 12 was unyielding until it found full expression in the return to Democracy six years later. The resolve and the power of that cycle of events launched Nigeria into a prosperous and lively people cohabiting together, gradually yielding towards the near Utopia, the ideal state or nation. This is where Nigeria then derives a new character as a Project, drawing from understanding the characteristics of all the divisions and diversities, an evolving paradigm which derives strength from these diversities without overlooking the inherent hostility and mutual distrust.
18. The defining character of this new paradigm was that People are more united in the brotherhood of economic prosperity and poverty than in kith and kin. Recourse to the sentiments of ethnicity and religion are only weapons of prosecuting economic warfare and politics. To build a Nation therefore, government must and should as a matter of urgency focus on building economic prosperity of the citizens. They are more likely to be united in happiness when they can have access to good education, good healthcare, employment which guarantees their self-actualisation, a feeling of security which increases their self-esteem etc.
19. There were some level of stability and economic prosperity in the first 16 years of the new experiment, economy grew at more than 3.5% most of the time, ranking as one of the three fastest growing in the world. This notwithstanding, the mutual distrust which had been planted over the years would not yield. The fundamental defects in the structure and protocol of relationship kept threatening the relation among the people etc.
20. The ethnic and class distinction was gradually receding, the only line of differences then becomes the political class or political parties every Nigerian belongs to, not necessarily on any ideological basis but on the strength of interest.
Conclusion
Project Nigeria: The Atiku Abubakar Perspective and the Road to 2019
The main thing is to make history, not to write it.
– Otto von Bismarck
21. What we have therefore been searching for over the years is to find Nigeria as a Nation; what are those things that unite us? How can we live together, sharing all our differences in culture and perspectives and deriving strength from this diversity. It is only if we are able to do this that Nigeria as a practicable “idea” could be realised, not as of Convenience, or administrative units. This is the Project Nigeria which I am proud to report to you today is the whole essence of the Atiku Abubakar’s quest to serve Nigeria is all about.
22. Ideas are all about creativity, not as keys in a hole, not as round pegs in round holes, it is only when we are able to find, develop ways of gaining entry without putting the keys already design for a hole; or when we can get the square pegs in a round hole without necessarily altering the natural order that we can say we have been creative. That is the whole essence of restructuring.
23. Restructuring is about closing the protocol lines of relationships among the Constituent states to create Economic prosperity for all.
The Atiku Abubakar Economic Development Agenda
seeks:
* to create a sound, stable and globally competitive economy that is diversified with a mix of output from a ‘technologically-enabled agriculture’, a ‘vibrant and globally competitive manufacturing sector’ and a modern services sector. The economy will be supported by adequate and efficient economic infrastructure as well as investments in the New Economy.
* to broaden Nigeria’s resource horizon, maintain spending efficiency and reform internal revenue generating machinery. Economic growth is envisaged to be all
inclusive, accompanied by increased employment and reduced poverty levels as well as a greatly enlarged and much more effective system of education, training and health.
The major planks of the economic development strategy can be summarized
as follows:
a. A firm commitment to the promotion of a private sector-driven, competitive and open economy supported by efficiently run public institutions.
b. Promoting economic diversification and linkages between agriculture, industry and micro and small enterprises all three of
which have great prospects for employment generation and poverty reduction. The focus on these sectors is intended to achieve significant progress in economic diversification and encourage industrialization by strengthening the linkages between the three.
c. Improving productivity of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and achieving significant transformation of primary produce into processed and manufactured goods for exports.
d. Reduction in infrastructure deficit to support the full mobilization of the economic sectors and to enhance the ‘carrying capacity’ of the economy.
e. Promoting social development by investing in human capital development to improve access to qualitative basic public services, notably education and health, and enhance the nation’s prospects for achieving the SDGs.
f. Reforming public institutions to engender efficiency in service delivery as well as deepen transparency, accountability and rule of law.
24. I thank you most sincerely for listening.
Otunba (Engr.) Gbenga Daniel;
*Fellow, Nigerian Society of Engineers,
*Fellow, Academy of Engineering
*Fellow Institute of Directors, Nigeria
*Doctor of Development Administration (DDA, Honoris Causa)
*Doctor of Agriculture (D. Agric, Honoris Causa),
*Doctor of Science, Engineering
*Doctor of Public Administration (Honoris Causa)
* Honorary Fellow of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria
* Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Safety Engineers
* Honorary Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators of Nigeria
* Honorary Fellow, Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers
* Honorary Fellow, Nigerian Academy of Education
* Honorary Fellow, Nigerian Computer Society
* Honorary Fellow, National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria
References:
1. The New Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language (Encyclopedic Edition); Trident Press International; Typhoon International 2004
2. Martin Meredith; “The Fate of Africa – From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair: A History of Fifty Years of Independence”. Public Affairs, New York (2005).
3. Francis Fukuyama; “The End of History and The Last Man”. Penguin Books
