The Search for the Nigerian Dream
In July 2005, aboard an Egypt Air flight from Cairo to Lagos, a number of Nigerians spent hours discussing the state of the nation. We were from different parts of the country and different religions. We discussed virtually every topic — from the horrible roads to the unending importation of petroleum products, from the inhospitable hospitals to the abysmal education sector. We spoke extensively on corruption in public institutions across the country, the bazaar of contract awards, the hyperinflation of contract costs, as well as the obscene lifestyles of civil servants, politicians and political appointees. I was fully charged as passengers narrated their experiences.
Then something happened: we could not land at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The pilot said a cargo aircraft had broken down on the runway and flights were being diverted. He announced that we were been complaining about how the governors going to land in Kano. That clearly meant we of the oil-producing states were wasting the would spend the night there. The first question 13% derivation payment and leaving the people I asked was: is there only one runway at the of the Niger Delta poorer and poorer. He was Lagos airport? Someone, who seemed to know complaining about a state governor who had a lot about the airport, said there were two but bought up houses in Lagos, Abuja, UK and the other one was undergoing maintenance the US. He said some Niger Delta governors and had been shut down for a while. We were were arming militias to take out their political all frustrated because spending the night in opponents. Virtually all of us made damaging Kano was not part of the plan. It added one allegations against our governors. Abruptly, day to our journey. the Niger Delta “activist” arrived at another
And then a young man from the Niger Delta conclusion that it was lack of “resource control” dropped a bombshell: “All this nonsense will that led to the breakdown of an aircraft on not stop until there is resource control! Nigeria Lagos airport runway. is paying for the injustice being meted out In my previous article, “Nigeria and the to the Niger Delta! The rest of Nigeria will Hegemony Ideology” (April 14, 2019), I adapted continue to suffer too!” I was shocked. The cabin the theory of “cultural hegemony” propounded initially went quiet, and suddenly we started by Antonio Gramsci, the 20th century Italian arguing over the outburst. It soon became a Marxist philosopher and communist politician, bitter exchange about how the rest of Nigeria to explain how the Nigerian elite class has was a parasite on “our oil”, how the federal successfully diverted the public agenda from government needed to urgently organise a bad governance and, instead, got us talking sovereign national conference to take a final about our ethnic and religious differences every decision on how to divide the country, and so minute and every second of the day. This they on and so forth. I was disappointed. I gently do through institutionalised processes, with their withdrew from the discussion. intellectual sidekicks and pressure groups using
My disappointment stemmed from just one up prominent pages in the newspapers to discuss fact: for nearly two hours, we had discussed all issues — except the ones that impact directly as Nigerians and reached a consensus that we on the welfare of ordinary Nigerians. had a serious leadership problem. We agreed As a follow-up to my proposal that we need that the political and economic mismanagement a new generation of “thought leaders” in the of Nigeria at all levels was at the root of our media, academia, civil society and polity that will backwardness. We complained about how our focus public discourse on issues of development council chairpersons were not up to scratch and stop blaming Lord Lugard for all that is and how the governors were having fun at our wrong with Nigeria, I would love to argue that expense. We agreed that the federal government there are several things Nigerians already appear was failing in its responsibilities. We went as to agree upon which should form the basis of far as saying all Nigerians, irrespective of our engagement with the political system. If “tribe and tongue”, were victims of this gross we are able to discuss these issues openly and mismanagement. I was delighted that we could sincerely, we may just be able to evolve the discuss so frankly without bitterness. Nigerian Dream and arrive at a consensus on
We collectively reasoned that ordinary Nigerians the best way forward. I have not met a single did not have problems with one another; we Nigerian who says this is the best Nigeria can were just victims of elite manipulation for political be. We aspire to have a better country. purposes. We concluded that Nigerians needed I will point out at least three plagues most of a united front to confront the leadership deficit us seem to have agreed upon as impediments pervading the land. We all appeared to be on to the progress of Nigeria, and these cut across the same page! Then the Niger Delta “activist” ethnic, religious and regional lines. The first dropped his bombshell — despite having been is “leadership without conscience”. Contrary part of the “consensus” we had reached at the to what you might have been led to believe, impromptu “national conference” on the flight. we run a multi-layered leadership structure in My spirit dropped. How could someone ruin Nigeria: federal, state and local council. Each such a beautiful conversation by introducing layer has its responsibilities and failings in the a divisive item on the agenda? Why are some underdevelopment of Nigeria. However, if we people never satisfied until they play up our are ruled by men and women of conscience, faultlines and frailties? I believe our story would have changed. A A few minutes earlier, the “activist” had moral morass is severely plaguing Nigerian
THISDAY Newspapers Limited.
leadership — and that includes commissioners, ministers and perm secs, to name but a few.
It takes only a dead conscience to see the poor state of public utilities and look the other way. The roads are bad, so the leaders buy Prado SUVs to be able to navigate the potholes deftly rather than fix them. Kidnappers are on the prowl so the leaders get a detachment of security officers for protection rather than attack the problem frontally. The schools are bad so they send their children to the best institutions around the world rather than fix the education system. The hospitals are horrible so they treat themselves abroad rather than make them world-class. Any leader with human feeling will not look the other way: the welfare of the masses will always be priority.
The second plague is “leadership without competence”. I do not mean paper qualifications. You can be a professor and be incompetent in leadership. The skill set for political leadership is different. One basic definition of leadership is “getting people and using resources to achieve results”. How can you develop a country, a state or a council when you don’t have a “vision of society” — a mental picture of where you want to take it, the same way an architect designs a structure before you begin to build? Most of the people who end up in public office in Nigeria do not have this basic competence. And it cuts across all divides, although we often limit this to a section of Nigeria.
The third plague is “leadership without accountability”. In Nigeria, public officers have unfettered access to state resources with little or no accountability. This has led to untold corruption and waste of resources. This works mainly through collusion. The constitution allows state lawmakers to remove governors for corruption and abuse of office, but that is only on paper. A minister can be fired for corruption but how often does that happen? How many can sincerely say they scrutinise their state budgets the way they talk about federal budgets? The thought leaders would rather we discuss Sharia and true federalism. That is how the status quo wants it.
I have listed three plagues that we seem to agree are hurting the development of Nigeria. Imagine a Nigeria governed by leaders with conscience, leaders with competence and leaders with accountability at ALL levels? Imagine the direction we would be facing! Many of my critics have repeatedly accused me of campaigning against restructuring. This is a wrong reading but I have given up trying to explain myself. I believe in restructuring. My point of departure is that it is a different thing we need to restructure — our mindsets, first and foremost. We have been bewitched to think our problem is the “tribe and tongue” of a fellow victim of poor governance.
We can have a consensus on critical issues that affect the ordinary Nigerian and begin to push an all-encompassing agenda for national development. Divisive agenda will only poison public discourse, as we saw with the “activist” on the flight from Cairo. I do not seek to silence the agents of sectional agenda — everybody enjoys freedom of thought in a democracy. They probably have their own convictions that drive their arguments. But I am afraid that we cannot construct the Nigerian Dream and achieve our aspirations for as long as those who believe in playing up our differences continue to dominate the public space. Remember we all are victims of poor governance.
An African proverb says once the snake became pregnant, you knew it would give birth to a ‘long’ child. That Justice Walter Onnoghen was going to be convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over alleged false declaration of assets was predictable from the beginning. The CCT chairman never hid it. Ordinarily, Nigerians should be happy that even the chief justice has not escaped justice, but the smell of the alleged political persecution has so much polluted the air that Nigerians cannot even have a consensus on what is right or wrong again. But let us cheer up and take this as a wake-up call — our culture of “too big to touch” is being broken. Precedent.
By some estimates, we spent $5 billion on fuel subsidy in 2018 alone — the highest ever. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been less than transparent in its dealings in recent years — and that is saying a lot for an organisation that historically stinks from lack of transparency. The Buhari administration has also been playing games on the subsidy issue, preferring to call it “under recovery”, as if calling a spade by another name changes anything. The time has come to have an honest national conversation on this subsidy issue, no matter how bitter it would be. Truth is: our finances are going under. Inflammable.