Nigeria

Nigeria: This Political Arrangement Is Defective

Abdullah Musa

Two people were travelling in a car: the car owner and his travelling companion. The glasses on the windows were raised up, sealing the car from outside atmosphere, which was presumed to be unfavorable to the driver of the car. The travelling companion started sweating. He opined whether the glass should be wound down. The owner/driver said ‘no’! The air conditioner was on; as such there was no need to let in outside hot air. He fiddled with some knobs. The journey continued, and by now the passenger was sweating profusely; without waiting for clearance from the driver, he wound down the glass to let in fresh air, (certainly not Dr. Jonathan’s type) and let the driver of the car continue with his make-believe.

We use this short story to illustrate the reality of the Nigerian situation. Humans have travelled a long way in what they term the path of development. They have modified their habitats, their methods of production; transportation; and communication. Some misguided few within them even want to modify their societal structure, whereby instead of having a man/woman family structure, (from whose union humans reproduce themselves) they are now actively promoting homosexuality and lesbianism, from whose union spread the disease of Aids.

In the days of old, tribes, races, clans, and so on, fought each other over the control of territories, or even for the acquisition of women. We are still fighting each other over control of territories, (even though the inhabited areas of the world are still comparatively small) and over things of emotional values to us. The governance system ought to have seen improvement: from contest on the battlefield to contests in Parliaments. But elections in Black Africa are still fought as real physical combats: with deaths and mayhem following each election.

Nigerian elections have conformed to the African standard. (We lead Africa according to its character you may say.) In addition to the attempt to stop irrational killings in the quest for power, democratic governance was aimed at ensuring a stable political system where human excellence could find expression. The physical infrastructure that the scientific spirit has made feasible becomes meaningless in so far as after the completion of an edifice, a lunatic individual, group, or nation will be tempted or allowed to raze it to the ground. A nation or a people should know that you need stability in order to build anything, even if it is simply a symbiotic relationship.

Killings are now fashionable Nigerian enterprise. These killings are now more in the North than in any other area of the Nigerian federation. The more the killings go on, the more the damage to the dream of the united Nigerian nation. That must be the mission or objective of its perpetrators. What they fail to understand is this: even if Nigerians must go their separate ways, you need to have good relations with your neighbors in order to prosper.

Who are direct beneficiaries from the treasuries of the respective federal, state, and local governments? I am inclined to believe that it is the employees of such governments, the political leaders and appointees of such governments, and the contractor-class. These are tiny in relation to the remaining Nigerian population. The rest of the population each engages in an enterprise suitable to him or her. Political, religious, or senseless ethnic violence thwarts this. (This was practically demonstrated to the writer when on the way to Kano from Kaduna, roadside sellers of Irish potatoes said that the prices were high because the traders could not travel to the growing area in Plateau state due to the latest eruption of conflict.

If a question can be asked: what is being fought for in Plateau state? Is it still the Jos North local government election? Is it reprisal killing that will know no end? Is it a religious agenda that says that there can only be adherents of only one particular faith in Plateau state? One would have thought that Dr. Jonathan Goodluck would be interested in finding answers to these questions. But from the perception of the uninformed like me, Dr. Jonathan is more interested in settling his score with Sylva in Bayelsa state, than in the political stability of Nigeria. After that it will be business as usual: distribution of the largesse to favored ones, and preparing for continuity in office, till death do us apart may be.

There may be many well-meaning Nigerians who believe that they have something to offer in the proper governance of this nation. To my thinking, the elections at national level in April this year were the clearest indicators that many Nigerians are incapable of thinking outside their religious or tribal boxes. And many more Nigerians see governance at federal level simply as access to wealth. If the nation is drifting; or if many sections are on fire; as long as Abuja and the oil wells are not on fire, let the music play on. And the masses keep dying senselessly, plus a stray Corper here and there.

There are many hotspots in Western societies: there are the ghettoes, the Bronx areas, the Paris suburbs and so on. If you miss your way and stray into Harlem, you are as good as dead. So the Capitalist, White supremacists, ensure that the volcano does not erupt to far places: the policy of containment. What is really tragic is that Nigeria cannot act as an integrated whole. This tragedy is sweet music to the ears of those on the saddle. If Nigerians are so fractured into tribal, religious, ethnic enclaves, then they cannot come together to oust an unjust government. If a President or Governor allows innocent people to be butchered to death, he sits at ease on his throne in so far as he belongs to a divide: a religious safe haven for instance. Nigeria is a tragedy. But the greater tragedy is being a Nigerian.