The Youth and the Future of Nigeria (Part 1)

By

Wada Nas

wada@gamji.com

http://www.gamji.com 

I believe most of us are aware of the dangerous propaganda going on against our beloved fatherland, Nigeria. In the mindless desire of some elements to balkanise this country, they have been going to great length to cause disharmony among the people by planting hatred among them. The hostilities between and among various ethic groups, the preaching of ethnic nationalism, the so-called ethnic national conference, the dangerous rumours being manufactured, among several others, are all geared towards achieving such a goal.

Recently, for example, a letter allegedly came out from one of the military institutions alerting other formations that Nigerian Muslims, so called terrorists, were preparing to attack all military formations in the country. Even the most uninformed know this to be cheap propaganda. For what reason would the Muslims wish to attack all members of the Nigerian military when they have their own serving in such establishments? What is more, what is the strength of Muslims in the military currently as to mobilize them to fight these formations?

It is one of the blackmail against the Muslims, not only in Nigeria but worldwide. The danger of the Nigerian version is that it is aimed at creating disharmony within the polity for the purpose of creating tension in the country and possibly eventual disintegration.

But nobody should be surprised. About two months ago, some people in Port Harcourt dressed themselves as Muslims and Northerners and attempted to set a Church on fire. The ultimate purpose was to blame Muslims and possibly deal with them in that area. Luck, however run against them when they were apprehended by the police and later discovered that they were not even Northerners let alone Muslims. But had they succeeded, everybody would have believed that the Church was indeed set ablaze by Muslims. Allah is always with the righteous.

There was a similar incident in Kaduna when part of a Church was set ablaze in the dead hours of the night. According to reports, only those who know much about the Church could have perfected the act. We thank God that this did not spark off another round of violence in the town.

What I am drawing attention to here is that some elements within our rank are not happy when peace prevails in the country and since religion is very touchy, they do everything possible to achieve their aims by provoking so-called religious riots. This is why it is absolutely important for the federal government to issue a statement on the purported letter alerting military formations about the alleged plan by Muslims to attack them. Silent is unhelpful in such matters and failure to act appropriately may be seen as attempt by the authorities themselves to engineer such devilish crises.

For long, some of us have been preaching ethnic nationalism without a bother about its consequences on our nation of at least 250 different ethnic groups. According to my findings, there are about 34 ethnic groups in the former Eastern Region, one or two in the defunct Western Region and the rest in the North.

By the time you travel a distance of about 50-km in some areas of the North, you are most likely to counter a different ethnic group. In the event of ethnic hostilities, therefore, the North would be the worse hit battleground. There would be no place for any one to hide. The same thing with the former Eastern Region. It is not surprising that ethnic violence has been more in the so-called minority areas of the two regions. Yet here we are, as witnesses to what happened in Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue and Taraba states in the same style of what has been happening in the Niger Delta falling for this ethnic nonsense.

Only the West would benefit tremendously from the spread of ethnic nationalism in this country and this explains why its people have been in the forefront in preaching this ugly doctrine since independence, but which even some minority elements have been buying unmindful of its consequences. In Nigeria, ethnic nationalism is a serious deadly disease by far worse than AIDS when it finally catches the fancy of the most reasonable. In the event of its worse dimension occurring in the North, our brothers, from other parts of the region, would flock to the so-called Hausa States where there are perhaps one or two ethnic groups and this would worsen social services in these states.

I am drawing attention to this for all of us to appreciate the dangers inherent in such anti-people doctrine, which is being sold to us on the platter of self-interest devoid of the larger interest of the great majority of our people. As future leaders and indeed owners of Nigeria, it is for the youth to mobilize themselves and propagate against such deadly philosophy, which ought not to have a place in our diverse society. Perhaps, we do not appreciate that there is no country in the world having half the number of ethnic groups in Nigeria. China, which has the largest population, is in a distant second position with only 57, though others put it at 74. Even then, this is less than a third of what Nigeria has. Allah knows why he brought 250 tribes to this part of the world and we must not go against His will. He has a purpose for making our country with the largest ethnic population in the world and our responsibility is to create harmony and friendship among them.   

Discussing Nigeria’s future means looking into her present. And this makes the issue very topical and multi dimensional, considering her diversity. I tend to believe that there are as many opinions, on any single issue, in Nigeria, as the total population of the country. As exaggerative as this may be, it tells a lot about our various perceptions, hopes and aspirations, some very extremely divergent and pregnant with dangerous undertones.

In broad terms, however, we could aggregate them to include, regional autonomy, struggle for the presidency and resource control, diversification of the national economy, religion, ethnic nationalism, the electoral process, the general political climate, social welfare services and several others including national security.

For better comprehension, it is necessary to discuss them one by one, starting with the last. Security is like freedom, which an individual doesn’t appreciate until he suddenly finds himself without it. Security is one of the most valuable engine rooms of social growth without which anarchy would rule over a society. Presently, we have not reached this point but we are on the road to it. The assassination of a serving minister is a clear indication in this direction.

The growth of ethnic and religious nationalism, especially in the recent past, has visited on our nation a very serious security problem more than hitherto. What has worsened matters is the ethnic religious hatred built into it by elites who seek refuge in it to advance narrow interests. It ought to concern us that some ethnic personalities fear to visit some ethnic conclaves outside their own tribal kingdoms, for fear of being killed by hostile ethnic forces.

We all know the details to warrant enumeration here. What can be said is that Nigeria is being held hostage by the terrorism of insecurity. The danger here is that when citizens become aware that the state is no longer in position to guarantee their security they take extra judicial measures to protect themselves and violence, therefore, becomes the order of the day. We are gradually inching towards this direction and therefore should be a cause for serious worry.

What therefore is to be done? The ready answer is to give the police more teeth to bite. They should be made mobile and properly equipped including the use of helicopters to check highway robbery. They should therefore have an air wing for this purpose.

But as we all know, even the best-equipped police cannot effectively fight social menace. The case of America readily comes to mind. According to a recent study, about 40,000 people are killed by hoodlums every year in the United States. It is no longer a secret that America has the highest crime rate in the world despite the high mobility of its security forces.

We may therefore ask, why is this so? Social and economic deprivation is part of the answer. A lot of people may not agree with Karl Marx but there is no denying the fact that economic condition is very dominant in the conduct of the human person. The theory is quite fundamental in understanding human attitude to his environment. To live and survive is part of human struggle. It is a fundamental law of nature. The collapsed Soviet Union and the Russia of today bear testimony to this theory. The former USSR was a welfare state in which the state provided basic needs and guaranteed employment, free social care programmes etc. Russia is altogether different where such are no longer available and this explains the growing violence there, a thing unheard of during USSR days. According a member of the House of Representatives, who returned from China recently, in spite of its 1.3 billion people, you can hardly hear of crime.

What this means is that where people do not have lawful means to live a decent life the last resort is to take any measure to guarantee existence. Thus, in addition to funding the police and other security agencies, the need to make life meaningful to the people becomes very compelling. This means resolving the problem of unemployment, the provision of social services at affordable cost etc. Until this is done any fight against crime would be fruitless.

But there is another dimension to our insecurity problem; communal clashes. It is not an exaggeration to say that in the last two years we must have lost about 5000 souls through communal clashes across the country. Basically three things account for this; growing ethnic nationalism instigated by the elites; religious intolerance, also instigated by them; growing poverty actuated by unemployment and land scarcity. The issue of land is especially the case in the Delta area which, no matter the amount of resource control, would never be solved. The clashes between Itsekiri and Uhorbo; Ilaje- Ijaw vs others have more to do with land than anything else. None of the other exploits the other. As all of them are championing resource control, they are at the same time killing themselves, certainly over land matters. Even if Niger Delta becomes a sovereign nation today, the problem would remain there forever and ever. Indeed, it may become worse as birth rate would out pace available land. What would further worse matters, for the inhabitants, would be the abrogation of the land use decree. It would create more problems for them than we care to appreciate now.

The issue of ethnic hatred is creeping in the way of Nazism. Indeed, nazism is firmly rooted in some parts of the country and this would prove an explosive problem in the years ahead unless those instigating it reverse their position. Revenge killing is ungodly but if the creeping Nazism is not checked, effectively, it may consume all, including its authors and instigators alike. Confederation would never solve this, for it has become a social value among certain people. I foresee confederation as capable of worsening it. And when it succeeds in breaking up the country, the human tragedy, which would follow in its wake, would be monumental. Chief Awolowo recognised this way back in 1966 in a speech accepting his nomination as the leader of the Yoruba Leaders of thought, where he drew attention to the serious danger that would befall the country should it break up. The massive movement of people from where they are, outside their traditional homes, to their new “countries”, would create serious tragic consequences and may worsen the land issue in the south in particular. Where about 45% of the people live in just about 28%  of the total landmass we can fore tell what would happen. This would be made worse when confederation or complete balkanisation is achieved. Certainly, we have an uncomfortable future here and we better appreciate the danger now.

Now to the specifics. For the Oduduwa people, Nigeria’s future is better secured through regional autonomy with each region having complete sovereignty except in name only. Where you have the army, police, judiciary etc the sovereignty of a state is complete. This is why people are saying that the demands of such people tantamount to breaking up Nigeria, which they garb in a different language. If this demand is eventually actualized, the human tragedy that would follow in its wake would be too difficult to bear. Those who want to follow the Yugoslavian example would eventually be counting million deaths. Even a negotiated brake-up would not solve the problem particularly in the way it is being mixed up with ethnic hatred.

The best option to my mind is devolution of power from the centre to the states and here comes in the struggle for the presidency. Part of the problem of our democracy is the struggle for the president. Thrice it brought us military rule in 1966, 1983 and 1993. The only reason for this is because of the huge financial muscle of the president who could use it for ethnic advantage. If this financial strength is reduced to size the problem would be less.

Thus, subjects like education, heath, land transportation etc be devolved to the centre with corresponding financial commitment. Sure, a number of states cannot shoulder, individually, federal institutions in their areas when and if devolved to them. States in each zone, therefore, should run them as common services in exactly the same way the 19 Northern States are running NNDC and Bank of the North as collective enterprises.

The centre would continue to run national defense and security, foreign affairs, communications, rail transportation, monetary issues, policy guidelines for education, health etc.

We do not need to waste billions on an extra constitutional body to resolve these issues. I doubt if there is any ethnic group in Nigeria today that hasn’t got a representative in either the National Assembly or States House of Assembly. So, the issue of ethnic representation for a so-called Sovereign National Conference has been adequately settled by the presence of all ethnic groups in these bodies. In this case, we can not have better assemblage of ethnic lords that could be superior to those already on ground.

such a purpose. All the local government chairmen could also be constituted as a committee, to discuss issues with the federal law makers plus a committee of governors and attorneys general from all over the country. Labour, NGOS, students and women organisations could also be constituted, or the authority of NASS to hold similar conferences. No representation could be legally better than this in the current circumstance. 

To circumvent the law in order to achieve a set target is untenable, specially when we have in place a duly constituted body that could effectively handle such issues in accordance with laid down rules and procedure. It does not portray us as democrats and believers in the rule of law when we insist in ditching the same law in order to satisfy some elitist ego.

Back to our theme. To reduce the stiff struggle for the control of the presidency, others have suggested a six man presidential council to rule in rotation of one year each and for a single term of six years. Thus, each of the six zones would have a rotary president on the council who would have to  work collectively with others and that in the event of death of one then, a person elected from his zone, by all voting citizens, would replace him. The six are to run on a common party platform to be nominated by their parties and presented to all Nigerians. At any give time, five would be deputies assigned certain subjects. This, in the view of this school of thought, would reduce the sing-song of “we either produce the president or Nigeria would brake up”. They further argue that this is a better form of rotation than asking others to wait for 48 years before presenting a candidate for the office of the president, assuming that on occupant secures two terms of four years each.

For another school of thought, rotation should be between the North and the South only and for a single term of five to six years. Yet to others, the status quo, as known to democracy, should remain.

These are all options that could be ironed out by the National Assembly with inputs from various segments of the society as already indicated.

The central theme however is the need for the reduction of the over sized muscles of the president in order to minimize the heat he has been generating.

The issue of resource control is a constitutional matter, which can be solved constitutionally. The constitution only places a minimum and not the maximum and so could therefore be resolved amicably. However, where resource control runs riot I can foresee some areas taking drastic measures to generate funds to run their services. Northern States, for example, may have to tax food items going to the South and this would create problems.

Recently, the Governor of Niger State responded to critics who say that the North doesn’t contribute anything to the national economy. He calculated that if each Nigerian spends N50 on feeding daily the 120,000,000 Nigerians would consume N6 billion daily, N180 billion monthly and N2, 160 billion yearly on feeding and we all know from where the bigger portion of the food items comes from. Even the issue of landmass, as we already noted is quite a resource. Those who do not appreciate the importance of land as a resource needed to be reminded that many people have been killing themselves over it because it contains all the treasures of human needs apart from air. It contains the water we drink and the food we eat and such other treasures as oil, solid minerals etc. Land is everything about human existence apart from life, Land is the most important gift Allah has provided to humanity for its survival. This is why many have been butchered  over it. Resource control may therefore provoke a new land policy in the North and we may care to forecast the consequences now.

The point here is that oil is not the only resource available in Nigeria. I have always said that had the fuel crisis we have been experiencing been food crisis, the story would have been different today. We can tolerate fuel scarcity but certainly not hunger. The agitation for resource control tells us how oil destroyed other resources and had this not been so, we wouldn’t have been hearing about it today.

This is why it is imperative for the federal government to develop other sectors of the economy so that the nation would not continue to remain in captivity in the hands of oil resource, which is becoming a serious national security issue. Oil has become part of our security issue, precisely because it was allowed to undermine other resources and it would continue to heat up the system unless and until these other resources are developed. After all, experts have been saying that solid minerals and agriculture, could, individually, earn for us 5 times what we are getting from oil. Besides our future lies greater in these two resources than in oil. And unless they are equally developed, the threats to the balkanisation of Nigeria would continue to linger on. The only solution to the threats, therefore, and to the future of Nigeria as a united country lies in the development of these sectors. Doing so would stabilize the polity. This should be the focus for our future greatness.

Each component of the former Eastern region is insisting on the presidency come 2003. It is a legitimate demand that cannot be reasonably faulted. However, the Igbos appear to be ruling out themselves by the utterances of their leaders and some of their Oduduwa style of action. They need to agree among themselves, and in collaboration with their minority brothers, for their ambition to be realised. It is not enough to use MASSOP, sit back in Enugu and then continue to issue threats that Biafra is the only alternative to Ndigbo presidency, without regard to the fact that the Biafra of yesterday can not come in to being this time around, considering the utterances of South-Southerners and South-South, on its own, would be a good meal for Cameroon and for the contradictory forces within. We must secure Nigeria from disintegration, engage in activities that would create harmony among the people, fight for mass and free education and up here in the North, the

Youth should move in to the villages to encourage parents send their children to school. In the years ahead, there would be no good future for the uneducated in Nigeria and when your own children fail to join the NDA, ABU etc, you would have only yourselves to blame. For a balanced federation, you must insist on fair recruitment into all the agencies of security, police and military forces, as a way of keeping Nigeria one.

The future of Nigeria rests on the shoulders of the youths and they would only play a meaningful role if they prepare themselves today. This is the challenge before them now.

Ndigbos need to be walking the landscape building bridges of friendship and harmony rather than staying back in Enugu expecting a presidential manna to fall on their laps, from heaven, as during the time of Moses (As). This cannot work, in as much as may have sympathy for them.

South- South too enjoys the same sympathy for several reasons. There is its oil economy, its neglect, its role deriving the war, its bridge between the two divides and the fact that it hasn’t been in Aso Rock even once. Unlike Ndigbos, Niger Deltans have been on visiting political friends and sympathetic partisan relations across the country. They are not sitting back in Port Harcourt waiting to receive a presidential flag from other citizens. They have been up and doing. Even Obasanjo, in spite of incumbency clout, has not been staying back in Aso Rock waiting for a second term. The on going electoral law reforms should accommodate the registration of political parties. If a party is interested in contesting only general election, so be it. After all, AD is a restricted ethnic party and is happy with its restricted tribal zonal control. So, why not others? Let several political parties be allowed to find their levels at the end of the day.

It is incorrect to say that a two party structure would cause collusion and national disunity. The schism within SDP, which led to the annulment of the 1992 primaries, on the insistence of the AD-UPN elements within, which consequently landed us where we are today, ought to be a lesson in the futility of this assumption

Finally, because of the manner some officials use their positions to achieve electoral advantages, there is need for a provision that should relieve the president, governors, and other elected representations, along with their political appointees, to vacate office three months before election in to these offices. In the interim the Chief Justice of the Federation should oversee states functions, without initiating any new laws, pending the election of a new president. The same should apply to the states. This I believe would guarantee free election devoid of the use of office power to manipulate things during election.

Free election is part of the factors needed to secure our country in future and the new electoral law should device ways of ensuring fairly free and fair election. This is very important for the survival of our democracy.

Let me round off by saying that each component of the Nigerian nation is better off within than outside, if we only know. We must not allow blind sentiments and elitist quest for power and positions not to appreciate this truism. With equity and fairness to all, we could secure a better future for our country.

Back to the issue of insecurity, caused among others by poverty. It is in this light that we have to prepare for the worse in the face of the forced increase in fuel prices. With the plan to ban the importation of certain category of second hand cars, and the other plan to scrap the Mass Transit Programme, the transportation sub-sector is going to be in a mess and the people would be the greater victims.

What is happening in Nigeria today is a challenge to the younger generation. Their main preoccupation now is to refocus economic diversification even in the interest of national security.