Nigeria was once an indisputable leader in Africa: What happened?

CC™ Opinion Editorial - By Sheriff Folarin

The traditional leadership and redeemer posture of Nigeria in Africa has, in recent years, been put into question.

Issues like corruption and infrastructural decay have held the country down from playing a leadership role in Africa. As have transitions from one poor leadership to another. A visionary leadership is lacking while public institutions are weak, inept and compromised. Decades of political patronage and nepotism have seen a corrosion of quality and performance in the public service.

In addition, the intractable problem of Boko Haram and Islamic State, coupled with kidnappings, have created a security crisis. All continue to shatter the myth of military invincibility and the might of the Nigerian state.

In the beginning, it was not so. From independence in 1960, Nigeria took upon itself the role of uniting Africa against western recolonisation. The continent, from then on in, became the centre-piece of its foreign policy. The fact that nations were living under foreign rule made it possible to galvanise them around a common cause. This led to the creation of the Organisation of African Unity  – now the African Union – in 1963 and Economic Community of West African States in 1975.

Nigeria assumed a leading role in these events as it forged a foreign policy with a strong Afrocentric posture. In fact, so frenetic was its involvement in this role that it sometimes paid little attention to the home front.

Nigeria’s leadership role on the continent was a product of the vision, dreams and, sometimes, whims of the founding fathers. They were nevertheless premised on real national capacity. Jaja Wachukwu, Nigeria’s first external affairs minister noted  in 1960 that:

Our country is the largest single unit in Africa… we are not going to abdicate the position in which God Almighty has placed us. The whole black continent is looking up to this country to liberate it from thraldom.

This defined the country’s behaviour and continental outlook and has continued to influence successive administrations – weak or effective.

Assuming a leadership role

The sheer size of Nigeria’s population – the largest on the continent which rose from 48.3 million in 1963 to over 220 million in 2022 — gave the country the idea that Africa was its natural preoccupation.

In addition, its colonial experience and the abundance of its oil resources and wealth have empowered Nigeria economically. This made it possible for the country to pursue an ambitious foreign policy. It also permitted Nigeria to finance its Civil War, strengthening its international independence. And oil made possible an unparalleled post-war recovery.

Nigeria has used its influence to good effect and to good ends. For example, it worked with other countries in the West African sub-region to establish the Economic Community of West African States in 1975. It went on to push for the prevention and resolution of devastating conflicts that engulfed Liberia in 1992. The conflict spilled over into Sierra Leone and other countries in the region. Nigeria spearheaded the cessation of hostilities and created the cease-fire monitoring group to bring a total end to the civil strife and restore democracy in both countries.

Many observers agree that the sterling performance of the monitoring group is unparalleled in the history of regional organisations the world over. It has now become a model to emulate for its operational efficiency and for giving regional actors pride of place in the resolution of regional conflicts.

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Nigeria exerted similar efforts to ensure that democratic governments were restored to Guinea-Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire and Sao Tome et Principe, after military take-overs in those countries.

It spent over US$10 billion in these peace campaigns and also lost soldiers in the process.

Nigeria has not limited its peacekeeping role to West Africa. It has also been engaged in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia-Eritrea.

The country also played the most important role  in fighting apartheid in Southern Africa and supporting liberation movements on the continent.

Disappointments

But Nigeria has not been immune to challenges facing countries on the continent. Corruption, misappropriation of public funds, electoral malpractices, insurgency and terrorism have devastated its capacity and weakened its moral fortitude to lead the continent.

Amidst enormous wealth, poverty in Nigeria is endemic . It could even become the poverty capital of the world, according to The World Poverty Clock. Nigerians have been reduced to the behest of the politicians that tie them to gridlock of “stomach infrastructure”. This is a new trend which reflects institutionalised and structural poverty. Deprivation puts people in a vulnerable and compromised position where the desperation for survival makes them sell their votes and conscience.

The slow movement of the current administration is also killing the Nigerian spirit and leadership posture. South Africa, Ghana and even Madagascar have acted faster in continental and global politics, including during times of emergency such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. But Nigeria seems content with a spectator position.

What next?

Nigeria has been relegated to the background of international affairs. To turn this around requires a revisit to the roots – and mowing the lawns afterwards. Nigeria must take stock of its own performance and capacities and re-position itself – first from within.

If Nigerian leaders are increasingly determined to proffer African solutions to their problems, then political structures and institutions must be reformed to reflect conditions suitable for sustainable development. Without a formidable political base, the economy will remain weak and fragile. The political base is crucial, because, the state is the repository of all ramifications and dimensions of power – political, economic, technological and military. And the purpose of the state is to authoritatively allocate these resources.

There is also a need to empower people to mobilise their local resources and to use them for development. And, of course, public funds should not be concentrated in the hands of few individuals, who may be tempted to steal them. An accountable system is one in which money management has several checks.

Oil wealth has been the country’s nemesis, a curse that has promoted corruption and blatant bleeding of the economy. But it is declining in value and as source of national revenue. Now is the time for Nigeria to make good its repeated and well-advertised intentions to diversify the economy.

A de-emphasis on oil would open the door to smarter ideas about how to create wealth. It would also herald in getting rid of a great deal of the phlegm of corruption which has played such a central role in Nigeria’s infrastructural decay, eroded its influence and given it such a negative image.

Added to this is the succession of weak rulers since 2007.

African leaders do not look towards Nigeria anymore for counsel, inspiration and help. They think Nigeria has a lot on its plate already and needs help. The potential is still there for Nigeria to return to power; but it takes leadership to (re)build the auspicious atmosphere and to activate the country’s potential – the two steps required to regain that enviable frontliner spot on the continent.

This article was originally published in The Conversation.

Still on Constitutionalism: A wake-up call

Late Nigerian Dictator Sani Abacha

CC™ Nigeriaworld

By Abdulrazaq Magaji

Over the past several months, the restructuring debate has understandably been pushed to the front burner with opinions on the issue being as impassioned as they are divided. Expectedly, every Nigerian appears to have an idea on how, when and what to restructure.

That is the way it should be! But, with popular opinion in support of preserving the continued existence of Nigeria as one, united country, attention should be focused on restructuring to strengthen political structures. It is good that the ninth Senate has activated a nationwide debate on securing a people-oriented constitution.

It might not have been top on the agenda when then Head of State, General Sani Abacha, convoked the National Constitutional Conference in 1994, but, little did he know that he had surreptitiously set the country on the path of restructuring.  Had death not abridged General Abacha’s plans, it is safe to say that all the hot air over marginalization, more imagined than real, and some of the ills we are grappling with, would have been consigned to history.

Reference here is to stillborn report of the 1994/95 National Constitutional Conference. A review of salient provisions of the report shows that, had it seen the light of day, Nigeria would have transformed from a country of contending ethnic nationalities into a modern nation-state in a matter of thirty years! In a manner of speaking, the Abacha draft is the best effort at constitutionalism since independence in 1960.

Sadly, General Abacha died suddenly after holding the country together for five impossible years. Imperatively, survival instincts demanded that General Abacha be disowned by those who succeeded him. The national emergency then was to heal wounds and woo the aggrieved South-west geo-political zone back into the fold. It was, therefore, expedient for his stopgap successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, to distance himself as much as possible. The biggest casualty was the report of Confab ’94.

One of the committees hurriedly assembled by the new administration to explore the way forward was led by an eminent jurist, late Justice Niki Tobi. The Committee appeared to be in a haste to deliver; after all, it had its briefs well spelt out. The Committee took one hasty look at the Abacha Report and dismissed it offhanded as ‘anti-people’. Remarkably, the eminent jurist rationalized the decision to throw away the Abacha document by claiming it was the ‘product of a disputed legitimacy’. In its place, the 1979 constitution was lazily window-dressed and closed shop!

As things stand today, Nigeria continues to grope partly due to the lethargy with which the Abacha document was handled. The nation’s official six geo-political zones remains an enduring legacy of General Abacha. In any case, the zones were meant to be the building blocks for the fundamental changes envisaged by the 1995 draft constitution which made provision for the offices of president, vice president, senate president, house speaker as well as the position of prime minister and deputy prime minister. A five-year single-term for political offices. Public office holders were restricted to a five-year single-term tenure.

The ‘Abacha document’ had something for everybody. Had political exigencies not prevailed on General Abubakar into literally throwing away the baby with the bathwater, Nigeria would, by now, have experimented with the Abacha formula for twenty-two   of the ‘thirty-year transition period’ which aim was to ‘promote national cohesion and integration’, after which merit and competence would replace rotation in determining who gets what.

In strict adherence to the principle of rotation envisaged by the Abacha document, at no point in time would any of the six geo-political zones have cause to complain of marginalization since there was always going to be one ‘juicy’ office to be vied for by each of the zones every five years. What this means is that, in 2018, the fifth of the six zones would have produced a president for the country and, by 2023, all six key political offices would have gone round the six geopolitical zones on rotational basis.

Of equal importance is that the unique provision eliminates the incumbency factor and its attendant abuses. Since the draft envisaged its replication at state levels, the president and other principal officers as well as state governors and stand disqualified from standing election for the same office during their five-year single term incumbency!

More than two decades after ‘throwing away the baby with the bath water’, Nigerians are still playing the ostrich instead of sobering up and still living in denial.  overgrowing the prejudices of the Abacha era. As a matter of fact, the Abacha document was so comprehensive to have anticipated the untenable and wrong-headed agitations across the country and the hollow talk of marginalization that comes with it. Now, can and, should Nigerians continue to play the ostrich and allow lawlessness to dominate the political scene? Are we to allow a rambunctious few to continue to stampede us and dominate national discourse in the face of quick-fix solutions?

Of course, the talk of dissolving Nigeria is hot air that lacks substance. Yes, there is need to restructure and this should not be mistaken for a breakup as some have been programmed to believe. We need to restructure in a way every section of the country will, at all times, be appropriately represented in governance. The ‘Abacha document’ took care of these and more. The document suggested a five-year single-term for elective posts. To restructure in a way that lawmaking will be inexpensive and effective, the draft made provision for part-time lawmaking!

Of course, Nigeria should restructure in a way that treasury looters will not get dubious clean bills from regular courts or be shielded from prosecution. It may interest Nigerians and their elected representatives that there is no proclamation for the much-abused immunity clause for any public office holder in the Abacha draft for the president and vice president as well as governors and their deputies. The pestiferous eighth Assembly that canvassed for a dubious immunity for its principal officers was not expected to look at the document; it didn’t!

Nigerians should give the thumbs-up to the leadership of the current Senate for taking the bull by the horn. To achieve desired results, Nigerians must begin to look beyond General Abacha and ditch the prejudices that characterized his days. The task ahead may seem insuperable but it is not invincible. 

The task will be made easier if we tinker with report of Confab ’95. 

THE GHOST OF JUNE 12: A REFERENTIAL TO "7 FATAL DELUSIONS AMONG SOUTHERNERS"

CC™ ViewPoint 

By Yahaya Balogun

"A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep." - Saul Bellow

The way we democratize deliberate ignorance in the southern district of a failing Nigeria (i.e., the Southern part of what I call f-Nigeria) is beyond pale. The current agitation for the Oduduwa Republic is mused in the wrong footings. The agitators for the emancipation of the Oduduwa republic are Oduduwa patriots. But the method being used by them to liberate the intellectually resourceful geolocated region within a troubled Nigeria is wrong.

Some of the southern stakeholders are fully packaged in fool's paradise. They are languishing in a faded country that can be a bright light compass for other African countries. But Nigeria is now a dark compass for a beleaguered Africa and a seeming pariah continent. A sad commentary and development in our moments of history. Southern Nigeria has always been a contextual entity within Nigerian geopolitics.

Realistically, if you are a clear-sighted Southerner and you want to face facts and not be in the cocoons of delusional people, please, go and read the exposé titled: SEVEN FATAL DELUSIONS AMONG SOUTHERNERS authored by Mr. Moses Oludele Idowu. The article, dated June 5, 2021, is a brilliant exposition for thoughtful minds in Yorubaland and beyond. The writer couldn't have exposed our delusional state of being better in his masterpiece. I had similar intent to pen down the delusional unseriousness of some Southerners, but Mr. Moses Oludele Idowu did justice to the structure and substance of the article. The Southerners are now caught in the cobwebs of a failing state called Nigeria. 

Sadly, we are fighting a 'crude' and a "just war" to save ourselves from ourselves and the barbaric and heinous exploits of the Fulani herdsmen and the Nigerian state. We are fighting for a just course with once-upon-a-time (dis)honest warriors and traitors. From time immemorial, Our progenitors ignorantly sold a formidable race to invaders and brutish British with the bad taste of history. We got our independence without a thorough negotiation of severance or disunity from the constituency of fraudulent masters. 

Different people with different mores, cultures, religions, and ways of life were jam-packed for the administrative convenience of the colonial rulers. While their reigning periods were being dismantled at independence, the imperialists left us in false unity for future perils. The chicken of our forefathers who sold our generations to perfidy has come home to roost. Our current generation is reaping the sour milk of our forefathers' quiescent thoughts and deliberate ignorance.

Today, the conglomeration of Nigeria is a bitter union or entrapped marriage. Southerners are the worst enemies of themselves. Some Southerners cannot be counted on. It seems a generational curse that needs to be broken. The Northerners are very united at perpetrating evils and destruction against their perceived enemies. They suffer from the born-to-rule syndrome. Born-to-rule syndrome is a generational curse that the north must break. The Easterners are good at being used as an administrative convenience by the Nigerian rulers. Easterners have never been fully united for a common purpose and achievable course. It is a generational curse that needs to be permanently halted. Who will be the first to break the collective curses and unending condemnations plaguing each geopolitical zone in "a mere geographical expression" called Nigeria is a daunting task.

Meanwhile, we all remember how the late sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo's political efforts were thwarted by the six- unwise men in the Southwest(i.e., the Yorubas). Late Chief MKO Abiola and Late Chief Akintola were used against Awo's ideals and ideas that would have transformed the Southern and entire Nigeria for good. Southerners were used to impede Awo's laudable agendas for Nigeria. We remember how the man in Minna used some six unwise notable men in the Southwest to annul the June 12, 1993, presidential election. The debunk of history will reveal their names at the appropriate time. June 12 is the most peaceful and freest presidential election in the history of a contrived and troubled Nigeria. June 12, the late MKO Abiola's victory was invalidated using southerners to hatch the eggs of southern conspiracy.

Aiyekooto, but truth be told, some of us who supported Buhari's political (in)competency suffered from political amnesia, thinking Buhari will assuage the southerners to bring the much-needed change. We were deadly wrong. Buhari's orientation is tailored towards Western self-containment and preservation. With all evidentiary facts, it's obvious that Buhari loves Hausa-Fulanis first before Buhari loves other tribes in Nigeria.

What Mr. Moses Oludele Idowu, the author of the referential article, espoused are our delusional expectations that the Western world will come to African aid when African Africans roast or eat Africans. The Southerners' delusional fixation can also be juxtaposed with the delusional expectation that Buhari will leverage Southerners' interests for the sake of Southerners. Like Western countries against Africa, Buhari's tribalized persona and ethnicized administration will never leverage anything at the expense of the Hausa-Fulani's interests and oligarchy. Buhari is an unconcerned, stealthy, and unapologetic bigot. We hyped Buhari's integrity at the expense of our patriotism and blurry political eyes. Buhari's silence, ineffectual, and tired hands at handling and tackling the insecurity in Nigeria is one of the worst things to have happened to Nigeria. It is high time he woke up from his slumbering demeanor.

Nigeria is jinxed. Buhari, the perceived providential child, has morphed into a circumstantial child racing backward to align with the immediate past. The situation in Nigeria is imminently precarious pre and post-Buhari. After Buhari, what next? The delusional coexistence and utopian Nigeria now and after Buhari is obviously null and mirage. If I have siblings or family members living in Nigeria's Northern and Eastern parts, I will unequivocally ask them to begin sauntering back to base. Nigeria is an illusion, and our delusional unity is a question of time. Nigeria is at the point of inflection to deflect into the chasm of time. Unfortunately, our state of disequilibrium in Nigeria is a slippery slope to the unknown.

With no equivocation, all the 7 bullet points highlighted by the brilliant author, Mr. Moses Oludele Idowu, cannot be overlooked or overemphasized. This is the auspicious period we must begin to unite in the Oduduwa enclaves to liberate ourselves from a forced marriage of convenience. Nigeria as we know it is delicately sitting on k-legged tripod stands that may not stand the test of time. Mr. Moses Oludele Idowu's well-researched article, expectedly, may not be widely read by the Aiyékòóto?´ and apathetic Southerners who may not see themselves as the most delusional, confused and well-learned region in our false geopolitical conundrum called Nigeria. Until we appease the ghost of June 12 through the true national conversation, Southwestern Nigeria will continue to pour needless libations at the void entrance of a house of lamentations.