Re-evaluating The Nigerian Idea
By
OUR dear country Nigeria came into being in 1914 by the imperialistic mind of the British government which despite the natural boundaries designed by God and nature, the Niger, Benue and the confluence, amalgamated three geo-political regions within two protectorates (North and South) to give the acronym “Niger area”.
In view of the above, the different regions with their own peculiarities and differences in culture, religion and political tradition were forced into an entity called Nigeria without taking into consideration the wishes of the people in the different protectorates. As a result, the country was built on a fragile foundation.
Political development saw the emergence of late Herbert Macaulay (an engineer) and founder of Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) and later he became the head of National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC) which was formed by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (of blessed memory) and the party metamorphosed into National Council of Nigeria Citizens (NCNC).
The first political institution in which Nigerians participated as Nigerians was the legislative council mandated by the Clifford constitution of 1922, which provided the elected representatives from Lagos. The elective principle was introduced in this way and stimulated political activity. Through successive constitutional changes in the 1940s and 1950s, elective office was extended to local and regional governments and the first provisions for a federal structure were introduced.
Following Sir Arthur Richards constitution of 1946 which came into force on 1st January, 1947, political elections were held in 1952, for which the newly formed Action Group (AG) led by the late Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo contested.
Owing to the uncompromising stance of western politicians, The Rt. Hon. Dr. Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe (first Nigerian media mogul) was denied victory in the Western House of Assembly, and this openly entrenched ethnicity in our body polity when he had to return to the East.
Ethnicity further increased religious discord; competition and political acrimony as the North overwhelmingly opposed the motion for self government in 1956 made by Chief Anthony Enahoro in 1953. This engendered an intolerable level of mistrust as the north through the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) consolidated its intimidation while the division in the south gradually deepened until independence.
On October 1, 1960, Nigeria attained political independence without economic independence. The correlation between politics and economy is so strong that political independence is a misnomer without economic independence. By 1960, there was no industrial and technological base for the new Nigerian nation to take off. The emerging bourgeois class was weak and unproductive. This was not due to lack of creativity, and the enabling national and economic resources, but due to the fact that the British Colonial state undermined the growth of the private sector in Nigeria, which was completely at variance with the freedom of private enterprises in the metropolis.
Nigeria till date remains Africa’s leading oil producer, ranking in the top ten of oil producers in the world. Although her petroleum reserves, production and exports constitute only a small proportion of the world total, the contribution of the oil and gas to the national economy for the past 40 years is significant. Ever since government’s focus shifted from agriculture to oil in the early 70’s, the industry has been contributing some35 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 90 per cent of the national export, and about 80 per cent of federal government revenues. This, without doubt, makes it the engine that empowers the economy of the country. Nigeria,s oil is of high quality with a low sulphur content, making it ideal as aircraft fuel. Oil was first produced in Nigeria in 1956 and within twenty years, the new industry dominated the economy. Regrettably, we cannot account for the oil money because of corruption, which has eaten deep into the system.
It is crystal clear that corruption had been a nagging problem since the beginning of Nigeria’s fledgling post-independence democracy, over the years it gradually became the oxygen for an indolent, rent-collecting ruling class supported by the then junta.
Independence saw late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of NPC as Prime Minister and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of NCNC as president in a coalition government, which by 1963 had a republican status. Political crises and electoral fraud by the ruling NPC and its western ally, which was opposed by Awolowo’s AG resulted in violence and breakdown of law and order which led to operation “wetie” that is, spraying of fuel and setting ablaze political opponents and properties in the west.
In the midst of the political palaver and monumental corruption, tribalism, nepotism, favourism and political intolerance, a band of young military officers led by late Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu struck on January 15, 1966 in the first ever-military coup in Nigeria.
As a result of the above, the leadership of the country fell on late General J.T.U. Aguiyi Ironsi who by his decree tried to sustain that fragile peace until the counter-coup of July 29, 1966. This was executed largely by officers led by late Major Murtala Mohammed and Major Abba Kyari. Subsequently, leadership fell on Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon whom it was alleged turned a deaf ear and blind eye on the killings of the southerners in the north quickly split the nation into 12 states on May 27, 1967.
On May 30, 1967, Lt Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu declared a Republic of Biafra based on reasons of injustice, marginalisation and the taking over of government by a junior junta. However, all these led to the thirty-month civil war which came to an end in January 1970.
Late Gen. Murtala Mohammed increased the number of states to 19 on February 3, 1976 before his death on Friday, February 13, 1976 through an abortive coup led by Lt. Col. Buka Suka Dimka of the Army Education Corps, Captain Dauda Usman and Sergeant Clement Yilda. A new leadership quickly emerged under Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo who handed over to Alhaji Aliyu Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) on October 1, 1979.
It is on record that the Second Republic failed and only succeeded in bringing salary arrears and austerity programmes. The officers in government elevated tribalism, religious intolerance, monumental corruption and fraud among themselves.
The Buhari-Idiagbon junta that overthrew Shagari administration in December 31, 1983 tried to recover stolen public funds and assets and embarked on the War Against Indiscipline and Corruption (WAI). The regime was short because some political figures were said to have engineered a palace coup by the armed forces to give way to the leadership of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.
As part of its “transition programme” to democracy (1986-93), the Babangida regime inaugurated a “Directorate for Social Mobilisation”, also known as Mass Mobilisation for Self-Reliance, Economic Recovery and Social Justice (MAMSER). The purpose of establishing MAMSER was to shape a political culture at the mass level that would be congenial to a democratic system. Enormous resources were devoted to this effort, however many questioned is sincerity, and that of the government that sponsored it. As of late 1994, it had not been abolished, though its purpose in the Abacha regime was ever more questionable. In 1990, the Babangida administration also established a Centre for Democratic Studies (CDS) in Abuja, to conduct research on democratisation and present seminars on that topic for government officials.
The self-styled military president distorted the entire civil service structure by politicising it. Gross indiscipline, inefficiency, ineffectiveness and wide scale corruption crept into the system while the traditional and career Permanent Secretaries were converted into political appointees known as Directors General. They became self-accounting officers and their professional life span was tied to the period of the appointment. Insecurity crept in and the entire civil (public service became beholden to the political whims and arbitrariness of those who appointed them. Eventually, the appointees made up for their insecurity by putting on the part of limbo, the Civil Service Rules (CSR) now Public Service Rules (PSR) and Financial Instructions (FI) in order to enhance their personal empires. However, it is on record that the tenure of the military president witnessed sheer brigandage, the government however kept up certain pretensions towards accountability. It is abundantly clear that General Abacha’s medieval and predatory approach, his camouflages, turned the nation into a sort of zoo.
Babangida’s expected third republic was eventually aborted after several faulty take-offs. Several associations were formed and cancelled, several politicians were banned, several presidential aspirant were disqualified, several promises were discovered to be fake while the phrase “In Sha Allah” was bastardised by the maradonic combatant soldier of our times.
The bubble finally burst when the most fairest and freest presidential election of June 12, 1993, which was believed to have been won by his close friend, Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, the business mogul was unjustly annulled. MKO later became a political prisoner under Abacha’s regime.
The name ‘maradona’ came when Babangida bamboozled, dribbled and cleverly deceived Nigerians for eight good years over handing over date before he finally dribbled himself out of the field with the phrase “I am stepping aside.” As a result, the military tradition of “pull out” for retired generals was not performed for Babangida.
Having stepped aside in 1993, the ‘maradona’ General put in place an illegal government known as Interim National Government (ING) under the leadership of Chief Ernest Shonekan who is from the same state, Ogun with MKO. This provoked enough dissent that Gen. Abacha; Babangida’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) staged an easy coup three months later.
Late General Abacha maintained the myth of a return to civilian government. Without explaining how a new effort would be different from that which evolved from 1985 to 1993, he appointed a constitutional commission and an electoral board to plan the selection of delegates to a new constitutional conference. Abacha set no deadlines, although in April 1994, the government announced that a first phase of its transition programme would be completed on January 17, 1995. At that time, constitutional measures would be announced and political parties allowed to resume activities. In the meantime, there are two contending scenarios playing out: The regime-sponsored constitutional conference was inaugurated on June 27, 1994. Before two weeks earlier, on the anniversary of the annulled election, Moshood Abiola had declared himself President. A warrant for his arrest for treason was immediately issued; Abiola was arrested on June 23 and charged with three counts of treason.
As Abacha’s target date of January 17, 1995 came and went, the constitutional conference set a new date of January 1, 1996 to return to civilian rule. Some observers began questioning whether a new regime could be established as early as 1996.
Politics at the macro level in Nigeria for a decade took the form of a succession of military regimes that were constantly planning a return to democracy – with no progress towards that goal. During the period, administrative and judicial proceedings continued as if constitutional structures were in place.
General Abacha even imprisoned his own second-in-command, General Oladipo Diya, in December 1997. His regime was characterised by a concern with security that verged on paranoia. In addition to maintaining a large personal guard, Abacha employed plain-cloths policemen to flush out dissenters. Although is image was plastered everywhere. His engagement of international public relations gurus never helped his image. Abacha himself rarely appeared in public.
Abacha scheduled elections for August 1998, but months before hand all five legal parties nominated him as their “consensus and presidential candidate.” As the elections approached, Abacha used the military and police to break up pro-democracy demonstrations. In June 1998, Abacha died unexpectedly of heart attack.
The discovery of oil in large commercial quantities and the years of military rule have turned Nigeria’s huge agricultural potentials into one vast wasteland. As more able-bodied men and women drifted into the cities in search of jobs that were not available, farming the mainstay of the nation, took a back seat. Poverty now gnaws the soul of our society. Before leaving office in 1979 as a military Head of State, the current democratic president of Nigeria inaugurated a national agricultural programme in 1978 known as “Operation Feed the Nation” (OFN). He demonstrated total commitment to that programme by returning to farming after his retirement from public service. There is need for us to urgently revisit the programme.
November 2001