The Unworkable Experiment

The Unworkable Experiment: A psycho-analytical input on Nigeria

They have always viewed themselves as "superior" to all the other Nigerian nationalities, not because of any tangible, worthwhile or for that matter, palpable accomplishments, but solely on their conception (or misconception) and perception of themselves and others, respectively. Yes, I am talking of the north, the Hausa-Fulani in particular, the descendants, disciples and followers of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio (amir al-mu'minin or "commander of the faithful"), Shehu Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi and Muhammad Bello, who have always looked down condescendingly on others that were not of their stock. Is there a basis for their rather warped "superiority complex?" I think not and in the course of this paper, you will see why if anything at all, they should be grateful to the southern nationalities for carrying them and Nigeria thus far.

There are four factors that play a major role in shaping human development (and ostensibly shape who we are and how we interact with others). These include Biological forces (which include all genetic as well as other secondary factors), Psychological forces (which include all internal perceptual, cognitive, emotional and personality factors), Socio-cultural forces (which include interpersonal, societal, cultural and ethnic factors) and Life-cycle forces (which reflect differences in how the same event or combination of biological, psychological and socio-cultural forces affects people over the course of a life-time. It would seem rather poignant to however state with all candor and assertiveness that the aforementioned quadrant of “variables” can essentially be broken down into the nature-nurture and universal versus context-specific bipartite.

Nature-Nurture vis-à-vis Universal versus Context Specific: Nature-Nurture refers to the extent to which inborn, hereditary characteristics (nature) and experiential or environmental influences (nurture) determine who we are. The effects of any genetically linked trait depend on the environment in which the trait gets expressed and these effects vary from direct to indirect. Environmental effects also occur within a range set by genetically linked traits. The Universal versus Context-Specific side of the bipartite examines whether there is only one (nature) pathway of development or whether there are other factors (nurture) involved. This particularly becomes important in our attempt at interpreting the cultural and ethnic differences, as they exist worldwide, but more importantly (at least with respect to this article) to Nigeria. For the purposes of simplicity, I will further break down the bipartite into a compound-bipartite i.e., nature-universal versus nurture-context-specific. Please note that with regard to the nature-universal equation of the compound bipartite, the focus should and must be on the “nature”, as the “universal” pre-supposes a general human genetic pre-disposition, which is true, but is at best secondary to a racial or ethnic genetic predisposition, and constitutes for the purpose of this module (as well as situational viability) an impediment to the interconnectedness and functional relativity of the nature versus nurture dynamic. The alternative would be to have a scenario where the “universal” applies to the position that, universally, inherently peculiar characteristics (nature) in collaboration with one’s environmental experiences (nurture), which is invariably context-specific, go a long way towards determining who and what we are. This latter position would therefore serve to justify the narrowing down of our module to the nature versus nurture bipartite.

In the course of this particular article, I will attempt to incorporate the aforementioned dynamics (using the bipartite) into the Nigerian equation with a view to explaining (hopefully) the reasons for the seemingly unworkable nature of the Nigerian experiment.

Southern Nigeria, without a doubt is the economic powerhouse of the country. However, the historical political dominance of the north has for all intents and purposes translated into a discriminatory allocation of resources. The north (in particular the Hausa-Fulani hegemony) had viewed (and still continue to do so) their proximity to power as a license to essentially monopolize all organs of power and governance. But while the northern ruling class may have benefited from political power, judging from available and veritable social indicators, their people have not. According to the Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN), regarding latest figures from the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS), the core northern states have the lowest literacy levels, shortest life expectancy, and the highest under-five mortality rates in Nigeria!

According to the FOS, states such as Sokoto, Yobe, Jigawa and Kebbi have literacy levels of 9 percent to 14 percent. If non-indigenes of the state were left out, the performance would be even more abominable! By contrast, the southern states of Lagos, Delta, Abia, Rivers and Ondo manage rates between 65 and 90 percent.

A survey by the FOS in the late 1990’s also found that close to 45 percent of the population in the northwest and around 39 percent of the population in the northeast live below the poverty line. Worse still and perhaps even more amusing (though in a different sphere of discussion) is the fact that Zamfara (the bastion of religious fanaticism, as well as gender and ethnic bigotry) has the highest rate of syphilis in the country!

How does one explain the existence of such a gap between the two regions, the north and the south? It is quite simple. It all boils down to our nature versus nurture bipartite as well as historical and cultural reasons, which are component parts of the nature versus nurture bipartite. And remember once again, the focus on these two aforementioned components must be on how they interact.

Under British colonial rule, the northern Islamic emirates were largely self-governing while missionary schools were discouraged. In the south, however (the southwest in particular), people seized the opportunities presented by “Western” education. Status is still to a large degree, predicated on how many people an individual has managed to support through school. Hence, the opportunity was there, but they (the northerners) “begged to differ”. Why, one would ask would two supposedly similar sets of people see things so differently? The answer once again lies in our module. With regard to the north (the Hausa-Fulani in particular) not taking advantage or not being favorably disposed towards “Western” education (when it would in fact have been made available to them if they had so desired), that historical/cultural phenomenon is easily attributable to the fact that the north does not value education (nature), consequently, education is not of a premium and is therefore not encouraged in that society (nurture). Invariably, this educational and consequent economic imbalance between the two regions invariably gives way to a culture of dependency and expectancy (nurture) as a result of a lack of motivation (intrinsic) and desire (nature). The interaction between these two variables (nature versus nurture, with respect to the north) is a negative one as neither variable is able to influence the other positively as their (the north’s) reasoning and mental disposition (nature) resulting from their inherent lack of personal drive is in total agreement with the accepted culture (nurture) of indifference towards accepted standards of growth and development.

Some may say, well there are quite a few northerners who are extremely educated. While that may be true, they are few and far between. Besides, most of those who are “extremely” well educated and constructively productive to society had to step out of their familiar environment into another environment where there is in fact an emphasis on academic pursuits and personal ambition. Hence, this new environment of unimagined potential and broadened horizons serves to “de-program” them from their original/cultural expectations (re-nurturing), thus establishing the critical balance to their inherent and hereditary disposition (nature) that tells them “education is irrelevant, the larger society and the ruling class will take care of you even if you are a bum”. Even though this balance may have been achieved, it is still a struggle, hence the reason for the high rates of secondary and tertiary school drop-outs among the northerners of Nigeria. Worse still, is the fact that while the allocation of state revenue by the central government is also partially based on a social development index that rewards states based on the number of children in school, it also rewards those with high dropout rates. Hence, when you have a system that acts as a facilitator to a genetic (nature) and cultural (nurture) disposition, the afore-stated critical balance can at best be transitional. To quote a senior federal government official, “we are paying people to be educationally backward. We gave incentives to close the education gap, but with no time limits, and we have been giving those incentives for the past 30 years.”

The overwhelming evidence also show that even the so-called educated class in the north, are inherently “inferior” (in terms of their competency and professional acumen) to their southern counterparts. That has been the reason for Nigeria’s homegrown affirmative action program which has supported the Nigerian northern states through a system known as the “federal character” which essentially ensures a quota of university places and government jobs to indigenes in all of Nigeria’s 36 states.

While I understand how controversial my position may be, the truth however needs to be told. It really does not matter how many incentives the central government gives to the north, the culture of dependency (nurture) coupled with their aversion to accepted standards and conditions for development and progress (nature) will see to it that that region remains forever in the throes of debilitating poverty and ignorance... the burden of which the Nigerian entity (the other nationalities in particular) would rather not continue to shoulder.

It is ultimately up to our northern “brothers” and “sisters” to redefine and restructure their environment with a view to having the desired balance and subsequent positive interaction between the nature versus nurture bipartite so they can become productive citizens in a truly democratic Nigeria. Irrespective of what Obasanjo or any other northern stooge may say or think, it is not up to us and quite frankly, we have had enough. Even a fool knows what that means...

The writer is an Internet/E-Commerce & Communications Executive in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.