(Brief Reflection on the Brainstorming Session on Restructuring Nigeria)
By Samuel Zalanga

The situation in Nigeria across the board in all regions

The situation in Nigeria across the board in all regions is that if you are socially disadvantaged and you have no personal connection with someone in power, you will suffer because of personal rule and patrimonialism in governance.” Image: The Guardian.ng

Some weeks ago, I was invited to participate in a brainstorming session on “restructuring Nigeria” by the Nigerian Army Resource Center in Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria. The military in Nigeria today is far more sophisticated with many intellectually engaging people than the case in previous decades of Nigeria’s history. I was one out of three persons invited. One of the invited speakers is old enough to be my teacher because he is now retired. He is one of the best Nigerian experts on federalism. The other invited speaker is equally a high ranking Nigerian scholar from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria’s premier university.
The topic assigned to me for presentation was: “Identification and Analysis of Factors that Contributed to Nigeria’s Current Political and Socioeconomic Structure and the Way Forward.”
It was interesting to speak on this topic given that my doctoral dissertation compared the role of ruling elites in development policy formulation and implementation in Malaysia and Nigeria. In conducting the research, I got myself exposed to a lot of factors that contributed to Nigeria’s current political and socioeconomic problems that have led to the existing quagmire.

“The reason why the campaigners are afraid to make the restructuring campaign a social justice issue is because in every part of Nigeria, in every ethnic group, in every religious group, in every state and local government, the rich and powerful take advantage of the socially disadvantaged and the powerless. I have lived in the Southeastern part of Nigeria now for close to a year and the story is all the same or similar to what I heard and saw in Yobe State … in the Northeastern Region of the country.”

There is a lot that can be said on this topic. Interestingly there was a Nigerian senator in attendance who said that he is a supporter of restructuring. Given my skepticism about the restructuring of Nigeria as it is presented, he did not like my presentation and so when some of the proceedings of the brainstorming session were presented on the senator’s television channel, he edited what I said out. He only included what he was comfortable with. It is an example of the typical hypocrisy of the postcolonial African elite who would criticize bias in western media but behave the same way or even worse in Africa because they have power to control the media. Their critique of western domination is not based on any moral principles or commitment. It is just based on convenience. I am not surprise at all though, and indeed, when I teach, I tell my students on the first day of class that even though they have paid tuition to be in school and in the class, I want to alert them to the fact that I cannot guarantee them that what they will learn in the course will make them happy. I started doing that because I learned through personal experience that not everything I learned made me happy and often it is not because what I learned was false but because it was an inconvenient truth in relation to my preexisting understanding of myself and the world.

Nigeria wants to develop without addressing the social justice question

“Nigeria wants to develop without addressing the social justice question, the country is just deceiving herself….the masses who assume that this justice will be achieved through miracle… are mistaken. There is no country in human history that justice for the people was achieved by just relying on miracle. Discussion about justice is difficult but by the same token a society cannot jettison that without suffering the social consequences.”

The Nigerian senator’s behavior is a very good example of how power and privilege is used in society even among Blacks in Africa where some scholars would spend a lot of time projecting all blame of the continent’s problems today to persons or institutions outside Africa. There are reasons why the senator and others may be unhappy with some of my analysis about restructuring. Let me briefly highlight a few issues that I addressed, which were inconvenient truths.
My position is that in principle I am not against restructuring. It is part of life that we have to constantly adapt ourselves to new situations and conditions in order to be successful. When we refuse to change or adapt, gradually we will become irrelevant to doing anything on the key challenges of the historical moment. However, when one examines what those campaigning for restructuring are saying in Nigeria, I find their arguments very superficial and simplistic.

“Focusing on justice will be like the elites exposing themselves to the masses and raising the consciousness of the masses to the point where the masses will realize that those who claim to be their liberators are actually their oppressors.”

Here are some of my arguments that might have made the senator unhappy. First, there is no any reference or focus on the struggle for social justice in the campaign for restructuring. Presumably if power is devolved to states and local governments and the now control their local resources, then everything would presumably work well. But the justice question operates irrespective of the unit of analysis i.e., federal, state, local government or county, the family and the individual person. The reason why the campaigners are afraid to make the restructuring campaign a social justice issue is because in every part of Nigeria, in every ethnic group, in every religious group, in every state and local government, the rich and powerful take advantage of the socially disadvantaged and the powerless. I have lived in the Southeastern part of Nigeria now for close to a year and the story is all the same or similar to what I heard and saw in Yobe State of Nigeria, in the Northeastern Region of the country.
In brief, the situation in Nigeria across the board in all regions is that if you are socially disadvantaged and you have no personal connection with someone in power, you will suffer because of personal rule and patrimonialism in governance.
For many ordinary citizens the government is irrelevant to their lives to the extent that they receive nothing as citizens from the state. Many youths and students told me the preceding problem is a major hindrance and obstacle to the struggles of the socially disadvantaged and powerless to improve their lives. In this respect, the worse thing is that women suffer more than men in Nigeria but there is nothing in the restructuring campaign to articulate this. So in my assessment, the restructuring campaign is about elites trying to acquire more power, relevance and wealth but framing the issue as fundamentally a struggle for a just and egalitarian society and to uplift the social and material conditions of the socially marginalized. It is an elite struggle for elite pact but one has to be careful enough to see through the use of the masses to legitimize the struggle for elite power.
I will support restructuring in any part of the world, not just Nigeria if the restructuring will bring true justice to those Fanon called “The Wretched of the Earth,” and those at the bottom of the social pyramid in society. The courage of the average Nigerian elite can be characterized using the words of Saint Augustine as infused by “Libido Dominandi” i.e., how he described the courage of the Romans. The Romans had courage, but their courage was the lust to conquer or dominate. It was not to serve in humility. It was either their way or nothing. The Romans saw their position of power as an entitlement over others. Again, as Saint Augustine once said, without justice we are all a gang of robbers because the powerful can use their power to dehumanize others and this is true across or racial-ethnic groups, religious groups, states, and counties of the world.

“Without restructuring the Nigerian psyche, even when the new federalism provides control over local resources, the ruling elites that have become slaves to their physical desires will continue to corruptly enrich themselves at the expense of the masses in their regions.”

On a critical note, however, focusing on justice will be like the elites exposing themselves to the masses and raising the consciousness of the masses to the point where the masses will realize that those who claim to be their liberators are actually their oppressors. I want to warn Nigerians who want to talk cheaply about the struggle for a better Nigerian society that if they just focus on restructuring in a hypocritical way as many do, even if every family in Nigeria will be given its own state or local government / county to control its own affairs and resources, if there is no justice, there will still be revolt, dissatisfaction and even rebellion in that family. Some will call for the restructuring of that family state or local government. If Nigeria wants to develop without addressing the social justice question, the country is just deceiving herself. Furthermore, the masses who assume that this justice will be achieved through miracle, I am sorry to say are mistaken. There is no country in human history that justice for the people was achieved by just relying on miracle. Discussion about justice is difficult but by the same token a society cannot jettison that without suffering the social consequences.
Second, using Plato’s analysis of the tripartite conception of the human psyche, where there exists appetitive desires, the soul, reason or the mind, we can shed light on the simplicity and naiveté of the simple political restructuring campaign. Plato was of the view that there is need for balance among the three parts. Appetitive desires are physical needs. If the human psyche is dominated by concerns for appetitive desires, it will show in the activities that preoccupy the person. Such persons will just be concerned primarily with satisfying their physical desires, whatever they are. If the pursuit of appetitive desires overwhelms reason where rationality is the focus, and the soul where human passion and emotion is seated, then such a society will end up in a state of confusion. In my assessment, the majority of Nigerian elites in terms of their behavior seem to fit well with people who have subordinated their soul, mind and reason to the pursuit of their physical desires and conspicuous consumption. So what Nigeria needs (among other things) is first and foremost a major restructuring of the Nigerian psyche so that physical desires will not overwhelm the soul, reason and rationality. But the average Nigerian will not like to hear that. Without restructuring the Nigerian psyche, even when the new federalism provides control over local resources, the ruling elites that have become slaves to their physical desires will continue to corruptly enrich themselves at the expense of the masses in their regions.

“There is no any reference or focus on the struggle for social justice in the campaign for restructuring. Presumably if power is devolved to states and local governments and the now control their local resources, then everything would presumably work well. But the justice question operates irrespective of the unit of analysis i.e., federal, state, local government or county, the family and the individual person.”

Third, many people calling for political restructuring in Nigeria cite examples from the 1950s and 1960s in Nigeria when the country had regional governments with a federal government that was not strong or weak. Things they said worked well then and we should return to that form of government. What the proponents of this idea ignored is that while geographically the country remained the same over the years, but something that has not remained the same is the level of greed in the mindset of the average Nigerian in all religious tradition, in all ethnic groups, in all regions of the country and in all organizations. The institutions of the regional government might have worked well in the past partly because (among other reasons), people were restrained in pursuing their nefarious and selfish interests. The social institutions and value system then were stronger in terms of their efficacy in socializing and restraining people to do the right thing. But no one who knows Nigeria today will sincerely say that the amount of greed that exists in the country now will allow for restructured institutions to automatically work well without addressing this serious social pathology.
Fourth, the end of postcolonial rule in Africa is a good example of political restructuring. But the postcolonial African elites after independence soon proved that they were more concerned about chasing white colonial rulers than uplifting the lives of the masses through inclusive development. This is an example of how restructuring took place but without seriously addressing the justice question. Indeed, the masses were demobilized in the postcolonial period and colonial oppressors vacated their seat of power and were replaced by many indigenous oppressors.

Zalanga

The Brainstorming Session on Restructuring Nigeria was oganized by the Nigerian Army Resource Center. Samuel Zalanga, Prof of Sociology, lectures at Bethel University, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. 


 
 

“The majority of Nigerian elites in terms of their behavior seem to fit well with people who have subordinated their soul, mind and reason to the pursuit of their physical desires and conspicuous consumption. So what Nigeria needs (among other things) is first and foremost a major restructuring of the Nigerian psyche so that physical desires will not overwhelm the soul, reason and rationality.”

Samuel Zalanga
Samuel Zalanga is a Professor of Sociology at Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota, United States where he currently teaches Sociology of Development among other fields. Before moving to the United States in 1993 to pursue graduate studies, he lived and taught in Bauchi State, Northeastern Nigeria. He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Sociology at Bayero University, Kano, and University of Jos, respectively in Northern Nigeria.

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