NIGERIA: THE METAPHOR FOR GREATNESS VERSUS BAD SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
Nigeria is a great country: This phrase is becoming a cliché in many social circles, especially among the young people, many of who are within the ages of 15 and 45 years old. Apart from this, this phrase is beginning to seem like a statement of ridicule. Albeit, the potentials of Nigeria cannot be gainsaid; the great human capital, the abundant mineral resources, the active and energetic young population, the multicultural advantage, the beautiful climate, the fertile farmlands, the expansive landmass etc., all alluding to the fact that Nigeria, truly and genuinely, does have potentials to become one of the greatest countries in the world. But then, one may wonder, what could be the missing link? The new generation of young Nigerians grapple with the confusion between ‘potential’ and a ‘realized potential’, hence the unified provocation of interests in questioning various social and economic issues, as well as their sudden awakening and interests in political debates regardless of their social backgrounds, educational level and business interests vis-à-vis the most recent national #ENDSARS protest. The greatness of Nigeria has been a metaphor within the Nigerian social space for far too long; the adult population are either oblivious of this fact or have, over a long period, become complaisant while the young population are dissatisfied with the status quo.
Again, Nigeria, with a population of 182 million has great potentials. More than half of this population is said to be 30 years and below according to Bloomberg. However, the problem of Nigeria may be traceable to her independence when she became a sovereign state. To give perspective to what has been happening in Nigeria in the past 60 years, it is essential to take into cognizance the state of affairs in the country at the beginning of the nineteen century; Nigeria and her counterparts in sub-Saharan Africa relative to other parts of the world were predominantly underdeveloped and, apart from the coaster areas, the inner communities were never penetrated by the outside economic influences. But with time, European explorers and traders were drawn into the interiors of the country; hence Britain took a more aggressive advantage and established her influence that eventually led to colonization, which in Nigeria and many other parts of Africa lasted for over 50 years.
It is significant to note that the European influence in Africa generally was short-lived compared to their influence in America and other parts of the world. For example, America was under the British colony for more than one hundred and fifty years. In other words, America experienced
British rule far more than most parts in Africa (Nigeria inclusive). Therefore, the years under which Nigeria was colonized by the British, as short as they were, according to some school of thought, were what laid the foundation for modern Nigeria and the development in the country had continued along these established lines by the British. Hence, it may be argued that intellectual comprehension of basic tenets and principles that govern the operations of a modern state were still being inculcated and were yet to be grasped and deciphered by a significant proportion of the new Nigerian leaders when Nigeria became independent. Perhaps, today America is better for her long years spent under the British rule:
The pace and quality of development of the Nigerian state till date, has been mediocre and in some cases, could be said to be very primitive. The quality of leadership is as poor, and this is quite fundamental to the current socio-political and economic issues the country has faced since independence. All these are a reflection of the historical antecedent events which can be traced to the stillbirth of the Nigerian foundation at independence. Therefore, the older generation, before now, had gambled with the “destiny” of the developing nation all in search of probable solutions to her incessant developmental problems. The baton had been passed from one government to the other (including the military governments which had been in place for most of the early years):
For instance, Nigeria had suffered severely in the hands of the military dictators, many of whose regimes were said to be entrenched in full-scale corruption. In October 1979, after more than 13 years of military rule, Nigeria returned to democratic rule; the National Party of Nigeria emerged victorious in the presidential election, and Alhaji Shehu Shagari became the first democratically elected president of Nigeria. Unfortunately, this was not a lasting experience as the military overthrew democratic government; Major General Muhammadu Buhari became the military dictator. This administration preached a lot against corruption and indiscipline in the Nigerian society, and it was during this military regime that the popular acronym- WAI (i.e. War against Indiscipline) emerged. It was meant to be the end of all unethical activities and indiscipline in the Nigerian society, but unfortunately, this was short-lived as General Muhammadu Buhari’s government was overthrown in 1985 by the then Army Chief of Staff, Major General Ibrahim Babangida, who became the military President and the Chairman of the Armed Forces Ruling Council. Corruption under the new military regime was laden with impunity. Nigeria again had a ray of hope in 1993 when a democratic government emerged after so many years of struggle:
Today, despite the many promises of the different democratic governments that have come and gone, the seat of Nigeria in the comity of great and developed nations remains vacant as the country barely survives economically. For example, as of the first quarter of 2020, Nigeria’s total debt was USD79.5 billion (i.e. N28.63 trillion)! In recent time, Nigeria has been referenced as the world poverty capital for at least a generation with an estimate of over 86.9 million people living in extreme poverty, according to world bank data. Multifaceted problems are confronting Nigeria as a nation. Insecurity, for example, has become a recurrent issue in Nigeria, and particularly in the northern region of the country; the north shares a larger percentage of the burden of insecurity in Nigeria. Insurgency, terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, banditry etc are all part of the factors responsible for the economic depression and general systemic failure the country has experienced for some time. Moreover, decades of neglect in the provision of public infrastructure in Nigeria by the successive government has also put the nation’s development and economic prospects in dire jeopardy. The infrastructural development deficit is directly or indirectly responsible for gross unemployment among the population of young people, high cost of living, poor turn-out of foreign investors, high mortality rate, poverty, insecurity etc.
Therefore, given the above, it is as though the problem confronting Nigeria is as enormous as her potentials for greatness. Perhaps this is from where Nigeria derived her common phrase, ‘Nigeria is a great country’. But whatever the case may be, the new generation of Nigerian youths seems determined to change the age-long negative narratives by actualizing this metaphor through the recent #ENDSARS protest which attracts national as well as global attention. SARS (Special AntiRobbery Squad) is an intelligence department of the Nigeria Police Force that is responsible for handling armed robbery incidents within the Nigerian society. Alas, most of the officers attached to this unit have gone rogue! They have deviated from the primary purpose for which the unit was created. For example, they are accused to have been involved in extrajudicial killings of suspects (who are mostly young people), extortions, torture, robbery and other illegal activities alluding to gross human right violations.
The youths, through the various social media platforms, are demanding a better Nigeria by using #ENDSARS as a metaphor. In commencing the journey to make Nigeria great in the real sense of it, since the issues are multifaceted, so, therefore, let the reforms begin with the end of SARS.
‘Tunde Adeparusi — A PhD fellow and a member of the British Society of Criminology
Wrote via: tunde.adeparusi@gmail.com
