Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Can Nigeria learn anything from the Scottish Referendum?

As I have argued elsewhere, notably with respect to the Anglophones of Cameroon, those who, in pursuing their self-determination, decide that they want to secede and form their own independent polity or join another existing country, should actually be provided the facilities to do so if the process is, as that in Scotland, peaceful. This is especially critical in Africa where groups were involuntarily brought together through colonialism to form what are now Nations States. 

Unfortunately, the nature of governance institutions in most African countries today is that any section of a country that seeks to disentangle itself from the rest of the country would certainly not be given the opportunity to decide through a peaceful referendum, as occurred in the United Kingdom. The central government is most likely to brutally crush what would be termed a challenge to the hegemony of the State. As Scottish and British leaders have indicated, the referendum that took place in Scotland yesterday will actually strengthen the UK's already strong and robust democratic system. 

Using brutal force to get people to live together under one political and economic unit usually does not produce the type of peaceful coexistence that is needed for entrepreneurship and the creation of wealth--you need only look at what is happening in most of the African countries today: violent and destructive mobilization by groups that consider themselves marginalized and pushed to the economic and political periphery by the policies of a central government dominated by other groups. An effective nation-state is one in which its citizens voluntarily get together and form a government to protect their rights as defined by them and elaborated in the constitution. Where States already exist (e.g., those formed by colonialism and which contain religious, nationality, and ethnic groups that were brought together involuntarily through colonialism), the State can and should be reconstructed and reconstituted through democratic constitution making to provide laws and institutions that enhance peaceful coexistence, provide mechanisms for the peaceful resolution of conflicts (including, especially, inter-group conflicts), and promote entrepreneurship and wealth creation, especially among historically marginalized and deprived groups (e.g., women, children/youth, and ethnic and religious minorities). Such laws and institutions should, as is the case in the UK, provide the mechanisms for groups to exit the polity if they believe that their values and interests are not longer maximized by the status quo.The freedom to decide whether to "walk away" from the "federation" can actually strengthen the federation and significantly improve the country's overall political economy. This, unfortunately, is an insight that is either largely unknown or rarely appreciated by many political elites in the African countries. 

It is possible that some of them might begin to reconsider their ideas on secession after the Scottish exercise.

On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 7:25 AM, Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com> wrote:

In updating my blog about  the results of the Scottish Independence Referendum  I inevitably thought of the case of Nigeria and Biafra  - if those who want to secede  have the right to do so peacefully...

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JOHN MUKUM MBAKU, ESQ.
J.D. (Law), Ph.D. (Economics)
Graduate Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Attorney & Counselor at Law (Licensed in Utah)
Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of Economics & Willard L. Eccles Professor of Economics and John S. Hinckley Fellow
Department of Economics
Weber State University
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