Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: OPTIMISM IN OUR DEMOCRATIC FUTURE

A nice up-lifting article on hope.

I am optimistic too, thought I must say that I still have some reservations, and this is why.

It is very tempting to compare Nigeria with America and Britain in terms of the number of years they have been 'independent'/in existence, in terms where they are and where Nigeria is, at this point.

However, there is this question that sticks out like a sore thumb. How about countries like India, South Korea, Israel and Singapore? 

These are contemporaries with Nigeria and other African countries.

Additionally, there is this common saying that 'you are not going to rediscover the wheel', rather people want to build their own peculiar contraceptions  on the wheel. 

I think that South Korea, Israel, India and Singapore didn't have to rediscover the wheel, so it will not take them 1000 or 200 years as the case with Britain and USA respectively, to build their own contraptions.

Of the numerous things that you rightly pointed out well is that in the case of America the organizing principle which the majority bought into helped a lot, and that American historians will rightly say that despite the constitution and the organizing principle, there was no guarantee that what we know today as USA was going to be. And that actually there were many occasions that the act of one man or a couple of dedicated men saved the day for the USA. And that it would have been difficult to withstand a sustained internal assault on the structure. Thought there is still ideological divide, basic issues are settled and can only be amended within the law after vigorous debate.

Is there something intrinsically wrong with the system of government that we have adopted/adapted in Africa especially Nigeria?

The Nigerian society today is more tumultuous and unsafe than the same society before the 1960s.

This is despite increase in the level of education, technological sophistication world over, and that we are governing ourselves and that we were supposed to take care of ourselves better than the colonial masters. 

Once upon a time, governance was really grass-root and each component unit worked with a local system that they knew best and that is agreeable to them(part of an organizing principle even in USA and Britain).

That may have been patchy, being slightly different for each groups, but it worked and it did relatively accommodate the different component in a one-country.

It seems that each group in Nigeria vehemently wants to maintain its unique identity. That should be respected, encouraged and actually incorporated into most local levels of government except at the highest levels at the center. 

It seems that that is what Nigerians want. I believe that there is nothing wrong with it, and we may actually find strength in it.

That is what we have and what we have to work with.

So at its base, each group is strengthened the way it knows best prior to adjusting to central issues that require heavy lifting by the central government-like inter-country issues.

Central governments especially in African countries should really be nuanced, listening more, and not encumbered with micromanaging its diverse component units. 

As a digression, when people talk of United Africa, I always feel that if each entity that sees itself as unique is not recognized, allowed to dictate its own component BASIC rules and regulations according to their cultural governance, there will be no point trying.

Again, like you pointed out, politics is one of the only few avenues of getting rich in Nigeria and it seems that the government's 'vision is tunneled' mainly to share/distribute/redistribute cash.

It seems that one gets a lot if you are in charge of the sharing, hence the increasing violence in Nigeria/African politics.

Sort of drifting and hoping to slowly mature like older democracies will expose the country/continent to internal and external foes. These are different time periods.

Ogedi Ohajekwe 

On Nov 14, 2018, at 3:25 AM, Anthony Akinola <anthony.a.akinola@gmail.com> wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Anthony Akinola <anthony.a.akinola@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 12, 2018 at 5:55 PM
Subject: OPTIMISM IN OUR DEMOCRATIC FUTURE
To: Anthony Akinola <anthony.a.akinola@gmail.com>

HOPE IN OUR DEMOCRATIC FUTURE  By Anthony Akinola   The people of the relatively stable democratic nations of the world would find it rather difficult to understand why democracy should be causing so much pain in our nation.Even when they had a horrible history of their own,not a few will find it difficult to rationalise the essence of incessant communal strife, corruption, election rigging,unprincipled change of political loyalties, thuggery and assassinations, among numerous societal ills. Those of them with a very good knowledge of history will however appreciate that what they now take for granted in their enviably peaceful nations hardly comes on a platter of gold.   The United States of America, a preeminent democratic nation, gained its independence from Britain in 1776.  However, the Americans had to fight a system which made them pay tax without being represented in parliament.  "No taxation without representation" was the memorable slogan of their war and their declaration which must guide democracy anywhere in the world is the assertion that "all men and women are created equal".  The determination to give effect to that important declaration would later lead constitutional pioneers to prohibit the American citizen from bearing a title of nobility.  The now problematic gun culture – the right of the American citizen to have a gun- was also intended to achieve that end. However, America is still democratising because the assertion of equality of all men and women excluded blacks for a great part of the nation's history.  The history of acceptance of blacks as equal to whites,as a matter of law, is only about fifty years old, coming into effect with the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960's, while real acceptance of equality is still evolving.  However, things are looking good because things have changed considerably and opposition to the revisionist tendencies of Donald Trump and his likes cuts across racial divides. Neither can Great Britain,another historic democratic nation, claim to have perfected its democracy.  The nature and extent of privileges enjoyed by the Monarchy is an on-going debate.  The history of democracy in Britain has been a history of the ordinary citizen challenging the Crown and the so-called royal prerogative.  It is also a history of organised challenge to the assumptions of the aristocracy.  The British Monarchy is now a mere constitutional one – courtesy of the revolt led by Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century – while many other European countries including France, Germany and Russia, got rid of theirs in violent revolutions.  Be that as it may, democracy and its institutions crept in gradually.  The right to vote did not come to many on a platter of gold.  Requirements of property and education meant many were excluded from the democratic process.  Voting rights did not come to women until quite recently.  We may now refer to some societies as civilised not least because their citizens readily comply to rules and regulations but such civility did not come about easily.  In Britain, for instance, there was once a time when a relatively minor offence attracted severe punishment.  Convicts were ex-communicated and distant Australia became more or less Britain's prison for such convicts. The universal definition of democracy is that provided by the great Abraham Lincoln as "the government of the people, for the people,  and by the people".  However, democracy is not just an approach to political governance but a culture which touches on every facet of human life. Democracy does not end with elections, it is about how we relate to family, friends, and others. The major problem of democracy in some societies is that it is a new value system in competition with already established structure which are at best contradictory.  The authoritarian feudal structures of some societies derive their authenticity from tradition and religion.  Until the contradictions of state and society have been resolved, our democracy will be a mere imitation of what obtains somewhere else. In Nigeria, for instance, the traditional system co-exists with the modern democratic system.  There is nothing like the King or Queen of Nigeria but traditional rulers exist as heads of cities, towns and villages.  The British approached political governance in Nigeria through a system of indirect rule, making use of the Chiefs.  The politician seeking political power wants to be in the good books of the traditional ruler and some might want to parade a title of some sort in order to ingratiate their relationship with tradition.  Traditional rulers are among the most affluent in Nigerian society; those in big cities receive multiple salaries from local government councils in their areas of jurisdiction.The traditional institution might have, at a time, been assumed to be the exclusive preserve of truly-traditional individuals-not any more,many retired professionals now scramble for traditional titles in the various communities. The electoral democracy into which we were introduced has been characterised by failure.  The rigging culture has become our electoral culture. The typical African leader does not believe in leaving office voluntarily or in being defeated in the process of re-election.  If the Constitution stipulates two terms, the typical African leader interprets it to mean a minimum of two terms in office.Most African constitutions change with the change of leadership. The United States of America has been governed by one constitution since 1787, while Britain is not even guided by a written one; the typical African leader believes the Constitution could be changed at every conceivable opportunity, to suit their whims and caprices. Is there a future for democracy in Africa?  One likes to be optimistic and therefore say there is.  One's optimism derives from the belief that education can play a big part in the future of democracy in our continent.  Most of the current crop of African leaders (or rulers) belong to the first generation of educated men and women in their respective families, while the percentage of the truly-educated ones in society is generally low.  True democracy belongs to the future when a more assertive, refined and rational citizenry dominates the political space.  With successive generations of educated men and women the outlook on life will be a lot different from what it currently is.  A country like Britain can boast of more than a thousand years of education; the University of Oxford is more than 900 years old while Nigeria's oldest university, the University of Ibadan is only 70 this year.  The point one is trying to make here is that ours is still a very young nation compared to many others. Future economic outlook will also bolster democracy.  A leadership that believes in the future of society must engage in industrialisation and diversification of the economy, creating job opportunities for an ever- growing population. The current generation knows no other route to wealth and fame other than politics but that would change when economic opportunities widen.Those who dabble in politics should be imbued with a spirit of public service, rather than that of stomach infrastructure or self-aggrandisement.   When corrupt politicians retire to nowhere other than prison, those who seek wealth by any means will know it cannot be at the expense of the public. The Press and Judiciary in Nigeria are quite capable of doing a better job and the people themselves must feel democratic for democracy to be the culture they so much crave.

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