Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: Nigeria : Is There a Country?

Thanks for that contribution to the frank appraisal that must be made of this situation, Moses.

True, its agst the law to carry weapons, Okechukwu,  but when one's  enemies are allowed by the state to carry weapons and use them to eliminate one's  communities and seize one's  land.

Will one continue to abide by such selective laws?

If your enemies can purchase sophisticated weapons, you should be able to do so too.

The issue might be one of coming together to raise the necessary money and contacting the relevant arms merchants.

In today's highly technologised and connected world, I dont expect that should be too difficult.

If there is to be a just resolution to this problem, I doubt if it can emerge without the power of deterrence- the understanding that I am adequately equipped to  inflict equal or greater damage  on those who invade my territory. 

thanks

toyin 

On 3 March 2016 at 10:06, Oluwatoyin Adepoju <oluwasrividya@gmail.com> wrote:

Samuel Zalanga,

Thanks.

You are writing as if state recreation has not been ongoing in history.

India as it existed after independence no longer exists.

What we have is an entity out of which Pakistan moved to form its own country and from Pakistan, Bangladesh moved out to form its own nation.

The mighty behemoth that was the Soviet Union has split into various states.

The map of today's Europe  was constituted through the emergence and reconstitution of various states, with the present structure of Europe achieving consolidation in about the 19th century, if my rough estimate is correct.

The Treaty of Westphalia, the Hapsburgs, the Hohenstaufen Dynasty, the Holy Roman Empire, the Thirty Years War, all these are names from the top of my head that evoke key points spanning centuries, in the shaping of a Europe that has disappeared, to the formation of today's Europe.

Nigeria is likewise undergoing transformation.

The question is the direction this transformation should take.

That is why I advocate national  reconstitution, having all ethnicities choose whether or not to remain within the current nation, and the determination of the terms for  staying or remaining.

I hold that the present character of Nigeria represents  a waste of time in nation building bcs the intersection of the various interests at play within the nation cancel the possibility of fundamental  national development.

I am not the first person to say this.

Odumegwu Ojukwu, leader of secessionist  Biafra, made a similar point in the Ahiara Declaration in the midst of the war to establish Biafra, perhaps suggesting why he did not surrender in the midst of the superior forces  Biafra was facing in its fight with Nigeria.

I have written various essays criticizing Ojukwu for what I saw then as wasting the lives of his people, but on observing Nigerian politics through the lens of 2011 to the present in relation to the scope of its history, and having worked for more than a decade in Nigeria, I now conclude that the system is crafted in a way that militates agst its own positive potential.

Various people, including the curent agitators for Biafra, have made similar points.

Others advocating for a reconstitution of relationships between the states and the center of government, represent a modified version of  a similar perspective, at the other end of which is the idea of choosing to stay in or leave Nigeria.

So, I'm not operating from a transcendentalist    vision that is not sensitive  to the struggles of my fellow Nigerians.

By the way, the Italian writer Dante's vision  in Paradise from his Divine Comedy is reached only through trawling through the extremes of human depravity in Hell, going through its potential  for creative transformation  in Purgatory and reaching humanity's consummation in Paradise.

Dante was a die hard politician who wrote the poem after being forced into exile  after a coup in his native Florence,  and his poem is shaped as a political and spiritual narrative  deeply grounded in wrestling with the challenges of political realities  in what we now know as Europe, sensitive  to the minutiae  of  human experience and ultimately integrating these concerns  within  a cosmic framework.

Now, lets take your points one by one.

1. The US and the Rest of the World

Even though the US dominates various indices in global development, various states are able to position themselves so as to maximize their potential in the global space.

What should Nigeria do to achieve this maximization, is the question.

I argue that the present structure of the nation cripples the potential of Nigerians.

Various people address the question of how to eliminate negative imbalances in access to resources across the globe.

The Nigerian challenge is a part of that struggle.

2. Nigeria in Relation to the Rest of the World 

Creative change takes place at various scales.

Efforts to effect such change work best when they are targeted to the specificities of the situation in question.

That holds for the Nigerian situation.

The Nigerian challenge may be expanded to address Nigeria's integration into the social, cultural, economic and political realities and possibilities of the world.

One may also begin from a global scale and narrow down to Nigeria, but whatever approach one uses, one has to address the specificities of the social and geographical  context of particular communities/nations, such as Nigeria.

3. Institutions and Disciplines as Incubators of Justice and Injustice

Various institutions and academic disciplines have promoted ideas and practices that are dehumanizing.

The same institutions and disciplines have also promoted ideas and practices that ennoble humanity.

The question is- how do we move from dehumnisation to ennobling humanity?

Can this be done through changing the attitudes and structure of the institution or eliminating the institution or discipline entirely?

The conventional approach is that of institutional and disciplinary change.

I make a similar point in arguing that the Nigerian state, as it currently  exists, needs to be restructured, if it is to go beyond a space for sharing resources without fundamental development for most Nigerians.

That restructuring involves a decision by its constituent ethnicities  as to whether or not to remain in Nigeria and the terms attendant on either choice.

The geographical space of the current political entity represented by Nigeria would not change, but the political character of what are now its constituent units would change, leading, hopefully, to  fundamental economic change.

4. Technological Duality and Dante's Eaxmple

True, history and nations are made by people, as people make and use technology, with its creative and destructive uses.

Technological innovation has developed in terms of constant recreation, invention and refinement, in which limitations and dangers are steadily reduced or eliminated and inadequate technologies replaced.

Along similar lines, Nigerians need to look into fundamental restructuring of the nation in order to eliminate the structural contradictions which mean the nation is not likely to become a developed nation,  but remain one in which most of its revenue is used in running the govt as stated by immediate past central bank governor, Lamido Sanusi, and sustaining past office holders through fantatic pensions, while Nigerians languish without constant electricity or drinking  water and suffer recurrent fuel scarcity and their educational institutions are nowhere to be seen in the global index.

The Italian writer Dante Alighieri's cosmological vision in his Divine Comedy is one in which the poet explores the details of humanity's struggles for meaning in the context of eternity.

As an active politician and political and cultural thinker, Dante's poem  explores the question of human possibility through the lens of his native Florence and its place in the larger political configurations of his time, addressing the specifics  of these political struggles within a cosmic framework.

Nigerians curretly experience, in part of their lives, a species of hell, as demonstrated, for example, by the massacres in Nigeria's North Central while the govt is complicit through inaction or ignoring the facts of the situation.

How may we move from the life  of grossly inadequate services and sustained pogroms through the purgatorial  process of transformation and emerge in the paradisal zone where our potential is  maximized,  adapting the central motifs of Dante's poem?

I suggest restructuring.

Nigerians need to  re-examine the state of the union and decide what next, not continue to manage or  to tinker with an entity that is not likely to work.

5. Religious/Political Revolution and Social Change :The Protestant  Reformation and the Jihad of Uthman Dan Fodio

The Protestant Reformation was fundamental  to destroying the religious and political dominance of the Catholic Church  and laying the foundations for some of the  creative qualities of the modern West.

In fundamentally changing Europe, it demonstrated the value of removing destructive values and structures to make way for new, positive developments.

Does Nigeria not also need a fundamental reshaping of its constituent values and structure?

Is that possible by simply forming new political parties?

I dont think so.

Fundamental systemic reshaping is required.

 Martin Luther laid the foundations for such a reshaping in Western Christendom through his emphasis on faith rather than obedience to ecclesiastical  authority  as the center of Christian faith, leading to upheavals in practically every aspect of European life in response to the momentous challenge to the authority of the church, before then perhaps the central unifying force in Europe.

To what degree was Uthman Dan Fodio a religious and social reformer or a political opportunist?

This question  remains live in Dan Fodio scholarship, reinforced by his role in the colonizing enterprise  represented by the  Fulani jihad, a colonizing initiative recalled by the current  campaign of pogroms and land theft being carried out by the Fulani in North Central Nigeria and the murders, rapes and pillage they carry out almost throughout Nigeria.

6. Nazi Germany and German History 

Nazi Germany, Germany dominated by the Nazi party,  no longer exists.

It was destroyed in the Second World War.

The geographical and legal entity known as Germany remains, but purged of the ideological and structural formations that constituted Nazi Germany.

The purgation  is so thorough that it is agst the law in Germany to identify in any form with the Nazi party even by wearing its symbols in any context, to the best of my knowledge. 

Those who were described as choosing to appease Hitler at the beginning of the ascendancy of the Nazi party, such as Britain's Prime Minister Neville Chamberlsin, were later shown to be wrong.

Europe was able to allow Hitler commence his demonisation of Jews in the 1930s and Hitler might have been left free to fully actualize his plan of a Third Reich that would last a thousand years and of Jewish extermination if he had remained  within his conquests  in Eastern Europe.

His problems began with conquest of France, from which the British had to evacuate, his problems escalating with air invasion of Britain, continuing with the monumental mistake of his allies, the Japanese, attacking Pearl Harbour and bringing the US into the war agst his Axis alliance, and his disastrous invasion of Russia, all these initiatives leading to the international alliance that destroyed Nazi Germany.

Even then, he could still have won the war if his scientists  could have moved fast enough in their work on the atomic bomb and the V2 rocket.

Realizing the danger represented by Nazi Germany, the allies destroyed it, neutralizing its military command, destroying its political structures and ideology, and crippling its industrial capacities, with German citizenry suffering horribly in the saturation bombing by the anti-German allies and the desperate  fighting to seize Germany.

The Allies  also helped to rebuild a new Germany, free of Nazism.

Should Nigerians continue to appease the current political and economic structure that is not likely to ever deliver a developed Nigeria?

Does  the  chaos  at various levels of intensity in various parts of the national system not suggest the need to restructure that system?

I think  Nigeria as it exists now needs to be fundamentally  restructured if the people of that country  are to move beyond the current underdevelopment that shapes the nation.

7. The Battle of the Alamo and the Value of Sacrifice 

The Battle of the Alamo is legendary in US history bcs of the self sacrifice of the Texans in their fight with the Mexican forces. 

You put it well that the Texans "knew they were going to die but they thought their death would have greater meaning because they saw themselves as part of something larger than themselves."

The related question here is that of creating social systems within which people will be inspired to see themselves as part of something larger than themselves.

The presence of such a virtue seems rare in Nigeria.

It is represented by such individuals as Dora Akunyili, Fela and Beko Ransome  Kuti and Gani Fawehimi, all of whom have paid a high price for their devotion to Nigeria.

In terms of opposition to Nigeria, it is demonstrated by the peaceful pro-Biafra campaigners slaughtered by the Nigerian army.

To what degree do Nigerians see themselves as part of a greater whole worth their self sacrifice?

To what degree can such devotion be inspired by the curent structure of the nation and the refection  of this in the reality  of life of Nigerians?

thanks

toyin

 

 

 

 

On 3 March 2016 at 01:39, Samuel Zalanga <szalanga@gmail.com> wrote:

Please slow down. Do not rush. Maybe we should not start by saying such things first about Nigeria. You, the author and me and everyone should not even take your existence for granted and not question it. Start by asking yourself honestly whether there is a raison d' etre for your existence, and if so, is it because you are perfect and infallible?. Who is going to answer that question and from whose perspective? Some reason why I find your analysis very selective are as follows, but before that, we all agree that Nigeria and many African countries have problems. Where we differ is what do we do or where do we go from there?: 

a) I do not know whether you live in the U.S. or somewhere in Europe or Africa. But did you ever sat down to think what kind of world is it, that 5% of the world's population or thereabout, consumes 20 or more percent of world energy resources i.e., the U.S.A. does. Do you think if this kind of life style expands globally it is worthwhile. Can the world really exist that way? Some might say that there is no reason for such a nation and lifestyle to exist in the world. But many of us are in it.

b) The human species as a whole has created many catastrophes. In the name of either the love of one's country, religion, ethnic group or nation, a lot of irreparable harm has been done to millions of people. Just check the history of colonial domination in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Don't you honestly sometimes feel disappointed with a human being as a specie including yourself or myself? If you are familiar with the Christian tradition, did not God regret creating the human specie at one point according the Hebrew Bible? Why just Nigeria. My point is not to deny that there are problems in Nigeria, but I find the mere focus on Nigeria too provincial, since your real motivation seems to be a desire for justice or fairness, which you appropriately feel disappointed with where Nigeria is..

c) Did you not sometimes feel the need to regret that some of the terrible ideas that were used to institutionalize oppression in history were developed in universities and some university professors have contributed in developing ideas that legitimize the dehumanization of others. Going by this, universities should not exists. Indeed, the terrible ideology of apartheid were incubated and nurtured at: Stellenbosch University in Cape Town South Africa. The theology department there played an important role in this respect. But now many African students rush to study there.

d) Modern technology has been used to oppress many human beings. Should we not raise the same questions about it like you did on Nigeria. For every good thing that modern technology has done, I can point at something terrible. I know then someone will quickly say, well the problem is not with the technology but with the way it is used. Well, in the same way, history and nations are made by people. Those human beings who place themselves in Dante's highest heaven and look at ordinary mortals in Nigeria, and essentialize the Nigerians or Africans will if they are willing to reflect deeply realize that they just arrived at this conclusion by arrogating to themselves a transcendental insight that is available to them but not the other ordinary mortals. How did that happen? Is there some social or historical process behind that?  If however they identify themselves as part of the ordinary mortals, then their analysis will not lead them to alienate themselves.

e) The Protestant Reformation in Europe and Its Violence. Wow! There is much that manifested in the form of dehumanization and hatred during the reformation. Maybe Europe should have disappeared from the world long ago based on this logic of analysis. In any case, there were so many wars that were fought in Europe. Now that they formed the EU, war will be difficult. Oh, then maybe when humans are determined, they can change the course of history. Whatever happened in Sokoto caliphate cannot be isolated from the broader discussion in human history of religious or faith-based movement such as the reformation. As for the case of something not going right with the caliphate, if you read some of the poems of Usman Danfodio, you will see how he himself was disappointed by some failures of the reform. There is a poem he wrote where he lamented this "Wallahi Wallahi."  Remember he also said that, "A Nation can survive Unbelief but it cannot survive Injustice. " Sure, Moses Ochonu's book "Colonialism by Proxy" documented a lot of atrocities. What is amazing is how some of the minority people in Nigeria within themselves treat each other like trash. We should learned from the past. I am not from any of the dominant ethnic groups in Nigeria, but I will never tell someone that simply because of that as a human being I cannot hurt or harm someone. Everyone of us, depending on circumstances, human interests, values and ethical commitment, can be dangerous to another human being given the opportunity. That is why we have institutions to constrain human excesses.

f) Nazi Germany: Does Germany then deserve to exist given what it went through promoting hatred of what they called "inferior races? It is fair to say that at one point, it looked like Germany was a threat not just to world order but the human race.  Yet, Germany today is a well-functioning nation. I saw Angela Merkel the other day on Euronews channel making a passionate case for refugees. But based on your line of reasoning, when Germany was at her lowest point, people should have prayed for it to disappear. But then, the Germany that exists today will not be there. In the 19th century, there were civil wars in Yoruba land of Nigeria, which I believe brought suffering to the lives of many ordinary people. But today, that region is a well-functioning region in Nigeria. 

At what point does one human being decides the non-existence of an entity? Maybe we are not automatically the solution but we are also part of the problem. It is not nice to speak down to ordinary mortals on earth when you are in heaven.

We must be careful not to essentialize people.

I think the real problem is whether Nigerians, Africans and human beings are willing to sacrifice in order to create a better and inclusive world. When sacrifice has meaning, people will be willing to do that, because it enables them to be part of something larger than themselves.

Part of me did not like the fight at the Alamo in Texas. But there is a speech given by the defenders of Alamo before the battle started with Mexican forces, which I find interesting. They knew they were going to die but they thought their death would have greater meaning because they saw themselves as part of something larger than themselves.

Samuel

On Tue, Mar 1, 2016 at 2:39 PM, Oluwatoyin Adepoju <oluwasrividya@gmail.com> wrote:

I increasingly think this object Nigerians call a country is a waste of time.

It is akin to pouring water into a leaking basket.

We could build all the fine houses we like, engage in as much politiking as we like, we don't have a nation.

What we have is a jungle.

A no-mans-land where wild animals roam and among whom some humans insist they want to dwell.

The problem is not the strange 2016 budget in which millions were allocated to pay rent on the official residency of the national ruler.

The problem is not the allocation of millions for books for the office of the Vice-President, or the massive amounts allocated for food in the ruler's residence, along with other silly allocations in mind staggering amounts.

The problem is not the current chasing of political opponents in the name of fighting corruption while ignoring members of the national ruler's team who have spent millions in building a personal website or in hosting a birthday, among other inanities.

The problem is not with the years long consistent  murders, rapes and pogroms by Fulani herdsmen/militia, reaching a climax in the ongoing Agatu massacre in which which whole communities  have been rendered full of corpses and razed to the ground as the Fulani  move in with their cows to occupy the land while the government presided over by a Fulani man surrounded by his cronies  maintains silence or pretends what is happening is a quarrel between neighbours.

All these are expressions of the fact that the social space and geographical entity where all this is taking place is not fit for human habitation, no matter how much people pretend about it.

It is simply  a space where brigands are in control and those who have an understanding  with  these brigands can do anything they like.

Form new political  parties, debate endlessly about one issue or another, ultimately anything different from close collective examination of the social space called Nigeria, allowing those who want to leave the forced union to do so  and those who wish to remain to do so,  while establishing the terms for either choice,  is a waste of time.

Anything else can only benefit those who are happy with life in the jungle.

thanks

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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