FEATURE ARTICLE



Nelson Olabanji Fashina, Ph.D
Friday, November 2, 2001


CONTEMPORARY DISCOURSE
The Center and the Margins:
Theorizing Nigeria's Complex 'Borders'



heory provides a body of verified hypothesis, which enables us to understand the principles of a particular brand of knowledge. Through the uses of theory, we are able to relate in abstract terms the energies of truth and facts based on logical reasoning, induction, deduction and other fragmentations of epistemological significance. Thus, our use of the term border in today's discourse transcends the limits of common geographical borders.

Every organ or value in society exists in determinate position to others. And between the thin line of functional divide or interdependency are varieties of exclusive or inclusive borders. It is even probable if cultural, linguistic, social, economic and political borders are not more realistic and intricately problematic in any society than geographical borders. For instance, the pressure of social conflicts than even mere geographical borders constantly plagues every heterogeneous society. The immediate precipitate of the border war between Nigeria and Cameroon is the inclusive and intersectional nature of their shared oil rich Bakassi Peninsula. The cause of economic conflicts between two individuals, corporate bodies or nations is the scarcity of 'borderline' resources.

Therefore, in any border competition for 'scarce' economic resources or political opportunities, each competitor strives to dominate the 'center' and push the other to the 'margins'. This preliminary assumption informs our technical theoretical application of the terms center and margins in today's contemporary discourse.

Ever since Nigeria's hard earned independence in 1960, a group of well-coordinated elite has often occupied the center of political leadership and invariably economic dominance thus pushing other groups to the margins of deprivation and exploitation. Those in the margins in Nigeria are not even the large ethnic groups like the Yoruba and Igbo. Rather the small but oil rich ethnic 'minorities', the powerful but marginalized groups from the north who are neither Hausas nor Fulanis, the south western 'minorities' who are neither Yorubas nor Edo/Itsekiris, and the highly industrious south-south 'minorities' who are neither Igbos nor Efik/Ibibios. Where, for example, the Yoruba dominated and Yoruba speaking Ilorin is classified as a northern city for the political ambition of their political heavyweights who anchor their hope to acquire power on the imperatives of northern support. Where Ijaw/Arogbo, an adventurous and oil rich people are mechanically excised from either Delta State or refused their requested Coastal state but instead are merged with Ondo State where they, arguably, do not culturally and linguistically belong. All these are integral parts of the politics of the center and the margins in our border theory.

Whenever I think about the complexity of Nigeria's social, political, economic, cultural, religious and geographical borders my mind flicks back to my elementary biology where we studied the elusive and ever transient shape of amoeba. Amoeba was said to be shapeless to the extent that no powerful microscope could possibly detect its real shape for its pseudo organs. Nigeria with an estimated population of 120 million, 250 ethnic groups and over 4000 dialects scattered within 577,355 sq miles is a peculiar nation in diversity where the plurality of 'borders' can be measured in terms of the hundreds of ethnic groups and thousands of dialects.

Within such a complex myriad of heterogeneity there is bound to occur the sociological imperatives of cultural intermingling, intercultural assimilation, acculturation, enculturation and other forms of cultural transmissions, which are integral parts of the processes and dynamics of social interaction. In any pluricultural society, the possibility of cultural clashes and conflicts are inevitable aspects of human and societal historical process. Hence within the continuum of strident social struggles will emerge both latent and manifest combative competitions whereby a subset of allied cultures propel ambitious threats to other subsets. And where this occurs, educational, economic and external political and religious interventions and charisma of leadership played with diplomacy often combine to dictate which cultures become dominant [center] and which ones become recessive [margin].

This complex matrix of assorted cultures go with linguistic heterogeneity which invariably ameliorates and further ignites the tinder elements of divide, segregation, hate and intolerance along linguistic lines. While some clusters of mutually intelligible linguistic groups gather to form conscious group identity mapping them out as one linguistic nationality that can sink the differences and induce the spirit of cohesion, there is always in Nigeria the diplomatic and logistic divisive element often mid-wived by the formidable leadership from the northern oligarchy. That supper-intelligent strategy of creating ambiguous plastic 'borders' through State and local government creation. Thus, in Nigeria, states and local governments are often created to ensure the thrust of divisive knife into the cherished linguistic and cultural kinship that fuse the people, especially the southerners, into one united, coherent and cohesive whole.

Another instrument of social and political slaughtering of the otherwise recessive and marginalized Nigerian groups is the use of religion as weapon of segregation. Yes, a weapon because most of the avowed religious addicts who double up as power rapacious politicians are insincere with their profession of faith in a doctrine and religious testament they often violate with relish.

While it is technically unjustifiable to assume that all religions preach peace and harmonious co-existence, it is probably more dangerous to assume that most of the so-called religious assemblies are worshipping the divine God of peace, tranquility and equality. Perhaps, it is sufficient to understand that the religious man in modern society erects himself as the object of worship behind the smokescreen of an omnipotent supreme deity. One litmus test for this assumption is that money, position, power and lust for the opposite sex become the driving force in most orthodox religious centers. While some of the leaders grow fat and wear flatulent cheeks, the common worshippers are sermonized into acceptance and integration into their poverty-ridden status quo, thus wearing the gullies and pot holes abject penury on their cheeks with the hope of illusory wealth in the hereafter.

This invariably justifies the thesis of Karl Marx that "religion is an opium of the masses, an instrument of the bourgeoisie to keep the masses in perpetual subjugation". Any form of ethics, religion and morality that fails to unveil the truism of modern economic and social rationalism anchored on hard work and keen competition for the limited goods and social services of an almost magically technological and aggressively capitalist world is, indeed, an "opium" of social and economic death, a mischievous religious vaccine meant to cast a lulling spell on the innocent, unsuspecting and ignorant citizens of the world.

For Karl Marx and even Hegel before him, every society is moving in the balance of antithetical progression of forces. The same sociological imperative is taking it's toll on Nigeria where a class of religious, political and military elites criminally expropriate the means of economic production and hire the proletariats for cheap labor in the slave market of northern domination. Of course, this is not without exception to the rule among southern surrogates of the northern oligarchy that enjoys vicarious powers at the corridors of opportunism. Well, Wole Soyinka has summed it up his prefatory remarks in A PLAY OF GIANTS by saying that "power calls to power, but vicarious power responds obsequiously to the real thing".

But, history, I accept with the incarcerated Oputa panel, is the best judge. Where today are the stooges of yester military dictators? Where are the tough talking and stern looking Generals of yester-years of military rule? Where are the sponsors of tailored video clips of masterminded coups! Where are the 2i/c's and security officer's of yester-years of fiery decrees? Where are the doting contract grubbing traditional rulers of Abacha years who went to Aso Rock decrowned, cap in hand, to pay blood guilty homage to the "stubborn grasshopper"? Let me ask Rudolf Okonkwo if history is behind these traitors of truth or they are behind history dangling for help behind the tailboard of history?

The Marxian theory of dialectics opines that the history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles - the upper class against the lower class. The constant combative struggle for economic survival by the poor in Nigeria in the face of unparalleled corruption and embezzlement of public funds by cankerworm politicians and pepper-soup military dictators is the very grave of the ambiguous landscape hastily mismatched by European imperialists as Nigeria - that is 'Niger area', a nomenclature which neither reflects nor impacts a feeling of belonging by those whose ethnic nationalities are hundreds of miles apart from the Niger river.

No wonder the ethnic nationalities from Niger State are bold to declare that they are "Born to Rule" Nigeria even in the face of apparently limited economic viabilities, gross illiteracy and relatively primitive disposition. Yes, "born to rule" in a vast and versatile country where, ironically, truth is cruelly suppressed and the blind leads the way in a dark tunnel of open-eyed elites. Yes, born to RUIN the inherited estate and the economic infrastructure of Nigeria. Born to RUIN the enslaving bonds of delicate unity of culturally disparate people who were mechanically and treacherously welded together by the smithing anvil of Europe. "No, No, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water, and righteousness like a mighty ocean"[Martin Luther King Jr, Washington DC, 1963].