FEATURE ARTICLE

Chamberlain S. Peterside, Ph.DTuesday, March 8, 2005
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New York, NY, USA

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NATION BUILDING
...NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, NOR A CAKE WALK


...Grim Reality.

ince stepping into the current millennium, Africa, more particularly Nigeria - the so-called giant, has been undergoing a rapid transformation in the political and economic front. As the world prospered in the last two decades, Africa faltered. Recent United Nations and World Bank statistics reflecting the state of global economy have been quite grim and unkind to Africa. Most countries in the continent including Nigeria are far from meeting the UN millennium development goal (MDG) of halving poverty by 2015.


So much so that, even, Prime Minister Tony Blair set up an African Commission to seek solutions to Africa's lingering backwardness. But speaking at a recent Commonwealth Business Conference in Abuja, Baroness Lynda Chalker, Advisory Director of Unilever PLC, asserted "more has happened in the last 18 months in Nigeria than anytime during its previous history". Perennial critics would beg to differ.

The ongoing national political conference in Nigeria is a culmination of the formative process of nation building and result of long-running debate on the efficacy of the entity itself. The last 44 years of political independence has been a tortured one for the citizens of Nigeria - poverty level has grown markedly as life expectancy plummeted and quality of life remains at pre-independence level for most of the population. Not even the enormous natural wealth or the incessant interruption of civilian government by the military on the guise of improving the country has helped to restore trust and hope for the citizenry in their motherland, no surprise why some would rather have their own autonomy, or separate country.

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...No Banana Republics.
Upon critical analysis however, it is glaring that only few parts of Nigeria (if any) could thrive independently as peaceful and viable countries without the attendant sporadic intra-ethnic conflicts. Look around Africa today and ask yourself why new so-called "Banana Republics" that could emerge from Nigeria would be any different from Somalia, Sudan or Congo, which will make the current problems in Nigeria seem like a picnic.

Essentially, most ethnic groups today in Nigeria are better off together than separately. There is widespread believe around political and economic circles internationally, that except for South Africa, if any black country would ever develop, the country with the best chance is Nigeria. The greatest threat to peace and progress in Nigeria today is not necessarily the ethnic origin of a President, but economic mismanagement and political immaturity. The current polemics should focus more on substantive issues of economic progress and what political structure that could best serve that purpose.

The conference in of itself will not mark the end of political bickering or forever rest ethnic squabbling in Nigeria. Even the oldest democracies have their fair share of disagreements. But it serves as a good platform for galvanizing all and sundry to question how better to ensure peaceful coexistence. Healthy debates must be constructive and accepted with an open mind. Governor Ahmed Markafi of Kaduna State recently spoke his mind about the ineptness of the Senate and was declared persona non grata, -- contrary to the ethos of free speech. Already during the early sessions of the conference a top military brass - Major General Adebayo apologized for the unnecessary coups visited on Nigeria by the military. Which tells you that even the juntas now realize that their governance is not good for civilized human societies. Those are the results that should emanate from open debates in a pluralist society.

...Slow But Steady Process.
Unfortunately, not everyone realizes that building a progressive nation on sturdy grounds, that could withstand the test of time, is akin to growing up or nurturing a healthy and well-rounded adult, despite the fact that we unwittingly indulge in this process everyday. It is an onerous task that entails riding through many peaks and troughs, withstanding some surprises, making selfless sacrifices and putting in a lot of sweat and blood, in the end nothing is guaranteed. We often hear that Rome was not built in a day, more often than not, that expression is taken with a grain of salt. By and large, politicians who are intolerant and cannot withstand these trials and tribulations will hardly lead their people for long and would become extinct as Nigeria thrives.

Through destiny and due to historical factors, several geographical components of today's Nigeria were constituted into a country by the amalgamation of 1914. The entity has survived for 44 years and no one can prove that it wouldn't survive another 100 or more years.

Ensuring prosperous coexistence indeed will be a painstakingly process. Except for the early nationalists and some recent visionaries in Africa, subsequent generation of politicians and "Putschists" in the continent have remained ignorant of what the national ideological underpinning of our society should be, unlike the founding fathers of a modern democracy such as United States, nation state as Singapore, or a divergent society like India.

...Constructive Polemics.
Would it be asking for too much, to advocate that politicians in Nigeria should learn to be more steadfast in the pursuit of a national identity? Politicians in Nigerian have often been blind-sided by complacency, selfish aspirations and "Kabiyesi Mentality" (to borrow a phrase from my friend Pat Utomi), at the expense of long-term sustainable development of their society.

A virile and truly federalist nation where everyone cohabits and goes about their business freely would only be achieved if the socio-political and economic pillars were put in place. More than four decades after independence, those pillars are hardly in place. Several opportunities to create democratic institutions that could engender socio-political harmony, first in the 1960s and later in the 1980s was truncated due to a lack of genuine long-range vision.

If the current political process is allowed to play itself out, it could mark a new attempt to sow the seeds of future political stability and economic prosperity. The fact that Nigeria simply possesses enormous human and material wealth as we always hear, wouldn't necessarily translate into successful nation-building, those resources are merely necessary attributes that must be harnessed and better-utilized as a launch pad in achieving what ever milestones the conference delegates map out.

Chamberlain is the Founder & President of New Era Capital Corp. and MyCompleteFinance.com, a New York based financial services group. He was previously a Financial Advisor in the Global Private Client Group, of Merrill Lynch.