Crisis, revolution, and the nation of our dreams

No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected – Julius Caesar (100-44BC)

An interesting sidelight to this topic was elicited by a conversation with a group of young people during the Sallah holiday in Lagos. They were humane and well-informed. The discussion which lasted for about an hour focused primarily on the strategic interplays, conflicts and considerable uncertainties of the past weeks.

Among other things, it did explicitly expose the underlying ‘civil but cold’ relationship between Nigerians and their leaders at all levels. As well as trumped-up hidden tensions to where they can be seen and possibly be dealt with.

Synoptically, away from their expression of frustration over their  inability to secure jobs years after graduation, they were particularly not happy that young Nigerians with genuine certificates are roaming the streets  without jobs in a country where, according to reports,  over 721 people are working in six government agencies with forged certificates.

The number  they noted, may appear ordinary compared to the teeming graduates seeking employmen. But the stunning thing about the occurrence is that it exposed the government’s incapacity and lack of a mechanism to function as social and economic watchdogs, uncover the roots of national malady which goes deep into the venality and incompetence of leadership in the country.

Undoubtedly, this all-time-high  unemployment coupled with other sociopolitical challenges which the nation grapples with the fallen standard of education, infrastructure deficit, epileptic power supply, among others, have  naturally characterised us as a nation in crisis.

As a consequence, this propels social, economic and political development that presently frightens the public; embarrasses the federal government; put the credibility and decency of Nigerians under serious scrutiny at the global stage; brings about loss of lives and property, as well as promotes criminality.

Except in a peripheral way, this crisis cannot exist without ingrain usefulness. Particularly as it serves a note of warning to our nation to plan and change the operational systems via constitutional restructuring of provisions which are not producing the desired result,

Returning to my conversation, the most crucial impart is in its signpost of relevance and role the attachment theory as propounded by John Bowlby can play in resolving our present impasse.

Essentially, Bowlby, a British psychologist in 1958, pointed out that ‘if a primary caregiver responds inappropriately and/or inconsistently, the infant learns to assume that he or she is powerless to affect the larger world and that his or her signals have no intrinsic significance where the universe is concerned. A child, he added, who receives really erratic and inconsistent responses from a primary caregiver, even if those responses are occasionally warm and sensitive, develops anxious resistance/indifferent attachment.

The above describes the disposition of Nigerians towards the leaders they once considered as caregivers. Nigerians and youths, in particular, have over time been treated with contempt, ignored and visited with a series of erratic attention from their nation and they are beginning to feel angry.

In the Guardian newspaper of October I, 1998, a group of bright and well informed Nigerians among other similar efforts in the past to move the country forward, presented a road map to the great society of the future.

The road map centred on transparency and accountability, poverty alleviation and sustainable development, globalisation and restructuring of the oil sector as well as human capital development.

Two decades after that proposal, the challenges listed are still alive and active on our shores as successive administrations neither deemed it necessary to look into nor considered adoption and implementation of such a road map or subsequent ones. 

What about the 2014 confab report? Nigerians with critical interest have called for the adoption of the report as a template to solving our national problems as the holistic implementation of that report is germane to the survival of the Nigeria which is right now in its most fragile state since the end of the civil war. But such calls have severally been rebuffed – a development that is doing this country more harm than good.

When citizens express their opinion over an extended period of time without evoking a meaningful response, they feel angry. And if the flow of communication provides little opportunity for citizens to express themselves meaningfully, they feel frustrated.

These again provide a link as to why the call for revolution and wave of secessionist sentiments are sweeping across the country with  many demanding that the marriage of 1914 be ended as the basis for its continued existence has severely been weakened. However, the very vociferous agitation for Biafra’s restoration by Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, led by Nnamdi Kanu has been the loudest of the separatist movements.   

While those of us who believe in the unity of Nigeria may not agree with the call to dismember Nigeria, truth is that the gamut of youth restiveness, whether in the South-east, South-south, North or South-west, and resurgent demand for the dissolution of Nigeria stems from mindless exclusion, injustice and economic deprivation.

 As an illustration, successive governments in the country were reputed for having no programmes to sustain Nigerians. Unemployment has frustrated the youth, and this has energised them for crime. Their fathers and grandfathers embezzled millions of naira meant for development projects. They used the money to acquire arms for illicit political projects. They have armed the youth to unleash terror on their perceived enemies. And now the youth are not willing to drop the guns so easily.

Working under this stalemated condition, the question is; how is the nation going to reverse this situation? And fundamentally address the suspicion on each side (government and the people)?

Achieving meaningful progress that will change this narrative may be difficult. But it is not only our patriotic duty, it is our moral duty at the most fundamental level to fight for both mind restructuring and political reconfiguration of the country. This is a revolution that we must all support.

Rather than lose ground, Nigerians should note that a nation succeeds or fails by the way they challenge the unknown and cope with fears. It requires a prolonged effort to change the backward nature of the nation.

Besides showing our people the right direction and nurture their potential for innovation, creativity, self-confidence, determination and leadership, the government must take the initiative and address education, health, power and infrastructure. These sectors must be given priority.

As an incentive, Mr President needs to find those nations that have resolved the problems we currently face, and find out how they tackled them.

Utomi writes from Lagos via [email protected]

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