By Prof Steve Ibenta
In 1903, a famous French Mathematician, Jules Henri Poincare discovered that there are circumstances in which tiny inaccuracies in initial conditions can be multiplied, so as to lead to huge differences in the final outcome. Admittedly, in the more than 60 years since Nigeria gained independence, progress has been made in some particular directions, but many of the fundamental issues persist and new ones even threaten the very structure of our national existence.
First, we have to admit that immense forces are pushing the country in the wrong direction, the most important being our disregard of true knowledge of Mathematical or Economic principles and the perpetuation of social injustice (inequality of opportunity). Secondly, old traditional concepts – ethnicity, religious bigotry, opportunism, psychophancy etc too often tend to guide our course, and hence, the gulf continues to grow between rhetoric and reality.
Worst of all is the scale and intensity of corruption and financial profligacy of public officials and the complicity of the elites – the judiciary, heads of public institutions and university professors. These are times of potential disorder and confusion, of total disregard for law and order and of unbridled reign of impunity.
In 1989, former Military Head of State, President Ibrahim Babangida in his celebrated address to the prestigious Oxford and Cambridge Club, castigated the Nigerian elite, whose attitude and role: their vision of society, their definition of self interest, their cynicism, their disruptive competition and their extreme greed and selfishness….he said have determined the country’s History.
This unmitigated indictment of the Nigerian intellectual was acclaimed by the press across the country as an excellent diagnosis of why we have fared so badly as a nation. Perhaps, the general crises in many Nigerian Universities, the institution that habours the largest concentration of intellectuals only serves to amplify Babangida’s thesis, and has also tended to reinforce the white supremacist theory about the intellectual inferiority of the black man – the inability to organize himself and manage his abundant resources.
The current crisis at Nnamdi Azikiwe University is not just an isolated case in a country drowning in absurdities. The country took a further plunge into the abyss during and the aftermaths of the 2023 General Elections with the enthronement of impunity and illegality by INEC and the judiciary and we, the intellectuals failed to rise to the occasion – to resist the illegalities and the injustices foisted on the Nigerian People by the political oligarchy and their cronies.
The Vice- Chancellors have also turned the university campuses into their own conquered territories and in the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, the process of selection of a new Vice-Chancellor became highly politicized, fractionalised and brutal, with the Governing Council, the Federal Ministry of Education and the Presidency dictating and controlling the pace of the game. At the end of the day, Nnamdi Azikiwe University will be the looser. If we are able to pull through this crisis, it will mean that we have only won a battle but not the war.
This is because we have permitted many of the underlying problems to fester unattended, probably because the social and economic crises have been contained, and we have endured the debilitating state of the economy – a nation of growing population and declining production… where poverty, insecurity and uncertainty appear to become the key economic variables.
Our moral values, as well as principles under-girding human conduct as well as the mores and cherished symbols of a truly cohesive society are now looked upon with indifference. The result can be seen everywhere – with a fast crumbling fabric of society.
The negative multiplier effects of all these on the economy are there for all to see and the University campus, the once revered Ivory Tower and ‘Centre of Excellence’ is not spared of this moral bankruptcy. There is no guarantee that the situation will not one day explode beyond our control.
According to specialists, all societal problems revolve around the government of the day. It is the duty of government to create the physical environment conducive for individual action. Diverting attention from this important role of social transformation which only the government is best suited to perform by virtue of its position, capacity and resources is tantamount to abdication of responsibility.
In all civilized nations of the world, leaders at all levels see themselves first and foremost as servants of the people and transmitters of their national values and as symbols of the spirit and aspirations of their nations; not as individuals above the law.
They are ideal dominated. Their vision, dedication and patriotism, and their thorough understanding of their vocations serve as inspiration to the succeeding generations.
But what can one say about the Nigerian politician or leader? What is his level of personal commitment? His love for money and personal aggrandisement? It is therefore natural to assume that the widespread indiscipline and crime in the Nigerian Society would be interpreted as a form of indirect resistance to the large scale mismanagement of the country’s enormous financial and economic resources by the country’s leadership.                       .
However, if Nigerians desire a new social order, they should start with self-discipline and give good account of themselves in their various capacities- the civil servant, the teacher, the banker, the taxi driver, the businessman, or the market women etc. Dedicated and responsible Nigerians need not fold their arms and wait for a miracle from heaven.
What is needed is a form of organized and sustained level of resistance from all workers, all trade unions, all market associations, all students, all journalists, all churches, etc because government anywhere (especially in Africa where the culture of responsibility has not been engooved) actually will not do very much unless they are pushed and the main pushing has to come from the people themselves. ASUU as an intellectual union is best suited to coordinate this movement.
We do not subscribe to the argument that the black man is inherently and genetically intellectually inferior to his white counterpart. But Nigeria, with about 25% of the population of the black race must reflect seriously on these issues and begin to evaluate its contribution to civilization as an appropriate response to the supremacist ideology.
For example, why do Nigerian leaders, including elected representatives of the people behave as if their constituencies are their kingdoms by conquest? Why is the contest for public office in Nigeria such a cataclysmic event? How do you explain the astonishing excesses of our leaders in pursuit of material wealth, with all matters of principle thrown into the winds? Is the black man simply incapable of becoming part of the civilized human race by sharing with the rest of the humanity certain basic consideration of moral decency, consideration of the welfare of others and equity in the distribution of national income?
We are right that slavery and colonialism plundered Africa, dehumanized the black race and truncated our cultural and economic advancement. But why have we allowed and continue to tolerate the looting and plunder of our national resources by indigenous dictators? In any case, Africa is by no means the first or the only people that have suffered such historic domination.
The Jews fell, rose, fell and rose again under Egypt, Rome and in Hitler’s Germany. West Europeans suffered in the hands of Brabarians and the Romans. They rose from the ashes to dominate the world. The United States was once a colony of Britain. The industrial and cultural achievements of Japan were up in flames, smoke and ashes during the World War.
Today, the Americans are on their knees begging for a fair, not free trade from Japan. India, Brazil, Cuba, the Koreas, Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia all suffered violent colonization and plunder in the hands of Europe and Japan. Today they are all working hard to take their rightful places in the world’s economic map.
We also agree that dictatorship, tyranny and corruption are by no means limited to Africa. But whereas all other people are up on their feet demanding genuine democratization and strict accountability by their leaders, it is an irony that the only resources for liberation from the oppression, exploitation and injustice unleashed on us by our leaders is to appeal to the humanity of the same colonial masters we chased away not so long ago, who now look by far more accountable, responsible and caring.
There are abundant facts of History to prove that the black race is like all other races and has also a proud and glorious past, but the present generation must defend themselves against the charges of inferiority, occasioned by the shameful and embarrassing widespread poverty, ignorance and disease,despite the abundance of natural resources.
To redeem her image in the international community, we must eschew corruption, injustice and mischief. Nigeria is desperately in need of creative and sincere leadership at all levels of society, national, state, local government, institutional, business, professions, labour leaders, kings and traditional rulers, etc. to inspire and direct the millions of honest and hardworking Nigerians scattered all over the world.
Our hope is that out of the rubble of the moment, a new nation and a new generation of Nigerians shall emerge where justice, civility and humanity will coexist and permit the rapid modernization of our society for our collective pride as a nation and as human beings.
Abuja, 22/11/24.