A Frank Dialogue on the Nigerian Dream: Between Idealism and Pragmatism

(Written and Edited on 24th August 2022)

Introduction

I can still recall when I first learnt the word “Utopia.” My younger self couldn’t stop wondering, “Why isn’t Nigeria a Utopia?” I honestly believed that social and economic conditions were better in the US and nearly every other nation. This thought lingered in my little, overly idealistic mind. Later, it became too chaotic; a personal conflict – growing up in Nigeria in the late 2000s and feeling like I was missing out on something.

What was I missing? How did I persuade myself that Nigeria should be a Utopia if I was not born in one? Was it the inherent human desire for a world without flaws? That humans have this transcendent preposition to long for an Eden on Earth? Or was it the imbued preconceived idea of cause and effect, according to which we deduce that the events of our (Nigeria’s) past culminates into our present?

Humans project their desire for consistency and perfection onto the world they live in, despite being delicate, inconsistent, and fragile in themselves. This desire can be observed in the arts and literature, science and technology, philosophies and ideas, as well as our cultures’ and religions’ practices. In legends, for example, the British yearn for Camelot, the French for Cockaigne, and the Chinese for Datong. Jews look forward to the New Jerusalem, while Hindus envision Nirvana, Muslims the Mahdi, and Christians the Garden of Eden. The Industrial Revolution also exhibited utopian tendencies and today, we search for a utopia in climate and green politics (without their complexities). In technology, the Metaverse. All of these are manifestations of the human desire for eternal peace.

The word “Utopia” was first used by Sir Thomas More to describe an idealised society that is “simple and uncomplicated”. In his book Utopia, he postulated that no society could be ideal. Many historians have reinterpreted More’s book as Protestant Revolutionary rhetoric since his utopian society appeared to be at odds with his beliefs and Catholicism, leading them to conclude that More was a pragmatist. In Utopia, he employed political satires to demonstrate that, because this society is ostensibly heterogeneous, its core principles – equality and unification – are implausible and contradictory.

Imagine 100s of antipodal cultures joining together to create one “idealistic” state, with all of their cultural, social, political, and economic diversities. Without understanding the challenges in achieving this ideal state, try to find the harmonious union possible. The situation my beloved country of Nigeria is in right now is the result of such an attempted Utopia.

The Nigerian Dream

You may be wondering why I didn’t just get right into the topic and why I started with those few paragraphs. I am a person who thinks that using logic and critical thinking as modus operandi is important while engaging in any discourse, particularly one that touches on other people’s sensibilities. There have been a lot of emotive discussions about the right course of action for Nigeria – dissenting views suppressed, hence, I believe it’s time for a frank dialogue about the Nigerian dream without being emotionally assertive or overly pedantic.

The discussion has been centred on the use of “should” and “ought” for far too long. According to Umar 2022, these verbs evoke feelings and subjective opinions. “Nigeria should be a nation where everybody’s dreams come true.”; or. “Nigeria ought not to have been a country with a comatose healthcare system.” While these arguments are valid, they don’t deal with the issues at their core. Millions of Nigerians, like me, merely want a country where equality, peace, and prosperity reign. I’m not trying to discount their individual experiences or opinions. The desire for a prosperous country is in line with human nature, but being indecisive in the face of a myriad of challenges is not. I’ve been clamouring for the opportunity to express my thoughts – we all believe that starting somewhere is necessary if we are to realise the Nigerian dream – hence this essay. It won’t, however, resolve all of our issues.

Nigeria will make great advances toward achieving its ambitions if it can overcome one major issue: its governance problem. I specifically discuss this significant issue that is impeding the Nigerian dream in five domains. I’ve explained the causes and offered answers for how we might overcome the challenges and make the most of them.

Grassroot Governance

Following precedent, but not at the expense of being realistic, I’ll tackle the Nigeria of my dreams by attempting to draw attention to the underlying issue keeping us from realising our potential. The feeble authority projected by the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, the crumbling economy and infrastructures, the paralysed armed forces and the unprotected borders translate to only one thing; poor governance. Although I’m not sympathetic to the nation-state phenomenon, I cannot deny our identity as one. Nation-states have supplanted conventional and monarchical methods of overcentralising the provision of political goods to those living inside their borders.

Nigeria is a nation-state, but it hasn’t been able to effectively deliver the essence of that identity. The most crucial political and public goods, such as grassroots governance, security, and a thriving economy, have not been sufficiently achieved. Additionally, deficits in the organisational structure of some of the most important industries, such as education, medicine, and healthcare, only serve to exacerbate our problems. My dream is to see Nigeria acknowledge its challenges and realities, both within and outside its borders, and address them based on the citizens’ needs and the interests of the country.

Governments in Nigeria are totally disconnected from the people; the local, state and federal governments do not collaborate. The nation’s political system, security apparatuses, and economic activities do not interact with one another with the strength required to deliver fundamental public goods and services to the populace.

In my dream of Nigeria, I envision the abolition of an overly centralised government, the execution of institutional and administrative tasks at the grassroots level; and where the political institutions work in accordance with the domestic and international interests of the country. I picture a Nigeria where local and state security structures operate to enhance overall public safety but not entirely at the expense of national security and interests; where national security is also as critical as domestic human and infrastructural security. I dream of a Nigeria where the local economy is consistent with that of the country as a whole; where the government engages in a fully Machiavellian style in economic relations on international planes.

The over-centralisation of the Nigerian government prevents the country from offering the most basic political and public goods and services. In a country facing both domestic and foreign challenges, the delivery system is antiquated and unsustainable. What happens to the Nigerian dream if the waning government only has answers for the results of its problems rather than the causes, and is unable to comprehend the dynamism of its realities? I’d say that the Nigerian dream turns into a nightmare!

Cost of Governance

The cost of governance is what would account for the weakening of government at all levels. A country that is about to come to a complete halt would take measures to reduce its enormous cost of governance and direct that money toward social and economic development. Nigeria has the highest global average cost of government, with the North-East and North-West regions of the country being the most expensive. The administrative, legislative, and judicial branches’ salaries, various increments, and retinues of aides and special assistants deplete the nation’s meagre resources, with negative consequences for us.

What is my solution to the financial conundrum that Nigeria is presently facing? I don’t think it’ll be regarded as mainstream. As outrageous as it may sound, my vision for Nigeria is to see the federal and state governments preparing to cut their spending; I picture a Nigeria where the high expenses and raises of the policymakers and public servants in government institutions are scaled back; where the legislature and the executive trim their entourage of aides.

I picture a Nigeria where parastatals, commissions, and government agencies are restructured and/or. consolidated on all levels, where ministerial positions are eliminated, and where the National Assembly is divided in half with the House of Representatives as the only remaining chamber. I envision a Nigeria where the Representatives are appointed as ministers – this way, we address the redundancies in our government and foster cooperation across its branches. This is a drastic but necessary answer to our spending crisis. After all, it is a candid conversation! I discuss further ways to address this dilemma below, in Economy.

Security

If I were a utopian, instead of delving deeply into what caused the insecurity in the first place, I would start by discussing how to address the effects of insecurity in Nigeria – that undoubtedly would have been spontaneous and ideologically driven. Logic and reasoning dictate that I would say that the near absence or ineffectiveness of local government, the dissolution of societal structures and institutions, the incompetence of the state and local security forces, and the overreliance on national security infrastructures exposed Nigeria to both internal threats and external attacks through various forms of insecurity and infiltration.

My vision of Nigeria is similar to a doctor’s treatment of a patient, who first diagnoses the ailment, determines its source, and then treats the illness, hoping the patient recovers quickly enough. My dream is I want to see an end to the all-too-frequently reactionary, socialistic, and utopian solutions that are offered to effects only, and ignoring the root causes of the problems that are plaguing the country. We live in a time of technological innovation, and I picture Nigeria moving away from outdated public-safety approaches and toward 21st-century security systems.

In Nigeria, I’d like to see the establishment of state and municipal police forces to relieve the Nigerian Police off some of its duties; as a result, we would have a coalition of the Federal Police, State Departments of Police, and Local Government Police, funded by each tier of the government. I dream of a Nigeria where the local/traditional, private (where necessary), and public security sectors would collaborate to maximize the overall infrastructure and human security; where the municipal, state and federal police are autonomous from the executive branches and answerable only for the safety of the people.

I picture a Nigeria where the legal system is straightforward and uncomplicated for the populace; where a system of fair play justice complements local customs and traditions; where dissent and differences are tolerated; and where, in the absence of tolerance, an enforceable rule of law exists to punish lawbreakers.

I dream of a Nigeria where the unhealthy level of bureaucracy in the Armed Forces is curtailed to ease operations; I dream of Nigeria where the Armed Forces are not relied upon for domestic security. The consequences are negative when residents rely solely on the Federal Government to give them a sense of security at home. National security is jeopardized when the central government is weakened and demoralised, unable to assert power and authority, and unable to protect the populace.

Education

Education comes next, only after political and public goods, and security services. Education is a problem that the local and state governments have overlooked. Precisely as I’ve indicated before, the root cause of every problem in Nigeria is the socialist, overly centralised government. Any circumstance that has a propensity to centralise political power excessively, according to John Francis Cronin, is risky.

The Federal Government either directly or indirectly funds education at all levels in a federation made up of 36 states and 774 local governments! How come it is the case? Through UBEC, the Federal Government’s ultrasocialist apparatus supports primary and secondary education (basic education counterpart funding), pays primary and university staff wages, provides direct funding for federal universities and intervenes in and funds state universities (TETFUND). Subsidies have aged and diminished the nation’s limited resources, which could have been utilised to advance socioeconomic projects.

Governmental interventions from the state and local levels are essentially nonexistent; universities are heavily dependent on Federal Government finances for operations because they lack funds and endowments. My vision of Nigeria is not that of a person who sees everything through the narrow, binary lens of “I am right and you are wrong,” nor is it that of a person who believes in absolute truth especially in a discourse that allows for dissenting views. Between the two extremes on the spectrum, I have a nuanced vision for Nigeria’s educational system: I want to see the government continue to subsidise Basic Education; I want to see public employees barred from managing any educational institutions because doing so would be conflict of interest and disservice to the country; I want to see a regulation federal law requiring the children of government employees to attend public universities in Nigeria.

Furthermore, the Federal Government stops subsidising tertiary institutions; universities push for autonomy; they look for alternate sources of revenue. Now, my vision for Nigeria may seem agitated and unrealistic, or unfair to the poor, but history has shown that a nation-state with the dynamism and neglectful tendencies of Nigeria is poised for total collapse if the reformation of some of the most important sectors like education are not taken.

Economy

One of the three essential components of a functioning nation-state, along with its political system and geographic borders, is its economy. Effective physical and intangible resources, local, national, and global interactions, and a livable level of security are all necessary for a blooming economy. Nigeria is primarily reliant on crude oil; we are still a mono-product economy; despite oil industry accounting for 90% of our export earnings, it comtributes just about 7% to the GDP (as of 2021 – National Bureau of Statistics). The Federal Government significantly incentivises the oil and agricultural industries; there are incessant fuel shortages despite subsidies totalling trillions of Naira; more than half the yearly budgets; the incessant openings and closings of borders; the inept Central Bank; disastrous currency policies; imports stratospherically higher than exports. These are a few examples of the economic reality facing our beloved country.

In my dream, I see a Nigeria free of oil and gas; diversifying the economy; one that uses its abundant natural resources to promote sustainable agricultural growth; one that does away with subsidies and embraces privatisation while retaining control of some critical sectors. I also see Nigeria emerging from its economic slump, with clear economic arteries (transportation and communication), fewer unnecessary border closures, a renewed sense of security, and the use of reasonable monetary policies to bolster the country’s overall economic structure.

Moreover, we need to diversify our revenue streams and make a full-scale effort to reduce our Debt-to-Income Ratio. Just as I indicated above, reducing the cost of governance is another aspect of fixing our DTI ratio. I envision a Nigeria where the state governments would be allowed to acquire land and register it in their states, thus reforming the country’s land ownership laws. I dream of a Nigeria where states build railway networks to link up with one another – that way, the states bolster national economy. I imagine a Nigeria that embraces historical lessons just as the US did when it adopted Solon’s Reformation of Athens in 600 BC to establish a stable and pacifying economy. In the 1930s and again in the 1960s, the US devalued its currency, lessened debtors’ burdens, overhauled the vital sectors (education and health), and favoured the disadvantaged. Once more, I have a dream of a historical-minded Nigeria.

Concluding Remarks

The Nigerian dream is a topic that has resonated with many Nigerians, especially in recent years when the country has been battling undue hardship in all spheres. The dialogue has seen so many ideas, opinions, and views that correspond to our subjective experiences. I’ve been able to lay out a position that, in my opinion, lies between the two extremes; emotional assertiveness as characterised by our subjective views on one hand and undue objectivity on the other. While there are several, urgent concerns that I either failed to address or only mentioned in passing, I believe they are more a symptom than a cause for our government’s poor performance. These indicators may be endemic corruption, bribery, and nepotism, despotism and repression, hatred and separatism, abuses of human, political, and electoral rights, etc. Indicators of a failing state are not the causes of a failing state. For example, unaccountability – a management/governance issue – is the root of corruption.

An incoherent nation like Nigeria, with disparities in culture and language, half-a-dozen geopolitical zones, antithetical religious beliefs, diametrically opposed intrareligious worldviews and exclusive histories of nationalism can only do so much to achieve pluralism, let alone a Utopia. Not even Sir Thomas More’s Utopian society was a success, nor was Somalia – a country with shared culture and history, and similar religion and language. To achieve a country where “equality, peace, and prosperity reign” and where the citizens genuinely speak into existence, the national pledge: “to be faithful, loyal and honest”, we must dig thoroughly into the fundamental principles upon which the shackles confining our Nigerian dreams.

So help us God. May God bless us and May God bless Nigeria!

Thank you very much.

References

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