Independence: Dependent Interdependence?
October 1 provided another opportunity for the ritual called national day for China and Nigeria. The day gave me further time to reflect on why pretend to have independence in a dependent interdependent world?
In my formative years at the Universities of Lagos and later California at Los Angeles, I was pleasantly introduced to a body of scholars like Andre Gunder Frank, Walter Rodney, Samir Amin, etc., who championed alternative thoughts on the world, pointing out the dependency of a developing world e.g. Nigeria/China etc., on the developed world e.g. United Kingdom and the United States etc. And that those developed countries are daily coming up with strategies to continue to underdevelop the weaker countries. These scholars faced an onslaught in the counter thoughts that strongly argued that all countries are interdependent. There were those who modified the counter position by suggesting that countries are interdependent but the nature of the interdependence is that of the horse and the horse rider. Or put another way, they offered analysis on the extent to which the dog is wagging the tail or question if the tail can wag the dog. In effect, this perspective involves looking at the relative freedom of each country to operate and claim to be a sovereign in the world.
Those who know me know that I enjoy partying, in particular dancing. But I could not party this time. Instead, I reflected on October 1, 2017, and a few additional days now, on my sick bed, originally as a result of cold/flu that worsened, in one of the best hospitals in Lagos, (thanks to my UN insurance), on a day Nigeria was celebrating its 57th Independence anniversary and China was marking the throwing out of the Kuomintang since 1949. I found the perspective that Nigeria is an independent country very interesting more so, not in comparison to China, but even compared to countries like Cuba, Qatar and North Korea who are facing epic blockades from other countries and their respective responses. I also reflected and found it useful to take a look at the nature of the capacities of other countries to have it their way like, for instance, President Nixon’s US walking away from the gold standard in 1971 taking away so much gold from the rest of the world without anyone being able to do anything about it and President Trump coming to power with the promise to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it. Of course, Mexico has dared him and it seems there is nothing he will be in a position to do about it. It seems he has to make his people pay for the wall if he must have it. In his campaign, Trump also dreamt of taking Iraqi oil. Maybe he can like he is threatening to walk out on a painstakingly realised multilateral Iran deal that was led by his predecessor in office. President Trump might have mentally returned to the good old days when colonial or strong powers did exactly what they wanted with many relatively weaker countries, including Nigeria and China, of those days.
Need I pay any attention to all Donald Trump said he would do to China as he campaigned? Well, China shares a diplomatic party day with Nigeria. But reality has shown President Trump that China is no Nigeria. A lot of international power has moved China’s way since the Kuomintang got thrown out and this trend got strengthened by Comrade Deng’s modernisation policy that was successfully carried forward. China today, has a lot up its sleeves with which it can stop President Trump dead on his tracks. Even on Cuba and North Korea, President Trump knows he has to move with caution, forget the bravado talks. Those threats were once issued to India and Pakistan as the West kept quiet on the status of Israel. And as Saudi Arabia and allies are discovering with respect to Qatar, ultimatums are not always useful when the recipient can muster counter power. The efficiency of power to realise compliance from another, whether as an individual or a nation, varies with time among other factors.
I looked at my Samsung phone as I wrote this piece and all the gadgets that are helping my being a bit comfortable in the hospital, including personalised oxygen plastics and wondered how much of these can be produced in Nigeria as oil for export is reducing in importance. That’s part of what gives power if you don’t have your own nuclear power to ensure your defense against others in what they used to call avoidance of MAD (mutual assured destruction) in international power calculus.
The thought of everyone with his/her own mobile bottled oxygen as source of purified necessity of life bothers me. I still remember how we got weaned away from the small river Owa in Ijebu-Ode that I accompanied my mum to as our source of water when I was a kid through to state produced pipe borne water when I was about 6 years old and now followed by everyone with his/her own Evian type bottled water being purchased. How prepared is Nigeria to compete when nature’s bountiful oxygen has to be supplemented with all of us stylistically carrying our daily need of “pure” oxygen?
With dependence on only one wasting resource that is gradually losing its credibility as a source of power as a basis of our claim to interdependence, how independent is Nigeria for it to be wasting funds and productive time as holiday in celebrating “Independence” Anniversary?
Some other time, or someone else could look at structural realities of indirect and direct rule on Nigeria and countries of her type by other countries like Trump’s “America first”, using institutions like the Bretton Woods, in spite of claims of Nigerias of the world as being sovereigns. If Nigeria had signed away the nuclear weapons option (which those who have, have refused to sign), as a basis for power, Nigeria needs to produce for itself and produce what others need to survive in order to continue to be relevant as a relatively independent country in a possible interdependent world. Being the horse that gets constantly flogged to provide more energy for the rider is not the way to live.
