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Home |   About Us |   Contact Us |   Members |   Search |   Subscribe |   Disclaimer |   THE GUARDIAN CONSCIENCE, NURTURED BY TRUTH LAGOS, NIGERIA.     Friday, August 27 2004   news   editorial/opinion   politics & people   business   sports   capital market   weekend   golf weekly   Guardian Chat Click to join the chatroom Reflection on 2004 Human Development Report By Ibrahim Gambari IN this landmark 1998 Report on the Causes of Conflict and Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa, Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan identified, inter alia, the centrality of poverty and governance. Furthermore, in a complimentary way, Prof. Adebayo Adedeji argued that the heart of conflicts in Africa is the crisis in governance (Mastering Conflicts in Africa). Common to these perspectives are, first, that there is nexus between peace and developments especially in Africa (that is, without peace there can be no development and without development there can be no durable peace). This is the thesis articulated by former Secretary-General, Boutros-Ghali in his landmark reports " An (Agenda for Peace and Agenda for Development). Second, Boutros-Ghali argued that there would be neither peace nor development without democracy, a notion further developed by Kofi Annan with regards to issues of good governance, accountability, the politics of inclusion and the rule of law. Fortunately, these prescriptions constitute perhaps the most promising aspect of NEPAD, that is, the African Peer Review Mechanism which, by the end of the last Summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa in July 2004, has 23 participating countries, which is not bad for a voluntary mechanism that is not quite two years old. What the Human Development Report 2004 has put on the table, as a point of departure, in this mix of recipes for good governance, democracy and the politics of inclusion, is the idea of cultural liberty in today's diverse world. In his Foreword to the HDR 2004, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mark Malloch Brown, argued that inclusivity of cultural diverse societies is not just a "precondition for countries to focus properly on other priorities of economic growth, health and education for all citizens but allowing people full cultural expression is an important development end in itself". Hence, he commends HDR 2004, for powerfully presenting the case for finding ways, in the felicitous words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to "delight in our differences". In this regard, and coming closer home to Nigeria where HDR 2004 was launched recently, there was the story of an intellectual encounter between the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (first President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria) and the late Premier of the then Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto, as reported by a leading Africanist scholar, John Paden. The former had recommend that the path towards peace and unity of Nigeria lies in "forgetting our differences" to which, the latter replied, "No, let us not forget but acknowledge our differences so that we may address them". Furthermore, in his famous essay, "African Literature as Celebration", Chinua Achebe made the case in the context of North/South relations which is also applicable to countries of the South, that each culture, each society must acknowledge the presence, the hopes and aspirations of the other. This is because, in a real sense and quoting an observation made by a leading Senegalese novelist in his African Adventure, "the era of separate destinies has run its course". Indeed the recognition and celebration of cultural identity can also be a great instrument to domesticate the powerful force of globalisation. Nonetheless, I believe that in establishing the linkage between culture and human development, broadly defined, we must embrace a comprehensive and sustained rather than partial or ad hoc approach. Comprehensive in the sense of identifying and critically analysing the good, the bad and the ugly and showing how and to what extent they may contribute to or undermine human development. On the one hand, for example, female genital mutilation, child-marriage and other traditional and cultural practices that humiliate and subjugate a large segment of the people must be exposed for what they are and promptly abandoned. On the other hand, the inclusion of "non-sexist" alongside "non-racial and democratic" appellation to the Constitution of a post-Apartheid South Africa and the naming, shaming and ostracising of individuals, communities or even countries which deliberately and massively violate the basic rights of their peoples are acceptable modern applications of traditional cultural practices. One of the main challenges which we must address then is how to mainstream the diversity of culture in the efforts to advance Human Development. There are, in this regard, a number of elements that must be considered including: Leadership role at the local, regional and national levels; Introduction of oral and cultural traditions in the curriculum in primary and secondary schools; Cultural studies as mandatory or "core courses" in post-secondary schools, colleges sand university; Seminars and workshops on cultural diversity for civil servants at local, state and national levels. Two final observations in relation to HDR 2004 which I would like to make are the following: Yes, Africa may indeed have a comparative advantage in terms of the richness and diversity of its cultural heritage as pointed out in the HDR 2004 publication. This may, however, be a double-edged sword. If properly articulated and mainstreamed into national policies and governmental processes this can and should be a powerful force for good. Unity in diversity can be promoted and the politics of inclusion strengthens democracy and good governance, which are necessary prerequisites for socio-economic development and domestic peace. However, there is the "negative capability" or the misuse of cultural, ethnic differences by individuals and groups hungry for political power. Bereft of ideas or too lazy to pursue the path of debate and dialogue on how to move their respective countries forward, power-hungry politicians exploit ethnicity and cultural diversity to serve their selfish ends. There have been far too many cases of such politicians and proponents of "divide and rule" in this continent and even in this country. Therefore, there is room for the arguments in favour of the positive use of cultural diversity to undermine the forces behind as well as the practitioners of the politics of exclusion and hate on the one hand and to encourage those forces, groups and individuals that are committed to building stable, peaceful, prosperous and democratic societies and countries in Africa and elsewhere on the other. Secondly the articulation of cultural diversity as "soft" issue became Millennium Development Goal Number One, reducing by one-half those on less than $1 per day by year 2015, is unlikely to be met in Africa, should be avoided. Otherwise it will be seen as a diversion or worse still to further divide an already deeply divided Africa. Finally, the issue of Federalism in Nigeria which was highlighted in this report deserves a response. The question may be asked as to why the exercise of devolution of power, the efforts to bring government close to the people and the rationale for creation of states in Nigeria (from the three regions at independence to the current 36) have not ended inter-ethnic, communal or religious conflicts and violence in the country In my view, the reason is not that the federalism has failed but that it has been imperfectly applied. Prolonged military rule and the over-independence on oil as the major source of national and governmental revenue have led to greater centralisation rather than real devolution of power. For the most part, local and state authorities spend monies which they do not generate internally and this does not promote accountability and respect for the legitimate rights of local communities. On their part, federal authorities must not be reluctant or fearful of sharing power with state and local authorities beyond the minimum required by the Constitution. Just as the antidote to autocracy is more than less democracy, the antidote to over-centralisation of power is more than less practice of true federalism. In this respect, federalism in Nigeria should be seen as "work in progress"" requiring more work so that the country can make progress in the practice of good governance, establishing the rule of law and respect for the rights of all citizens without discrimination based on ethnicity, religious affiliation and cultural background.  Prof. Gambari is UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa. � 2003 - 2004 @ Guardian Newspapers Limited (All Rights Reserved).  Powered by dnetsystems.net dnet�

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