In search of vision
By Isi Omoifo
THIS piece is an update on an article of the same title I wrote at the height of the Abacha menace and published in The Guardian (Tuesday, June 4, 1996). The revisit is partly prompted by observations from three eminent figures in the last but one week of November 2004. Speaking at different fora in Lagos and Abuja, they seemed to me to amplify three different aspects of the Nigerian problem, viz a consumerist pathology, cultural blindness and absence of a developmental strategy which successfully combines the three Ps - Political will, Professional expertise and People's action.
Three of the suggestions made in that article were: re-federalisation away from over-centralised tendencies to enhance local self-expression and creative vibrancy; the harnessing and streamlining of the ancient cultures of Nigeria for global impact, sensitive to the interaction between development and environment; and the vigorous pursuit of the integration of the West African sub-region. The last note was struck rather forcibly on Thursday, November 25, 2004 by the former German Chancellor, Dr. Helmut Kohl, in a speech at the sixth Anyiam Osigwe lecture in Lagos.
Said Kohl: 'I do not know whether I will live to see it, but I believe that world power centres will develop and Nigeria will play an important role'. (The Comet, Friday, November 26, 2004, p.2). The idea of multi-polar centres of power and influence is a liberating vision, away from the suffocating unipolarity somewhat enjoyed by the United States. But Kohl was quick to add: 'It does not happen like that. You need to work for it'.
It is easy to see that Nigeria is not working or walking toward anything, though some might say we are actually walking somewhere. It is only that, as in a fantasy reel, we seem to be walking backwards! The Guinness Book of Records might yet list Nigeria as the world's highest consumers relative to producers. Even campus girls gleefully parade in the throwaways of western culture. These days, I envision a bigger Nigerian responsibility, though I may not be alone. It is like this: As a nation with the highest black population and with the highest educational and resource advantage, it is Nigeria's God-given mandate to lead the advance to the black and African millennium.
The above submission dove-tails into the substance of the lecture on Thursday November 25, by Prof. Semou Pathe Gueye of Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar at the MUSON Centre, Lagos. Africa, he says, was at the forefront of world history and civilisation and must prove to the rest of the world that it is 'still in a position to bring a meaningful contribution to the progress of mankind'. 'That is seemingly the historical challenge of an African Renaissance as endorsed today by prominent African intellectuals and political leaders'. (The Guardian, Wednesday, December 1, 2004, p.54) There has been some talk about African Renaissance, particularly as canvassed by the New Partnership for Africa's Development, NEPAD. But the renaissance envisaged by NEPAD is a very strange one indeed.
As far as I know, renaissance is a movement in the field of art and culture. It is true that the world's best known case of renaissance, the Italian renaissance in art and architecture of the 15th and 16th centuries, heralded institutional advance in Western Europe. But NEPAD, in a replay of cultural blindness that has charaterised development paradigms adopted by African leaders since independence (with a few exceptions like the late Sekou Toure of Guinea) sidelines artistic and cultural renaissance and zeroes in on the political and the economic. Haba, from whence comes the motivation, the magic, the refined and accelerated gesture, the fresh springs and soaring eagles of the imagination?
In place of NEPAD, I propose the three Rs of African development - Renaissance, Regeneration and Reconstruction. We need artistic and cultural renaissance, moral and spiritual regeneration, as well as political, economic and social reconstruction. NEPAD is reactive. The three Rs are proactive. NEPAD is inclusive of race and gender. The three Rs are, in addition, admissive of the interests and contributions of diasporan Africans under the theme of Afroconvergence. NEPAD is aid-driven. The three Rs are holistic and ideas-driven. I proclaim renewal of these sun-blest territories. I sing Africa re-ascendant. The challenge then, is to rebuild the ruins of the African civilisation, using the most rational, most appropriate and most imaginative tools available. External aid is welcome, as long as it fits into the internal project.
On Tuesday, November 23, 2004 in Abuja, Prof. Gabriel Oyibo, three-time Nobel Prize nominee, said that lack of proper coordination between the governments, universities and research institutes had held down national development. 'Government and universities should come together to foster a working relationship that will accelerate growth and development of the nation'. (The Nigerian Observer, Thursday, November 25, 2004, p.5). Speaking in the same vein in an interview with the Sunday Sun (November 28, 2004, p.41), the joint winner of the maiden NLNG Science Prize, Prof. Alfred Akpoveta Susu, said Nigerian leaders were not looking at the big picture. 'Forget oil,' he said. 'Nigeria's greatest asset is manpower'.
It seems to me that a missing link in Nigeria's quest for development is failure to engage professional expertise. Which brings me to the present national reform agenda, NEEDS. Though the most relevant the country has ever had, it however suffers from:
- a number of conceptual flaws or in adequacies such as deregulation, value orientation, etc
- poor identification and mobilisation of change agents and technical resources; and
- Omoifo lives in Benin City.
