Reverend Chris Oyakhilome (Ph. D) shares his
thoughts on what makes some countries
powerful and influential and many others no
much so
I find that all around the world there are too
many people who don’t understand the definition of nationhood. It is sad that all
over Africa particularly, many have not
understood their reason for being. Africa was
always called the Dark Continent , not because
of the colour of the skin, but because of the
poverty of their minds. But the time has come for us to make the difference and we
will.
In developing the “Theory of Nations”, there
are certain concepts that require mention
and definition. All over the world, wherever
the definitions of these concepts are nebulous, they are misused and usually leading
to the sufferings of so many people. These
concepts are: Nation, nationalism, State and
Ethnicity. To understand the development of
nations, we must observe that man is a
gregarious animal. Thus human beings naturally relate socially.
And as you know social relationships
automatically define themselves in relation to
strength and weakness; leadership and
followership, because of the human tendency
to protect or seek protection. And so, the weaker congregate around the stronger to be
protected. And this feeling of security
heightens the weaker’s ability to function
socially. Ans so, naturally, the stronger
demands further submission and allegiance,
while defining the limits of freedom of the weaker of the species.
Certain nations like Nigeria have completely
flawed the popular or the popular definition
of “nation” as a large body of people
organised under independent government and
sharing common customs, origins, history and language. Canada , also, among others,
cannot fall into this narrow definition.
As you know, Nigeria has a multiplicity of
languages, diverse customs and culture, and a
wide range of divergent history for its many
peoples who definitely don’t have a common origin. Thus, by this definition, Nigeria will not
qualify as a nation but State only. And there
are many countries all around the world that
can only be described as States. A state
begins with the paraphernalia of government
with a definite territorial jurisdiction. It is an institutional structure with territorial
integrity. Thus without a defined land space,
a State cannot function; whereas a nation
need not to be territorial in nature. As a
matter of fact, the United Nations (which
we call the UN), by it’s name, cannot be defined as it is called. It is more of an
association of States.
States are bound together by law and force;
nations are not created by law and force but
by free consent of its members and the
definition of their purpose. States are static while nations are dynamic. Thriving states
therefore are those who, through education
and culture, have helped their people develop
nationhood. A State is ready for prosperity
and development when it delivers to its
people a robust Bill of Rights, a sense of liberty and freedom of expression. The
purpose of a nation is the realization of
human aspirations.
It is in pursuance of man’s dreams or desire
for happiness, prosperity, self expression,
ecological development, self fulfilment and his insatiable and unending desire for self
discovery and maximization of his intellectual
physical and spiritual abilities. All these, man
knows, he cannot attain or achieve in
isolation but in his relationship with like-
minded creatures. The purpose of States on the other hand is to form such associations,
providing and establishing justice, domestic
tranquillity, common defense, promote
general welfare and secure their postulated
ethnicity for themselves and their posterity.
It is to enact laws and provide force in ensuring that defined limits are not exceeded.
As a people, we have attained statehood but
we are yet to achieve nationhood. Why, in
spite of government efforts, should the GDP
(Gross Domestic Product) of African nations
continue to drown? Why is their per-capita income so embarrassingly low compared to
others? The answer lies in the fact that their
Gross Mental Attitude is wrong. The answer
lies in the fact that their Gross Mental
Output is horrendously low. The answer is
aggressive educational policy and programmes. The educational policies and
programmes in African nations must be
reviewed to foster intellectual and
environmental productivity. We have our
roles to play as individuals. There is individual
social responsibility. In spite of the odds, we must learn to
appreciate our gains in Africa . In Nigeria
particularly, in spite of cheap propaganda
against our country, Nigeria , I tell you, is still
among the freest countries in the world.
There are those who may argue with that but many of us have travelled around the world,
and we can tell you it’s true. We must be
grateful for our opportunities so far: many
of us should be grateful for the scholarships
we received, the education, the environment,
and even the wonderful, peace-loving people of Nigeria with whom we have been
associated.
Many of us have benefited from the structure
of our society, whether you love it or hate it.
We must now give back to it. This thinking is
the beginning of the birth of nationhood-the idea that we owe our society something;
that we owe our nation something. We must
not resign ourselves to always call out for
help and hand outs; reaching out to be given
something by government or government
representatives. We must make a solemn decision to play on the field, to become
involved and be spectators no more. We
must gladly render service and seek to
improve our society. We must dream bigger
and higher to create for ourselves and
posterity a more secure, prosperous, virile and egalitarian society.
It is sad that at this time of our odyssey of
self-realisation as a nation, major
corporations and business establishments
have not committed themselves to the
infrastructural development of the country, the country from which they have so
graciously benefited. No wonder the outcry in
the Nigeria Niger Delta is getting louder,
though unheeded. I call on major business
organizations and corporations in Nigeria to
help fund education as a testimony of their commitment to our evolution to nationhood
and the realization of our dream of
transition from third-world to first. It is
their responsibility to give back to a nation
from which they have received so much.
We are grateful for the opportunity and the privilege that we have had as a nation to
transit from military regimes to becoming a
democracy. Democracy is beautiful, if and
when, a State achieves nationhood. Until-and
unless-a State has transited from statehood
to nationhood, the gains of democracy, if at all present, will be minimal. And this is the
dilemma of many African countries who have
embraced democracy. Many in their bid to
salvage their situation championed
nationalism instead of pursuing nationhood.
It is made clear that nationhood and nationalism are neither synonymous nor do
they serve the same purpose. Though
nationalism in its true and positive sense is
laudable, it is important for us to realize that
in our world today, savage nationalism is the
same spirit of racism, resulting in such despicable acts of the American black history,
South African Apartheid, and ethnic cleansing
of Eastern Europe, and [Central] Africa’s
Rwanda . These evil are the result of
nationalism where it is defined by blood,
language, culture and history. We have to realize that nationalism, where it
is so defined by our relationship through
language, or culture or blood, has only led men
to their untimely graves and fractured
societies. Our nation will not escape such
fractures if we define ourselves according to our historical origins rather than our purpose,
our vision. This perversion of Nationalism is
the absence of national purpose; in many
nations today, through Nationalism, we have
a disguised resurgence of medieval tribal
wars. Nationhood is different. In Nationhood,
there’s mutual respect and respect for
citizens’ rights. We must remember that
democracy is borne of the idea that citizens
have a right to choose by whom and how
they should be governed. And at this particular time in our country, it has become
so important that we realize what
democracy has granted us: the right to decide
who governs us and how we shall be
governed. Of course, it has been a slow
journey, a slow process, because most of us are children and grand-children of military
officers, and we were brought up to be
militant in nature.
But the time has come for us to settle for
the change that has come upon us, the
change that we have all embraced. And by that change our language must change; our
perceptions must change; our respect for law
and order must change; and of course, the
law must change to favour its citizens.
Democracy comes with a citizens’ Bill of
Rights, even though ours remains largely undeclared. But I call on every smart thinking
person to study the Constitution of the
federal Republic of Nigeria , so at least you
understand what your rights are; what you
can do and what you may be forbidden to do.
Democracy thrives in informed and educated and enlightened societies. Dictatorship
thrives in ignorant societies. We must,
therefore, embrace education. We cannot
wait until we have the best of situations. We
cannot wait to have the best of conditions
to read a book. We must choose to be informed; we must choose to open our minds
and get educated. There is the ‘do-it-yourself’
attitude that we must have. Each one of us
must be willing to educate himself, only that
way can we be involved in nation building.
No one else will build Nigeria for us; Nigeria will be built by Nigerians. To build a nation, we
must recognize the concomitant sub-nations;
these are the micro-ethno systems that
function within the sovereign nation. It is the
development of these micro-ethno systems
that increases a nation’s gross national product, its per-capita income, and therefore
its citizens’ standard of life. Micro-ethno
systems are usually frustrated in States that
are yet to understand, much less
metamorphose into, nationhood.
True nations by their very definition must inter-relate. As this is true of nations, it is
also true of their micro-ethno systems. And
these systems are inter-related and inter-
dependent. It is important to know that each
of us functions with one or more of these
sub-nations, without which our relevance in the larger society will be grossly impaired.
Individuals and indeed nations attain financial
and economic independence through these
relationships that nurture demand and supply.
Your ability to analyse, interpret and apply
these simple principles is your opportunity in today’s world. Most African countries are
built on ideas and ideals of yesterday’s
philosophies. We Need today’s thinkers for
tomorrow’s visions.
When I look at the young people, I see
extraordinary resources. I see wealth and greatness. I see the best doctors, the best
sportsmen, the best engineers. In America ,
the black boys who were picked from the
slums became some of the best
basketballers; America has largely left that
game for the tall black boys. The stout ones went into boxing and became the best. They
have left sport for the black and Africans.
Let me tell you a secret: your excellence and
your abilities are not limited to sports. It is
time to include the discipline to go beyond
sports and produce the best books, the best schools, the best hospitals. We can set the
pace and grow an extraordinary economy in
Africa to translate and transit from third
world to first world. We can do it. And we
will.

Nice article! Thanks for the enlightenment.

Thank you for posting this!....this is amazing!........thank you pastor sir for sharing your wisdom with us!...God bless you sir!...