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The Nigerian State had been a failed State since its re-organization by the Nigerian Armed Forces in 1978/79 as it had and has no higher power it was and is answerable to. A State, by commanding obedience of the citizens through one form of coercion or the other, must itself be subjected to a higher authority otherwise it becomes an end in itself, leading to a failure of sorts, autocratic and dictatorial. Such a State becomes the negation of the entire citizenry making them become the opposite of their natural being. In countries whose Constitutions are subsumed “under God” as a higher authority over the Constitution and the State, it was/is a reflection of the exactitude of God’s manifestation in the circumstances of their coming into being as a country and State. When such nomenclature is copied outside this context, it becomes a blueprint for failure, a caricature, which is why Nigerian State Institutions and their functionaries break their own laws and abuse their offices at will.
Manifestation of the failure of the Nigerian State stared us squarely in the face twice within the last twenty-two years, during the Abacha/Jonathan regimes; the Babangida/Obasanjo years being an interregnum even as it also manifested many of the traditions of this failed State. Previously, the January 15/16 military coupists, saw themselves as the embodiment of “Nigerian Nationhood” and simply ignored the socio-cultural realities, a function of its occupationist role, leading to the internal war and ending up with the armed forces defining the Nigerian State, expressly copying the US Constitution outside the context of US and Nigeria’s histories and experiences, thereby removing Nigerian Peoples humanity and replacing it with some form of the “other” thus negating the inherent potentials of the Nigerian Peoples. By this, the Nigerian Armed Forces arrived at its “higher ideals” from its own beginnings as an army of occupation, making it directly an anti-people institution, not created for the protection and security of the peoples of Nigeria but for their control and suppression.
It did not fail in this mission, which was why it adopted the US Constitution wholesale; attempting to build something on nothing; for the history and context of the US Constitution is vastly and completely different from that of Nigeria. There is thus no way the expectations of the US Constitution would materialize in the Nigerian environment; a situation which directly precipitated Nigeria’s descent into failure. Moreover, the British State from which it originally derived its existence is itself undergoing a serious attempt at a make-over in the form of Scottish and Welsh Independence either in full or as “Maximum” Devolution and subsequently the transformation of the British State into a Federal Union of the UK Nations.
Hence, in this era of “Change”, it is necessary to begin to enumerate exactly what is expected; for “Change” cannot be reduced to looking for “better” persons to manage existing apparatus and institutions. Such “Change” must be embedded in our aspirations as expressions of our higher ideal which becomes the expression of a people’s cultural experience. When it becomes intrinsic in the formation of the State, the totality of their being becomes reflected in the institutions operating the State.
Utilization of the “Law” is limited; for, when culture, as the embodiment of this higher ideal, has no implication on the lives of the citizens, “Law” becomes an instrument of manipulation, for it is not the “Law” that defines Man(our humanity) but the other way round. Laws reflect the social, economic and cultural practices and tensions in the society hence the adopted colonially induced Laws become irrelevant and are at variance with the historical aspiration of the Peoples.
Thus, “Change” cannot be meaningful if it does not go to the root of the matter—the nature of the State; for this determines the nature of its institutions, mediated by the “Law” and their capability to withstand any effort at their personalization; hence, using the imagery of a tree, the nature of the State is the root, Law the stem and Institutions the branches.
It is a truism that the Nigerian State was borne out of the 1914 Amalgamation of southern and northern colonial protectorates, which, by definition, was a negation of the various cultures in this geo-political space; where its economy is based on rent collection from crude oil exports shared by and between the institutions created for that purpose and giving rise to the Nigerian prebends; the more the situation continues, the more the Nigerian State becomes irrelevant to the Peoples of Nigeria; which would be why, at one point, Ibrahim Babangida, as the head of the Nigerian State, would gladly proclaim the necessity of the “brain drain” that had led to massive migration of real and potential intellectual talents out of Nigeria, as a good source of foreign exchange, as if the acquisition of foreign exchange is an end in itself and a Goodluck Jonathan would openly proclaim that “stealing is not corruption” where one of his ministers would be alleged to have pocketed Nine Billion US dollars, beyond the wildest dreams of many a large multi-national corporation.
In contrast, by the time of self-government in the Western Region and subsequent formal Independence, a new State Apparatus was coming into being. This new development arose from, and was embedded in the People’s socio-cultural experiences and expectations such that the degree of alienation by the colonial State was consciously, continuously and considerably reduced. It was a call to a higher ideal, expressed formally by the Egbe Omo Oduduwa in the Preamble to its Constitution thus: [b]“ The present division of Nigeria into Three Regions calls for the development of each region according to its tradition and culture. It affords an opportunity for rapid advancement without sacrificing valuable institution and for organizing a strong, efficient and modernized State with its own individuality within the Federal State of Nigeria. It is the unity of members of each Region to further its interest and ensure that it plays its proper role in the new Nigeria in full and equal co-operation with the other Regions.
The Western Provinces are well placed for the realization of these ideals as they are inhabited by the Yoruba and other “tribes”(ed) that either derive from there or have been in close political connection with them for a long time. Their Institutions are similar in a remarkable degree and their culture is essentially the same. The term “Yoruba” is, therefore, largely inclusive and the language itself enjoys wide currency throughout the region. It is in the belief that the other Regions will do likewise that we, as members of the Western Provinces seek to organize and unite the various elements in the region, in order to accelerate the emergence of a virile Yoruba State.”[/b]
The emerging State knew that achieving the above would require an industrialized and productive society which will also depend on the necessary human infrastructure for its maintenance, hence the introduction of its social welfare policies. Using Free Education as an example, it enabled the industrial paradigms of the emerging State to achieve its aim of a higher ideal while the society, through this foundation, was able to generate the necessary atmosphere, labor and management. The results are available for all to see.
Indeed our “traditional rulers” like the then Ooni, Oba Adesoji Aderemi and the Alake, Oba Ademola, were very instrumental in “selling” the idea and its practice to the people, just as they were also active participants in policy making and direction of the then Western Region Government. When it is therefore now being said that “traditional rulers” must be “insulated from politics” it was/is a negation of their role in their society, which had already conferred on them the primary role of being the defenders and custodians of the peoples’ existentialism which was in direct contrast to the colonial power’s purpose of taking complete control of the society’s political life.
In coming to this realization, the emerging State drew heavily on the peoples’ cultural experiences and because it had the capacity to effect any changes as necessary, it was able to develop its emerging nature with the aspirations of the people, through the development and promotion of, Yoruba History, culture and Yoruba Language, a sine qua non for development, in spite of the constraints of colonial State Apparatus.
In these times of “Change” therefore, Nigeria cannot pretend to exist outside the context of her socio-cultural evolution, otherwise, we will again be papering over the cracks until the “fire next time” when the failure of the State will once again stare us in the face. Ise Ya

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