After much thought on the deplorable state of our nation on the domestic and foreign fronts below are some thoughts on what would be needed to move our potentially great nation forward. There is also a need for practical approaches to implementing the proposals implied in this write-up. Thoughts on these would be shared in the near future. Meanwhile, like-minded readers are called upon to respond with their own thoughts on this subject.

Thanks.

'Debo


C3REES   -   Campaign for Reform, Rights, Responsibilities, Education, Equity and Service
                                                                                      ---An Agenda for Change in Nigeria

'Debo Oladosu

September 28, 2009

As Nigeria approaches 50 years of independence from the colonialists one cannot but stop to think about where we were, where we are and where we are going. There is no gain saying that Nigeria needs a new approach in our quest for true nationhood.  As we celebrate the 49th independence anniversary of our potentially great nation I see the need for a people-grounded alliance of independent groups across our nation unified by a Campaign for Reform, Rights, Responsibilities, Education, Equity and Service (C3REES).

Why C3REES:

Campaign because a sustained, bottom-up, engagement among all stakeholders is the only hope for transforming our nation from potentially great, to a truly great nation. Many today are disappointed in the idea of Nigeria.  Apathy, and sometimes outright cynicism about the concept of Nigeria is rife. The promise of a united and peaceful nation of 150 million that could shine as a beacon of hope for all black people across the globe sounds like an impossibility to many. Our common belief in Nigeria may suffer from such cynicism, but it shines through on occasions - national soccer triumphs come readily to mind.  This common belief is also apparent when a leader that truly cares about the people appears to be coming over the horizon. Of recent memory is the nationwide, jubilant campaign of MKO Abiola. Whether these moments of national pride and comradery were justified or not, they show that national pride and patriotism is in our blood - dormant or perhaps on life-support, but nevertheless, in our blood. We must work to wake up this spirit of togetherness in our countrymen through a sustained campaign for the ideals that we seek in our nation. We must seek reconciliation over old animosities. We must begin to respect our cultural and religious diversity. Most importantly we must ingeniously and candidly address these diversities to device arrangements that will allow us to live together in peace and stability as our founding fathers dreamt as they struggled for independence.

Reform because many of the imperfections that faced Nigeria as a nation during and after the struggle for independence has, rather than cured, become systemic features of national life. Like a malignant cancer that begins with one cell these imperfections have multiplied without restraint. In the same way that advanced medical cancer invades the entire body and dominates the life of its victim, these vices have inadvertently become the "face" of Nigeria to the outside world. Corruption and the insecurity of violence, aided by non-functioning institutions of governance have become the norm, rather than the exception of life in Nigeria today. These malignant vices suffocate any effort at moving our nation forward. Prosecutorial methods, whether through commendable agencies such as the EFCC or ICPC or the ill-equipped, ill-trained NPF are powerless in the face of these unfortunately powerful forces that govern almost every aspect of productive, governmental and even personal life in Nigeria today. As healthy cells soon become recruits cancer remains untreated, these agencies soon lose their true purpose, and become instruments of the same vices they are setup to fight. What is needed to defeat these systemic vices is also a systemic reformation of our institutions, attitudes, knowledge and innovation system (a.k.a. education), security system, and administration of justice. Until we rid ourselves of these vices most of our efforts at national development would continue to come to naught - 8 military coups and attempted coups (consuming 35 of 49 years of independence), a devastating civil war, incessant religious and political violence, virulent militancy in the Niger Delta, dilapidated schools and hospitals, etc. should convince us that our previous methods are not just ineffective, they are moving us in the wrong direction. While our history and story may be unique, the solutions to our problem do not require any new or unique methods. What we require is the ability to see our situation and its solutions in the light of modern knowledge that abounds around us, commit ourselves to reason over violence, and show a dogged determination to fulfill our objectives. If we are willing to do this, our nation can bloom again like the cells of a body from which cancer has been surgically eradicated. These vices are not inherent to our nature or culture and we must not accept the words of those who would make us believe otherwise. We can rid ourselves of these vices, but we must work hard at it.

Rights and Responsibilities because these two are the basis for national pride, progress, and the fulcrum of our national reformation. The views of the average Nigerian today on these two crucial aspects of national life are at best schizophrenic. There are those who insist on rights that are no rights at all, while easily giving up or failing to insist on many other fundamental rights. Both of these result from our failure to recognize that rights and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin. We have a system of government today where leaders claim rights to comfortable housing, rides, all kinds of allowances and essentially all national land and resources derived from it, but forget that in reality they are hired hands whose rights to some of these things depends on fulfilling their responsibilities to project Nigeria's dignity, protect her citizens wherever they may be in the world, administer impartial justice, and secure life and property, among others. Further they fail to recognize that they have no rights to our collective resources beyond that which is necessary to perform the job for which they have been hired. As a result they continue to fail woefully, whether in civilian clothes or military uniforms. In the same vein, the majority of Nigerians do not know or understand their own rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, petition, and security of life and property, among others.  At the same time personal responsibilities to conduct individual affairs with obedience to the rule of law, respect for rights, beliefs and opinion of others, and reliance on one's honest work as the source of support and maintenance are easily relegated. There is too much begging in our land, there is too much imposition of opinions and beliefs on others producing untold violence, there is too much misuse, misapplication and stealing of public funds all of which can be traced to a lack of respect for individual and collective rights or a sense of citizen  responsibility. We must return to these fundamentals. Each and every stakeholder must be challenged to assert their rights, under the one condition that they also fulfill their corresponding responsibilities. A government official that insists on living in privileged quarters must also be held responsible for failure in public governance. Workers that insist on good pay must produce good work. Individuals must look inwards, putting in needed efforts to support themselves, rather than seek to harvest where they have not sown.  All must strive to play their role as a citizen in reforming our nation and be her ambassador. Our army and police force needs to be transformed into projectors of national strength and rule of law, both at home and abroad. In return the instruments of violence entrusted to these few for the sole purpose of countering violence must be held sacred, and never turned against the citizenry, nor used in the service of those who would make themselves into demi-gods in our midst.

Equity because the contribution of individuals, communities, agencies of governments and all stakeholders must be meritoriously acknowledged and rewarded. Those whose land provide resources to the nation in all forms must be rewarded for their rights to such land, damages to their environment and livelihood must be avoided, and any such damages adequately compensated. At the same time we much recognize that component parts of our federation are not endowed equally, through no fault of their own, and that their disadvantages are ours too - implying a collective responsibility to help overcome such disadvantages without promoting dependence or parasitic behavior. Equity must mean the liberation of women who constitute over half of our population, holding the potential to double national productivity if allowed the necessary opportunities. Equity must mean liberating our kids from the burdens they now bear from disease, abuse, back-breaking work, and enslavement, so they would be adequately prepared to truly become the next generation. Equity means that those who engage in life-threatening work to protect the nation or secure life and property deserve a special place in our national consciousness.

Education for all because this remains the single most effective means known to man for liberating the mind and body from the bounds that hold people in poverty and mental darkness. At the collective level, education of a large majority of the citizenry that is also put to good use is recognized as the most important ingredient to increasing productivity and promoting economic growth. In the beleaguered 49-year history of Nigeria most of those who have managed to escape the traps of an ineffectual system are those who received some meaningful level of education. However, our inequitable approach to education has meant that many millions more  who would power our greatness have been reduced to penury, living in ignorance of their God given potentials or the nightmare of dead dreams. As one of Nigeria's foremost educationist once said: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance". The cost of ignorance promoted by a succession of overbearing governments is apparent today in our dying institutions of learning, ill-prepared graduates, almost complete loss of our stock of skilled people to other nations around the world who recognize the value of knowledge above all else, and the low standards that characterize our society today.

Service because the task needed to transform our nation cannot be denoted in Naira and Kobo alone, but in the sweat of patriots who devote themselves to volunteerism. In the steps of one of America's greatest President who said "not to ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" we "encourage all who have benefited from Nigeria's resources and standing as a nation to ask what they can do for her in return, for those who are struggling to make ends meet each day we encourage them to ask what they can do for themselves and their community, we encourage all to contribute their quota, no matter how small, in reforming, strengthening, and promoting Nigeria" as a nation of brothers and sisters with a common destiny with fellow Africans and the global human collective.