You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. We must dare to invent the future.


-Thomas Sankara

We in Nigeria and Africa at large suffer from the psychological vulnerability to make local legends more durable than facts. Some suffer from a cultural split personality, or some sort of value disorder of which I am guilty as charged... The far majority still remains 'the gullible'; and the rising opposition to that, 'the opinionated'. These are traits seen in the young and old and are a clear indications of what we have been through as a society. Our journey as a people is an evidence of the fact that behaviours are not genetic, but are influenced by the environment with which one finds his/herself. The bottom line is that I write this at a time the global imperial structure are being shaken at its roots, and i pray this reaches you in a good state of mind.

Man since inception of humankind has always been programmed to assimilate culture; thus whatever ideology you absorb by birth will occupy a large part of your overall behaviour. Very few rise above this default setting of human nature, and that is what principals of subjugation always use to enslave us mentally. Let me be quick to mention that this particular situation is often fuelled at the top of the pyramid by the biggest flaw of man, personal greed. There is a local saying that 'you do not build castles to be civilised'. Before the start of Africas exploitation, we ran very orderly traditions and forms of self-governance that protected the young and respected the decisions of the old. Islam was the first religion based on creed to spread through sub-saraharan Africa through trade, and in its compassionate nature did not abolish local beliefs. For a long time, people who had practised Islam still maintained their indigenous practices, which did not conflict with the tenets of Islam. Trade was the common ground and lifestyle to a huge level was communal. Nigeria was created in 1884; a marriage between a Northern protectorate that had conserved these sort of communal balance, and a southern protectorate that was still mainly indigenous, but well distinct and divided. In the advent of colonisation in Nigeria , the 4 Rs were brought in through the southern axis, and sort to inculcate the principles of Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic and Religion. Its unfortunate that with these developments, we went about learning it in the most westernised ways possible, while we demonised our indigenous belief and sometimes our roots - A huge contrast to the north. As it is, all religion is doomed to absorb culture in some form, as culture is rooted to the most fundamental of human actions; behaviour and conformism. Up until our independence as a country and till date, this trinity of ideology; Islam, Western lifestyles and indigenous beliefs occupy principal positions that have influenced our way of life and have all fused to become the heritage of not just Nigeria, but of Africa.

To understand how these ideologies wrestle for dominance, we have to look at the conflict they generate in every facets of the Nigerian life that make up society. Ideology is basically a set perspective that is highly valued by a subset of society. we will take a look at the science of the idea, its origin and its nature. I came about 5 major facets of the Nigerian life and they often overlap themselves but i will try to make them as distinct as possible for the purpose of discuss.

1. Geography and language

Nigeria is bordered to the north by the Republics of Niger and Chad; it shares borders to the west with the Republic of Benin, while the Republic of Cameroon shares the eastern borders right down to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean which forms the southern limits of Nigerian Territory. The 800km of coastline confers on the country the potentials of a maritime power. Land is in abundance in Nigeria for agricultural, industrial and commercial activities. It has a variety of terrains, from the deserts of the North, through the Savanna and rainforest and then into the mangrove swamps of the Southern oil rich Niger Delta. Nigeria also has a number of languages, currently estimated and cataloged in to be 521. These are grouped into over 250 tribal affiliations and this makes the Nigerian contraption, a very complex state. Of all tribes the hausa-fulani have the farthest influence, and this has reflected in our politics. Notwithstanding, in truth their influence is borne out of their geographical spread outside Nigeria (which goes as far as the Gambias), rather than within Nigeria. Their dominance of Nigerian politics is based on this extrinsic factor, which is supported by the religious practice of the sub-western African region (Islam) that occupies territories along the northern Nigerian border. The hausa language being one of the most simple languages in Africa then grants easy assimilation for those seeking haven. It is obvious that Nigerias weak border on the north had for a long time allowed an unchecked migration, coupled with the fact that the fulani are naturally a very mobile tribe of nomadic people. This makes for instance the entirety of Niger, waiting brothers in arm of the hausa fulani, just as the Chadians are common dwellers with the kanuri people of Bornu.

This is the great flaw in the British creation of Nigeria; they put a dominant north against a divided land locked South. The influence of religion in these areas is strong and rooted to the Quran and this in turn compliments their community giving it a homogenous feel. Their disdain for western culture then creates a clear contrast with the South, while the middle belt tribes form a sort of buffer region for shock values. In the south, the three major tribes are the Yorubas, Igbos and the Benin... with the Ijaws coming close. Unlike the North, the south were receptive to the western influence which used christianity as a tool of assimilation. With the coming of the missionaries, it wasn't long till people from the region began to communicate with God in latin, and then the language of the colonisers. Courts that were set up were foreign and the schools shared and encouraged foreign values. This took a toll on the traditional belief and practices making the indigenous culture seem obsolete. The western lifestyle then became the standard taste, as a newly understood religion made traditional practices seem evil. This western secularism is what makes christianity seem less of a religion than a way of life. The complicity in the christian religion is that it had long been divided and this further divided the southern regions of Nigeria and thus affected its ideology and moral standing. There are well documented rhetorics during the days of Ajayi Crowther, between the then protestant missions and their catholic counterparts for influence. Traditional beliefs were then over the space of several decades relegated to rural areas and practiced by social outcasts. It is the opinion of the writer that in any interaction between these ideologies, the indigenous be given alpha status. What is evident is that colonialism put together people who would have been separated and separated people that would have made sense together. Thus stunting our natural growth and indoctrinating us with codes of conducts that are in conflict with one another. The Nigerian society today is still geographically positioned for greatness, but is too fragmented and full of conflicts. Most of Africans already are prisoners of imported languages, and language is fundamental to identity.

2. Leadership

In nations where political institutions are weak, political personalities loom large, and the individual in power becomes more important than the office. I will like to state clearly that most of Nigerias leadership is still being dominated today by the military, the strongest institution planted in Africa by the west. Thus, its impossible to talk about the issue of leadership in Nigeria without talking about the military. In the pre-colonial times the military in not just Nigeria but also Africa, attracted the brightest minds, and this trend continued up until the early 90s. This is why the military has been the institution to produce the largest personalities in our polity, and have wrested power for the longest in most of Africa as a whole. The Nigerian state has been long described as a mafia state sustained by these principalities; The political capos who are majorly ex military and often complimented by a large cache of civilians who grew under their watchful eyes, and are often loyal to them. The royal icons are the next who's blood run blue and protect customary traditions within their jurisdiction. They are often contacted or consulted by the original Mafia and are important instruments of governance in Nigeria. The next two are the super caucuses of the stupendously wealthy business men who hold the economy of Nigeria together and the influential religious leaders who control the minds of their followers- These are the elites that control the 99% masses. These principalities are our elites and have various accommodation for Islam, western belief and indigenous belief. However, what is most unfortunate is that the military mafia has remained untouched and are still very powerful and able to cast their shadows whenever they want to. In this vein, one can argue that Nigeria has not seen an overhaul of this decades-long institution of control, nor are its proponent willing to fade into the shadows. In as much as they played very active roles in destroying the state of our union all through history, the fact that they are still very much relevant shows our stagnation in leadership. You see, we were taught to read and write but to govern and develop ourselves we must learn ourselves. Therefore one can argue that Nigeria is still a pseudo democratic state with lots of these military figures in civilian clothes running for public offices, and those on top the ladder sat-rooted in the scheme of things, not willing to vacate the space for the next generation. The civilian project in GEJ was a flop and this makes it certain that the military would hold reign in our polity for a long time to come. I must note the military however is unified in ideology, wholly due to the importance to chain of commands. But Islam seems to have the largest influence in the ideology of our military.

On the other hand, royal leaders protect customs and traditions and some indigenous practices in a bid to conserve these eroding values, while christianity and Islam share the spoils within leaders of industry and religious leaders who use their wealth and influence to control the masses. What creates the largest conflict in our polity is the conflict of interests on a political level between proponents from these classes of leaders. One factor in leadership is the monopoly of the Nigerian leadership hierarchy by the same actors who were major players before my birth. This is a dangerous trend in an ever evolving world as the younger generations with a more astute mind are relegated to the background as ‘personal assistants and special advisors’, only to be soiled by the corruption that runs from the top and contented with their position amongst their peers. The black race who at a time produced some of the most revolutionary and astute minds, are now more concerned on what Davido bought or on what wiz-kid is wearing. The frivolities that absorb the young mind has become so prevalent and ubiquitous that it has become so easy to become distracted and unconcerned, and a great burden to be focused. Its a grand scheme that has been orchestrated by our leaders to keep us the youth in perpetual limbo, dependence and fear. I still maintain that a lot is still not being done for the youths by the Nigerian system and the odds are stacked against us. History has been rendered useless in Nigeria’s dictional system, but what can’t be erased from the books of history is that revolutions have always been centred on the backs of the rampaging young ones, against an older order. The fact that most of these aged major actors of our polity were at a time self acclaimed revolutionaries themselves; its so obvious how absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Religion

Religion is the opium of the masses and the poor are hypnotised into bearing their burdens, by the promise of better things inside the grave. Religion is a grand design for our natural spirituality, and evil interests have hijacked the ideology and seek to use it for their purpose. The two major religion in Nigeria come from the same location, are monotheistic and share similar stories. The most significant of the shared story is that of Jesus, of which they share the same principles with traditional beliefs; which is sacrifice. Sacrifice is at the nucleus of every belief practice and blood is the ransom in most cases... Christianity believes Christ death was the redemption for all mankind, the moslems believes the there was a substitute who took the place of Christ on the cross (a sacrifice of some sort), and the ingenious belief believe that the spirit of the afflicted must be placated with sacrifices of blood to bring about cleansing. The other part of shared practices between these religion is the love of neighbour as self. However, both mainstream religions fundamentally: Assure's its followers of salvation; Believe in a precise theology; and Convert non-believers , and within Nigeria this often creates a societal conflict. It is important that we understand this two religions were originated in the same region, thus most of the modern tensions between them arise from the occupation of Islam's 3rd holiest city Jerusalem through the diplomacy of the United Nation; a territory that was conquered by Islam at about 636-37AD. This has only heightened the suspicion with which Islam view western secularism, and has led to the present theatre of terror that we witness today.

Added to that, religion often merges with culture to create a lifestyle and is used as a vessel to inculcate good behaviour. While the Nigerian muslim faithfuls inadvertently inherited the middle eastern suspicion of the west, the southern christians adopted western secularism and this brought about a human behaviour that worships greed on an alter of ostentation. However, muslims have not been fully exonerated from this alter of materialism; although one cannot be both a muslim and a christian, one can be a highly westernised muslim. The indigenous belief known for its instant justice has been relegated to be the practice of the uncouth, the muslims show devotion and the christians show faith by practice. But as much as islam absorbs most of indigenous belief and does not outcast their practice, the christians consider the indigenous practices a taboo. Indigenous belief grant reverence to two powers; spirits of the ancestors and the force of nature. This in turn directs worships to a plethora of gods ranging from minor deities of non-human origins to higher gods that control the forces of nature. The ultimate reverence is then given to a Supreme Being that is seen as the first amongst equals of the other gods. It is not still easy to decide where christianity ends and traditional belief begins as evident in most Nigerian churches today; In the anglican church of London it has been debated if Jesus actually performed any miracle, but in Nigeria people are convinced he is healing the sick... and in the collective enthusiasm of faith (worship) the church continues to grow as it forestalls ignorance on its people. This mentality shares the ideals of our traditional practice in the use of diviners, fortune tellers and healers.

This is a far contrast from islam which sought to keep its dissidents in penury, ignorance and poverty only to be used as dispensable foot soldiers for an agenda. It's Karl Max who had stated that religion is the sigh of the oppressed creatures and soul of souless conditions. Today we have a islam fundamentalists who believe God is King and they are God's men ready to fight his battle, and by their echo of ‘Allah akbar' they maim and kill. This slogan is central to Islam and is used as a call to prayer, a call to salem and a call to battle/jihad. Across the divide once again gospel sellers to African buyers, pose as god of men in expensive suit and regalia to preach salvation and prosperity while they reap the benefits from the pockets of the followers of their ideology. What is most evident in our society is the personal greed that arises from the conflict between these two religions grasp for control, and whose proponents use their religion as cover for their nefarious practices. Must i remind us all that to the fact that there is no cover in the indigenous practice for the guilty, and justice was most times handed instantaneously. It is the tenet of indigenous belief that royalty and death is god, and a quest for eternal life (ancestors) is both human and divine. Thus to be welcomed to the table of the elders meant to come with clean hands. This is why indigenous belief belief should hold alpha status in our culture. Unfortunately, the traditional belief in many gods have been vanquished by islam and christian belief in one God. What remains to be seen is if these theology would in turn be vanquished by the concept of modern secularism in a global order and/or Maxism that renders all Gods irrelevant.

4. Culture


The African culture has principles in every one of its facets of lifestyle, and as broad as the Nigerian culture is across the board, they share in these facets in the most simple of ways. culture share language and geographic expression; imbibe customs and orientations amongst young and old; have strong morals and value on women, life codes and belief; Is very accountable and responsible as it is moderated at the top by elders; have their works, arts and folklore; follow a chain of command and authority; follow unwritten laws; honours basic human rights and processes; and of course every proponent of each culture makes effort to leave a legacy, most times as offsprings. However with the adoption of foreign cultures by way of religion, we have succeeded in watering down the influence of indigenous culture; maybe rightly so. So what is it that makes us different form one culture to another? This is set in the questions of - Where are we from (roots); What drives our value and activities; Who has the influence of authority on us; What is the identity; What is really real. If one cannot identify strongly with his roots by answering these questions, it means one suffers a cultural split personality. Culture is broad and encompasses everything; Law, child birth & death, women moral codes, traditional rites etc. I will highlight two major drivers of culture, one positive and one negative to explain the nature of culture and practice on our minds and mentality, The first being the issue of bribery and corruption and then women role in society and marriage.

As a cultural practices, Christianity is largely western and carries an extra baggage of western secularism. Laws are western, mode of dressing are western, and the western entertainment has had a grip on our moral values. On the other hand, Islams' suspicion of western secularism meant that their values were at the other side of the spectrum to western lifestyle. In indigenous tradition its magnanimity can be viewed in customary marriages, child birth and funeral rites, especially towards the southern parts of Nigeria. For example the customary rite of birth is in the custody of the women, just as that of death is in the custody of men. In marriage, the roles are quite shared, but it is also in customary Nigerian marriage that the capacity for accommodation between Islam, western lifestyles and whatever indigenous belief is really experienced. In law, the western has the dominance but islam and customary law still have some appeal. In all this dynamics there always bound to be conflict and sometimes violence, and what is customary for all of Islam, Western and indigenous divides is the use of oral presentations and language to address the issues and hand out justice through the law; whether its via the courts, or in the council of elders.

The role of women in society before the advent of foreign influence was simple. However, because the Arab merchants had made contact with the far North of Nigeria as far back as the 7th century, this meant that their way of life had been cultured by Islam. Islam is the most prudish of all of Africas heritage and it over-protects the female form and reduces their influence to their nuclear home, and the men are allowed to have more than one of them. This kind of control on women sustains the patriarchy of the Arab world, as over at their side of the divide it is a man's world. In most of indigenous southern and middle belt region of Nigeria, the customary role of women gave them custody of 3 of the 4 elements of nature: Water to which they fetch and store for the home (done most times in the morning); Earth to help cultivate alongside the husband and ensure a fertile harvest; and fire to cook with and make a meal with whatever the husband produces. They also played direct role in the family in educating the children with poetry, stories and folklores, in child birth, treatment of ailments and marriage. The role of women in indigenous Africa was elaborate and inspiring although the husband often took the glory. Given this reason highly placed women often went about in their compounds, and in the comfort of their market stalls bared breast (as trade became necessary with the coming of currency). The younger women always portrayed a seductive aura with the legendary beads around the waist used to show their coming of age and fertility. The woman form was always adored in sub saharan Africa but perversion was some how non-existent. However, with the arrival of Europeans, the missionary arrived with a victorian prudishness and the they proceeded to cover naked African breast and designed special dresses to deemphasise the African female curves. They then through religion imbibed the culture of one woman one man in marriage and suitably the men decided to do what victorian men do; To leave their wives at home. This is what created the culture of the house wives in Nigeria. A value disorder that created the psychological vulnerability of the modern African woman. This was also what had been at play in the western world till the 70s and women are now finding their place in society all over the world, or at least in most of the world as the case might be. However, one road that we can't go back from is the ancient inhibitions of the indigenous African society, eroded by modernity through the sexualization of the female form. From another perspective it is a struggle between the Islam and western secularism to create a standard for modesty based on their culture to suit their taste.

Corruption as dictated by western and eastern lifestyles is mainly African and a matter of culture. Based on indigenous belief if I want to seek the chief's audience, I will need to provide kola, and if I visit the high priest in the shrine, I bring with me a fowl. Paying homage is an African culture and its used as a token of reciprocal goodwill. This mentality is even exhibited in the church where people make religious offerings as tithes, for an intercession to their prayers. Are they in any way bribing God? However, should one take that behaviour to say a bank, in other to get a loan, there is a pretty good chance you could be charged for fraud. Western institutions and their by laws have given us more than one standard of behaviour. This same culture the early missionaries of the western values exploited when they came with first the anglican mission, which was headed by Samuel Ajayi Crowther. Then they used scriptural propaganda and African preachers from Sierra Leone to create missions and schools across the south west spreading towards the East. Then came the foreign catholic missionaries who had more provisions and were foreigners with their own style, and they offered early adherents some of their medicines and provisions and through that, were able to get land from the people to set up missions and schools within localities and hamlets (Between both missions it was propaganda vs philanthropy). It was this method of homage that the Catholics used to win over converts from the protestants and furthermore win so much souls for Jesus from the then desolate indigenous practices. Homage is central to African tradition, but how often do we equate homage to bribe. In places Christianity seemed to take root it has had to adapt or perish. By accommodating tradition the religion can become more culturally relevant to the society; This they did in the south west where the most of the yoruba tradition fused into their style of worship, and is the major reason it failed to take root in the south east for instance. By identifying more quickly with the African aspiration, the religion can acquire practical relevance; This the missionary focused on, in the South east. In the aspect of education which western influence created, piety rather than productivity became the main goal for the christian education, and unfortunately the gospel was not a manual of technology. This has then created the dysfunctional society we live in today, where instead of factories and industries, Africa is bereft of churches and places of worship. On the other side Islam was pretty conserved and untouched by foreign interference. The traditional rulers were custodians of a culture which had been fully assimilated by Islam. However, in their bit to over populate the south, these rulers sought to encourage their adherent to procreate far more than they could cater for, and set fort a social structure that accommodated them; This is the how the almajiri culture was orchestrated. So these multitudes of destitute were often fed and clothed by the elites within their societies, who also provided for them, their own modes of indoctrination with emphasis using islamic education. Somehow, something their rulers never foresaw was the unchecked migrations of the Igbos to their region, which then put the islamic education at a great disadvantage. So their elites started to send their children to the whites man land to gain education and occupy position of authority. This then in turn created a social imbalance in the North whereby these children of elites whom their parents had fed and clothed a growing number of destitute returned home westernised and paid little mind to the ways of their fathers. This culture is what created the fertile ground for indoctrination and terrorism in Nigeria, as these destitute lack the right kind of care and upbringing and are open to any form of message that would guarantee them food on a plate. It is even a cultural practice as they are seen till this date, in an early age of the destitute muslim child, they move with a slate to write; a plate to eat ; and a Quran to learn. Foreign values and western secularism is the poison that has damaged the African mentality.

Another facet of corruption is the culture of kick backs, inflation of figures and misappropriation. Traditional rulers had been demanding kickbacks from European merchants even before the formation of the Nigerian state, and this is reflected in the culture of the Niger delta area, who by right were the earliest to come in contact with white merchants; They were also always barbaric and savagely by nature which has not changed. With the advent of colonial rule, its lack of legitimacy and respect gave birth to more vices, as the elites at the time saw graft as a duty and a way of stealing from a foreign thief.. It was this attitude of misappropriation that was carried on within the created civil service of the time and the struggle for dominance between major tribes and the conflict that ensued only systemised it. The oil boom of the 70s then caused a moral disease of oil wealth in a weak capitalist system, and people could accumulate wealth as humans decayed. One of the levels that show the shallowness of the western technological impact in Africa is the nature of our consumption of foreign items. We have not gotten better to sustain ours because we have become obsessed with the foreign man’s taste and style and so we try to be like them, and absorb as much of them through their media to the chagrin of ours. However, what can be traced to the origin is that we as a society within a Nigerian state of chaos, have been cultured to want and sometimes need western goods. It is very unfortunate that the cure of the Nigerian ailment, is often as unfavourable as our maladies.

Economy

It is very difficult discussing economy without the global picture and i will start at its origin.
Economics is the flow of supply and demand, controlled by a combination of market forces and management of monetary policies. It is a scientific anomaly to the social contract that is capitalism. But unfortunately as a subject to social welfare it is not a pro-active approach in managing the state as seen by many, but a preemptive approach in preventing the worse case scenario. On the basic level, the lifeblood of economics is money driven by trade and foreign exchange, and the banks lie at the centre of money; moderated by their respective central banks. Who owns the central banks of the world? Well this is something Adam Smith thought when he described the invisible hand of God driving market forces in his theatrics the wealth of nations. The federal reserve bank of America is the beating heart of capitalism and supports sales of commodity and stocks through the stock exchange, and through that control every conflict and interest of America and the world at large.

You see economics is an entirely western idea that originated from Europe but was perfected in the United states of America. The beginning of Americas reign was at the height of the great depression, after it had gone through its worse recession. America was in turmoil at the time the world had gone into two world wars, and nearing the end of the second joined the war efforts by manipulating gold prices and standards. If the was orchestrated for control and power, the outcome of the war created the league of nations... however, a beleaguered Germany could not live with the humiliation of an armistice and plunged the world into a second and the second world war created the United nation and world banks to serve as a framework for world government. These institution were entrusted into the hands of the most powerful nation and the dropper of two nuclear bombs (The UN and world banks are just externalised appendages of American muscle. Many other treaties followed the war including the independence of colonised nations who adopted these frameworks and there became the independent journey of Nigeria.

However, Nigerias economy has been stunted by personal greed and this is not entirely based on our heritage but rather rooted to a flaw of human behaviour. It is this evil human behaviour all three of Africas heritage of islam, western secularism and traditional belief seek to quell in us all. International trade and globalisation, banking systems and macro economics and markets and micro economics all intercalates to manage economic situations but there appear to be greed rotting the state of the globe. Economic systems often generates ideologies like how we perceive jobless people, leisure and possessions, however its the capitalist system that fosters anxiety and uncertainty, vigorous competitions on all levels, unnecessary conformism and political complacency.

To understand how the economy influences our mentality with regards to greed would be to recap on all earlier factors that i had earlier stated, because as much as the above factors of leadership, culture/religion and geography determines the wealth of nations, the most vile of us hide under their fabric to orchestrate great evils.

Institutions

Great leaders build great institutions. Furthermore, great countries have great institution while bad or poor countries have bad institutions. The role of institutions is beyond importance and a lack of it creates conflicts. The problem with the Nigerian institution is that of having two standards of behaviour; one being islamic and the other being western. Thus, often a nation divided cannot endure and without endurance there is no prosperity. With this the correlation between poverty and corruption is direct. This means waste and corruption lies at the very heart of our stagnation and this is because of our clan based thinking in the mould of federal character. This is what we employ instead of a merit based system and so we don't benefit from the intelligence and talent of the whole population, and often lose our best minds to other nations. Nepotism is what fuels misappropriation of national wealth and lost revenues in Nigeria alone run into several billions a year; money that can create a turn around for millions of citizenry. Whats more appalling is that these monies are taken to offshore accounts meaning that the state is ripped off completely of its earnings generated. People who do this are Christians, muslims and traditionalist and they do it for their selfish interest and self preservation, preventing the state from investing in police, healthcare, education and transportation. Nigeria is full of empty industrial and technological monuments while we import goods from other factories and this is entirely because of bad planning and lack of foresight owing to nepotism.

Culture and Religion

It is often true that the less people believe the richer they are bound to get. Culture and religion is what goes on in peoples mind and often what they believe. As much as its an expression of identity, when its over expressed often true the adaptability of religious views, it becomes a disaster. The most wealthy nations believe that religion is not a tool for them with the only exception of the United states of America (Because its form a christianity is a overwhelmingly protestant kind of christianity that is exceptionally materialistic, and preaches the American god religion of prosperity here and now and not here after). In the poorest of countries, almost everyone is a believer and this is why religiosity is bad for wealth creation; the poor are hypnotised by it to bear their burdens by the promise of better things inside the grave. On the other hand the wealthiest nations believe in their capacity to alter their fortunes through effort and talent irrespective of values. Nigerias accommodation of religious belief is overwhelmingly out of order and these same religious houses share in the spoils of corruption, whether it is through fraud or misappropriation of through terror and fear.

Geography

Geography are ruled by three main factors; latitude, connectivity with the rest of the world and geological good fortunes. NIGERIA is located in the tropical region where you tend to find the poorest of countries. Things are far tougher in these regions as often seen in agriculture. Infertile soil and multiple tropical diseases affect livestock, plants and humans reducing productivity. Another factor is the availability of water ways as water transports reduces cost of trade and give merchants access to larger markets. transport by land or air tends to cost much, and most of Nigeria is land locked with little access to water unlike Europe which is lavishly blessed with water ways. The case with Nigeria is that we are the architect of our own misfortune, as we only have one major sea port to use as trade for an overwhelming population. Finally, there is natural resources that act as intensifiers making countries with good institutions more prosperous and those with bad institutions poor, precipitating the resources trap; that allow the elites grab monies without requiring the cooperation of the whole society. With this kind of behaviour based on greed, if Nigeria was to say build a power plant to boost production, the whole society will have to be a part of it, but if you want to extract a few minerals or resources, you just need a ragtag group of bandits and some guns and an airstrip or bay to ferry the loot out the country.

Conclusion

What is a revolution?
Revolution is an alteration of "state" of being. Revolution is a true religion, every other are counterfeit. Revolution is change and change is constant, therefore it is a natural order. Revolution starts with the individual. Nigeria seriously needs a revolution, apparently a peaceful one. An awakening in consciousness of the society, and majorly the youth and working class. The elite and 'vested interests' in the Nigerian society often employ the divide and rule in order to reverse revolution, because they know the onset to all revolution is a common front. They sedate us with clumsy art and entertainment to give an excitement value, while they loot from our common wealth. The masses are a naturally the common front, and the working class should be revolutionary or it is nothing. We the youths have to show credentials to restore our nationhood even if it takes blood sweat and tears. There are a few positives to draw from Nnamdi Kanu's IPOB led protest, but he represents a divisive hateful interest that i believe is sponsored. We on the other hand only have to be our brothers keepers and even if it is a bitter experience, the outcome is sweet. Something has to let go, fundamental change between rich and poor is the only way to change the coming disaster.

Philosophers until now have only interpreted the world in various ways. The point, however is to change it. Awareness is required on a mass level, and the intellectuals need to be in majority of the work force. Nigerias plight has for a long time been one of westernisation without modernisation.
The fact that Nigerian political system is overwhelmed by an aristocratic bourgeois is already evident. The free market is one of the gains of capitalism, but its culture of misplacing 'the priorities for the greater good' is highly retrogressive and the cycle reduces humanity. Its pretty worse for a country that imports almost all of what it consumes. Nigerian masses must fight the aristocratic culture of our elites and replace it with a capitalist culture... As the world revolves around money. It is the responsibility of the elites to provide an enabling environment, otherwise the 'ground' would swallow them. We don't need to adopt western solution to Nigeria problems, as Nigeria has peculiar challenges. We must innovate our own ideas and develop technology to solve our problem genuinely. I must also state that Nigeria doesn't have to be a single state, but we can be a single nation. Nigeria has stayed long enough to continue to be acknowledged but our differences also has to be respected, and very importantly by law. A country with 3 different stated and unstated laws is lawless. We must first all be Nigerians by heart, use selective memory on our issues, and honour whom honour is due disregarding stereotype or tribe. Often its the clash of values that often explodes our conflicts into violence. But Nigeria has a bigger problem looming from the north. Drought in the upper part to Northern Nigeria may lead to an even more deadly consequences to our nationhood, if we do not band together despite our differences. It would even be worse if we are divided... there is nothing more deadly than the binding of an enemy who is friends with your other enemy (This is worse than an enemy within, cos an enemy within will find it hard to operate in a close community. We must imbibe a national culture of social welfare and improve our social structures and institution to foster community. Community is simply[b] comm[/b]uning in unity. We have to work together to make the country rich and prosperous, and we need to employ the following measures to name a few;

An educated & self-educating, mobile and flexible workforce that would work judiciously to create a functioning system. The problem with the present is that it is old and obsolete. It is also reeking with mediocrity as we do not employ meritocracy. The Code of conduct Bureau is an albatross to our development, and we will not need it in a confederate system.

Lack of corruption in institutions. It is obvious that those that loot our common wealth do so because there are no dire consequences. They also rig the system with other vices like nepotism, favouritism, mis management, bribery and terror in order to profit from the state of chaos. A confederate would ensure more accountability as its obvious the centre does not hold.

Law and order to allow business and transaction, secure property and generate trust in the system. This present law in Nigeria is lawless so there is no order. A confederate would ensure homogeneity in law and justice in execution, as it is not rocket science.

High grade infrastructure and telecommunication. Our strength in number is our weakness and our diversity can be a curse. Thus, projects must appeal to the value of the culture which it is built on, and also be able to stand the test of time. Again the confederate system assures that similarity in value and assurance of competence. LOL... If you tell an average Igbo man to build a school in the north, you know how far.

Low red tape around employment, legislation and taxation. Indigenisation is a central part of all nations and creates momentous results in stimulating economy. Red tape bureaucracy around the Nigerian civil service and work flow kills time and stunts growth; same with legislation and our taxation is moribund. Enough said.

We also have to check cultural factors so that work defines who you are, but does not reduce you. There should be more dignity in labor and these days dignity lies in renumeration. The workforce should be kept highly motivated and efficient. Moreso, little emphasis should start to be placed on religion and the customer should be made king when he patronises locally made products with; excellent customer service low prices and a customised appeal. We need to change our logic of global expectations and reverse some of the trends and reality we face. Its unfortunate a section of the country cannot consider Nigeria their tribe, but its important we consider Nigeria first before any other ideology, because a nation divided cannot endure. Every agitating group is often a small band compared to the entire population, thus they are often controlled by some interest. acknowledging this, agitators are often like babies that are desiring to be heard. It is only human we here and pacify their cry.

Waiting on your conclusion

Modified: conclusion is a bit too distorted and incurrent. Post too long too as the one below me said

A candle does not lose its effect by lighting another. This is stranger than fiction, but its worth the discuss.

OAM4J, Mynd44 Please use your wonderfully stationed offices to push this write up. kindly bless the effort.

On nairaland? This is long for a forum, here and not a newspaper

Good effort... can't read it all

I like that wonderful quote from the former President of Bukina Faso, Thomas Sankara.

let me grab chair to sit before I read

gevans:
let me grab chair to sit before I read

U don run so o... no coming back

MedicMan1role1:
U don run so o... no coming back

lols, I am here bro

Speechless

I think the write up, though historically enlightening was largely a waste of time. Unity is not something forced. It has to be willing entered into by all parties involved or the aim is defeated.

Nigerians should not be begged, asked, told or forced to unite. It is for Nigerians to survey the enviroment and decide if our collective unity is more beneficial than oir individual intetest.

If there are any ethnic nstionalities, who after critical thinking, decide they are better off outside Nigeria, the should be let go.

'Unity by force' will not work

Well, I don't agree its a waste of time as the goal is to enlighten, no matter how small. Many are oblivious to how important historical relevance are. On the other hand, i am not saying Nigeria should be forced to remain one. But rather, we should see the strength our diversity and numbers possess and work together along the line of co-existence.


To be honest, the people pushing for division are only a small fraction of the entire subset of any region... the fact they raise so much dust does not mean they are in majority. Its just that not being heard makes them more emotional and amplifies their cry; This people just need some love. Secondly, we have to understand the dynamics of divide and rule, as very often anything divided politically often maintains that decline of division. This is evident in political system that had been divided cos they continue to be divided; christiandom, most nations in the former USSR, south sudan, and even in Nigeria's governing strategy of its state. Thirdly if we dont unite, it will only make neighboring countries take advantage of our weaker states and pillage our resources. There is one reason Nigeria has not been in open war with any African country; our strength in numbers. You will be suprise how many african states have conflict with theirselves. Finally there are many great reasons for Nigeria to remain bound together, what we need is a more viable social contract, working laws that are reflection of its people and coexistence. Most people that push for outright division are ill informed.

kingzizzy:
I think the write up, though historically enlightening was largely a waste of time. Unity is not something forced. It has to be willing entered into by all parties involved or the aim is defeated.

Nigerians should not be begged, asked, told or forced to unite. It is for Nigerians to survey the enviroment and decide if our collective unity is more beneficial than oir individual intetest.

If there are any ethnic nstionalities, who after critical thinking, decide they are better off outside Nigeria, the should be let go.

'Unity by force' will not work

LordCzar202:
Well, I don't agree its a waste of time as the goal is to enlighten, no matter how small. Many are oblivious to how important historical relevance are. On the other hand, i am not saying Nigeria should be forced to remain one. But rather, we should see the strength our diversity and numbers possess and work together along the line of co-existence.


To be honest, the people pushing for division are only a small fraction of the entire subset of any region... the fact they raise so much dust does not mean they are in majority. Its just that not being heard makes them more emotional and amplifies their cry; This people just need some love. Secondly, we have to understand the dynamics of divide and rule, as very often anything divided politically often maintains that decline of division. This is evident in political system that had been divided cos they continue to be divided; christiandom, most nations in the former USSR, south sudan, and even in Nigeria's governing strategy of its state. Thirdly if we dont unite, it will only make neighboring countries take advantage of our weaker states and pillage our resources. There is one reason Nigeria has not been in open war with any African country; our strength in numbers. You will be suprise how many african states have conflict with theirselves. Finally there are many great reasons for Nigeria to remain bound together, what we need is a more viable social contract, working laws that are reflection of its people and coexistence. Most people that push for outright division are ill informed.

Wake up from your slumber and stop this fake deaming. The same thing you are saying about Nigeria was once said of the USSR. The said 'we are better off united", "we are big and indivisible", "our strenght is in our diversity and oneness", "the USSR motherland will be greater united than divided"

These are the same things you are now currently trumpeting about Nigeria.


But guess what? The USSR broke up into several countries and not one of those countries are hoping for the USSR to ever come back again.

Countries like Lithuania of just 3 million people that use to be part of the USSR have since joined the EU and NATO and are prospering. Countries like Estonia that used to be part of the USSR have become global tourists destinations and have self determination. All those countries are doing very well now that they are out of the USSR than when they were all together and fighting everyday inside the USSR.

Our strenght is not in our numbers. Switzerland is landlocked, has a population of just 8 million people, has no oil and is not even up to sieze of Benue state. Yet Switzerland has a GDP greater than Nigeria and is far richer. What Switzerland makes from just Banking and Financial services alone, Nigeria has no hope of making from Oil sales.

The lesson here is that it is better to be Switzerland, small but effective, than be Nigeria, large but hopeless.

Nigeria does not work as a nation and if Igbo/Hausa/Yoruba have not learnt to love each other after 103 years Lugard brought them together, they never will.

It is time to call a spade a spade and grant a referendum to those ethnic nationalities who have shown by their actions and words that they are not comfortable with Nigeria, such as Igbos.

Hoping and praying for something to work has its limits.