[size=14pt]Again a failed state[/size]
July 11, 2010 01:27AM

These are interesting times for Nigeria. Just as the country is settling down to the month-long presidency of the United Nations Security Council, as well as the (admittedly controversial) chairmanship of the Developing Eight Countries (D8); and just as we should be preparing to reap the economic and diplomatic benefits of the US-Nigeria bi-national commission, the news has emerged of another ‘achievement’: Nigeria is the 14th most failed state in the world.

We first made an appearance in the top 20 of the Failed States listing in 2007, the year that Olusegun Obasanjo rather reluctantly handed over the Presidency to Umar Yar’Adua, following elections that were roundly condemned by local and international observers. Every year since then, we have faithfully maintained our position on the list. We’re Africa’s ninth failed state, coming behind Somalia, Chad, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire and Kenya, in that order. Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Haiti are the four non-African countries that come before Nigeria on the list.

Since 2008 our ranking has progressively worsened, from number 19 that year to number 15 in 2009, and now number 14. We appear to be gaining devious confidence by the year, and inching closer to the top of the Failed States listing.

Our government will definitely not agree with that listing. In the coming days we expect them to protest, even more vehemently than they did on the release of the ‘Welcome to Lagos’ documentary. Dora Akunyili will soon hit the airwaves to lament bitterly about a conspiracy against Nigeria, and to mouth platitudes about how a few failings do not a failed state make. Of course not many will believe her, especially because the Failed States Listing is not a nebulously assembled document – commentary accompanying it provides detailed justification for Nigeria’s position on the list.

Here’s the verdict on the great nation of good people: “The Nigerian police force is highly corrupt, poorly trained, and has been accused of committing widespread human rights abuses with near impunity. They have been unable to prevent violent riots in many major cities, the most serious of which resulted in over 400 deaths in November 2008. The police have been accused of shooting over 90 of the victims. The judiciary is poorly trained and underpaid, making it susceptible to corruption. Civil servants are poorly paid and consistently fail to perform their duties. Positions are often appointed based on ethnic, religious, or political backgrounds instead of merit, and corruption is widespread.” Late President Umar Yar’Adua’s administration got a damning assessment. The listing concluded that that government “has done little to curb the widespread corruption that exists in the Nigerian government, has been unable to unify the competing religious and ethnic groups in the country, and has not invigorated the economy.” A challenge automatically goes out to any official of that administration, or the current one – which in many ways is merely a continuation of the old – to convincingly prove that the assessment above is false.

At a time like this we are reminded, very painfully, that Nigeria has made scant progress – relative to the opportunities available for true progress – in the last decade or so since the military dictatorships gave way to democracy.

We have now grown used to commentator after commentator expressing fears and concerns about Nigeria. Last year US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton described Nigeria’s situation as “a heartbreaking scene.” Earlier this year former US Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell warned of the possibilities of severe crisis as the fallout of the intrigues that accompanied late President Yar’Adua’s illness and subsequent abdication of office.

None of these “foreign concerns” can however match the ones that Nigerians themselves have cried themselves hoarse expressing. The truth is that the average Nigerian does not need a listing by an international organisation to convince himself or herself that Nigeria is a failed state. Any citizen who has to provide electricity, water, security and justice (often expressed as jungle justice) for himself knows what state failure is with far greater certitude than the best-equipped international pollster or researcher.

This is nothing but a harsh wake-up call to the Jonathan administration. Beyond the PDP politicking, and the exciting diplomatic junketing, and the hosting of presidential guests, and the Facebooking; this administration is confronted with massive challenges in every sphere of national life. The task is daunting, the scope of reform and transformation that needs to be done beggars belief.

The choices are clearly laid out before Mr. Jonathan: either he continues to play a status quo game, investing most if not all his energy in scheming to stay in power and cultivate a political empire; or he boldly hits the road never travelled, and commences the take-no-prisoners reform needed to move Nigeria from the edge of failure onto the path of genuine recovery.

There’s no agenda more critical than that, at this time.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Opinion/Columns/5592185-146/story.csp

According to the list, Yemen and Niger Republic are less failed than Nigeria.

That nigeria is a failed state is a gross understatement,nigeria is no state.A concrete jungle.

@Beaf,

these are well accepted facts in the outside world, why we as Nigerians fail to see this and act with the required urgency, I dont understand.

Indeed a failed state but we think we are the "giant of Africa"

monkeyleg:

@Beaf,

these are well accepted facts in the outside world, why we as Nigerians fail to see this and act with the required urgency, I dont understand.

It is because we are used to zero standards, zero organisation and zero responsibility. The state is failed and the people are in danger of failing too, but that is another massive topic.

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Very true Beaf, very true.