NIGERIA AT 64 - the unfinished business of becoming a modern nation

“Nigerians need to come to terms with the true history of their country, beyond the official sugarcoating.”

Sociology is a field of the Humanities which attempts to study developments and interactions within society, and to make – not just observations, such as are recorded by History, but patterns and predictions based on deductions and extrapolations from such ‘scientific’ observation.

In mainstream Politics as it is practised in Nigeria, neither Politics, nor Society itself, are seen as subjects that need to be specifically studied and mastered. Military President Ibrahim Babangida showed unusual perspicacity by arming himself with Political Science ‘coaches’ before, and during his adventure in national political leadership.

Research work for a book many years ago led this writer to the UNILAG home of the late Professor Olatunde Oloko, who was acclaimed as the foremost Nigerian sociologist of his day.

The discussion focussed on a wide range of national issues, during which he repeatedly mentioned the name of a certain Alex Inkeles.

You would later learn that Inkeles was a Harvard Sociologist who published a book titled ‘Becoming Modern’ after a massive research survey his team carried out in six ‘developing’ nations in the 1960s, an era in which many ‘Third World’ nations were becoming independent of colonial rule. It was already becoming clear that not much development was taking place in some of the countries while some were leaping forward, and the researchers were keen to find out why there were differences.

According to Inkeles, ‘…it is impossible for a state to move into the twentieth century if people continue to live, in effect, in an earlier era…’.

6,000 people were interviewed in Chile, India, Israel, East Pakistan (which later became Bangladesh), Argentina, and – wait for it, Nigeria. There was an effort to calculate something known as ‘Overall Modernity’ (OM) of individual citizens, based on an assumption that modern nations could not be created without modern citizens.

There were several interesting conclusions from the research, including a confirmation that factors most crucial to Overall Modernity of citizens included Education, exposure to Mass Media and Occupational Experience in a modern workplace.

Inkeles’ conclusions may be queried nowadays, as may Professor Oloko’s staunch belief in the applicability of his insights to Nigeria. But it is interesting to take a sociological approach in asking the question:

‘What is keeping Nigeria from becoming a modern nation, or even a ‘nation’ as distinct from a ‘mere geographical expression’, sixty-four years into Independence from colonial rule? Where is the unfinished business?’

How may the unfinished business be completed and a modern nation-state created that actualises its group potential as well as the individual potentials of its citizens?

There is no magic bullet to successful nationhood for the giant of Africa, on whose fate hinges the destiny of Africa and the black race. But a few points are worthy of consideration.

Nigerians need to come to terms with the true history of their country, beyond the official sugarcoating. This includes the psychology behind the amalgamation and the distrust, mutual suspicion, and chicanery among the ‘Founding Fathers’ as each jostled for hegemonic advantage.

Then there are the crucial landmarks that have pock-marked the nation’s history, which have heretofore been invested with divergent narratives imbued with emotion, even hatred, passed down the generations. Anyone going through the narrative of Solape Ademulegun’s book – ‘The Brigadier’s Daughter’ as it recounts the experience of a six-year-old girl seeing her father and pregnant mother gunned down in their bedroom would empathise with the view that Nigeria’s ‘First Coup’ was anything but a brilliantly executed surgical strike carried out by young patriotic soldiers to rescue Nigeria. In the same manner, hearing friends’ accounts of harrowing experiences in ‘Biafra’, or eye-witness accounts of the Asaba Massacre, makes it easy to understand why they evoke emotions and harden attitudes to this day.

There are two psycho-social routes for Nigerians to come to terms with their history. One is through the catharsis of a ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ exercise. Sadly, unlike what happened in South Africa, this does not suit Nigeria’s temperament, or his tendency to project blame and not accept responsibility.