Thirty years later, while the Metropolitan Club is celebrating its 60th Anniversary, the challenges are undiminished. Neither is the mission diluted. Even if we dispute the suggestion that the club is surrounded by idiots, we cannot fail to recognise that the nation is under threat from serial political upheavals. Whatever standards prevailed when the club was founded have been subverted and compromised. Everything around us has deteriorated. What has set in is PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) as we grapple with decay, decadence and infrastructural collapse – without boundaries.
Is it conceivable that even before the founding fathers exited in glory, the foundations were already fraying at the edges? From the internet, Google has availed us of the outcome of case studies, carried out by “The Asian Aspiration”, of ten countries in East Asia – China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam.
There is not much evidence that The Metropolitan Club has directly intervened in the management of Nigeria’s economic or financial affairs. Hence, if guilt is to be ascribed to the Club as an institution or the members as individuals, it can only be by default!!
According to Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (non-member of the club) and a presidential aspirant at the last elections: “Nigeria is a good example of development statis and retrogression. The country’s average nominal GDP per capita between Independence in 1960 and 2018 is U.S. $1736 according to the International Monetary Fund [IMF]. It is ranked 157 out of 189 countries in the Human Development Index of 2017. In 2018, The World Bank ranked Nigeria 152nd out of 157 countries in its Human Capital Index and Nigeria is now ranked the “poverty capital” of the world by the World Poverty Clock, with 92 million of its 200 million people living in extreme poverty. All of this is largely due to poor governance and weak, market unfriendly economic policy and business environment.”
The Metropolitan Club is not guilty. Not even plea bargain!! I have been advised by my solicitors that since I did not join the Club until 9th May 1983, I cannot be held personally liable for whatever the club did (or failed to do) between the date (13 October 1959) when it was founded and the date I was accorded a membership number R24.
Over the last thirty-six years of being a member of the club and having had the privilege of interviewing and engaging the founding fathers, I must give them kudos for their foresight. Ab initio, they appear to have limited their role in the affairs of our nation to being referees or umpires in the expectation that everyone would play by the rules. Within the premises of the club they accommodated different points of view without letting matters deteriorate into a vicious and toxic environment. It is to their credit that they appreciated that national institutions constitute the anchor of democracy and good governance. Hence, they must be protected and nurtured. As the founding President of the Club, Sir Adetokunbo Ademola wore a second cap – as the Chief Justice of Nigeria. Hence, law and order were right at the top of the list. It was not by co-incidence or happenstance that amongst the other founding fathers were Sir Louis Mbafeno (Supreme Court) and Justice Charles Dadi Onyeama (Supreme Court) both of them were old boys of King’s College.
The Founding fathers, without exception were sufficiently alert to appreciate that Nigeria was in the cusp of history and that what the British handed over on 1st October 1960 was a fragile nation and the democracy that came with it was already labelled with “fragility” stamped all over it together with the health warning: “Fragile. Handle with care. Breakage is dangerous for the health of the nation.”
They also assessed the other risks accurately – Democracy may fail and the institutions may malfunction. Conflicts would arise – some would be trivial while others would be really serious. Rage may insist on hoodwinking and bamboozling outrage. it may rapidly deteriorate – no longer a case of two kids (or two generals) quarrelling.
It is tempting to believe that democracy is impregnable and sacrosanct. However, the Greek philosophers Plato, Socrates, Aristotle etc. were the first to beam their search-light on its frailties and its vulnerability especially when invaded and assaulted by a demagogue (or several demagogues operating across vast territories in various jurisdictions).
Incidentally, long before the upheaval on 15th January 1966 when the first military coup took place, the warning signals were already flashing. In choosing the first Nigerian to head the Army, Brigadier Babafemi Ogundipe, the most senior in rank and most professional among the contenders was the preferred choice of the British. The Sarduana of Sokoto, Sir (Alhaji) Ahmadu Bello, Premier of The North plumped for Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari (a fellow Northerner) or Brigadier-General Samuel Ademulegun while Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the President of Nigeria chose his kinsman, Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi.
Apparently, it was one of the founders of The Metropolitan Club who broke the deadlock – and Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi emerged as the winner. That was the outcome of the respective consultations by the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa; Sir (Alhaji) Ahmadu Bello and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe with the one person each of them trusted absolutely.
It was the late Chinua Achebe who has succinctly captured the essence of the Tuesday Lunch at The Metropolitan Club, even though he was never a member. I have no recollection of his ever being a guest either. “A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to redeem them from starving. They had food in their own houses. When we gather together in the moonlight (or broad daylight) village ground, it is not because of the moon (or the sun). Every man can see it in his own compound.
We came together because it is good for kinsmen to do so. Therefore, let us continue with the team spirit and enjoy the power of togetherness. Let’s smile not because we don’t have problems but because we are stronger than the problems.”
However, the challenge is where do we draw the line?
Dr. Kingsley Moghalu has thrown down the gauntlet by reminding us that: “Asia achieved rapid poverty reduction and transformed hundreds of millions of lives within a generation. Africa has a population problem, with 1.3 billion people, projected to double by 2050 and with 70 per cent of its youth population unemployed. Without real development, the continent’s youth bulge could explode with extremely negative social and other consequences.”
JK RANDLE
