On 8 December 2016, family members, friends and well-wishers gathered at the Conference Chamber of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, to attend the launch and presentation of my first book titled “Caught in a Trap: Issues in Nigerian Democracy and Development.” The book is a compendium of some essays written by me in the last two years as a columnist with the BusinessDay Media Ltd.
The book is the product of my consistent intellectual engagement with various contemporary aspects of the Nigerian development and democratic project of several years. Going by the structure, the nature of the essays has been piecemeal, taking issues as they occur, and providing critical discourses capable of expanding the frontiers of thought and experience. In terms of presentation, the chapters are not more than what originally appeared as newspaper articles. These articles are focused on a selection of Nigerian experiences relevant to the question of the nation’s socio-economic and political survival.
It has taken a long journey to get to this stage of producing a book. Norman Miller once said: “writing books is the closest men ever came to child bearing.’’ There is no doubt that child bearing comes with pain, but not as much when one is writing. Although, it takes 9 months most times for a child to be born, what you will read in my first book took more than that. The articles are a select few from what I wrote in 24 months. The book is not written for me, it is for posterity. The book is for the educated, especially those aspiring to elected and appointed positions of leadership in government and industry. Although I am not a card carrying member of any political party, but drawing inspiration from Aristotle’s philosophy, I am a “political animal.”
For several years, I have seen a self-entrapped country that seems incapable of breaking off from its shackles. From my perspective, Nigeria has been shackled through policies and practices against genuine democratic and developmental progression. As a scholar who has been involved in research and constructive debates as to why some nations are richer, while others are getting poorer, I decided to commit my thoughts into writing. This is in line with Edmund Burke’s philosophy that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.” One of the ways of not doing something is to keep quiet as the nation drifts into economic depression and technological backwardness. So, in order to do something, I have to commit my views on topical issues in the country into writing. My views include suggested solutions to different challenges confronting Nigeria at the time of writing. If however Nigeria’s policy makers don’t act now with all seriousness required of a nation on a mission to develop, some of my thoughts would be relevant in the future.
The book acknowledges that democracy is complex. And perhaps, very complex in a pluralistic society like Nigeria because of varying and diverging interests. Some scholars have argued that nations must first develop before adopting democracy as a form of government. In the book, I argue that both democracy and development should run concurrently. We must however, remember that it takes a generation of committed leaders to build a nation. That is why developed nations invest heavily in preparing leaders for elected and appointed offices in government. Until leaders learn to invest in the education of our youths, and reverse the high cost of governance, Nigeria remains a poor nation.
Poverty isn’t only a phenomenon peculiar to Nigeria. And data shows that about 70 percent of Nigerians are poor. Many Nigerians are poor, not because they are people of colour, neither is it due to bad culture nor bad history. It’s because of the way Nigerian leaders have chosen to govern coupled with poorly articulated policies for decades. On several occasions, policy formulation and implementation are muddled with politics. We’re organized politically and economically in a manner that can’t engender development. Until Nigeria has a constitution reflecting how the people or their representatives want to be governed, and not that imposed by a military junta, then the nation is trapped. This and many other issues are reflected in the book.
Through my articles, I have explored Nigeria’s historical and contemporary happenings, and offer an optimistic prognosis of the nation’s future development. In all my articles in the book, I raised questions about viable policy alternatives, while providing huge significations on how the country could unshackle itself, and realign with such policies and practices that make for advancement in democracy and development. It is very dictatorial and uncivilized to say, that “there is no alternative” to a policy that is not solving a particular problem of the society. There are always alternatives to policies. When a policy isn’t working, it must be fine-tuned or changed by policy makers.
Finally, I want to thank the Publisher/CEO, the management and staff of BusinessDay Media Ltd, for giving me the opportunity to use their newspaper as a platform for contributing to liberal thoughts on Nigeria’s development. To my distinguished readers, I say “merci beaucoup” for keeping faith with me every Tuesday as I serve those essays on wide ranging contemporary global, regional and national issues. I wish you all God’s speed and heaven’s joy this festive season and in the coming year!
MA Johnson
