A Dream of Nigeria: Critical Published Essays 2002 - 2005

By Kevin Etta Jr.

A Dream of Nigeria is a collection of published essays examining governance in Nigeria from 2002 to 2005, during Nigeria's current civil-rule dispensation. It is firstly a historical and political assessment of the nature and impact of governance during this period on the social, economic, and spiritual fortunes of the Nigerian peoples. Secondly, it is a whisper, a prayer, and a clarion call for the peoples of Nigeria in particular and Africa in general to reach for something higher than themselves, a set of higher values, forming the basis for good governance, improved service delivery, and civic responsibility at all levels, and creating a more stable political foundation for proper democratization.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 27, 2006
• ISBN: 9781469116969

Kevin Etta Jr.

Kevin Etta has worked separately as evangelist, schoolteacher, and analyst for leading US telecoms enterprises during the past two decades. He is the author of the inspirational book Dreams and Visions, and lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife and son.

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Copyright © 2006 by Kevin Etta Jr..

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Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

State of our nation

Cry freedom

Nigeria: sleepwalking into chaos

Not the Messiah

Whither goes patriotism?

God save Nigeria

Militarism, threat to democracy—not Daily Trust

Junta by proxy

Hawking Nigeria

Death in large doses

Pontifex Maximus

Where infamy reigns

Paradise Lost

The House has fallen

The Proposed National Political Reforms Conference

In search of Nigeria

In defence of Nigeria

ad nauseam

President Charles Taylor of Nigeria

For Want of Heroes

World gone mad

Endnotes

Preface

I SUPPOSE THE usual reasons for an essay collection of this sort are apropos, i.e. the sum ultimately holding more than its individual parts separately—just as each distinct musical note, however pleasurable, does not compare to the delight of a harmonious symphony. Hence, these essays when taken together produce not a methodology but a clear and tangible ideal, or dream, of Nigeria. A dream that goes beyond typical Nigerian resignation and the near-comedic mindset that accepts that things are the way they are and always will be. This dream, shared by many, says that things can be different in Nigeria. Nigeria can become a place where democracy, civil liberty and freedoms, respect for the rule of law, social security, economic empowerment, and political stability are a reality. This dream says that social re-engineering and political revolution need not remain the preserve of the career politician, the academic, the career journalist, or the soldier. Historically, they have all failed Nigeria and are part of the present institutional collapse and inertia. What will make a difference in Nigeria today is social re-engineering from the grassroots; in the marketplace, among entrepreneurs, teachers, policemen, lecturers, doctors, nurses, evangelists, public administrators and other ordinary people. Nigerians must become more vocal and virile in advocating social change, public accountability, respect for the rule of law, and the espousal of wholesale civic imperatives entrenched from the home to the marketplace, from the hospital ward to the Bank, from City Hall to the Presidency.

I found the urge to write when it became clear that certain sections of the mainstream press in Nigeria were too inclined to give the present administration the benefit of the doubt early in the life of the new democracy, to the extent that glaring lapses and failings were venally glossed over and excused, partly on the basis of past military administrations. This I viewed (as did many others) to be a dangerous trend, since democracy goes far beyond the protection, preservation, or glorification of any singular office or institution. It is basically the guarantor of the freedoms, hopes, and aspirations of a commonwealth of thriving peoples, with immediate translation into mine and my family’s future as far as our homeland is concerned. And so, we, like others, must do our part to require accountability from those that hold the mandate to administer our country to the extent of our ability under the law. We must find our own voice and not depend solely on the career politician or the press. This I have done by writing these essays, some of which have been published in newspapers in Nigeria and others elsewhere.

I am profoundly touched by much of the feedback I receive from people whom I do not know but respond passionately to things I have written. At other times the responses have been combative and clamorous; however I cherish them no less, because one way or the other I am read and make an impact that engenders a reaction and an opinion.

As you read through these pages, see them as part of that process of social re-engineering where we stop seeing things as they are and saying only, why? But begin to dream the things that never were and then say, why not.

Kevin Etta Jr.

Acknowledgements

To my parents who taught me how to dream

To my siblings who taught me fellowship

To friends who have taught me experience

To my son who gives me strength

To my wife who has given me love

To my God who has given me salvation

1   

State of our nation

(Gamji, Nigeriaworld, and Nigeriannews, November 2002)

I WISH TO comment on recent events in Nigeria and the role of the media as a contributor to public discourse and a catalyst for the realignment of social values towards greater harmony between the government and the governed.

The recent cancellation of the Miss World contest in Nigeria and loss of a huge Kodak moment for Nigeria is regrettable. It has only served to reinforce the widespread belief in international circles that Nigeria is not conducive to investment and innovative entrepreneurial machination.¹ It is also regrettable that in the wake of a provocative and condemnable article by a journalist, Christians and non-Muslims should be killed and their property destroyed by Muslims.² Miss World is not a Christian organization, nor was the contest in Nigeria being sponsored by the Christian Association of Nigeria.

It is even more regrettable that our government, if in fact we can call it that, is a government in name only. It cannot provide security to the citizenry, and this has been proven time and time again. In more advanced societies, when lightning strikes in the same place twice (in the sense that there are near overlapping occurrences of a pattern of disruption resulting in loss of life and property) the officers of government directly responsible come under intense public scrutiny and frequently are forced to resign. But in Nigeria there is no such accountability. Immediately after the spate of killings and rioting, our president, in a November 25 CNN interview with Zain Verjee, preferred to lay the blame for the instability in Nigeria on the irresponsible journalism of Isioma Daniel, but did not condemn the extremists that preferred the route of anarchy to due process of law in settling their grievances. The president did not admit his failure and complicity in allowing sharia³ to become a constitutional nightmare under his watch, when previous governments—Muslim and non-Muslim—never contemplated the establishment of sharia as practiced today in Nigeria, which effectively puts sections of Nigeria at par with infamous regimes like Iran and the defunct Taliban where Islamic radicalism has flourished freely with state approval.

As if Nigerians had not suffered enough ridicule from officials of the federal government, our Minister for Information, Jerry Gana, blamed Nigeria’s failure to host the Miss World event on journalistic conspiracy at home and abroad, thereby passing the buck as it were. This would be laughable if it were not so tragic. Gana later had occasion to issue a statement decrying the fatwa order pronounced by government officials of Zamfara State, saying, such [an] order is not enforceable in Nigeria. But the government has been silent on the real question of whether such a pronouncement by a public or private individual inciting people to commit murder under whatever pretext is not ultra vires the Constitution of Nigeria to the extent of making those persons chargeable before a court of law. Indeed, while the article by Isioma Daniel may have offended against the sensibilities of Muslims, does not a fatwa, an incitement to commit murder, against a non-Muslim, offend against Nigeria, the Constitution, and our collective rights as citizens of the republic? Is Nigeria indeed to be subject to machinations, directly or indirectly, of what pleases, displeases, offends, or otherwise, the proponents and practitioners of the sharia? Is Nigeria in fact, as many are beginning to suspect at home and abroad, beginning to embrace, however subtly, Islamic fundamentalism in private and public life? Will Nigerians abroad soon have to succumb to the humiliation currently meted out to nationals of countries that accord state approval to Islamic extremism at many international ports of entry, such as fingerprinting, photographing, etc.? Do our leaders realize what—and whereto they have brought the Nigeria of the 21st century?

This brings us to the central question of what is the effective role of the media in situations of social upheaval, widespread tensions in the land, uncertainty from one day to the next, and general consternation in hearts and minds about the state of the nation? Has the Nigerian media risen to the challenge of presenting a rallying point and a rudder-like steering mechanism for focusing public and private discussion? What issues take center stage at this time in Nigeria’s media? Is the media asking and highlighting the right questions for the consumption of the public and to pressure government and shame them to act where they have not acted? Unfortunately, the Nigerian media has not been alert and agile in its highlighting of the issues that should take center stage, steer the public debate and focus on issues that are critical. A case in point is the constitutional question of whether Nigerians have the right of freedom of association and formation of political parties without encumbrance and interference from government, a question even a primary school pupil can answer in the affirmative; affirmative because the Constitution allows it. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the other hand tried to circumvent that right by denying parties registration on frivolous grounds. After the Supreme Court voided INEC’s guidelines⁴ it was two to three days before any leading Nigerian newspaper published an editorial highlighting this crucial issue for the benefit of the Nigerian public. That is very disappointing.

Similarly at this time, there has not been an editorial published by any mainstream Nigerian newspaper that effectively contextualizes the constitutional quagmire and quicksand into which the leaders of this present republic with regard to the sharia question have dragged Nigeria. When government allows the establishment of Islamic radicalism in a secular Nigeria, something that Arab states like Egypt and Algeria have carefully avoided, that failure should be highlighted in an objective manner by our news media. It is our civic duty to use the instruments at our disposal to make our leaders responsible and accountable. When our leaders through action or inaction allow radicalism to the extent that an open incitement to kill is made by a public officer against a free Nigerian citizen, the media ought to highlight the failure of government to immediately institute criminal processes against such persons to protect our Constitution and our liberties as enshrined therein. Failure by the media to do so effectively and timely is an extension of the failure of Nigeria as a whole. I implore our news organs to be more alert to the emergent problems bedeviling Nigeria.

Some of us are very worried about the implications of such a fatwa going unchallenged by government. Does that mean that Muslims domiciled in southeast and southwest Nigeria are at liberty