A Critical Review of Nigeria Must Survive by Prof. Damian Opata It is criminal to gamble with our children’s future. Where children’s future is concerned, no compromise is acceptable. If the little ones are the real owners of tomorrow, then we must equip them for their future tasks by taking care of what they need in terms of food, shelter and education(61). This quotation taken from Paulinus Ike Ogara’s book under review identifies children as a secure foothold for the survival of Nigeria, because as the Igbo say: Iwhunyadirioyi, ma azunyakarimaoyi. Nigeria cannot therefore survive, if the survival of her children is assured. Published in 2011 by Life Apostolate Publications, Enugu, Paulinus Ike Ogara’sNigeria Must Survive is a two hundred and forty page book that addresses the issues of corruption, insecurity, poverty, unemployment, rural underdevelopment, religious intolerance, ethnic rivalries, and bad political leadership in contemporary Nigeria. These problems are commonly perceived as threats to the corporate survival of Nigeria as an entity. The author is optimistic that strong moral familybackgrounds, the pooling of collective effort by all Nigerians, the enthronement of strong security measures, building and enhancing empowerment structures for the people, good leadership, effective opposition, the cultivation of love, empathy and compassion by all Nigerians, proper and adequate religious education, and enduring political and spiritual will on the part of the leaders and the led, could ensure the survival of Nigeria. There is nothing new about this diagnosis of the Nigerian situation to be found in this book. There is nothing new about suggested solutions to the Nigerian crisis that would be found in this book. There is nothing new about the title of the book. After all, OnyekaOnwenu had composed and sang a song titled: “Nigeria Must Survive”. There is even nothing new in the design of the cover of the book, using the model of the Nigerian flag. If I recall rightly, one Joe Igbokwe wrote a book called Fifty Years of Nigeria, a book that has the Nigerian flag as the motif for its cover design. What is then new about this book? Why should the book be recommended as an important read for Nigerians? I find in this book an unbridled passion for the survival of Nigeria. In any case, is it necessary that the newness of ideas is the only thing that makes a book important? I believe that besides the newness of ideas presented in a book, there are other good reasons for which a book must be read, especially if we agree with the adage that there is nothing new under the sun. I find in this book an honest attempt, a very honest one indeed, to contribute to the momentum for the survival of Nigeria as a nation state. I find in this book a religious devotion to the salvation of the soul of Nigeria. I find in this book a sincere attempt by a Nigerian, a non-specialist in Political Science or Political Theory, and a non-politician to offer his candid opinion on the disturbing Nigerian situation. I find in this book simple reaffirmations of well-known steps which every Nigerian could take to make Nigeria better. And I find in this book the optimism and inspiration of a Catholic priest to preach to the nation, not from the vantage point of the pulpit, but from the platform of a book written in a reader-friendly manner, a book devoid of the technicalities and arcane language of high political theory and discourse, a book which can easily be read by any person with a school certificate level of education. Any reader who takes up this book with a view to finding grand narratives and theorised standpoints from which national survival could be secured would be disappointed. Such a disappointment would not arise because of any shortcomings of this well-articulated text. Such a disappointment would be like that of a Nigerian who leaves the asphalt roads in Abuja to look for it in the untarred road leading to my town, Lejja, in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, or indeed going to my town which has just been blessed by the provision of rural electricity, thanks to Governor Sullivan Chime and Engineer Vita Abba, to look for street lights on double carriage ways. Extending this analogy further, it would be like searching for AdadaNwabueze, the revered and great ancestral and fertility deity of my town in a Christian church, or indeed going to the Adada groove to look for Jesus the Christ. Such a disappointment would therefore result from a person looking for a solution to a problem in a very wrong place. There are, however, many statements in the text that give hope to the reader, statements that enliven well-trodden paths of our national discourse, and that then displace the need for grand narratives and political philosophies of national survival. Nigeria Must Survive is a book of twenty – nine chapters. The chapters are arranged thematically, and each chapter is preceded by a summary statement that captures what the chapter is about. The chapters derive from different contexts. It does even appear that many are articles written on different occasions to address different social problematics in the Nigerian federation. Consequently, each chapter can be read independent of the other. The chapters divide themselves into two broad thematic categories: themes that address the political, security, and economic challenges in Nigeria generally, and themes that address religious challenges, especially asthis concerns the ordained and individual lay persons. In this second category, the individual moral deficits of politicians, members of the clergy, as well of that of the average Nigerian are highlighted. The depiction of this moral deficit is sometimes done in very ironic ways. Both Christian and Muslim fundamentalism are particularly identified for condemnation. Although the book is not a theoretical treatise of the Nigeria malaise, the author offers some critical interpretations of the social ills addressed in his book. This is particularly evident in Chapters 7, 17, and 22. Chapter 7 of this book is titled: “Let My People Go.” I can well understand the parabolic nature of this text with regard to the Nigerian situation, and I imagine that the author uses this as a metaphor for the mighty in Nigeria to desist from oppressing the poor, the helpless, the people discriminated against, and the marginalized in society generally. But the “let my people go” is not that of exodus. It is not even the same with the African American call to be set free from the bondage of slavery. It is a welcome call to free Nigerians from oppression and poverty, a call to be released from the fetters of injustice and bad leadership. Dwelling further on this theme of “let my people go”, the author makes a rigorous attempt to defend God and to reject the scriptural assertion that God made the regnant Pharaoh in Egypt at that time stubborn. Referring to the several plagues that God inflicted on the Egyptians, the author says: What about the many plagues used and the length of time that elapsed before the people were set free? Why did God have to vary his tactics and why was the process of liberationso protracted? Was God not able to strike Pharaoh and his cohorts down in one stroke? Many commentators reflecting on this, found the answer in God’s own words. God himself, they remind us, said: “But I myself shall make Pharaoh stubborn and shall perform many a sign and wonder in Egypt” (Ex. 7:3). The argument is that God purposely made Pharaoh stubborn. I don’t share this view as it is not really in character with the ways of God. God does not harden anybody’s heart. Let us think seriously about this. If God hardens a sinner’s heart, can he justifiably condemn him if he fails to repent? (44 – 45). The author’s preferred interpretation of this event is that “God is patient with sinners for he wants all to attain salvation.” An added reason according to him is that God “respects human freedom.” I have a different approach to this issue. If God said that he deliberately made Pharaoh stubborn, I would beg God, if he were around and visibly with us to retract that statement as it affects the rulers and leaders in Nigeria. After all, we are not his “chosen people.” By making Pharaoh stubborn, or by being patient with him and even respecting his freedom, many Egyptians and Israelites suffered death and untold punishment. We neither need the plagues of Egypt nor the travails of the Israelites. Indeed, with regard to the current Nigerian situation, especially with particular reference to corruption, unemployment, mass poverty, oppression, bad governance, bad followership, general insecurity occasioned by Boko Haram and militants, etc.; I kindly beg God not to respect the freedom of the perpetrators of this gross injustice to the Nigerian masses. I humbly beg God not to use either delay tactics or patience on those who stifle the life of the Nigerian masses. And I do hope that God will forgive me for so pleading if I have pleaded wrongly. Chapter 17 of the book is titled: “When Anointing Becomes Annoying.” I wholeheartedly buy the argument that those anointed by God to serve him and humanity in whatever capacity should not use the privilege to annoy others, to suppress others, to intimidate others, and to deny justice to others. In this chapter which is worth reading and rereading, at least to learn how not to betray a trust an office imposes on a person, the author returns again to the idea of God allowing the Israelites who “exchanged the truth for a lie” and therefore were allowed to wallow in “all kinds of vileness” (121). I am not a theologian, not even a political scientist. However, the essence of human freedom is such that it is to be used in such a manner that it does not detract from the freedom of another. I do not believe that this Christian notion of God’s assured prolonged freedom of people to do evil is in the interest of underdeveloped nations. The developed nations could enjoy such luxury and liberalism. This kind of laissez affaires ideology is not good for us who are called “The Third World”, even as civilization is said to have started from us and with us. I do not believe that Nigeria will survive if God continues to be over-liberal with oppressors and perpetrators of injustice against the common people. Chapter 22 is titled: “We Can Live Together.” This is a very important chapter in the book because it is central to the survivability of Nigeria, the purpose for which the book has been written. The author’s own summary of the chapter is very informative and insightful. According to him, Despite all pretensions to the contrary, we can live as one. We can make pluralism a cohesive factor instead of a divisive agent by harnessing our diversities and varieties and using them in a coordinated way to solve our common problems. We have the option either to accept this gospel of unity and reap its benefits or follow our own logic of exclusion with its inherent dangers. Whichever option we adopt, we cannot escape the consequences. Only by united action and love towards one another can we make our future great and glorious (153). Nothing could be more beautiful than this; nothing more elevating or inspiring. We really can live as one in Nigeria, even though some people make no pretences about the desirability of our going separate ways. The author goes on in this chapter to make a very interesting observation when he says that, “What we suffer in Nigeria is not a mistaken amalgamation. Rather, we have been mistaken in believing that it cannot work. If there are cracks in the building, it has nothing to do with the foundation. We have only to patch up the cracks. The problem is that many do not want to share. They lack the courage to love” (155 – 156). Many Nigerians would wish that the situation were as easy as this, merely patching up the cracks in the building. Many Nigerians would even believe that amalgamation is really the foundation. Undoubtedly, amalgamation has been the thorny issue standing on the path to Nigeria’s unity. The major problem with the author’s argument here is that it is logically possible for someone to believe that the amalgamation of Nigeria is mistaken and still firmly believe that it can work. Its mistakenness is not a necessary or ineradicable impediment to its unworkability. Be that as it may, no one can read this chapter without having a lasting faith in the author’s subsequent assertion that, I believe in one nation, one destiny and I want all of us to stand on that. We must do everything to ensure that that we avoid a repeat of the civil war scenarios. We will get to the promised land, not by calling it quits and parting our ways, but by living in peace, loving one another, respecting the rights of others. I take strong exceptions to the fact that many are beating the drums of war and I want Nigerians to dissociate themselves from any person or group who thinks otherwise (157). This is the crux of this book, its epochal ideation. Nothing can be further from this truth if Nigeria must survive, as it must in fact do. Even if amalgamation was a mistake, it should now undergo a healing transformation through its destabilization and progressive contextual reconstitution. It is this progressive and continual reconstitution of the Nigerian social space that has made it survive, despite amalgamation’s virtues and / or deficits. The book, Nigeria Must Survive is an affirmation and renewal of the thorny history of this continuing survival of the Nigerian state which, despite all attempts, continue to be threatened. Another important contribution of this book is the author’s addition of his voice to the longstanding calls for a national dialogue by whatever name named. He has been doing this since 2011. Only last month, the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Dr.EbeleGoodluck Jonathan put in place a Committee to establish the modalities for such a dialogue. The fact that this suggestion is being implemented is a testimony to strength of the issues raised in this book. The author sees this dialogue as particularly important in addressing religious intolerance in Nigeria. For him, Dialogue will help the different religions to compare notes with each other and rub off their rough edges… dialogue will help us to steer a course between incompatible interests (142). I strongly believe that the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Proposed National Dialogue should on account of this contribution make provision for the inclusion of the clergy and religious in the dialogue. The appendix to this book is title: “A Memo to the President.” In this appendix, he calls on the President to deal with the issue of security “as a matter of urgency”. His argument here is that “we need a president who can reassert his control by enforcing security and ensuring that the situation doesn’t get out of hand (231). Regarding the issue of a national dialogue, he says to the president, “It is a puzzle that your administration has not seen fit to convoke the much needed conference. You cannot go on evading the issue (231). He further tells the President that his “government’s handling of the minimum wage and the ASUU strikes has also come in for a lot of criticism. I am one of those who are not impressed by your handling of the issues (231). What a display of courage! What a keenness of insight and critical perception of where it hurt the nation most! The President is currently tackling the issue in a manner I think that the author would endorse. The President as mentioned above has already taken steps to initiate a national dialogue. And the president personally intervened in the current face-off between Government and ASUU over the non-implementation of the 2009 agreement mutually agreed to and signed by both parties. I congratulate the author for his perceptive insights into the Nigerian problem. No person can read this book attentively without noticing that the author is a either a religious person or a member of the clergy. Expressions as “fear of God”, “Good Friday”, “Promised Land”, “indispensable lace of God”, “backstage God has taken”, “antichrist”, “Egypt and their Pharaohs”, “good Samaritans”, “prodigal son”, “Adam and Eve”, “Easter”, “anchoring ourselves in God”, etc., are significantly indicative of the pervasiveness of Christian symbolism in the book. Coming from a Catholic priest, this is as it should be. He bears good testimony to the lexicon of the biblical template of his formation. Luckily, it does not near degeneration as preaching. As if to leave no one in doubt that he is a Catholic priest, the author concludes with a prayer, part of which reads thus: Oh Lord, our father, you are our breath, our soul, and our life. All our hopes rest on you. Our survival as a nation depends on you. You alone can heal us. You alone can save us. Into your hands we commend our country. Have your way Lord. Let your grace flow to all and sundry. Save your people and heal our nation (236). All in all, Nigeria Must survive is beyond the rebranding of Nigeria, for no bad product sells for long merely because it has been rebranded. Nigeria Must Survive sets out practical steps through which the ideological transformation of the Nigeria polity could be achieved. This complements the actual transformation that the Government of Dr.GoodluckEbele Jonathan is pursuing with vigour. Nigeria Must Survive is Fr. Paulinus Ike Ogara’s abiding commitment to the Nigerian project. We must all join hands with him to ensure the survival of our country. Buy a copy of this book and spread the message. Thanks. About the Reviewer. Damian Ugwutikiri Opata is a Professor of African Literature and Head, Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He has travelled widely and published extensively. His articles have been published in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Hungary, Sweden, India, United Kingdom, Germany, and America, and Italy.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 14:30:22 +0000
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