It is undeniable that episodic currents of social, economic, and political challenges are buffeting the northern region of Nigeria today much more than the southern parts of the country, which should warrant their consideration and understanding both in the context of public discourse and governmental actions, in order to seek credible and timely remedies to them. Such an endeavour inevitably will require an attitudinal approach based on the sociological assessment of the Northern condition and linking such understandings to the prevailing governance and political frameworks of the country. This dialogue is therefore, intended as an icebreaker in the cognition of the situation in the Northern region and appreciating the need for a concerted national action towards its address and resolution. The interplay of historical, cultural, economic, political and sociological forces among a complex mix of a variety of other issues, will entail that the Northern condition today is a multifaceted national problem that will require a multidimensional approach especially within the matrix of political and governance actions to resolve, driven by an enlightened disinterestedness of purpose and outlook.
We may blame the usual suspect of 'colonial legacy' in attributing to it most of our issues and problems, but 64 years down the line after attaining independence, it would be foolhardy, retrogressive and an exercise in denial to regurgitate that excuse to explain what is going on in the North or any part of Nigeria for that matter. Effective colonisation of Nigeria took place between the end of the 19th century and 1960, thus making it roughly an affair less than 80 years in length and duration. Sixty-five years after independence is more than enough period to provide us with the space and latitude to organise our societies and become adept at administering our affairs from both the perspectives of experience and also learning from mistakes. It seems that we are still at the elastic learning curve that seems endless and malleable in its scope and extent, whereby in the end, nothing is actually learned, and the curve does not lead to a terminal point.
Under the circumstances, all that we are doing is going around in circles that are both viscous and without exit, thereby entrapping ourselves in a quagmire of delusional expectations and the semblance of movement where there is none. The simple fact is that there is no 'post-colonial era' in Nigeria, whereby we can judge progress made against the inherited discontents of being under an alien rule. Independence and dependence, in our own case, seem to be the two sides of a coin minted for us by adversity and indifference about which we have been unable to do anything so far. The failure to make a decisive break from the colonial attachment in the way the national economy was controlled, meant that one way or another, a continuation of the colonial dependency was perpetuated and the relations of dominance of one side by the other was not altered. In other countries, there were intermediate periods between colonial control and after independence, when critical self-assessments were made and decisive actions were taken to overcome the legacies of the former, and usher in a post-colonial period of guided development and incremental achievement of the prospects for national renewal.
Such alternations in the national characters first took place in the organisation of the economy, moving it away from resource extraction and agrarian foundations to industrial production and manufacturing of all types. Rapid infrastructure development was ushered in as the second stage, especially in critical areas such as electricity power, ports, minerals extraction, transportation networks, refineries and various projects that support the industrialisation and modernisation of the countries. In the same vein, agriculture was modernised and the drudgery of manual production was considerably reduced, thereby expanding the scope of production of both food and cash crops for the domestic and overseas markets. ?In the next stage, social contradictions and debilitating conditions like poverty and unemployment were tackled through programmatic approaches that emphasised productivity, expansion of the healthcare and educational base, and the granting of support to households and communities to become resilient and independent. In our case unfortunately, the situation that obtained was the continuation of the inherited economic system that relied heavily on imports of manufactured goods and the export of basic raw materials. In effect, the classes that ruled the country did so without necessarily changing the character of the economic arrangements that have sustained and upheld the dependence of Nigeria on foreign factors. The character and orientation of the Nigerian state itself was not discernibly altered to serve as a vehicle for accelerated national development.
It is these contradictions, these anomalies and these multidimensional challenges that Nigeria needs to be rescued from, rather than the exacerbation of the situation by compounding our governance problems with the introduction of sectional antagonisms and ill-advised ethnic and religious confrontations that take us nowhere but serve only to entrench us in the dugouts of despair and irreconcilable enmity. There is virtually no social problem that effective and good governance cannot resolve within the framework of consultation and understanding of the mutually revolving nature of interactions between and among peoples and communities. Likewise, it is the sense of pragmatism and good judgment on the part of the leadership of a country that would enable the resolution of various contradictions and challenges afflicting any part of that country. Just one example should suffice regarding this. When the consolidation of banks was being plotted and subsequently executed as a national policy, it became evident that the North would be rendered bereft of any viable institution if the Bank of the North (BON) was allowed to go under. Realising the seriousness of the situation, then President Olusegun Obasanjo directed that it should be rescued by any means, and hence the intervention by the Inter-City Bank that resulted in the formation of Unity Bank, which eventually saved the situation for a while for the North. 8
That notwithstanding, the lot of the North dramatically deteriorated in the financial sense with the mergers and acquisitions of banks, leaving the region greatly disadvantaged in terms of accessing capital for the development of its productive forces and other vital economic spheres. Northern private sector operators consequently sunk and went under and continued to remain peripheral to the larger operations of the national economy in virtually all aspects. Without capital - both financial and industrial - it is impossible to have a modern economy. This altruism is now hitting the North so hard with deadly blows. The series on the 'Sociology of the Northern Question' thus ends with the admonishment and exhortation of the ruling classes of the North to weigh their options carefully and determine what the priorities of the region should be in the overall alignment of forces and interests in the country as we move inexorably towards the decisive moment of election in 2027. Should we go on blindly and fall over into the precipice of delusional expectations and disappointments, or should we make concerted efforts towards rescuing the region from its malaise and disappointing insignificance, to reposition it as the true promise of the future of this country?
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. ( Syndigate.info ).
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