HOW NIGERIA LOST HER GROOVE: THE TRAGIC STORY OF A FAILED STATE

ANTHONY OKOSUN

"Our government teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law, it invites everyman to become a law unto himself, it invites anarchy" Louis D. Brandeis (American Supreme court Justice, 1856-1941

"Africa is destined to anarchy. It is turning into 36 Haitis, with 36 Duvaliers, full of Cadillacs, beggars and snarling dogs." Georges Bidault

Government is a Social Contract. The Social contract theory says those who govern receive the power and authority to govern from the people. Those who are governed, voluntarily submit and yield themselves to the overriding authority of an institution they have willingly created for convenience, to help run their collective affairs, based on the Constitution, not the whims and caprice of any man. The government must be pliable and malleable to the desires of the people. The Social Contract theory explains the justification and purpose of the state. The most famous of the legion of Political Philosophers that developed the Social Contract theory of Government are John Locke, Thomas Hobbe, Jean Jacques and Rousseau. According to the Hobbes theory, the essence of the Social Contract is that without organized government, we would live in a state of nature, where we would each have unlimited natural freedoms. The inherent problem with this totally autonomous state is that it includes the right to do whatever one wants to do, and thus, grant the freedom to harm all, or any who threaten one's self preservation. It would be a state of BELLUM OMNIUM CONTRA OMNES (war of all against all). To avoid such an unacceptable state of affairs; we unanimously agree to enter a Social Contract to acquire civil rights for accepting the obligation to honor the rights of others; giving up some freedoms in the process. The authority or body we create to represent our joint interest, and to whom we delegate our powers, is the Government or the State. Thus, the State is an Agent while WE THE PEOPLE are the Principal. The rules and provisions of this sacred, profound and noble contract are enshrined in a document known as the Constitution.

The Nigerian state experiment, is not an exception to the social contract theory. The Nigerian government is an agent of the Nigerian people. WE THE PEOPLE constitute the principal. The Nigerian government is answerable to the Nigerian masses. Under the Social contract theory, the government must be able to protect the citizens, as this is a sine-qua-non for the formation of a social contract. As earlier stated, one of the threats, the social contract theory, is designed to prevent, is a scenario of a totally autonomous state. A totally autonomous state would translate to citizens having the right to do whatever one wants to do, and thus, grant the freedom to harm all, or any, who threaten one's self preservation. Such a state of affair is known as BELLUM OMNIUM CONTRA OMNES (war of all against all).

Nigeria has descended into a state of BELLUM OMNIUM CONTRA OMNES. In other-words, Nigeria is now in a state of war of all, against all. There is hardly a day, that Nigerian newspapers will not carry news of armed robbery and kidnapping in Nigeria. Armed robbery and kidnapping has become so common-place in Nigeria, that they are no longer newsworthy items. The armed robbery and kidnapping industries are now threatening the very foundation of the Nigerian communal fabric and or "social petrography". Armed robbers and kidnappers in Nigeria are reputed to operate with the type of sophistication that the Nigerian Police Force is embarrassingly unable to match. It is reported that the armed robbers are better equipped with sophisticated arms, ammunition, sport utility vehicles and other cutting edge technological gadgets, that gives them a clear edge over the Nigerian Police Force. Reports abound of Nigerians paying huge ransom to kidnappers, to secure the release of their loved ones, who have been kidnapped. Evidently, the Nigerian state has breached it’s obligation under it’s social contract with the Nigerian people.

The rules and provisions governing the sacred, profound and noble DEAL, otherwise referred to as the social contract between the Nigerian government and the Nigerian people are enshrined in a document known as the Constitution. A constitution is a system of rules, often codified in a written document, which establishes the rules and principles by which a country is governed. A constitution defines the fundamental political principles by which a country is governed and establishes the power and duties of the government thereof. The Constitution is a Vade Mecum. Vade mecum is latin meaning a document for guidance constantly kept at hand. The constitution is known as the Grund Norm. Some say the people themselves are the Grund Norm. The Grund Norm is the source of all the laws of the land. Grund Norm is a German word for basic norm. The term Grund norm was coined by a German Jurist and Philosopher Hans Kelson, who used the term to denote the basic norm, or rule that forms an underlying basis for a legal system. His theory is based on the need to find a point of origin for all laws, on which all basic laws in a country can gain legitimacy. The Constitution is inviolable. The Constitution must not be whimsically breached. The Constitution is sacred and its sanctity must be honored by all. The polity thrives in crisis and the constitution brings order to that crisis

It is not difficult to realize that the Nigerian government has violated the Nigerian constitution, due to it’s inability to protect the Nigerian people. The Nigerian government has breached and or violated the sacredness and sanctity of the Nigerian constitution. The Nigerian government is obligated under the Nigerian constitution to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians. The inability of the Nigerian government to honor that obligation is a fundamental and a material breach of it’s responsibility to the Nigerian people.

When a state has lost the physical control or a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force in it’s territory, such a state would be regarded as a failed state by the international community. When a state has lost the ability to provide reasonable public services to it’s citizens and residents; such a state would be regarded as a failed state by the international community and political commentators. Also when a state has lost the ability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community, such a state would be regarded as a failed state by the international community and political commentators. There are several other indicators for determining whether a state has failed, is failing or is not a failed state. However for the purpose of this article, only the above stated indicators shall be discussed viz-a-viz answering the question, whether Nigeria has calibrated into a failed state or not. Maximilian Carl Emil Weber a late German lawyer, politician, scholar, political economist and sociologist, in one of his major works ‘Politik als Beruf,’ ‘Politics as a Vocation’, defined the state "as an entity which claims a "monopoly on the legitimate use of violence.

In Nigeria, the government has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians. The government has failed woefully to protect the people nor their properties. It is obvious that as a result of the monumental failure of the Nigerian government to protect the lives and properties of about 150 million Nigerians; the Nigerian state has satisfied one of the requirements to be designated a failed state. The Crisis State Research Centre defines a "Failed state" as "a condition of "state collapse" – e.g. a state that can no longer perform its basic security and development functions and that has no effective control over its territory and borders." According to the Academic dictionaries and encyclopedias "The term [failed state] is also used in the sense of a state that has been rendered ineffective (i.e., has nominal military/police control over its territory only in the sense of having no armed opposition groups directly challenging state authority; in short, the "no news is good news" approach) and is not able to enforce its laws uniformly because of high crime rates, extreme political corruption, an extensive informal market, impenetrable bureaucracy, judicial ineffectiveness, military interference in politics, cultural situations in which traditional leaders wield more power than the state over a certain area but do not compete with the state, or a number of other factors."

It is no new anymore, that the Nigerian law enforcement apparatus, is not able to protect the citizens of Nigeria. Extreme political corruption has since become the order of the day in Nigeria. Elections are known to be selections, which are brazenly conducted, in a provocative and rude violation of the governments social contract with the Nigerian people. Armed robbers and kidnappers reign supreme in Nigeria. Country Nigeria has become hostage to armed robbers and kidnappers. What is even surprising, is that there is still an institution in Nigeria officially known as the government. Where is the government in this scenario of extreme anarchy and social lawlessness ? Why are Nigerians subjected to the indignity and humiliation of kidnappings and armed robberies, when they should be under the protection of the state ? Without equivocation, the Nigeria state has calibrated into a failed state. The Nigerian state has failed.

In Professor Avram Noam Chomsky’s new book, titled "Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy", the great and globally respected, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor emeritus, and political activist, asked, "What is a failed state ?" Professor Chomsky, also provided the answer, "It is one that fails to provide security for the population, to guarantee rights at home or abroad, or to maintain functioning (not merely formal) democratic institutions." Pursuant to Professor Noam Chomsky’s definition of a failed state; Nigeria is a undoubtedly a failed state. The Nigerian state has woefully been unable to provide security for Nigerians. Under the second plank of the Professor Noam Chomsky’s definition of a failed state; Nigeria would not be able to successfully defend it’s pretense to democracy. It is universally known that Nigeria’s democratic institutions are packed with selected pretenders to political leadership. These are persons who assumed their offices, not based on genuine election victories; but a clandestine anti-masses, political selection process.

God Save Nigeria.

Written by ANTHONY OKOSUN

Robot  # 1 | 30.06.2009 05:12

HOW NIGERIA LOST HER GROOVE: THE TRAGIC STORY OF A FAILED STATE ANTHONY OKOSUN "Our government teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law, it invites everyman to become a law unto himself, it invites anarchy" Louis D. Brandeis (American Supreme court Justice, 1856-1941 "Africa is destined to anarchy. It is turning into 36 Haitis, with 36 Duvaliers, full of Cadillacs, beggars and snarling dogs." Georges Bidault 　 Government is a Social Contract. The Social contract theory says those who govern receive the power and authority to govern from the people. Those who are governed, voluntarily submit and yield themselves to the overriding authority of an institution they have willingly created for convenience, to help run their collective affairs, based on the Constitution, not the whims and caprice of any man. The government must be pliable ...Read the full article.

Danmeka  # 2 | 30.06.2009 06:30

Brother Anthony, Nice article, Chinua Achebe, in his book The Trouble with Nigeria, wrote, It is totally false to suggest, as we are apt to do, that Nigerians are fundamentally different from any other people in the world. Nigerians are corrupt because the system under which they live today makes corruption easy and profitable; they will cease to be corrupt when corruption is made difficult and inconvenient....The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership....I am saying that Nigeria can change today if she discovers leaders who have the will, the ability and the vision. Sadly, this was written almost twenty years ago. Things have continued to fall apart while our leaders ignore these signs. Karl Maier's books ,This House Has Fallen and This House Has Fallen: Midnight in Nigeria,''The Nigerian state is like a battered and bruised elephant staggering toward an abyss,'' Maier writes. What more to say.Dr. Olusola Osineye said it all" Nigerians: The Happiest People And The Most Stupid.

quietswami  # 3 | 30.06.2009 17:05

A piece worthy for its sources and quotes! With the symptoms and diagnosis in place, what next? Would appreciate the theories on how to reverse failed states. As fascinating as the spectacle of watching a train wreck is, the thought that a loved one could be on board wipes out the thrill of being a witness, replaced with a sense of urgency to do something...anything! Little comfort is derived from knowing "it is a train wreck"!