While reading some news events on global issues, I came across articles where British Petroleum entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice as a result of United States Justice Department’s inquiry on Oil giant BP and subsequent fine[ing] of a total of $373m (£182m) by the US Department of Justice for environmental crimes and committed fraudulent activities. According to the BBC network, “the fines included $50m relating to a Texas refinery explosion in 2005 that killed 15 people and injured 170 more.” After that review, it dawned on me that Nigeria and its’ authorities have in many ways abrogated such responsibilities and power to police and regulate the affairs of the Oil industry due to a variety of reasons which in many ways are unconnected to the culture of the society, corruption, lack of capable hands at the realm of the decision making in Nigeria, its foreign policy and security.

I started to think about international relations, its’ concepts, and what it meant to civilized societies, and it became clearer to me that the effects of all these attendant Nigerian IR issues may be in the end, more detrimental to Nigeria’s growth than may have been anticipated.

All theorists think of themselves as realists, all believe they deal with “reality.” How do “realists” understand reality and what do they believe is “unreal” about those with whom they disagree? First, realists are empiricists; they believe reality is based on experiences.

Second, realists are humanists, that is, they place human beings rather than God or some metaphysical force at the heart of their analysis.

Third, realists emphasize power. Power is at the heart of not only international relations, but also all human relations. If the world is a dangerous place, and realists believe it is, the centrality of power has much to do with it.

 Finally, realism is state-centric. The primary unit of analysis in most realist theories is the state.  All international relations revolve around the state.

So, if we want to theorize about international politics, what should we be looking at?  Not surprisingly, Kenneth Waltz a well renowned IR theorist believes that a proper understanding of international politics begins with the system.  A system is a set of interacting units.  But to this idea Waltz adds the structure, the organization of units.  The purpose of a system theory is to explain how structures affect systemic interactions and how interactions influence the structure.

The most basic self-interest is survival.  To survive, states tend to emulate those who are most successful.  This means, and this is one of the most important and also one of the most controversial elements of the theory, that all states look alike.  States do as best they can for themselves, and they avoid, as much as possible, dependence on others.  Without specialization among states, no division of labor exists internationally so states are functionally undifferentiated.

Consequently, what goes on within a state does not matter.  History, culture, ideology, political institutions, economic organization – none of these matters.  All that matters is that some states are more successful than others doing what all states try to do.  Some states are better able to survive than others and it is this degree of success and failure, this distribution of capabilities that creates the structure.  The structure constrains and limits state behavior by limiting choices.  Another way of thinking about this – since structure is based on state capabilities; states constrain and limit each other.  By understanding the structure and the impact of the structure on the system it is possible to not only explain state behavior but also predict it.  By understanding where a state is in the structure, it should be possible to predict the behavior of that state, although we cannot know with certainty what a state will do.

Culture and international relations easily appear to be mutually contradict­ory terms. To speak of "culture" is to invoke the creative capacities of human beings, to point, for example, to the constitutive role of values and visions, to the power of language and aesthetic expression, to communities great and small engaged in reconstructing normative aspirations and reshaping the possibilities for a decent way of life. To speak of
"international relations," by contrast, is to draw upon an altogether bleaker account of the human condition, to refer to missiles and bombs, trade figures and debts, statesmanship and diplomacy, intrigue and force.

It is to echo assertions about naked power and the sacrifice of cultural creativity and normative aspiration to the supposedly more enduring determinations of survival or supremacy. From the dark depths of inter­national relations, the term culture takes on an aura of frivolity. It appears to refer to the idealistic and utopian, to the veneer of civilized decency that is always stripped away by the harsh realities of power politics and
international conflict.

Read rather differently, however, culture and international relations seem to converge on common ground. Not least, both terms make grand gestures.
Both may be used to refer to the broadest dimensions of human existence.

When opposed to nature, for example, or used by certain schools of social theory and anthropology, culture almost becomes synonymous with human activity as such. Similarly, international relations reminds us that no matter how parochial we may be laboring in our own oasis, we are all caught up in processes that affect people living in all parts of the world.

The modern states-system has specifiable origins in the transition from feudalism to capitalism and the emergence of the state as the primary locus of political identity in Europe some five centuries ago. Since then, the states-system, like capitalism, has become an all-pervasive condition of human life almost everywhere.

As grand gestures, culture and international relations now point us in the direction of some of the most powerful and universalizing structures in the modern world. Both terms can be read as evocations of the global, or the planetary, or humanity as such. They remind us of the profound changes in social and political life associated with new military and com­munications technologies, global monetary transactions, transformations.

in the international division of labor, and an increasing awareness of our collective vulnerability to ecological decay and nuclear extermination. But even while gesturing toward emerging patterns of universality, both terms also offer more than a hint of just how difficult it is to think and act coherently on the basis of claims about global processes, planetary im­peratives or cosmopolitan humanity. It is here that the convergence of culture and international relations is especially significant.

The most obvious difficulties arise from the way both culture and in­ternational relations not only make grand gestures toward universality, but also remind us of the highly specific, localized, chauvinistic, and deeply fragmented character of human experience. When culture becomes cultures, references to the creative capacities of human beings in general turn into either the celebration of, or consternation about, the sheer diver­sity of human communities. Similarly, the primary lesson learned by most of those who study peoples and states, the seemingly inevitable tenden­cy for cooperation to collapse in the face of interstate competition and rivalry. Far from celebrating the virtues of cultural diversity, the analysis of international conflict points to the distinct possibility that contemporary patterns of political fragmentation will bring about our collective demise.
The promises of culture once again shrivel in the bleak landscape of in­ternational relations, and leads us to an accepted norm – how we see each other based on culture that is imbibed or enshrined in our collective relationship[s].

That then brings us to Nigeria and how the international perception of Nigeria ’s corruption affects many aspects of the business climate in Nigeria . By improving economic governance, Nigeria can set itself on the path towards attracting new investment and achieving sustainable economic growth. In this regards, it is especially important to implement a transparent regulatory framework governing public safety and public infrastructure. Combating crime is a crucial element of restoring law and order in the oil-rich Niger Delta. This includes the critical need for community policing training, to ensure respect for human rights and to increase public trust, confidence, and cooperation with Nigeria 's security forces. Establishment of a Police Service Commission to investigate police corruption in the Delta is another vital need. As we all know, the corrosive impact of corruption continues to hamper Nigeria 's capability to address these challenges. All the aforementioned are all good and dandies, but what of corruption effects?

Based on the analysis, the next time, the Government of Nigeria wants to spend money on project[s] deemed so necessary as to uplift the image of Nigeria in the global eyes, they will need to bare in mind the cultural perceptions attendant to the package [Nigeria] that they are trying to rebrand. An honest analysis then had to be carried out as to the correctness of the assumed perception and basic questions will then need to be asked.

Issues such as:

• Whether the leaders of Nigeria are corrupt, and whether they place self before the society in their decision making – case in point, Etteh and her quest with PDP to remain in power contrary to the implications to the State.
• Credible elections – do[es] that in any way portray Nigerian image as that of a fraud nation? The financing of such fraud of an election – will that in any way affect effective governance, democracy and true positive sell of the brand Nigeria within the international community.
• When the customs and Police look the other way after accepting a bribe from a foreign corporation, is that in a way viewed as a National Security issue – is it possible that the airplanes that are unofficially allowed into Nigeria [n] Airspace by corrupt official[s] constitute a national security breach. What of when you allow hazardous material into the shores of Nigeria ? Will that end up via River Niger to your village where you built your mansion with your ill gotten wealth? The most disturbing should be – when the navy officials allow[s] confiscated ships that had been seized due to illegal bunkering in Nigeria to bravely sail away into the twilight zone, are they contributing to the problems of Niger Delta – who exactly is funding the Delta militants – Politicians?; illegal bunkerers etc; how are they financed – [I will dwell on that in my next write-up].
• When agencies of Nigeria at all level allow with minimum bribe, Corporations to grossly abuse the Nigerian environment contrary to what any society will find acceptable, Nigeria then had to ask themselves, whether they are actually contributing to the health hazards of their unborn children. What of the lack of taxation enforcement that was due the government; how does that affect infrastructural development, the next generation and Nigeria as a nation, what of the perception thereof; does all that translate to the accepted culture of Nigeria?

You see, the Nigeria Nation and its leaders had failed to society; it is being led by people that lacked vision, commitment and direction, only time will tell whether President Yaradua will be so classified. The younger generation of Nigerians that the leadership are condemning as 419[ers]; drug peddlers; and ones with the most moral turpitude are on their merits ending up as the ones with the most positives that are promoting Nigeria ’s image. Case in point – the Under 17 world cup champions; World Champion Peters, the Nigerian Kid with the new designed helicopter. The irony is that all of these guys fly[s] the flag of Nigeria with pride.  I am yet to see a Governor, State Official, Federal Official outside the likes of Ribadu, Ngozi Iweala, Ngozi Ezekwesili and some other limited few, that promote[s] the image of Nigeria while outside the boarders of the nation. If anything, they are more interested in concealing such visit and not draw attention to themselves so as to effectively effectuate their nefarious culpable mens rea and actus rues. Another example is the new generation of Nigerian musicians and how they promote Nigeria ’s image with pride.

Will the older generation then see it fit to leave a decent society for these youths to call their own after their havoc generation is over and done with? It is not enough to challenge the international community as we witnessed when the President Obasanjo regime condemned the American State Department’s analysis that Nigeria will be a peril state and will plunge into violence in a couple of years, based on the indicators available to them at that time. One year after that call, Obasanjo conducted the most controversial and fraudulent of an election, in more ways gleaning support to the State Department’s predictions. Also, the next time, CNN is challenged about their news report or Oprah Winfrey on her episode about Nigerian 419, we need to as a society look inward and fix that which needs fixing before making a concerted effort to refute what we may perceive as unfair targeting by the West. It is a given that children learn from their parents, both the good and the bad, if the Government needs a good image portrayed by the younger generation, the proper thing to do is to couch the Government’s respective actions positively and accordingly in order to reflect a culture of transparency, good governance, due process, respect for the rule of law, human rights respect, and a government that is geared towards the services of its people and not the other way around, where the people serve the government.

As a nation, the Nigerian nation is fraught with corruption in high places, the leaders are corrupt and the masses are towing the line of the leadership. That is the culture we have chosen and that is the culture within the International IR that we are identified with, accepted on and dealt with as a nation. Only when we accept who we are, only then can we be, apt to make the requisite changes in order to move forward.

Cecil Ibegbu

Cibegbu@yahoo.com

Robot  # 1 | 30.10.2007 20:09

Based on the analysis, the next time, the Government of Nigeria wants to spend money on project d...Read the full article.