Now that I got your attention, let us together discuss other form of racism as they apply to our nation, Nigeria.  What is racism to you with respect to this geographical contraption called Nigeria?

The classical definition of racism is, an individual's discriminatory behavior and prejudicial attitude toward people of a certain race or institutional practices that subordinate a certain race of people or a belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another; that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics.  This is indeed a formal definition which has been inherently used effectively and particularly in the United States of America. Racism is a political weapon used to denigrate a race in order to maintain status quo, force segregation and keep races apart from one another so that their confusion is the gain of politicians.

During the last 1000 years or so, racism on the part of Western powers toward non-Westerners had a far more significant impact on history than any other form of racism such as racism among Western groups or among Easterners (Asians, Africans, and others).  The most notorious example of racism by the West was slavery, particularly the enslavement of Africans in the New World.  It is noteworthy that Americans who engaged in slavery did not think that Africans were inferior, not at all, they believed in their own limited knowledge that Africans were physically superior and if they could breakdown African slaves’ psyche, they could make them believe that they are inferior through infliction of pains, deprivation of love, and allowing their women control the family contrary to what African men knew, they’ll eventually succeed in creating inadequacy in the minds of the slaves.

The US founding fathers knew too well that no race was superior to another.  If America was built on Judeo-Christian principle that all peoples are equal in the sight of God, then no race can be superior to another.  Although no one has yet met God but by faith we believe He exists and we believe that He is a free and fair God.  Every human being is superior to another in their areas of interest.  For instance, a terrific engineer may be terrible in human relation.  A person considered to be inferior in academia can be superior in using his hand to create magnificent edifice.  One that is superior in singing may be inferior in athletics, and so on.  Europeans were believed to be superior in navigation, Magellan, Christopher Columbus, to mention a few.  Germans had superior intellect at missile designs because their interest to dominate the world was predicated upon this weaponry.  Americans seem to be better at acquiring other people’s knowledge (Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr Von Braun – a preeminent rocket scientist) and adding her own ingenuity to make the overall result seemingly superior.  America used to be superior at technology acquisition but now superior at technology transfer to other nations by her current outsourcing strategy.

The fact is that no label ever helps any person or nation it only helps to reduce the collective and corporative potential of a people.  Racism in America happens to help few at the top because it causes disunity at the expense of the majority.  Does an average American white benefit from racism other than just feeling superior without a good measure to justify such a superior outlook?

Senator Barack Obama’s brilliant speech on racism, in my opinion, has given Nigeria a real opportunity to revisit, to discuss her own racism – corruption and to find a face saving solution to corruption in Nigeria and Africa at large.  What is corruption?  What are the causes and opportunities for corruption?  Nigerians must understand what corruption is and how it affects self and nation’s development?  What do corruption and racism have in common? 

Corruption was defined by ancient political philosophers Plato and Aristotle as a general disease of the body politics.  Plato, in his theory of the "perverted" constitutions-Democracy, oligarchy, and tyranny worried that these regimes instead of being guided by the rule of law were serving the interests of the leaders who purposely impoverish them in order to control the mind, soul and body.

If we take human nature into consideration, we must then ask why do all political systems experience corruption?  Why do some leaders engage in corruption and some do not? Corruption has its root factors in cultural, psychological, and systems.  In some countries like Nigeria, corruption is more or less acceptable depending on the scale in the traditional political culture.  Nigeria has more of a reputation for corruption particularly because of traditional attitudes towards family, kinship, or some form of family welfare.  Nigeria has also the unfortunate experience with military culture of weakening the rule of law or low level of respect for the law.  Because Nigerians are not getting answers to their questions about corruption, many then justify it on tribal basis whether it favors them or not.  For example since OBJ is a Yoruba person perceived to be corrupt, they’ll say, why do you want to chastise Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha for corruption when your tribe’s man is equally corrupt?

From another view point, corruption has a psychological component. Of course there are a number of psychological factors that help to explain some types of corruption.  When taking into account the internal factors that some individuals are naturally evil and will commit criminal acts, including corruption in any type of political system especially when corruption is not actively condoned by a system.  Per chance, the external factors, individual's relationship to the group is also important.  For instance, when individuals see others around them benefiting from corruption with perfect immunity, they too may choose to indulge.  For example, those that work in a position susceptible to taking bribe and do not use their chance may belief wrongly or rightly that their coworkers will consider them to be stupid especially in Nigeria where wealth is displayed publicly through spraying.  Therefore, under the pressure of this factor many public officials during some period of time become corrupted.  We discussed nepotism earlier and one can defend corruption in terms of individuals seeking to maximize their own power and the lust for power is a psychological variable. 

There is of course a salient factor called human weakness.  Some persons find it extremely difficult to reject offers for what they perceive as generosity for job well done.  In some culture, refusing a gift may be considered insulting, the giver may get offended or may not want embarrass a grateful supplicant.  Moreover, whenever a leader or officials have monopoly of power over provision of government goods, they can easily explain the incidence of corruption without seeing it as theft. There are some corruption contributory factors that are purely systemic in nature.  The first is that Nigeria does not have a guaranteed but firm retirement type social security.  For this reason, many see corruption as a means of preparing themselves for life after retirement.  The fallacy of this is, how much looting will be necessary for a person to be self sufficient after retirement?  Why can’t the next leader set enabling policies for Nigerians to become entrepreneurs and compete side-by-side with other nationalities in Nigeria.  Available evidence shows that the spending habits of these looters, the women they keep and inflation they create always manage to put them in the correct station of life at the end of it all. 

How corruption and racism be compared side-by-side (see the table below)? 

Having reviewed the sources and causes of corruption in our society, this author believes that it is time for Nigeria to seek a lasting solution, and eliminate by outright removal of the influence of those that perpetrated and encourage corruption still ready to inflict the greatest pain on the nation?  Corruption has never benefited an average Nigerian, not even the immediate families of those looters.  There are no jobs for young graduates, our energy supply is epileptic yet we expended so much on bogus energy contracts, our children are getting inferior education, we are faced with mammoth moral of decadence yet we visit churches and Mosques every day to tell the almighty our day’s deeds. It is time for every citizen to note that after receiving bribe they cannot demand for improved healthcare, foreign companies cannot outsource to Nigeria because we do not have standards, and our young people will continue to be sold out to the highest bidder. 

Corruption more than tribalism/race has destroyed the very fabric of our society: has profound negative effects on governmental policies, economic and political development but the role of civil society, of real leaders, of our judiciary and of the media can go a long way to nib corruption in the bud, to finally move Nigeria forward and start the creation of Africa’s development in the true African way.  Corruption is the best gift to the enemies of Africa to latently continue slavery in the 21^st century.  The IBB, the Abulsalams, the Obasanjos, the Iboris, the Alamieyeseighas, the Adedibus, the Sarakis, the Ubas of this world that added nothing to but taken everything from our nation will soon leave Nigeria after establishing corruption as a means to development.  These are leaders that encourage money transfer for the disposable income of pure relations instead of transfer of technology for industrial capacity building.  Let us stop this hero worshiping of those that make us poor and disenfranchise our common aspirations.  This time around, we need courage like that shown by the young man, Senator Barack Obama to prevail on those that call themselves leaders but who otherwise are unpatriotic citizens and stop corruption in its tracks.  Our own perfect union will never be manifested without a head-on tackle of corruption in all our institutions.

For far too long, we have been coping unsuccessfully with the dangerous but self inflicting cross-currents of corruption and no one has thrown the nation the lifeline.  Yet, we are unable to relate to the explication of the Nigeria’s common but tragic experience in corruption and the path to no where that corruption has lead our nation.   This time around, a people must be willing to sacrifice and stop the painful hemorrhaging of corruption before it is too late for the next generation.  It is this time around that we can move to the higher level of development after 47 years in the wilderness of independence.

Robot  # 1 | 21.03.2008 05:46

Now that I got yo...Read the full article.

Jucihart  # 2 | 21.03.2008 18:36

Thanks a million for that wonderful write-up. Yes Racism in Nigeria is one factor that has prevented us from forging ahead. we are worse than we started i must say. i remember when i was much younger we had better roads, power supply etc, and now that we claim we are improving on them, we have gone from frying pan to fire. what wickedness! this racism is very sickening and that is why a lot of young people that should be involved in nation building do ANYTHING to run away fron the country. why? they have no future and hope if they continue enduring. it time we fought this deadly trend called racism/corruption. but how? it looks next to impossible. but i still believe in fighting a just course. it will surely be difficult but we need not give up. NIGERIA BELONGS TO EVERYBODY FOR THE GOOD OF ALL. NOT FOR ONE SET OF PEOPLE. LET US NOT GIVE UP BUT CONTINUE PRESSING ON TILL WE GET THERE Jucihart

PAPIG  # 3 | 22.03.2008 01:23

YES, WE PRACTISE DISCRIMINATION WITHIN Many thanks for touching on what i would regard as a very critical and crucial subject. A topic so important that i surmise most Nigerians would prefer it is not discussed. I may be wrong, but we are still not very keen at looking at the mirror and being objective at what we see. Everyone agrees that monumental corruption is a critical factor of why we remain backward in the comity of nations, but we are more likely to condone this vice if the perpetrator were a family member or from our tribe as you rightly mentioned. For instance, some misguided urhobo indigenes would rather James Ibori walk free from serious allegations of misappropriating state resources on the basis that he is their kith and kin and that Peter Odili has been spared similar treatment or that Tafa Balogun was welcomed with open hands by his own people inspite of being a convicted common thief. Discriminatory practice or 'racism' for lack of a better word remains very rife but understated in our country and i am not referring to the well known tribalism. I would go straight to the point. How come the caste system in the form of OSU is still all pervasive in our Igbo brethren irrespective of intellectual, spiritual or material attainment? I have also been reliably informed that this abhorent practice continues to gain ground even amongst Nigerians abroad who are yet to step on Nigerian soil. It is reminiscent of the practice of certain sections of the indian subcontinent, as it relates to the 'untouchables', in which certain caste members are forever doomed to remain so inspite of achievement in other endeavours of life. What i cannot understand is how we can rail against racism as it affects say black and white when within our own system we appear to be comfortable with the same practice, except this time it is black-on-black! I suspect our own living legend, Nelson Mandela would have a fit to put it lightly if he knew that in certain areas of Igbo land, discrimination is so ingrained it is thought to be a 'traditional practice' rather than the crime against humanity that it really is. Is it not an African saying that one should remove the log in ones eye before pointing at the speck in others? The OSU CASTE SYSTEM has no place in modern Nigeria just like CORRUPTION.